"7 things every leader needs to quit immediately" by Ron Edmondson
I’ve often wished I could say something to every leader. Some things I’ve learned the hard way. I generally share things leaders should do, but today I thought I’d share some things not to do.
Some things to quit.
Here are seven things every leader needs to quit:
Measuring success compared to another’s success.
Your leadership will not be like someone else’s leadership. It’s not designed to be. You’ll likely be successful in ways other leaders aren’t. Some of those may be visible and measurable; some may not be. The goal should be to be the best leader you can be and measure your success by your obedience to being the leader God has designed you to be.
Pretending to have all the answers.
There’s an unfair expectation many leaders face to be the person with the answer in every situation. Seriously, how’s this working for you? The sooner you admit you don’t have all the answers, the quicker your team will be willing to fill in your gaps. And surrendering is something God values in his followers.
Trying to be popular.
If you want to be popular, be a celebrity. If you want to be a leader, be willing to do the hard tasks to take people where they need (and probably want) to go, but may be resistant along the way. Leadership can be lonely at times. Be prepared.
Leading alone.
Just because leadership can be lonely, doesn’t mean you have to lead alone. Good leaders surround themselves with people who care, people who can hold them accountable and people who sharpen their character and their faith. If you have a tendency to separate yourself from others, stop now and reach out to someone. Take a bold risk of being vulnerable and release some of the weight of responsibility you feel.
Acting like it doesn’t hurt.
When people you trust betray you, it hurts. Be honest about it. When people rebel against your leadership, it hurts. On days where it seems you have more enemies than friends, it hurts. Don’t pretend it doesn’t. You won’t lead well if you’re a crybaby, but you should have some outlets where you can share your pain.
Trying to control every outcome.
Three reasons not to: 1) It doesn’t work. 2) It limits others. 3) It’s not right. Leadership is not about control. It’s about relational influence. When you control others you limit people to your abilities. When you empower people, you limit people to their combined abilities as a team. Keep in mind, there’s strength in numbers.
Ignoring the warning signs of burnout.
At some point in your leadership, if you really are leading through the deep waters of change, relational differences or simply the stress of wearing the leader hat, you’ll face burnout. When you start to have more negative thoughts than positive thoughts, when the pressure of leadership is unbearable for a long period of time or when your leadership starts to negatively impact your physical or emotional health or your relationships, it’s time to seek help.
Which of these do you most need to quit?
Ron Edmondson blogs at RonEdmondson.com.
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"Criminal justice or Christian justice?" by Kira Schlesinger
Bigstock/jackmicro
On the heels of the non-indictment in the killing of Tamir Rice and with the buzz over the Netflix documentary series, "Making a Murderer," the words “truth” and “justice” have been in the air, but the ways in which the criminal justice system understands truth and justice are different from the ways in which Christians might understand truth and justice. For Christians, truth is not only historical factuality, what actually happened, but truth is a person, the person of Jesus Christ. And the biblical justice of God making people whole, of the peaceable Kingdom of God, seems a far cry from our American system of courts and trials and penitentiaries where justice is about retaliation and seeking punishment for a committed crime and where the victims of crimes are often re-victimized.
As a person steps onto the stand in a court room to testify, he or she swears “to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” To quote Pontius Pilate, “What is truth?” (John 18:38) Two people can experience the same situation in two completely different ways, and facts can be manipulated. People and places can be misidentified and misremembered. Still, police and investigators and lawyers pursue the truth through physical evidence and witnesses — what really happened?
Ideally, discovering the truth leads to justice, to recompense for the victim and punishment for the perpetrator. If and when we are wronged, we turn to the justice system to right that wrong. Yet, in many of the recent killings by police and historically in cases of rape or sexual assault, the justice system fails to act. People cry out for justice for Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice and others, and justice turns away. Victims of sexual assault seek help from the places where we are told to go when a crime is committed and are too often re-victimized, made to repeat over and over their stories, criticized for their clothes or level of intoxication or what part of town they were in.
In "Making a Murderer," defense attorney Dean Strang encapsulates the theme of the series in one quote, “Most of what ails our criminal justice system lie in unwarranted certitude on the part of police officers and prosecutors and defense lawyers and judges and jurors that they are getting it right. That they are simply right. Just a tragic lack of humility in everyone who participates in our criminal justice system.” Whether or not Steven Avery killed Teresa Halbach, he was never presumed to be innocent. Even the prosecuting attorney Ken Kratz says in his closing argument, “Reasonable doubt is for innocent people.”
Often, we put our hopes in the justice system as if it were handed down from on high, failing to adequately account for its very human failings, for its ability to be corrupted and manipulated despite safeguards to the contrary. Similar to the institutional church, the justice system is made up of fallen human beings who can game the system for good and for ill and for reasons that might be completely justified in the minds of individuals.
Ultimately, our search for truth and justice must begin and end with God. When we put our faith and hope in human institutions, we will inevitably be hurt and disappointed. They will fail to rise to our expectations and the expectations of those who founded them. In the failings of human institutions, we are reassured in the person of Jesus Christ who conquered the governments and court systems and the death penalty through his resurrection. We should not cease working to make our human institutions that seek justice and truth better, but we may be comforted in our disappointment knowing that God’s justice and truth will reign in the fullness of time.
"A game of cancer, grief and God" by David Person
Image courtesy That Dragon, Cancer/Numinous GamesI learned about the Greens while listening to Radiolab, one of my favorite podcasts. Ryan and Amy — husband and wife, dad and mom — were told by doctors that Joel, their 1-year-old, had terminal cancer. And then they made an unusual decision: Turn their journey with Joel and cancer into a video game.
They named it “That Dragon, Cancer.” In a brief clip of the game, I watched and listened to the frustration of a father trying to calm a sick child. Because I am a parent, the clip took me back to those long-ago days when our son was little.
The memories were faint, in all honesty, but the feelings of frustration and fear were very familiar. My child was crying. What could I do to help him? To easy his suffering? To let him know everything would be all right?
Watching the pixelated father brought back that anxiety. Hearing the digitized cries of the baby resurrected that ache.
It was not a pleasant experience. But it was riveting, and I watched it to the very end.
Ryan doesn’t dispute that it was cathartic for him, as a game designer, to use his art to process his son’s diagnosis and death.
“To me, this is more than a video game,” he said in the trailer for “Thank You For Playing,” a documentary about the Greens’ experience. “It’s a means to talk about my son.”
Amy seems to share that sentiment.
“We’d love for the game to impact people and for it to be commercially successful,” she told Wired magazine. “But there’s a piece of me that says, maybe it’s just for us.”
But what about the rest of the gamers out there? Is a game about a child dying of cancer and the experiences of his parents going to appeal to them?
So far, it seems so. “That Dragon, Cancer” is not only the subject of a documentary and major article in Wired, it has been written about in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. It has gotten rave reviews from industry experts, such as Jenn Frank.
“This is a game about something that is only inevitably coming,”Frank wrote. “But it’s coming for all of us. And that is the loveliest thing about ‘That Dragon, Cancer’: we will all meet this thing, or have already met it. Maybe that should be scary, but ‘That Dragon, Cancer’ is about sustaining the hope and joy of life for just as long as we can.”
I’m not a gamer, but I understand (I think) what “That Dragon, Cancer” has accomplished. It’s managed to gamify dying, grief and faith in a way that is unique, drawing not on fantasy characters and concepts but real people and life and death issues.
Ryan and Amy Green are Christians. Every story about them, little Joel and their game makes it clear that “That Dragon, Cancer” is very much a reflection of their faith in and struggle with God.
“’That Dragon, Cancer’ is a video game composed of pain and hope,” Amy wrote several years ago in her blog. “It is a story of my son. It is a script written day by day. It is life that moves us space by space, propelled by a mystery we call grace.”
"Jesus may not care if you own a gun ..."
by Chad Holtz
A Second Amendment rally in Buffalo, NY on Jan. 9, 2013. Photo: Bigstock
A few years ago I spent many months at a Christian discipleship ranch for men struggling with addiction. One of the counselors gave us an assignment to list all the rights we thought we had. Common answers were things like free speech, the right to worship freely, the right to bear arms, the right to a trial by one’s peers, etc.
He then asked two questions. First, do these rights come from the kingdom of God or the kingdoms of this world? And second, do followers of Jesus have rights?
Those questions have stuck with me over the years. Not just as it pertains to addiction and recognizing my powerlessness and the trappings of pride, but also as it pertains to my desire to become more Christlike.
Today, talk of rights is all the buzz. The right to bear arms being the flavor of the month. There is something about this debate, particularly as it happens among Christians that draws me back to those questions again and again. For me, the issue is not that people own guns. I have many dear friends who are responsible gun owners and faithful followers of Jesus. Owning a gun, for me, is not the issue, and I suspect this is the case for most of us.
The question, I believe, that gets to the heart of the matter is not so much whether gun ownership is right or wrong, but how much are we willing to forsake this or any other worldly right if Jesus asked us to?
Sometimes I catch myself defending some right I think I have so loudly because I want to drown out the offense I feel at being asked to lay down my life. An axiom which I find to be true all too often in my life is that if I am holding onto something so tightly that I think life can’t go on without it I might have an idol. My counselor, mentioned earlier, was trying to help us see that when we come to Christ we come empty-handed. We have no rights. We have, Scripture says, been bought with a price and are no longer our own but slaves of Christ. Jesus’ call to those who would follow him is not one of self-protection but self-sacrifice. Christians follow a God who taught that it is right to turn the other cheek, to pray for and love our enemies and that to live by the sword is to die by the sword. We follow a God who lived this out explicitly by example, who bore insult and injury and even death without so much as a word, like a lamb being led to the slaughter.
It’s so very hard to imagine Jesus saying, “You can take my sword, after you pry it from my cold, dead hand.”
Even Jesus subjected his will to that of his Father, relinquishing all the rights he had as the Son of God, humbling himself, becoming obedient, even to the point of death (Phil. 2:6-11). And look what God did because of his obedience! God “honored him and gave him a name above all names” (2:9).
This wouldn’t have happened if Jesus had fought for his “rights.” Isn’t this still true today? Isn’t it true that the stories which capture the world’s attention and display the power and hope we have in Jesus are those that include people choosing self-sacrifice over self-protection? I think of the five missionaries who in 1956 were speared to death by the tribal people of Ecuador. They did not try to defend themselves. This left such an impression that later these murderers became Christians through the efforts of family members who returned, not for revenge but to share the gospel.
Or the story of Ashley Smith, who was held hostage in her home by escaped rapist and murderer Brian Nichols in 2005. Rather than pull a gun, she pulled out a book and began reading Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life. Nichols turned himself in.
Or most recently, Larry Wright, the North Carolina pastor who disarmed a man carrying a gun into his church, gave him a front row seat and later prayed with him as this man received Christ as his savior.
These stories strike us as other-worldly. They are supernatural. They give us a glimpse into a kingdom that is not like any we logically understand. They are the sort of stories that only happen when we cling less to our right to life and cling solely to the life of Christ.
Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world, for if it was, his servants would fight to defend him (John 18:36). To follow Jesus is to pray that his kingdom would come to earth as in heaven. These stories give us a window into what that kingdom looks like far more than the stories of countless others who choose self-protection over self-sacrifice.
