Missionary Renegade: "Captain Obvious of preaching | Rise of the 'Methodist middle' | Stories of Jim Crow America" "Preach. Teach. Worship. Reach. Lead" Ministry Matters from Nashville, Tennessee, United States for Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

"Captain Obvious of preaching | Rise of the 'Methodist middle' | Stories of Jim Crow America" "Preach. Teach. Worship. Reach. Lead" Ministry Matters from Nashville, Tennessee, United States for Wednesday, 25 May 2016

"Captain Obvious of preaching | Rise of the 'Methodist middle' | Stories of Jim Crow America" "Preach. Teach. Worship. Reach. Lead" Ministry Matters from Nashville, Tennessee, United States for Wednesday, 25 May 2016

The Captain Obvious of preaching by Talbot Davis
Bigstock / Gustavo Frazao
Maybe you’ve seen the recent spate of commercials for Hotels.com featuring Captain Obvious. Here’s one of the best:

I have noticed in the communication field that it is all too easy to succumb to the “Captain Obvious Trap.”
One of the commentators on the Tennis Channel, for example, is notorious for telling viewers that “Wow, Novak Djokovic is really flexible,” or “Man, can John Isner serve,” or “Rafael Nadal puts so much topspin on his forehand” . . . all observations that are, well, obvious. What we’d like to know is how does Djokovic have such superhuman flexibility, what is it like to return Isner’s serve, or what about Nadal’s grip makes such topspin possible? Such information would move the commentary from the obvious to the insightful.
Preaching is much the same way.
In fact, I believe that “The Captain Obvious” trap is one of the church’s great sermon killers.
Sermons become obvious when they resort to platitudes like these:

God loves you. (The only way to make that platitude worse is to say “God loves you and I.” He doesn’t. He loves you and me.)
Serve one another.
Be kind.
The church needs more togetherness and more unity.
We gotta get more people coming to church.

All those sermonic points are true. They’re just not very interesting.
See, moving from obvious to insightful doesn’t mean finding new truths. Lord knows that I am not a fan of that. We celebrate that we can excavate the old and the unchanging at Good Shepherd Church.
But moving from obvious to insightful does involve both wordsmithing — a task that takes much time, many failures and hours of energy — and observation — the ability to notice and articulate what is subtly true and yet painfully ignored in many people’s lives.
Wordsmithing, for example, allows John Mark McMillan to transform the truth of God’s love into a scandalously vivid image in his song "How He Loves": “heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss” I bet your grandmom never used that as an example of God’s love for you. I’ll also bet you’ll never forget it. Why? It’s not obvious, but it is insightful.
Wordsmithing allowed one of the messages in the recent The Light At The Beginning Of The Tunnel series to describe eternity in this most unexpected way: “Paradise isn’t a place you go. It’s a Person who comes.” Because its description of the hereafter was anything but obvious, that particular message generated as much conversation as any one I can remember at Good Shepherd.
Observation allows Andy Stanley to give voice to what most of us might notice but never consider. Some of his best:

Wise people know what they don’t know.
We aren’t mistakers. We’re sinners.
Good people don’t go to heaven. Forgiven people do.
Nobody expected no body (an Easter sermon).
Falling in love is easy. Staying in love is hard.
Obvious? Not a one. Insightful? Every single time.

Among the truths nestled in Solve are these that I pray move well beyond the obvious and into the insightful:

When you admit that your solutions are your problems, God surrounds you with his promises.
You only get rid of what you refuse to get used to.
Move on what you’re moved by.
God sends opposition to grow desperation.
Leaving your mark isn’t about what you accomplish. It’s about who you influence.

You can be part of the first wave of solutionists — people who opt for the insightful over the obvious — by purchasing Solve here.
Together we can leave Captain Obvious on the television screen and bring biblical insight into the pulpit.
Talbot Davis is pastor of Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina and the author of Solve, Head Scratchers: When the Words of Jesus Don't Make Sense, The Storm Before the Calm, and The Shadow of a Doubt, all from Abingdon Press.

Sponsored

What’s wrong with the way we make church decisions?

By Terence Corkin

Julia Kuhn Wallace
The Rev. Dan Bryant (center) leads fellow delegates from the East Ohio Conference in prayer May 17 during the denomination's 2016 General Conference in Portland, Ore. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS
The theme of the 2016 United Methodist General Conference, “Therefore, Go!” now sounds more like a relief than a passionate call to mission.
This General Conference saw the worst behavior yet from delegates and observers and massive agenda gridlock. Further, it failed to provide a credible Christian witness to the world as to how United Methodists can work together and make decisions in a healthy and constructive way.
Why?
It’s complicated, but one thing is for certain. On Thursday (Day 3) the delegates were still debating the Rules of the Conference, which give order to the proceedings. It should have been a brief walk in the park. It wasn’t and the casualty was a proposed alternative community-based way of making decisions.
What followed was a disaster:

The General Conference continued deepening patterns of creating “losers” in the way people talked about one another and dug lines in the sand
Important issues were defeated with little conversation yet with delaying tactics like making numerous Points of order and Calling for the Question to kill discussion
Petitions were defeated or supported in Committee sub-groups with low numbers deciding (i.e. 20-9)
Valuable time and resources were squandered
People were exhausted and frustrated

It did not have to be this way. This is not the legacy our church should leave in an increasingly cold, uncivil world. We should have been able to do better. No, we had the chance to be better.
In Portland, I was told that General Conference cost millions of dollars to hold. One delegate calculated it cost $173,000/hour. Did we get our money’s worth? Did the people in the pews back home get a good return on their investment in us?
Our observation at General Conference was that Robert’s Rules of Order created chaos and confusion in the church — not a way forward. It’s time to do something different that actually works!
When a matter is simple and put before the body to decide, Robert’s Rules adequately guides the process: the idea is seconded, discussed, possibly amended (improved), and voted yes or no. However, when a matter is complex or the group has more fear than faith: Look out! I learned that there are people who know how to manipulate the process, sow misinformation that cannot be challenged, and even squash conversation.
This is what happened in Portland with the Rule 44 decision. At one point, a delegate addressed the Presiding Bishop as “Your Honor”, and another begged for the group to stop a moment. She said: “I believe even God is confused right now; can we just stop and pray?”
So, what was so horrible about Rule 44 that it was the target of a hundreds of thousands of dollars smear campaign from a lobbying group? Basically, it gave every delegate a voice in the process. Really? Really!!!
Rule 44 would have allowed delegates to use a process other than Robert’s Rules of Order to discuss an important issue. It would have given the delegates the responsibility to choose the topic under consideration and then:

Convene small groups for prayer, conversation and discernment
Hear a report of their deliberations and seek the creative movement of the spirit of the Holy
Decide the matter with traditional vote taking.

Simple. The actual process takes less time than it took to defeat it.
From my viewpoint, the delegates killed Rule 44 out of fear:

of not trusting their leaders or one another
of not feeling ready to try something new
of losing power and position, and
of what God can do when people come together to humbly seek God’s will

The biggest absence in the many conversations, strategy sessions and lobbyist talking points was talk of God’s awesome power and grace. We witnessed a train wreck.
More importantly: Did we miss the mark? Did we fail to be an obedient church? A house divided cannot stand — the United Methodist Church is not too big too fail. There is a better way but it will take courage to dig deep to our roots and reach out to one another and the world faithfully.
We are calling on the United Methodist Church to use another process to make decisions. Not Robert’s Rules which was designed for government, but an approach designed for Christians. To this end we are writing a book on community-based decision making and invite you to use it in your church, Annual Conference and yes, (some day) even the General Conference.
This new resource explains the process and how to use it successfully. It can be tailored to fit any size group and address any topic fully. It has a leader’s guide, creative community activities, and worksheets. It is designed to:
1. Help your group identify the Christian values your community seeks to live out of and do so with integrity
2. Deal with conflict and resistance to change so discussions can be redemptive and transforming instead of paralyzing
3. Provide simple steps (supported with the Means of Grace) to guide deliberations and decide issues in your context:
a. Prepare the work ahead — train leaders, form ‘Circles of Grace’, etc.
b. Invite people to participate — name the issue, and provide information
c. Make the Decision in Community
d. Implement and Evaluate your decision
Isn’t it time that we talk ‘to’ each other rather than ‘at’ each other?
If you believe it is time to have an alternative to Robert’s Rules of Order to make church decisions, let us know. Leave a post with your comments. We are very interested in your hopes and experience!
What's wrong with the way we make church decisions (Part 1)

Feeling holy?

