Stupid giving: The offering as a complete sacrifice by F. Willis JohnsonThis article is featured in the Bold Resolutions for Funding Ministry (Aug/Sep/Oct 2015) issue of Circuit Rider
"Jesus sat across from the collection box for the temple treasury and observed how the crowd gave their money. Many rich people were throwing in lots of money. One poor widow came forward and put in two small copper coins worth a penny. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I assure you that this poor widow has put in more than everyone who’s been putting money in the treasury. All of them are giving out of their spare change. But she from her hopeless poverty has given everything she had, even what she needed to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44 CEB)
Thumb through pages of an annual report of any organization affiliated with United Methodists. Visit websites and peruse collateral material of conferences or charitable foundations. Invariably, you will read of John Wesley’s teachings about stewardship. Wesleyan scholars and purists observe that stewardship was central to Wesley’s preaching and spiritual practice.
John Wesley considered the failure to practice Christian stewardship a major threat to the spiritual health and effectiveness of the Methodist revival. He wrote the following in 1786:
"I fear, wherever riches have increased (exceeding few are the exceptions) the essence of religion, the mind that was in Christ, has decreased in the same proportion. Therefore do I not see how it is possible, in the nature of things, for any revival of true religion to continue long. For religion must necessarily produce both industry and frugality. And these cannot but produce riches. But as riches increase, so will pride, and anger, and love of the world in all its branches."(1)
Like others, I believe recovery of a Wesleyan perspective on stewardship could be the means by which the next generation of United Methodists will have the form and the power of authentic faith.
United Methodists and other denominations struggle to address the realities of poverty. This is particularly true for many rural, urban, and ethnic-majority congregations. The economic circumstances in these communities are calling for the church’s attention. Likewise, the church is called to introspection and acknowledgment of its many disparities. Division and inequality exist throughout our connection between those living out of abundance and others living in poverty. Perhaps the church’s response is better informed by recognizing poverty as an individual or communal circumstance rather than as a character flaw in those who suffer. According to scripture, the truly poor are those who lack the spirit. Even more confounding is scripture’s assertion that the poor will always be among us.
One reminder is a powerful scene described in Mark’s Gospel. In the text, Jesus is analyzing patterns of giving. Jesus continues his condemnation of the religious legal experts. He charges the religious legal experts with cheating widows out of their homes (Mark 12:40). An indictment against the socially and politically affluent and economically advantaged was based on the following: leaders confused social affluence and influence with divine approval, yet they were defrauding those who were socially vulnerable. Jesus brings into question the religious philosophy and practices of the church’s material, political, and social elite.
Jesus condemns the religious legal experts for their offensive practices and corrupt hearts. His critique is based on an theological precept inherent to Jewish and Jewish-Christian traditions: A nation or community is obligated to defend and care for its widows, orphans, lost, least, and oppressed and not become agents of or indifferent to their demise. James Cone wrote about the Black Diaspora and American experience: “The task of theology, then, is to explicate the meaning of God’s liberating activity so that those who labor under enslaving powers will see that the forces of liberation are the very activity of God.”(2)
God is God of the oppressed. God through Jesus Christ intends to liberate the captive, heal the sick, empower the poor and weak, uplift the downtrodden, and radically transform the political, social, and economic systems of this life.
In Mark 12, Jesus identifies a “poor widow.” A widowed woman in antiquity, most times, had no voice in the community. Being a widowed woman resulted in not having a “covering” or advocate. Thus a widowed woman, more times than not, was vulnerable—or even worse, made to feel like a victim.
Not much has changed. Being black, brown, and woman means you are probably paid less and have to do more. A woman of color living in a low-income and highly criminalized community is more likely to be victimized than someone in any other gender or ethnic group. Being black, brown, and female means your personhood and identity are demeaned, sexualized, and stereotyped.
Jesus recognized she was poor, getting along on meager fare, alone, and in need. Jesus not only identified her present position in life, but he also emphasized to the disciples her condition. Jesus understood the factors and influences that impacted her choices, safety, and well-being. He notes the contrast between the woman’s reality and her response to life’s situation. Yes, she was poor but not of spirit. In other words, her circumstances did not define her. By analogy, a church’s physical buildings or its people’s financial and material situations should neither cripple nor define its character of ministry.
Financial stewardship in economically strained communities requires empathy. Clif Christopher encourages churches to acknowledge they are nonprofit institutions within a marketplace economy. Christopher, quoting Peter Drucker, cites nonprofits as human change agents because their principle product is a changed human being.(3) Church is a marketplace entity with a divine purpose. The church should never become a hindrance to its people. Instead, its very agency and acts of stewardship must change them and their situations for the better.
As a fund-raising professional, I operate from a premise that a donor gives for the donor’s reason. The leadership team in a church should identify a donor’s motivation and mode for contributing, as well as means for sustaining their act of generosity. Interestingly, the contemporary church has premised its expectation for financial stewardship on obligation and abundance. It’s not unreasonable to expect people to contribute. But we are unrealistic when we fail to account for impediments to a person’s ability to give. The church, particularly in urban and rural contexts, is charged with rightly aligning its work and witness to the realities of its people.
A donor gives for the donor’s reasons. Research shows those reasons often center around belief in mission, identification with or respect for leadership, and organizational stability. However, in less sophisticated, structured, or fiscally solvent situations, the motivation, mode, and means that undergird giving differ drastically. Personal giving is not for tax benefit. Neither is giving in order to further political interest or solidify social status or gain the admiration and respect of the community. On the contrary, giving in the spirit of a “widowed woman” then and now is an act of survival. Jesus was moved by the woman’s willingness to sacrifice everything she possessed. She offered all she had intended to live on. Jesus lifts her example of sacrifice in contrast to the selfish and sinful piety of church leaders. Jesus wanted the disciples of old and now to receive the revelation of sacrifice through stewardship: “All of them are giving out of their spare change. But she from her hopeless poverty has given everything she had.”
Deny Self
Across fifteen years of parish ministry in socioeconomically depleted communities, I’ve seen how offertory in worship is for many people an ultimatum. The decision to contribute results in having to deny self of something essential. Our tradition’s teaching about sacrifice is simple: it is not a sacrifice if it does not cost you something. Sacrifice is not a sacrifice if doesn’t deprive or leave you without something. Sacrifice is painful. Sacrifice is personal. Sacrifice is memorable. Inherent in sacrifice is an unavoidable sense of hurt, loss, or discomfort. The difference between contributing out of one’s abundance versus poverty is an ability to remain comfortable. For example, an offering for the affluent may remove a zero or a comma in a bank account but not deplete it.
Weekly offertory in most urban churches serves as a referendum of its ministry and management objectives in a stressed community. Jesus critiques the inability of the church to effectually provide ministry or address injustice, due in part to the faithlessness and divested practices of its leaders. Those who needed the greatest support were forced to carry the burden of leadership themselves. Far too many urban and rural congregations are forced by archaic evaluative metrics, itinerate systems, and connectional practices to choose between the essentials of congregational life and paying the bills. Observers should recognize that what appears as meager offerings is the sum subtracted from minimal sustenance.
Deposit Stupidly
Most folk would call a person “stupid” if he or she gave away every penny saved. When was the last time you did something deliriously daring? When was the last time your church or conference engaged in spiritual initiatives that were faithfully foolish? For me, it was when my conference and family set out to launch an urban “parachute” church in an African American context in middle America
almost four years ago. Every church expert recommended never to invest that kind of money. Conference leadership was advised to identify a different planter. The local community was apprehensive toward establishment of another “mainline” Protestant church. More important, common sense and statistics would suggest planting anywhere except the place where we landed. As a connection, we have placed big checks in all kind of pots, but do we do so out of coaxing, coercion, begging, or bribery? Or do we do as Wesley did and take God at God’s word? “Give, and it will be given to you. A good portion—packed down, firmly shaken, and overflowing—will fall into your lap” (Luke 6:38 CEB).
Depend on the Savior
After depositing the two copper coins the poor widowed woman was left with nothing. More times than I wish to admit, we at Wellspring experience the same. Wesley admonished all to earn, save, and give away. In these times that is easier said than done. To borrow from Carroll Watkins Ali, “Today the majority of African Americans live under conditions of genocidal poverty.”(4) The church is uniquely challenged to articulate an agenda and model an approach that accounts for appropriate financial stewardship in challenging socioeconomic contexts.
1. John Wesley, “Thoughts upon Methodism” (1786), §9, in The Methodist Societies: History, Nature, and Design, ed. Rupert E. Davies, vol. 9 of The Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley (Nashville: Abingdon, 1989), 529.
2. James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2010), 3.
3. J. Clif Christopher, Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate: A New Vision for Financial Stewardship, 2nd ed. (Nashville: Abingdon, 2015), 11.
4. Carroll A. Watkins Ali, Survival and Liberation: Pastoral Theology in African American Context (St. Louis: Chalice, 1999), 25.
7 ways I protect my Sabbath by Ron Edmondson
This is a hard word for some pastors, but after a recent post I was asked about how I protect my Sabbath. That’s a great question, because many pastors struggle in this area. In fact, many pastors I know who would teach their church to observe the Sabbath seldom do so personally. This fact alone is one of the leading causes of pastoral burnout, in my opinion.
Protecting my Sabbath has proven to be crucial in protecting my ministry.
I observe my Sabbath day on Saturday most weeks. It’s my day with Cheryl. It’s not a day where I do nothing. That’s not how I rest. It’s a day where I do what I want to do. On my Sabbath, I don’t work. I play. I rest. I recharge. I clear my head and prepare for the week ahead.
Here are seven ways I protect my Sabbath:
Recognize the value. I have to realize there is a reason to observe a Sabbath. It’s almost like God knew what he was doing. :) If I value it enough, I’ll make it a priority. The value of a Sabbath is not only for myself, but it aligns me with God’s design for mankind. “On the seventh day he rested.” Have you read that somewhere? We were created with a need for the Sabbath. That makes it valuable.
Make it a priority. Not only do I value the importance, but I make it a priority in my week. As important as any other day, my Sabbath is a must-do part of my week. A Sabbath is good for the pastor, the pastor’s family and the church. That’s worth prioritizing.
Place it on the calendar. A Sabbath needs to be planned in advance. If you think it’s going to happen when you “catch up,” you’ll never take a Sabbath. Depending on the size of your staff or the demands of your church, your day may not be the same as mine, but choose a day that works best and calendar it regularly.
Trust others. One of the leading reasons I hear for pastors not taking a day off is that they don’t have anyone who can handle their responsibilities. This is especially true in churches where the pastor is the only staff member. Regardless of staff size, pastors need to surround themselves with some healthy people and take a risk on them. I delegate well so that when I’m gone I know things will continue to operate efficiently. Ultimately, however, when I honor my Sabbath I’m demonstrating that I trust God. After all, the plan was his idea.
Discipline myself. I just do it. I make myself take a day off. (You should consider this a discipline!) Now, here’s the hard part of that. In addition to saying “Yes” to yourself, you have to discipline yourself to say “No” to others. Without a doubt, if you try to protect a day there will be multiple invitations, seemingly good opportunities and non-emergency interruptions. It will happen. You’ll have to continually help others (and yourself) understand the value in this discipline. It’s part of being a healthy pastor. And, I assume, most churches want that. Frankly some will never understand the value in your Sabbath (even if they see the value for themselves), but they will also be the first ones to complain if you aren’t performing at your best in other areas of your ministry.
Prepare for it. I have to work hard prior to a Sabbath so I can comfortably take it without reservation. That means I handle any details I can in advance. Whether a pastor works five or six days a week, (I personally work six) it is important to work hard and smart enough where there is no guilt in taking your deserved and commanded Sabbath. Not trying to be cruel here, but if you are not finding time to take a Sabbath, it could be a planning and organizational problem as much as it is a demand of your time problem.
Learn to enjoy. Some pastors, like me, are not wired for a Sabbath. I realize some people have no problem taking a day off, but I honestly would work seven days straight if no one stopped me. There’s always plenty to do. I’ve learned, however, that I function better the other six days if I have one day that I’m not working. It’s been a challenge to maintain it, but I now truly look forward to the rest. It’s proven to be as important for my wife as it is for me and when she’s happy, I’m happy.
Now, please understand, there are no perfect plans. This works most of the time for me, but not all of the time. There are, of course, exceptions, interruptions and kingdom opportunities which cause me to not be able to protect every Sabbath day. (Jesus had those too.) As much as is possible, however, I stick with this plan, and when it is interrupted, especially if it happens several weeks in a row, I will make up the time with some extra time away. I try to get my downtime back at some point. It’s that important to me now.
Pastor, are you protecting your Sabbath? Be honest.
The strength and success of your ministry may depend on it.
What tips do you have for helping some of my burned out pastor friends maintain a weekly Sabbath?
Bonus question: Pastor, do you have a plan for extended time a way … a sabbatical of some form? Could you share what you do in this area to help the rest of us?
Ron Edmondson blogs at RonEdmondson.com.
Don't apologize for being smart by Dave Barnhart
There are a variety of gifts, says Paul. We identify many that are essential for the church: leadership, generosity, prophecy, teaching, communication, hospitality and so on. I have never experienced any anti-generosity attitudes. Although people might be inhospitable, they don’t profess anti-hospitality or anti-kindness.
But I’ve seen plenty of anti-intellectualism.
Smart Christians are everywhere. Some of them are well-educated and have advanced degrees from institutions of higher learning. Many others have doctorates from the school of life. I’m blessed in that I get to pastor a lot of them. In planting a church “for sinners, saints, and skeptics,” we have indicated from the beginning that we do not believe in making folks check their brains at the door. We welcome questions and critical inquiry.