When the rich young ruler asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus knew well what this man’s idol was. Go, sell all your possessions, and then come, follow me. This man certainly had a “right” to these things which he acquired. His sin was not in having things. His problem was that he was not yet willing to let go of his right to have things. The rights this world afforded him blinded him to the gifts available only through the surrender of those rights.
Jesus may not care if you or I own a gun. But I think he cares very much if our grip on that gun, and the volume with which we defend our grip, are so tight and so loud that we would refuse to let go, choosing our rights over the gifts Jesus may be wanting us and the world to see.
Chad Holtz is a graduate of Duke Divinity School and resides in Cleveland, Tennessee.
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"Why United Methodists baptize babies"
by John LomperisMuch of the confusion infant baptism causes across the theological spectrum could be eased if pastors and others could make some brief clarifying remarks about what this sacrament is and is not. As a model, John Lomperis submits what he recently said at the baptism of his own newborn son, Josiah Wesley Lomperis.
We realize that infant baptism causes a lot of confusion with some people, as it once did with me. So we appreciate Pastor letting me say a few brief words about what infant baptism is, and what it is not, in our United Methodist tradition.
John LomperisWe are not pretending that Josiah is making a choice today. This baptism does not excuse Josiah from his need, as he becomes old enough, to repent of his sin — which we expect him to show a lot of — to trust in the blood of Christ, and submit every area of his life to King Jesus. It does not guarantee that he will definitely go to heaven or get God’s approval regardless of what choices he makes as he grows up.
Here are a couple things from the official United Methodist statement on baptism:
Baptism is “neither essential to nor sufficient for salvation.”
“God’s gift of grace in the baptismal covenant does not save us apart from our human response of faith.”
“The United Methodist Church does not accept … the notion that the baptism of infants magically imparts salvation apart from active personal faith.”
So why do we, and the majority of the world’s churches, bother baptizing infants, as well as adults? How was an evangelist like John Wesley able to stress the importance of personal conversion when we are of age but also of infant baptism?
Remember, Jesus actually scolded his disciples for trying to prevent parents from bringing their young children, or babies, to him. He said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” And then he blessed them.
Through the ages God has worked through families. In the old covenant, babies even younger than Josiah joined the people of God through the ritual of circumcision. In the new covenant, children of parents who do have active Christian faiths do so through the sacrament of baptism, which is offered to people of all genders, races and ages.
Since John Wesley’s day, Methodists have believed, in continuity with centuries of Christian tradition, in the words of our church’s statement: “that in baptism a child was cleansed of the guilt of original sin, initiated into the covenant with God, admitted into the church, made an heir of the divine kingdom, and spiritually born anew.”
And again: “The sacrament is a powerful expression of the reality that all persons come before God as no more than helpless infants, unable to do anything to save ourselves, dependent upon the grace of our loving God.”
“Neither parents nor infants are the chief actors; baptism is an act of God in and through the church.”
"Statements of faith"
by Steve Harper
Statements of faith are common in Christian educational institutions. How they are used speaks more loudly than what they say. Much of what is happening in the Wheaton-Hawkins situation bears this out.
I attended and served an institution that has a statement of faith. I continue to believe that such statements are useful internally and externally in establishing institutional identity. A good statement of faith is a sign that a school has done the work necessary to describe its nature and mission, both to itself and to the wider community.
Within the context of identity, statements of faith should predominantly function to encourage conversation. With respect to prospective faculty, conversations will certainly include an institution’s statement of faith. As a seminary vice president for 12 years, some of my richest moments with prospective faculty came as we talked about the seminary’s statement of faith and how a person’s academic discipline contributed to it.
But a good statement of faith should also encourage conversations with current colleagues. Recurring conversations can keep a statement of faith connected with ongoing and updated interdisciplinary knowledge, thus preserving the “living document” nature of it, rather than relegating it to the status of a document “chisled in stone” and archived for undescribed use at an undetermined time in the future against unknown persons.
The dynamic nature of statements of faith must be viewed with humility because they always exist as incomplete affirmations within the larger reality of Mystery. The can never say it all. Furthermore, they exist within the historic development of faith, which has afforded different groups in the Christian tradition the opportunity to nuance doctrines in more than one way. Consequently, statements of faith should be used primarily to create conversations, not to execute judgment or enact punishment.
This does not mean that “anything goes” in relation to statements of faith. Some things will not pass muster. But that is precisely why conversations are essential. We cannot know in advance of talking with each other all that is going on. When statements of faith are used primarily as juridical documents, they have the potential to do harm because they can legitimize bypassing conversation, serving instead as codifications to immediately identify alleged violators and then justify swift and severe actions against them. Due process is violated when statements of faith are used to level complaints that are made without first speaking (usually in multiple venues over a period of time) with the person in question.
Reports over the weekend from Time and Religion News Servicepose significant questions that at the very least raise doubts about the process thus far. I can only pray that there have been substantive and sustained conversations (not merely written/juridical interaction) with Dr. Hawkins. But I know that is not always the case.
In my own experience over the years, I have been erroneously spoken of and written about by people who never spoke with me for a single minute before making and communicating their judgments. They simply assumed that their long-distance and impersonal evaluations of me were100% correct — assessments they formed in their own minds and with no personal contact.
In the academy, where “scholarly credibility” means (among other things) being careful to do your research through engagement with key persons and ideas, the juridical use of statements of faith goes against the very commitments we make as academics to our discipline and to scholarship itself, to say nothing of our Christian commitment to exercise the fruit of the Spirit in our relationships with one another.
In the Wheaton-Hawkins situation, it is likely that, at some point, the accrediting agencies overseeing the school will have to determine if the institution has properly used its statement of faith in relation to Dr. Hawkins. This will be a telling decision with respect to the future meaning of academic freedom in a religious institution. But more than that, it will revisit what it means to practice life together in Christian higher education — whether the environment will be more that of a community or a courtroom.
Until we know more, I will simply state my belief that when statements of faith are used to inspire conversations, edification is possible all around. But when they are used to exact retribution, then only the wielders are safe.
Steve Harper is the author of “For the Sake of the Bride” and “Five Marks of a Methodist.” He blogs at Oboedire.
"Drama kings"
by Rebekah Simon-Peter
"Ask the Thoughtful Pastor: Failed marriages and mental illness"
by Christy Thomas
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: How does one trust this institution of marriage after a failed one?Oh, this is a short question heavy with layers of hurt, disappointment, sadness and often despair. I am genuinely sorry.
Every culture essentially reinvents marriage. It’s a fluid institution and ongoing experiment.
I’ve been reading recently about the history of Islam and male/female relations and marriage customs. From what I can glean, women around the time of Mohammed could and did enter and exit marriages at their convenience. They stayed in their family compounds after marriage rather than needing to move to their husbands, thus retaining power and position.
Here are a couple things from the official United Methodist statement on baptism:
Baptism is “neither essential to nor sufficient for salvation.”
“God’s gift of grace in the baptismal covenant does not save us apart from our human response of faith.”
“The United Methodist Church does not accept … the notion that the baptism of infants magically imparts salvation apart from active personal faith.”
So why do we, and the majority of the world’s churches, bother baptizing infants, as well as adults? How was an evangelist like John Wesley able to stress the importance of personal conversion when we are of age but also of infant baptism?
Remember, Jesus actually scolded his disciples for trying to prevent parents from bringing their young children, or babies, to him. He said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” And then he blessed them.
Through the ages God has worked through families. In the old covenant, babies even younger than Josiah joined the people of God through the ritual of circumcision. In the new covenant, children of parents who do have active Christian faiths do so through the sacrament of baptism, which is offered to people of all genders, races and ages.
Since John Wesley’s day, Methodists have believed, in continuity with centuries of Christian tradition, in the words of our church’s statement: “that in baptism a child was cleansed of the guilt of original sin, initiated into the covenant with God, admitted into the church, made an heir of the divine kingdom, and spiritually born anew.”
And again: “The sacrament is a powerful expression of the reality that all persons come before God as no more than helpless infants, unable to do anything to save ourselves, dependent upon the grace of our loving God.”
“Neither parents nor infants are the chief actors; baptism is an act of God in and through the church.”
"Statements of faith"
by Steve HarperStatements of faith are common in Christian educational institutions. How they are used speaks more loudly than what they say. Much of what is happening in the Wheaton-Hawkins situation bears this out.
I attended and served an institution that has a statement of faith. I continue to believe that such statements are useful internally and externally in establishing institutional identity. A good statement of faith is a sign that a school has done the work necessary to describe its nature and mission, both to itself and to the wider community.
Within the context of identity, statements of faith should predominantly function to encourage conversation. With respect to prospective faculty, conversations will certainly include an institution’s statement of faith. As a seminary vice president for 12 years, some of my richest moments with prospective faculty came as we talked about the seminary’s statement of faith and how a person’s academic discipline contributed to it.
But a good statement of faith should also encourage conversations with current colleagues. Recurring conversations can keep a statement of faith connected with ongoing and updated interdisciplinary knowledge, thus preserving the “living document” nature of it, rather than relegating it to the status of a document “chisled in stone” and archived for undescribed use at an undetermined time in the future against unknown persons.
The dynamic nature of statements of faith must be viewed with humility because they always exist as incomplete affirmations within the larger reality of Mystery. The can never say it all. Furthermore, they exist within the historic development of faith, which has afforded different groups in the Christian tradition the opportunity to nuance doctrines in more than one way. Consequently, statements of faith should be used primarily to create conversations, not to execute judgment or enact punishment.
This does not mean that “anything goes” in relation to statements of faith. Some things will not pass muster. But that is precisely why conversations are essential. We cannot know in advance of talking with each other all that is going on. When statements of faith are used primarily as juridical documents, they have the potential to do harm because they can legitimize bypassing conversation, serving instead as codifications to immediately identify alleged violators and then justify swift and severe actions against them. Due process is violated when statements of faith are used to level complaints that are made without first speaking (usually in multiple venues over a period of time) with the person in question.
Reports over the weekend from Time and Religion News Servicepose significant questions that at the very least raise doubts about the process thus far. I can only pray that there have been substantive and sustained conversations (not merely written/juridical interaction) with Dr. Hawkins. But I know that is not always the case.
In my own experience over the years, I have been erroneously spoken of and written about by people who never spoke with me for a single minute before making and communicating their judgments. They simply assumed that their long-distance and impersonal evaluations of me were100% correct — assessments they formed in their own minds and with no personal contact.
In the academy, where “scholarly credibility” means (among other things) being careful to do your research through engagement with key persons and ideas, the juridical use of statements of faith goes against the very commitments we make as academics to our discipline and to scholarship itself, to say nothing of our Christian commitment to exercise the fruit of the Spirit in our relationships with one another.
In the Wheaton-Hawkins situation, it is likely that, at some point, the accrediting agencies overseeing the school will have to determine if the institution has properly used its statement of faith in relation to Dr. Hawkins. This will be a telling decision with respect to the future meaning of academic freedom in a religious institution. But more than that, it will revisit what it means to practice life together in Christian higher education — whether the environment will be more that of a community or a courtroom.
Until we know more, I will simply state my belief that when statements of faith are used to inspire conversations, edification is possible all around. But when they are used to exact retribution, then only the wielders are safe.
Steve Harper is the author of “For the Sake of the Bride” and “Five Marks of a Methodist.” He blogs at Oboedire.
"Drama kings"
by Rebekah Simon-Peter"Ask the Thoughtful Pastor: Failed marriages and mental illness"
by Christy ThomasDear Thoughtful Pastor: How does one trust this institution of marriage after a failed one?Oh, this is a short question heavy with layers of hurt, disappointment, sadness and often despair. I am genuinely sorry.
