Welcome
Good morning, welcome to Azle Christian Church, we are so glad you are tuning in to worship today. Our regular guest musician, Kat Reimer is not feeling well so we are glad to welcome Cat Schlueter as our music leader.
Tonight is another installment of our book discussion, “I’m Still Here” by Austin Channing Brown at 7 on zoom.
We have a board meeting for the church this Wednesday night, at 7 on zoom. We are making important decisions about leadership in our church and want all of our board members to make every effort to be “present” for the virtual meeting.
Today, we are honoring our teachers, students, parents, administrators and staff as we recognize the beginning of the school year. We are grateful to Kristi Phillips, who counts in several of those categories, as she helps leads our worship service today. Our sermon is about resilience.
Call to worship
The heavens declare the glory of God, all creation tells of God’s goodness. Let us raise our voices to celebrate the beauty of our Lord and find refreshment in this time of praise together.
Back to School Blessing
ASHLEY:
Holy God, we confess right out of the gate that this is the strangest back-to-school prayer we’ve ever prayed. There is no guidebook for how to teach in a pandemic, so we pray the best prayer we can, trusting in the Holy Spirit who groans our unutterable longings beside us to fill in the gaps.
We pray for the teachers and the parents:
KRISTI:
We pray for the grace of walking through a time that no one is sure how to navigate. We pray for the ever-changing formats and internet connectivity and home environments. We pray for the creativity hallmarked by educators to continue to be elastic and energized, that they find news way to spark connection and trust in a world turned upside down.
ASHLEY:
We acknowledge that everyone has struggled with what is best for their family and community and that for many, the choice was made for them by those in charge, by bosses, by bills, by internet accessibility, by medically fragile family members. We also realize that while our teachers and all those who serve in schools are heroic, we regret that they have been called upon to be so.
Protect our teachers from COVID-19 and its long-lasting, still unknown effects. May their homes be safe havens of respite and comfort. Grant them relief from fear and stress.
KRISTI:
We pray for the principals and the superintendents:
We pray for courage in the face of public moods, frightening data, and the faces of the students and adults in their charge. We pray for wisdom as they make difficult decisions even as they deal with the trauma of experiencing a pandemic themselves. Grant them steady minds, tender hearts, and strong backs.
ASHLEY:
We pray for the mayors and the governors:
We pray for our leaders to be motivated by care for their citizens in every aspect of their lives. We pray for government officials who have dedicated their lives to public service to trust experts, to care for the most vulnerable among us, and to work tirelessly for solutions that promote the health, safety, and well-being of the people they serve
KRISTI:
We pray for the nannies and the daycare workers:
We lift up these often underpaid and undervalued workers who care for our most fragile and beloved children, the little ones who do not understand what a pandemic is. We pray for the good health, vigilant safety standards, and supportive infrastructure for these caregivers.
ASHLEY:
And we pray for all those who provide support and safe places for our children and teachers, those whose kindness and faithfulness remind kids they are valued:
KRISTI:
the school nurses and the counselors
ASHLEY:
the cafeteria workers and the custodians
KRISTI:
the teacher aides and the diagnosticians
ASHLEY:
the bus drivers and the crossing guards.
KRISTI:
And God, we pray for the children.
We pray for those who will see their friends and teachers through computer screens, and for those who will be attending school in a mask with so many new safety measures that school may feel unfamiliar. We pray they are able to to cultivate friendships and feel connected to their community.
We pray each child receives the support and encouragement they require to be able to succeed. Give them courage as they walk these new paths, and may peace wrap around them like a blanket.
ASHLEY:
And Lord, we pray for the most vulnerable children in our school systems, whose homes are not always safe places. We pray for their stomachs to be filled with nourishing food, we pray for teachers and caregivers to see when they need to call for help, we pray for these children to feel the love and belonging from their friends and the adults at school. Grant them good health, a place to lay their head, and moments of joy.
KRISTI:
We know and trust that each one of our students’ names are etched into the palm of Your hand, that each tear is noted by Your tender care, and that every heart is carried in Your heart.
ASHLEY:
Grant us all peace, O Lord, and help us to gird our loins. May we pass hope around like the bread at your table, making it multiply into communal strength and provision. May we pour out grace, filling each other’s cups, making hearts warm from love and cheeks rosy from joy.
And Holy One, we pray the prayer together that Jesus, our brother and redeemer gave us to hold onto:
Our Father, who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy name
Thy Kingdom come
Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.