Anti-intellectualism has a long and ugly history in religious tradition. Although plenty of saints and theologians have demonstrated that faith and reason can be happy partners and support each other, history and our lived experience show that anti-intellectualism is stubbornly persistent in the church.
Many smart Christians I talk to have stories about their own Galileo or Scopes Monkey Trial experience, where a family member, teacher or pastor told them to stop asking critical questions about their faith. One of my childhood friends tells about asking his third-grade Sunday school teacher, “If Adam and Eve were the first human beings God created, where did the women come from who married Cain and Seth?” He was told that asking such questions would lead him to hell.
It’s easy to dismiss these kinds of anecdotes as the unfortunate behavior of a few fundamentalists, but in my conversations with people who have been hurt, turned off or burned by churches in the past, I’ve found that they are quite common across the political and theological spectrum. Insecure Christians are challenged by tough questions, and they will attack the faith, motivations, salvation and ethics of inquisitive Christians for simply speaking up. This kind of anti-intellectualism has driven more than a few people away from church for good.
It’s important to name anti-intellectualism for what it is: personal anxiety. It is psychological, not theological. Some adults have trouble admitting they don’t know something to children. Insecure leaders may have problems confessing their ignorance or confusion. Some of us are so competitive that we can’t stand not being the smartest person in the room or the center of attention. But when ignorance finds ways to justify itself with theology, it hurts everyone.
Another Christian I know told me about how her faith tradition taught her to be suspicious of her gut feelings and her reason. Both, she had been taught, are corrupted by sin. Only the Holy Bible, the Word of God, is pure enough to trust completely. Specifically, one particular narrow interpretation of that Word.
Baloney.
In my conversations with bright believers, I hear about a few scriptures that get deployed to justify anti-intellectualism. Paul says humility is a virtue, and that Christians ought not to think of themselves more highly than others (Romans 12:3). Jesus says that we should not seek to lord over other people, but to serve them (Matthew 20:25-28). The mind of humans makes plans, but the Lord directs the steps (Proverbs 16:9), and God chose what was foolish to shame the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27). Intellectualism, which is valued by “the secular world,” can lead people to pride, which is often considered the most dangerous of the seven deadly sins.
Having internalized these things, many smart Christians apologize for being smart. They hide their light under a bushel basket and deny their gifts, afraid that if they publicly expose themselves as thinking people, they will be told they are showing off, or giving glory to themselves instead of God, or that they think they are better than other Christians. They carry this fear even though many of them are the most humble, servant-hearted people I know. They hold back in public conversation or in Bible study because they don’t want to come off as know-it-alls, they don’t want to dominate conversations and they don’t want to hurt other people’s feelings.
In my experience, these bright Christians are also the first to admit when they are wrong. They see their lives as a constant journey of exploration and learning new things. They are smart because they admit when they are wrong, they make mistakes, and they learn from them. They care enough to work on both their character and intellect.
In “The Screwtape Letters,” C.S. Lewis wrote that humility is not about beautiful people imagining they are ugly and clever people trying to believe they are fools. Humility is learning to rejoice in all people’s gifts, in the gift of the world and of life itself. Intellectual Christians are in love with life and want to learn all they can about it — and to share that joy with others.
Sure, some smart people are jerks. I know some smart Christians who are socially unaware, and don’t recognize, for example, when they are burying a conversation under a blanket of biblical or theological trivia. It is possible to have a high IQ (intelligence) and a low EQ (emotional intelligence). And, of course, there is a difference between being smart and being wise. But I find that, in general, smart people in church speak up too little — not too much.
Indeed, when Jesus tells his followers not to be like salt that loses its flavor, the Greek word translated as “lose flavor,” can also mean to become dull or foolish. It’s where we get the word “moron.” Such salt is not even fit for the manure pile (Luke 14:35). In other words, salty believers, don’t lose your edge — don’t become fools!
I do not imagine Jesus would tell his followers not to argue against stupid ideas or policies. I do not think God is glorified when we hide our gifts, or when we silence others or allow them to be silenced for anti-intellectual reasons.
Jesus does give advice to Christians about when to shut up: “Don’t throw your pearls before swine, or they will turn and maul you” (Matthew 7:6). The idea, I think, is not to waste your time with folks who don’t appreciate what you have to offer. You can offer something of great value to some people and earn only their anger and contempt.
I think the Bible gives practical advice to Christian intellectuals: If you’ve been given the gift of knowledge or wisdom, don’t hide your light. But don’t waste your time where you are not appreciated, and don’t apologize for being smart. Instead, find a community where your gifts are appreciated, and you can use your gifts to benefit the kingdom.
Dave Barnhart is the pastor of Saint Junia UMC in Birmingham, Ala. He blogs at DaveBarnhart.net.
Praying for dung
By Clifton StringerAt a different high school in the city where I grew up, one of the best senior class pranks I have ever heard of was executed. Some industrious students released three live pigs into the halls of the school, each with a number painted on its side. The numbers were 1, 2 and 4.
The class a year ahead of mine at my own high school — a class which always excelled in awesomeness and danger — pulled off something pretty good too. Maybe even better than the pigs. There is a pizza chain in Austin, Texas called Mangia Pizza, whose memorable mascot is the Mangia-Zilla.
The Mangia-Zilla / Photo courtesy of Philip Kromer / Flickr CC 2.0
The Mangia-Zilla lived on top of a Mangia Pizza restaurant. Then one morning in 1998 the sun, rising gently over the halls and classrooms of A.N. McCallum High School, revealed the Zilla standing on my school's roof in all its lush green glory. Mind you, the Zilla is not light. That was an accomplishment.
Those are happy high school prank stories.
There is also the gross story of the guys who unloaded a truck-bed full of dung from the farm into someone's front yard.
Presumably the residents had not asked for the pile of dung to be dropped in their yard. Yet a pile of dung always does grab the attention.
Isaac of Nineveh
Perhaps this is the reason St. Isaac of Nineveh (7th century) conscripted dung into his teaching on prayer. Isaac preached:
"When someone asks a human prince for a load of dung, not only will that person be despised as a result of his despicable request, but he has also offered an insult to the prince by means of his stupid request. Exactly the same applies when someone asks for the things of the body in prayer." (Homily 3, B 32).
Isaac's plain-spoken teaching in this regard is certainly jarring. Should one really not ask for things of the body in prayer, even if one is starving or homeless, etc.? Let us assume that St. Isaac is not saying something so absurd and unbiblical, but rather is using a striking example to grab our attention and get us to see something important. What if asking for material things is like asking for dung because of how much better the spiritual things are for which one could ask?
Thomas Gallus, a spiritual theologian in the early 13th century, onetime resident of the Abbey of St. Victor in Paris, later an Abbot in Vercelli, Italy, is helpful in this regard. Thomas Gallus was obsessed by the mystical treatises of the early 6th century Syriac monk who wrote as Dionysius the Areopagite. Gallus commented on all of Dionysius' writings multiple times. Gallus also commented avidly on the Song of Songs.
Gallus seizes on a phrase of Dionysius — “all pure prayers” from Divine Names 3.1 — and turns it into a threefold typology of kinds of “chaste prayers.” For Gallus, there are “chaste prayers,” “more chaste prayers” and “most chaste prayers.”
Chaste prayers are prayers for bodily goods. Gallus writes that chaste prayer “asks only that temporal things be obtained and unsuitable things be removed.” More chaste prayer, for its part, “is for spiritual things, as in Ps. 50:11-12: take away my iniquity, create a pure heart in me, O God.” The prayer which is most chaste, however, “is that which no longer asks for the gifts of the bridegroom, but the bridegroom himself.”
Most chaste prayer is the prayer which asks for divine union, for the consummation of Jesus Christ’s spiritual betrothal to the soul. Those are the best prayers of all.
Thomas Gallus is right. Praying for the bodily things one needs is not dung. But when compared with the surpassing greatness of spiritual union with Jesus Christ, one can appreciate St. Isaac's poignant wisdom. In St. Paul's words, “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Phil. 3:8, KJV).
Seems St. Isaac is right too.
Later in the same sermon, St. Isaac exhorts his hearers and readers to union with Jesus:
"Thirst for Jesus, so that he may inebriate you with His love" (Homily 3, B 34).
Clifton Stringer is a Ph.D. student in Historical Theology at Boston College and the author of "Christ the Lightgiver" in the Converge Bible Studies series.
John Wesley on infant baptism
By Allan R. BevereJohn Wesley's understanding of infant baptism is multifaceted as he addresses various aspects of the subject. As a priest in the Church of England, Wesley baptized children, and he makes a theological and biblical case for the practice.
Wesley supports the notion of baptismal regeneration. Since infants are born with original sin, baptism is not only appropriate when it comes to children, but necessary. Baptism is thus a cleansing sacrament. There is a tension that runs throughout Wesley's thought in reference to his view that baptism is regenerative in nature, while at the same time teaching the necessity of a conscious turning toward the new life that Christ offers. Thus, while baptism is more than symbol for Wesley (it is necessary to enter Christ's church), the act of repentance is also indispensable for salvation. Wesley does not seem to be concerned about this tension.
Wesley addresses those who reject infant baptism. He argues that infants and children are not only acceptable candidates, but that it can be demonstrated biblically. Like circumcision, baptism is a sign of the covenant in which children are included. In addition, Christ not only welcomes the children to come to him, but he rebukes his disciples for turning them away (Luke 18:15-16). To those who respond that Jesus' welcome of the children is not about baptism, Wesley responds that baptism is the way the risen Christ welcomes children into his church.
Moreover, the Book of Acts is clear that entire households were baptized, which must have included children (Acts 16:31-34). While direct evidence for infant baptism is quite sparse in the first century, it is clearly practiced in the second, which is difficult to explain had it not been practiced in the early years of the church. To those who continue to remain skeptical, Wesley reminds them that nowhere does the New Testament explicitly forbid the practice.
Water is necessary for baptism, but the New Testament gives no specific mode of baptism. The traditional methods of pouring, sprinkling and immersing (what Wesley calls "dipping") are all acceptable. Wesley is not persuaded by arguments that suggest the word "baptism" itself prescribes a particular mode.
Father John's understanding of baptism is clearly sacramental. He places emphasis on the covenantal nature of baptism, and while he reflects upon the symbolic aspect of the practice, it is more than symbol; it is a means of grace.
Allan Bevere blogs at AllanBevere.com.
Why women bishops?
By Kira SchlesingerKatherine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop, entering St. Mary's, Memphis, TN \ Mary Constance via Flickr
A confluence of conversations, anniversaries, and events led me to reflect on women serving as bishops. First of all, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, our triennial denominational meeting, took place several weeks ago. As many people noted, women are poorly represented in the House of Bishops — less than ten percent, even more than forty years after women’s ordination.
Second, the one-year celebration of the Church of England decree that women could be bishops. Since then, six female bishops have been chosen in the Church of England, a different procedure than the selection of bishops in the Episcopal Church (USA).
And third, a grass-roots organization of Episcopal women clergy formed on Facebook with the goal of more women in leadership positions in large parishes and on the diocesan level called Breaking the Episcopal Glass Ceiling.
The question that requires discernment and discussion is: Why? Certainly, equality for equality’s sake is a good goal. Anecdotally, there are reports that women candidates are included more regularly for nomination to the episcopate, and yet, for the most part, they are not being elected. Perhaps we have a tendency to include women (or other under-represented minority) candidates without seeing them as “real” candidates solely for the purpose of patting ourselves on the back for being open-minded and diverse.
However, the best argument for electing and calling more women and under-represented minorities to the highest positions in the church is so that we can disrupt the patriarchal and racist systems within the church and move closer to emulating the Kingdom of God in this world. For if we just replace male bodies with female bodies in the same system, ultimately nothing substantive changes.
Scott E. Page, a professor of complex systems, political science, and economics at the University of Michigan, uses mathematical modeling to show that variety and diversity in staffing has a positive effect on organizational strength. Diverse groups of people look at problems differently and have the ability to work together to solve problems faster and better. If we consider that the church, particularly those of us in mainline or “legacy” denominations, is facing some very challenging problems, why would we not want to leverage diversity in our leadership in this way?
In another interview with NPR reporter Gene Demby, Page discusses this issue of “how many is enough.” If an organization includes a token female or a token person of ethnic or racial diversity, most often he or she will not feel comfortable speaking up and letting his or her thoughts be known. On the surface, the group might appear to be diverse, but if it does not include the experiences or viewpoints of those who most need to be heard from, this diversity is all for naught.
So why have more women bishops or district superintendents or rectors and senior pastors of large, corporate-sized churches? Because it just might change the culture of the church for the better, for both men and women. Perhaps women might insist on a more collaborative style of leadership instead of the traditional top-down, father-knows-best model. Women brought up the issue of parental leave upon the birth or adoption of a child at General Convention, fighting for a better church-family balance for all clergy.
Jemima Thockray, writing for The Telegraph, hopes that the Church of England will have more “gobby” women bishops, a term for people who talk loudly or in a blunt and opinionated way. She points out that most of the women currently selected as bishops are not likely to rock the boat, even if rocking the boat is what the church needs the most. Her hope is that, in their role as bishop, they “harness their peculiarity as women to bring some much needed agitation to a Church that’s in desperate need of change.” May it be so Church-wide.
Did Jesus take a vacation?
By Rebekah Simon-PeterThe vacation is one of the finest tools for spiritual leadership development. It allows you to practice being instead of doing — a must for spiritual leaders. The word dates back to the late 14th century, from the French, and means freedom from obligations, leisure, release. But the idea itself goes back to the ancient world: Egyptians, Greeks and Romans traveled for education, entertainment and culture.