Every culture essentially reinvents marriage. It’s a fluid institution and ongoing experiment.
I’ve been reading recently about the history of Islam and male/female relations and marriage customs. From what I can glean, women around the time of Mohammed could and did enter and exit marriages at their convenience. They stayed in their family compounds after marriage rather than needing to move to their husbands, thus retaining power and position.
Christy ThomasThis has all changed radically, of course, and women have been systematically stripped of power in most of the Muslim world, but it opens a fascinating glimpse of the way marriage has worked in the past in the Arab culture.
Marriage for the vast majority of human history was primarily an economic transaction, arranged by parents and extended families. Long marriages and love marriages are relatively new.
“Death do us part” vows often meant less than 20 years. Women, in particular, tended to die young from too many pregnancies and child-bearing deaths. One infection or a broken bone could end a life in a way not seen today.
Vast disparities in wealth meant that every family member contributed economically to the always perilous group survival although the few rich and privileged elite had some ease.
Today, with women having more economic and personal power than has been available in the past, I think that fewer are willing to put up with marriage miseries that many of our parents and grandparents did.
But we humans long for intimate contact, to be in relationship with another who both knows us and loves us. And that is why we keep getting married, even after marital failures have devastated us. We want to be with another.
Essentially, it is not the institution we must trust. I’d suggest you leave behind the idea that “marriage” itself needs to be trusted. Instead, we must trust ourselves enough to be able to be vulnerable yet once more with another person and trust them to enter into the relationship with similar honesty and vulnerability. I suspect today that those marriages that finally break do so because trust has become irrevocably lost between the partners.
When you can find that level of trust again, then you can relinquish the pain of the previous marriage and move on with your life.
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: Is religion hiding from the problem of societal violence from those afflicted with mental illness? Is the religious community willing to dive in here, or is it hiding behind outdated beliefs in order to avoid the consequences of taking on some of the current plagues in the world?I fear the answer is “yes” to question one. Too much of religious thought suggests that a momentary conversion, “accepting Jesus into my heart” experience is adequate to stop violence, whether a person is mentally ill or not.
But then you ask, “Is the religious community willing to dive in here?”
I think not. The church as a whole genuinely does not know what to do with mental illness leaving them quietly complicit with the problem.
Religious groups have long taken leadership in establishing both educational and medical facilities. Many top-notch universities and research hospitals boast religious roots. Yet some religious practices even today proclaim a link between physical illnesses and sin, essentially stigmatizing the physically ill.
It seems to me that we have a larger and wrongful unacknowledged link between “mentally ill” and “unredeemed sinner.”
I wonder if it is because of the longtime religious association of the mentally ill with “the demon possessed.” Most people are clueless and afraid to find out about what goes on in the head of mentally ill persons, whether they are violent or not. There is fear in ignorance. It is easier to stigmatize than to face that fear.
We do great harm here. Much mental illness has a strong biological base. Supportive communities balanced with effective medications means many who live with mental illnesses function astoundingly well. But putting the combination of those two together takes a bundle of money and energy.
Churches, of all places, have the wherewithal to be brave, yet they refuse to rely on their faith to have a voice in the midst of the social angst caused by violent mentally ill people as well as those that are just plain miserable.
Churches alone cannot solve the large issues here. However, they can speak out far more loudly here about our national tragedy of refusing to adequately fund mental illness research and can actively work to become supportive communities and offer acceptance and care — and not try to cure them.
Email questions to thoughtfulpastor@gmail.com. A version of this column will appear in the Friday January 15, 2016 print and online editions of The Denton Record Chronicle. Christy blogs at ChristyThomas.com.
"This isn't about money … sort of"
by Matt Rawle
Parable of the Talents / Andrei Mironov CC BY-SA 4.0Jesus tells the disciples a story about a man who will be going away on a journey near the end of his ministry (Matthew 25:14-30). This man shares his wealth with his servants before departing, offering them no explanation as to what they are supposed to do with this entrusted property. The amount of wealth he entrusts to his servants is a huge sum. To the first he offers five talents, to the second, two, and to the third, one. A talent is just short of an annual salary for a day laborer, so this amount entrusted to the servants is more money than they’ve ever possessed at one time.
The first and the second servants invest their master’s property, and the sum doubles with each. The third returns the master’s investment neither gaining nor losing any value saying, “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” This third servant is called “lazy,” and “wicked,” and he is thrown out in the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Yikes!
This parable is about money, but then again it isn’t. Sharing our wealth is an important spiritual discipline. In the early church the disciples shared all of their possessions with each other (going well above the typical tithe!) so that all might be filled (Acts 2:45). We also share our wealth as a statement of faith, trusting that God will produce a kingdom from our earthly gifts in much the same way that simple bread is transformed into the body of Christ during Holy Communion. In other words, if we alone control our wealth, we will only produce what the earth will allow; however if we offer our gifts to God, transformation of the earth is the fruit the Kingdom will yield.
But the parable isn’t so much about money as it is about God’s abundance and how much God shares with us. We each have been given talents to share in the body of Christ.
A friend of mine adopted this parable as a means of church growth. Everyone who comes to his church is asked three questions:
Matt Rawle blogs at MattRawle.com. He is the author of The Salvation of Doctor Who, Hollywood Jesus and The Faith of a Mockingbird.
"This Sunday, January 17, 2016
Second Sunday after the Epiphany: Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 36:5-10; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11
Marriage for the vast majority of human history was primarily an economic transaction, arranged by parents and extended families. Long marriages and love marriages are relatively new.
“Death do us part” vows often meant less than 20 years. Women, in particular, tended to die young from too many pregnancies and child-bearing deaths. One infection or a broken bone could end a life in a way not seen today.
Vast disparities in wealth meant that every family member contributed economically to the always perilous group survival although the few rich and privileged elite had some ease.
Today, with women having more economic and personal power than has been available in the past, I think that fewer are willing to put up with marriage miseries that many of our parents and grandparents did.
But we humans long for intimate contact, to be in relationship with another who both knows us and loves us. And that is why we keep getting married, even after marital failures have devastated us. We want to be with another.
Essentially, it is not the institution we must trust. I’d suggest you leave behind the idea that “marriage” itself needs to be trusted. Instead, we must trust ourselves enough to be able to be vulnerable yet once more with another person and trust them to enter into the relationship with similar honesty and vulnerability. I suspect today that those marriages that finally break do so because trust has become irrevocably lost between the partners.
When you can find that level of trust again, then you can relinquish the pain of the previous marriage and move on with your life.
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: Is religion hiding from the problem of societal violence from those afflicted with mental illness? Is the religious community willing to dive in here, or is it hiding behind outdated beliefs in order to avoid the consequences of taking on some of the current plagues in the world?I fear the answer is “yes” to question one. Too much of religious thought suggests that a momentary conversion, “accepting Jesus into my heart” experience is adequate to stop violence, whether a person is mentally ill or not.
But then you ask, “Is the religious community willing to dive in here?”
I think not. The church as a whole genuinely does not know what to do with mental illness leaving them quietly complicit with the problem.
Religious groups have long taken leadership in establishing both educational and medical facilities. Many top-notch universities and research hospitals boast religious roots. Yet some religious practices even today proclaim a link between physical illnesses and sin, essentially stigmatizing the physically ill.
It seems to me that we have a larger and wrongful unacknowledged link between “mentally ill” and “unredeemed sinner.”
I wonder if it is because of the longtime religious association of the mentally ill with “the demon possessed.” Most people are clueless and afraid to find out about what goes on in the head of mentally ill persons, whether they are violent or not. There is fear in ignorance. It is easier to stigmatize than to face that fear.
We do great harm here. Much mental illness has a strong biological base. Supportive communities balanced with effective medications means many who live with mental illnesses function astoundingly well. But putting the combination of those two together takes a bundle of money and energy.
Churches, of all places, have the wherewithal to be brave, yet they refuse to rely on their faith to have a voice in the midst of the social angst caused by violent mentally ill people as well as those that are just plain miserable.
Churches alone cannot solve the large issues here. However, they can speak out far more loudly here about our national tragedy of refusing to adequately fund mental illness research and can actively work to become supportive communities and offer acceptance and care — and not try to cure them.
Email questions to thoughtfulpastor@gmail.com. A version of this column will appear in the Friday January 15, 2016 print and online editions of The Denton Record Chronicle. Christy blogs at ChristyThomas.com.
"This isn't about money … sort of"
by Matt RawleParable of the Talents / Andrei Mironov CC BY-SA 4.0Jesus tells the disciples a story about a man who will be going away on a journey near the end of his ministry (Matthew 25:14-30). This man shares his wealth with his servants before departing, offering them no explanation as to what they are supposed to do with this entrusted property. The amount of wealth he entrusts to his servants is a huge sum. To the first he offers five talents, to the second, two, and to the third, one. A talent is just short of an annual salary for a day laborer, so this amount entrusted to the servants is more money than they’ve ever possessed at one time.
The first and the second servants invest their master’s property, and the sum doubles with each. The third returns the master’s investment neither gaining nor losing any value saying, “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” This third servant is called “lazy,” and “wicked,” and he is thrown out in the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Yikes!
This parable is about money, but then again it isn’t. Sharing our wealth is an important spiritual discipline. In the early church the disciples shared all of their possessions with each other (going well above the typical tithe!) so that all might be filled (Acts 2:45). We also share our wealth as a statement of faith, trusting that God will produce a kingdom from our earthly gifts in much the same way that simple bread is transformed into the body of Christ during Holy Communion. In other words, if we alone control our wealth, we will only produce what the earth will allow; however if we offer our gifts to God, transformation of the earth is the fruit the Kingdom will yield.
But the parable isn’t so much about money as it is about God’s abundance and how much God shares with us. We each have been given talents to share in the body of Christ.
A friend of mine adopted this parable as a means of church growth. Everyone who comes to his church is asked three questions:
- What do you to do well enough that you could teach someone else to do it?
- What do you want to learn?
- Other than God, who is walking with you on your journey?
Matt Rawle blogs at MattRawle.com. He is the author of The Salvation of Doctor Who, Hollywood Jesus and The Faith of a Mockingbird.
"This Sunday, January 17, 2016
Second Sunday after the Epiphany: Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 36:5-10; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11
---------------------
Lectionary Readings
Sunday, 17 January 2016
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 36:5-10
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
John 2:1-11
Lectionary Readings
Sunday, 17 January 2016
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 36:5-10
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
John 2:1-11
---------------------
Lextionary Scriptures:
Isaiah 62:1 For Tziyon’s sake I will not be silent,
for Yerushalayim’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out brightly
and her salvation like a blazing torch.
2 The nations will see your vindication
and all kings your glory.
Then you will be called by a new name
which Adonai himself will pronounce.
3 You will be a glorious crown in the hand of Adonai,
a royal diadem held by your God.
4 You will no longer be spoken of as ‘Azuvah [Abandoned]
or your land be spoken of as ‘Sh’mamah [Desolate];
rather, you will be called Heftzi-Vah [My-Delight-Is-In-Her]
and your land Be‘ulah [Married].
For Adonai delights in you,
and your land will be married —
5 as a young man marries a young woman,
your sons will marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
your God will rejoice over you.
