When love isn't the answer by Rebekah Simon-Peter
I have just returned from a national church conference that brought together church leaders and thought leaders to talk about leadership best practices. For my part, I asked people to choose a leadership style that best described them. Overwhelmingly, the top choices were inclusive, affirming and humble. Energizing was a close second. On the surface, these are terrific leadership styles: they are people-oriented, upbeat, welcoming. They imply hearts full of love. And a willingness to express it.
At a time when people say churches are judgmental, unfriendly and hypocritical, these leadership styles are a breath of fresh air. These leaders are likely to lead with an open heart, an open mind and a smile. They will look for the best in the people around them, and seek to form collaborative ministries that gather in a variety of people. Personally, I love people like this!
But there are times when love isn’t the answer. When it does more harm than good. And when it prevents the church from growing in faith or accomplishing its mission.
Inclusive, affirming and humble leaders tend to lead from beside or behind. That’s a comfortable style for them. In fact, they may not even want to be out front or lead the charge. There are ups and downs to this style. Let’s take a closer look.
The upside
The upside of this leadership style comes when they are leading people who are chomping at the bit, who have lots of forward momentum and who don’t want to be stopped. Inclusive, affirming, humble leaders won’t stand in the way of forward motion here. Their position beside or behind will be seen as permission-giving, gracious and supportive. That’s a good thing.
The downside
But what about when the people they are leading are less sure of themselves? After all, not every follower of Christ wants to be out front. Many want to be, well, followers. They’re more comfortable enacting someone else’s vision than crafting their own. In this case, inclusive, affirming and humble leaders may be less effective. If their desire is to make sure all voices are heard, harmonious consensus is achieved, and no one is left out, then their loving yes is effectively a no.
What are they saying no to? No to embracing risk. No to uncertain outcomes. No to emerging situations that require a quick response. In a word, they are saying no to faith. Faith requires trust. Trust is only necessary if the outcome is unsure and the future is unknown.
Now what?
Let’s say you find yourself in the category of an inclusive, affirming and humble leader. First thing to do is to offer a prayer of thanks. You bring much to the table that others want to emulate. You are indeed a gift to the church.
Next, survey your congregation.
Ask yourself, who are you leading?
Let’s say you have a preponderance of folks who are chomping at the bit … eager to take on every ministry that comes their way. Let’s say they’re pretty comfortable with risk and change, too. If that’s the case, your permission-giving style of leadership is probably a good fit. You are not likely to stand in the way of people’s energy and enthusiasm to do good in the world.
So, here are a few things to remember: Make sure you are staying in touch with your leaders to resource and connect them. Help them remember the vision you are working toward. In their energetic pursuit of making things happen, they may get distracted and stray from the shared vision you have. Do ask for timelines and deadlines from your leaders so that goals are accomplished and communication channels are kept open. Finally, keep the encouragement going, even as you step aside to let them move forward.
On the other hand, let’s say you have a preponderance of folks who are followers, not leaders. They look to you or another leader in the church to make decisions, delegate tasks, keep things moving, and not incidentally, pick up the slack. Things move at a moderate but steady pace, as long as you keep things going.
If this is your situation, you’re dealing with a horse of a different color. Be assured, your inclusive approach is probably well-appreciated here. But it may be that everyone, including you, is a bit too comfortable. Know what I mean? It’s time to move out of comfort zone into the growth zone.
Here’s what I suggest. Begin by praying. Ask God to awaken in you a desire and willingness to stir things up. To bring more risk to the table. To choose adventure over caution. Ask for the ability to set aside gentle understanding so that you might prod people for results. Don’t be surprised if this prayer is answered by God sending someone or something to prod you! It’s happened before.
Next, involve others in your prayers for greater risk. Search the Scriptures for examples you can teach and preach. Lead devotions on the topic. Then don’t be surprised when someone approaches you with a desire to lead rather than to follow. When that happens, give thanks, say yes, and give them permission to eagerly follow the Spirit’s prompting.
All shook up
Churches that are willing to be shook up are churches that are willing to flow with the movement of the Spirit. One of the pastors I coach started off as inclusive, affirming, humble pastor. Great guy. But not much was happening in his congregation. Finances were flagging. Attendance was declining. The energy of the church was faltering. And it wasn’t even the off season!
After beginning to survey his congregation, he realized he had a lot of fellow inclusive, affirming and humble Christians in his congregation. They were looking to him to lead them. Because he preferred to lead from behind, he had been waiting for them to take the ball and run with it. He realized it wasn’t going to happen. At least not the way he thought. He began to pray, playfully, earnestly, regularly, for God to stir up something in him, in them, in the community.
Lo and behold, a tornado hit that town. It flattened several buildings and tore the roof off the community center. Many people were displaced — without food, water and the like.
Good golly Miss Molly, you have never seen people get into action like these church people did! Previously sedentary folks became like friendly drill sergeants, rallying the troops. Quiet quilters began hosting moveable dinner parties for the workers and displaced townspeople. Giving went up as a common need surfaced. It was a lovely, chaotic delight to behold!
In the end, of course, love was the answer. But first, there was a tornado.
What kind of leader are you? The kind your people need at this moment? Maybe it’s time for you to start praying …
Rebekah Simon-Peter blogs at rebekahsimonpeter.com. She is the author of "The Jew Named Jesus" and "Green Church."
When your church no longer reflects the community by Ron Edmondson
I was coaching a group of pastors recently and was asked a question I’ve encountered but never really answered. It’s a question which seems to come up frequently these days. It’s actually a great and relevant question for our times. In fact, I think it’s one many churches need to consider. It’s a common dilemma churches face today.
In church revitalization, I often encourage churches to consider whether the church can be revived. Frankly some churches cannot. Some churches have a culture which works against them. The energy, in my opinion, would be better spent elsewhere.
Some churches have had their community leave them. The community has changed and they no longer look like their community demographically.
Now, to avoid confusion, I’m not talking spiritually. The church never reflects the community there. The church usually is countercultural in terms of how we reflect God’s standards in our communities. I’m strictly talking demographically.
That’s the one scenario which triggered this question.
Background: This church had for years been overwhelmingly a white, middle-class church. The community is presently less than 20 percent white. The dominant demographic is Hispanic.
The question was: How can we grow now that we don’t represent the demographics of our community?
Great question. I’m not sure my answer was what he expected, but I think it’s a good answer. (If I can be bold and say that.) Before I share my answer you need to know I’m a realistic, bluntly honest person. Plus, I don’t think I can tell him or the church what to do. I can only help them consider the options.
I think he’s asking the wrong question — at least the wrong initial question.
The question a church in this situation has to ask is what they are going to do — not how they are going to do whatever they do. More importantly, the why behind what you do will ultimately fuel the church to achieve it.
Furthermore, I went on to advise him that I believe the church needs to answer this question collectively, or at least more lay leadership needs to be involved in the answer. Whatever the church decides to do will determine the future of the church. Pastors may come and go, but those in the church will likely have to live with the answer for the remaining life of the church.
In my opinion — and its only an opinion — there are really only three options.
Become like the community.
You can strive to represent your community again. This may require staffing and programming changes. You’ll have to ask a lot more questions such as what the community needs and how best to address them. You’ll need to engage current community leaders — and this is not just elected leaders but community activists and people who know the community. It won’t be easy and it will challenge your people, but it’s a noble goal. It’s likely the community needs more churches that do reflect the community. But, getting there won’t be easy.
Leave the community.
You can relocate. You can relocate to a demographic that better represents who the church is now. Some will disagree, but i don’t believe this decision would mean you don’t care for the community which is here now. The church is just different. You should know this can be an expensive option, because you likely will not be able to sell your current facilities for what it will take to relocate. Possibly you can. Or you could be very kingdom-minded and help a church who does represent the community establish in your existing facility by gifting it to them or significantly discounting the price for them.
Slowly die in the community.
This is an option. It wouldn’t be my favorite, but it is an option. It could actually be a viable option if at the end of your time you realize your building is going to be better used by a church that does represent the community. You could begin to share your facility with a church like that now and coexist for the forseeable future, then when your church officially closes its doors the new church inherits the building.
I realize there are strong opinions with each one of these answers. And none of the answers come easy. Frankly, to me it doesn’t matter as much which you choose — as much as it does that you do. We need churches of all kinds in all kinds of communities. I firmly believe, however, that answering the question of which choice you are committed to make will ultimately determine what you do next.
As an organizational guy, I can tell you that trying to address the how before you determine the what and why is almost always wasted energy. With so much kingdom-building needed, who has time for that?
Ron Edmondson blogs at RonEdmondson.com.
Right privilege by Tom Fuerst
About a year ago my son started expressing interest in playing baseball. So we went to Dick’s Sporting Goods to get him a glove. But my son, only three years old at the time, throws left-handed. When we tried to find a glove small enough for his right hand, there weren’t any. There were plenty of left-handed gloves for right-hand throwers, but absolutely no right-handed gloves for left-hand throwers. The right-handed throwers are the dominant culture. Being right-handed is the assumption. It is most people’s reality.
But this trip got me thinking at the time about how, when little league starts, my son could be functionally behind the right-handed kids. Not because he’s not smart enough, athletic enough or big enough, but because there were no gloves in his size and for his hand. Simply because the dominant culture is not one he fits into. In this way, he lacks privilege that most kids have.
Privilege is a dangerous word in our culture. We don’t like to acknowledge privilege, and for those of us in the dominant culture, we don’t have to acknowledge privilege because the society is set up for us. We can be blind to these things, not because we’re necessarily immoral, but because we’ve had the privilege of never having to think about them. Again, I never had to think about the dominance of right-handed culture because I’m right-handed, but once I saw how left-handedness can impact athletic performance, I learned that my privileges of right-handedness come with all kinds of assumed, unearned benefits. How much more, then, does the fact that I’m white come with assumed, unearned benefits? How much more, then, does the fact that I’m male come with assumed, unearned benefits?
Of course, it’s at this point that people object — especially white men. We like to see ourselves as self-made. We like to think that we did it all ourselves. And some of this might even be true. Those right-handed little leaguers who get really good at baseball certainly work hard at it. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t benefit from privilege. You can be privileged and still be a hard worker.
The point is, your privilege affords you certain benefits that others can’t assume. To further the handedness metaphor a bit, once I noticed how my son might be delayed about in his baseball skills because of a lack of glove, I began to also notice other ways our world privileges right-handers. Standard scissors assume right-handedness. Our written language assumes right-handedness — even the way the letters are formed, especially cursive. Even something as simple — and unnoticed — as the dishwasher always being on the right side of the sink displays an assumption (and therefore privileging) of right-handers. Before I had a left-handed son, I never had to think about these things. I was able to just assume right-handedness is just the way the world is.
And this is maybe the key to any discussion of privilege. Those with privilege just assume this is the way the world is, and therefore they do not have to be aware of how others are not included in their privilege. As a man, I’ve never had to worry about whether people think I have the authority to preach. I’ve never had to worry about people judging my entire sex based on my preaching performance. Rather, because men dominate pulpits, I just get to assume this is just the way the world is. But I’ve never had to think about why a woman’s experience in the pulpit is thoroughly different. I’ve never had to think about the fact that most women in preaching roles struggle with their congregations questioning their authority, giftedness or competence. I’ve never had to think about how if I preach a bad sermon, no one is going to say, “See, that’s why men shouldn’t be preaching.”
As a white man, I’ve never had to worry about if I did or didn’t get a job because of my skin color. I’ve never had to worry about how a “black name” might appear to an employer on a resume. That’s not a problem white men in this country ever have to deal with. And when I do get a job, nobody ever asks if I got it because I’m white. I have the privilege of everyone just assuming I’m qualified. That’s just the way the world is for me. But it’s not the way the world is for everyone. I’m privileged.
But my blindness to my privilege can also make me blind to the fact that the God I worship is not blind to the way the world is and he sees how some people have an easier go at life than others. Getting a late start in baseball because you can’t get a glove on your hand has minimal significance in life. But getting a late start in education or getting an inferior education simply because of where you were born or the color of your skin matters to God! The God of Scripture has a preference for those who are not privileged. Christ came to proclaim release to the captives, healing for the sick, restoration of sight to the blind and good news to the poor. His entire mission is a message of restoration and empowerment for those who lacked privilege. This is why Christianity started off as a dominantly poor movement. It’s why so many women were attracted in the beginning. It validated the lives and stories of those who lacked privilege in Roman society.
But this isn’t just something Christ did that was different than how God had previously revealed himself. Rather, God, from the beginning, has been challenging our understandings of the way the world is. In Genesis 4, God went against the way the world is and accepted the younger Abel’s sacrifice over the older (and more privileged) Cain’s sacrifice. Later, God went against the way the world is by choosing Isaac over his older brother, Ishmael. Again, later, God contradicted the way the world is by choosing Jacob over Esau. God later tells the people of Israel that he chose them, not because they were the greatest, most powerful, privileged nation, but precisely because they were not. We could cite numerous examples of this even prior to Christ.
So it begs the question, in what ways does God want to challenge the way the world is today? One of the key things God may want us to understand is that just because that’s the way the world is for us, it doesn’t mean that’s the way the world is for everyone. As a white male, I was raised on the assumption that if you just work hard enough, you can accomplish anything you want. That promise is nice in an ideal world, but it’s a myth — even for me. Nevertheless, it still stays in the back of our minds, such that when we see less privileged people who aren’t succeeding as well as we are, we don’t first think about privilege. Rather, we first think about hard work, or intelligence, or even virtue. They must not be working hard enough, be smart enough, or be good enough, we think.
But, if I can continue with the handedness metaphor, that’s like saying, “Left-handers have ugly handwriting. If they just worked harder at their handwriting, if they just worked on not smearing the ink on the page, if they just put in some effort, they could have beautiful handwriting like me.” But such an assumption fails to take into account the privilege — the way the page is set up, the way our written language moves from left to right, the way beautiful handwriting is judged by certain slants and curves that are darn near impossible for left-handers to achieve, no matter how hard they work.
Or, if the ugly handwriting metaphor doesn’t work for you, let me actually couch the metaphor in performance. Remember in grade school you had the wrap-around desks? Well those desks were made for right-handers, so right-handers could rest their arms up on the wrap-around piece to make writing easier. But where did that leave left-handers? If we were doing a timed test, as a right-hander I had an easier time with the actual writing because my arm didn’t get tired. Not so for a left-hander. Not only did they write slower on average because their pen-strokes had to be different, but they also didn’t have an arm rest. My higher performance on a timed test may not have been because I was smarter, but was because I had a privilege.
When we consider that privilege is more than just about desks, the problem is exacerbated. An individual underperforming child, then, should prompt questions, not first about a child’s intelligence, but about social structures, educational access and even simple things like if child eats when not in school. Looking at the larger context should cause us to ask other questions, too. Why are all the best schools and best teachers out in the suburbs? Why do Christian schools — schools that name themselves after a poor man named Jesus — have prices so high that poor people can’t access them and get a great education, too? And what is the impact on our city of 50 years of underfunded schools in poor neighborhoods? Do you see? There’s a larger context than individual underperformance. And we must be willing to look at the larger context.
Just as left-handers can’t work harder or just learn to write with their right hands, no amount of hard work is going to remove or displace a glass ceiling. It’s going to take persons in privilege caring enough to notice that ceiling and working with those who are limited by it to remove it. It’s going to take the non-privileged persons to raise their voice, and the privileged persons having the willingness to listen and respond appropriately.
And our faith can play a key role in helping non-privileged persons gain access and resources to flourish as God’s creatures. Christianity is a religion that proclaims a God who laid aside his privilege, power, and even comfort, entered into the human story in the physical form of an oppressed minority in the backwater of nowhere, and died a non-privileged death. What might it take for Christians today, especially those of us with privilege, to “take up a cross” and emulate that story?
To return to the left-handedness metaphor, when I was in high school, my best friend Tommy Branch was a left-handed Catholic. In elementary school, he said he went to a Catholic school where they, for religious reasons, tried to make him learn to write right-handed. As a Protestant, I don’t fully understand this, but the point is, his teachers reinforced “right privilege” and tried to justify it on religious grounds. The way the world is was reinforced by baptizing the way the world is instead of celebrating that there are other ways of viewing the world.