Did Jesus vacation? Hard to say for sure, but we know he and his family traveled. Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth for an extended stay while they were both pregnant. Joseph and Mary traveled for the census-taking. After Jesus was born, Joseph shepherded his young family to Egypt for safety. Later, they regularly went up to Jerusalem for the week of Passover — perhaps the closest thing to vacation we can imagine. They probably traveled for the other two pilgrimage-related holidays as well. No doubt these were fun times of family, feasting and celebration; long-standing ties would have been strengthened and new friendships made. Visiting the Temple itself would have been a religious and cultural highlight.
But whether or not Jesus took an actual vacation as we know it, here are the top nine reasons you should.
Vacations give you perspective. Nothing like getting away to help you reflect on where you’ve been. Jesus himself took regular time away from the pressures of leadership. His alone time with God allowed him to get back it with vigor.
The demands of church life are such that you can stay busy 24/7 and still never get it all done. If you’re one of those who thinks, “As soon as I get it all done, then I’ll take a break,” check out "Workaholics Anonymous Book of Recovery" for a new perspective. There is no such thing as “done.”
Vacations allow much needed time with family and friends. Or perhaps, in some cases, away from family and friends! As much as I cherish my family and friends, a few solo trips I have taken stand out as times I grew the most.
The Sabbath and holidays are not automatic days off for you. In fact, you’re working the hardest on the days others are resting and relaxing. God refrained from what he was doing to rest on the seventh day. Jesus did too. But most of us don’t get to.
Vacations help you remember you are a human being and not a human doing. Doing, doing, doing can bleed you dry. Simply being with God, yourself, and your loved ones, is soul-satisfying. It helps you remember who you are. And whose you are.
American vacations in the 18th and 19th centuries often revolved around religious retreats and denominationally oriented “camp meetings.” Take heart in knowing your spiritual forebears took time off. You can too.
Even if you opt for a “staycation,” a break from the regular routine can bring about new insights and allow you time to think new thoughts. Or perhaps not think at all!
A vacation can help you cultivate new interests, see new places and deepen your appreciation for the landscapes, creatures and curiosities of the vast world we live in. Last year, I camped and hiked in an International Dark Sky Park. It wasn’t terribly far from my home, but it was a world away. Reconnecting with the night sky was a gift.
You may have paid time off coming. Use it or lose it! I know many clergy who have denominationally-mandated yearly continuing education time who don’t take it, access to funding for it who don’t use it, and sabbatical time off every seven years who never take advantage of it. What a waste!
This summer, I put a vacation reply on my email, left my calendar at home, went to my husband’s family reunion, hiked, read some good books, napped in the sun, poked around in a few places I’ve never been before, and generally did a whole lot of nothing. What a pleasure! In fact, I’m not done vacationing yet. Yes, I’ll be looking forward to being back at it — refreshed and rejuvenated — when the time comes. In the meantime, there’s more nothing to be done.
Rebekah Simon-Peter blogs at rebekahsimonpeter.com. She is the author of "The Jew Named Jesus" and "Green Church."
Humility is an idea that wrecks you
By David Dorn"God, have mercy on me a sinner." Jesus says that the tax collector who said this was justified by his humility. That's challenging. David Dorn is the Lead Contemporary Pastor for Marvin United Methodist Church in Tyler, Texas. He is also the author of “Reclaiming Anger,” “Under Wraps Youth Study” and the founder of The PREPOSTEROUS Project.
The blame and shame game
By David PersonWomen are justifiably outraged at the victim blaming and shaming following the sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby. Sadly, it’s an ancient — dare I say cherished? — tradition to use either or both when a man doesn’t want to be accountable for bad acts that involve a woman.
According to biblical tradition, it starts with Adam. While no rape or sexual assault was involved in the Old Testament story, Adam definitely blamed Eve when God confronted him about eating the forbidden fruit.
“The woman whom you gave me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it,” Adam said to God.
In the neighborhood where I grew up, we’d have called that a punk move. Adam looked absolutely spineless, blaming God for giving him “the woman” and suggesting he was powerlessness to resist when offered the fruit.
Really, Adam?
Some New Testament men weren’t much better. In John 8, the Pharisees brought Jesus a woman allegedly caught in adultery, demanding his opinion on whether or not she should be stoned. The plan to punish the woman reveals that they put the blame, and consequently the shame, on her — not the man.
When I was growing up, the church would strip teenaged girls of their membership if they got pregnant. Sometimes that was a public process conducted before the board or the entire church. I never heard of the boys or men who got them pregnant being punished, assuming they were members.
I’m also not sure if there was ever any discussion about whether or not the young woman was a victim of a rape. In those days, it was usually assumed that pregnancy meant consent.
Some modern churches — though not all — have evolved in their thinking, addressing both parties in such cases, if punishing anyone at all. But it’s still not uncommon to hear preachers single out women in their sermons for the ways that they dress, implying that the morality of men is subject to the appearance of women — more blaming and shaming.
Granted, we live in a sexualized world where the clothing and posture of both genders can be provocative. Women are routinely objectified in all forms of media. Body parts are fetishized.
So yes, it can be challenge to keep sexual thoughts in check. But honest men know that our minds can drift into sexual territory without seeing a woman’s skin or the contours of her body. The onus is on us, not women, to manage our thoughts, urges and actions.
Cosby claimed to be a great interpreter of female desires in the 2005 deposition he gave in the Andrea Constand lawsuit. To me, that is nothing more than a brazen rationalization of actions that were at the least very disturbing and at the worst, criminal.
But it parallels the blame-and-shame tactic that he and his team have been using all along. It’s worked for millennia, protecting predators from punishment at the expense of their accusers.
Only this time, it appears that one man’s assumptions about what a woman wanted couldn’t have been more wrong. Constand’s attorney says that Cosby failed to interpret that Constand is gay and had a girlfriend when he allegedly assaulted her.
It’s long past time for blame, shame and male assumptions about female desires to be retired from the male psyche. Maybe one way the Cosby case will benefit all of us is that it will help end these bogus tactics for good.
10 disciplines you should start in your twenties
By Ron EdmondsonThis is one of those posts I hope someone learns something from which can help them in life.
Okay, I hope that for all of my posts, otherwise why am I writing? But I see this one as a life-giving post for those who will read it and take some of it to heart. Specifically, my target is those who are in their twenties, those who are starting out in their adult life and career. As I’m writing, I’m thinking of my own two sons in that demographic, the young people who work on our team and the hundreds of college students and young adults in our church. Those who come to mind are driving my desire to invest something in the ones who will read this.
I’m 51, which is certainly not old — although it may have seemed like it was when I was younger — but it is old enough to have learned a few things. Like things I wish I had done when I was younger. And, some things I’m glad I did.
I have learned the only way to really sustain something in your life is through self-discipline. No one is going to force you to do some of the most important things you need to do.
If I were in my twenties again, there are some disciplines I would make sure I incorporated into my life. I would practice them enough that they would be natural for me today.
Here are 10 disciplines I would recommend everyone start in their twenties:
Saving. It’s easier to start setting aside money before you start spending it. Setting a budget and living by it makes so much sense to me now. It didn’t in my twenties. I wanted all the disposable income I could make. But I didn’t spend it wisely and now I have to make up for lost time saving for my future.
Exercising. I exercise everyday. Now in my fifties I recognize more than ever my need for regular physical activity, but some mornings the body doesn’t want to get going. Without it being intrinsic to who I am I’m not sure I would start now.
Journaling. I have journaled off and on throughout my life. It is so much fun to read my thoughts from 30 years ago and reflect on how much I’ve learned and things God has done in my life. Still, there are periods missing where for years I didn’t journal. Knowing the value in what I do have I wish this had been a more defined discipline.
Friending. Those deep, lasting friendships often start early. And take work. At this stage in life friendships have deeper meaning and importance to me. I need people who can speak into my life who know me well. I have those, but not necessarily among people I knew in my twenties — who have a long history with me. I look on Facebook at friends from high school and college and I wish I had worked harder to keep those friendship strong. I miss them. At the time I thought they would last forever. They didn’t. They are still “friends,” but not at the level they once were. I’d make sure I surrounded myself with the right friends — and those may or may not be the people from your twenties, but I’d build healthy, long-lasting friendships.
Identifying. Specifically here I’m referring to learning who you are — who God designed you to be — and then living out of that truth throughout your life. This is the discipline of faith. Figuring out what you believe about the eternal and why you believe it and then putting faith into practice is vitally important. It will be challenged so many times. The author of Ecclesiastes writes, “Remember your creator in the days of your youth before the days of trouble come.” Such wise advise. Knowing what you believe — nailing it down without reservation — will help you weather the storms of life which surely come to all of us. As a believer, knowing God’s approval of you will help you believe in yourself and your abilities and empower you to take the God-sized risks you may look back and regret if you don’t. This discipline also helps you develop the discipline of prayer: seeking wisdom from God. When you fully recognize the value of being “in the family of God” you are more likely to cry out regularly to “Abba Father”.
Giving. Just as saving is an easier discipline if you begin early, so is giving. Whether it’s time or money I now realize the value there is to me in helping others. I have practiced this one throughout my adult life and it is one of the most rewarding parts of my life. I highly recommend starting this discipline early before the world and all its demands take the ability from you.
Resting. Those in their twenties now seem better at this one than my generation was but for those who need it — start resting now. Work hard. I think that’s a biblical command and a good virtue. But, the older you get and the more responsibility that comes upon you the harder it is to find the time to rest. It needs to be a discipline.
Life-planning. Creating a discipline of stopping periodically to ask yourself huge questions will keep you heading in a direction you eventually want to land. Questions such as: Am I accomplishing all I want to do? If not, why not? Where should I be investing my time? What do I need to stop doing — and start doing — to get where I want to go? In what areas of my life do I need to improve? These can be life-altering questions. Ideally, we should ask them every year, but at least every few years this is a healthy discipline to build into your life — and the sooner the better.
Honoring. This discipline is honoring the past: learning from those who have gained wisdom through experience. When you’re young you can be guilty of thinking you know more than you really know. It’s not until you get to a certain age — certainly I’m there now — that you realize how much you don’t know. There is always something to be learned from another person’s experience you don’t have. This one seemed to come to me naturally, because I grew up most of my early life without a father in the home. I craved wisdom, especially from older men. But I cannot imagine where I would be in life had I not developed the lifelong discipline of wisdom-seeking early in my life.
Coaching. Pouring into others is a great discipline, and it should begin early in life. In my twenties I didn’t realize I had something to give others from what I had already learned. Imagine the impact of a twentysomething person investing in a middle or high school student — maybe someone without both parents in the home. It wasn’t until I recruited one of my mentors in my mid twenties and he said, “I’ll invest in you if you invest in others” that I began this discipline. I wish I had started even earlier.
It’s probably not too late for many who will read this to start these. Most of them, however, become more challenging the older you get.
Someone will wonder how I chose the order of these or if some are more important than others. There may even be pushback because I started with one about money. I get that and it’s fair. Obviously, one on this list is MOST important. In my opinion, it would be “Identifying.” All the others are an outflow of that one. But had I started with it, the natural question is which one is number two, and number three, etc. Whichever one would have ended up number ten could seem less important. I think all of them are important, so I didn’t prioritize them.
Any you would add to my list?
Ron Edmondson blogs at RonEdmondson.com.
From letter to spirit
By Steve HarperThe early Christians recognized they were stewards of a great mystery — the mystery that had within it power to give life or to deal death. Whether the mystery did one or the other depended on how they used the Law.
In applying the Law, they took seriously the fact that “the letter kills, but the spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6). Growing up under the Law, they had seen how the religious leaders used the Law to deal death to those who broke it, sometimes literally but always by declaring some “unclean” and therefore outside their camp.
But Christ ended the death-dealing application of the Law (Romans 10:4) fulfilling it (Matthew 5:17) by moving it from the letter to the spirit, and thus making the Law subservient to grace and life the final word, not death.
One illustrative passage of this principle is John 8:1-13, the woman caught in the act of adultery. The religious leaders played the “letter” card and already had the rocks in their hands to kill her, willing to leave her dead and judged. But Jesus trumped their hand with the “spirit” card, and the woman walked away alive and forgiven.
From the example of Christ the early Christians learned they were misusing the Law whenever they were judgmental. And that is a huge reason why they rejected judgmentalism so quickly and completely and practiced non-judgment so rapidly and radically.
Similarly today, we remain stuck in the letter of the Law when we use it judgmentally, retributively and punitively. We are strangers to grace and to the spirit of the Law, whose purpose is to always to give life. We resemble the religious leaders rather than Christ.
The early Christians exemplify for us what the movement from the letter of the Law to the spirit of the Law looks like — the movement from being death-dealing to life-giving. It is the movement that occurs as we follow Jesus, who ends the Law (as judgmentalism), leaving it outdated and obsolete (Romans 10:4 and Hebrews 8:13).
It is the movement which occurs in non-judgment — the movement in which the Law bows its knee to grace — the movement in which love triumphs over legalism — the movement when stones are dropped so that stones may be rolled away — the movement that does not end on Friday with death, but rather on Sunday with resurrection.
Steve Harper is the author of “For the Sake of the Bride” and “Five Marks of a Methodist.” He blogs at Oboedire.
This Sunday , August 9, 2015
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost: 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33; Psalm 130; Ephesians 4:25–5:2; John 6:35, 41-51
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Psalm 130
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
John 6:35, 41-51
Lectiionsry Scripture:
2 Samuel 18:5 The king gave orders to Yo’av, Avishai and Ittai, “For my sake, deal gently with young Avshalom.” All the people were listening when the king gave all the commanders this order concerning Avshalom.