Children’s Message
As you begin another school year, I have a phrase for you to remember. When things don’t go your way, when there are difficulties beyond your control, choose to be better. You can’t change what happened, but you can decide if you will be bitter, or better. Some of you know about the great basketball player, Michael Jordan. He was cut from his high school basketball team one year. And instead of sulking and being bitter. He chose to be better, he worked long hours on dribbling and shooting, and that led, not only to his being on the team the next year, but a scholarship to college, and being the MVP in the NBA. I’m not saying you can be the next Michael Jordan, or maybe I am. I’m saying, no matter what happens to you, choose to learn from it, choose to be better after it. Jesus said in Matthew 28 “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.” Let the presence of Christ, help you through whatever moment you face.
Scripture
Our scripture this morning reminds us of the Exodus story, something we will be covering in the next several weeks. It also highlights some of our ancestors in the faith. Listen for these hints. And while it finishes with a beautiful passage that many of us know by heart. It begins with an accusation: The beginning of Micah, chapter 6:
Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth;for the Lord has a controversy with the people, and the Lord will contend with Israel.
The Lord says, ‘O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery;and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor answered him,and what happened in Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.
And the people answered: ‘With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?Shall I come before the Lord with burnt-offerings, with calves a year old?Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with tens of thousands of rivers of oil?Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’
The Lord has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of youbut to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
This is the word of God, for all the people of God, Thanks be to God
Sermon
On the night before he started kindergarten, I couldn’t sleep. I wondered if we had covered everything. Did we teach him how to tie his shoes? Will he remember where the number 12 goes when he is counting from 1 to 20? Orange!?! Does he know that color’s name? Can he pick a triangle out of a lineup of shapes like some detective show? Most of all I worried. He would have play experiences with children that we didn’t arrange. He would have experiences outside of our awareness; beyond our control. How will he handle someone commenting on his red hair? How will he respond if someone notices the little genetic deformity on his left ear that he got from his mom’s side? He will meet people we don’t know and have experiences we may never hear about. …
He survived that first day with his self-concept intact and many other first days. 27 years goes by pretty fast.
But I think several of you are losing some sleep these days over similar anxieties. Should we do school in person, or on line? Can they see their friends and keep socially distant? Is this trip essential? How can I get any work done when my pre-teen “co workers” and my four legged “colleagues” won’t leave me alone? We ask, “Have we done enough? … When will we ever see each other again?” It’s exhausting. And sometimes, it is overwhelming.
So, as I thought about this season in the world, I thought it would be a good idea to go back to the basics. Not just reading, ‘ritting, and ‘rithmetic. But the basics of our faith. We’re familiar with the passage from Micah 6:8, “What does the Lord require, but to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God.” But how many of us have read the rest of this prophet’s work?
How many of you know the beginning of this prophet’s work? “Listen O earth, and all the people within it and let the Lord God be a witness against you.”
There goes your “Kum by yah” moment, up in smoke. God is coming. It’s like that good new/bad news joke, What’s the good news? Christ is coming back. What’s the bad news? He’s not happy.
Maybe you know the interlude of chapter 4: “In the days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” You remember that.
But you didn’t learn the first chapter: “The mountains will melt, the valleys will burst open,” … when the Lord comes. Although, the way 2020 is going, we wouldn’t be surprised if that starts happening, At least there’s no mention of murder hornets.
Maybe you remember chapter 5 from your advent stories in December: “But you, Bethlehem, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth one who is to rule in Israel … He shall feed his flock in the strength of the Lord.” You know those passages.
But you probably don’t know this, from chapter 2: “You devise wickedness and evil deeds while resting on your beds. When you wake you use your power. You covet fields and seize them. You take houses away from my people.” (Micah 2:1-2)
“You strip the robe from the peaceful, from those who pass by trustingly. The women are driven out. You take the young from them.” (Micah 2:9)
“Because of this, Zion, your holy city, will be plowed under as a field. Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins.” (Micah 3:12)
So while the instructions from chapter 6, verse 8, may sound like some beautiful poetry to embroider and hang on your wall, originally, they were harsh commands to a people who have turned their backs on God and treated each other poorly.
Because you haven’t done it so far, you need to start doing it now.
Loving kindness, doing justice, walking humbly are the characteristics of what it means to follow God. They are the means to healing a relationship with God and with one another.