I wonder what the white church world, of which I have always been a part, can learn from our brothers and sisters of color. I wonder how we have theologically justified white privilege or male privilege, instead of asking tough questions about the way the world is. I wonder how much we have baptized our assumptions and benefits and talked about them as gifts of God without considering how God might want us to lay those aside to benefit other voices. Not because I’m anyone’s hero or messiah, but because I care about a world where everyone can flourish, and I understand that I participate in a faith tradition where God’s privileging of the non-privileged is just the way the world is.
Tom Fuerst blogs at Tom1st.com. You can subscribe to his blog via email here.
Is football America's golden calf?
By Kira SchlesingerIt’s that time of year when children head back to school, and pastors and church staff gear up for the start of the program year. Filling in our calendars with confirmation classes, Christian formation programming, and fellowship and outreach events, we cross-reference with community calendars and school calendars, but many of us in different areas of the country also have to look at football schedules. We know that we’d better not schedule a leadership retreat or a chili cook-off during the big rivalry game weekend or we’ll suffer low attendance. We get used to congregants ducking out after the sermon in order to make the kick-off for a noon game.
On both the professional and the college level, football season grips the hearts and minds of many American communities. People’s moods depend on whether “their” team wins or loses. Grown adults obsess over where a teenager decides to attend university. Fans can rattle off their favorite players’ stats more easily than their own phone number. There will be triumph for some and defeat for others. There will be beautiful, miraculous plays, and players pushing their bodies to the limits.
Football appears to be the official religion of America. On Saturdays and/or Sundays, we gather together in stadiums and living rooms to worship, dressed in our team attire. For a few hours, we are swept up in something bigger than ourselves. We belong. The sacramental meal is chips and beer rather than bread and wine. Football is the essence of America — strong, powerful men making a lot of money in a violent game.
As a clergyperson and a public theologian, I have grown to question this devotion to football over the past several years. For me, it is less about the game itself than about football culture. We have all witnessed time and time again as sex scandals, rape charges and accusations of assault erupt on both the college and professional levels. As football players, these young men are trained to be dominant and dominating, to “take what is theirs,” to “not ask permission,” on the field, and then we are surprised when that behavior manifests itself off the field. Because our culture has also idolized winning, administrations and coaches often cover up for star players in trouble.
In forty states, the highest-paid public employee is a coach, twenty-seven of whom are football coaches. Universities rely on the revenue from their football programs, revenue that only grows when a team is actually winning. City governments shell out millions in tax breaks and new stadiums to appease NFL teams and their owners while education programs and money for the social safety net are cut.
Even successful players have a distressingly short window in which to make money before they retire, bodies chewed up by injuries and beaten from hit after hit. According to the New York Times, brain trauma affects one in three NFL players. Players are eight times more likely to develop dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. And despite earning an average of $3.2 million over their careers, one in six players ends up filing for bankruptcy.
In a culture that idolizes an increasingly violent sport and winning at all costs, we must remember that we worship Jesus Christ, a person who, in his day, appeared to be a loser. Jesus preached non-violence and pronounced judgment on the powerful entities in his world. Jesus shows us what true power is — vulnerability, sacrifice, and caring for the broken, marginalized, and forgotten. What might the crucified Christ have to say to our modern-day Roman gladiators and the millions of fans that watch weekend after weekend? Are we worshipping Christ, or are we worshipping the arm of a twenty-year-old quarterback?
Too often we forget that football is supposed to be a game. We become consumed with winning rather than appreciating the art of a pass or the excitement of a close game. Instead of a distraction or a chance to bond with our fellow fans over deliciously greasy food, football is an obsession or an object of worship. I’m not saying that Christians can’t or shouldn’t be football fans, but we need to seriously discern whether supporting football culture with our time and our money is consistent with our beliefs.
Donald Trump and the politics of white male anger
By David Gushee / Religion News Service(RNS) Donald Trump’s ongoing narrative about political correctness being “the big problem” in this country may help explain his surprising climb in this week’s presidential polls.
Billionaire Trump does not appear to have suffered too much on the personal front for having had to live in a more “PC” America.
But his message seems to resonate with (other) aggrieved white males, which may help to explain his rising popularity as a presidential candidate.
Trump said at the Cleveland GOP presidential debate that “the big problem that this country has is being politically correct. … I frankly don’t have time for total political correctness, and to be honest with you, this country doesn’t have time either. This country is in big trouble. We don’t win anymore.”
This was in response to Fox reporter Megyn Kelly’s now-famous question about Trump’s history of making disparaging remarks about women.
What that has to do with our country not winning anymore was not immediately apparent — but I will propose a theory; read on.
So what exactly does that term “political correctness” mean?
Here is a polite Google definition: “the avoidance, often considered as taken to extremes, of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against.”
RationalWiki will have none of such a neutral definition. Instead that site offers the following: “Political correctness or PC is a snarl word usually referring to upholding a social taboo against language or attitudes that might be considered offensive and/or stupid.”
The term became widely used beginning in the early 1990s. One major source was conservative author Dinesh D’Souza’s book “Illiberal Education,” which disparaged multiculturalism and other unwelcome developments on college campuses. He and other conservatives sounded the alarm about “thought police” demanding ideological conformity to liberal norms and values.
It was a clever adoption of Communist-related rhetoric at the end of the Cold War. Communists in places such as the USSR and China demanded rigid ideological conformity (“political correctness”); brave freethinkers challenged them; today’s liberal elites must be challenged in the same way by today’s (conservative) freethinkers. Linking the academic left to the Communist left was a brilliant ploy.
Those in the anti-PC crowd expressed their frustration in altruistic terms. They offered concern about preserving the heritage and protecting the well-being of American society and Western civilization. They didn’t want to see that culture decimated due to white liberal guilt or minority group pressure.
Those of us Euro-American white male types who were in school during the early 1990s remember what was really going on. On elite campuses, America was beginning to evolve into the gender-egalitarian, multicultural society that we are today 25 years further down the road to becoming. Any remnant of belief that this country belongs to upper-class white males was being pushed aggressively to extinction.
The belief that course programs and syllabi should reflect a diversity of voices became increasingly entrenched. Student admissions and campus life policies were altered to reflect and advance gender, ethnic, racial and eventually sexual-orientation diversity. Hiring was bringing increasing diversity to staff and faculty. Even language was changing. Gender-inclusive language became ascendant, and terms used to name various groups of people were being altered to reflect what the affected people now wanted to be called.
Reinhold Niebuhr and Martin Luther King liked to say that no one ever gives up power voluntarily, even if that power is unjust or unjustly exercised. That includes the transition from one group in a society having total control to a situation of having to share control with others.
Exclusive white male power was being taken away, both by people from the previous margins of society and by privileged white people themselves who now agreed that changes were required. Academia became the leading edge of social change, and those who were not happy with those changes went on the counterattack.
Certainly there were times when white men experienced demeaning treatment as these changes unfolded. I remember times when I felt misunderstood and mistreated. Sometimes it seemed that those who had so often experienced subjugation took some pleasure in making white guys like me squirm.
But I started on a personal journey of change, and got excited about a genuinely egalitarian, multicultural America (and church). The pressures I first experienced in school in the 1980s and 1990s proved indispensable in nudging me along, however uncomfortable they were at the time.
The surfacing of “political correctness” as a snarl word here in 2015 reflects the continued reaction of some white males to the changes that have swept them out of an exclusive hold on cultural power.
Donald Trump’s linking of political correctness with American decline both connects with past usages of the term and gives it a powerful new focus.
Now being “anti-PC” can be about taking America back to greatness under effective (white male/”colorblind”) leadership, at last. Then we can “win” again.
For a number of reasons, I am increasingly worried about this politics of white male anger, despair and defiance. I think it explains a lot of what is most troubling about our country right now.
Panting for French toast or the Eucharist
By Clifton StringerMy mom recently visited us in Boston, and she brought us evidence that the prodigious efforts of the alchemists of yore were not in vain. She carried with her a French toast recipe my sister has been using. Surely it is not really alchemy, you opine? I would only refute you by the bare fact that it starts with challah bread and ends with something surpassingly better than, yet still pleasantly reminiscent of, crème brûlée.
If the recipe is all you're really after, scroll down and have fun. But if you want to hear about something even better, read on.
Because here's the thing: Our Lord claims to be even better than transmuted French toast.
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst." (John 6:35).
What can this mean? How can Jesus of Nazareth quench our deepest hunger and thirst? After all, Jesus is a person who, as far as many today are concerned, lived and died 2,000 years ago, end of story. One of the lessons a thoughtful person can observe is that when someone makes another person his or her reason for being, one and sometimes both parties end up warped if not utterly destroyed. (The Bible diagnoses this as the problem of idolatry.)
What makes Jesus of Nazareth so different? Why can Jesus bear our corrupt love and heal us when we can't non-destructively bear each other's?
Two things, answer Christians.
First, Jesus' death isn't the end of the story. Jesus rose from the dead and revealed himself to his disciples. This is the founding Christian claim, and it is a historical claim; to disprove it would be to invalidate Christianity. Yet it shows that our hunger and thirst for and worship of Jesus cannot destroy him. However corrupt we are, Jesus has overcome our sin and death.
Second, Jesus is God. Christians claim that Jesus exists in a personal union with the eternal Son of God and second person of the Trinity, such that in hungering and thirsting for him we're quenched by more than a human person of flesh and soul. We're quenched by God. God is infinite and immaterial and pure goodness, a limitless pure delight and an omniscient love. So, in hungering and thirsting for Jesus Christ, our deepest hunger and thirst may truly be quenched, and we may be healed such that we learn to hunger for and worship God rather than one or other of the finite good things God has made.
So, if you think the French toast is good, give the Lord a try.
In the words of St. Isaac of Nineveh (7th century), "Blessed is the person who has eaten the bread of love, which is Jesus."
One of the main ways Christians have hungered and thirsted for Jesus down through the centuries — and tasted and drank him — is through the Eucharist, the meal Jesus commanded his followers to keep in his memory.
The later 13th century Franciscan theologian Peter John Olivi joins a chorus of other medieval writers when he notes that the Lord's Prayer seems to contain a reference both to the Eucharist and to Jesus' own transcendent divinity. Interpreting Matthew 6:11’s “Give us this day our daily bread”, where “daily” has come into the Latin Vulgate translation as “supersubstantial,” Olivi writes:
"Matthew 6:11 [has] the word ‘supersubstantial’ whereas Luke has ‘daily.’ The reason is that the Son of God is bread that is beyond all substance and beyond all that supports and gives life to our mind. It is also to be granted that this bread of ours has been singularly given to us in the incarnation and passion and in the presentation of the sacramental altar."
Olivi picks up on the Latin "supersubstantial" in Matthew's version as a reference to the way the eternal Son of God is "beyond all substance and beyond all that supports and gives life to our mind." Olivi nonetheless thinks God freely gives us his own utterly transcendent and supersubstantial self in Christ's incarnation, his passion, and even in the Church's remembrance of these things in the Eucharist. It follows that, for Olivi, we should train ourselves to hunger and thirst for God's presence in the Eucharist.
A generation before Olivi, the great Franciscan theologian St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio lifts up St. Francis of Assisi's own comportment toward Jesus in the Eucharist, in a text which was to be the definitive Franciscan recollection of the life of its Jesus-loving founder. In The Life of St. Francis 9.2 Bonaventure depicts Francis’ loving desire for Jesus Christ as being alive and well during the liturgical celebration:
"Jesus Christ crucified always rested like a bundle of myrrh in the bosom of Francis’ soul (Song 1:12), and he longed to be totally transformed into him by the fire of ecstatic love… He was drawn to Christ with such fervent love, and the Beloved (Song 1:12) returned such intimate love to him that God’s servant always seemed to feel the presence of his Savior before his eyes, as he once intimately revealed to his companions. His very marrow burned with love for the sacrament of the Lord’s Body and he was overcome by wonder at such loving condescension and such condescending love. He received Holy Communion so often and so devoutly that he made others devout also, for at the sweet taste of the spotless Lamb (1 Peter 1:19) he was often rapt in ecstasy as if drunk in the Spirit."
Bonaventure depicts Francis as ecstatic during liturgy, with a love that wants to be united to and suffer a burning transformation into the Beloved. Francis himself suffers divine things as he longs for union with God, and before his eyes the Crucified is rendered visible in the slain spotless Lamb, the eucharistic host that Francis will become enraptured and drunk upon tasting. Bonaventure even describes Francis' devotion and wonder at God's condescension and love as spreading to others, making them devout too.
Does such piety and devotion around the Eucharist seem odd or foreign to you? Does it seem superstitious or outside your spiritual sensibility? Take heart. All things are possible with God who desires to save us and give us himself. We live in a world where challah can be improved far beyond crème brûlée.
The French toast recipe below is the ecstatic French toast recipe just as my mom texted it to me. (My sister informs me that, pre-tweaks, she first found the recipe in Mark Bittman's “How to Cook Everything.”)
1 c milk
2 eggs
Dash salt
Dash cinnamon
1 t vanilla
1 T sugar
Challah bread
Dip bread in milk mixture both sides immerse very briefly
Cook in a small amount of butter
Call if you have questions (Please don't call Clifton's mom. -Ed.)
Can sprinkle with powdered sugar if you wish
Serve with maple syrup and berries.
Confession: I used half and half when I made it in Boston instead of milk and I doubled the recipe
Enjoy!
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.
As much as I hate to admit it, participation trophies are good for kids
By Ben GosdenPittsburgh Steelers Linebacker, James Harrison, seems to be everybody’s favorite dad these days. The news story caught fire last week that he took away his kids’ trophies for participating in a track and field meet because he wanted them to earn one. It seems simply participating in a sport isn’t enough for this elite athlete/dad — you need to win for it to count.
Over the years I’ve read the countless articles saying we’re raising an “entitlement generation who thinks they need a trophy for everything.” I’ve heard the complaints about how this is terrible for a kid’s work ethic (because you need to know how to sweat and work when you’re 5). To be honest, I’ve always felt the same way. Who do these kids think they are getting recognition just for showing up?
But then again …
For every parent who gripes about this “trophy generation” I want to ask:
What about the “trophy” called a paycheck you get for just showing up to work every day? I know that isn’t so for some jobs, but for many of us who have time to complain about this budding generation of shiftless youth, we have the luxury of working at jobs where every so often we don’t give 100% or “win” our job for the day. If kids shouldn’t be recognized for just showing up, then how about we all agree to give back the money (recognition) we receive on the days we linger a little too long on Facebook or text with friends under our desk?
Maybe parents should consider giving back every 5K T-shirt they received after completing a Couch to 5K? Or every half-marathon medal they received for finishing that first big race? After all, who cares that you wanted to do something healthy with your life and feel better as a person — you didn’t win the race so it doesn’t count when you just finish.
Maybe instead of thinking of participation trophies as compensation for doing nothing, we should treat with their true intent — as a way of congratulating a kid for finishing a task. In a world where everything from hobbies to jobs to marriages are seemingly disposable whenever we don’t think we’re winners, maybe it’s a good thing to teach kids the art of starting a task and seeing it to completion. After all, God said patience was a fruit of the Spirit — winning didn’t make the top 9 (Gal. 5:22-23).
Maybe we should worry more about kids falling in love with sports (or whatever trophy-giving recreational activity), and worry less with kids falling in love with winning all the time. The world would be better off with people who know how to love something more than just being right or winning all the time.
I’ll admit that I’m at the front of the line among competitive parents (and my kid is only three). But when I stop and take a step back — and maybe even watch how much her little three-year-old self loves simply playing soccer or doing gymnastics — I might be lucky enough to remember that I’ll gladly take a closet full of “Congratulations! You Tried!” trophies if it means raising a kid who knows how to give her all, finish what she starts and how to love every step of the journey … even when she doesn’t always win.
Ben Gosden blogs at MastersDust.com.
Learning to accept failure
By David Dorn"Fail early. Fail quickly." But what happens when you fail to acknowledge your own failures? 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.
Giving beyond what is expected
By Paul BonnerIt’s easy to be generous when a cup of lemonade costs only 25 cents. Some of us might even give a whole dollar if the children are raising money for a worthy cause. Or maybe $5! Well … how about $200?