6 So the people went out into the field against Isra’el; the battle took place in the forest of Efrayim. 7 The people of Isra’el were defeated there by David’s servants; there was a terrible slaughter that day of 20,000 men. 8 For the battle there was spread all over the countryside; the forest devoured more people that day than did the sword.
9 Avshalom happened to meet some of David’s servants. Avshalom was riding his mule, and as the mule walked under the thick branches of a big terebinth tree, his head got caught in the terebinth, so that he was left hanging between earth and sky, as the mule went on from under him.
15 Then Yo’av’s ten young armor-bearers surrounded Avshalom, struck him and killed him.
31 Then up came the Ethiopian, and the Ethiopian said, “There’s good news for my lord the king, for Adonai has judged in your favor and rid you of all those who rebelled against you.” 32 The king asked the Ethiopian, “Is everything all right with young Avshalom?” The Ethiopian answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rebel against you in order to harm you be as that young man is.”
Psalm 130:(0) A song of ascents. By David:
(1) Adonai, I call to you from the depths;
2 hear my cry, Adonai!
Let your ears pay attention
to the sound of my pleading.
3 Yah, if you kept a record of sins,
who, Adonai, could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
so that you will be feared.
5 I wait longingly for Adonai;
I put my hope in his word.
6 Everything in me waits for Adonai
more than guards on watch wait for morning,
more than guards on watch wait for morning.
7 Isra’el, put your hope in Adonai!
For grace is found with Adonai,
and with him is unlimited redemption.
8 He will redeem Isra’el
from all their wrongdoings.
Ephesians 4:25 Therefore, stripping off falsehood, let everyone speak truth with his neighbor,[Ephesians 4:25 Zechariah 8:16] because we are intimately related to each other as parts of a body. 26 Be angry, but don’t sin[Ephesians 4:26 Psalm 4:5(4)] — don’t let the sun go down before you have dealt with the cause of your anger; 27 otherwise you leave room for the Adversary.
28 The thief must stop stealing; instead, he should make an honest living by his own efforts. This way he will be able to share with those in need.
29 Let no harmful language come from your mouth, only good words that are helpful in meeting the need, words that will benefit those who hear them. 30 Don’t cause grief to God’s Ruach HaKodesh, for he has stamped you as his property until the day of final redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, violent assertiveness and slander, along with all spitefulness. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted; and forgive each other, just as in the Messiah God has also forgiven you.
5:1 So imitate God, as his dear children; 2 and live a life of love, just as also the Messiah loved us, indeed, on our behalf gave himself up as an offering, as a slaughtered sacrifice to God with a pleasing fragrance.
John 6:35 Yeshua answered, “I am the bread which is life! Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever trusts in me will never be thirsty.
41 At this the Judeans began grumbling about him because he said, “I am the bread which has come down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Isn’t this Yeshua Ben-Yosef? We know his father and mother! How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Yeshua answered them, “Stop grumbling to each other! 44 No one can come to me unless the Father — the One who sent me — draws him. And I will raise him up on the Last Day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘They will all be taught by Adonai.’[John 6:45 Isaiah 54:13] Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God — he has seen the Father. 47 Yes, indeed! I tell you, whoever trusts has eternal life: 48 I am the bread which is life. 49 Your fathers ate the man in the desert; they died. 50 But the bread that comes down from heaven is such that a person may eat it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that has come down from heaven; if anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. Furthermore, the bread that I will give is my own flesh; and I will give it for the life of the world.”
John Wesley's Notes-commentary for 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Verse 5
[5] And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom.
Deal gently — If you conquer (which be presaged they would by God's gracious answer to his prayer for the turning of Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness,) take him prisoner, but do not kill him. Which desire proceeded, from his great indulgence towards his children: from his consciousness that he himself was the meritorious cause of this rebellion, Absalom being given up to it for the punishment of David's sins; from the consideration of his youth, which commonly makes men foolish, and subject to ill counsels: and from his piety, being loth that he should be cut off in the act of his sin without any space for repentance. But ''what means, says Bp. Hall, this ill-placed mercy? Deal gently with a traitor? Of all traitors with a son? And all this for thy sake, whose crown, whose blood he hunts after? Even in the holiest parents nature may be guilty of an injurious tenderness. But was not this done in type of that unmeasurable mercy, of the true King of Israel, who prayed for his murderers, Father, forgive them! Deal gently with them for my sake!" Yea, when God sends an affliction to correct his children, it is with this charge, deal gently with them for my sake: for he knows our frame.
Verse 8
[8] For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country: and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.
The wood — More people died in the wood, either through hunger, and thirst, and weariness: or, by the wild beasts, whereof great numbers were there, which, though they were driven away from the place of the main battle, yet might easily meet with them when they fled several ways: or, by falling into ditches and pits, which were in that place, verse 17, and probably were covered with grass or wood, so that they could not see them till they fell into them: and especially by David's men, who pursued them, and killed them in the wood: and the wood is rightly said to have devoured them, because it gave the occasion to their destruction, inasmuch as the trees, and ditches, and pits, entangled them, and stopped their flight, and made them an easy prey to David's men, who followed them, and slew them in the pursuit.
The sword — In the main battle: the sword being put for the battle, by a common figure.
Verse 9
[9] And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.
The servants of David — Who, according to David's command, spared him, and gave him an opportunity to escape.
His head — In which probably he was entangled by the hair of the head, which being very long and thick, might easily catch hold of a bough, especially when the great God directed it. Either he wore no helmet, or he had thrown it away as well as his other arms, to hasten his flight. Thus the matter of his pride was the instrument of his ruin.
Verse 15
[15] And ten young men that bare Joab's armour compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him.
Slew him — The darts did not dispatch him, and therefore they smote him again, and killed him.
Verse 33
[33] And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!
Over the gate — Retiring himself from all men and business, that he might wholly give up himself to lamentation.
My son — This he might speak from a deep sense of his eternal state, because he died in his sins, and because David himself had by his own sins been the occasion of his death. But it seems rather to be the effect of strong passion, causing him to speak unadvisedly with his lips.
Psalm 130
Verse 3
[3] If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
Mark — Observe them accurately and punish them as they deserve.
Stand — At thy tribunal.
Verse 4
[4] But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
Forgiveness — Thou art able and ready to forgive repenting sinners.
Feared — Not with a slavish, but with a childlike fear. This mercy of thine is the foundation of all religion, without which men would desperately proceed in their impious courses.
Verse 5
[5] I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
I wait — That he would pardon my sins.
Verse 6
[6] My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
They — Whether soldiers that keep the night-watches in an army, or the priests or Levites who did so in the temple.
Verse 7
[7] Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
Israel — Every true Israelite.
Plenteous — Abundantly sufficient for all persons who accept it upon God's terms.Ephesians 4:25-5:2
Verse 25
[25] Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Wherefore — Seeing ye are thus created anew, walk accordingly, in every particular.
For we are members one of another — To which intimate union all deceit is quite repugnant.
Verse 26
[26] Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Be ye angry, and sin not — That is, if ye are angry, take heed ye sin not. Anger at sin is not evil; but we should feel only pity to the sinner. If we are angry at the person, as well as the fault, we sin. And how hardly do we avoid it.
Let not the sun go down upon your wrath — Reprove your brother, and be reconciled immediately. Lose not one day. A clear, express command. Reader, do you keep it?
Verse 27
[27] Neither give place to the devil.
Neither give place to the devil — By any delay.
Verse 28
[28] Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
But rather let him labour — Lest idleness lead him to steal again. And whoever has sinned in any kind ought the more zealously to practise the opposite virtue.
That he may have to give — And so be no longer a burden and nuisance, but a blessing, to his neighbours.
Verse 29
[29] Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
But that which is good — Profitable to the speaker and hearers.
To the use of edifying — To forward them in repentance, faith, or holiness.
That it may minister grace — Be a means of conveying more grace into their hearts. Hence we learn, what discourse is corrupt, as it were stinking in the nostrils of God; namely, all that is not profitable, not edifying, not apt to minister grace to the hearers.
Verse 30
[30] And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Grieve not the Holy Spirit — By any disobedience. Particularly by corrupt discourse; or by any of the following sins. Do not force him to withdraw from you, as a friend does whom you grieve by unkind behaviour.
The day of redemption — That is, the day of judgment, in which our redemption will be completed.
Verse 31
[31] Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Let all bitterness — The height of settled anger, opposite to kindness, verse 32.
And wrath — Lasting displeasure toward the ignorant, and them that are out of the way, opposite to tenderheartedness.
And anger — The very first risings of disgust at those that injure you, opposite to forgiving one another.
And clamour — Or bawling. "I am not angry," says one; "but it is my way to speak so." Then unlearn that way: it is the way to hell.
And evil speaking — Be it in ever so mild and soft a tone, or with ever such professions of kindness. Here is a beautiful retrogradation, beginning with the highest, and descending to the lowest, degree of the want of love.
Verse 32
[32] And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
As God, showing himself kind and tenderhearted in the highest degree, hath forgiven you.
Verse 1
[1] Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
Be ye therefore followers — Imitators.
Of God — In forgiving and loving. O how much more honourable and more happy, to be an imitator of God, than of Homer, Virgil, or Alexander the Great!John 6:35, 41-51
Verse 35
[35] And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
I am the bread of life — Having and giving life: he that cometh - he that believeth - Equivalent expressions: shall never hunger, thirst - Shall be satisfied, happy, for ever.
Verse 44
[44] No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Christ having checked their murmuring, continues what he was saying, John 6:40.
No man comes to me, unless my Father draw him — No man can believe in Christ, unless God give him power: he draws us first, by good desires. Not by compulsion, not by laying the will under any necessity; but by the strong and sweet, yet still resistible, motions of his heavenly grace.
Verse 45
[45] It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
Every man that hath heard — The secret voice of God, he, and he only believeth. Isaiah 54:13.
Verse 46
[46] Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
Not that any one — Must expect him to appear in a visible shape.
He who is from or with God — In a more eminent manner than any creature.
Verse 50
[50] This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
Not die — Not spiritually; not eternally.
Verse 51
[51] I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
If any eat of this bread — That is, believe in me: he shall live for ever - In other words, he that believeth to the end shall be saved.
My flesh which I will give you — This whole discourse concerning his flesh and blood refers directly to his passion, and but remotely, if at all, to the Lord's Supper.
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Psalm 130
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
John 6:35, 41-51
Lectiionsry Scripture:
2 Samuel 18:5 The king gave orders to Yo’av, Avishai and Ittai, “For my sake, deal gently with young Avshalom.” All the people were listening when the king gave all the commanders this order concerning Avshalom.
6 So the people went out into the field against Isra’el; the battle took place in the forest of Efrayim. 7 The people of Isra’el were defeated there by David’s servants; there was a terrible slaughter that day of 20,000 men. 8 For the battle there was spread all over the countryside; the forest devoured more people that day than did the sword.
9 Avshalom happened to meet some of David’s servants. Avshalom was riding his mule, and as the mule walked under the thick branches of a big terebinth tree, his head got caught in the terebinth, so that he was left hanging between earth and sky, as the mule went on from under him.
15 Then Yo’av’s ten young armor-bearers surrounded Avshalom, struck him and killed him.
31 Then up came the Ethiopian, and the Ethiopian said, “There’s good news for my lord the king, for Adonai has judged in your favor and rid you of all those who rebelled against you.” 32 The king asked the Ethiopian, “Is everything all right with young Avshalom?” The Ethiopian answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rebel against you in order to harm you be as that young man is.”
Psalm 130:(0) A song of ascents. By David:
(1) Adonai, I call to you from the depths;
2 hear my cry, Adonai!
Let your ears pay attention
to the sound of my pleading.
3 Yah, if you kept a record of sins,
who, Adonai, could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
so that you will be feared.
5 I wait longingly for Adonai;
I put my hope in his word.
6 Everything in me waits for Adonai
more than guards on watch wait for morning,
more than guards on watch wait for morning.
7 Isra’el, put your hope in Adonai!
For grace is found with Adonai,
and with him is unlimited redemption.
8 He will redeem Isra’el
from all their wrongdoings.
Ephesians 4:25 Therefore, stripping off falsehood, let everyone speak truth with his neighbor,[Ephesians 4:25 Zechariah 8:16] because we are intimately related to each other as parts of a body. 26 Be angry, but don’t sin[Ephesians 4:26 Psalm 4:5(4)] — don’t let the sun go down before you have dealt with the cause of your anger; 27 otherwise you leave room for the Adversary.
28 The thief must stop stealing; instead, he should make an honest living by his own efforts. This way he will be able to share with those in need.
29 Let no harmful language come from your mouth, only good words that are helpful in meeting the need, words that will benefit those who hear them. 30 Don’t cause grief to God’s Ruach HaKodesh, for he has stamped you as his property until the day of final redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, violent assertiveness and slander, along with all spitefulness. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted; and forgive each other, just as in the Messiah God has also forgiven you.
5:1 So imitate God, as his dear children; 2 and live a life of love, just as also the Messiah loved us, indeed, on our behalf gave himself up as an offering, as a slaughtered sacrifice to God with a pleasing fragrance.
John 6:35 Yeshua answered, “I am the bread which is life! Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever trusts in me will never be thirsty.