By Melissa Spoelstra
Bigstock
Holy means “set apart.” It is a word used of God’s character. He is not like us, special, perfect. Yet the crazy thing is that God calls those who choose to follow him — holy. In Paul’s greeting to the church at Corinth we find these words which very much apply to us,
“I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.”(1 Corinthians 1:2)
Did you catch the part about all people everywhere who call on the name of Jesus? The Scripture says they have been made holy by means of Christ Jesus. So many times that is not how I see myself. I feel lazy when I don’t get everything done on my to-do list. Discouragement can overtake me for no good reason at all. Sometimes I look to people or possessions for validation. On any given day I can be tempted to find my identity in anything from my pant size to my children’s behavior. These last few days I’ve been in a funk, and I’m not really sure why. Rather than celebrate the wonderful things going on in life, I want to crawl under the covers and stay there. I don’t feel holy. Yet Christ says that I am.
So the question for me and for you is which posture will we claim today? Will we find our identity in how we feel, what we’ve accomplished, our appearance, how others view us or what Christ says about us? Paul wanted so intensely for the Corinthians to remember their holy identity that he mentioned Christ’s name repeatedly. In fact in the opening of his letter he said Christ’s name nine times in nine verses! He made it clear that they were set apart and special not because of their wealth, talents, or feelings but because of Christ’s death on the cross.
No grades of holiness exist. Some people aren’t “kind of holy” and others are “super holy.” If you are a believer, then you are holy through the blood of Christ — period. Holiness isn’t something we attain. Christ imputed it to us through his sacrifice on the cross.
While we may disagree on many things within the Christian community, the lens we should view one another through is holiness. We and our brothers and sisters in Christ are holy because Jesus Christ set us apart through his shed blood. He paid the highest price so that we could be called holy. Consider what impact that embracing this identity could have on our words, actions and prayers toward those with whom we are struggling to get along.
Paul began his letter to the church at Corinth with a greeting and an emphasis on our shared identity in Christ to set the tone for the 16 chapters of admonition and encouragement that followed. He also stressed his authority as an apostle because many in the church were rejecting his leadership. How could Paul be so positive about a church full of divisions? He could have let their struggles become a reason to write them off and focus on other churches he had planted that didn’t seem as problematic. Instead, he turned his attention to the character of God. He recognized what commentator Gordon Fee has so beautifully expressed: “To delight in God for his working in the lives of others, even in the lives of those with whom we feel compelled to disagree, is sure evidence of our own awareness of being the recipients of God’s mercies.”
When the human flaws of our churches are exposed, I pray we will see other believers for who they really are — struggling sinners like us whom Christ has declared holy. Then we will be able to celebrate one another’s strengths before beginning to work out our disagreements.
Melissa Spoelstra is a popular Bible teacher, conference speaker and writer. She is the author of Jeremiah: Daring to Hope in an Unstable World and Joseph: The Journey to Forgiveness. Melissa blogs at MelissaSpoelstra.com.

Art of the Sermon: (re)Aligning with God - Dr. Brian Russell

By Dan Wunderlich
Bigstock / Maksim Kostenko
Thanks for checking out this episode of Art of the Sermon! Be sure to subscribe through iTunes, Google Play Music, or your favorite podcast app. If you enjoy this episode, leave a review on our podcast’s page in the iTunes store. This will help others discover the show!
Guest: Dr. Brian Russell – Professor of Biblical Studies and Dean of the School of Urban Ministries at Asbury Theological Seminary, writer, and speaker
General Topic: Reading Scripture as a whole for church and world

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Missouri Synod set for fight over who should preach to Lutherans

By Jesse Bogan / St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Candidates for the Office of the Holy Ministry sing during a church service that is part of graduation ceremonies at Concordia Seminary on Friday, May 20, 2016. Photo by David Carson, courtesy of St. Louis Post-Dispatch
HAMEL, Ill. — Half a millennium since a Catholic priest named Martin Luther railed against Rome for being out of step with Jesus, sparking the Protestant Reformation, discord continues within the ranks of his devout followers over the role of Lutheran clergy and the laity.
“We are fighting a 500-year battle,” the Rev. Heath Curtis said last week at a conference at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Hamel, a tiny farming town in southern Illinois.
The words “Holy, Holy, Holy” were painted high on one side of the wall, the German translation on the other: “Heilig, Heilig, Heilig.”
This is the heart of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, a conservative-leaning network of 6,000 churches whose roots are in northern Europe. Though the headquarters is in Kirkwood, more than 2 million members are spread across the country.
Like other mainline churches, the synod struggles to find new blood in the U.S. — both in the pews and at the pulpit. The decline helped motivate some men often in remote and inner-city areas, to bypass four years of seminary training to serve a congregation in need.
Lutheranism has always been built on a tension between ordained clergy and what is called the priesthood of the believer, or the laity, and over who can do what. While the pool of men — the church ordains only men — answering the call to enter seminary and serve as pastors has shrunk in recent decades, some want to enforce higher standards on ministers who aren’t ordained and strip away the so-called “Licensed Lay Deacon” credentials.
Since the synod made efforts in 1989 to officially allow trained deacons to serve as pastors in exceptional situations, the grass-roots practice of elevating a parishioner from within a congregation to ministry has exploded to include more than 500 people.
Gottesdienst, a journal on Lutheran worship, put on the recent conference in Hamel for traditionalists to plan how to curtail the practice, which some presenters attacked as a threat.
“I for one am not surprised by the entire lay ministry fiasco we have had to endure for nearly 30 years,” said the Rev. Burnell Eckardt, reading from a paper he prepared. “Confusion, division, and unrealistic expectations have ensued.”
That kind of fiery rhetoric is expected at the synod’s July convention in Milwaukee.
There, the licensed lay deacon issue is expected to be a contested topic called to the floor for debate with the synod’s current top leader joining the call for reform.
In a speech at the recent conference, the Rev. Matthew Harrison, president of the synod, said the Lutheran church has “gone far beyond” the “controversial action” taken in 1989 at a convention in Wichita, Kan., that created the deacon program. He put his stamp of approval on a special task force that essentially seeks to strike and rebuild.
Among the recommendations, licensed deacons who preach and administer Communion would apply to be examined by the synod and, in some cases, receive more theological training before being approved for ordination. Their new status would be “specific ministry pastor.”
The task force says districts also should explore other means to address pastoral challenges, such as “multipoint parishes, technological aids, and greater use of inactive pastors.”
“We believe that through the mild suggestions of the task force we shouldn’t have to close a single congregation,” Harrison said. “In fact, we want more people trained to assist their pastors in the appropriate way.”
Brutal facts
As president of the synod the past two terms, Harrison has publicly held a hard line against homosexuality and interfaith worship. He’s called on intensive theological training for clergy and expansion of international missions.
Writing recently about the “brutal facts” of the synod’s 40-year decline in membership, Harrison said 95 percent of the members are of European descent and they are not having nearly as many children.
“Society has changed,” Harrison wrote. “Marriage is delayed. Education comes first. Debt affects marriage and families. Delaying marriage and child rearing means far fewer children. Children are very expensive.”
Realizing the highest growth potential is abroad, the synod is in fellowship with more than 30 church bodies worldwide, particularly in Latin American and Africa. Harrison says Lutheranism “sputters and fails” anywhere clergy don’t have extensive seminary training. For that reason, he said, church leaders in Ethiopia and other areas have asked the Missouri synod for theological support.
“They know they need pastors against glory theology, against prosperity theology and against all kinds of charismatic nonsense going on in Africa,” Harrison said at the conference. “We cannot shirk seminary education. It is our crown jewel because it teaches our men what they need to know and give for the gospel.”
In the June 11-14 presidential election, Harrison faces the Rev. Dale Meyer, president of Concordia Seminary in Clayton, and the Rev. David Maier, leader of one of the synod’s largest 35 districts, Michigan.
“This issue is indeed troubling the church,” Meyer said in a Q&A released by the synod, referring to the Licensed Lay Deacon program.
But Maier, of Michigan, said deacons are “highly trained, educated and certified annually... I am thankful for their hard work, labor of love, allowing themselves to be used by God in surprising ways.”
An awesome responsibility
Lay deacon leaders are relatively uncommon in the Midwest. Farther out, synod districts like the Irvine, Calif.-based Pacific Southwest District depend heavily on licensed deacons, with 87 among the ranks.
The Rev. Larry Stoterau, president of the district, said he is supportive of the program and has “grave reservations” about suggested changes.
Under the task force recommendations, he said, those licensed deacons who don’t go on to be ordained will “lose recognition that they are doing meaningful ministry.”
He said licensed deacons often serve in urban churches in Southern California that can’t afford a full-time pastor, others at larger parishes in support of full-time pastors.
The Rev. John Juedes said he’s trained 35 deacons over the past 17 years in the San Bernardino, Calif., area and described it as a strong movement that is surprising people.
“God is behind this,” he said. “I have been able to see the deacons learn to minister and see their ministries multiply and bear good fruit. There is a controversy between those who see the benefit and those who don’t have much experience with it.”
One of his students was Willie Martin, 58, of Grace Lutheran Church in Banning, Calif. His regular job is in auto repair.
A former elder, Martin said he “felt it as God was leading” him to pursue more training. Licensed since 2004, he said he’s helped fill in as a preacher.
Citing Martin Luther’s standards, he said, God has given him the ability to preach in a manner that all people can understand.
“I cannot convey in words what an awesome blessing but what an awesome responsibility that is,” he said.
He said another licensed deacon he knows has long hair and tattoos. He doesn’t preach but fits in well with the biker crowd. He said their licenses are good for a year.
“If we mess up," said Martin, "we don’t get our license renewed.”
Martin went down a different track than the class of 80 students who gathered Friday morning at Concordia Seminary in Clayton. They were graduating from a four-year program and about to become fully ordained pastors at churches throughout the country.
The Rev. James Voelz started his sermon telling them to expect “tough days ahead.” As the pastor put it, they were going out to serve in a culture where abortion is accepted and homosexuality is a condition that is glorified and given legal status.
“Within an increasingly hostile context, what are you to do?” he said, telling them to immerse themselves in scripture and Martin Luther’s writings.
One of the new graduates was Matt Gulseth, 31, who was headed to be an associate pastor in Clovis, Calif. He said everything he’d learned in seminary was in service of the Gospel.
He was aware of the licensed lay deacon issue on the table for convention and described it as a tough one.
“We are always trying to learn from our mistakes and blessings,” Gulseth said. “We are always refining, spending time figuring out how to do ministry in a new context.”