Sheriff Deputy Zach Ropos, new in law enforcement, was trained to pull over at every lemonade stand in an effort to improve community relations. As told to Good Morning America, he recently met Gabrielle, who was doing some fund raising. “She hands me a glass, I hand her a few bucks. I asked her what she wanted to do with the money … she said she’d get an iPad, to help with school and play games.” Hoping he could resurrect an old iPad, Ropos went home that night to get it in running condition. Once he realized his old tablet was too outdated, Ropos looked for and found a store to help with the cost of a new one.
Unequal exchange
The next day the officer met up with the little girl and her mother. Apparently Gabrielle had raised only a few dollars. She told Ropos that her mother’s car needed gas, so she gave her hard-earned money to her mom to fill the tank. “When she told me she gave the money to her mom … that’s when I almost started crying because of how great of a kid she really was,” Ropos said. Deputy Ropos handed over the new tablet, and Gabrielle just couldn’t stop hugging her new friend.
The best gift
Attitude is contagious — and so is giving. When we receive something truly wonderful and unexpected, often we are overwhelmed with a desire to share it or create that type of opportunity for someone else. God’s mercy and grace are new every morning, gifts beyond measure. Let us remember these gifts and share out of all that we have!
Question of the day: When has it been difficult for you to give something away?
Focal Scriptures: Galatians 5:16-17, 22-25; Luke 21:1-4; John 15:12-13
For a complete lesson on this topic visit LinC.
Emotions and faith By Jill M. Johnson
“What is going on inside their head?”
In the opening scene of the movie “Inside Out,” the above question is asked. And who hasn’t wondered what is going on inside someone else’s head, or even their own? Pixar released their 15th animated feature film this summer on June 19, receiving widespread praise from movie critics as well as psychologists since the movie deals with how our brains process information and emotions. Because of its appeal to both adults and children, “Inside Out” became the highest-grossing opening for an original, nonsequel movie. It was expected to earn $60 million on its opening weekend but instead made $91 million. Even though it’s advertised as a family movie, almost all of the people who recommended the movie to me were adults without children of their own, and the college-age adults in my life were the ones who seemed to enjoy it the most.
The main character in the film is Riley, an 11-year-old girl who lives in Minneapolis, loves to play hockey, and is a happy child. In the movie, we get to see inside her mind, referred to as Headquarters, and we meet the personified emotions who control her mind: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust. Joy’s goal is to keep Riley happy, but when her family suddenly moves to San Francisco, Riley’s adjustment doesn’t go well, and other emotions take over. “Inside Out” manages to take incredibly complex psychological topics and turn them into an engaging story that helps us understand how our brains work. The film tackles the concepts of emotions, memory, imaginary friends, thought processes, dreams and abstract thinking with creative visuals, imagination and humor.
The movie also helps us better understand how certain emotions interact, particularly joy and sadness. A spoiler alert — but a critical lesson in the film — is the appropriate way to embrace sadness, as it helps Riley understand the changes she’s going through, setting the stage for her to develop a new identity. Psychologists Dacher Keltner and Paul Ekman praise the movie for shedding light on how emotions organize, rather than disrupt, rational thinking and social lives. In a recent New York Times blog, Keltner and Ekman write, “The truth is that emotions guide our perceptions of the world, our memories of the past and even our moral judgments of right and wrong, most typically in ways that enable effective responses to the current situation.”
Neuroplasticity: Managing our emotions
It’s true we are emotional beings, but we do have some control over our emotions and can use tools to increase joy and overall well-being while letting other emotions arise as appropriate. Neuroplasticity is the scientific concept that shows our brains are not static but rather change throughout our lives in response to our lifestyle, physiology and environment. Our brains have the ability to reorganize pathways and create new connections, and we can intentionally aid this process when it comes to emotions.
In a recent Huffington Post blog, Dr. Richard J. Davidson, professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and leading expert on the study of emotions, offers tips for understanding and managing each of the emotions highlighted in Inside Out. He cites the capacity to experience joy as crucial to well-being and that learning to savor positive moments can increase our joy. People with depression can experience joy, but it’s short-lived and fleeting. People who have the capacity to activate the brain regions associated with joy for sustained periods of time report higher levels of well-being and lower levels of cortisol, a stress hormone. Davidson states that reflecting on “innate basic goodness” can increase positive interactions and enables us to respond to others in a way that furthers their well-being and ours. In other words, take time to pay attention to the beauty around you and the goodness in others.
Davidson explains that the emotions of fear, disgust and anger all have in common the amygdala and its role in recovery. The amygdala is the structure in our brain associated with “fight-or-flight” and signals the rest of the body when something is wrong. For example, seeing a snake can initiate the fear response, or smelling rotting food can initiate the disgust response. In context, these emotional responses are healthy. But when they linger beyond the point of usefulness (when no threat or disgusting element is present), they can be harmful. Davidson advises that “mindfulness meditation” can help appropriately regulate these emotions, as it helps reduce worry over things that haven’t happened and speeds up recovery after negative events have happened.
Anger, while also an appropriate response to certain situations, can pose the greatest danger if left in charge of our brains. According to research, anger is biologically toxic and can increase the risk for health problems such as a heart attack. Anger often occurs when our goals are thwarted, and Davidson suggests harnessing that energy to work around the obstacle rather than being frustrated by it.
Sadness is also a contextually appropriate response, but if it controls our brains unnecessarily, it can lead to depression. Surprisingly, Davidson suggests the best antidote to sadness is generosity. Helping others in their own suffering helps us realize we’re not the only ones with problems and moves us beyond ourselves. According to research, generosity activates circuits in the brain associated with joy. Other suggestions by health experts for increasing brain plasticity include mental and physical exercises, healthy diets, and certain nutritional supplements such as Vitamin D.
Neuroplasticity in Scripture
As I was writing the previous section, I realized how often Scripture treats our emotions with kindness and helps us grow into better human beings. A number of Bible verses and stories started popping into my head that can help us retrain our thinking and emotions. On learning to sustain joyful experiences, Philippians 4:8 (NIV) encourages us, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable— if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.” In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus reminds Martha, who is distracted by tasks and duties, to act more like Mary. Jesus gently acknowledges Martha’s emotions (“Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things”) and then encourages her just to sit and listen (“One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part. It won’t be taken away from her”).
While others view the lepers, blind people and sinners with disgust, Christ consistently reframes this view with love and compassion by healing, even physically touching, those least among us. And while Scripture understands our propensity to fear things not based in reality, we are given numerous words of comfort, including, “Don’t worry about your life, what you’ll eat or what you’ll drink, or about your body, what you’ll wear” (Matthew 6:25), and “Throw all your anxiety onto him, because he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7).
In Matthew 21:12-13, Jesus displays contextually appropriate anger by pushing over the tables of those who were buying and selling in the Temple, channeling his anger into an important lesson: “It’s written, My house will be called a house of prayer. But you’ve made it a hideout for crooks.” In James 1:19-20, we’re taught why anger can be harmful: “Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to grow angry. This is because an angry person doesn’t produce God’s righteousness.”
And Scripture is peppered with stories of those who were generous in the midst of sad or difficult circumstances. Jesus praises the widow who gives two small copper coins worth a penny. While others give out of their wealth, “she from her hopeless poverty has given everything she had, even what she needed to live on” (Mark 12:41-44). Proverbs 11:24 states, “Those who give generously receive more, but those who are stingy with what is appropriate will grow needy.” The Bible confirms a universal spiritual truism that in times of scarcity, we should give more, not less. Science confirms these acts lead to more joy — and a more Christlike life.
Be sure to check out FaithLink, a weekly downloadable discussion guide for classes and small groups.
For hungry kids, school days mean meals again
By Mary Catherine Hinds / Religion News Service(RNS) Facebook is full of “first day of school” pictures and updates about how happy everyone is to be finally sending the kids back.
My fellow working parents and I are breathing a collective sigh of relief that we managed to cover child care all summer long. On the flip side, stay-at-home parents are looking forward to getting their homes back during the day. We are all excited to be back on a schedule with routine.
This morning as I flipped pancakes to fill my children’s bellies before we headed out the door, I thought how excited I am to be sending them back to school and out of my hair! Then I thought of some other mothers and fathers who were undoubtedly rejoicing for other reasons.
Some moms and dads are overjoyed because after a long summer break, their children are now going to get a free breakfast and lunch every weekday at school. As I juggled camps and vacation days this summer, other mothers were juggling paychecks, trying to feed their children without the free-lunch subsidies that exist during the school year.
I work for Church World Service, a global humanitarian agency. As I think about my neighbors celebrating nutrition as part of back-to-school, I also see the faces of parents in Cambodia, Bolivia, Serbia — parents who are celebrating back-to-school because for them, education is hope. Education is opportunity. Education is a permanent solution to hunger and severe malnutrition. These parents celebrate school every day.
After the dust settles on this frantic first week of school, my family and I will start to do something to help the other mothers and fathers out there for whom school means life. We will set up a CROP Hunger Walk team for our church and start recruiting walkers and raising funds for our annual CROP Hunger Walk.
The CROP Hunger Walk is our community’s response to end hunger and poverty in our city and around the world. The funds we raise will send backpacks of food home on Fridays with classmates of my own children while also providing safe schools for children in some of the poorest countries in the world.
There are about 1,200 CROP Hunger Walks each year across the U.S. While individuals participate and are welcome, faith communities are the key to organizing them.
With each step we take, we will give thanks for our own blessings and, as people of faith, answer a call to share these blessings with others so that all will be nourished.
This Sunday August 30, 2015Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Song of Solomon 2:8-13; Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 (or Psalm 72); James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
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Lectionary Readings:
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Song of Solomon 2:8-13
Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9
James 1:17-27
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Lectiionsry Scripture:
Song of Solomon 2:8 The voice of the man I love! Here he comes,
bounding over the mountains, skipping over the hills!
9 My darling is like a gazelle or young stag.
There he is, standing outside our wall,
looking in through the windows,
peering in through the lattice.
10 My darling speaks; he is saying to me,
“Get up, my love! My beauty! Come away!
11 For you see that the winter has passed,
the rain is finished and gone,
12 the flowers are appearing in the countryside,
the time has come for [the birds] to sing,
and the cooing of doves can be heard in the land.
13 The fig trees are forming their unripe figs,
and the grapevines in bloom give out their perfume.
Get up, my love, my beauty!
Come away!”
Psalm 45:(0) For the leader. Set to “Lilies.” By the descendants of Korach. A maskil. A lovesong:
2 (1) My heart is stirred by a noble theme;
I address my verses to the king;
My tongue is the pen of an expert scribe.
6 (5) Your arrows are sharp. The people fall under you,
as they penetrate the hearts of the king’s enemies.
7 (6) Your throne, God, will last forever and ever;
you rule your kingdom with a scepter of equity.
8 (7) You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of joy in preference to your companions.
9 (8) Your robes are all fragrant with myrrh, aloes and cassia;
from ivory palaces stringed instruments bring you joy.
James 1:17 Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father who made the heavenly lights; with him there is neither variation nor darkness caused by turning. 18 Having made his decision, he gave birth to us through a Word that can be relied upon, in order that we should be a kind of firstfruits of all that he created. 19 Therefore, my dear brothers, let every person be quick to listen but slow to speak, slow to get angry; 20 for a person’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness!
21 So rid yourselves of all vulgarity and obvious evil, and receive meekly the Word implanted in you that can save your lives. 22 Don’t deceive yourselves by only hearing what the Word says, but do it! 23 For whoever hears the Word but doesn’t do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror, 24 who looks at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But if a person looks closely into the perfect Torah, which gives freedom, and continues, becoming not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work it requires, then he will be blessed in what he does.
26 Anyone who thinks he is religiously observant but does not control his tongue is deceiving himself, and his observance counts for nothing. 27 The religious observance that God the Father considers pure and faultless is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being contaminated by the world.
Mark 7:1 The P’rushim and some of the Torah-teachers who had come from Yerushalayim gathered together with Yeshua 2 and saw that some of his talmidim ate with ritually unclean hands, that is, without doing n’tilat-yadayim. 3 (For the P’rushim, and indeed all the Judeans, holding fast to the Tradition of the Elders, do not eat unless they have given their hands a ceremonial washing. 4 Also, when they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they have rinsed their hands up to the wrist; and they adhere to many other traditions, such as washing cups, pots and bronze vessels.)
5 The P’rushim and the Torah-teachers asked him, “Why don’t your talmidim live in accordance with the Tradition of the Elders, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?” 6 Yeshua answered them, “Yesha‘yahu was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites — as it is written,
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far away from me.
7 Their worship of me is useless,
because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.’[Mark 7:7 Isaiah 29:13]
8 “You depart from God’s command and hold onto human tradition.
14 Then Yeshua called the people to him again and said, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand this! 15 There is nothing outside a person which, by going into him, can make him unclean. Rather, it is the things that come out of a person which make a person unclean!”
21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come forth wicked thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, foolishness…. 23 All these wicked things come from within, and they make a person unclean.”
John Wesley's Notes-commentary for Song of Solomon 2:8-13
Verse 8
[8] The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
The voice — Christ's voice, the word of grace revealed outwardly in the gospel, and inwardly by the Spirit of God.
Leaping — He saith, leaping and skipping, to denote that Christ came readily, and swiftly, with great desire and pleasure and adds, upon the mountains and hills, to signify Christ's resolution to come in spite of all difficulties.
Verse 9
[9] My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.
Like a roe — In swiftness. He is coming to me with all speed and will not tarry a moment beyond the proper season.
He standeth behind — And while he doth for wise reasons forbear to come; he is not far from us. Both this and the following phrases may denote the obscure manner of Christ's manifesting himself to his people, under the law, in comparison of his discoveries in the gospel.
The window — This phrase, and that through the lattess, intimate that the church does indeed see Christ, but, as through a glass, darkly, as it is said even of gospel-revelations,1 Corinthians 13:12, which was much more true of legal administrations.
Verse 10
[10] My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
Spake — Invited me outwardly by his word, and inwardly by his Spirit.
Rise up — Shake off sloth, and disentangle thyself more fully from all the snares of this world.
Come — Unto me, and with me; follow me fully, serve me perfectly, labour for a nearer union, and more satisfying communion with me.
Verse 11
[11] For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
The winter — Spiritual troubles arising from a deep sense of the guilt of sin, the wrath of God, the curse of the law; all which made them afraid to come unto God. But, saith Christ, I have removed these impediments, God is reconciled; therefore cast off all discouragements, and excuses, and come to me.
Verse 12
[12] The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
The flowers — The communications of God's grace, the gifts, and graces, and comforts of the Holy Spirit, are vouchsafed unto, and appear in believers, as buds and blossoms do in the spring.
The turtle — This seems particularly to be mentioned because it not only gives notice of the spring, but aptly represents the Spirit of God, which even the Chaldee paraphrast understands by this turtle, which appeared in the shape of a dove, and which worketh a dove-like meekness, and chastity, and faithfulness, in believers.
Verse 13
{13] The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
Her figs — Which it shoots forth in the spring.
Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9
Verse 1
[1] My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
Enditing — Heb. boileth, or bubbleth up like water over the fire. This denotes that the workings of his heart, were fervent and vehement, kindled by God's grace, and the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
Made — Have composed.
Pen — He was only the pen or instrument in uttering this song; it was the spirit of God, by whose hand this pen was guided.
Verse 2
[2] Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.
Fairer — Than all other men: which is most true of Christ; but not of Solomon; whom many have excelled, in holiness and righteousness, which is the chief part of the beauty celebrated in this psalm.
Grace — God hath plentifully poured into thy mind and tongue the gift of speaking wisely, eloquently, and acceptably.
Therefore — And because God hath so eminently qualified thee for rule, therefore he hath blessed thee with an everlasting kingdom.
Verse 6
[6] Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
O God — It is evident, that the speech is still continued to the same person whom he calls king, verse 1,11, and here God, to assure us that he doth not speak of Solomon, but a far greater king, who is not only a man, but the mighty God, Isaiah 9:6.
A right scepter — Thou rulest with exact righteousness and equity.
Verse 7
[7] Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Therefore — Therefore God hath exalted thee far above all men and angels, to a state of joy and endless glory at his right hand; which is fitly compared by the oil of gladness.