41 At this the Judeans began grumbling about him because he said, “I am the bread which has come down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Isn’t this Yeshua Ben-Yosef? We know his father and mother! How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Yeshua answered them, “Stop grumbling to each other! 44 No one can come to me unless the Father — the One who sent me — draws him. And I will raise him up on the Last Day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘They will all be taught by Adonai.’[John 6:45 Isaiah 54:13] Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God — he has seen the Father. 47 Yes, indeed! I tell you, whoever trusts has eternal life: 48 I am the bread which is life. 49 Your fathers ate the man in the desert; they died. 50 But the bread that comes down from heaven is such that a person may eat it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that has come down from heaven; if anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. Furthermore, the bread that I will give is my own flesh; and I will give it for the life of the world.”
John Wesley's Notes-commentary for 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Verse 5
[5] And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom.
Deal gently — If you conquer (which be presaged they would by God's gracious answer to his prayer for the turning of Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness,) take him prisoner, but do not kill him. Which desire proceeded, from his great indulgence towards his children: from his consciousness that he himself was the meritorious cause of this rebellion, Absalom being given up to it for the punishment of David's sins; from the consideration of his youth, which commonly makes men foolish, and subject to ill counsels: and from his piety, being loth that he should be cut off in the act of his sin without any space for repentance. But ''what means, says Bp. Hall, this ill-placed mercy? Deal gently with a traitor? Of all traitors with a son? And all this for thy sake, whose crown, whose blood he hunts after? Even in the holiest parents nature may be guilty of an injurious tenderness. But was not this done in type of that unmeasurable mercy, of the true King of Israel, who prayed for his murderers, Father, forgive them! Deal gently with them for my sake!" Yea, when God sends an affliction to correct his children, it is with this charge, deal gently with them for my sake: for he knows our frame.
Verse 8
[8] For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country: and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.
The wood — More people died in the wood, either through hunger, and thirst, and weariness: or, by the wild beasts, whereof great numbers were there, which, though they were driven away from the place of the main battle, yet might easily meet with them when they fled several ways: or, by falling into ditches and pits, which were in that place, verse 17, and probably were covered with grass or wood, so that they could not see them till they fell into them: and especially by David's men, who pursued them, and killed them in the wood: and the wood is rightly said to have devoured them, because it gave the occasion to their destruction, inasmuch as the trees, and ditches, and pits, entangled them, and stopped their flight, and made them an easy prey to David's men, who followed them, and slew them in the pursuit.
The sword — In the main battle: the sword being put for the battle, by a common figure.
Verse 9
[9] And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.
The servants of David — Who, according to David's command, spared him, and gave him an opportunity to escape.
His head — In which probably he was entangled by the hair of the head, which being very long and thick, might easily catch hold of a bough, especially when the great God directed it. Either he wore no helmet, or he had thrown it away as well as his other arms, to hasten his flight. Thus the matter of his pride was the instrument of his ruin.
Verse 15
[15] And ten young men that bare Joab's armour compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him.
Slew him — The darts did not dispatch him, and therefore they smote him again, and killed him.
Verse 33
[33] And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!
Over the gate — Retiring himself from all men and business, that he might wholly give up himself to lamentation.
My son — This he might speak from a deep sense of his eternal state, because he died in his sins, and because David himself had by his own sins been the occasion of his death. But it seems rather to be the effect of strong passion, causing him to speak unadvisedly with his lips.
Psalm 130
Verse 3
[3] If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
Mark — Observe them accurately and punish them as they deserve.
Stand — At thy tribunal.
Verse 4
[4] But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
Forgiveness — Thou art able and ready to forgive repenting sinners.
Feared — Not with a slavish, but with a childlike fear. This mercy of thine is the foundation of all religion, without which men would desperately proceed in their impious courses.
Verse 5
[5] I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
I wait — That he would pardon my sins.
Verse 6
[6] My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
They — Whether soldiers that keep the night-watches in an army, or the priests or Levites who did so in the temple.
Verse 7
[7] Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
Israel — Every true Israelite.
Plenteous — Abundantly sufficient for all persons who accept it upon God's terms.Ephesians 4:25-5:2
Verse 25
[25] Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Wherefore — Seeing ye are thus created anew, walk accordingly, in every particular.
For we are members one of another — To which intimate union all deceit is quite repugnant.
Verse 26
[26] Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Be ye angry, and sin not — That is, if ye are angry, take heed ye sin not. Anger at sin is not evil; but we should feel only pity to the sinner. If we are angry at the person, as well as the fault, we sin. And how hardly do we avoid it.
Let not the sun go down upon your wrath — Reprove your brother, and be reconciled immediately. Lose not one day. A clear, express command. Reader, do you keep it?
Verse 27
[27] Neither give place to the devil.
Neither give place to the devil — By any delay.
Verse 28
[28] Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
But rather let him labour — Lest idleness lead him to steal again. And whoever has sinned in any kind ought the more zealously to practise the opposite virtue.
That he may have to give — And so be no longer a burden and nuisance, but a blessing, to his neighbours.
Verse 29
[29] Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
But that which is good — Profitable to the speaker and hearers.
To the use of edifying — To forward them in repentance, faith, or holiness.
That it may minister grace — Be a means of conveying more grace into their hearts. Hence we learn, what discourse is corrupt, as it were stinking in the nostrils of God; namely, all that is not profitable, not edifying, not apt to minister grace to the hearers.
Verse 30
[30] And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Grieve not the Holy Spirit — By any disobedience. Particularly by corrupt discourse; or by any of the following sins. Do not force him to withdraw from you, as a friend does whom you grieve by unkind behaviour.
The day of redemption — That is, the day of judgment, in which our redemption will be completed.
Verse 31
[31] Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Let all bitterness — The height of settled anger, opposite to kindness, verse 32.
And wrath — Lasting displeasure toward the ignorant, and them that are out of the way, opposite to tenderheartedness.
And anger — The very first risings of disgust at those that injure you, opposite to forgiving one another.
And clamour — Or bawling. "I am not angry," says one; "but it is my way to speak so." Then unlearn that way: it is the way to hell.
And evil speaking — Be it in ever so mild and soft a tone, or with ever such professions of kindness. Here is a beautiful retrogradation, beginning with the highest, and descending to the lowest, degree of the want of love.
Verse 32
[32] And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
As God, showing himself kind and tenderhearted in the highest degree, hath forgiven you.
Verse 1
[1] Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
Be ye therefore followers — Imitators.
Of God — In forgiving and loving. O how much more honourable and more happy, to be an imitator of God, than of Homer, Virgil, or Alexander the Great!John 6:35, 41-51
Verse 35
[35] And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
I am the bread of life — Having and giving life: he that cometh - he that believeth - Equivalent expressions: shall never hunger, thirst - Shall be satisfied, happy, for ever.
Verse 44
[44] No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Christ having checked their murmuring, continues what he was saying, John 6:40.
No man comes to me, unless my Father draw him — No man can believe in Christ, unless God give him power: he draws us first, by good desires. Not by compulsion, not by laying the will under any necessity; but by the strong and sweet, yet still resistible, motions of his heavenly grace.
Verse 45
[45] It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
Every man that hath heard — The secret voice of God, he, and he only believeth. Isaiah 54:13.
Verse 46
[46] Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
Not that any one — Must expect him to appear in a visible shape.
He who is from or with God — In a more eminent manner than any creature.
Verse 50
[50] This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
Not die — Not spiritually; not eternally.
Verse 51
[51] I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
If any eat of this bread — That is, believe in me: he shall live for ever - In other words, he that believeth to the end shall be saved.
My flesh which I will give you — This whole discourse concerning his flesh and blood refers directly to his passion, and but remotely, if at all, to the Lord's Supper.
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Upper Room Ministries, a ministry of Discipleship Ministries
PO Box 340004
Nashville, Tennessee 37203-0004 United States
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Sermon Story "The Death or Disability of a Child" by Gary Lee Parker for Sunday, 9 August 2015 with Scripture: 2 Samuel 18:5 The king gave orders to Yo’av, Avishai and Ittai, “For my sake, deal gently with young Avshalom.” All the people were listening when the king gave all the commanders this order concerning Avshalom.
6 So the people went out into the field against Isra’el; the battle took place in the forest of Efrayim. 7 The people of Isra’el were defeated there by David’s servants; there was a terrible slaughter that day of 20,000 men. 8 For the battle there was spread all over the countryside; the forest devoured more people that day than did the sword.
9 Avshalom happened to meet some of David’s servants. Avshalom was riding his mule, and as the mule walked under the thick branches of a big terebinth tree, his head got caught in the terebinth, so that he was left hanging between earth and sky, as the mule went on from under him.
15 Then Yo’av’s ten young armor-bearers surrounded Avshalom, struck him and killed him.
31 Then up came the Ethiopian, and the Ethiopian said, “There’s good news for my lord the king, for Adonai has judged in your favor and rid you of all those who rebelled against you.” 32 The king asked the Ethiopian, “Is everything all right with young Avshalom?” The Ethiopian answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rebel against you in order to harm you be as that young man is.”
Here we have David running for his life from someone who set him up as the King of Israel instead of King David. This person happens to be his son, Absalom, as it was told to David by Nathan the Prophet from God after David sinned by committing adultery with a married woman, Bthsheba, and kiling her husband, Uriah, to had the fact that she was made pregnant by David. Now, David still loved all his children and asked his troops to be gentle with his son, Absalom, because he was a son of his whom he loved like any oher of his children. Now, when Absalom was rding his mule apparently his long hair got caught in the trees where his mule went on, but he hung from the tree. The commander of David, Joab, was told even though David's men did not want to kill Absalom, but Joab did. When the news of his son, Absalom, was dead, David grieved as any parent would at the loss of his child through death even though David's army was the victorious one where David regained his kingdom. What character in this story do you relate to or not relate to? How do you understand David's grieving response while his soldiers felt defeated, not victorious? How do you understand this story in today's happenings? We have seen the death of many children thorugh war, disease, or accident as well as children being born with disbilities at no fault of their parents, but the grief is similar to David's grief for his son, Absalom. The hopes and dreams a parent has for their child is strong because whether it is death or a disability, the child no lnger can fulfill their parents hopes for them to make them a grandparent or being successful. Too often, the church knows how to grieve with the parents when their child dies, but they do not know how to cope with parents who have children who have disabilities. For whatever reason, the church appears to be distant from these parents and sometimes even suggesting the parents place their child into a government run institution or even send them out in the wilderness to die from the elements. How do we really need to embrace these parents whose child has a disability and still is made in God's Image and still has God-given gifts and graces to contribute to the building up of God's Kingdom? Where e have sinned against God and these parents as well as heir children, we come to seek God's mercy, grace and forgiveness through our repentance. We come to receive God's grace through the eating of the body of Jesus and drinking of the His blood in the participation of the Holy Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. We come to receive from God singing the Hymn "Angel" by SARAH MCLACHLAN
1. Spend all your time waiting
for that second chance
for a break that would make it okay
there's always some reason
to feel not good enough
and it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
oh beautiful release
memories seep from my veins
let me be empty
and weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight
Chorus:
in the arms of the angel
fly away from here
from this dark cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort here
2. so tired of the straight line
and everywhere you turn
there's vultures and thieves at your back
and the storm keeps on twisting
you keep on building the lies
that you make up for all that you lack
it don't make no difference
escaping one last time
it's easier to believe in this sweet madness oh
this glorious sadness that brings me to my knees
Chorus:
in the arms of the angel
fly away from here
from this dark cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort here
3. in the arms of the angel
fly away from here
from this dark cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort here
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort here
Chorus:
in the arms of the angel
fly away from here
from this dark cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort here
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6 So the people went out into the field against Isra’el; the battle took place in the forest of Efrayim. 7 The people of Isra’el were defeated there by David’s servants; there was a terrible slaughter that day of 20,000 men. 8 For the battle there was spread all over the countryside; the forest devoured more people that day than did the sword.
9 Avshalom happened to meet some of David’s servants. Avshalom was riding his mule, and as the mule walked under the thick branches of a big terebinth tree, his head got caught in the terebinth, so that he was left hanging between earth and sky, as the mule went on from under him.
15 Then Yo’av’s ten young armor-bearers surrounded Avshalom, struck him and killed him.
31 Then up came the Ethiopian, and the Ethiopian said, “There’s good news for my lord the king, for Adonai has judged in your favor and rid you of all those who rebelled against you.” 32 The king asked the Ethiopian, “Is everything all right with young Avshalom?” The Ethiopian answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rebel against you in order to harm you be as that young man is.”