Productive Pastor: Developing systems that work

By Chad Brooks
Do you use systems? When I talk about systems do you struggle to understand what it’s like to build and implement them? In this episode we are going to talk about developing systems that work. [Show notes]

This Sunday, May 29, 2016
Second Sunday After Pentecost: 1 Kings 18:20-39, Psalm 96, Galatians 1:1-12, Luke 7:1-10

Lectionary Readings
Sunday, 29 May 2016
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
1 Kings 18:20-39
Psalm 96
Galatians 1:1-12
Luke 7:1-10
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Scripture Texts for 1 Kings 18:20 Ach’av sent word to all the people of Isra’el and assembled the prophets together on Mount Karmel. 21 Eliyahu stepped forward before all the people and said, “How long are you going to jump back and forth between two positions? If Adonai is God, follow him; but if it’s Ba‘al, follow him!” The people answered him not a word. 22 Then Eliyahu said to the people, “I, I alone, am the only prophet of Adonai who is left, while Ba‘al’s prophets number 450. 23 Let them give us two young bulls, and they can choose the bull they want for themselves. Then let them cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood but put no fire under it. I will prepare the other bull, lay it on the wood and put no fire under it. 24 Then, you, call on the name of your god; and I will call on the name of Adonai; and the God who answers with fire, let him be God!” All the people answered, “Good idea! Agreed!”
25 Then Eliyahu said to the prophets of Ba‘al, “Choose one bull for yourselves, and prepare it first; because there are many of you. Then call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” 26 They took the bull that was given to them, prepared it and called on the name of Ba‘al from morning till noon — “Ba‘al! Answer us!” But no voice was heard; and no one answered, as they jumped around on the altar they had made. 27 Around noon Eliyahu began ridiculing them: “Shout louder! After all, he’s a god, isn’t he? Maybe he’s daydreaming, or he’s on the potty, or he’s away on a trip. Maybe he’s asleep, and you have to wake him up.” 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and knives, as their custom was, until blood gushed out all over them. 29 By now it was afternoon, and they went on ranting and raving until it was time for the evening offering. But no voice came, no one answered, no one paid any attention.
30 Then Eliyahu said to all the people, “Come here to me.” All the people came up to him, as he set about repairing the altar of Adonai that had been broken down. 31 Eliyahu took twelve stones, in keeping with the number of tribes of the sons of Ya‘akov, to whom the word of Adonai had come, saying, “Your name is to be Isra’el.” 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of Adonai. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough for half a bushel of grain. 33 He arranged the wood, cut up the bull and laid it on the wood. 34 Then he said, “Fill four pots with water, and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” They did it. “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he said, and they did it a third time. 35 By now the water was flowing around the altar, and it had filled the trench. 36 Then, when it came time for offering the evening offering, Eliyahu the prophet approached and said, “Adonai, God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Isra’el, let it be known today that you are God in Isra’el, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. 37 Hear me, Adonai, hear me, so that this people may know that you, Adonai, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back to you.”
38 Then the fire of Adonai fell. It consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones and the dust; and it licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “Adonai is God! Adonai is God!”
Psalm 96:1 Sing to Adonai a new song!
Sing to Adonai, all the earth!
2 Sing to Adonai, bless his name!
Proclaim his victory day after day!
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his wonders among all peoples!
4 For Adonai is great, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared more than all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but Adonai made the heavens.
6 In his presence are honor and majesty;
in his sanctuary, strength and splendor.
7 Give Adonai his due, you families from the peoples;
give Adonai his due of glory and strength;
8 give Adonai the glory due to his name;
bring an offering, and enter his courtyards.
9 Worship Adonai in holy splendor;
tremble before him, all the earth!
10 Say among the nations, “Adonai is king!”
The world is firmly established, immovable.
He will judge the peoples fairly.
11 Let the heavens rejoice; let the earth be glad;
let the sea roar, and everything in it;
12 let the fields exult and all that is in them.
Then all the trees in the forest will sing
13 before Adonai, because he has come,
he has come to judge the earth;
he will judge the world rightly
and the peoples with his faithfulness.
Galatians 1:1 From: Sha’ul, an emissary — I received my commission not from human beings or through human mediation but through Yeshua the Messiah and God the Father, who raised him from the dead — also from all the brothers with me
2 To: The Messianic communities in Galatia:
3 Grace and shalom to you from God our Father and from the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, 4 who gave himself for our sins, so that he might deliver us from the present evil world-system, in obedience to the will of God, our Father. 5 To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.
6 I am astounded that you are so quick to remove yourselves from me, the one who called you by the Messiah’s grace, and turn to some other supposedly “Good News,” 7 which is not good news at all! What is really happening is that certain people are pestering you and trying to pervert the genuine Good News of the Messiah. 8 But even if we — or, for that matter, an angel from heaven! — were to announce to you some so-called “Good News” contrary to the Good News we did announce to you, let him be under a curse forever! 9 We said it before, and I say it again: if anyone announces “Good News” contrary to what you received, let him be under a curse forever!
10 Now does that sound as if I were trying to win human approval? No! I want God’s approval! Or that I’m trying to cater to people? If I were still doing that, I would not be a servant of the Messiah.
11 Furthermore, let me make clear to you, brothers, that the Good News as I proclaim it is not a human product; 12 because neither did I receive it from someone else nor was I taught it — it came through a direct revelation from Yeshua the Messiah.
Luke 7:1 When Yeshua had finished speaking to the people, he went back to K’far-Nachum. 2 A Roman army officer there had a servant he regarded highly, who was sick to the point of death. 3 Hearing about Yeshua, the officer sent some Jewish elders to him with the request that he come and heal his servant. 4 They came to Yeshua and pleaded earnestly with him, “He really deserves to have you do this, 5 for he loves our people — in fact, he built the synagogue for us!” 6 So Yeshua went with them. He had not gone far from the house, when the officer sent friends who said to him, “Sir, don’t trouble yourself. I’m not worthy to have you come under my roof — 7 this is why I didn’t presume to approach you myself. Instead, just give a command and let my servant recover. 8 For I too am a man set under authority. I have soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 9 Yeshua was astonished at him when he heard this; and he turned and said to the crowd following him, “I tell you, not even in Isra’el have I found such trust!” 10 When the messengers got back to the officer’s house, they found the servant in good health.