Psalm 36:5 (4) He devises trouble as he lies in bed;
so set is he on his own bad way
that he doesn’t hate evil.
6 (5) Adonai, in the heavens is your grace;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
7 (6) Your righteousness is like the mountains of God,
your judgments are like the great deep.
You save man and beast, Adonai.
8 (7) How precious, God, is your grace!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings,
9 (8) they feast on the rich bounty of your house,
and you have them drink from the stream of your delights.
10 (9) For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
1 Corinthians 12:1 But, brothers, I do not want you to go on being ignorant about the things of the Spirit. 2 You know that when you were pagans, no matter how you felt you were being led, you were being led astray to idols, which can’t speak at all. 3 Therefore, I want to make it clear to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says, “Yeshua is cursed!” and no one can say, “Yeshua is Lord,” except by the Ruach HaKodesh.
4 Now there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. 5 Also there are different ways of serving, but it is the same Lord being served. 6 And there are different modes of working, but it is the same God working them all in everyone. 7 Moreover, to each person is given the particular manifestation of the Spirit that will be for the common good. 8 To one, through the Spirit, is given a word of wisdom; to another, a word of knowledge, in accordance with the same Spirit; 9 to another, faith, by the same Spirit; and to another, gifts of healing, by the one Spirit; 10 to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, the ability to judge between spirits; to another, the ability to speak in different kinds of tongues; and to yet another, the ability to interpret tongues. 11 One and the same Spirit is at work in all these things, distributing to each person as he chooses.
John 2:1 On Tuesday[John 2:1 Greek: the third day, equivalent to Hebrew yom shlishi] there was a wedding at Kanah in the Galil; and the mother of Yeshua was there. 2 Yeshua too was invited to the wedding, along with his talmidim. 3 The wine ran out, and Yeshua’s mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” 4 Yeshua replied, “Mother, why should that concern me? — or you? My time hasn’t come yet.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now six stone water-jars were standing there for the Jewish ceremonial washings, each with a capacity of twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Yeshua told them, “Fill the jars with water,” and they filled them to the brim. 8 He said, “Now draw some out, and take it to the man in charge of the banquet”; and they took it. 9 The man in charge tasted the water; it had now turned into wine! He did not know where it had come from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. So he called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone else serves the good wine first and the poorer wine after people have drunk freely. But you have kept the good wine until now!” 11 This, the first of Yeshua’s miraculous signs, he did at Kanah in the Galil; he manifested his glory, and his talmidim came to trust in him.
---------------------
Lextionary Scriptures:
Isaiah 62:1 For Tziyon’s sake I will not be silent,
for Yerushalayim’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out brightly
and her salvation like a blazing torch.
2 The nations will see your vindication
and all kings your glory.
Then you will be called by a new name
which Adonai himself will pronounce.
3 You will be a glorious crown in the hand of Adonai,
a royal diadem held by your God.
4 You will no longer be spoken of as ‘Azuvah [Abandoned]
or your land be spoken of as ‘Sh’mamah [Desolate];
rather, you will be called Heftzi-Vah [My-Delight-Is-In-Her]
and your land Be‘ulah [Married].
For Adonai delights in you,
and your land will be married —
5 as a young man marries a young woman,
your sons will marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
your God will rejoice over you.
Psalm 36:5 (4) He devises trouble as he lies in bed;
so set is he on his own bad way
that he doesn’t hate evil.
6 (5) Adonai, in the heavens is your grace;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
7 (6) Your righteousness is like the mountains of God,
your judgments are like the great deep.
You save man and beast, Adonai.
8 (7) How precious, God, is your grace!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings,
9 (8) they feast on the rich bounty of your house,
and you have them drink from the stream of your delights.
10 (9) For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
1 Corinthians 12:1 But, brothers, I do not want you to go on being ignorant about the things of the Spirit. 2 You know that when you were pagans, no matter how you felt you were being led, you were being led astray to idols, which can’t speak at all. 3 Therefore, I want to make it clear to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says, “Yeshua is cursed!” and no one can say, “Yeshua is Lord,” except by the Ruach HaKodesh.
4 Now there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. 5 Also there are different ways of serving, but it is the same Lord being served. 6 And there are different modes of working, but it is the same God working them all in everyone. 7 Moreover, to each person is given the particular manifestation of the Spirit that will be for the common good. 8 To one, through the Spirit, is given a word of wisdom; to another, a word of knowledge, in accordance with the same Spirit; 9 to another, faith, by the same Spirit; and to another, gifts of healing, by the one Spirit; 10 to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, the ability to judge between spirits; to another, the ability to speak in different kinds of tongues; and to yet another, the ability to interpret tongues. 11 One and the same Spirit is at work in all these things, distributing to each person as he chooses.
John 2:1 On Tuesday[John 2:1 Greek: the third day, equivalent to Hebrew yom shlishi] there was a wedding at Kanah in the Galil; and the mother of Yeshua was there. 2 Yeshua too was invited to the wedding, along with his talmidim. 3 The wine ran out, and Yeshua’s mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” 4 Yeshua replied, “Mother, why should that concern me? — or you? My time hasn’t come yet.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now six stone water-jars were standing there for the Jewish ceremonial washings, each with a capacity of twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Yeshua told them, “Fill the jars with water,” and they filled them to the brim. 8 He said, “Now draw some out, and take it to the man in charge of the banquet”; and they took it. 9 The man in charge tasted the water; it had now turned into wine! He did not know where it had come from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. So he called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone else serves the good wine first and the poorer wine after people have drunk freely. But you have kept the good wine until now!” 11 This, the first of Yeshua’s miraculous signs, he did at Kanah in the Galil; he manifested his glory, and his talmidim came to trust in him.
---------------------
John Wesley's Notes-Commentary for Isaiah 62:1-5
Verse 1
[1] For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
Zion's sake — Zion and Jerusalem are both put for the church, Hebrews 12:22.
My peace — These seem to be the words of the prophet strongly resolving, notwithstanding all difficulties, to solicit God for the church's happiness, and constantly excite to the belief of it by his preaching, though it were long before it came, for Isaiah lived near two hundred years before this was accomplished.
Righteousness — With reference to the Babylonians, understand it of the righteousness of God, who hath promised his people deliverance, and he must be righteous, and so understand salvation before; or rather, the vindicating of his people's cause in the eyes of the nations by the ruin of the Babylonians; he will shew that his people have a righteous cause.
Lamp — And to that purpose is set up where it may be seen continually, to signify how eminently conspicuous this prosperous estate of the church should be among the nations, and as it may particularly relate to revealing of Christ unto the world.
Verse 2
[2] And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
A new name — The church shall be more renowned than ever, both in respect of her condition, and so called Hephzi-bah, and of her relation, and so called Beulah, and this new name the Lord gives them accordingly, verse 4.
Verse 3
[3] Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
Crown of glory — An expression to set forth the dignity of her state.
In the hand — Preserved and defended by God's hand.
Royal diadem — The same thing with the former for substance. Or, the royal priesthood, whereof the apostle speaks, 1 Peter 2:9.
Verse 4
[4] Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
Forsaken — As a woman forsaken by her husband.
Thy land — The inhabitants of the land.
Hephzi-bah — My delight is in her; a new name agreeing with her new condition.
Beulah — Married; agreeing to her new relation.
Married — Thou shalt see the increase of thy children again in the land, as the fruit of thy married condition, which by reason of thy being forsaken of thy husband, were in a manner wasted and decayed: and this refers to the great enlargement of the church in the gospel days.
Psalm 36:5-10
Verse 5
[5] Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
Thy mercy — Mine enemies are cruel and perfidious, but thou art infinite in mercy, and faithfulness.
Heavens — Is infinite and incomprehensible.
Faithfulness — The truth both of thy threatenings against thine enemies, and of thy promises made to good men.
The clouds — Is far above our reach, greater and higher than we can apprehend.
Verse 6
[6] Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
Mountains — Stedfast and unmoveable: eminent and conspicuous to all men.
Judgments — The executions of thy counsels.
Deep — Unsearchable, as the ocean.
Man — The worst of men; yea, the brute-beasts have experience of thy care and kindness.
Verse 7
[7] How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
Loving-kindness — Though all thine attributes be excellent, yet, above all, thy mercy is most excellent, or precious and amiable.
Verse 8
[8] They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
Satisfied — Who trust in thee, as he now said.
Fatness — With those delightful provisions, which thou hast prepared for them in heaven.
The river — Which denotes both their plenty, and their perpetuity.
Verse 9
[9] For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
Life — It is in God as in a fountain, and from him is derived to us.
But — Of that glorious and blessed, and endless life, which alone is worthy of the name.
Light — In the light of thy glorious presence, which shall be fully manifested, when we see thee face to face.
Light — Joy and comfort, and happiness: the word light is elegantly repeated in another signification; in the former clause it is light discovering, in this light, discovered or enjoyed.
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Verse 1
[1] Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
Now concerning spiritual gifts — The abundance of these in the churches of Greece strongly refuted the idle learning of the Greek philosophers. But the Corinthians did not use them wisely, which occasioned St. Paul's writing concerning them. He describes, 1. The unity of the body, 1 Corinthians 12:1-27: 2. The variety of members and offices, 1 Corinthians 12:27-30: 3. The way of exercising gifts rightly, namely, by love, 1 Corinthians 12:31; 1 Corinthians 13:1. throughout: and adds, 4. A comparison of several gifts with each other, in the 1 Corinthians 14:1. fourteenth chapter.
Verse 2
[2] Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
Ye were heathens — Therefore, whatever gifts ye have received, it is from the free grace of God.
Carried away — By a blind credulity.
After dumb idols — The blind to the dumb; idols of wood and stone, unable to speak themselves, and much more to open your mouths, as God has done.
As ye were led — By the subtlety of your priests.
Verse 3
[3] Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
Therefore — Since the heathen idols cannot speak themselves, much less give spiritual gifts to others, these must necessarily be among Christians only.
As no one speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed — That is, as none who does this, (which all the Jews and heathens did,) speaketh by the Spirit of God - Is actuated by that Spirit, so as to speak with tongues, heal diseases, or cast out devils.
So no one can say, Jesus is the Lord — None can receive him as such; for, in the scripture language, to say, or to believe, implies an experimental assurance.
But by the Holy Ghost — The sum is, None have the Holy Spirit but Christians: all Christians have this Spirit.
Verse 4
[4] Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit — Divers streams, but all from one fountain. This verse speaks of the Holy Ghost, the next of Christ, the sixth of God the Father. The apostle treats of the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:7, etc.; of Christ, 1 Corinthians 12:12, etc.; of God, 1 Corinthians 12:28, etc.
Verse 5
[5] And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
Administrations — Offices. But the same Lord appoints them all.
Verse 6
[6] And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
Operations — Effects produced. This word is of a larger extent than either of the former. But it is the same God who worketh all these effects in all the persons concerned.
Verse 7
[7] But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
The manifestation — The gift whereby the Spirit manifests itself.
Is given to each — For the profit of the whole body.
Verse 8
[8] For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
The word of wisdom — A power of understanding and explaining the manifold wisdom of God in the grand scheme of gospel salvation.
The word of knowledge — Perhaps an extraordinary ability to understand and explain the Old Testament types and prophecies.