Here we have David running for his life from someone who set him up as the King of Israel instead of King David. This person happens to be his son, Absalom, as it was told to David by Nathan the Prophet from God after David sinned by committing adultery with a married woman, Bthsheba, and kiling her husband, Uriah, to had the fact that she was made pregnant by David. Now, David still loved all his children and asked his troops to be gentle with his son, Absalom, because he was a son of his whom he loved like any oher of his children. Now, when Absalom was rding his mule apparently his long hair got caught in the trees where his mule went on, but he hung from the tree. The commander of David, Joab, was told even though David's men did not want to kill Absalom, but Joab did. When the news of his son, Absalom, was dead, David grieved as any parent would at the loss of his child through death even though David's army was the victorious one where David regained his kingdom. What character in this story do you relate to or not relate to? How do you understand David's grieving response while his soldiers felt defeated, not victorious? How do you understand this story in today's happenings? We have seen the death of many children thorugh war, disease, or accident as well as children being born with disbilities at no fault of their parents, but the grief is similar to David's grief for his son, Absalom. The hopes and dreams a parent has for their child is strong because whether it is death or a disability, the child no lnger can fulfill their parents hopes for them to make them a grandparent or being successful. Too often, the church knows how to grieve with the parents when their child dies, but they do not know how to cope with parents who have children who have disabilities. For whatever reason, the church appears to be distant from these parents and sometimes even suggesting the parents place their child into a government run institution or even send them out in the wilderness to die from the elements. How do we really need to embrace these parents whose child has a disability and still is made in God's Image and still has God-given gifts and graces to contribute to the building up of God's Kingdom? Where e have sinned against God and these parents as well as heir children, we come to seek God's mercy, grace and forgiveness through our repentance. We come to receive God's grace through the eating of the body of Jesus and drinking of the His blood in the participation of the Holy Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. We come to receive from God singing the Hymn "Angel" by SARAH MCLACHLAN
1. Spend all your time waiting
for that second chance
for a break that would make it okay
there's always some reason
to feel not good enough
and it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
oh beautiful release
memories seep from my veins
let me be empty
and weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight
Chorus:
in the arms of the angel
fly away from here
from this dark cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort here
2. so tired of the straight line
and everywhere you turn
there's vultures and thieves at your back
and the storm keeps on twisting
you keep on building the lies
that you make up for all that you lack
it don't make no difference
escaping one last time
it's easier to believe in this sweet madness oh
this glorious sadness that brings me to my knees
Chorus:
in the arms of the angel
fly away from here
from this dark cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort here
3. in the arms of the angel
fly away from here
from this dark cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort here
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort here
Chorus:
in the arms of the angel
fly away from here
from this dark cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort here
____________________________
Gary Lee Parker
4147 Idaho Street, Apt. 1
San Diego, California 92104-1844, United States
____________________________
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THE FOOD RULE by Mark D. White
John 6:35, 41-51
Many churches operate by an unspoken rule, which is employed for one reason above all others. This unspoken rule, when used, brings people together. We call it the covered-dish-dinner rule, the catered-meal rule, or the coffee-and-donut rule. We Christians understand that the presence of food can make the difference between high and low participation because it not only fills our tummies but it evokes our passion. We enjoy food, and we are more likely to attend a congregational meeting when fried chicken and chocolate pie are part of the agenda.
Food is a source of great passion, which means it can also incite arguments and complaints. Waiters and waitresses handle more than their fair share of grumbling about entrees that did not meet expectations. People on diets fuss about foods they are not supposed to eat. My three-year-old daughter complains that the healthy food we serve her at dinnertime is “yucky” because she would rather feast on a platter of candy than eat her fruits and vegetables.
We are highly critical of our food, so what can truly satisfy our hunger? In our nutrition-conscience society, no one answer would please every age group. Infants desire a milk diet; active teenagers crave an unlimited calorie diet, and some adults live for a high-protein, low-carb diet. Our different ideas about nutrition will occasionally lead to arguments about what foods should and should not be eaten. Even faithful churchgoers mirror this behavior by arguing about the kinds of spiritual foods that will satisfy our deepest hunger, which perhaps best describes the grumbling crowd who followed Jesus.
Jesus had already claimed that whoever comes to him “will never be hungry” but now, when he professes to be the “bread of life,” the crowd loses their patience with him. They begin complaining and grumbling because they had been around Jesus. They watched Jesus grow up in their neighborhood. They knew his mother and his father. There was no way, they thought, he could have come down from heaven as the bread of life, and so they conclude that his claim is preposterous and arrogant, if not blasphemous. But their self-confidence prevents them from recognizing the truth that stands right in front of their eyes. It keeps them from seeing Jesus as the one who can satisfy their hunger.
There is nothing wrong with confidence until it inhibits trust. My daughter is confident that a large bag of candy will satisfy her hunger. She will argue, “I’m not hungry for chicken. I want to eat candy,” but her selfassurance obscures the truth about candy. Eating a bag of candy for dinner has little nutritional value, and it would most likely make her sick. As virtually every other parent on the planet, I wish she would trust that her mother and I know what is best for her.
Developing this kind of trust takes faith, and yet faith is mysterious. It is not a choice we make, but it is the work of God. Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father” (v. 44). God is the one who draws us in. God is the initiator, the one pulling us toward faith. We can discuss every possible way to satisfy our deepest hunger, but we can’t accomplish this work on our own. Therefore, our best course of action, according to John 6, is to place our trust in God who will satisfy our hunger through Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, this is easier said than done because we are an independent kind of people who seek to take care of our own lives and provide for our own needs. We would rather trust in our own capabilities than rely on outside assistance, but discipleship calls us to follow Jesus and following, by definition, involves trust. When we place our trust in Jesus, we are saying that we trust that the Lord will lead us to green pastures and still waters, which will satisfy our deepest hunger.
A major shift in the way we live occurs when we place our trust in God. For starters, we worry less and begin to enjoy the journey of life more. We begin to notice more of God’s gifts that meet us along the way, like fresh summer vegetables and the joy of family and friends. When we trust that Jesus is leading us toward an abundant life, our hungers are put into perspective; we become less focused on what we desire and more grateful for God’s gifts. As a result, we are more willing to share our blessings and more willing to offer help to those who are hungry. In more or less words, we are sharing life, which is doubly beneficial for it not only helps the person we serve but also satisfies our hunger. By placing our trust in God, the words of Jesus become a reality for “whoever comes to [him] will never be hungry” (v. 35).
Our world tempts us to hunger for many things that will take us off the path of abundant life and will instead lead us down a path of dissatisfaction. It is for this reason that we need to hunger for the right things. Jesus once said, “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6) and thus, we should hunger for a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus who is our bread of life. After all, Jesus invites us to feast on his body. Jesus is our source for survival, and when we nurture this relationship, our hungers are put in a proper perspective so that we will indeed hunger and thirst for the right things, which will ultimately satisfy us with the gift of eternal life.
WORSHIP ELEMENTS: AUGUST 9, 2015 by John A. Brewer
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
COLOR: Green
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33; Psalm 130; Ephesians 4:25–5:2; John 6:35, 41-51
THEME IDEAS
These texts lend themselves to a number of mid-summer themes, including the grief of war, the forgiveness of God, patience in listening for the direction of God, spiritual hunger that is fed only by bread from heaven, and the encouragement to live a life of integrity and authenticity as followers of Christ. Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq are all indications of an impatient world that is hungering for something beyond our reach. So, God reaches out to us in our humanness and gives us this example, this person,
this Christ.
INVITATION AND GATHERING
Call to Worship (Psalm 130)
Out of the depths I cry to you.
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.
If you kept a record of sins, Lord,
who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
that we might serve you with reverence.
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in God’s word I put my hope.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord
and in God’s unfailing love.
Out of the depths I cry to you.
Lord, hear my voice.
Opening Prayer (John 6, Psalm 130)
O Bread of heaven,
come down.
Come down and fill us with your Spirit—
for your Spirit satisfies like no other.
We hunger and thirst for you this morning
and long to be nurtured
in your love and forgiveness.
So we come to this sacred time and place,
where our hungers are finally and fully satisfied
as only your bread can do.
We will wait and listen
for your leading in this hour. Amen.
PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE
Prayer of Confession (2 Samuel, Psalm 130, Ephesians 4)
O God of compassion,
if you kept a record of our sins,
who could stand?
We come before you with our brokenness
and our wounds for all to see.
We bring our anger, our bitterness,
our unwholesome talk,
and our deceitfulness.
We try to do good,
but sometimes fail.
We choose to do evil,
and sometimes succeed.
Keep your promise to forgive us
when we confess to you completely.
Without you, we have no hope.
Words of Assurance (Psalm 130, John 6)
If we confess our sins, God is faithful and will forgive us.
God provides freely, in the bread of heaven,
all the mercy we need for life everlasting.
The good news is forgiveness in the name of Christ Jesus.
Passing the Peace of Christ (Ephesians 4)
We are not far from the kingdom of God. In fact, the kingdom of God is within you. Extend to those near you evidence of the kingdom in your greetings of peace and love.
Response to the Word (2 Samuel, John 6, Ephesians 4)
Glorious things of thee are spoken.
We marvel at the wisdom of your word,
O God of heaven.
May these words we have heard
become nourishment for our souls
and guidance for the living of our daily lives.
Write these words on our hearts, O Lord,
that we may be reflections of your truth and mercy.
Amen.
THANKSGIVING AND COMMUNION
Invitation to the Offering (Psalm 130, John 6)
Freely we have received. Thus, we freely give: grace upon grace. Let us express our love and appreciation to God, by extending the grace and mercy of God to a hungry world.
Offering Prayer (John 6, Ephesians 4)
O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
We bow before you and thank you for the privilege
to participate in your acts of kindness and love
here on earth.
May these gifts truly become instruments
of your purposes here in our church, our community,
and around the world. Amen.
SENDING FORTH
Benediction (2 Samuel, John 6, Ephesians 4)
Go forth and live as Christ in the world.
Speak and live with integrity
as you journey through this new week,
knowing that God will satisfy your every need
and lead you to a victorious life.
CONTEMPORARY OPTIONS
Contemporary Gathering Words (2 Samuel, Psalm 130)
You have been waiting long enough.
It’s time to listen for God’s voice.
We have been waiting many a long night.
Well, the day is here and the time is now
to find new hope in God alone!
It is God! It is Jesus Christ, God himself,
who is finally saving us!
Then come and join in the hope we share
of God’s never-ending love.
We will celebrate by singing and praising God!
Praise Sentences
Totally, completely, without reservation,
God is worthy of our praise!
Without holding anything back,
we sing and shout the praise of our God!
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.
WORSHIP CONNECTION: AUGUST 9, 2015 by Nancy C. Townley
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
COLOR: Green
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33; Psalm 130; Ephesians 4:25–5:2; John 6:35, 41-51
CALLS TO WORSHIP
Call to Worship #1
L: Out of the depths of our struggles, we cry to the Lord.
P: Lord, hear our cries!
L: In the inner darkness when we feel so alone, we cry to the Lord.
P: Lord, hear our cries!
L: We wait for the Lord with patient and hopeful hearts.
P: Lord, be with us today. AMEN.
Call to Worship #2
L: We are hungering and thirsting for hope and peace.
P: Come, Lord Jesus, come.
L: Our hearts long for the nourishing presence of God.
P: Come, Lord Jesus, come.
L: Give to us the living bread of your peace that we may hunger no more.
P: Open our hearts to joyfully receive your life-sustaining love. AMEN.
Call to Worship #3
[Using THE FAITH WE SING, p. 2136, "Out of the Depths", offer the following call to worship as directed]
L: We are caught up in the trials and tribulations of our everyday lives.
P: The world seems to swirl around us, as a whirlpool, pulling us downward.
L: Bad news blasts us from every direction.
P: We need God’s healing touch right now.
Choir: singing verse 1 of "Out of the Depths"
L: Help us to believe in your healing love, O Lord.
P: Help us to focus our lives on your redeeming presence.
L: Enable us to reach out to each other and to our community.
P: Give us the strength, determination, and commitment to speak your word of peace.
Choir: singing verse 3 of "Out of the Depths"
L: And the people who seek the Lord shout:
ALL: AMEN!
Call to Worship #4
L: Hungering and thirsting, we come to the Lord.
P: Jesus is the living bread!
L: Feed us with your love and healing power, O Lord.
P: Give u s the bread of hope and compassion that we may also feed others.
L: Praise be to you, O Lord, for your compassion for us.
P: Praise be to you, O Lord, for your steadfast love. AMEN.
PRAYERS, READING, BENEDICTION
OPENING PRAYER
Lord, we come to you this day with so many things going on in our lives. Some of these things are wonderful and cause us to rejoice. However, there are far too many things that cause us fear and anxiety. Humbly we wait for your presence with us. We need your healing touch. Feed us with the bread of life, that we may hunger no more. Strengthen us to do your will, for it is in Jesus’ Name, we pray. AMEN.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Lord, we want the easy way out! When things go wrong, we want to find who to blame for our misfortune. When we don’t get what we want, we want to punish whoever prevents us from our goals and desires. We don’t want to look at the ways in which we have perverted your love for us. We treat you as though you are a puppet who will dance to our demands. We act like spoiled children who want everything immediately, and who will become sullen and spiteful if we don’t get what we ask for. We stopped listening to you. Systems of greed and injustice replaced your command to "love one another". And now we come to you, asking for forgiveness and healing. Our hearts and lives are empty without your love. Our spirits wither and die in this greedy wasteland. Give to us your life-sustaining bread. Heal our souls. Help us to truly worship you and to willingly work for healing and hope in this world. We ask these things in Jesus’ Name, AMEN.
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
L: God has heard your cries and knows your anguish. In Jesus Christ, you are loved and forgiven.
P: Praise be to God who forgives us all in the name of God’s beloved Son! AMEN.
PASTORAL PRAYER
Do we really dare to believe in Jesus Christ? That is a question that often goes unspoken but does rest in our hearts. Lord, help us in our unbelief. Help us to be courageous enough to accept the love that you have for us and the power you have to forgive and heal our souls. We live in a time of great hostility, fear and strife. It is easy for us to succumb to the terrors and forget that you are with us at all times, seeking peace and hope. You have asked us to be instruments of peace and justice. To do this we need to change our attitudes and practices to reflect your love and compassion and not be vehicles for our greed or need for approval. Jesus, the Bread of Life, has taught us the importance of serving others, and in that service we will do honor to you. Create in us hearts that are eager to serve and witness to your love. Open our lives this day and pour your healing mercies into them, that we may be messengers of hope to all whom we meet. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. AMEN.
READING
Reader 1: Bread. I like bread. I like the image of bread that Jesus used when he spoke with his disciples.
Reader 2: When I think of bread, my mind wanders to: Oatmeal, Wheat, White, Cracked Oat, Banana, Cranberry.....
Reader 1: You know, they say "Bread is the staff of life!"