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John Wesley's Notes-Commentary for 1 Kings 18:20-39
Verse 20
[20] So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.
Ahab sent — He complied with Elijah's motion; because the urgency of the present distress made him willing to try all means to remove it; from a curiosity of seeing some extraordinary events; and principally, because God inclined his heart.
Verse 21
[21] And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
And said — Why do you walk so lamely and unevenly, being so unsteady in your opinions and practices, and doubting whether it is better to worship God or Baal? If the Lord - Whom you pretend to worship.
Follow — Worship him, and him only, and that in such place and manner as he hath commanded you.
If Baal — If Baal can prove himself to be the true God.
Answered not — Being convinced of the reasonableness of his proposition.
Verse 22
[22] Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
I only — Here present, to own the cause of God. As far the other prophets of the Lord, many of them were slain, others banished, or hid in caves.
Verse 23
[23] Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under:
Let then, … — To put this controversy to a short issue.
Verse 24
[24] And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.
By Fire — That shall consume the sacrifice by fire sent from heaven; which the people knew the true God used to do. It was a great condescension in God, that he would permit Baal to be a competitor with him. But thus God would have every mouth to be stopped, and all flesh become silent before him. And Elijah doubtless had a special commission from God, or he durst not have put it to this issue. But the case was extraordinary, and the judgment upon it would be of use not only then, but in all ages. Elijah does not say, The God that answers by water, tho' that was the thing the country needed, but that answers by fire, let him be God; because the atonement was to be made, before the judgment could be removed. The God therefore that has power to pardon sin, and to signify that by consuming the sin-offering, must needs be the God that can relieve us against the calamity.
Verse 25
[25] And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.
Dress it first — And I am willing to give you the precedency. This he did, because if he had first offered, and God had answered by fire, Baal's priests would have desisted from making the trial on their part; and because the disappointment of the priests of Baal, of which he was well assured, would prepare the way for the people's attention to his words, and cause them to entertain his success with more affection; and this coming last would leave the greater impression upon their hearts. And this they accepted, because they might think, that if Baal answered them first, which they presumed he would, the people would be so confirmed and heightened in their opinion of Baal, that they might murder Elijah before he came to his experiment.
Verse 26
[26] And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.
Dressed — Cut it in pieces, and laid the parts upon the wood.
From morning — From the time of the morning sacrifice; which advantage Elijah suffered them to take.
They leapt upon — Or, beside the altar: or, before it. They used some superstitious and disorderly gestures, either pretending to be acted by the spirit of their god, and to be in a kind of religious extasy; or, in way of devotion to their god.
Verse 27
[27] And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.
Mocked them — Derided them and their gods, which had now proved themselves to be ridiculous and contemptible things.
Verse 28
[28] And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.
Cut themselves — Mingling their own blood with their sacrifices; as knowing by experience, that nothing was more acceptable to their Baal (who was indeed the devil) than human blood; and hoping thereby to move their god to help them. And this indeed was the practice of divers Heathens in the worship of their false gods.
Verse 29
[29] And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.
Prophesied — That is, prayed to, and worshipped their god.
Verse 30
[30] And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.
The altar — This had been built by some of their ancestors for the offering of sacrifice to the God of Israel, which was frequently done in high places.
Broken down — By some of the Baalites, out of their enmity to the true God, whose temple, because they could not reach, they shewed their malignity in destroying his altars.
Verse 31
[31] And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:
Twelve stones — This he did, to renew the covenant between God and all the tribes, as Moses did, Exodus 24:4, to shew, that he prayed and acted in the name, and for the service of the God of all the Patriarchs, and of all the tribes of Israel, and for their good: and, to teach the people, that though the tribes were divided as to their civil government, they ought all to be united in the worship of the same God.
Israel — Jacob was graciously answered by God when he prayed to him, and was honoured with the glorious title of Israel, which noted his prevalency with God and men. And I, calling upon the same God, doubt not of a like gracious answer; and if ever you mean to have your prayers granted, you must seek to the God of Jacob.
Verse 33
[33] And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.
With water — This they could quickly fetch, either from the river Kishon; or, if that was dried up, from the sea; both were at the foot of the mountain. This he did to make the miracle more glorious, and more unquestionable.
Verse 36
[36] And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.
The evening sacrifice — This time he chose, that he might unite his prayers with the prayers of the godly Jews at Jerusalem, who at that time assembled together to pray.
Lord God of, … — Hereby he shews faith in God's ancient covenant, and also reminds the people, of their relation both to God and to the patriarchs.
Done these things — Brought this famine, gathered the people hither, and done what I have done, or am doing here; not in compliance with my own passions, but in obedience to thy command.
Verse 37
[37] Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
Hast turned — Let them feel so powerful a change in their hearts, that they may know it is thy work.
Back again — Unto thee, from whom they have revolted.
Verse 38
[38] Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
Consumed — Solomon's altar was consecrated by fire from heaven; but this was destroyed, because no more to be used.
Verse 39
[39] And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.
They fell — In acknowledgment of the true God.
He is God — He alone; and Baal is a senseless idol. And they double the words, to note their abundant satisfaction and assurance of the truth of their assertion.
Psalm 96
Verse 1
[1] O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.
O sing — Upon this new and great occasion, not the removal of the ark, but the coming of the Messiah.
Verse 4
[4] For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.
Gods — The gods of the nations, as the next verse expounds it.
Verse 6
[6] Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
Before him — In his presence.
Verse 9
[9] O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.
Beauty — Cloathed with all the gifts and graces, which are necessary in God's worship.
Verse 10
[10] Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
Reigneth — God hath now set up his kingdom in the world.
Established — The nations of the world shall by the means of it enjoy an established and lasting peace.
Verse 13
[13] Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.
Before — At the presence and approach of their Lord and Maker.
Cometh — To set up his throne among all the nations of the earth.
Galatians 1:1-12
Verse 1
[1] Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)
Paul, an apostle — Here it was necessary for St. Paul to assert his authority; otherwise he is very modest in the use of this title. He seldom mentions it when he mentions others in the salutations with himself, as in the Epistles to the Philippians and Thessalonians; or when he writes about secular affairs, as in that to Philemon; nor yet in writing to the Hebrews because he was not properly their apostle.
Not of men — Not commissioned from them, but from God the Father.
Neither by man — Neither by any man as an instrument, but by Jesus Christ.
Who raised him from the dead — Of which it was the peculiar business of an apostle to bear witness.
Verse 2
[2] And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:
And all the brethren — Who agree with me in what I now write.
Verse 4
[4] Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
That he might deliver us from the present evil world — From the guilt, wickedness, and misery wherein it is involved, and from its vain and foolish customs and pleasures.
According to the will of God — Without any merit of ours. St. Paul begins most of his epistles with thanksgiving; but, writing to the Galatians, he alters his style, and first sets down his main proposition, That by the merits of Christ alone, giving himself for our sins, we are justified: neither does he term them, as he does others, either saints," elect," or churches of God."
Verse 5
[5] To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
To whom be glory — For this his gracious will.
Verse 6
[6] I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
I marvel that ye are removed so soon — After my leaving you.
From him who called you by the grace of Christ — His gracious gospel, and his gracious power.
Verse 7
[7] Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Which, indeed, is not properly another gospel. For what ye have now received is no gospel at all; it is not glad, but heavy, tidings, as setting your acceptance with God upon terms impossible to be performed.
But there are some that trouble you — The same word occurs, Acts 15:24.
And would — If they were able. Subvert or overthrow the gospel of Christ - The better to effect which, they suggest, that the other apostles, yea, and I myself, insist upon the observance of the law.
Verse 8
[8] But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
But if we — I and all the apostles.
Or an angel from heaven — If it were possible.
Preach another gospel, let him be accursed — Cut off from Christ and God.
Verse 9
[9] As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
As — He speaks upon mature deliberation; after pausing, it seems, between the two verses.
We — I and the brethren who are with me.
Have said before — Many times, in effect, if not in terms.
So I say — All those brethren knew the truth of the gospel. St. Paul knew the Galatians had received the true gospel.
Verse 10
[10] For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
For — He adds the reason why he speaks so confidently.
Do I now satisfy men — Is this what I aim at in preaching or writing? If I still - Since I was an apostle.
Pleased men — Studied to please them; if this were my motive of action; nay, if I did in fact please the men who know not God.
I should not be the servant of Christ — Hear this, all ye who vainly hope to keep in favour both with God and with the world!
Verse 11
[11] But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
But I certify you, brethren — He does not till now give them even this appellation. That the gospel which was preached by me among you is not according to man - Not from man, not by man, not suited to the taste of man.
Verse 12
[12] For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
For neither did I receive it — At once.
Nor was I taught it — Slowly and gradually, by any man.
But by the revelation of Jesus Christ — Our Lord revealed to him at first, his resurrection, ascension, and the calling of the gentiles, and his own apostleship; and told him then, there were other things for which he would appear to him.
Luke 7:1-10
Verse 3
[3] And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.
Hearing of Jesus — Of his miracles, and of his arrival at Capernaum.
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WE MUST BE CONSUMED by John D.I. Essick1 Kings 18:20-21, 30-39; Galatians 1:1-12
Abundance and scarcity are often the building blocks for human stories. Stories draw on images of deluge and aridity, vagrancy or luxuriance. Post-apocalyptic stories regularly take up themes of plenitude and deficiency as a vehicle for addressing what it means to be human. Competition for valuable resources has characterized our attempts at life together in all ages, so when confronted with a story about the absence of water, it is not difficult for us to imagine how quickly various explanations, causes, and remedies for a drought would spill forth. When our interests begin to compete with the interests of others, we often invoke the divine to settle such disputes, to set things straight, and to order our common life.
For the ancients, weather patterns were assumed to reflect the mood, will, or wishes of divine beings. In 1 Kings 17 we read that Elijah’s first act as a prophet of YHWH involved informing King Ahab of an impending and lengthy drought, which could be lifted only at YHWH’s discretion. Apparently YHWH grew impatient with the people’s insistence upon running after Baal. As 1 Kings proceeds, we find that the drought was indeed severe and that YHWH alone was responsible for any abundance of food or water. It was YHWH who led Elijah to a ravine with water and directed the ravens to care for him there. The brook eventually dried up for Elijah, though, and so YHWH turned the prophet’s attention to a struggling widow and her son in Zarephath. It was there that YHWH restored the widow’s son to life after Elijah had instructed her to provide YHWH’s prophet with water and bread despite a scarcity of oil. These episodes signal to us that it is YHWH alone who is capable of abundance in a world of scarcity.
But nowhere is this competition between YHWH and Baal more pronounced than in 1 Kings 18, where Elijah ascends Mount Carmel to confront the prophets of Baal. He accuses the people of swinging back and forth like a pendulum between Baal and YHWH. Elijah, living up to his name—which means something like “YHWH is my God”—informs the people that YHWH is jealous and impatient. It is time to choose, Elijah pronounces, and so begins the competition.
The prophets of Baal limp around the altar in a rather strange ceremony obviously meant to call down water from heaven. Elijah joins in the event by taunting them, even suggesting that Baal appears unaware, unconcerned, or disinterested. For all the noise generated in the opening act of the competition, it ends in a deafening silence (v. 29). Elijah, on the other hand, takes time to repair the altar to YHWH, which is a sign to all present that he is marking the place again as YHWH’s. He then proceeds to flood the altar with water, perhaps to symbolize rain, but the effect of seeing vast amounts of water being poured on the ground must have been a powerful reminder of what is at stake for a community in desperate need of water: nothing less than life and a future. YHWH, unlike Baal, gets involved, remembers the promises to the ancestors, and keeps the divine promise. YHWH descends upon the altar, or perhaps inhabits the sacred space Elijah has reconstructed, and consumes everything in fire. Nothing former remains.
The prophets of Baal and Elijah are engaged in competing stories that will produce a clear winner and loser, but more than the struggle is to understand reality and be swallowed up by what is true and enduring. Drought and famine and scarcity all suggest expiration and fading into nothingness. These are the things that YHWH descends to consume and devour and destroy. YHWH’s acts on Mount Carmel also call attention to divine abundance, the all-encompassing provision of YHWH alone. It is not just that Baal has lost; Baal, like any and all human creations, has been utterly consumed by YHWH.
Let us remember again that all that we hold most dear must be sacrificed. All the ways of ordering our life together must be consumed on the altar of the gospel. All the ways of dividing ourselves or uniting ourselves must be consumed on the altar of the gospel. There was nothing left in that trench after God’s fire fell from heaven; every remnant of the old was licked up, we are told. The gospel Paul proclaimed to the Galatians was an all-consuming piece of good news, a word that consumed and devoured all other words. Similarly, there are no scraps or leftovers in the gospel’s wake. To grasp at a shred of anything else is to make room for an idol or chase after a different gospel. Indeed, allowing vestiges of old ways or other gospels to exist is idolatry and denies the divine story we’ve been given in the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. May God’s story consume us all this day and every day. Amen.