Thy God — According to thy human nature, John 20:17, though in respect of thy Divine nature, thou art his fellow, Zechariah 13:7, and his equal, Philemon 2:6, and one with him, John 10:30.
Oil — So called, because it was a token of gladness, and used in feasts, and other solemn occasions of rejoicing.
Fellows — Above all them who partake with thee in this unction: above all that ever were anointed for priests or prophets, or kings.
Verse 8
[8] All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.
Myrrh — Wherewith they used to perfume their garments: this may denote those glorious and sweet smelling virtues, which, as they were treasured up in Christ's heart, so did they manifest themselves outwardly, and give forth a grateful smell, in the whole course of his life and actions.
Palaces — The king is here supposed to reside in his ivory palaces, and his garments are so fragrant, that they not only perfume the whole palace in which he is; but the sweet favour is perceived by those that pass by them, all which is poetically said, and with allusion to Solomon's glorious garments and palaces. The heavenly mansions, may not unfitly be called ivory palaces, as elsewhere in the same figurative manner they are said to be adorned with gold and precious stones, from which mansions Christ came into the world, into which Christ went, and where he settled his abode after he went out of the world, and from whence he poured forth all the fragrant gifts and graces of his spirit, although there is no necessity to strain every particular circumstance in such poetical descriptions; for some expressions may be used, only as ornaments, as they are in parables; and it may suffice to know, that the excellencies of the king Christ are described by things which earthly potentates place their glory.
Whereby — By the sweet smell of thy garments out of those ivory palaces, or the effusion of the gifts and graces of thy spirit from heaven; which as it is a great blessing to those who receive them, so doth it rejoice the heart of Christ, both as it is a demonstration of his own power and glory, and as it is the instrument of bringing souls to God.
Made thee — Thou art made glad.
Verse 9
[9] Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
Among — Among them that attend upon thy spouse, as the manner was in nuptial solemnities. As the queen is the church in general, and so these honourable women are particular believers, who are daily added to the church, Acts 2:47. And although the church is made up of particular believers, yet she is distinguished from them, for the decency of the parable. And these believers may be said to be Kings daughters, because among others, many persons of royal race embraced the faith, and because they are in a spiritual sense, Kings unto God, Revelation 1:6.
Right hand — The most honourable place.
Ophir — Clothed in garments made of the choicest gold. By which he designs the graces wherewith the church is accomplished.
James 1:17-27
Verse 17
[17] Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
No evil, but every good gift - Whatever tends to holiness.
And every perfect gift — Whatever tends to glory.
Descendeth from the Father of lights — The appellation of Father is here used with peculiar propriety. It follows, "he begat us." He is the Father of all light, material or spiritual, in the kingdom of grace and of glory.
With whom is no variableness — No change in his understanding.
Or shadow of turning — in his will. He infallibly discerns all good and evil; and invariably loves one, and hates the other. There is, in both the Greek words, a metaphor taken from the stars, particularly proper where the Father of lights is mentioned. Both are applicable to any celestial body, which has a daily vicissitude of day and night, and sometimes longer days, sometimes longer nights. In God is nothing of this kind. He is mere light. If there Is any such vicissitude, it is in ourselves, not in him.
Verse 18
[18] Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Of his own will — Most loving, most free, most pure, just opposite to our evil desire, James 1:15.
Begat he us — Who believe.
By the word of truth — The true word, emphatically so termed; the gospel.
That we might be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures — Christians are the chief and most excellent of his visible creatures; and sanctify the rest. Yet he says, A kind of - For Christ alone is absolutely the first - fruits.
Verse 19
[19] Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Let every man be swift to hear — This is treated of from James 1:21 to the end of the next chapter.
Slow to speak — Which is treated of in he third chapter.
Slow to wrath — Neither murmuring at God, nor angry at his neighbour. This is treated of in the third, and throughout the fourth and fifth chapters.
Verse 20
[20] For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
The righteousness of God here includes all duties prescribed by him, and pleasing to him.
Verse 21
[21] Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Therefore laying aside — As a dirty garment.
All the filthiness and superfluity of wickedness — For however specious or necessary it may appear to worldly wisdom, all wickedness is both vile, hateful, contemptible, and really superfluous. Every reasonable end may be effectually answered without any kind or degree of it. Lay this, every known sin, aside, or all your hearing is vain.
With meekness — Constant evenness and serenity of mind.
Receive — Into your ears, your heart, your life.
The word — Of the gospel.
Ingrafted — In believers, by regeneration, James 1:18 and by habit, Hebrews 5:14.
Which is able to save your souls — The hope of salvation nourishes meekness.
Verse 23
[23] For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
Beholding his face in a glass — How exactly does the scripture glass show a man the face of his soul!
Verse 24
[24] For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
He beheld himself, and went away — To other business.
And forgot — But such forgetting does not excuse.
Verse 25
[25] But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
But he that looketh diligently — Not with a transient glance, but bending down, fixing his eyes, and searching all to the bottom.
Into the perfect law — Of love as established by faith. St. James here guards us against misunderstanding what St. Paul says concerning the "yoke and bondage of the law." He who keeps the law of love is free, John 8:31, etc. He that does not, is not free, but a slave to sin, and a criminal before God, James 2:10.
And continueth therein — Not like him who forgot it, and went away.
This man — There is a peculiar force in the repetition of the word.
Shall be happy — Not barely in hearing, but doing the will of God.
Verse 26
[26] If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
If any one be ever so religious — Exact in the outward offices of religion.
And bridleth not his tongue — From backbiting, talebearing, evilspeaking, he only deceiveth his own heart, if he fancies he has any true religion at all.
Verse 27
[27] Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
The only true religion in the sight of God, is this, to visit - With counsel, comfort, and relief.
The fatherless and widows — Those who need it most.
In their affliction — In their most helpless and hopeless state.
And to keep himself unspotted from the world — From the maxims, tempers, and customs of it. But this cannot be done, till we have given our hearts to God, and love our neighbour as ourselves.
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Song of Solomon 2:8-13
Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9
James 1:17-27
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Lectiionsry Scripture:
Song of Solomon 2:8 The voice of the man I love! Here he comes,
bounding over the mountains, skipping over the hills!
9 My darling is like a gazelle or young stag.
There he is, standing outside our wall,
looking in through the windows,
peering in through the lattice.
10 My darling speaks; he is saying to me,
“Get up, my love! My beauty! Come away!
11 For you see that the winter has passed,
the rain is finished and gone,
12 the flowers are appearing in the countryside,
the time has come for [the birds] to sing,
and the cooing of doves can be heard in the land.
13 The fig trees are forming their unripe figs,
and the grapevines in bloom give out their perfume.
Get up, my love, my beauty!
Come away!”
Psalm 45:(0) For the leader. Set to “Lilies.” By the descendants of Korach. A maskil. A lovesong:
2 (1) My heart is stirred by a noble theme;
I address my verses to the king;
My tongue is the pen of an expert scribe.
6 (5) Your arrows are sharp. The people fall under you,
as they penetrate the hearts of the king’s enemies.
7 (6) Your throne, God, will last forever and ever;
you rule your kingdom with a scepter of equity.
8 (7) You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of joy in preference to your companions.
9 (8) Your robes are all fragrant with myrrh, aloes and cassia;
from ivory palaces stringed instruments bring you joy.
James 1:17 Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father who made the heavenly lights; with him there is neither variation nor darkness caused by turning. 18 Having made his decision, he gave birth to us through a Word that can be relied upon, in order that we should be a kind of firstfruits of all that he created. 19 Therefore, my dear brothers, let every person be quick to listen but slow to speak, slow to get angry; 20 for a person’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness!
21 So rid yourselves of all vulgarity and obvious evil, and receive meekly the Word implanted in you that can save your lives. 22 Don’t deceive yourselves by only hearing what the Word says, but do it! 23 For whoever hears the Word but doesn’t do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror, 24 who looks at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But if a person looks closely into the perfect Torah, which gives freedom, and continues, becoming not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work it requires, then he will be blessed in what he does.
26 Anyone who thinks he is religiously observant but does not control his tongue is deceiving himself, and his observance counts for nothing. 27 The religious observance that God the Father considers pure and faultless is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being contaminated by the world.
Mark 7:1 The P’rushim and some of the Torah-teachers who had come from Yerushalayim gathered together with Yeshua 2 and saw that some of his talmidim ate with ritually unclean hands, that is, without doing n’tilat-yadayim. 3 (For the P’rushim, and indeed all the Judeans, holding fast to the Tradition of the Elders, do not eat unless they have given their hands a ceremonial washing. 4 Also, when they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they have rinsed their hands up to the wrist; and they adhere to many other traditions, such as washing cups, pots and bronze vessels.)
5 The P’rushim and the Torah-teachers asked him, “Why don’t your talmidim live in accordance with the Tradition of the Elders, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?” 6 Yeshua answered them, “Yesha‘yahu was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites — as it is written,
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far away from me.
7 Their worship of me is useless,
because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.’[Mark 7:7 Isaiah 29:13]
8 “You depart from God’s command and hold onto human tradition.
14 Then Yeshua called the people to him again and said, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand this! 15 There is nothing outside a person which, by going into him, can make him unclean. Rather, it is the things that come out of a person which make a person unclean!”
21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come forth wicked thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, foolishness…. 23 All these wicked things come from within, and they make a person unclean.”
John Wesley's Notes-commentary for Song of Solomon 2:8-13
Verse 8
[8] The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
The voice — Christ's voice, the word of grace revealed outwardly in the gospel, and inwardly by the Spirit of God.
Leaping — He saith, leaping and skipping, to denote that Christ came readily, and swiftly, with great desire and pleasure and adds, upon the mountains and hills, to signify Christ's resolution to come in spite of all difficulties.
Verse 9
[9] My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.
Like a roe — In swiftness. He is coming to me with all speed and will not tarry a moment beyond the proper season.
He standeth behind — And while he doth for wise reasons forbear to come; he is not far from us. Both this and the following phrases may denote the obscure manner of Christ's manifesting himself to his people, under the law, in comparison of his discoveries in the gospel.
The window — This phrase, and that through the lattess, intimate that the church does indeed see Christ, but, as through a glass, darkly, as it is said even of gospel-revelations,1 Corinthians 13:12, which was much more true of legal administrations.
Verse 10
[10] My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
Spake — Invited me outwardly by his word, and inwardly by his Spirit.
Rise up — Shake off sloth, and disentangle thyself more fully from all the snares of this world.
Come — Unto me, and with me; follow me fully, serve me perfectly, labour for a nearer union, and more satisfying communion with me.
Verse 11
[11] For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
The winter — Spiritual troubles arising from a deep sense of the guilt of sin, the wrath of God, the curse of the law; all which made them afraid to come unto God. But, saith Christ, I have removed these impediments, God is reconciled; therefore cast off all discouragements, and excuses, and come to me.
Verse 12
[12] The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
The flowers — The communications of God's grace, the gifts, and graces, and comforts of the Holy Spirit, are vouchsafed unto, and appear in believers, as buds and blossoms do in the spring.
The turtle — This seems particularly to be mentioned because it not only gives notice of the spring, but aptly represents the Spirit of God, which even the Chaldee paraphrast understands by this turtle, which appeared in the shape of a dove, and which worketh a dove-like meekness, and chastity, and faithfulness, in believers.
Verse 13
{13] The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
Her figs — Which it shoots forth in the spring.
Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9
Verse 1
[1] My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
Enditing — Heb. boileth, or bubbleth up like water over the fire. This denotes that the workings of his heart, were fervent and vehement, kindled by God's grace, and the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
Made — Have composed.
Pen — He was only the pen or instrument in uttering this song; it was the spirit of God, by whose hand this pen was guided.
Verse 2
[2] Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.
Fairer — Than all other men: which is most true of Christ; but not of Solomon; whom many have excelled, in holiness and righteousness, which is the chief part of the beauty celebrated in this psalm.
Grace — God hath plentifully poured into thy mind and tongue the gift of speaking wisely, eloquently, and acceptably.
Therefore — And because God hath so eminently qualified thee for rule, therefore he hath blessed thee with an everlasting kingdom.
Verse 6
[6] Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
O God — It is evident, that the speech is still continued to the same person whom he calls king, verse 1,11, and here God, to assure us that he doth not speak of Solomon, but a far greater king, who is not only a man, but the mighty God, Isaiah 9:6.
A right scepter — Thou rulest with exact righteousness and equity.
Verse 7
[7] Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Therefore — Therefore God hath exalted thee far above all men and angels, to a state of joy and endless glory at his right hand; which is fitly compared by the oil of gladness.
Thy God — According to thy human nature, John 20:17, though in respect of thy Divine nature, thou art his fellow, Zechariah 13:7, and his equal, Philemon 2:6, and one with him, John 10:30.
Oil — So called, because it was a token of gladness, and used in feasts, and other solemn occasions of rejoicing.
Fellows — Above all them who partake with thee in this unction: above all that ever were anointed for priests or prophets, or kings.
Verse 8
[8] All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.
Myrrh — Wherewith they used to perfume their garments: this may denote those glorious and sweet smelling virtues, which, as they were treasured up in Christ's heart, so did they manifest themselves outwardly, and give forth a grateful smell, in the whole course of his life and actions.
Palaces — The king is here supposed to reside in his ivory palaces, and his garments are so fragrant, that they not only perfume the whole palace in which he is; but the sweet favour is perceived by those that pass by them, all which is poetically said, and with allusion to Solomon's glorious garments and palaces. The heavenly mansions, may not unfitly be called ivory palaces, as elsewhere in the same figurative manner they are said to be adorned with gold and precious stones, from which mansions Christ came into the world, into which Christ went, and where he settled his abode after he went out of the world, and from whence he poured forth all the fragrant gifts and graces of his spirit, although there is no necessity to strain every particular circumstance in such poetical descriptions; for some expressions may be used, only as ornaments, as they are in parables; and it may suffice to know, that the excellencies of the king Christ are described by things which earthly potentates place their glory.
Whereby — By the sweet smell of thy garments out of those ivory palaces, or the effusion of the gifts and graces of thy spirit from heaven; which as it is a great blessing to those who receive them, so doth it rejoice the heart of Christ, both as it is a demonstration of his own power and glory, and as it is the instrument of bringing souls to God.
Made thee — Thou art made glad.
Verse 9
[9] Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
Among — Among them that attend upon thy spouse, as the manner was in nuptial solemnities. As the queen is the church in general, and so these honourable women are particular believers, who are daily added to the church, Acts 2:47. And although the church is made up of particular believers, yet she is distinguished from them, for the decency of the parable. And these believers may be said to be Kings daughters, because among others, many persons of royal race embraced the faith, and because they are in a spiritual sense, Kings unto God, Revelation 1:6.
Right hand — The most honourable place.
Ophir — Clothed in garments made of the choicest gold. By which he designs the graces wherewith the church is accomplished.
James 1:17-27
Verse 17
[17] Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
No evil, but every good gift - Whatever tends to holiness.
And every perfect gift — Whatever tends to glory.
Descendeth from the Father of lights — The appellation of Father is here used with peculiar propriety. It follows, "he begat us." He is the Father of all light, material or spiritual, in the kingdom of grace and of glory.
With whom is no variableness — No change in his understanding.
Or shadow of turning — in his will. He infallibly discerns all good and evil; and invariably loves one, and hates the other. There is, in both the Greek words, a metaphor taken from the stars, particularly proper where the Father of lights is mentioned. Both are applicable to any celestial body, which has a daily vicissitude of day and night, and sometimes longer days, sometimes longer nights. In God is nothing of this kind. He is mere light. If there Is any such vicissitude, it is in ourselves, not in him.
Verse 18
[18] Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Of his own will — Most loving, most free, most pure, just opposite to our evil desire, James 1:15.
Begat he us — Who believe.
By the word of truth — The true word, emphatically so termed; the gospel.
That we might be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures — Christians are the chief and most excellent of his visible creatures; and sanctify the rest. Yet he says, A kind of - For Christ alone is absolutely the first - fruits.
Verse 19
[19] Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Let every man be swift to hear — This is treated of from James 1:21 to the end of the next chapter.
Slow to speak — Which is treated of in he third chapter.
Slow to wrath — Neither murmuring at God, nor angry at his neighbour. This is treated of in the third, and throughout the fourth and fifth chapters.