Reader 2: Well, I surely could enjoy my fill of bread.
Reader 1: What do you think Jesus meant when he said he was the Bread of Life.
Reader 2: I don’t actually know. I kind of just gloss over that part of the scripture. It’s a nice phrase and all but I don’t quite get it.
Reader 1: Well, when I think of bread, which as I said I love, I think of being nourished, filled up.
Reader 2: You mean, that we should think of Jesus as "nourishing"?
Reader 1: Yes. All the things that he taught us, remind us of God’s life-sustaining love, right?
Reader 2: That’s right. He did teach us about forgiveness, and hope, and mercy. All those things would make someone’s life more fulfilled, fuller!
Reader 1: When we come to learn about Jesus, we learn more about our own relationship with God. We learn about the many ways in which God sustains us, giving us life.
Reader 2: Yeah, and when we think about this in relation to a loaf of bread, we are reminded that when we consume the loaf, we will be hungry again; but when we rely on Jesus for our nurture and sustenance we won’t ever hunger or thirst. Jesus is all we need!
Reader 1: I think that may be it. Jesus IS our life-giving, soul-sustaining Bread!
Reader 2: I know that I need this bread of life. Through the witness of Jesus, I come to the Father who renews and sustains me.
Reader 1: Thank God for bread!
Reader 2: Thank God for Jesus Christ, our Bread of Life!
BENEDICTION, BLESSING
Having been filled by the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, go forth into this world where hunger and thirst persist. Bring the healing, life-sustaining, nourishing word of God and the peace and love of Jesus Christ. Offer the transforming witness of the Holy Spirit to all you meet. Go in peace and may God’s peace always be with you. 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.
Note: The image of Bread is used liberally in John’s gospel. You may want to consider a display using bread as the main image. For many of the people, the true emptiness in their lives was exposed in their actions and attitudes. They wanted a sign. The authorities could only think of Jesus as the son of Joseph and Mary, a child of their own community. They had little faith that God would give them hope through someone they knew. Jesus reminded them that they were drawn by the Father to him, and through him they would receive life-sustaining "bread". Today’s focus is on the Living Bread - Jesus Christ. The image offered is the Bread of Life come down from Heaven, into the wildernesses of our lives. The praying hands picture centered on the worship table is a pleasant change from the traditional brass cross.
SURFACE: Place three risers on the worship center. The first riser should be placed in the center of the worship center, and the other two, lower risers, should be placed somewhat diagonally on each side and to the front of the center riser. Place a riser in front of the worship center.
FABRIC: You may wish to cover the entire worship center with green fabric, which is the color of the season, but my preference would be to use landscaper’s burlap to cover the worship center and all the risers, puddling on the floor in front of the riser. Green fabric, 12" square may be used on each of the risers. Using white netting, approximately 3 yards, gather it so that it bunches across the back of the worship center, somewhat reminiscent of clouds (heaven).
CANDLES: Place one white 10" pillar candle in the middle of the worship center.
FLOWERS/FOLIAGE: It is not necessary to use flowers for this setting. Although a small bundle of wheat may be placed in front of the candle at the middle of the worship center.
ROCKS/WOOD: Scatter bunches of small stones here and there in the worship center to give texture.
OTHER: Often in the Sunday School Curriculum there is a picture of "The Praying Hands". You might consider placing it on the center top riser on the worship center. Otherwise, the Brass Cross would suffice. If the bread you used on the worship center is still good, remove it from the baskets and pile it up on and near the other two risers on the worship center. On the lower riser, place an empty basket, and several other baskets, empty and tipped over at the base of the worship center.
WORSHIP FOR KIDS: AUGUST 9, 2015 by Carolyn C. Brown
From a Child's Point of View
Old Testament: 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33. These verses are too terse to tell the story of Absalom's rebellion meaningfully. But the full story, which fills 2 Samuel 13-19, is too complex for children. They need to hear your adaptation of this story of a son who could not wait to be king. Its key elements concern Absalom, parading through the streets, offering to take over his father's position as judge, proclaiming himself king, raising an army to fight his father, and finally being caught and killed in battle.
Children are touched by David's love and grief. Teenagers have more sympathy for Absalom (especially if they hear about David's failure to punish Amnon for raping Tamar), and they understand the struggle between father and son. But worshipers of all ages recognize and feel the destructive, painful results of selfish struggles within families that are so evident in this story.
Psalm: 130. Children understand this psalm best as a prayer David may have prayed as he worried about or mourned for Absalom. In that context, they hear both the pain and the trust. The Good News Bible's translation is the easiest for them to understand. The New Jerusalem Bible is second choice.
Epistle: Ephesians 4:25-5:2. When 5:1-2b is read both first and last (omitting the final phrase, "a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God," to avoid confusing children with sacrificial terminology unnecessary for Paul's point), children recognize, in the remaining verses, specific suggestions for ways to live like Christ. They also recognize advice that would have been helpful to David's family and can be helpful to our families today.
Verses 26, 25, and 29 speak of two key concerns to children: Verse 26 assures them that it is OK to be angry, but it is important to handle their anger well. Children often misunderstand adult responses to a child's angry outbursts to mean that being angry is bad. "Good boys and girls do not get angry." The fact is that anger is the appropriate response to many situations. Good boys and girls do become angry! But Paul insists that they are not to let their anger make them do things that are wrong hitting, name calling, and the like. Instead, they are to control their anger and work to solve the problem that caused it. Adults know, and children need to be told, that this is never easy!
Verses 25 and 29 highlight the importance of what we say. Elementary children are learning the power of words to both help and hurt. They are also learning to take responsibility for their words. Especially among fifth- and sixth-graders, more conflicts are started by what someone said, or by what someone thought they heard someone say, than by what they do to one another. Paul insists that learning to control what we say is part of growing as a Christian.
Gospel: John 6:35, 41-51. The first misunderstanding in this chapter was that the bread Jesus offered was free food. When Jesus insisted that he was not offering free food, but spiritual food from God, a second misunderstanding erupted. The crowd expected messengers bringing spiritual food from God to be somehow special or different. But Jesus was just another person they had watched grow up among them. Children are interested in the question behind the misunderstanding: "How do you recognize bread (or messages) from God?" Jesus' answer that God helps us is only partially satisfying. Children want to know how God helps us. They wish for more concrete descriptions than Jesus' statement that God "draws us to" the messages. The preacher may want to identify ways the church traditionally has recognized God's messages for example, that they are consistent with the record of God's action in the Bible.
Watch Words
Avoid abstract political language such as coup, intrigue, and treason, in favor of plot, plan, and taking his father's place as king.
Today, bread is God's Word, or messages from God.
Let the Children Sing
"Nobody Knows the Trouble I See" parallels Psalms 130 and is a song David and all those with troubles in their family can sing.
Sing "Lord, I Want to Be a Christian," to respond to the Epistle.
Point out that though "Break Thou the Bread of Life" is often sung as a communion hymn, it is really a hymn about hearing and knowing God's Word. Put several phrases into your own words to illustrate this point before inviting the congregation to sing the hymn.
The Liturgical Child
1. Continue to display bread in the chancel. Today, feature loafs of bread and an open Bible.
2. Invite worshipers to pray for their families. A worship leader offers general prayers aloud, then pauses so that worshipers may pray silently about their particular families. For example:
Lord of life, you have placed each of us in a family. You have given us mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews, and grandparents. Some of us have step-families and people who have become "like family" to us. Hear our prayers, thanking you for all the people who are our family. (PAUSE) Lord of love, we also must admit that love is not always easy in a family . . . .
3. Create a responsive Prayer of Confession based on Paul's teachings in today's Epistle. A worship leader presents each teaching, following the same format: "Paul told us to . . . , but we . . . ." The congregation responds, "Forgive us, God." For example:
Paul told us to control our anger, but we often let our anger control us. In anger, we say cruel, hurting words which we later regret. In anger, we fight back, even throw punches. In anger, we try to get even with people, rather than try to solve the problems between us. (RESPONSE) Paul told us to always tell the truth, but we . . . .
4. Ask several children to present the Epistle. Each child reads, or memorizes, one of Paul's instructions. All children repeat Ephesians 5:1-2b in unison, both before and after the individual teachings. The sequence is: All: 5:1-2b; Reader 1: 4:25; Reader 2: 4:26-27; Reader 3: 4:28; Reader 4: 4:29; Reader 5: 4:30; Reader 6: 4:31; Reader 7: 4:32; and All: 5:1-2b.
Sermon Resources
1. Devote the sermon to telling and exploring the story of David and Absalom. Edit out extraneous details and side plots to focus on the key events and the feelings of the main characters. Walter Brueggemann's commentary in First and Second Samuel (Interpretation Series [Westminster John Knox, 1990]) offers helpful insights for such storytelling. Trust the story to carry its own messages without preacher-imposed moralizations.
2. Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh, tells about a sixth-grade girl who kept a notebook of very honest but not very kind comments about everyone and everything she saw. In chapter 10, her friends accidentally find what she had written about them, it takes three chapters to describe their anger, Harriet's anger, and how she finally found a way to apologize. The Hating Book, by Charlotte Zolotow, offers a similar story.
SERMON OPTIONS: AUGUST 9, 2015
The Humpty-Dumpty Syndrome
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Absalom lay peacefully in his mother’s arms as his father, David, looked on. But what a paradox. The child whose name meant “peaceful” would burst upon the pages of history with a vengeance. Murder, seduction, hatred, rebellion, and war would become his trademarks. Even his death would be anything but peaceful.
Absalom suffered from what we could call the “Humpty-Dumpty syndrome.” Like the character in the children’s rhyme, Absalom thought he couldn’t fall, but life came crashing in on him and he did fall! And all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Absalom together again.
What caused Absalom’s downfall? How can we avoid his mistakes?
I. Absalom’s Life Demonstrated Revenge
The Bible describes the trickery of Absalom’s half brother, Amnon, who raped Absalom’s beautiful sister, Tamar (2 Sam. 13). Like a cancerous cell, revenge spread quickly in Absalom’s heart until it dominated his every waking moment. Revenge asks how to take the law into one’s own hands to carry out the punishment of the guilty. David never punished Amnon for his despicable act, but Absalom planned in his heart the steps necessary for revenge, and carried them out (2 Sam. 13:32) .
The character flaw of revenge appears as:
• a relentless pursuer never satisfied until hatred is fulfilled.
• desire, not for justice but for selfish victory over another.
• restlessness—until a twisted action is taken.
• fanaticism that leaves logic in the dust.
What about your life? Has someone hurt you so deeply that you have lost sight of equitable punishment and allowed revenge to rob you of life’s peace? Get a grip on revenge now. Ask God for forgiveness. Deal with the matter with human help. Get on with life.
II. Absalom’s Life Demonstrated a Lack of Moral Responsibility
Absalom carried out his plan by murdering his brother Amnon. He then flees from his act of violence to Talmai, his maternal grandfather (2 Sam. 13:38) . At his home he found asylum.
The question of morality is on the mind of the nation. Who is right and who is wrong? Where do we get our morality?
Christians look to the Bible as the foundation for our morality, for which the Ten Commandments forms the basis. The Beatitudes are the principles of sacred attitude (Matt. 5:1-12). Truth, righteousness, and holiness become our watchword and song in life—all of which point to moral responsibility.
III. Absalom’s Life Demonstrated a Divorce in Relationships
There is a sad verse in 2 Samuel 16, which reads, “then all the Israelites will hear that your father is your enemy” (v. 21b, New Century Version). Divorce culminates in separation from any type of relationship. Somewhere in Absalom’s heart he divorced his dad. It may have started when David refused to punish Amnon for Tamar’s rape, but probably it developed years before in quite subtle ways. David’s busy schedule of running a nation, going off to war, and ruling a palace all interfered with his relationship with Absalom. What legitimate activities have separated you from someone you love?
IV. Absalom’s Life Ends Without Remorse
Remorse never entered Absalom’s mind when he became entangled in the large oak tree (2 Sam. 18:9) . He probably died cursing his father as he had done all of his life, even as Joab threw the first javelin into his heart (2 Sam. 18:14).
Many people die without any remorse for the things they did or the way they acted. Revenge, immorality, separation, and hatred all contribute to a great fall in life. How can we avoid this kind of scenario? Only by asking God for help, repenting for wrong motives and actions, and daily consecrating ourselves to God. (Derl G. Keefer)
Learning How to Encourage Others
Ephesians 4:25–5:2
Remember the old children’s verse, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”? The older we become the more we realize that words do hurt. Hurtful words coupled with hurtful actions are much more painful than “sticks and stones.” The sting of hurtful words and actions can remain with us for years.
Christians ought to encourage others with their words and actions. We often are not sure how to do this. In Ephesians 4:1 –5:2, the apostle Paul instructs believers in how to encourage others through words and actions. In these verses we learn six ways to encourage others.
I. We Encourage Others by Speaking the Truth in Love
The first way we can encourage one another is by removing falsehood and speaking the truth in love. This is one coin with two sides. One side states that we must stop lying to each other, while the other side of the coin says we must speak the truth in a loving manner. Many times we try to avoid conflicts by fudging on the truth. We do not want to hurt the other person’s feelings, or so we tell ourselves. Actually, we probably don’t want to get involved to the point that we put ourselves at risk. Loving relationships, though, mean that we do put ourselves in the place where we can be hurt for another’s welfare.
At the same time we must not be blunt to the extent that we needlessly offend. Love must be our guide. We must ask ourselves what is the most loving way to express the truth.