WORSHIP ELEMENTS: MAY 29, 2016

Second Sunday After Pentecost
Scripture Readings: 1 Kings 18:20-39, Psalm 96, Galatians 1:1-12, Luke 7:1-10
Color: Green
Call to Worship
L: Spread your open hands toward heaven—
P: Sing to the Lord a new song!
L: The Lord is like no other God—
P: Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
L: Come together to pray and praise:
P: The Lord has made us—Hallelujah! To the Lord we be long, forever—Amen!
Invocation
O Lord, hear us in your habitation; listen to us in your dwelling place! Whatever our age, or race, or homeland, or class, or gender, or intelligence, or ability, or creed, you have promised to show us love: to heal us when we are wounded, to protect us when we are vulnerable, to come to us when we are alone. We stand now in need of your steadfast love; do not disappoint us!
Litany
Leader: O Spirit, help us so to serve you, that all the world might hear and rejoice in the greatness of your name:
Women: Lord of hosts, God of gods, Ruler of glory, Judge of earth, Lover of justice, Avenger of wrong;
Men: Upholder of life, Lifter of heads, Parent to the orphan, Protector of the weak;
All: Maker, Savior, Redeemer, Deliverer, Helper, Shepherd, Keeper, Midwife, sheltering Wings, forgiving God!
L: O Spirit, help us so to serve you, that all the world might hear and rejoice in the greatness of your love:
W: The love that opens, stretches forth, anoints, lifts up, rescues, saves;
M: The love that leads, abides, receives our spirits, helps, holds our times;
A: The love that holds the cup of agony—a strong love, exalted, high, but forgotten!
L: O Spirit, help us so to serve you, that all the world might hear and rejoice in the greatness of your love:
W: The love that creates the heavens and earth and all who — dwell therein, that performs great signs and wonders;
M: The love that rules, that triumphs, that scatters the wicked and makes them still;
A: The love that brings slaves out of bondage, that gathers the lambs and all who are scattered—the love that is bared before all the nations!
Prayer for One Voice
Eternal God, who in Jesus Christ redeems us from the sin that drives us apart and reconciles us with the love that brings us together, we thank you for him who has made us your partners in covenant. We bless you for the vision with which you bless us through him: for the vision of yourself, whose love for all does not diminish your love for each; for the vision of us as individuals, whose move away from you does not slow your move toward us; for the vision of the community of believers, whose history of division does not alter your desire for union; and for the vision of the world, whose clamor for power does not silence your demand for justice.
O God, grant us the faith of Solomon's prayer: the faith that calls the temple not by the builder's name but by your name; the faith that looks not within the temple but beyond for your dwelling place; the faith that longs for the temple to become a house of prayer—not for one people but for all the peoples of the earth.
Unfortunately, our faith in Christ has often been no match for Solomon's prayer. We sing of Christ for all the world, but the world we have in mind is much smaller than the world for which Solomon prayed. It is not the world of "all the peoples of the earth," but only some of them—those of them who think as we think, feel as we feel, worship as we worship, and live as we live.
Forgive us, O God, not only for shrinking your world to the size of our prejudices, but for reducing Christ to the level of our preferences. Too often we turn your Christ into a Christ of our own creation: a Christ too narrow to tolerate any behavior we do not approve; to sanction any belief we do not hold; to welcome any person we do not like; to permit any worship we do not practice.
O God, you have made us in your image. Forgive us for remaking the world in ours. You have made Christ the church's one foundation. Forgive us for trying to build it on another. Transform us, O Lord. Grant us the grace so to represent the Christ you have sent that the world might receive your glorious gospel, obey your great c and worship your holy name.
Benediction
As we leave this place, let us be committed to living the gospel, seeking not human favor but divine approval. And let us remember that it is not submission before God, but devotion to God, to which we are called in the name of Christ.