Verse 9
[9] To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
Faith may here mean an extraordinary trust in God under the most difficult or dangerous circumstances. The gift of healing need not be wholly confined to the healing diseases with a word or a touch. It may exert itself also, though in a lower degree, where natural remedies are applied; and it may often be this, not superior skill, which makes some physicians more successful than others. And thus it may be with regard to other gifts likewise. As, after the golden shields were lost, the king of Judah put brazen in their place, so, after the pure gifts were lost, the power of God exerts itself in a more covert manner, under human studies and helps; and that the more plentifully, according as there is the more room given for it.
Verse 10
[10] To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
The working of other miracles. Prophecy — Foretelling things to come.
The discerning — Whether men be of an upright spirit or no; whether they have natural or supernatural gifts for offices in the church; and whether they who profess to speak by inspiration speak from a divine, a natural, or a diabolical spirit.
Verse 11
[11] But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
As he willeth — The Greek word does not so much imply arbitrary pleasure, as a determination founded on wise counsel.
John 2:1-11
Verse 1
[1] For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
Zion's sake — Zion and Jerusalem are both put for the church, Hebrews 12:22.
My peace — These seem to be the words of the prophet strongly resolving, notwithstanding all difficulties, to solicit God for the church's happiness, and constantly excite to the belief of it by his preaching, though it were long before it came, for Isaiah lived near two hundred years before this was accomplished.
Righteousness — With reference to the Babylonians, understand it of the righteousness of God, who hath promised his people deliverance, and he must be righteous, and so understand salvation before; or rather, the vindicating of his people's cause in the eyes of the nations by the ruin of the Babylonians; he will shew that his people have a righteous cause.
Lamp — And to that purpose is set up where it may be seen continually, to signify how eminently conspicuous this prosperous estate of the church should be among the nations, and as it may particularly relate to revealing of Christ unto the world.
Verse 2
[2] And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
A new name — The church shall be more renowned than ever, both in respect of her condition, and so called Hephzi-bah, and of her relation, and so called Beulah, and this new name the Lord gives them accordingly, verse 4.
Verse 3
[3] Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
Crown of glory — An expression to set forth the dignity of her state.
In the hand — Preserved and defended by God's hand.
Royal diadem — The same thing with the former for substance. Or, the royal priesthood, whereof the apostle speaks, 1 Peter 2:9.
Verse 4
[4] Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
Forsaken — As a woman forsaken by her husband.
Thy land — The inhabitants of the land.
Hephzi-bah — My delight is in her; a new name agreeing with her new condition.
Beulah — Married; agreeing to her new relation.
Married — Thou shalt see the increase of thy children again in the land, as the fruit of thy married condition, which by reason of thy being forsaken of thy husband, were in a manner wasted and decayed: and this refers to the great enlargement of the church in the gospel days.
Psalm 36:5-10
Verse 5
[5] Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
Thy mercy — Mine enemies are cruel and perfidious, but thou art infinite in mercy, and faithfulness.
Heavens — Is infinite and incomprehensible.
Faithfulness — The truth both of thy threatenings against thine enemies, and of thy promises made to good men.
The clouds — Is far above our reach, greater and higher than we can apprehend.
Verse 6
[6] Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
Mountains — Stedfast and unmoveable: eminent and conspicuous to all men.
Judgments — The executions of thy counsels.
Deep — Unsearchable, as the ocean.
Man — The worst of men; yea, the brute-beasts have experience of thy care and kindness.
Verse 7
[7] How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
Loving-kindness — Though all thine attributes be excellent, yet, above all, thy mercy is most excellent, or precious and amiable.
Verse 8
[8] They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
Satisfied — Who trust in thee, as he now said.
Fatness — With those delightful provisions, which thou hast prepared for them in heaven.
The river — Which denotes both their plenty, and their perpetuity.
Verse 9
[9] For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
Life — It is in God as in a fountain, and from him is derived to us.
But — Of that glorious and blessed, and endless life, which alone is worthy of the name.
Light — In the light of thy glorious presence, which shall be fully manifested, when we see thee face to face.
Light — Joy and comfort, and happiness: the word light is elegantly repeated in another signification; in the former clause it is light discovering, in this light, discovered or enjoyed.
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Verse 1
[1] Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
Now concerning spiritual gifts — The abundance of these in the churches of Greece strongly refuted the idle learning of the Greek philosophers. But the Corinthians did not use them wisely, which occasioned St. Paul's writing concerning them. He describes, 1. The unity of the body, 1 Corinthians 12:1-27: 2. The variety of members and offices, 1 Corinthians 12:27-30: 3. The way of exercising gifts rightly, namely, by love, 1 Corinthians 12:31; 1 Corinthians 13:1. throughout: and adds, 4. A comparison of several gifts with each other, in the 1 Corinthians 14:1. fourteenth chapter.
Verse 2
[2] Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
Ye were heathens — Therefore, whatever gifts ye have received, it is from the free grace of God.
Carried away — By a blind credulity.
After dumb idols — The blind to the dumb; idols of wood and stone, unable to speak themselves, and much more to open your mouths, as God has done.
As ye were led — By the subtlety of your priests.
Verse 3
[3] Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
Therefore — Since the heathen idols cannot speak themselves, much less give spiritual gifts to others, these must necessarily be among Christians only.
As no one speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed — That is, as none who does this, (which all the Jews and heathens did,) speaketh by the Spirit of God - Is actuated by that Spirit, so as to speak with tongues, heal diseases, or cast out devils.
So no one can say, Jesus is the Lord — None can receive him as such; for, in the scripture language, to say, or to believe, implies an experimental assurance.
But by the Holy Ghost — The sum is, None have the Holy Spirit but Christians: all Christians have this Spirit.
Verse 4
[4] Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit — Divers streams, but all from one fountain. This verse speaks of the Holy Ghost, the next of Christ, the sixth of God the Father. The apostle treats of the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:7, etc.; of Christ, 1 Corinthians 12:12, etc.; of God, 1 Corinthians 12:28, etc.
Verse 5
[5] And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
Administrations — Offices. But the same Lord appoints them all.
Verse 6
[6] And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
Operations — Effects produced. This word is of a larger extent than either of the former. But it is the same God who worketh all these effects in all the persons concerned.
Verse 7
[7] But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
The manifestation — The gift whereby the Spirit manifests itself.
Is given to each — For the profit of the whole body.
Verse 8
[8] For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
The word of wisdom — A power of understanding and explaining the manifold wisdom of God in the grand scheme of gospel salvation.
The word of knowledge — Perhaps an extraordinary ability to understand and explain the Old Testament types and prophecies.
Verse 9
[9] To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
Faith may here mean an extraordinary trust in God under the most difficult or dangerous circumstances. The gift of healing need not be wholly confined to the healing diseases with a word or a touch. It may exert itself also, though in a lower degree, where natural remedies are applied; and it may often be this, not superior skill, which makes some physicians more successful than others. And thus it may be with regard to other gifts likewise. As, after the golden shields were lost, the king of Judah put brazen in their place, so, after the pure gifts were lost, the power of God exerts itself in a more covert manner, under human studies and helps; and that the more plentifully, according as there is the more room given for it.
Verse 10
[10] To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
The working of other miracles. Prophecy — Foretelling things to come.
The discerning — Whether men be of an upright spirit or no; whether they have natural or supernatural gifts for offices in the church; and whether they who profess to speak by inspiration speak from a divine, a natural, or a diabolical spirit.
Verse 11
[11] But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
As he willeth — The Greek word does not so much imply arbitrary pleasure, as a determination founded on wise counsel.
John 2:1-11
Verse 2
[2] And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
Jesus and his disciples were invited to the marriage — Christ does not take away human society, but sanctifies it. Water might have quenched thirst; yet our Lord allows wine; especially at a festival solemnity. Such was his facility in drawing his disciples at first, who were afterward to go through rougher ways.
Verse 3
[3] And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
And wine falling short — How many days the solemnity had lasted, and on which day our Lord came, or how many disciples might follow him, does not appear.
His mother saith to him, They have not wine — Either she might mean, supply them by miracle; or, Go away, that others may go also, before the want appears.
Verse 4
[4] Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
Jesus saith to her, Woman — So our Lord speaks also, John 19:26. It is probable this was the constant appellation which he used to her. He regarded his Father above all, not knowing even his mother after the flesh. What is it to me and thee? A mild reproof of her inordinate concern and untimely interposal.
Mine hour is not yet come — The time of my working this miracle, or of my going away. May we not learn hence, if his mother was rebuked for attempting to direct him in the days of his flesh, how absurd it is to address her as if she had a right to command him, on the throne of his glory? Likewise how indecent it is for us to direct his supreme wisdom, as to the time or manner in which he shall appear for us in any of the exigencies of life!
Verse 5
[5] His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
His mother saith to the servants — Gathering from his answer he was about to do something extraordinary.
Verse 6
[6] And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
The purifying of the Jews — Who purified themselves by frequent washings particularly before eating.
Verse 9
[9] When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
The governor of the feast — The bridegroom generally procured some friend to order all things at the entertainment.
Verse 10
[10] And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
And saith — St. John barely relates the words he spoke, which does not imply his approving them.
When they have well drunk — does not mean any more than toward the close of the entertainment.
Verse 11
[11] This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
And his disciples believed — More steadfastly.
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The Upper Room Ministries
[2] And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
Jesus and his disciples were invited to the marriage — Christ does not take away human society, but sanctifies it. Water might have quenched thirst; yet our Lord allows wine; especially at a festival solemnity. Such was his facility in drawing his disciples at first, who were afterward to go through rougher ways.
Verse 3
[3] And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
And wine falling short — How many days the solemnity had lasted, and on which day our Lord came, or how many disciples might follow him, does not appear.
His mother saith to him, They have not wine — Either she might mean, supply them by miracle; or, Go away, that others may go also, before the want appears.
Verse 4
[4] Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
Jesus saith to her, Woman — So our Lord speaks also, John 19:26. It is probable this was the constant appellation which he used to her. He regarded his Father above all, not knowing even his mother after the flesh. What is it to me and thee? A mild reproof of her inordinate concern and untimely interposal.
Mine hour is not yet come — The time of my working this miracle, or of my going away. May we not learn hence, if his mother was rebuked for attempting to direct him in the days of his flesh, how absurd it is to address her as if she had a right to command him, on the throne of his glory? Likewise how indecent it is for us to direct his supreme wisdom, as to the time or manner in which he shall appear for us in any of the exigencies of life!
Verse 5
[5] His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
His mother saith to the servants — Gathering from his answer he was about to do something extraordinary.
Verse 6
[6] And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
The purifying of the Jews — Who purified themselves by frequent washings particularly before eating.
Verse 9
[9] When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
The governor of the feast — The bridegroom generally procured some friend to order all things at the entertainment.
Verse 10
[10] And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
And saith — St. John barely relates the words he spoke, which does not imply his approving them.
When they have well drunk — does not mean any more than toward the close of the entertainment.
Verse 11
[11] This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
And his disciples believed — More steadfastly.
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The Upper Room Ministries
PO Box 340004
Nashville, Tennessee 37203-0004, United States
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Sermon Story "" by Gary Lee Parker for Sunday, 17 January 2016 with Scripture: Isaiah 62:1 For Tziyon’s sake I will not be silent,
for Yerushalayim’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out brightly
and her salvation like a blazing torch.
2 The nations will see your vindication
and all kings your glory.
Then you will be called by a new name
which Adonai himself will pronounce.
3 You will be a glorious crown in the hand of Adonai,
a royal diadem held by your God.