Verse 20
[20] For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
The righteousness of God here includes all duties prescribed by him, and pleasing to him.
Verse 21
[21] Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Therefore laying aside — As a dirty garment.
All the filthiness and superfluity of wickedness — For however specious or necessary it may appear to worldly wisdom, all wickedness is both vile, hateful, contemptible, and really superfluous. Every reasonable end may be effectually answered without any kind or degree of it. Lay this, every known sin, aside, or all your hearing is vain.
With meekness — Constant evenness and serenity of mind.
Receive — Into your ears, your heart, your life.
The word — Of the gospel.
Ingrafted — In believers, by regeneration, James 1:18 and by habit, Hebrews 5:14.
Which is able to save your souls — The hope of salvation nourishes meekness.
Verse 23
[23] For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
Beholding his face in a glass — How exactly does the scripture glass show a man the face of his soul!
Verse 24
[24] For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
He beheld himself, and went away — To other business.
And forgot — But such forgetting does not excuse.
Verse 25
[25] But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
But he that looketh diligently — Not with a transient glance, but bending down, fixing his eyes, and searching all to the bottom.
Into the perfect law — Of love as established by faith. St. James here guards us against misunderstanding what St. Paul says concerning the "yoke and bondage of the law." He who keeps the law of love is free, John 8:31, etc. He that does not, is not free, but a slave to sin, and a criminal before God, James 2:10.
And continueth therein — Not like him who forgot it, and went away.
This man — There is a peculiar force in the repetition of the word.
Shall be happy — Not barely in hearing, but doing the will of God.
Verse 26
[26] If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
If any one be ever so religious — Exact in the outward offices of religion.
And bridleth not his tongue — From backbiting, talebearing, evilspeaking, he only deceiveth his own heart, if he fancies he has any true religion at all.
Verse 27
[27] Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
The only true religion in the sight of God, is this, to visit - With counsel, comfort, and relief.
The fatherless and widows — Those who need it most.
In their affliction — In their most helpless and hopeless state.
And to keep himself unspotted from the world — From the maxims, tempers, and customs of it. But this cannot be done, till we have given our hearts to God, and love our neighbour as ourselves.
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Verse 4
[4] And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.
Washing of cups and pots and brazen vessels and couches — The Greek word (baptisms) means indifferently either washing or sprinkling. The cups, pots, and vessels were washed; the couches sprinkled.
Verse 5
[5] Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
The tradition of the elders — The rule delivered down from your forefathers.
Verse 6
[6] He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
Isaiah 29:13.
Verse 15
[15] There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
There is nothing entering into a man from without which can defile him — Though it is very true, a man may bring guilt, which is moral defilement, upon himself by eating what hurts his health, or by excess either in meat or drink yet even here the pollution arises from the wickedness of the heart, and is just proportionable to it. And this is all that our Lord asserts.
Verse 22
[22] Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
Wickedness — The word means ill natured, cruelty, inhumanity, and all malevolent affections.
Foolishness — Directly contrary to sobriety of thought and discourse: all kind of wild imaginations and extravagant passions.
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Verse 4
[4] And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.
Washing of cups and pots and brazen vessels and couches — The Greek word (baptisms) means indifferently either washing or sprinkling. The cups, pots, and vessels were washed; the couches sprinkled.
Verse 5
[5] Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
The tradition of the elders — The rule delivered down from your forefathers.
Verse 6
[6] He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
Isaiah 29:13.
Verse 15
[15] There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
There is nothing entering into a man from without which can defile him — Though it is very true, a man may bring guilt, which is moral defilement, upon himself by eating what hurts his health, or by excess either in meat or drink yet even here the pollution arises from the wickedness of the heart, and is just proportionable to it. And this is all that our Lord asserts.
Verse 22
[22] Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
Wickedness — The word means ill natured, cruelty, inhumanity, and all malevolent affections.
Foolishness — Directly contrary to sobriety of thought and discourse: all kind of wild imaginations and extravagant passions.
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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 "True Intimacy" by Gary Lee Parker for Sunday, 30 August 2015 with Scripture: Song of Solomon 2:8 The voice of the man I love! Here he comes,
bounding over the mountains, skipping over the hills!
9 My darling is like a gazelle or young stag.
There he is, standing outside our wall,
looking in through the windows,
peering in through the lattice.
10 My darling speaks; he is saying to me,
“Get up, my love! My beauty! Come away!
11 For you see that the winter has passed,
the rain is finished and gone,
12 the flowers are appearing in the countryside,
the time has come for [the birds] to sing,
and the cooing of doves can be heard in the land.
13 The fig trees are forming their unripe figs,
and the grapevines in bloom give out their perfume.
Get up, my love, my beauty!
Come away!”
It has been said from people that you would never hear a sermon on Sunday morning from the Book of the song of Solomon. Could this be cause we too often misunderstand these passages to be between a husband and wife and not from God t His creation? Maybe, it could be that we do not really understand what true initimacy really means. I have heard that intimacy is really the sexual expression between two people who have committed their lives to a lifelong committment to each other, but what happens if true initmacy has nothing to do with sexual expression but is about relating to each other from the inside out. We go back to the Garden of Eden and reaie that Adam and Eve had a very intimate relationship with God until they chose to disobey His word. Then we realie that King Solomon had an intimate relationship with his mother, Bathsheba, because he built a second throne for his mother next to his throne. We hqave the promise for David's son to build the Temple and for David's family to reign forever as King of Israel, but the promise continued to exist even after Solomon's death. We have these Songs about the love between two people as being beloved by the one, but we realise that we, the human race is the beloved of God. Yes, it is great for married couples to know that they re beloved my each other, but just maybe the writings which have been attributed to Solomon is about the love for God and His people, us, to let us know that we are truly beloved by God as Father Henri Nouwen has written and spoken about as in these quote:
“Aren't you, like me, hoping that some person, thing, or event will come along to give you that final feeling of inner well-being you desire? Don't you often hope: 'May this book, idea, course, trip, job, country or relationship fulfill my deepest desire.' But as long as you are waiting for that mysterious moment you will go on running helter-skelter, always anxious and restless, always lustful and angry, never fully satisfied. You know that this is the compulsiveness that keeps us going and busy, but at the same time makes us wonder whether we are getting anywhere in the long run. This is the way to spiritual exhaustion and burn-out. This is the way to spiritual death.”[Henri J.M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World]
“I kept running around it in large or small circles, always looking for someone or something able to convince me of my Belovedness.
Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the "Beloved". Being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence.”[Henri J.M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World]
Truly, this intiacy that God has for us in telling us we are His beloved is what existed between Adam and Eve and Himself as well as many people who remained close to God through prayer and actions as Jesus showed in His life as the Beloved Only Son of God the Father as God the Father told Him at His baptism and on the Mount where He was Transfigured. God has called each of us His Beleoved even those who society does not count as having value like the people who are Diferently Abled. There are many people who have discovered this in relating to either their family members who are differently abled or people who work and live in community with people who are differently abled. There has been tow people who have written about this sense of Belovedness who are Father Nouwen in his book about Adam simply called Adam and Jean Vanier in his experience in L'Arche at an invitation from a French Catholic Priest in 1964 which developed in L'Arche International (1964) and Faith and Light (1965). He has written several books from the philospher point of view with his experiences, but is first one Community and Growth has him compare his students in his philosphy class who picked his brain to get rich while the people who were differently abled would pick his heart to find God's love in finding each of us are the Beloved Children of God. How do you react to the knowledge that you are a bleoved Child of God? How do you respond to other people in letting each of the people whether they are like you or not that each of us are beloved children of God? How would our churched be looked upon by outsiders that we are a Beloved commnity of God and react to all people as Beloved children of God? Just maybe as Beloved children of God, the people who happen to be differently abled are able to teach us to live out God's Belovedness to all the people of the world. Will each of suearch our hearts and minds to see where we have sinned against God and other people in not treating ourselves and others a bleoved children of God as we come forward to eath the Body of Jesus and drink His Blood in the Holy Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. We come to reconfirm our Belovedness singing the Hymn "The Love Of God" by Merch Me:
1. The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell
The guilty pair, bowed down with care
God gave His Son to win
His erring child He reconciled
And pardoned from his sin
2. Could we with ink the ocean fil
And were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade
3. To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whol
Though stretched from sky to sky
Chorus:
Hallelujah [3x]
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints' and angels' song
____________________________
bounding over the mountains, skipping over the hills!
9 My darling is like a gazelle or young stag.
There he is, standing outside our wall,
looking in through the windows,
peering in through the lattice.
10 My darling speaks; he is saying to me,
“Get up, my love! My beauty! Come away!
11 For you see that the winter has passed,
the rain is finished and gone,
12 the flowers are appearing in the countryside,
the time has come for [the birds] to sing,
and the cooing of doves can be heard in the land.
13 The fig trees are forming their unripe figs,
and the grapevines in bloom give out their perfume.
Get up, my love, my beauty!
Come away!”
It has been said from people that you would never hear a sermon on Sunday morning from the Book of the song of Solomon. Could this be cause we too often misunderstand these passages to be between a husband and wife and not from God t His creation? Maybe, it could be that we do not really understand what true initimacy really means. I have heard that intimacy is really the sexual expression between two people who have committed their lives to a lifelong committment to each other, but what happens if true initmacy has nothing to do with sexual expression but is about relating to each other from the inside out. We go back to the Garden of Eden and reaie that Adam and Eve had a very intimate relationship with God until they chose to disobey His word. Then we realie that King Solomon had an intimate relationship with his mother, Bathsheba, because he built a second throne for his mother next to his throne. We hqave the promise for David's son to build the Temple and for David's family to reign forever as King of Israel, but the promise continued to exist even after Solomon's death. We have these Songs about the love between two people as being beloved by the one, but we realise that we, the human race is the beloved of God. Yes, it is great for married couples to know that they re beloved my each other, but just maybe the writings which have been attributed to Solomon is about the love for God and His people, us, to let us know that we are truly beloved by God as Father Henri Nouwen has written and spoken about as in these quote:
“Aren't you, like me, hoping that some person, thing, or event will come along to give you that final feeling of inner well-being you desire? Don't you often hope: 'May this book, idea, course, trip, job, country or relationship fulfill my deepest desire.' But as long as you are waiting for that mysterious moment you will go on running helter-skelter, always anxious and restless, always lustful and angry, never fully satisfied. You know that this is the compulsiveness that keeps us going and busy, but at the same time makes us wonder whether we are getting anywhere in the long run. This is the way to spiritual exhaustion and burn-out. This is the way to spiritual death.”[Henri J.M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World]
“I kept running around it in large or small circles, always looking for someone or something able to convince me of my Belovedness.
Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the "Beloved". Being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence.”[Henri J.M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World]
Truly, this intiacy that God has for us in telling us we are His beloved is what existed between Adam and Eve and Himself as well as many people who remained close to God through prayer and actions as Jesus showed in His life as the Beloved Only Son of God the Father as God the Father told Him at His baptism and on the Mount where He was Transfigured. God has called each of us His Beleoved even those who society does not count as having value like the people who are Diferently Abled. There are many people who have discovered this in relating to either their family members who are differently abled or people who work and live in community with people who are differently abled. There has been tow people who have written about this sense of Belovedness who are Father Nouwen in his book about Adam simply called Adam and Jean Vanier in his experience in L'Arche at an invitation from a French Catholic Priest in 1964 which developed in L'Arche International (1964) and Faith and Light (1965). He has written several books from the philospher point of view with his experiences, but is first one Community and Growth has him compare his students in his philosphy class who picked his brain to get rich while the people who were differently abled would pick his heart to find God's love in finding each of us are the Beloved Children of God. How do you react to the knowledge that you are a bleoved Child of God? How do you respond to other people in letting each of the people whether they are like you or not that each of us are beloved children of God? How would our churched be looked upon by outsiders that we are a Beloved commnity of God and react to all people as Beloved children of God? Just maybe as Beloved children of God, the people who happen to be differently abled are able to teach us to live out God's Belovedness to all the people of the world. Will each of suearch our hearts and minds to see where we have sinned against God and other people in not treating ourselves and others a bleoved children of God as we come forward to eath the Body of Jesus and drink His Blood in the Holy Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. We come to reconfirm our Belovedness singing the Hymn "The Love Of God" by Merch Me:
1. The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell
The guilty pair, bowed down with care
God gave His Son to win
His erring child He reconciled
And pardoned from his sin
2. Could we with ink the ocean fil
And were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade
3. To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whol
Though stretched from sky to sky
Chorus:
Hallelujah [3x]
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints' and angels' song
____________________________
Gary Lee Parker
4147 Idaho Street, Apt. 1
San Diego, California 92104-1844, United States
____________________________
____________________________
…
LISTENING EARS by Tracey Allred
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WORSHIP ELEMENTS: by Mary Petrina Boyd
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WORSHIP CONNECTION: by Nancy C. Townley
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SERMON OPTIONS:
LISTENING EARS by Tracey Allred
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James 1:17-27
We spend a lot of time in our family discussing good listening skills. You see, we have a three-year-old daughter who is a regular chatterbox. She talks from the time she gets up every morning until she goes to bed at night. Her oral skills are marvelous, but her listening skills sometimes leave something to be desired. And so we spend a lot of time talking about “listening ears” and reminding one another to use them. The thing about listening is that it is not a simple skill. Sometimes it is possible to listen but not really hear what someone is saying. (We experience this phenomenon quite a bit with our three year old.) The book of James addresses the idea that fully living the Christian life requires action. Although our faith is not based on works, the complete picture of what it means to be a Christian includes action on our part. Actively living the Christian life requires listening and understanding. Our passage today specifically addresses this issue and sets the framework for the rest of James’s theological perspective.
The first chapter of James begins like many early Christian epistles. James encourages the believers to stand firm amid persecution. This is a common theme in the New Testament epistles as many first-century Christians experienced persecution firsthand. The balance of the chapter deals with the importance of really listening to the word. Verse 19 begins with an admonition to be quick to listen and slow to speak and to anger. There is perhaps no wiser practical verse in all scripture. The human tendency is to do just the opposite, it seems. Verse 22 continues with instruction not merely to listen but actually to do what the word says. “Doing” is an important concept in James. For James, listening and even knowing what it right is not enough. You must take your listening and knowing to the next step and do what is right. In verse 26, the writer again cautions against the dangers of the tongue. We do not know much about James’s situation or audience, but they must have been experiencing a reality that many churches experience. Outside persecution can threaten a body of believers, but inner strife, often caused by an untamed tongue, can damage the body.
What an important message for the church today! I have often thought that verse 19 should be etched above the doorway at the entryway to the sanctuary. There is not a better attitude for Christian living than that! Most church crises that I have observed or experienced have occurred because someone was talking much more than listening. There are several ways that this is destructive to the fellowship. First of all, since it is impossible to talk and listen at the same time, if you spend all of your time talking then you probably will not hear God’s word for you. Talking busies our mind to the point that there is not much room for peaceful contemplation with the Lord. Talking can inhibit your relationship with Christ, which will in turn harm the fellowship of believers.
Second, talking can inhibit your relationship with other believers. No one wants to be in a relationship with someone who is not a good listener. When we fail to listen and do God’s word, we often fail to follow God’s important command to love one another in the way that Christ loved us. Third, a failure to control your tongue can harm your Christian witness. An effective witness is rarely one who says all the right things, but often one who listens and cares. A nonbeliever can actually be turned off to the gospel by one whose tongue is out of control and used to harm others. So, your unbridled tongue may even harm the growth of the fellowship.
The message of James for us personally is the same message that is preached in my home on a regular basis. Put on your listening ears! As believers we must be ready to listen and really hear God’s word. To really listen, we must learn to control our tongues. This is an important discipline of our faith. If we cannot gain control of something so small but powerful, we have little hope for a productive, full Christian life. There is a second important part of this message. It is important with our daughter as well. “Listening ears” are not enough. If we listen to the word, but do not do what it says, then we wasted our listening. As a believer you can listen and know the right way but not follow through, which is as good as not knowing at all. James encourages believers that taking an active role in our faith is imperative. We must act on the word, and put our calling as Christians in motion. Listen and do!