WORSHIP FOR KIDS: MAY 29, 2016 by Carolyn C. BrownFrom a Child's Point of View
Old Testament: 1 Kings 18:20-21 (22-29), 30-39. Children enjoy this action-packed story in which God is proved to be "real" and Baal is proved to be a fake. Most children can follow the stroy of two sacrifices when they are well read from any translation. They, however, need help understanding the problem that led to the contest. They need to hear the situation described in verses 21 and 22 explained in simple language. (The people were trying to worship both Baal and God. They liked going to the Baal parties and they also went to some of the ceremonies at the Temple. Elijah said they had to make a choice.)
Though children do not choose between worshiping two different gods and cannot yet understand that sports, clothes, or popularity can be gods, they do face choices about their activities and their values. The faithful child is learning to leave slumber parties in time to go to church, to choose church school over soccer practice, and to love enemies on schoolbuses as well as at church. Elijah calls children to make "faithful" choices. They are not to be like "the people," who do whatever everyone else is doing or what seems like fun at the moment. Instead, they are to be God's faithful people every day, everywhere they are.
Gospel: Luke 7:1-10. This healing story is so tersely presented that children may misunderstand some of its details. The centurion's message about giving orders can leave children thinking that the centurion thought he could order Jesus around, rather than that Jesus could heal the slave without even being in the same room with him. That makes a big difference in the interpretation of Jesus' statement about the centurion's faith. Jesus was impressed by the man's total trust both that Jesus could heal his slave and that Jesus would heal his slave, even though the request came from a Roman soldier. So you may need to retell the story, elaborating on the key details.
Epistle: Galatians 1:1-12. This is not a passage for children to understand intellectully, but to respond to emotionally. Paul's passion for the gospel is what impresses them. They like the fact that he became so angry at people who were spreading false ideas about Jesus that he cured them not once but twice—in writing! In this passion Paul is the opposite of the people to whom Elijah spoke. Children are called to care as much as Paul did.
If you will be focusing on Galatians for the coming weeks, children, because they like getting mail, will be interested in the format of New Testament letters as displayed in these verses. They enjoy identifying the writer, the receivers, and the greeting in verses 1-3.
Psalm: 96. If Yahweh is introduced as a name for God used by people in Elijah's time. The New Jerusalem Bible's translation makes sense to children as a psalm that Elijah and the people might have sung after God burned up the bulls. It is also a song that the centurion or Paul could have sung. Children respond to individual short praise phrases within the psalm, rather than to the psalm as a whole.
Watch Words
Faith, the key word underlying today's texts, is a word children hear only at church. It is an abstract term that adults use in many ways and have trouble defining clearly even for themselves. Children hear it, say it, and sing it before they understand it. Today, faith involves choosing. We, like Elijah's hearers the Christians at Galatia, must make choices about what we do and whom we follow. The centurion chooses to risk Jesus' public rejection and his slave's life when he asks Jesus to heal the slave. The centurion's faith involves trust as well as choosing. He trusts Jesus' compassion and love. Use the word faith repeatedly today, but focus your comments on faithful choosing and trusting faith.
Let the Children Sing
The repeated phrase, "Sing to the Lord a new song," makes the new hymn "Earth and All Stars" a good echo of Psalm 96.
The third verse of "God Created Heaven and Earth" mentions handmade gods of wood and clay, similar to the idol Baal. To introduce this Tiwanese melody to less musically adventurous congregations, ask a children's or adult choir to sing it as an anthem. Children enjoy learning hymns from different cultures.
Sing "I Sing a Song of the Saints of God" in honor of the faithful centurion, Elijah and Paul.
Avoid "Faith of Our Fathers," which is filled with abstract ideas and dated language. Even the repeated chorus does not make much sense to children.
The Liturgical Child
1. Today's texts beg for dramatic presentation:
—Announce that you are going to share one of the great stories of God's people. Invite the children to meet you at the front. Hold the big pulpit Bible in your lap as you read or tell the story of Elijah on Mt. Carmel in your best storyteller style. Thunder Elijah's angry indignation and his knowing questions at the frustrated Baal priests; carefully describe Elijah's preparations for his sacrifice; and read with powerful awe God's response.
—Explain that Galatians is a letter Paul sent to Christians in a church he had started. Then either assume the role of Paul writing the letter as you read, or let the reading be done by someone else who assumes Paul's role. Paul might be presented either doing his own writing or dictating to a secretary. In either case, demonstrate Paul's strong feelings in the way he says the words, paces back and forth and uses body language (if he is dictating); or writes with flourishing emphasis (if he is writing).
—Read Psalm 96 immediately after the Elijah story. Either read the whole psalm dramatically or line out the short phrases, inviting the congregation to repeat your tone, emphasis, and volume. Suggest that the people imagine themselves among those on Mt. Carmel.
2. Carefully plan today's creed or affirmation of faith. If the congregation regularly recites a given creed, present it today as a series of questions, to which the congregation replies, "Yes, we believe that!" (e.g., "Do you believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth?")
3. Remember to include end-of-school and beginning-of-summer concerns in the church's prayers.
Sermon Resources
1. Give examples of faith as choosing: choosing between basketball and church camp; between Bible school and swimming lessons; between going along with the crowd and standing up for what you know is right; and even between experimenting with alcohol, drugs, or smoking and saying No.
Give examples of faith as trusting: jumping from the edge of the swimming pool into the arms of a parent standing in the water; riding a roller coaster for the first time with a trusted friend who has ridden before and says it is fun.
2. Use the format of Paul's letter to the Galatians as the format of your sermon. Follow the form of the greeting, then speak to choices the people are called to make. Cite choices that children as well as adults face as they live faithfully. Present the letter either as what Paul might write to your congregation, or as a letter you are writing to them.