II. We Encourage Others by Not Allowing Our Anger to Become Sin
A second direction for encouraging others is found in verse 26. While anger is an emotion that arises in any relationship, we must not allow our anger to become sin. Biblical anger always involves a righteous reaction to sinfulness. But biblical anger is always seasoned by love and redemption. Sinful anger wants to hurt and get revenge. Don’t allow your anger to damage a relationship. “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.”
III. We Encourage Others by Working Hard
Paul expresses a third manner in which we can encourage other people, and that is through sharing the goods we have gained through hard work. In verse 28 we are admonished not to steal but to work hard in order to have something to share with those who are in need. Sometimes the best thing we can do for someone is to supply a material need. Providing food or clothes or paying a medical bill can build others up in ways we could never imagine. The only way we can meet such a need is to be in a position financially to do so. Consequently, our income through gainful employment becomes a means for encouraging others.
IV. We Encourage Others by Speaking Positive Words
Verse 29 is a verse that seems to tower over the rest of the passage. Words are not neutral. The words we say are either positive, which means they build up other people, or they are negative, which means they tear down other people. Evaluating our words as to whether they are positive or negative is one of the most difficult things for us to do. We need to be concerned with more than what we say and why we say it. We must be mindful of the way the other person hears and receives what we say. Perhaps the most encouraging thing we can do for others is to use our words to build them up.
V. We Encourage Others by Forgiving Them
The fifth way our passage teaches us to build up others is by forgiving them. Forgiveness means not taking into account wrongs we suffer. Forgiveness also involves treating the one who has sinned against us as though he or she has not done anything to us. We can forgive others even if they do not ask for our forgiveness, but full reconciliation takes place only when they admit their wrongs and ask our forgiveness.
Think of the times in your life when you have had to ask for forgiveness. Can you remember how encouraging it was when you received forgiveness? So we need to be “tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.”
VI. We Encourage Others by Walking in Love
Paul’s final exhortation on how we can encourage others is to walk in love. Our whole attitude and demeanor should be characterized by love. Such a character trait includes putting others before ourselves, wanting and working for the best for and in others, being patient and kind, and hoping and believing in others. Love is an action and not soupy sentimentality. We can encourage others best when we love them most.
The apostle Paul has given us practical instruction into exactly how we can encourage other people. The hard part for us is to apply what we know is right. Our relationships with each other deserve the greatest effort we can exert. When we put into practice what the Scriptures teach us we enjoy healthy and happy relationships. (Douglas Walker)
Satisfaction Guaranteed
John 6:35, 41-51
Hunger hurts! When you haven’t had enough to eat it is painful. I vividly remember a meal shared with fellow theological students. After we had said grace one student said to me, “I just don’t understand why we pray over our food. None of us have ever been without food. Most of us have eaten too much of it today, and we are struggling with a weight problem. We should not be grateful for food, but grateful when we can resist its allure.”
This person’s problem was that he had never been without food before, never been weakened because of the lack of food. The average person in the world will eat one small meal today, and 10,000 will die due to the lack of food. Hunger hurts!
Hunger for food was assumed in biblical times, and with the context of this universal experience Jesus spoke the controversial words, “I am the bread of life.” It was a statement that was sure to get everyone’s attention. What was Jesus saying about himself?
I. I Am a Staple
Verse 41 says that “the Jews began to complain about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven. ” It didn’t take them long, did it? Wouldn’t you complain about me if I said, “I am the bread of life.” You would consider that outrageous! They thought it was ridiculous that Jesus should make such an audacious claim. “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?” (v. 42).
Bread is a universal staple. It was in biblical times, and it is now. According to Webster’s, a staple is a “chief item of trade, regularly stocked and in constant demand”; “a most important, leading principal.” Jesus is claiming that life is made up of many pressures, many opinions, many struggles, many decisions, but there is one thing that is basic to all of life—himself.
The Jews had every right to complain about someone who would make such a broad claim. Either Jesus was someone they had never encountered before, or he was in need of the services of the mental health clinic.
II. I Satisfy
It is no secret that God has created us with a “God-space” in our lives, and until we fill it with God we will be hungry and thirsty. Job expressed this when he cried, “Oh, that I knew where I might find [God], that I might come even to his dwelling!” (23:3).
Jesus guarantees that he will fill the hunger that we all have for spiritual fulfillment.
Job’s cry is the cry of everyone. Nothing satisfies our longing for the Deity but the Divine. Junk food may relieve our hunger for a time, but a steady diet of junk food will produce indigestion. Likewise, if we try to fill our spiritual hunger with things of the world, we will never be satisfied. Jesus is the staple that permanently satisfies our desire to have fellowship with our Creator. When we accept Jesus we are satisfied. Satisfaction guaranteed . . . by God. (C. Thomas Hilton)
_____________________________
Ministry Matters
2222 Rosa L. Parks Boulvard
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Absalom lay peacefully in his mother’s arms as his father, David, looked on. But what a paradox. The child whose name meant “peaceful” would burst upon the pages of history with a vengeance. Murder, seduction, hatred, rebellion, and war would become his trademarks. Even his death would be anything but peaceful.
Absalom suffered from what we could call the “Humpty-Dumpty syndrome.” Like the character in the children’s rhyme, Absalom thought he couldn’t fall, but life came crashing in on him and he did fall! And all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Absalom together again.
What caused Absalom’s downfall? How can we avoid his mistakes?
I. Absalom’s Life Demonstrated Revenge
The Bible describes the trickery of Absalom’s half brother, Amnon, who raped Absalom’s beautiful sister, Tamar (2 Sam. 13). Like a cancerous cell, revenge spread quickly in Absalom’s heart until it dominated his every waking moment. Revenge asks how to take the law into one’s own hands to carry out the punishment of the guilty. David never punished Amnon for his despicable act, but Absalom planned in his heart the steps necessary for revenge, and carried them out (2 Sam. 13:32) .
The character flaw of revenge appears as:
• a relentless pursuer never satisfied until hatred is fulfilled.
• desire, not for justice but for selfish victory over another.
• restlessness—until a twisted action is taken.
• fanaticism that leaves logic in the dust.
What about your life? Has someone hurt you so deeply that you have lost sight of equitable punishment and allowed revenge to rob you of life’s peace? Get a grip on revenge now. Ask God for forgiveness. Deal with the matter with human help. Get on with life.
II. Absalom’s Life Demonstrated a Lack of Moral Responsibility
Absalom carried out his plan by murdering his brother Amnon. He then flees from his act of violence to Talmai, his maternal grandfather (2 Sam. 13:38) . At his home he found asylum.
The question of morality is on the mind of the nation. Who is right and who is wrong? Where do we get our morality?
Christians look to the Bible as the foundation for our morality, for which the Ten Commandments forms the basis. The Beatitudes are the principles of sacred attitude (Matt. 5:1-12). Truth, righteousness, and holiness become our watchword and song in life—all of which point to moral responsibility.
III. Absalom’s Life Demonstrated a Divorce in Relationships
There is a sad verse in 2 Samuel 16, which reads, “then all the Israelites will hear that your father is your enemy” (v. 21b, New Century Version). Divorce culminates in separation from any type of relationship. Somewhere in Absalom’s heart he divorced his dad. It may have started when David refused to punish Amnon for Tamar’s rape, but probably it developed years before in quite subtle ways. David’s busy schedule of running a nation, going off to war, and ruling a palace all interfered with his relationship with Absalom. What legitimate activities have separated you from someone you love?
IV. Absalom’s Life Ends Without Remorse
Remorse never entered Absalom’s mind when he became entangled in the large oak tree (2 Sam. 18:9) . He probably died cursing his father as he had done all of his life, even as Joab threw the first javelin into his heart (2 Sam. 18:14).
Many people die without any remorse for the things they did or the way they acted. Revenge, immorality, separation, and hatred all contribute to a great fall in life. How can we avoid this kind of scenario? Only by asking God for help, repenting for wrong motives and actions, and daily consecrating ourselves to God. (Derl G. Keefer)
Learning How to Encourage Others
Ephesians 4:25–5:2
Remember the old children’s verse, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”? The older we become the more we realize that words do hurt. Hurtful words coupled with hurtful actions are much more painful than “sticks and stones.” The sting of hurtful words and actions can remain with us for years.
Christians ought to encourage others with their words and actions. We often are not sure how to do this. In Ephesians 4:1 –5:2, the apostle Paul instructs believers in how to encourage others through words and actions. In these verses we learn six ways to encourage others.
I. We Encourage Others by Speaking the Truth in Love
The first way we can encourage one another is by removing falsehood and speaking the truth in love. This is one coin with two sides. One side states that we must stop lying to each other, while the other side of the coin says we must speak the truth in a loving manner. Many times we try to avoid conflicts by fudging on the truth. We do not want to hurt the other person’s feelings, or so we tell ourselves. Actually, we probably don’t want to get involved to the point that we put ourselves at risk. Loving relationships, though, mean that we do put ourselves in the place where we can be hurt for another’s welfare.
At the same time we must not be blunt to the extent that we needlessly offend. Love must be our guide. We must ask ourselves what is the most loving way to express the truth.
II. We Encourage Others by Not Allowing Our Anger to Become Sin
A second direction for encouraging others is found in verse 26. While anger is an emotion that arises in any relationship, we must not allow our anger to become sin. Biblical anger always involves a righteous reaction to sinfulness. But biblical anger is always seasoned by love and redemption. Sinful anger wants to hurt and get revenge. Don’t allow your anger to damage a relationship. “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.”
III. We Encourage Others by Working Hard
Paul expresses a third manner in which we can encourage other people, and that is through sharing the goods we have gained through hard work. In verse 28 we are admonished not to steal but to work hard in order to have something to share with those who are in need. Sometimes the best thing we can do for someone is to supply a material need. Providing food or clothes or paying a medical bill can build others up in ways we could never imagine. The only way we can meet such a need is to be in a position financially to do so. Consequently, our income through gainful employment becomes a means for encouraging others.
IV. We Encourage Others by Speaking Positive Words
Verse 29 is a verse that seems to tower over the rest of the passage. Words are not neutral. The words we say are either positive, which means they build up other people, or they are negative, which means they tear down other people. Evaluating our words as to whether they are positive or negative is one of the most difficult things for us to do. We need to be concerned with more than what we say and why we say it. We must be mindful of the way the other person hears and receives what we say. Perhaps the most encouraging thing we can do for others is to use our words to build them up.
V. We Encourage Others by Forgiving Them
The fifth way our passage teaches us to build up others is by forgiving them. Forgiveness means not taking into account wrongs we suffer. Forgiveness also involves treating the one who has sinned against us as though he or she has not done anything to us. We can forgive others even if they do not ask for our forgiveness, but full reconciliation takes place only when they admit their wrongs and ask our forgiveness.
Think of the times in your life when you have had to ask for forgiveness. Can you remember how encouraging it was when you received forgiveness? So we need to be “tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.”
VI. We Encourage Others by Walking in Love
Paul’s final exhortation on how we can encourage others is to walk in love. Our whole attitude and demeanor should be characterized by love. Such a character trait includes putting others before ourselves, wanting and working for the best for and in others, being patient and kind, and hoping and believing in others. Love is an action and not soupy sentimentality. We can encourage others best when we love them most.
The apostle Paul has given us practical instruction into exactly how we can encourage other people. The hard part for us is to apply what we know is right. Our relationships with each other deserve the greatest effort we can exert. When we put into practice what the Scriptures teach us we enjoy healthy and happy relationships. (Douglas Walker)
Satisfaction Guaranteed
John 6:35, 41-51
Hunger hurts! When you haven’t had enough to eat it is painful. I vividly remember a meal shared with fellow theological students. After we had said grace one student said to me, “I just don’t understand why we pray over our food. None of us have ever been without food. Most of us have eaten too much of it today, and we are struggling with a weight problem. We should not be grateful for food, but grateful when we can resist its allure.”
This person’s problem was that he had never been without food before, never been weakened because of the lack of food. The average person in the world will eat one small meal today, and 10,000 will die due to the lack of food. Hunger hurts!
Hunger for food was assumed in biblical times, and with the context of this universal experience Jesus spoke the controversial words, “I am the bread of life.” It was a statement that was sure to get everyone’s attention. What was Jesus saying about himself?
I. I Am a Staple
Verse 41 says that “the Jews began to complain about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven. ” It didn’t take them long, did it? Wouldn’t you complain about me if I said, “I am the bread of life.” You would consider that outrageous! They thought it was ridiculous that Jesus should make such an audacious claim. “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?” (v. 42).
Bread is a universal staple. It was in biblical times, and it is now. According to Webster’s, a staple is a “chief item of trade, regularly stocked and in constant demand”; “a most important, leading principal.” Jesus is claiming that life is made up of many pressures, many opinions, many struggles, many decisions, but there is one thing that is basic to all of life—himself.
The Jews had every right to complain about someone who would make such a broad claim. Either Jesus was someone they had never encountered before, or he was in need of the services of the mental health clinic.
II. I Satisfy
It is no secret that God has created us with a “God-space” in our lives, and until we fill it with God we will be hungry and thirsty. Job expressed this when he cried, “Oh, that I knew where I might find [God], that I might come even to his dwelling!” (23:3).
Jesus guarantees that he will fill the hunger that we all have for spiritual fulfillment.
Job’s cry is the cry of everyone. Nothing satisfies our longing for the Deity but the Divine. Junk food may relieve our hunger for a time, but a steady diet of junk food will produce indigestion. Likewise, if we try to fill our spiritual hunger with things of the world, we will never be satisfied. Jesus is the staple that permanently satisfies our desire to have fellowship with our Creator. When we accept Jesus we are satisfied. Satisfaction guaranteed . . . by God. (C. Thomas Hilton)
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