We spend a lot of time in our family discussing good listening skills. You see, we have a three-year-old daughter who is a regular chatterbox. She talks from the time she gets up every morning until she goes to bed at night. Her oral skills are marvelous, but her listening skills sometimes leave something to be desired. And so we spend a lot of time talking about “listening ears” and reminding one another to use them. The thing about listening is that it is not a simple skill. Sometimes it is possible to listen but not really hear what someone is saying. (We experience this phenomenon quite a bit with our three year old.) The book of James addresses the idea that fully living the Christian life requires action. Although our faith is not based on works, the complete picture of what it means to be a Christian includes action on our part. Actively living the Christian life requires listening and understanding. Our passage today specifically addresses this issue and sets the framework for the rest of James’s theological perspective.
The first chapter of James begins like many early Christian epistles. James encourages the believers to stand firm amid persecution. This is a common theme in the New Testament epistles as many first-century Christians experienced persecution firsthand. The balance of the chapter deals with the importance of really listening to the word. Verse 19 begins with an admonition to be quick to listen and slow to speak and to anger. There is perhaps no wiser practical verse in all scripture. The human tendency is to do just the opposite, it seems. Verse 22 continues with instruction not merely to listen but actually to do what the word says. “Doing” is an important concept in James. For James, listening and even knowing what it right is not enough. You must take your listening and knowing to the next step and do what is right. In verse 26, the writer again cautions against the dangers of the tongue. We do not know much about James’s situation or audience, but they must have been experiencing a reality that many churches experience. Outside persecution can threaten a body of believers, but inner strife, often caused by an untamed tongue, can damage the body.
What an important message for the church today! I have often thought that verse 19 should be etched above the doorway at the entryway to the sanctuary. There is not a better attitude for Christian living than that! Most church crises that I have observed or experienced have occurred because someone was talking much more than listening. There are several ways that this is destructive to the fellowship. First of all, since it is impossible to talk and listen at the same time, if you spend all of your time talking then you probably will not hear God’s word for you. Talking busies our mind to the point that there is not much room for peaceful contemplation with the Lord. Talking can inhibit your relationship with Christ, which will in turn harm the fellowship of believers.
Second, talking can inhibit your relationship with other believers. No one wants to be in a relationship with someone who is not a good listener. When we fail to listen and do God’s word, we often fail to follow God’s important command to love one another in the way that Christ loved us. Third, a failure to control your tongue can harm your Christian witness. An effective witness is rarely one who says all the right things, but often one who listens and cares. A nonbeliever can actually be turned off to the gospel by one whose tongue is out of control and used to harm others. So, your unbridled tongue may even harm the growth of the fellowship.
The message of James for us personally is the same message that is preached in my home on a regular basis. Put on your listening ears! As believers we must be ready to listen and really hear God’s word. To really listen, we must learn to control our tongues. This is an important discipline of our faith. If we cannot gain control of something so small but powerful, we have little hope for a productive, full Christian life. There is a second important part of this message. It is important with our daughter as well. “Listening ears” are not enough. If we listen to the word, but do not do what it says, then we wasted our listening. As a believer you can listen and know the right way but not follow through, which is as good as not knowing at all. James encourages believers that taking an active role in our faith is imperative. We must act on the word, and put our calling as Christians in motion. Listen and do!
WORSHIP ELEMENTS: by Mary Petrina Boyd
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Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
COLOR: Green
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Song of Solomon 2:8-13; Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 (or Psalm 72); James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
THEME IDEAS
Luscious imagery unites the passage from Song of Solomon with the psalm. We smell the fragrance of flowers and oil, hear birdsong and music, and see the beauty of God’s world and the king’s court. We are invited to come and be anointed with the oil of gladness. A world of such abundance calls us to live faithful lives filled with righteousness and equity—hating wickedness and all evil intentions, speaking carefully, and caring for those in need. God calls us to respond, not with outward ritual, but with a deep dedication of our hearts, embodying God’s word in our actions.
INVITATION AND GATHERING
Call to Worship (Song of Solomon 2, Psalm 45)
Look to the mountains; look to the hills!
Love comes to us with joy!
The world is filled with beauty.
Flowers appear on the earth,
birdsong brightens the day.
Crops yield their produce in abundance,
the air is filled with sweetness.
The summer of God’s love is with us.
Let the oil of gladness anoint your souls.
Arise and sing for joy!
Opening Prayer
Creating God,
you are the source of summer’s splendor—
the beauty and fragrance of delicate flowers,
and sweet sound of birdsong.
We come to you this morning
with delight and gladness,
grateful for all of your wonders.
As the fields produce their harvest,
may your love grow within us,
that we too may produce a harvest
of love, hope, and joy. Amen.
PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE
Prayer of Confession (James 1, Mark 7)
God of justice and righteousness,
your call beckons to us:
to live faithful lives,
to turn from wickedness,
to walk in your ways;
yet it is so easy to turn aside:
to speak a thoughtless word,
to ignore those in need,
to strike out in anger,
to forget your ways.
Forgive us.
Implant your word in our hearts,
and cleanse us from all evil.
By the power of your love,
save our souls,
that we might faithfully serve you. Amen.
Words of Assurance (Psalm 45, James 1)
God’s word has the power to save your soul.
God has anointed you with gladness.
You are forgiven to live in joy.
Passing the Peace of Christ (James 1)
You are God’s beloved children. Look into one another’s face to see the beauty of God’s presence. Share the Lord’s peace with gladness.
Response to the Word (Song of Solomon 2, Mark 7)
God of abundant love,
you delight us with your grace—
grace expressed in the beauty of our world.
God of truth and light,
you challenge us to live faithful lives—
to turn away from evil,
to follow your ways,
to serve your people.
May your word of truth grow within us this day,
that we may bring forth a harvest of peace. Amen.
THANKSGIVING AND COMMUNION
Invitation to the Offering (James 1)
Every generous act of giving, as with every perfect gift, is from above. May God’s word of truth, implanted within us at birth, bloom in acts of loving faithfulness. May that word shape our lives so that we become doers of the word, using God’s gifts for all.
Offering Prayer (James 1)
God of light and beauty,
every gift is from you.
Even our ability to give
is a blessing of your love.
We offer you what we have
and what we are.
Use our gifts
to give birth to a world of righteousness
where none are in need
and where all draw close to your grace.
Amen.
SENDING FORTH
Benediction (Song of Solomon 2, Psalm 45, James 1)
Arise, my fair ones, and come away.
Go forth in joy to serve with love.
Be doers of God’s word.
God has blessed you forever!
CONTEMPORARY OPTIONS
Contemporary Gathering Words (Song of Solomon 2, Psalm 45)
Arise, my fair ones, and come away!
Where are we going?
We go to the realm of God’s love,
a place of great beauty.
What will we find?
We will find music and sweetness,
an abundance of grace.
We come with joy to meet our Lord!
Praise Sentences (Psalm 45)
Our hearts overflow with love for you!
You have blessed us with gladness beyond compare!
Your goodness endures forever!
We rejoice in your love!
From “The Abingdon Worship Annual 2009,” edited by Mary J. Scifres and B.J. Beu, Copyright © 2008 by Abingdon Press. “The Abingdon Worship Annual 2016” is now available.
COLOR: Green
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Song of Solomon 2:8-13; Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 (or Psalm 72); James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
THEME IDEAS
Luscious imagery unites the passage from Song of Solomon with the psalm. We smell the fragrance of flowers and oil, hear birdsong and music, and see the beauty of God’s world and the king’s court. We are invited to come and be anointed with the oil of gladness. A world of such abundance calls us to live faithful lives filled with righteousness and equity—hating wickedness and all evil intentions, speaking carefully, and caring for those in need. God calls us to respond, not with outward ritual, but with a deep dedication of our hearts, embodying God’s word in our actions.
INVITATION AND GATHERING
Call to Worship (Song of Solomon 2, Psalm 45)
Look to the mountains; look to the hills!
Love comes to us with joy!
The world is filled with beauty.
Flowers appear on the earth,
birdsong brightens the day.
Crops yield their produce in abundance,
the air is filled with sweetness.
The summer of God’s love is with us.
Let the oil of gladness anoint your souls.
Arise and sing for joy!
Opening Prayer
Creating God,
you are the source of summer’s splendor—
the beauty and fragrance of delicate flowers,
and sweet sound of birdsong.
We come to you this morning
with delight and gladness,
grateful for all of your wonders.
As the fields produce their harvest,
may your love grow within us,
that we too may produce a harvest
of love, hope, and joy. Amen.
PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE
Prayer of Confession (James 1, Mark 7)
God of justice and righteousness,
your call beckons to us:
to live faithful lives,
to turn from wickedness,
to walk in your ways;
yet it is so easy to turn aside:
to speak a thoughtless word,
to ignore those in need,
to strike out in anger,
to forget your ways.
Forgive us.
Implant your word in our hearts,
and cleanse us from all evil.
By the power of your love,
save our souls,
that we might faithfully serve you. Amen.
Words of Assurance (Psalm 45, James 1)
God’s word has the power to save your soul.
God has anointed you with gladness.
You are forgiven to live in joy.
Passing the Peace of Christ (James 1)
You are God’s beloved children. Look into one another’s face to see the beauty of God’s presence. Share the Lord’s peace with gladness.
Response to the Word (Song of Solomon 2, Mark 7)
God of abundant love,
you delight us with your grace—
grace expressed in the beauty of our world.
God of truth and light,
you challenge us to live faithful lives—
to turn away from evil,
to follow your ways,
to serve your people.
May your word of truth grow within us this day,
that we may bring forth a harvest of peace. Amen.
THANKSGIVING AND COMMUNION
Invitation to the Offering (James 1)
Every generous act of giving, as with every perfect gift, is from above. May God’s word of truth, implanted within us at birth, bloom in acts of loving faithfulness. May that word shape our lives so that we become doers of the word, using God’s gifts for all.
Offering Prayer (James 1)
God of light and beauty,
every gift is from you.
Even our ability to give
is a blessing of your love.
We offer you what we have
and what we are.
Use our gifts
to give birth to a world of righteousness
where none are in need
and where all draw close to your grace.
Amen.
SENDING FORTH
Benediction (Song of Solomon 2, Psalm 45, James 1)
Arise, my fair ones, and come away.
Go forth in joy to serve with love.
Be doers of God’s word.
God has blessed you forever!
CONTEMPORARY OPTIONS
Contemporary Gathering Words (Song of Solomon 2, Psalm 45)
Arise, my fair ones, and come away!
Where are we going?
We go to the realm of God’s love,
a place of great beauty.
What will we find?
We will find music and sweetness,
an abundance of grace.
We come with joy to meet our Lord!
Praise Sentences (Psalm 45)
Our hearts overflow with love for you!
You have blessed us with gladness beyond compare!
Your goodness endures forever!
We rejoice in your love!
From “The Abingdon Worship Annual 2009,” edited by Mary J. Scifres and B.J. Beu, Copyright © 2008 by Abingdon Press. “The Abingdon Worship Annual 2016” is now available.
WORSHIP CONNECTION: by Nancy C. Townley
read more
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
COLOR: Green
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Song of Solomon 2:8-13; Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 (or Psalm 72); James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
CALLS TO WORSHIP
Call to Worship #1
L: Every generous act of giving is a tribute to God’s love for us.
P: Lord, let us be people of generous and abundant gifts for others.
L: Be ready to listen and slow to react in anger.
P: Lord, prepare us to be peaceful people.
L: Keep your hearts and spirits ready to serve the Lord.
P: Lord, open our hearts to hear and respond to your words of life in ministries of hope and peace. AMEN.
Call to Worship #2
L: Summer wanes and the autumn draws close.
P: Lord, help us to be ready for opportunities of service.
L: We have felt the refreshment of time-away.
P: Lord, give us spirits of joy for the times ahead.
L: Come, let us celebrate God’s eternal presence and love.
P: Let us open our spirits to receive God’s direction for our lives. AMEN.
Call to Worship #3
[Using THE FAITH WE SING, p. 2032, “My Life Is in You, Lord”, offer the following call to worship as directed, if you do not have the pew editions of THE FAITH WE SING, have the choir sing the final run of the song through twice]
L: Don’t play games with God.
P: God knows us better than we think God does.
L: God is waiting for us to come into God’s presence, honestly.
P: Let our lives be in you, O Lord.
Choir: singing “My Life Is in You, Lord” through one time.
L: Place your whole life in God’s loving care.
P: Lord, we come to you, seeking your healing mercy
L: God is ready to give you new life.
P: Come, Lord Jesus, come into our hearts and let our lives be in you. AMEN.
Choir and congregation: singing “My Life Is in You, Lord” through twice.
Call to Worship #4
L: God has given us this day for praise!
P: Praise be to God for this most generous gift!
L: God has given his Son to us that we might learn ways of peace and mercy.
P: Let the words of God’s own Son, Jesus, enter our hearts and transform our lives!
L: Come, let us worship this great God of abundant mercy and love!
P: Let our songs, our words, and our thoughts reflect God’s healing and restoring love. AMEN.
PRAYERS, READING, BENEDICTION
Opening Prayer
Lord of mercy and abundant love, we have gathered here this day to hear your healing words of compassion and to be transformed by your love. Help us to become more faithful servants in our thoughts, words, and deeds. It is in Jesus’ Name, we pray. AMEN.
Prayer of Confession
God of mercy, you know us so well. We like to think that we can hide from You, but we are just kidding ourselves. You have offered to us new life, characterized by honesty, compassion, joy, and peace. You have invited us into ministries of peace and justice; but we have far too often turned our back on opportunities for service and witness to your transformational love. Forgive us for our stubbornness. Help us to turn around and listen to your words of hope. Remind us again that you require compassion and mercy in all who serve you; that you will guide our steps and our lives. Give us courage to truly be your witnesses in this world. AMEN.
Words of Assurance
Even if you have transgressed and done what you know to be wrong, remember that God will heal and forgive you; sending you on your way to become a person of peace, hope, love and justice. Be at peace. God is with you. AMEN.
Pastoral Prayer
Compassionate God, we like to think that all we have to do is be “religious”, to speak the words, but that we really don’t have to “walk the walk”. We can get so caught up in ritual and rules, that we forget the essence of your word for us. We forget that we are called to truly be people of peace, not just to speak the words, but to practice lives of compassion and hope. So many times in this world, we are challenged to “take sides”, one against the other; but that is contrary to your will. You call us to stand for mercy, justice, love, forgiveness, hope, and peace. You want us to be people who care deeply about others and about this world. Help us to be ready to truly and joyfully serve you, O God. Free us from selfishness and self-centeredness. Lift us to lives of peace; for we offer this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN.
Reading
[using the readers from the previous two weeks, continue with the dialog that has been established]
Reader 1: What does it mean, to “play church”?
Reader 2: To me, it means that you are pretending to have Jesus in your life. You are going through the motions but you’re not really meaning what you do or say; or you are doing and saying “religious” things just to make people think you are holy or something.
Reader 1: Someone said that many folks are really afraid of being the church…...it’s easier to “play church”. If you are playing church, that must mean that you go through the motions on Sunday, but the rest of the week you forget things like hope, forgiveness, sincerity, compassion…..you know what I mean.
Reader 2: I think you’re right. If you are being the church, then the attributes of hope and peace, love and joy, which you speak of in church are actually an integral part of your life. You really mean what you say.
Reader 1: The scriptures today from Mark’s gospel said that we should be honorable and honest in our faith - being genuine - and he refers to the Pharisees as those leaders who listened to the “letter of the law”, but did not have the “heart of the law” in mind. It’s not the rituals that are the most critical - rituals are meant to remind us of the greater truth, the love of God through Christ Jesus for all people, right?
Reader 2: In the passage from James, the writer says we need to be “doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” So, we need to do acts of kindness and justice and peace. We need to support ministries that uplift people.
Reader 1: Then it is truly responding to being fed by the “living bread” - being those who actually do what Christ requires of them. Sounds good to me. Let’s get going.
Benediction
As Christ has fed and redeemed your life, now go into the world in peace and love offering ministries of hope and justice. Go in peace and may the peace of God always be with you. AMEN.
ARTISTIC ELEMENTS
The traditional color for this Sunday is: Green
SURFACE: Place a 10” riser at the center back of the worship table. Place two 3” risers on either side of the 10” riser. Place a riser in front of the worship table, about 6” below the surface of the main table.