SERMON OPTIONS: MAY 29, 2016

Choosing To Believe
1 Kings 18:20-39
Perhaps you recall recently when a burial box from the first century A.D. had come to light, on which was inscribed the words “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” This revelation caused quite a stir in the world of Christian scholarship because, if authentic, it would be the oldest tangible link to the historical Jesus — evidence of his actual existence. While even many non-Christians agree that Jesus was a real person, no physical evidence from the first century has ever been conclusively tied with his life. So, when several experts in antiquities judged this box — or “ossuary” as it was called — to be authentic, it was big news.
But alas, now comes the news that it is not authentic. The latest investigations of the box declare that it may be a true burial box from the time of Jesus, but that the inscription was added much later. In other words, it is a forgery.
Now I don’t know if that has had any effect on your faith, but I would guess that it has not. Most of us who follow Jesus do so because of an inner commitment, and we made that decision completely independent of any physical “proof.” Thus the ossuary, if it had been authentic, would have been a nice confirmation of something that we already believe, but the debunking of the claim really doesn’t make any difference in the solidity of our faith.
I raise the matter of this burial box because I want to talk about the foundations of belief, and the yes-it-is/no-it’s-not story of the ossuary is a case in point.
Our text is from the Old Testament, but before going there, I want to point out something from a New Testament passage, Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). As the story goes, there was a certain rich man who lived very well in a fine house and dined on sumptuous meals. Although his name does not appear in the Bible, he is sometimes called “Dives,” which comes from the Latin word for “rich.” Outside his gate was a desperately poor, sick man named Lazarus, covered with sores. He was so hungry that he wished he could have even the crumbs that fell from Dives’ table. But Dives ignored Lazarus, and eventually the poor man died and was carried by angels to be with Abraham in paradise.
Not long afterward, Dives also died, but he went to Hades, the final destination of the unrighteous. There he was in misery. He called to Abraham to send Lazarus to him with a drop of water for his tongue, but it was not to be. Abraham responded kindly but plainly to Dives. During your life, Abraham told Dives, you had a life of plenty and Lazarus had nothing. But now things have reversed and following death, said Abraham, there is an uncrossable chasm separating them.
Dives then asked Abraham to at least let Lazarus go to Dives’ five living brothers and warn them to behave more compassionately in their lives than Dives had in his. Abraham responded, “They have Moses and the prophets [that is, the scriptures]; they should listen to them.” Dives replied, “But if someone goes to them from the dead, they will listen.” In other words, if they get real, tangible proof, they will be convinced. But Abraham came back with, “If they do not listen to the scriptures, they won’t be convinced by someone rising from the dead.”
Abraham, you see, was exactly right. So-called proof can always be explained away if you want it to be. Consider this story from Lee Strobel, who at the time of this incident was an award-winning journalist with the Chicago Tribune. And he was also, quite plainly, an unbeliever. In fact, when it came to matters of faith, he identified himself as an atheist. In one of his books, he tells of the time when his newborn daughter was rushed into intensive care because of a mysterious illness that threatened her life. The doctors weren’t certain what was going on, but it was clearly serious.
Strobel says that even though he was an atheist, he was so desperate that he prayed anyway, imploring God — if God existed — to heal his daughter. A short time later, his daughter, to everyone’s surprise, did recover, completely. The doctors were left scratching their heads.
Did that convince Strobel that God was real? It did not. He thought, “What a coincidence! She must have had some bacteria or virus that spontaneously disappeared.” He remained in his atheism.1
You see, you can always take any seemingly miraculous thing and debunk it if you are so inclined. You can explain it as an elaborate hoax, a coincidence, the ravings of a confused person, superstition, group hysteria, a lie, a hallucination, or something else. And there are also those spectacular failures among Christians that you can point to and say, “See, Christianity must not be real.” Some time ago, a Catholic bishop in Arizona was arrested for a hit-and-run accident. Certain television evangelists have been exposed as money-grabbing frauds. Some pastors have abused children. The list goes on. We can always find reasons not to believe if we want to.
So Abraham is exactly right when he tells Dives that sending someone to his brothers from the dead would be ineffective and non-persuasive. They’d explain it away.
Which, of course, is what happened with lots of people when God did send someone to them from the death — Jesus himself. To this day, you can hear the speculations of people about what “really” happened on that first Easter, how Jesus’ disciples were fooled or how his body was moved, or some other theory.
The same thing proved true of the account we read from the Old Testament of Elijah challenging the prophets of Baal. Those prophets begged their god to bring fire to their altar, but nothing happened, but when Elijah made a similar request to the Lord God about his altar, God’s fire consumed not only the sacrifice, but also the altar, and even the water in the trench. Seeing that, the crowd of eyewitnesses was convinced. According to the Bible story, “They fell on their faces and said, ‘The Lord indeed is God.’ ”
However, the person who had brought the prophets of Baal into the land was the king’s wife, Jezebel, and she was not persuaded.
Apparently, she was not present to see the event, but she heard about it from her husband, who, as far as we can tell, did believe it, though it did not cause him to become a better man. When Jezebel learned what had happened, the only effect on her was to cause her to swear by the gods she did believe in to avenge herself on Elijah. And it’s clear from the subsequent history of Israel in the Old Testament that the miracle on Mount Carmel had only a temporary effect in any case, for it didn’t take long before the people were worshiping other gods again.
No, when it comes right down to it, accepting Christianity is a matter of choosing to believe. There’s plenty of evidence to support belief in Christ and to justify taking the step of committing yourself to him, but if you wish, you can explain all of it some other way, or even simply refuse to consider it.
Do you remember the old Sunday school chorus, “I Have Decided To Follow Jesus”? It means exactly what it says: Following Jesus is a decision.
But here’s the thing: For those who make the decision to follow Jesus, there is a different kind of certainty available. Jesus referred to it one time when he was challenged by some of his countrymen about where his teaching came from. He responded, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own” (John 7:16-17). In other words, it is only by embracing faith in God and by doing what you perceive as his will that you can gain a sense of the reality of Christ.
Saint Augustine put it this way, “Believe that you may understand....” That is not what we usually mean when we use the word “certainty,” but it is what we call “conviction,” which means that we are convinced on a deep, inner level.
Let me go back to Lee Strobel for a moment, the man who decided that his daughter’s miraculous recovery was a coincidence. Much later, after his wife started attending church, Strobel investigated Christianity and eventually became a believer, but it wasn’t any kind of so-called proof that changed him. He actually used his skills as an investigative reporter to look at the evidence for faith in Christ, and he says that that cleared away some of his objections.
But what happened after that was a pure choice. He says, “[I had] to overcome my pride ... to drive a stake through the egoism and arrogance that threatened to hold me back. [I had] to conquer the self-interest and self-adulation that were keeping my heart shut tight from God.”2
In my own experience, I can tell you about two different times when I responded to the call of Christ, each time on a different level. One was when I was thirteen and attending a church youth rally where an invitation to follow Christ was given. I felt compelled to go forward and it resulted there in a gush of emotions and tears. Afterward, I felt new and changed. Later when I was in my late teens, and I had learned more, including many of the arguments against Christian faith, the emotional experience of my early teens was no longer sufficient. I remember things coming to a moment where I thought, “I have a choice. I can believe in God and Christ or not. What do I choose to believe?” Well, I chose to believe that God exists and that Jesus is the one I should follow. There was very little emotion involved in that decision. It took place simply in the arena of my mind. Confirmations that I made the right choice have come in several ways and at different times since, but none of it is what I can hand you in the sense of scientific proof.
It comes down to this: Do you want to know God personally and follow Christ? If so, there is plenty of evidence to support that decision. If you don’t want that, then there are ways to deny the testimony of the evidence.
Among that evidence is the Bible itself. When Dives asked that Lazarus be sent from the death to warn his brother, Abraham said to Dives, “They have the scriptures; they should listen to them.” In other words, “It’s all there in black and white. They should take seriously what’s there. But, if they aren’t convinced by scripture then they aren’t going to be convinced by a mind-blowing resurrection.”
When you decide you want to know God and follow Jesus, there is that inner witness that Jesus talked about — do the will of God and then you will know whether or not the teaching is from God. Or we might say this in shorthand as “believe first and then you will be convinced.” We might like it to be the other way around — “Convince me and then I will believe.” In the end, though, it comes down to what we want and what we choose. If we choose to believe, our faith is not going to be strengthened by a burial box from the first century or shaken when it proves to be false.
Choose to believe in God and to follow Christ. The reward of belief is the fire and the peace of God’s presence — and the inner conviction that you are on the right path.
The Dream
Galatians 1:1-12
It was an October Monday morning. Nothing much happened on Monday mornings, especially during the harvest time. The pastor sat in his office wondering how the sermon reviews were going down at the coffee shop. He would give them another hour, and then stop in for his coffee and wheat toast. He would get the summary of the reviews from Maryanne, the waitress.
The door was open, so there was no knock. The man just kind of appeared, leaning against the sill and looking pretty uncomfortable. The pastor recognized the guy as being from town, knew a little bit about his family and where they lived, but didn’t actually know his name. He did know that the guy had never been in the church here, and that was probably why he looked so uncomfortable.
The pastor said, “Hello,” and the visitor asked if he could talk for a minute. His hands were shaking, and his voice was quivering. This was not a simple case of the nerves. As he sat down, he explained, “You’re probably going to think that I’m crazy, and maybe I am. But I just don’t know who else to go to about this.”
He was asking permission to talk about something, and the pastor gave it. I’ll try to retell the story exactly as the visitor told it.
He began by saying that his name was Fred, and he talked a little more about his family and what they all did. In fact, he talked quite a bit about those things, the whole time sounding like he really wanted to talk about something else. The pastor tried to help him along a bit by asking, “So, what can I do for you this morning?”
Fred sighed, and looked at his shoes. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I want to talk about a dream. Not one of mine, but a dream my son had a few months ago. Can I tell you about it?”
“Sure.”
“Well, it was one afternoon last June. I was out cutting the grass in the front yard. My son came home from work, rode his motorcycle up the driveway, and went into the house. He came back out a minute later with a couple of beers and asked if we could talk. We sat in the yard chairs and had a beer.”
His eyes apologized for the beers, but the pastor shook his head and said, “No problem. Go ahead.”
“Well, my son started telling me about this dream he had the night before, and wondered what I thought about it. In his dream, he was riding his motorcycle home from work, but was taking a different way home than he usually did, riding down Route 17. Anyway, he was just riding along, there by the grocery store, where the railroad tracks cross the road, you know? So, he was riding along, and this station wagon was coming from the other direction. When the station wagon got to the grocery store, it pulled in the parking lot. Then, for some reason, it pulled right back onto the highway again. But the driver went too far and pulled over into the wrong lane of traffic, right in front of my son. His motorcycle hit the station wagon right in front of the passenger door. My son flew across the hood and landed beside the highway right on the railroad tracks. He was killed in the crash.”
Fred paused.
“Wow, that’s a pretty powerful dream,” the pastor said. “I can see why you’d be upset.”
Fred took a deep breath. “No, you don’t understand. That’s not what bothers me. You see, I just now came from the funeral home.” He looked at his shoes again.
The pastor felt something stirring inside. If it had been a movie, the orchestra would have started playing something really soft and slow, but with definite suspense. Fred continued.
“My son was riding home from work last night on his motorcycle. He had stopped by to visit at his sister’s house and was taking a different way home than usual. He was coming up Route 17, you know, about where the grocery store is? Well, according to the police report, there was a car coming the other way on the highway, a family in a station wagon coming home from vacation. As they got to the grocery store, the wife asked her husband to pull in to the store so she could get some milk. Since they had been gone, they would need some fresh milk for the next morning. As he pulled into the parking lot, she said that she would wait and get milk in town where it would be cheaper. The husband spun the wheel to pull back out of the parking lot, and overcompensated, pulling across the road into the wrong lane.”
The pastor almost spoke the rest of the story along with Fred.