4 You will no longer be spoken of as ‘Azuvah [Abandoned]
or your land be spoken of as ‘Sh’mamah [Desolate];
rather, you will be called Heftzi-Vah [My-Delight-Is-In-Her]
and your land Be‘ulah [Married].
For Adonai delights in you,
and your land will be married —
5 as a young man marries a young woman,
your sons will marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
your God will rejoice over you.
for Yerushalayim’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out brightly
and her salvation like a blazing torch.
2 The nations will see your vindication
and all kings your glory.
Then you will be called by a new name
which Adonai himself will pronounce.
3 You will be a glorious crown in the hand of Adonai,
a royal diadem held by your God.
4 You will no longer be spoken of as ‘Azuvah [Abandoned]
or your land be spoken of as ‘Sh’mamah [Desolate];
rather, you will be called Heftzi-Vah [My-Delight-Is-In-Her]
and your land Be‘ulah [Married].
For Adonai delights in you,
and your land will be married —
5 as a young man marries a young woman,
your sons will marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
your God will rejoice over you.
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As we read the Scriptures for today, we have seen in the Letter from Paul to the Church at Corinth the gifts given freely to Christians from God by the Holy Spirit to build His kingdom then we see in the Gospel where Jesus performs in first miracle of turning water to wine at a wedding feast to same the groom some embarasement. Yet, In the Book of Isaiah we have God encouraging the People of Israelites that in their scattering or exlile from the land God gave them that He will bring them back to the land to see them prosper and grow strong where all the nations will see God's Glory. Also, there appears to be a prophesy of the Messiah who comes to perfrom miracles for the people that all people will come to know God as the King of all kings. Yet, there will even be the children and the disabled as part of the Kingdom as the failure of the Israelites to take care of the disabled as one of the causes they were exiled and conqueored over their land. We see the church being called to fulfill the calling of the Israelites to be priest to all the nations and the people. Too often we do not see the church in this manner yet God calls us to include all people on earth to be a part of God's Kingdom including the people who are differently abled. How are you doing at including all people in your church? How have you sinned in excluding some people who are not like you or your group of people? Have you sought God in repentance to change your way of bringing all people into the church? We come to the time to seek God's Power and Blessings as we receive the Body of Jesus to eat and His Blood to drink through the Holy Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, As we ccme receive from God, we sing the Hymn "We praise Thee, O God, our Redeemer, Creator" by Julia C. Cory (1902)
1. We praise you, O God, our Redeemer, Creator;
in grateful devotion our tribute we bring;
we lay it before you; we kneel and adore you;
we bless your holy name: glad praises we sing.
2. We worship you, God of our fathers and mothers;
through life's storm and tempest our guide you have been;
when perils o'ertake us, you never forsake us,
and with your help, O Lord, our battles we win.
3. With voices united our praises we offer,
our songs of thanksgiving to you we now raise;
your strong arm will guide us, our God is beside us,
to you, our great Redeemer, forever be praise!
Worship and Rejoice
As we read the Scriptures for today, we have seen in the Letter from Paul to the Church at Corinth the gifts given freely to Christians from God by the Holy Spirit to build His kingdom then we see in the Gospel where Jesus performs in first miracle of turning water to wine at a wedding feast to same the groom some embarasement. Yet, In the Book of Isaiah we have God encouraging the People of Israelites that in their scattering or exlile from the land God gave them that He will bring them back to the land to see them prosper and grow strong where all the nations will see God's Glory. Also, there appears to be a prophesy of the Messiah who comes to perfrom miracles for the people that all people will come to know God as the King of all kings. Yet, there will even be the children and the disabled as part of the Kingdom as the failure of the Israelites to take care of the disabled as one of the causes they were exiled and conqueored over their land. We see the church being called to fulfill the calling of the Israelites to be priest to all the nations and the people. Too often we do not see the church in this manner yet God calls us to include all people on earth to be a part of God's Kingdom including the people who are differently abled. How are you doing at including all people in your church? How have you sinned in excluding some people who are not like you or your group of people? Have you sought God in repentance to change your way of bringing all people into the church? We come to the time to seek God's Power and Blessings as we receive the Body of Jesus to eat and His Blood to drink through the Holy Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, As we ccme receive from God, we sing the Hymn "We praise Thee, O God, our Redeemer, Creator" by Julia C. Cory (1902)
1. We praise you, O God, our Redeemer, Creator;
in grateful devotion our tribute we bring;
we lay it before you; we kneel and adore you;
we bless your holy name: glad praises we sing.
2. We worship you, God of our fathers and mothers;
through life's storm and tempest our guide you have been;
when perils o'ertake us, you never forsake us,
and with your help, O Lord, our battles we win.
3. With voices united our praises we offer,
our songs of thanksgiving to you we now raise;
your strong arm will guide us, our God is beside us,
to you, our great Redeemer, forever be praise!
Worship and Rejoice
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Benediction:
Go out into the world in peace;
Be of good courage;
Hold fast to that which is good;
Render to no one evil for evil;
Strengthen the faint hearted;
Support the weak; help the afflicted;
Honor all God’s children;
Love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen
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Gary Lee Parker
4147 Idaho Street, Apt. 1
San Diego, California 92014-1844, United States
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"GOD’S POWERFUL PROMISE!" by Robert Gorrell
Isaiah 62:1-5
During the First Gulf War, a young husband from our small-town church was called up to serve. While he was in Iraq his wife had a very public affair. Upon returning home he heard about the whole thing. He had a great love for his wife and a strong desire to keep his family together for the sake of their two small children. He forgave her.
One night, in a large Bible study group, she broke down and shared the whole story. She concluded by saying, “The question for me is this: How can I live with his forgiveness?”
Israel faced a similar dilemma. In chapter 56 Isaiah points out that Israel’s leaders are corrupt. In chapter 57 he condemns Israel’s worship. In chapter 58 he calls them to obedience. In chapter 59 Isaiah calls the people of Israel to confession and to prepare for judgment. God’s glory is the theme for Isaiah in chapter 60 as the prophet reminds his people of God’s power. He tells the people that God will gather all the nations together. In chapter 61 Isaiah shares his prophetic call to preach good news. He even makes reference to the law governing the release of slaves after a period of six years of service. In this way the reader is given a hint of what is to come.
Finally, in chapter 62, Isaiah lifts up this incredible image of love and restoration. God will not rest, Isaiah explains, until Zion and Jerusalem’s “vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch” (v. 1).
In verse 2 Isaiah explains that the people will receive a new name from the mouth of God. The name, given by the Lord, is a sign of vindication. Israel will become like a crown or diadem, beautiful in the hand of God. Then God’s renaming process swings into full force: “You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married” (v. 4).
Isaiah tells the people that God will delight in them “as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” Verse 5 also adds that the builder will marry the bride. The builder is God and the bride is Israel.
It might be helpful to note the corporate nature of both the sin and the redemption pictured by Isaiah. God’s people are at fault, but God’s love redeems the entire nation. Scripture fully takes into account that while sin often has a corporate origin, it always has a community effect. Because sin affects so many, the need of redemption is even greater. Therefore, the redeeming force must be tremendously powerful.
Last summer we were trying to kill the weeds in our yard. Unfortunately, no matter how we tried, we failed. The home next to us was empty. No one was caring for the yard there, and the weeds had taken over. No matter what we did, the weeds from next door soon found a way to spread into our yard.
In a similar way, Isaiah’s Israel is caught up in shared sin. Leaders influence citizens. The demands of the citizens influence leaders. The clergy end up in the middle of everything. When one group gets a little better, another group drags them back down into the pit of sin. Israel needs a complete sin control solution. God’s love will provide the answer.
This text from Isaiah offers a powerful symbol of redemption. It will remind some of the image of Christ as the bridegroom found in Revelation. It is also reminiscent of the story of the prophet Hosea and his wayward wife, Gomer, who is also redeemed to demonstrate God’s love.
The Gospel reading for this day is John 2:1-11, the story of Jesus at the wedding in Cana. Among other meanings, the story gives us a glimpse at the joy of a wedding. Within that joy the glory of Christ is revealed.
God’s glory is revealed in Isaiah’s wedding scene as well, not by turning water into wine, but through a similar miraculous process. Jesus takes common water and turns it into precious wine. In like manner, God takes common sinners and turns them into a royal bride. By uniting with God in spiritual marriage, the nation is redeemed and made new again despite its sinful past. In the ancient world, a bride’s purity was of ultimate concern. The purity of the bride assured the purity of the marriage. In this scenario, however, Isaiah recognizes that the bride, Israel, is less than pure. The bride is made pure through the act of marriage. The bride is purified not because of any action on the bride’s part; the bride is redeemed and made pure due to the gracious and pure love of the bridegroom.
I grew up in a small Midwestern town. A young girl I went to school with had a difficult life. She went out with the wrong kind of boys and at much too early an age. When she was a junior in high school she had a baby out of wedlock. In those days there was a great stigma attached to such an event. The girl’s sad life became even more miserable. A boy from a fine local family asked the girl to visit his church youth group. He felt that was what Jesus would want him to do. She went. Eventually they became great friends and were married. Today she is a wonderful wife and mother. Many of the man’s friends consider him very lucky to have such a wife.
Love can redeem anyone from any situation. That is God’s powerful promise! … read more
"WORSHIP ELEMENTS: JANUARY 17, 2016" by Erik Alsgaard
Second Sunday after the Epiphany
Color: Green
Scripture Readings: Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 36:5-10; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11
Theme Ideas
God's grace and love are bright and shining gifts to a dark and hurting world. We find this echoed in today's readings: "Your steadfast love ...extends to the heavens" (Psalm 36:5); "You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, / and a royal diadem in the hand of your God" (Isaiah 62:3); "Jesus ... revealed his glory" (John 2:11). God's love is made manifest in many ways, including the gifts of the Spirit, as mentioned in the Corinthians reading. Our worship today should show how members of Christ's body, the church, bring forth God's love.
Call to Worship (1 Corinthians 12)
There are many gifts, talents, and abilities given by God.
But there is only one Spirit.
There are a variety of things we can do to serve the Lord.
But it is the same Lord we all serve.
There are many activities we can do to serve God:
teach, sing, clean, preach, play, work...
But all these are activated by God.
There are many manifestations of God's Spirit
in the world.
It is impossible to list them all.
To say that one is better than another is foolish.
God gives to each as God chooses.
Thanks be to God!
Call to Worship (Psalm 36)
No matter how far we wander from you, O God,
your steadfast love finds us.
No matter how unjust the world seems to us, O God,
your steadfast righteousness sustains us.
No matter how vulnerable our lives seem to us, O God,
your steadfast presence gives us hope.
No matter how unloved and uncared for we feel, O God,
you hear our cries and answer our prayers.
Thanks be to God!
Contemporary Gathering Words (Isaiah 62, John 2)
With God, all things are made new.
We are made new creatures in Christ!
The mouth of the Lord has spoken.
We are made new creatures in Christ!
The old things have passed away.
We are made new creatures in Christ!
Praise Sentences
We lift up our voices in praise.
God's steadfast love never fails.
Opening Prayer
Gracious and loving God,
source of all wholeness, forgiveness, and mercy,
may your Spirit
heal those who are torn,
mend those who are broken,
and protect those who are fragile.
Enable us, O God,
through the gift of your steadfast love,
to remember who we are
and whose we are.
In your love,
may we be true and faithful disciples
of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
in whose name we pray. Amen.