You may say to me that you haven’t done any of these bad things Micah lists. You’ve never stolen anyone’s land. You’ve never evicted someone. But we have grown complacent to the plight of our brothers and sisters. We turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the needs of people just beyond our doors. I love Leslie Weatherhead’s words: "The trouble with some of us is that we have been inoculated with small doses of Christianity which keep us from catching the real thing." We have just enough faith to keep us comfortable, not enough to make us passionate.
If you want a relationship with God, it is more than just a quiet prayer at night; More than just a daily devotional reading. Bono, the lead singer of the band U2, was the guest speaker for the national day of prayer at the White house a few years ago. He said he used to think that he could invite God into his heart, but was instructed by a wise mentor: “If you want a relationship with God, go to where God is.” Bono said, “God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, … and God is with us if we are with them.”
Loving kindness and doing justice often, always?, means walking humbly. When we recognize that whatever blessing we have is not deserved, isn’t earned, then we begin to get what Micah was saying to his people. When we begin to see whatever gifts and resources we have as a blessing, to be shared with all our brothers and sisters, then we can begin to walk humbly with God.
You want a relationship with God? Go to where God is.
I realize many of us are trying our best to follow Christ in this world, and we have grown tired. Weary, because our efforts seem to make little difference. So today, in this moment, I would like to offer you some tips on perseverance, some tips on resilience.
I watched a TED talk on youtube recently. A woman named Lucy Hone suggested three strategies for Resilience; for making it through difficult situations.
The first quality of resilient people is they know that stuff happens. She used that exact word. After all, it’s a family friendly show. The idea is that life isn’t easy, there are painful experiences. It’s all part of life. Our scripture reminds us of this. Matthew 5:45: “The rain falls on the just and the unjust.” Death comes to everyone. Bad things happen to good people. So, it doesn’t do any good to ask “Why me?” We each get our share. The secret to surviving is: You are not alone in this. The spirit of God is our companion when life becomes unbearable, the body of Christ, the church, you are the ones who walk together through the dark night of the soul. Stuff happens, but God is present in the midst of the stuff.
The second characteristic of resilient people is that they carefully focus their attention on things they can change. They accept the things they have no control over. They tune into the good.
My Dad was a positive man, optimistic, hopeful, encouraging, kind. But as the youngest child in my family, I wasn’t aware of the tragedy he had experienced. I was older than I thought I should have been when I learned that his first wife died of leukemia. A lengthy illness within a few short years of marriage. I was shocked. Wouldn’t that be devastating? How did he recover from that? … By his example I learned that you focus on the things you can change, and don’t dwell on the things you can’t.
The third quality that Lucy Hone highlights is a simple ritual. With each activity she asks, “Is what I’m doing helping or harming me? Sounds easy enough, but let’s explore. When there was an unexpected death in our family, two of the people I love the most grieved in different ways. One put away all the photos because it was re traumatizing each time she passed by them on the wall. The other framed as many photos as possible, for fear of forgetting the face, the smile, the eyes.
What about you? Are some of the things you are doing triggering a difficult memory? Re-injuring your soul each time? You need to stop that. It’s like the oldest Marx brothers joke, “Doctor, it hurts when I do this.” And the doctor replies: “Then stop doing that.” Don’t keep doing something because your best friend told you to, or the minister said this is the way to move through the pain. Find a friend who will listen and let you work out the path, and then will walk with you.
A few years ago, Jim Wallis, the Director of the Sojourners Community spoke at a commencement address. His words are a great challenge to us as we stand on the threshold of another school year.
“There are always great inhumanities that we inflict upon one another in this world, great injustices that cry out to God for redress, and great gaps in our moral recognition of them. When the really big offenses are finally corrected, finally changed, it is always and only because something has happened to change our perception of the moral issues at stake.
That something is this: The moral contradiction we have long lived with is no longer acceptable to us. What we accepted, or ignored, or denied, finally gets our attention and we decide that we just cannot and will not live with it any longer,” (-- Jim Wallis, Georgetown Commencement Address, May 18, 2007).
So, my question to you, as we begin a season of school like no other, is this: What are you no longer willing to accept?
I can name you ten score and more things that are troubling in this world, personal, communal, national, global, but the real issue is what gets to you? What have you quietly accepted in the past for which you will no longer stand?
Let this phrase be the slogan of your new movement:
Love kindness, do justice and walk humbly with your God.