“The motorcycle hit the station wagon right in front of the passenger door. My son flew across the hood and landed beside the highway right on the railroad tracks. He was killed in the crash. He landed exactly where the dream said he would land. The police have pictures.”
Fred looked at his shoes again. This time he just stayed there. He then looked the pastor in the eyes, and with the eyes of a father who does not understand, asked, “What does it mean? The dream last summer ... why did he have that? Tell me, what do you think about my son’s dream?”
The pastor was caught off guard. He had slipped into clergy-mode, and had begun thinking of the funeral service and how it should be done. That is, after all, what Fred had come to ask him to do. Since the family does not have a church, obviously someone recommended him for the task. This one would be difficult. He had begun running through the litany of questions that needed to be answered: which funeral home was in charge, when is the service, where will it be, do you have favorite scripture, or hymns?
But this was no funeral invitation. That would come later, but first, there was something different. Fred wanted to know about the dream.
The pastor found himself mentally running through every seminary theology course he had attended, and every book he had read. He thought of existentialism, and a whole collection of other “isms,” but they all seemed to help more with things like funeral plans, and less with answers about four-month-old visions. He tried to find his official clergy response, coming out of his professional training, and personal faith grown out of years of study. Was it a warning to the son? Does God do that kind of thing? If so, why aren’t others warned?
Fred watched him.
Finally, the pastor found his answer. What could he say about a dream four months ago, that fully described the event that just took place a few hours ago? What could he say about a young man who appeared to have been given a vision of a life-changing, or more accurately, life-ending event, far ahead of time? What could he say?
The pastor leaned back in his chair and said, “Wow. I have absolutely no idea what that means. What an amazing story.”
Okay, so what would you have said? As Paul tells us in the writing today, sometimes the only response to a situation is to point to God and say no more. Sometimes, anything additional we might add is not only unnecessary, but probably just gets in the way of the truth. Sometimes all we can say is, “Wow.”
For the record, Fred seemed satisfied with the response. Although he didn’t understand much theology, he did understand “Wow.” Fred understood that sometimes we are just forced to close our mouths and our minds and sit in awe.
What Outsiders Can Teach Us
Luke 7:1-10
Those of us ministers actively engaged in congregational worship don’t get many opportunities to visit other churches and to worship in different settings. We’re pretty much committed to being in our own congregations for the better part of the year. Four or six Sundays at most is about all we have to experience how others go about it.
Actually, this pattern begins for most of us even before we’re ordained. A colleague related that in divinity school he was a youth minister and only got a couple of Sundays off during the school year. He tried to make the most of every opportunity to visit prominent congregations in the area. Even though it’s been more than forty years, he vividly recalled the first congregational visit he made. The service had just begun in this beautiful, historic New England meeting house. The minister got up and extended the welcome to those who were visiting. It was a greeting he’s never forgotten. “We are glad that you are here. We have been here in this place for a long time. If you are of like mind and temperament, you may find yourself welcome. We know our faults. But in spite of them, we still try to be an outpost of the kingdom of God.” Maybe the pastor was just having a bad day, or had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. But if this was his usual way of speaking to visitors, it struck my colleague as odd. On the positive side, he was trying to see things from the visitor’s viewpoint. He was brutally honest about the congregation. But needless to say, my colleague never went back. Given the limited opportunities for worship, he didn’t want o waste it there. Outsiders have a lot to tell us about ourselves. But I’m not sure trying to outguess them is the way to go about it.
I took a sabbatical last year in England, and had several opportunities to encounter how some Brits view Americans. It had to do with 9/11. There was a quiet, but ever present, resentment among the English about how Americans seem to view the September 11 incident as an attack only on the United States. The English lost a lot of young people when the Twin Towers went down, as did many other nations. As they looked at it, September 11 was an attack on the whole western world, not just on America, where it took place. They thought that on the whole, Americans were oblivious to that. There has been an interesting bit of fall out, though. There are many English who have taken to wearing New York Yankees’ hats out of respect for the city of New York and how they measured up to the nearly impossible task of making a comeback out of the rubble and rubbish of 9/11.
I also had an embarrassing moment one evening when I went out to eat at a local pub. I found that you never quite know what kind of pub it’s going to be when you walk in the door. You have to sort of size it up. Some pubs are very nice, and family oriented; some are dives; and some are rather pricey. This one happened to be the local hangout for university students. It was loud, noisy, filled with smoke, and had people stuffed in the room tighter than sardines in a can. I instantly realized that I did not want to spend a moment longer there. So I headed for the door, evidently pushing a guy as I went by. The student looked me straight in the eye, and said, “Over here we say, ‘Excuse me.’ ” I was mortified to death to be the typical ugly American. A lesson was learned that evening. You never do know what others have to teach you.
Today’s scripture from the Old and New Testaments shows us how wide the circle actually is of those who believe in God. In fact, these scriptures tell us that those outside the faith may have more to say to us than we may think.
The verses from 1 Kings 8 are a part of the story of the dedication of the temple by King Solomon. The community is gathered for the dedication ceremony led by the king himself. The Ark of he Covenant is taken into the sanctuary. God’s presence and approval of what was going on is signified by a cloud appearing in the holy of holies, the inner most part of the temple.
The verses from today’s scripture are from Solomon’s prayer of dedication. Taken together, these verses proclaim God as the one and only true God. “... there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart” (1 Kings 8:23). This part of the prayer recognizes the faith of the insiders, those faithful who make up the community of Israel.
The second part of the prayer goes on to acknowledge that there are those beyond Israel who also recognize God for who God is. “Likewise, when a foreigner who is not of your people comes from a distant land because of your name ... and prays toward this house, then hear in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel ...” (1 Kings 8:41-43).
There’s an implicit recognition that while the temple is the central place for worship, the God of Israel also has relationships with people beyond Israel. That is, with non-Jews. The presence of these non-Jews at the temple tells the world how great God really is. In a word, outsiders can demonstrate to the insiders what the insiders have been saying all along: Our God is a great God. The prayer is that there will be a day when people of all nations will worship the God of Israel.
In Luke’s story of Jesus healing the centurion’s servant, we also see the principle of extending the boundaries at work. Or perhaps, it would be closer to the truth to say that we see the overturning of the conventional way of looking at things. After giving what’s called in Luke “The Sermon on the Plain,” Jesus enters Capernaum. The town will serve as his base of ministry. We’re told that while Jesus is there, there’s this centurion who has a slave. It is a slave that he values. But there’s one problem. The slave is sick and at the point of death. From that little bit of information, we can glean a lot. Jesus is recognized as a master teacher. Later in the chapter, it’s said that, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” (Luke 7:16).
Jesus is someone to be reckoned with — as is the centurion. A centurion was a Roman military officer in charge of a company of a hundred men. This man was probably not in charge of all the troops stationed at Capernaum, but he may have been in charge of some in the service of Herod Antipas, the local governor appointed by Rome.
That this man has a slave he values is revealing. Slaves were considered “living tools.” Roman owners of slaves could treat them as they saw fit. They could punish them when they wished, and even kill them if they felt like it. Slaves were dispensable. The fact that this man cared enough about his slave to want to save him indicates that this man was a good man, even a compassionate one. So much so that when he heard Jesus was in town, the man went out of his way to see that his servant got the help he needed.
Interestingly, the centurion does not confront Jesus himself with his request. Later, we will find out why, but for now, the man uses the existing network he has with the local Jewish elders to get his wishes accomplished. He uses them to get Jesus to come and heal his slave. These elders are quick to do the centurion’s bidding. They lose no time trying to convince Jesus, a Jewish teacher, to heal this slave, a non-Jew. In other words, to heal this outsider. Or in what was probably their evaluation, even less than an outsider, more like a nobody, a slave. The elders’ appeal to Jesus is based not on the fact that the slave needs help, but because of the esteem they hold for his master. “He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us” (Luke 7:4b, 5). A little pressure is put on Jesus to ensure that Jesus will come across with the good deed. It’s as if to say, “Jesus, you’ve got to heal the slave for this centurion, for we owe a great deal to him.” We know for a fact that the Romans helped build many Jewish synagogues. The Romans felt it was in their interest to maintain good order and stability in the countryside.
Without so much as a question, Jesus goes with the elders to visit the centurion’s house to see what he can do for the slave. “... but when he was not far off from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, ‘Lord do not trouble yourself, for I am not orthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed’ ” (Luke 7:6b, 7). The invitation is none other than for Jesus to heal the boy indirectly and from a distance.
Now the centurion appeals to what he judges to be a common bond that he and Jesus share.
“For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes. And to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it” (Luke 7:8). The centurion knows how Jesus must feel inside, being a man of authority himself. He is quite clear that he knows what it means to be under authority and to exercise it himself. He knows how to take orders and how to give them, something he feels that he and Jesus have in common.
When Jesus hears this, he turns to the crowd and says, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith” (Luke 7:9). Luke concludes the story with some crucial information. When the centurion’s friends return home, they find the slave to be in good health.
What on the surface looks like a story about healing, turns out to be a story about faith, the extraordinary faith of an outsider. It’s what I like to call the message in the miracle.
I find the contrasts in the story particularly enlightening. The Jewish elders judge the slave worthy of treatment. Jesus agrees, but for a different reason. The elders think Jesus should heal the boy because of the generosity of the centurion. But Jesus is willing to heal the boy because of the centurion’s own personal faith and trust. The centurion shows himself to be one who trusts Jesus to heal his servant, even from a distance. The Roman officer does not feel he’s worthy of having Jesus in his home. Actually, it’s out of deep respect for Jesus that he does not want Jesus to enter his house. The centurion knows that for Jesus, a Jew, to enter the house of a Gentile, it would mean Jesus would instantly become contaminated or unclean. For this reason Jesus says, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” Evidently, even Jesus was surprised to find such faith and compassion in an outsider like this Roman military man.
What can outsiders teach us? For one, they can teach us that we don’t have a corner on the market. Whether it’s in the church or in the world at large, because of all the power and wealth we have, Americans can get to feeling that we know it all and are the point of it all. But there are people of faith outside as well as inside the church. There are British men and women who are just as devastated by 9/11 as we Americans are.
Secondly, in much the same manner, we can learn from those outside that we are not the only ones God loves. I think of my aunt, Bessie Cartwright. Though not actually my aunt, she had the same name, and as she was a member of our church she adopted me, and asked me to call her “Aunt Bessie.” One day, Aunt Bessie became quite concerned about her next-door neighbor who happened to be Jewish. Aunt Bessie was never one to let go of an idea once it entered her head. She always had to act on it. So she called up her neighbor on the phone and said, “Can I come over sometime and tell you about my Jesus?” Her neighbor replied, “Yes, if you will let me tell you about my God.” Well, the day came when they had their religious conversation, each taking turns. Afterward, Aunt Bessie told me about it. She said, “You know, the more she talked about her God, the more her God seemed to be a lot like my Jesus.” Aunt Bessie never tried that again. She and her neighbor remained good friends for as long as Aunt Bessie lived. That was the day she found that an outsider had a lot to teach her.
For us, here at the church, I think there’s another small lesson that we can learn. Maybe it’s not so little after all. Jesus treated the centurion no differently than he did the Jewish elders. He respected them both. He listened to what they each had to say, and he acted accordingly. In a word, he treated the centurion like he was already an insider. And in the process, Jesus healed a hurting boy, a boy who was not even a Jew, not even a Roman, but a slave, a nobody, but in Jesus’ eyes, he was a boy who just happened to be a somebody. He was a fellow human being in need of help.
The moment the church stops acting like a club for the like-minded, and begins treating nonmembers the same as members, that’s the day the church will really become an outpost for the kingdom of God. And when the church begins to act like this, those outside might just want to come inside.-------