FABRIC: Cover the worship table completely with green fabric, making sure that all risers are covered and that the green fabric puddles onto the floor in front of the worship center. Taking the 5 yard piece of fabric, have children or youth and adults make handprints all over the fabric. These handprints may be in many colors. Take a 5 yard piece of white fabric, about 30” wide, and place one end of it on top of the 10” riser at the center back of the worship table. Bring the remainder of the fabric forward so that it trails down over the riser in front of the worship center and onto the floor.
CANDLES: Place a 6” white pillar candle on each of the 3” risers on the side of the 10” riser. Place a white 6” pillar candle on the riser in front of the worship center.
FLOWERS/FOLIAGE: You may use trailing vines or other leafy foliage plants on the back of the worship table, beside the white candles. You may also wish to place a “bushy” plant on the floor, near the front riser.
ROCKS/WOOD: Not required for this setting.
OTHER: Place a brass cross on the center riser on the worship table.
COLOR: Green
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Song of Solomon 2:8-13; Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 (or Psalm 72); James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
CALLS TO WORSHIP
Call to Worship #1
L: Every generous act of giving is a tribute to God’s love for us.
P: Lord, let us be people of generous and abundant gifts for others.
L: Be ready to listen and slow to react in anger.
P: Lord, prepare us to be peaceful people.
L: Keep your hearts and spirits ready to serve the Lord.
P: Lord, open our hearts to hear and respond to your words of life in ministries of hope and peace. AMEN.
Call to Worship #2
L: Summer wanes and the autumn draws close.
P: Lord, help us to be ready for opportunities of service.
L: We have felt the refreshment of time-away.
P: Lord, give us spirits of joy for the times ahead.
L: Come, let us celebrate God’s eternal presence and love.
P: Let us open our spirits to receive God’s direction for our lives. AMEN.
Call to Worship #3
[Using THE FAITH WE SING, p. 2032, “My Life Is in You, Lord”, offer the following call to worship as directed, if you do not have the pew editions of THE FAITH WE SING, have the choir sing the final run of the song through twice]
L: Don’t play games with God.
P: God knows us better than we think God does.
L: God is waiting for us to come into God’s presence, honestly.
P: Let our lives be in you, O Lord.
Choir: singing “My Life Is in You, Lord” through one time.
L: Place your whole life in God’s loving care.
P: Lord, we come to you, seeking your healing mercy
L: God is ready to give you new life.
P: Come, Lord Jesus, come into our hearts and let our lives be in you. AMEN.
Choir and congregation: singing “My Life Is in You, Lord” through twice.
Call to Worship #4
L: God has given us this day for praise!
P: Praise be to God for this most generous gift!
L: God has given his Son to us that we might learn ways of peace and mercy.
P: Let the words of God’s own Son, Jesus, enter our hearts and transform our lives!
L: Come, let us worship this great God of abundant mercy and love!
P: Let our songs, our words, and our thoughts reflect God’s healing and restoring love. AMEN.
PRAYERS, READING, BENEDICTION
Opening Prayer
Lord of mercy and abundant love, we have gathered here this day to hear your healing words of compassion and to be transformed by your love. Help us to become more faithful servants in our thoughts, words, and deeds. It is in Jesus’ Name, we pray. AMEN.
Prayer of Confession
God of mercy, you know us so well. We like to think that we can hide from You, but we are just kidding ourselves. You have offered to us new life, characterized by honesty, compassion, joy, and peace. You have invited us into ministries of peace and justice; but we have far too often turned our back on opportunities for service and witness to your transformational love. Forgive us for our stubbornness. Help us to turn around and listen to your words of hope. Remind us again that you require compassion and mercy in all who serve you; that you will guide our steps and our lives. Give us courage to truly be your witnesses in this world. AMEN.
Words of Assurance
Even if you have transgressed and done what you know to be wrong, remember that God will heal and forgive you; sending you on your way to become a person of peace, hope, love and justice. Be at peace. God is with you. AMEN.
Pastoral Prayer
Compassionate God, we like to think that all we have to do is be “religious”, to speak the words, but that we really don’t have to “walk the walk”. We can get so caught up in ritual and rules, that we forget the essence of your word for us. We forget that we are called to truly be people of peace, not just to speak the words, but to practice lives of compassion and hope. So many times in this world, we are challenged to “take sides”, one against the other; but that is contrary to your will. You call us to stand for mercy, justice, love, forgiveness, hope, and peace. You want us to be people who care deeply about others and about this world. Help us to be ready to truly and joyfully serve you, O God. Free us from selfishness and self-centeredness. Lift us to lives of peace; for we offer this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN.
Reading
[using the readers from the previous two weeks, continue with the dialog that has been established]
Reader 1: What does it mean, to “play church”?
Reader 2: To me, it means that you are pretending to have Jesus in your life. You are going through the motions but you’re not really meaning what you do or say; or you are doing and saying “religious” things just to make people think you are holy or something.
Reader 1: Someone said that many folks are really afraid of being the church…...it’s easier to “play church”. If you are playing church, that must mean that you go through the motions on Sunday, but the rest of the week you forget things like hope, forgiveness, sincerity, compassion…..you know what I mean.
Reader 2: I think you’re right. If you are being the church, then the attributes of hope and peace, love and joy, which you speak of in church are actually an integral part of your life. You really mean what you say.
Reader 1: The scriptures today from Mark’s gospel said that we should be honorable and honest in our faith - being genuine - and he refers to the Pharisees as those leaders who listened to the “letter of the law”, but did not have the “heart of the law” in mind. It’s not the rituals that are the most critical - rituals are meant to remind us of the greater truth, the love of God through Christ Jesus for all people, right?
Reader 2: In the passage from James, the writer says we need to be “doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” So, we need to do acts of kindness and justice and peace. We need to support ministries that uplift people.
Reader 1: Then it is truly responding to being fed by the “living bread” - being those who actually do what Christ requires of them. Sounds good to me. Let’s get going.
Benediction
As Christ has fed and redeemed your life, now go into the world in peace and love offering ministries of hope and justice. Go in peace and may the peace of God always be with you. AMEN.
ARTISTIC ELEMENTS
The traditional color for this Sunday is: Green
SURFACE: Place a 10” riser at the center back of the worship table. Place two 3” risers on either side of the 10” riser. Place a riser in front of the worship table, about 6” below the surface of the main table.
FABRIC: Cover the worship table completely with green fabric, making sure that all risers are covered and that the green fabric puddles onto the floor in front of the worship center. Taking the 5 yard piece of fabric, have children or youth and adults make handprints all over the fabric. These handprints may be in many colors. Take a 5 yard piece of white fabric, about 30” wide, and place one end of it on top of the 10” riser at the center back of the worship table. Bring the remainder of the fabric forward so that it trails down over the riser in front of the worship center and onto the floor.
CANDLES: Place a 6” white pillar candle on each of the 3” risers on the side of the 10” riser. Place a white 6” pillar candle on the riser in front of the worship center.
FLOWERS/FOLIAGE: You may use trailing vines or other leafy foliage plants on the back of the worship table, beside the white candles. You may also wish to place a “bushy” plant on the floor, near the front riser.
ROCKS/WOOD: Not required for this setting.
OTHER: Place a brass cross on the center riser on the worship table.
SERMON OPTIONS:
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THE DREAM OF LOVE
SONG OF SOLOMON 2:8-13
The theme of the book of the Song of Solomon is a “celebration of love.” Bible scholars have interpreted this passage several ways.
Some scholars believe that this love is between a man and a woman. Many view the song as a love poem about King Solomon and his bride. Others view it as a triangle of love: a shepherd figure who is the real lover and who wins the girl’s heart over the romantic advances of the king. Still others view this as a collection of unrelated love poems with no overarching story line at all. And some Bible interpreters comment that this lover’s song is an allegory depicting either God’s wholesale love of the nation of Israel or Christ’s love for the church.
The text can be titled, “The Dream of Love,” and seen as a dream of romantic love or spiritualized as a dream for the divine love of God. In the text, notice first:
I. The Excitement of Love (vv. 8-9)
Have you ever been away from your sweetheart for any length of time? What was missing? The touch, eyes, and voice. Most of all what was missing was the companionship! Companionship is the ability to share surface conversation and intimate thoughts as well. When I am with my love, my wife, she doesn’t have to speak a word. Simply knowing that she is near comforts me. There is a calming effect that all is well. When I have been away for a conference and get close to home, my heart starts beating faster and I begin to visualize her in my mind. When we embrace, I know that all is right with the world and a peace settles over me.
The crescendo of love heightens as the girl anticipates her lover “leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills” (v. 8, NIV) in order to be with her. It is great to have someone love us. God’s love for us is like that.
II. The Invitation of Love (v. 10)
Even when sin separated us from God, God still loved us so much that he sent his one and only Son out searching for us. In our foolishness we mistreated him by ignoring his invitation to abide with him. Yet our hearts were lonely and empty and there was a longing for real life. God dealt with us through his preachers and laypeople sharing the gospel and being people of intercession—praying for us to respond to the invitation of Jesus.
When we began facing the truth and understanding the God that longed for us, we responded. A new excitement filled our hearts! He created in us a new heart with new ambitions and goals. He became our friend for eternity!
III. The New Life of Love (vv. 11-13)
In Palestine the winter dumps heavy, cold rain upon the ground and people. The gray clouds give off a feeling of despair and gloom.
The spring ushers in a new sense of optimism with its warm sun that calls forth life from the moist earth. With the arrival of spring comes the ripening of the figs on the trees and the blossoms become tender grapes. The migrating turtledove returns with the warm weather. All is new. All of this new life in nature creates the mood, the ambiance, the feeling of lovers in love. Life is fresh and exciting.
The obvious spiritual comparison unfolds for us. When we find our lover, God, the newness is everywhere. We have a new name: Christian. A new heart: transformed. A new personhood: redeemed. A new home: heaven. But new life comes only because we have the lover with us—God! (Derl G. Keefer)
PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE
JAMES 1:17-27
There are moments when golf is one of the most exhilarating games on earth. Two minutes later golf can be the most frustrating game on earth. Golf is a sport where many times a player knows what to do but just can’t do it. A golfer sometimes has difficulty putting into practice what he or she knows to do.
The Christian life at times is like golf. The Christian knows what to do but sometimes just doesn’t do it. The book of James helps and encourages us as Christians to put into practice what we know to do. In this passage from James we find three clear exhortations to do what we know to do. James answers the question: “How can I put into practice what I know I should do?”
I. Acknowledging God’s Perfection (vv. 17-18)
James lists for us some of God’s perfections. Every good thing that is given and every perfect gift comes from the Father, which demonstrates his perfection. The blessings of life, such as family, food, friends, health, and material blessings, are all evidences of God’s goodness and grace. As we acknowledge God for his perfection our hearts should overflow into thanksgiving to him.
Our heavenly Father exists in such perfection that there is no variation in him or shadow of turning. What a stark contrast between the creatures and the Creator! As further evidence of God’s perfection, James speaks of God’s will in bringing us to salvation. All of this should evoke in us an acknowledgment of who God is, which will enable us to put into practice what we know.
II. Thinking of Others First
James instructs us to place others before ourselves in order to put into practice what we know. We are to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. When we practice these characteristics, we genuinely put others before ourselves and show them the kindness and respect of Christ. The hard part, of course, is being consistent in our conduct; James reminds us that our anger and haste does not accomplish the righteousness of God.
Furthermore, we are to be humble and remove all filthiness and wickedness. Such acts show we are thinking of others before we are thinking of ourselves and placing their interests before our own. A lifestyle characterized by thinking of others first demonstrates that the word has been implanted in the soul of that individual.
III. Doing God’s Word (vv. 22-27)
The clearest expression of our need to put into practice what we know comes in this section. James pleads with us to be doers of the Word and not mere hearers. The warning is strong for those who do not do the Word—they are deluding themselves.
These words call for personal examination. Each of us should reflect on our own lives to see if we apply what we know. A wise Christian once told me that spiritual maturity is not based on what you know, but on what you do with what you know.
Application of God’s Word is the real test for our walk with God. James argues that we deceive ourselves when we do not apply the Bible. In fact, these are some of the strongest words in all of Scripture that warn of self-deception. It is not enough for us to hear and read the Bible if we do not put into practice what we know. As illustrations James cites our ability or inability to bridle the tongue and our willingness to minister to widows and orphans—those with great need.
All of us need to be reminded of the necessity of putting into practice what we know to do. All of us need encouragement and help from time to time to be strong enough to keep practicing what we know is right. May God give us the grace and strength to help and encourage one another to put into practice what we know. (Douglas Walker)
INSIDE JOB
MARK 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
The world has a crude expression—taken from computer terminology—that goes like this: “garbage in, garbage out.” It is meant to warn people that they should carefully select what they read, the movies they see, the friends with whom they associate, and the television programs they watch, for the danger is that you may become that which you see, hear, and associate with. The corollary is, “you are what you eat.”
Many people feel that participating in a corrupt world will ipso facto produce a corrupt person. They always assume that the dark will overcome the light and the light will never overcome the darkness. The Bible tells us it can go either way.
I. When the Inner and Outer Don’t Match
Inner faith will produce outer actions—there is no doubt about that, and Jesus has no quarrel with that. If, when you feel like praying, you fold your hands, bow your head, close your eyes, and kneel, then your outer posture is rightfully expressing your inner feelings. If you love someone and you greet that person with a hug as a manifestation of your endearment, then your actions are expressing your inner feelings. If you thoroughly enjoy the company of an individual and hence spend most of your time with that person, you are expressing with your body the inner feelings of your heart and mind. Your inner feelings and your outer actions are expressing the same emotions.
Hypocrisy comes when you display the outer actions without the inner feelings: when you bow your head to pray but do not feel like praying; when you hug a person you do not like; or, like Judas Iscariot, when you kiss a person but do not use the kiss as an expression of affection but as some other kind of sign. If you spend time with others in order to use them but do not really like their company, you are being hypocritical because your actions are not an extension of your inner feelings. You must have not only the “words” but the “music” to go along with words.
Jesus wants his hearers to know that their Jewish religion supports such inner faith for he quoted the prophet Isaiah (29:13) “These people . . . honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me.” That is hypocrisy! Pretending to be something you are not and have no intention of being.
II. It’s What’s Inside That Counts
If I told you I saw a local pastor one night coming out of a notoriously risqu‚ bar with his arms around some of the drinkers singing loud songs, what would you think? You would wonder what he was up to! I neglected to mention that the pastor had on a Salvation Army uniform and they were singing “Amazing Grace.” Well, that’s a little different then, isn’t it? The pastor’s motivation was to witness to Jesus Christ and to rescue the perishing, not join them in their revelry.
The difference is inner motivation. All evil things come from within, but so do all good things. The outward act can be ambiguous and therefore we must look, as God does, upon the inner motivation.
The Christian faith is an inside job. The apostle Paul encouraged the Christians at Philippi with these words: “[W]hatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” Phil. 4:8) .
Think and act on these things. When you do, your Christian life will have both the words and the music. (C. Thomas Hilton)
SONG OF SOLOMON 2:8-13
The theme of the book of the Song of Solomon is a “celebration of love.” Bible scholars have interpreted this passage several ways.
Some scholars believe that this love is between a man and a woman. Many view the song as a love poem about King Solomon and his bride. Others view it as a triangle of love: a shepherd figure who is the real lover and who wins the girl’s heart over the romantic advances of the king. Still others view this as a collection of unrelated love poems with no overarching story line at all. And some Bible interpreters comment that this lover’s song is an allegory depicting either God’s wholesale love of the nation of Israel or Christ’s love for the church.
The text can be titled, “The Dream of Love,” and seen as a dream of romantic love or spiritualized as a dream for the divine love of God. In the text, notice first:
I. The Excitement of Love (vv. 8-9)
Have you ever been away from your sweetheart for any length of time? What was missing? The touch, eyes, and voice. Most of all what was missing was the companionship! Companionship is the ability to share surface conversation and intimate thoughts as well. When I am with my love, my wife, she doesn’t have to speak a word. Simply knowing that she is near comforts me. There is a calming effect that all is well. When I have been away for a conference and get close to home, my heart starts beating faster and I begin to visualize her in my mind. When we embrace, I know that all is right with the world and a peace settles over me.