Opening Prayer (1 Corinthians 12)
God of all good gifts,
we thank you and praise you.
Your Spirit has touched our lives,
bringing wisdom, ability, strength, courage,
and passion.
Enable us to use our gifts
in service to you and to others.
In all that we do,
and in all that we are,
may your name be glorified,
that your kingdom will be with us
and reside here on this earth.
We pray this in the name of your Son,
our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Unison Prayer or Prayer of Confession (John 2)
Lord, we need a miracle today.
Like Jesus changing water into wine
at the wedding feast in Cana,
we need a miracle today.
We are tired, Lord, of the hurts of this world.
We are discouraged
in the face of injustice, war, poverty, and indifference.
We need a miracle today, Lord.
Your steadfast love, like a mighty mountain,
will not be moved.
Your gifts, as many as the mighty winds,
cannot be counted.
Your glory, like a mighty torch,
will not be put out.
Lord, crown us with your love.
Show us your glory,
that in you we may be moved
to acts of kindness, love, justice, and mercy.
Lord, we need a miracle today. Amen.
Benediction
And now, from the One who is indeed the giver
of all good gifts:
go and share what God has given you;
go and proclaim that God's love is here;
go in the power of God's Spirit
to make all things new.
Benediction (Psalm 36, 1 Corinthians 12)
Drink deep of God's love.
God's love endures forever!
Drink deep of God's Spirit.
God's Spirit endures forever!
Feast on the abundance of God's gifts.
God's gifts never end!
From The Abingdon Worship Annual edited by Mary J. Scifres and B.J. Beu, Copyright © Abingdon Press. The Abingdon Worship Annual 2016 is now available.… read more
"WORSHIP CONNECTION: JANUARY 17, 2016" by Nancy C. Townley
Color: Green
Scripture Readings: Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 36:5-10; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11
CALLS TO WORSHIP
Call to Worship #1
L: How can we keep still this day?
P: There is joy in this place!
L: God's steadfast love extends to everyone.
P: God reaches out to us all in forgiveness and compassion.
L: Thanks to God for all the wonderful blessings we have received.
P: Let us celebrate God's joyful love for and with us! AMEN.
Call to Worship #2
L: Sing praise to God, all the peoples!
P: Praise God who really loves us all!
L: Don't be afraid and do not doubt God's love.
P: Open our hearts, O God, and help us to receive that love.
L: Dance in joy to the spirit of God.
P: Let our spirits resound with joy at God's light of joy, AMEN.
Call to Worship #3
[Using THE UNITED METHODIST HYMNAL, p. 333, "I'm Goin’a Sing When the Spirit Says Sing", offer the following call to worship as directed.]
L: Can you keep silent?
P: Can you close your heart when God calls your name?
Choir: singing verse 1 of "I'm Goin’a Sing When the Spirit Says Sing"
L: Do you dare to rejoice in God?
P: Can you celebrate with joy this day?
Choir: singing verse 4 of "I'm Goin’a Sing When the Spirit Says Sing"
L: Come, then, and lets joyfully celebrate God's presence with us.
P: Let us get ready to praise God for all God's blessings each and every day. AMEN
Call to Worship #4
L: Jesus surprised the people at the wedding.
P: They were sure they would be disappointed.
L: They thought that their host wasn't prepared for their needs.
P: We aren't much different. We aren't sure God is prepared for our needs.
L: Lord, change our whining in to praising!
P: Change our moaning and complaining into celebrations of joy! AMEN.
PRAYERS, READING, BENEDICTION
Opening Prayer
Lord, open our hearts to the surprising ways in which you offer to us your love and your presence. Help us to truly believe in the wondrous ways that you work in our lives. Give us hearts and spirits for service to you. In Jesus' Name, we pray. AMEN.
Prayer of Confession
Lord, how we must try your patience! We often doubt, when we should place our faith in your abiding presence. We think that we have to have all the answers, and judge others who fail to live up to our expectations. We think that we are the one thing that matters most in life. So we place ourselves at the center of our own universe. Forgive us when we show how shallow our faith is. Help us to really understand the miraculous ways in which you have already worked in our lives and will continue to work as we journey in faith. Bring to us the Light of Joy, and let it flood through our whole beings, that we may be transformed into people of joyful service and faith. In Jesus' Name, we pray. AMEN.
Words of Assurance
God's love is continually poured out for us. Drink from the cup of forgiveness and compassion, dear ones. In Jesus' Name, we are forgiven! AMEN.
Pastoral Prayer
Lord of Light and Joy, the daylight hours are becoming longer for us. Evening comes a little later, and the dawn is earlier, but the darkness in our hearts persists. We continue to look at the miraculous ways you work in our lives as mere stories or happenstance. How foolish we are! From the beginning of all that is, you have poured your love and light into this world and into our lives. You have offered us countless blessings and opportunities for service, some of which we have followed, and others that we have ignored. You have forgiven and healed our spirits. We continue to bring before you the names and situations of people that are in direst need. We ask for your healing mercies and yet we wonder if you really are with us. Turn our moaning and crying into songs of praise and hope. Give us spirits of trust and rejoicing, that we may truly be your people all of our days. Prepare us for joyful service in your world; for we ask this in Jesus' Name. AMEN.
Reading
Reader 1: I was just minding my business, sitting out in my car in front of the grocery store, waiting for my spouse to finish the shopping. It had been raining, you know drizzly and spitting showers. The clouds were dark in most of the sky. I looked to my right and got a surprise. Here, in the middle of winter, a rainbow. The light of the sun broke through and showed a rainbow as clear as can be. You have no idea how that made me feel. I'm not a wintry person, but I wasn't feeling particularly joyful…somehow the surprise of that rainbow lightened my spirits. God or not God…just an atmospheric phenomenon?…I don't know…but somehow it made me feel a bit brighter and happier.
Reader 2: The ground here is slushy, some of the snow has melted with a January thaw.But it's not pretty…it's muddy and slushy…everything is muddy and slushy. It tracks in everywhere, leaving watery and dirty patches on floor and rugs. Yuck! Where is the pristine whiteness of my beautiful winter scenery? Why is all so muddy and slushy? And as I looked in disgust at the mud and slush, I thought about the mud and slush that I have allowed in my life. I have opened rooms in my spirit for sadness, frustration, pettiness, prejudice, bitterness, envy, greed. I put up, "Come on in and join the party" signs.
They came in. But it wasn't a party -unless you call it a "pity party"…me feeling sorry for myself…dancing or slogging around in my own mud and slush. I'm not sure how it happened, if it was the reference to Jesus at the wedding in Cana, when he surprised the guests by his gracious transformational gift of turning water into wine; but Jesus has turned my whining spirit into dancing and thankfulness. I have spent too much time in my pity rooms, I needed to go outside my fears into the Light of Joy! Well, here I am. And it's good!!!!!
Reader 3: Do this, do that…keep moving. I need this, I need that…always bend to the needs of others. You don't need time to yourself, that's just being selfish, they said. What you need to do is to forget about yourself. Immerse yourself in work…work…work. Well. I have. I have lost myself. I have hidden myself away in pitiful caring…which means, that I am caring without really caring. I am going through the motions. I don't know how to stop and ask for help anymore. God is somewhere, but not here. Nowhere, that's where I am. And it looks like that's where I'll stay. I need something. I need joy! But Joy can't just be manufactured. Not all the stuff in the world will create joy. Someone said that it comes from within. In that case, I'm in trouble, because the only thing inside me right now is emptiness and loneliness. Where is God? Where is that source of Light and Joy that the preacher keeps talking about? Where is God in my life? I look within. What can I do? What do I do? I try to help. I work with older people, helping to make them more comfortable. I work with small children, teaching them to take care of each other. I work with my family, as a caregiver, parent, friend. I work, work, work…is that what God would have me do? Work? Where is the joy…is it in the face of that elderly lady who just needed someone to talk with for a few minutes? Is it in the joy of the children who are learning to play nicely with each other. Is it in my family, who are safe and warm. Is it in me? IsGod's light of Joy in me? Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are feeling burdened. Let me take your burdens and carry them. I will give you release and relief from them. Rest in my love, and I will strengthen and sustain you". Lord Jesus, lift me gently. Open my spirit again to your joy. Breathe into me the breath of new hope and joy.
Benediction
Look around you, dear people. God's joy is poured out for you so that you might be a blessing to others. God will continually walk and work with you, relieving your burdens and giving you strength. Go into God's world, rejoicing! AMEN.
ARTISTIC ELEMENTS
The traditional color for this Sunday is: GREEN
Today's theme is LIGHT OF JOY. The focus is on celebration, surprising, healing, joyful!
SURFACE: Place a 10" riser at the center back of the worship table. Place two 4" risers to the right and left of the center riser and slightly to the front.
FABRIC: Cover the entire worship center in a medium green fabric, possibly with a woven pattern, such as a brocade or damask. Make sure that this fabric covers the entire worship center and puddles down onto the floor.
CANDLES: On either side of the 10"riser place two altar/worship table candles or two tall white pillar candles.
FLOWERS/FOLIAGE: On either side of the tall altar/worship table or pillar candles place a container of ivy so that it extends across the table and down the front of the worship center.
ROCKS/WOOD: Not necessary for this setting.
OTHER: Place a brass cross on the 10" riser. Coming from beneath the cross, place streamers of bright colors, such as the kind that are tossed about in celebrations they may be purchased at local stationary or craft stores. Place some confetti liberally on the table and down onto the floor in front of the worship center. (A small hand vacuum should be able to pick it up easily). … read more
"WORSHIP FOR KIDS: JANUARY 17, 2016" by Carolyn C. Brown
From a Child's Point of View
Today's readings speak of the way God's great power is shown to us—an important subject for children. Children need the security of knowing that God is the strongest power in the universe (Ps. 36). They also need to know that God uses this enormous power to care for us (John 2) , to work in history on our behalf (Isaiah 62), and to give each of us our own powers to use and enjoy (1 Cor. 12). Because the language and images in these passages are often beyond children, worship leaders will need to concentrate on the theme, rather than on the passages.
Old Testament: Isaiah 62:1-5. The message is that God can and will eventually save us from our political and social messes. The specific example is that God will rescue the people of Jerusalem from captivity and reestablish the Jewish nation. To get from the specific example to the general message requires more explanation of Jewish history and Old Testament marriage images than time or the children will allow. This passage is for adult Bible students.
Psalm: 36:5-10. The psalmist praises God by citing attributes such as faithfulness, righteousness, and justice—words that are too abstract for children. References to drinking from the river of God's goodness, finding protection in the shadow of God's wings, and seeing the light of God do not speak clearly to children. Still, if the psalm is read with a sense of happy confidence and joy, the children will feel, rather than understand, these praises.
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. Verses 4-11 of this passage may be the easiest of today's lections for the children to understand. God has the power to give each of us special gifts or powers. Although each gift or power is different, all are of great value. Paul makes his point clearly in verses 4-7. Unfortunately for children, the examples that follow are difficult to translate from their first-century setting. Rather than explain each example, help the children identify the gifts/powers from God that they see in themselves and in others in the congregation. In citing these gifts, be sure to include "gifts of the spirit," such as patience in dealing with others, as well as talents such as musical ability.