The crescendo of love heightens as the girl anticipates her lover “leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills” (v. 8, NIV) in order to be with her. It is great to have someone love us. God’s love for us is like that.
II. The Invitation of Love (v. 10)
Even when sin separated us from God, God still loved us so much that he sent his one and only Son out searching for us. In our foolishness we mistreated him by ignoring his invitation to abide with him. Yet our hearts were lonely and empty and there was a longing for real life. God dealt with us through his preachers and laypeople sharing the gospel and being people of intercession—praying for us to respond to the invitation of Jesus.
When we began facing the truth and understanding the God that longed for us, we responded. A new excitement filled our hearts! He created in us a new heart with new ambitions and goals. He became our friend for eternity!
III. The New Life of Love (vv. 11-13)
In Palestine the winter dumps heavy, cold rain upon the ground and people. The gray clouds give off a feeling of despair and gloom.
The spring ushers in a new sense of optimism with its warm sun that calls forth life from the moist earth. With the arrival of spring comes the ripening of the figs on the trees and the blossoms become tender grapes. The migrating turtledove returns with the warm weather. All is new. All of this new life in nature creates the mood, the ambiance, the feeling of lovers in love. Life is fresh and exciting.
The obvious spiritual comparison unfolds for us. When we find our lover, God, the newness is everywhere. We have a new name: Christian. A new heart: transformed. A new personhood: redeemed. A new home: heaven. But new life comes only because we have the lover with us—God! (Derl G. Keefer)
PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE
JAMES 1:17-27
There are moments when golf is one of the most exhilarating games on earth. Two minutes later golf can be the most frustrating game on earth. Golf is a sport where many times a player knows what to do but just can’t do it. A golfer sometimes has difficulty putting into practice what he or she knows to do.
The Christian life at times is like golf. The Christian knows what to do but sometimes just doesn’t do it. The book of James helps and encourages us as Christians to put into practice what we know to do. In this passage from James we find three clear exhortations to do what we know to do. James answers the question: “How can I put into practice what I know I should do?”
I. Acknowledging God’s Perfection (vv. 17-18)
James lists for us some of God’s perfections. Every good thing that is given and every perfect gift comes from the Father, which demonstrates his perfection. The blessings of life, such as family, food, friends, health, and material blessings, are all evidences of God’s goodness and grace. As we acknowledge God for his perfection our hearts should overflow into thanksgiving to him.
Our heavenly Father exists in such perfection that there is no variation in him or shadow of turning. What a stark contrast between the creatures and the Creator! As further evidence of God’s perfection, James speaks of God’s will in bringing us to salvation. All of this should evoke in us an acknowledgment of who God is, which will enable us to put into practice what we know.
II. Thinking of Others First
James instructs us to place others before ourselves in order to put into practice what we know. We are to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. When we practice these characteristics, we genuinely put others before ourselves and show them the kindness and respect of Christ. The hard part, of course, is being consistent in our conduct; James reminds us that our anger and haste does not accomplish the righteousness of God.
Furthermore, we are to be humble and remove all filthiness and wickedness. Such acts show we are thinking of others before we are thinking of ourselves and placing their interests before our own. A lifestyle characterized by thinking of others first demonstrates that the word has been implanted in the soul of that individual.
III. Doing God’s Word (vv. 22-27)
The clearest expression of our need to put into practice what we know comes in this section. James pleads with us to be doers of the Word and not mere hearers. The warning is strong for those who do not do the Word—they are deluding themselves.
These words call for personal examination. Each of us should reflect on our own lives to see if we apply what we know. A wise Christian once told me that spiritual maturity is not based on what you know, but on what you do with what you know.
Application of God’s Word is the real test for our walk with God. James argues that we deceive ourselves when we do not apply the Bible. In fact, these are some of the strongest words in all of Scripture that warn of self-deception. It is not enough for us to hear and read the Bible if we do not put into practice what we know. As illustrations James cites our ability or inability to bridle the tongue and our willingness to minister to widows and orphans—those with great need.
All of us need to be reminded of the necessity of putting into practice what we know to do. All of us need encouragement and help from time to time to be strong enough to keep practicing what we know is right. May God give us the grace and strength to help and encourage one another to put into practice what we know. (Douglas Walker)
INSIDE JOB
MARK 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
The world has a crude expression—taken from computer terminology—that goes like this: “garbage in, garbage out.” It is meant to warn people that they should carefully select what they read, the movies they see, the friends with whom they associate, and the television programs they watch, for the danger is that you may become that which you see, hear, and associate with. The corollary is, “you are what you eat.”
Many people feel that participating in a corrupt world will ipso facto produce a corrupt person. They always assume that the dark will overcome the light and the light will never overcome the darkness. The Bible tells us it can go either way.
I. When the Inner and Outer Don’t Match
Inner faith will produce outer actions—there is no doubt about that, and Jesus has no quarrel with that. If, when you feel like praying, you fold your hands, bow your head, close your eyes, and kneel, then your outer posture is rightfully expressing your inner feelings. If you love someone and you greet that person with a hug as a manifestation of your endearment, then your actions are expressing your inner feelings. If you thoroughly enjoy the company of an individual and hence spend most of your time with that person, you are expressing with your body the inner feelings of your heart and mind. Your inner feelings and your outer actions are expressing the same emotions.
Hypocrisy comes when you display the outer actions without the inner feelings: when you bow your head to pray but do not feel like praying; when you hug a person you do not like; or, like Judas Iscariot, when you kiss a person but do not use the kiss as an expression of affection but as some other kind of sign. If you spend time with others in order to use them but do not really like their company, you are being hypocritical because your actions are not an extension of your inner feelings. You must have not only the “words” but the “music” to go along with words.
Jesus wants his hearers to know that their Jewish religion supports such inner faith for he quoted the prophet Isaiah (29:13) “These people . . . honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me.” That is hypocrisy! Pretending to be something you are not and have no intention of being.
II. It’s What’s Inside That Counts
If I told you I saw a local pastor one night coming out of a notoriously risqu‚ bar with his arms around some of the drinkers singing loud songs, what would you think? You would wonder what he was up to! I neglected to mention that the pastor had on a Salvation Army uniform and they were singing “Amazing Grace.” Well, that’s a little different then, isn’t it? The pastor’s motivation was to witness to Jesus Christ and to rescue the perishing, not join them in their revelry.
The difference is inner motivation. All evil things come from within, but so do all good things. The outward act can be ambiguous and therefore we must look, as God does, upon the inner motivation.
The Christian faith is an inside job. The apostle Paul encouraged the Christians at Philippi with these words: “[W]hatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” Phil. 4:8) .
Think and act on these things. When you do, your Christian life will have both the words and the music. (C. Thomas Hilton)
WORSHIP FOR KIDS: by Carolyn C. Brown
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From a Child's Point of View
Old Testament: Song of Solomon 2:8-13. The Song of Solomon is a collection of love poems. Children are surprised to find them in the Bible and tend to giggle when they are read. But they learn from them that God is interested in love between men and women and blesses that love. If it is pointed out, they also see this as one example of God's involvement in all parts of our lives.
Though some older children can grasp the symbolic way Jews and Christians have traditionally understood these poems to speak of God's relationship to individuals and/or to God's people, they find it rather contrived and prefer to take the poems at face value.
Psalm: 45:1-2, 6-9. This psalm is a wedding song composed by a loyal member of the court for the king on his wedding day. The poet rejoices with the king and reminds the king that his power is a trust from God. Children follow what is said fairly easily, but find little of significance in it. The format, however, provides an interesting invitation for them to write their own prayer-psalms for friends and family members at special times, such as birthdays or the beginning of a new school year.
Epistle: James 1:17-27. This passage includes a series of loosely related wise sayings which overwhelm children with their variety and complexity. Two points make the most sense to them. First, we are to be quick to listen and learn, and slow to speak and act (especially in anger). Active children hear this point frequently from parents and teachers as school starts, and they do not particularly welcome it. Second, we are to act on what we hear.
Children know about using mirrors, but need help to get James' point. Compare a person who fixes the messy hair or washes the dirty face seen in a mirror with one who ignores what is seen. When it is specifically pointed out, children can see the similarities between ignoring the changes in our appearance suggested by mirrors and ignoring the changes in the our behavior suggested by the Bible.
Gospel: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23. While active children rebel at James' insistence that we be quick to listen and slow to act (especially in anger), they respond positively to Jesus' refusal to be upset about how clean a person is. On a literal level, they are delighted to hear that God is not concerned about how dirty our exterior is, but with whether we say kind words and do loving, obedient deeds. With a little adult help, they can move from talk about what makes a person "clean" to what makes a person "good."
Teachers, coaches, and other kids define a "good" person in different ways. Comparing some of those definitions helps children understand how the Pharisees made their mistake and clears the way for talking about God's definition of what makes a person "good."
Potential Misunderstanding: In Jesus' day, people had not yet learned about germs that enter our bodies on dirty food and hands. Today we know that though dirty hands and food will not make us "bad," they can carry the germs that make us sick. Jesus did not say that we need not wash our hands before we eat!
Watch Words
When Jews talked about what made a person clean, they actually were talking about what made a person good. Children hear similar talk today. A Scout learns to be clean in thought, word, and deed. People who are drug free or have no criminal record are declared clean. Similarly, children know about dirty words, books, and so on.
Let the Children Sing
Thank God for all the gifts, especially the gifts of human love, with "For the Beauty of the Earth."
Choose a hymn from the wedding or marriage section of your hymnal. It will probably be unfamiliar, but children will benefit by knowing that just as the Bible includes the love poems of the Song of Solomon, the hymnal includes some hymns about human love.
If the focus is on clean hearts, dedicate your hearts to God with "Lord, I Want to Be a Christian (in my heart)," and your whole body with "Take My Life, and Let It Be Consecrated."
The Liturgical Child
1. On the Sunday after school begins, pray for new teachers (both those who are interesting and those who are frightening or boring), for new friends and old friends, for exciting new studies and scary ones, and for the things we already love and hate about riding the bus, eating lunch, and playing on the playground.
2. Ask a young woman to present the Song of Songs lesson from memory, while standing in a lectern and pretending to look out a window. Then ask a man to take the role of the court poet, to present Psalm 45, also from memory. For full dramatic impact, place an ornate chair in the chancel area and instruct the congregation to imagine the king sitting there with his court, awaiting the arrival of his bride. (The New Jerusalem Bible offers clear translations of both these poems.)
3. Create a responsive prayer of petition about how we live. The congregations response is, "Create in us clean hearts, O God." For example:
When we feel that we are being treated unfairly and feel anger rising in us, (RESPONSE) When we see others being treated unfairly and are tempted to ignore it or to be thankful that it is their problem, not ours, (RESPONSE)
Sermon Resources
1. Build a sermon on Christian views of romance and marriage. Illustrate today's Old Testament poems by telling the stories of biblical couples such as Abraham and Sarah, Ruth and Boaz, Aquila and Priscilla.
2. Make a variety of statements about what "good" people are like and what they do: "Good" people wear clean clothes and keep their shoelaces tied. "Good" people always say, "Yes, ma'am" and "Yes, sir." "Good" people like hamburgers and would have to be forced to eat raw fish. Explore and debunk those statements, then make correct statements about what "good" people do.
3. In Words By Heart by Ouida Sebestyen, Lena, an African American girl whose family has moved to Kansas after the Civil War, must begin to live by the Bible verses she has memorized to win a school contest and impress everybody with her "magic mind."
Old Testament: Song of Solomon 2:8-13. The Song of Solomon is a collection of love poems. Children are surprised to find them in the Bible and tend to giggle when they are read. But they learn from them that God is interested in love between men and women and blesses that love. If it is pointed out, they also see this as one example of God's involvement in all parts of our lives.
Though some older children can grasp the symbolic way Jews and Christians have traditionally understood these poems to speak of God's relationship to individuals and/or to God's people, they find it rather contrived and prefer to take the poems at face value.
Psalm: 45:1-2, 6-9. This psalm is a wedding song composed by a loyal member of the court for the king on his wedding day. The poet rejoices with the king and reminds the king that his power is a trust from God. Children follow what is said fairly easily, but find little of significance in it. The format, however, provides an interesting invitation for them to write their own prayer-psalms for friends and family members at special times, such as birthdays or the beginning of a new school year.
Epistle: James 1:17-27. This passage includes a series of loosely related wise sayings which overwhelm children with their variety and complexity. Two points make the most sense to them. First, we are to be quick to listen and learn, and slow to speak and act (especially in anger). Active children hear this point frequently from parents and teachers as school starts, and they do not particularly welcome it. Second, we are to act on what we hear.
Children know about using mirrors, but need help to get James' point. Compare a person who fixes the messy hair or washes the dirty face seen in a mirror with one who ignores what is seen. When it is specifically pointed out, children can see the similarities between ignoring the changes in our appearance suggested by mirrors and ignoring the changes in the our behavior suggested by the Bible.
Gospel: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23. While active children rebel at James' insistence that we be quick to listen and slow to act (especially in anger), they respond positively to Jesus' refusal to be upset about how clean a person is. On a literal level, they are delighted to hear that God is not concerned about how dirty our exterior is, but with whether we say kind words and do loving, obedient deeds. With a little adult help, they can move from talk about what makes a person "clean" to what makes a person "good."
Teachers, coaches, and other kids define a "good" person in different ways. Comparing some of those definitions helps children understand how the Pharisees made their mistake and clears the way for talking about God's definition of what makes a person "good."
Potential Misunderstanding: In Jesus' day, people had not yet learned about germs that enter our bodies on dirty food and hands. Today we know that though dirty hands and food will not make us "bad," they can carry the germs that make us sick. Jesus did not say that we need not wash our hands before we eat!
Watch Words
When Jews talked about what made a person clean, they actually were talking about what made a person good. Children hear similar talk today. A Scout learns to be clean in thought, word, and deed. People who are drug free or have no criminal record are declared clean. Similarly, children know about dirty words, books, and so on.
Let the Children Sing
Thank God for all the gifts, especially the gifts of human love, with "For the Beauty of the Earth."
Choose a hymn from the wedding or marriage section of your hymnal. It will probably be unfamiliar, but children will benefit by knowing that just as the Bible includes the love poems of the Song of Solomon, the hymnal includes some hymns about human love.
If the focus is on clean hearts, dedicate your hearts to God with "Lord, I Want to Be a Christian (in my heart)," and your whole body with "Take My Life, and Let It Be Consecrated."
The Liturgical Child
1. On the Sunday after school begins, pray for new teachers (both those who are interesting and those who are frightening or boring), for new friends and old friends, for exciting new studies and scary ones, and for the things we already love and hate about riding the bus, eating lunch, and playing on the playground.
2. Ask a young woman to present the Song of Songs lesson from memory, while standing in a lectern and pretending to look out a window. Then ask a man to take the role of the court poet, to present Psalm 45, also from memory. For full dramatic impact, place an ornate chair in the chancel area and instruct the congregation to imagine the king sitting there with his court, awaiting the arrival of his bride. (The New Jerusalem Bible offers clear translations of both these poems.)
3. Create a responsive prayer of petition about how we live. The congregations response is, "Create in us clean hearts, O God." For example:
When we feel that we are being treated unfairly and feel anger rising in us, (RESPONSE) When we see others being treated unfairly and are tempted to ignore it or to be thankful that it is their problem, not ours, (RESPONSE)
Sermon Resources
1. Build a sermon on Christian views of romance and marriage. Illustrate today's Old Testament poems by telling the stories of biblical couples such as Abraham and Sarah, Ruth and Boaz, Aquila and Priscilla.
2. Make a variety of statements about what "good" people are like and what they do: "Good" people wear clean clothes and keep their shoelaces tied. "Good" people always say, "Yes, ma'am" and "Yes, sir." "Good" people like hamburgers and would have to be forced to eat raw fish. Explore and debunk those statements, then make correct statements about what "good" people do.
3. In Words By Heart by Ouida Sebestyen, Lena, an African American girl whose family has moved to Kansas after the Civil War, must begin to live by the Bible verses she has memorized to win a school contest and impress everybody with her "magic mind."
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Ministry Matters
2222 Rosa L. Parks Blvd
2222 Rosa L. Parks Blvd
Nashville, Tennessee 37228 United States
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