Gospel: John 2:1-11. The writer of John explains who Jesus is by presenting a series of meaning-filled signs that Jesus performed. The first sign of God's power and love is that, through Jesus, God keeps a party going by providing extra high-quality refreshments. John's message is that God has the power to give us more than just what we need; God surprises us with unnecessary abundance. To children, this says that God wants all of them to have more than just enough to get by or to meet their needs. God's plan is that everyone should have all the wonderful, good things of life.
Children are often puzzled by Jesus' conversation with his mother. John includes that conversation to make the point that Jesus acted as he did because he chose to live by God's plan—not because his mother or anyone else told him what to do. Likewise, children today are called to live by God's plan because they choose to do so—not because their parents, teachers, or anyone else tells them to do so.
Watch Words
Watch out for the big power words such as omnipotence,omniscience, and omnipresence.
Rather than speaking of God's vindication of Jerusalem (Isa. 62) or of other oppressed groups, tell specifically what God did or promised.
Instead of faithfulness or steadfastness (Ps. 36), speak ofloyalty. God is loyal to us, even when we are not loyal to God.
Let the Children Sing
"I Sing the Almighty Power of God" is first choice.
This is a Sunday for several praise hymns, such as "Now Thank We All Our God," "For the Beauty of the Earth," and "All People That on Earth Do Dwell."
The Liturgical Child
1. Read the psalm responsively, between either leader and people or two halves of the congregation. When introducing the psalm, point out that when we read it, we join the poet in telling God how great we think God is. Challenge worshipers to show how they feel by the way they say the words:
Lord, your constant love reaches the heavens;
Your faithfulness extends to the skies.
Your righteousness is towering like the mountains;
Your justice is like the depths of the sea.
People and animals are in your care.
How precious, O God, is your constant love!
We find protection under the shadow of your wings.
We feast on the abundant food you provide;
You let us drink from the river of your goodness.
You are the source of all life,
And because of your light, we see the light.
(All) Continue to love those who know you
and to do good to those who are righteous.
(Based on GNB)
Sermon Resources
1. To start the people thinking about power and the powerful people and groups in our world today, name political leaders and sports figures. If your children are caught up in Super Bowl frenzy, talk about the power claims in the chant "We're Number One!"
2. Name and discuss the power brokers of the cartoon world—Superman or Batman, Spider Woman, and the Ninja Turtles. For children who know themselves to be very unpowerful because of their size and age, such figures often become talismen against all the powers they fear. Children need to hear that God is even more powerful and dependable than any of those heroes and heroines. There is no evil power that God cannot conquer.
3. Compare "grabbing" power with "giving" power. Use the descriptions of God's power in today's lections as examples of giving power. Challenge worshipers to choose giving power by citing examples:
Albert Schweitzer was already becoming a famous concert organist. (This does not sound exciting today, but in his day, an organist was like a rock star.) But he chose to become a missionary doctor. He gave up riches and fame to spend the rest of his life taking care of people deep in the jungles of Africa.
Millard Fuller had made a million dollars by the time he was thirty years old. He had cars, houses, and a fancy boat. But he was not happy. Then he decided to change his goal. His new goal was to build a million homes for people who had no decent place to live. He founded Habitat for Humanity. Now people all around the world are working with him to build thousands of homes every year. He says he is happier now in his small house and building houses for others than he ever was in his fancy house.
Cite examples of people in your congregation who put their giving power to work. Remember to include examples of children who sing in the choir, participate in mission projects, or whatever else your children do.… read more
"SERMON OPTIONS: JANUARY 17, 2016"
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
ISAIAH 62:1-5
Prospective parents spend countless hours every year trying to decide on just the right name for an expected child. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" doesn't ring true. We want just the right moniker for our progeny. Why? What's so important about a name anyway?
The creation account in Genesis 2 has Adam naming all the animals. This is indicative of both his dominion over and kinship to the created order. God's progressive revelation of himself is beautifully pictured in the various names that disclose his divine character, power, and purpose. In the Scriptures a person's name is seen as indicative of their character. Jacob was a manipulator who became Israel, or blessed of the Lord. Ruth's mother-in-law, Naomi, whose name means "pleasantness," became known as Mara or "bitterness" because of the death of her husband and sons. Jesus even did a wordplay on Peter's name when he referred to his confession as the rock upon which the Church is built. Isaiah pictures a day when God will give a new name to his people.
I. A New Name Represents Character Revealed (v. 2)
"The nations will see your righteousness" (v. 2a NIV). God's will had always been the holiness of his people. The Church stands under the same mandate to "be holy in all you do" (1 Pet. 1:15 b NIV). Israel never fully grasped the moral purposes of God. Instead, she fell into a pattern of legalism that thwarted true holiness and hindered her witness to the grace and glory of God.
The prophet is confident, however, that God's ultimate purpose will be realized and that the righteousness of Israel will ultimately be manifest. Corresponding to this fundamental change in her character, Israel will be given a new name. This new name is indicative of her new identity. The New Testament tells us that we will be given a new name, also.
II. A New Name Represents Position Revived (v. 3)
"You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord's hand" (v. 3a NIV). The golden days of Israel's history were during the reign of David and Solomon. But the seeds to her demise were also sown during that time. Not all of her position, wealth, and strength came as a result of the Lord's blessing. She entered into many compromising alliances that would ultimately be her undoing. The prophet sees a day when Israel is restored as a "crown of splendor" and a "royal diadem"—both symbols of royalty and the right to rule.
Likewise, the Church has been blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. We are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
III. A New Name Represents Relationship Restored (v. 5)
"As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you" (v. 5b NIV). The image of adultery is frequently used in the Old Testament to picture the unfaithfulness of Israel to God. Yet the prophet saw Israel restored as a "bride." This is a beautiful image indeed of the clean slate and new beginning that comes as a result of God's grace. The Church is aptly called the "bride of Christ." This is a poignant reminder of our intimate relationship with God through Christ.
As we anticipate the new year that stretches out before us, we are reminded again that it takes more than the changing of the calendar to make a new start. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" ( 2 Cor. 5:17 NIV). (L. Joseph Rosas, III)
GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT
1 CORINTHIANS 12:1-11
A gift is an act of the will. The Father has appropriated spiritual gifts by his free will to all his children. If Christians really want to be used by Jesus, it will pay big dividends to search out their unique gifts and begin to make use of them. An examination of the gifts helps one determine how they may be used in the church.
I. The Spirit Says, "Jesus Is Lord"
The Spirit of God comes to dwell with people who extend an invitation for him to enter their lives. The early Gentile Christians developed out of raw paganism, where fanaticism ran rampant. They were swayed by anything. Paul wanted to produce rock-solid Christians who were not influenced by any strange doctrine. He guarded his flock against emotional excesses, hysterical behavior, self-delusion, and mistaken theology. It only happened when they understood that Jesus was Lord.
The basis of legitimate spiritual behavior is ushered in by God's Spirit in today's church. Sanctioned spiritual life comes through individual belief that Jesus is Lord.
II. The Spirit Gives Usable Spiritual Gifts to Individuals Who Believe That Jesus Is Lord
God's giver of gifts is the Spirit. He lends gifts for either short or long terms—sometimes for a lifetime. The specific purpose of such gift giving is to glorify God. Paul lists some of the gifts in the text, including:
WISDOM. Aristotle described this word as striving after the ends by using the best methods. The ultimate goal of wisdom is striving to know God intimately.
KNOWLEDGE. This gift is the "nuts and bolts" of wisdom. It is the method for using the wisdom for God's glory.
FAITH. This gift moves beyond the saving faith to the realm of "moving mountain" faith. William Barclay reminds Christians it is passionate belief that makes them spend all their energy on the action of belief. "It is faith which turns the vision into deed."
HEALING. This gift is the ability to treat people in a holistic fashion. God has endowed some to speak the word of faith for the physical healing of others. But be careful: This gift can be perverted easily if eyes are taken away from Jesus.
MIRACULOUS POWER. Missionaries speak of the spiritual darkness and oppression brought on by demonic powers in their service areas. The function of the church is to minister to the minds and lives diseased and disturbed by Satan. Exorcism still plays a part in our world through the power of the Spirit.
PROPHECY. This gift can be translated as preaching. It is not necessarily the ability of foretelling, but "forthtelling." The preacher who lives close enough to interpret the heartbeat of God has this gift. It is to be used by the person who rebukes, warns, guides, and advises believers.
DISCERNMENT. The ability to distinguish real from false characterizes this gift. The church needs people who can distinguish between what God wants and what the devil deploys as real. This gift steers the church away from overindulgence, hysteria, and fanaticism.
LANGUAGES AND INTERPRETATION. On Pentecost the band of 120 Christians spoke in languages to evangelize as they interpreted Peter's message to a diverse crowd. But as time passed this gift became unintelligible sounds in no language. Sadly this gift was robbed of its purpose and worth. The legitimate gifts are still needed and given. People had been empowered by God's Spirit to speak to crowds in their language, but the language was unknown to the messenger. The purpose was evangelism! Let the church use this gift to grow the universal body of believers, not to divide the church.
The snapshot of the early church pictured an alive, vital group of believers with excitement, spirituality, and gifts from God. Today's church needs a reprint of that picture. (Derl G. Keefer)
DON'T MISS THE SIGNS
JOHN 2:1-11
Ignore the road signs when you travel and you'll have a miserable trip. A physician trains to recognize the signs of illness. Sign language enables persons with impaired hearing to communicate. Signs are important. The Gospel of John records seven significant signs from the life of Christ. Jesus chose a wedding for the first of these miraculous signs, which revealed his glory and brought forth faith from his disciples.
I. God Signs His Glory in the Ordinary
Where do you expect to encounter the glory of God? At a wedding? Not if you're the parents! My wife and I nearly divorced before our daughter's wedding concluded. What rating does a wedding have on the stress chart? Imagine how the family at Cana felt when the wine ran out.
At a wedding Jesus revealed his glory. God hasn't left himself without witness anywhere Rom. 1:19-20) and he frequently signs his glory in the ordinary events of life. His signature is on the mountain landscape and the rolling sea. He manifests himself in a grandchild's smile and a grandfather's prayer.
II. God Signs His Glory in the Extraordinary
The water did turn to wine. It was "the first of his miraculous signs" (v. 11), but certainly not the last. A gospel song declares, "I believe in miracles, because I believe in God." He continues to reveal his glory in the extraordinary.
You hear the reports: He healed me from cancer. God took away the addiction; I've been free from this crippling desire for fifteen years. Jesus enabled my wife to forgive me and preserved our marriage. They said I wouldn't live another year—that was ten years ago! God had other plans. God sometimes signs his glory in an extraordinary display of power.
III. Do You Believe the Signs?
When Jesus revealed his glory at the wedding "his disciples put their faith in him." Faith-encouraging signs are all around us but we often are not looking for them. We want something spectacular when God has chosen the ordinary. Jesus asked, "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" Will he find us living by faith and responding to God's glory whether we see it on ordinary days or in an extraordinary way?
Jesus himself is the ultimate sign of God's glory. Are you missing him while looking for a substitute sign? Remember what he said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."
The African impala can jump to a height of over ten feet and cover a distance greater than thirty feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a three-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall. Faith trusts what we cannot see.
Faith trusts Christ. Mary told the servants what is also required of us, "Do whatever he tells you" (v. 5). Jesus tells us to believe. Do you? "Follow me," he invites. Do you? Anything less than obedience is not faith, even when you recognize the signs of his glory. (Bill D. Whittaker)
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Ministry Matters
2222 Rosa L. Parks Boulevard
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