I was reminded this Sunday of something I learned years ago in ministry. When something has happened that needs to be addressed from the pulpit, it’s often better to address that issue in the prayers of the day than in the sermon. Prayer puts things in a larger perspective, above political agendas, and keeps folks from thinking they’ve heard a “political” sermon.
For example, this week’s sermon was “Written on Our Hearts” from Jeremiah 31, where God says the law will no longer be written on stone tablets for public display, but on the heart, to be displayed in the living of our lives. This is a new covenant, not of letter, but of spirit; a covenant written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts, a covenant that works from the inside out.
In light of this week’s shootings and continuing political shaming and blaming from all sides, I felt the issues must be addressed, but better in prayer than in the sermon. These words were shared as a part of the Prayers of the People: “O God, with your law of love written on our hearts, may we treat all people with love and respect, and may we have the courage to call out those who would oppress and mistreat others because of their racial or ethnic background. May we work together to overcome all that would seek to divide us, and turn us against one another. Instead of blaming someone for the challenges and difficulties we face, in the deep south, at the border, or in the heartland, help us to find the way forward together, always working for the greater common good, above national self-interest.”
Sometimes it’s also easier to sing about those concerns, especially if the hymn texts are set to familiar hymn tunes. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette wrote a beautiful new hymn text on Saturday March 20 and shared it for use in worship today. We sang it to the tune of “The Church’s One Foundation” as a part of our Prayers of the People today.
“God in Our Church’s Teaching"
God, in our church’s teaching, may we be bold and clear;
may it become our practice to counter hate and fear.
We’ve said that Jesus’ message is one that’s filled with love,
and yet our sweeping statements are clearly not enough.
Isaiah boldly told us you hate our worship ways
when we ignore injustice and simply offer praise.
And Jesus gave a warning: When we – in sin and pride-
refuse to welcome others, we turn our Lord aside.
May these be crucial lessons we teach the old and young:
that racist ways are evil, that sexist ways are wrong.
In Sunday schools and pulpits, may this be what we speak:
God made each person precious, beloved and unique.
O God, we grieve the violence, the shootings, and the hate;
We grieve our own indifference – our speaking out too late.
God, in our church’s witness, may we say loud and clear:
We welcome every neighbor. We work for justice here.
I give thanks for Gillette’s ministry, as she helps us to find words to address the concerns of our day through her hymn texts set to beloved and familiar hymns. Permission is given for free of this hymn by local churches and ecumenical groups, with no need to write for permission to use the hymn. She encourages the sharing of this hymn with pastors, church musicians, worship planners, activists and others who might find it helpful. Such a generous and loving spirit, and truly a prophetic voice in our day. May God continue to bless her ministry among us!
Elizabeth
Version S. Broyles III writes “Justice for God’s World” each month in Presbyterians Today magazine. “Justice and only justice you shall pursue.” (Deut 16:20) This verse is always the focus of his writing. In the March-April edition of Presbyterians Today, his article is entitled: “It’s time to right the wrongs.”
Lent, the season leading to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, is the door of penitence and confession that opens to the hope God has promised to those who are faithful. “Repentance, in biblical terms has four steps, without which, taken as a whole, cannot produce forgiveness. First, accept responsibility for the wrong we have done. Second, express remorse for what we have done. Third, resolve not to repeat the wrong. And fourth – this is perhaps the most essential and difficult step – repair the damage done.”
Broyles tells the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-9). It’s interesting that Luke begins the Zacchaeus story focusing on that fourth step – restoration of the wrongs done. Zacchaeus, serving the Roman occupiers, enriched himself by inflating the amount of actual taxes due from his own people. His sense of guilt, triggered by what he heard of Jesus, led him to that step of righting the wrongs he had done “with interest.” He is a great model for us as we move through Lent. We all know of ways we have harmed others by our attitudes and our actions. The hardest part, though, in seeking forgiveness, is the “Zacchaeus” part: the requirement that we work toward restoration.
While we’re thinking about our own personal need to work toward restoration, Broyles challenges us to consider the need for restoration in a larger perspective:
Returning “hat in hand” to those we have wounded emotionally
Providing reparation for those we have cheated
Ceding power to those we have rendered powerless
Returning land and resources we have stolen
And, healing brokenness and bitterness within communities of faith, so that they represent the values of understanding, love and compassion of the One we call “Lord and Savior.”
“Are these demands outrageous? They are if all we have is our own strength, imagination and resources,” writes Broyles. “The Good News, though, is that Jesus, who places these challenges on us, is also the Lord of Life, the Risen One, whose death and Resurrection we celebrate at Easter! Forgiveness is possible. So is restoration. To God be the glory! Amen!”
Where are we in relation to the four steps of repentance? May God show us what we need to see and help us to make a difference wherever we are.
Elizabeth
If you truly know me, you know my love of “all things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small.” In the mail last week, I received requests to “Save the Honeybees”, “Save the Dolphins”, “Save the Turtles”, and “Save the Monarchs.” On my laundry room door, I’ve taped a variety of stickers – “I Love Rivers,” “Green Peace”, “Make America Green Again” and “There’s No Excuse for Animal Abuse.” It seems the word has gotten around!
“All things grow with love,” is one of the truths I hold in my heart as I journey through this life. And so it was with Jackson. When new folks move into a neighborhood, the stray cats always have a chance to find a home. And so it was with Jackson. About five years ago a black and white cat was on my doorstep. He had scars on his head, his neck was held at an angle most of the time and he had more whiskers that any one cat needed! He always seemed to turn his head a bit to look at me, so I wondered if one of those old injuries damaged his vision. He was very heavy and muscular for a cat, and the vet said he was like a dog in a cat suit! I learned from folks in the neighborhood that he’d lived from place to place and was “trouble,” but I made the decision to test my truth that “all things grow with love.”
In the beginning, Jackson watched from the edge of a stream near the forest. One day he ventured to the steps. When I would sit there to pet him, he would nip at me and eye me suspiciously, and he was mean to the other cats. I used to sing the little song I would have my first graders sing when they weren’t getting along with each – “Why Can’t We Be Friends!”, but it didn’t seem to help. As time passed, he made friends with the other cats and they were family for each other. In time, he would come on the porch. As more time passed he came into the house. In his last months, he would wait until I was asleep, and then hop up to sleep on the foot of my bed.
Jackson always seemed grateful for the home he found with me – sitting beside me on the couch and sitting beside me as I worked at the computer in my little office in the manse. If I didn’t notice him, he would reach out gently with one little paw and pat my leg or reach up and touch my cheek if sitting beside me. If I was coughing a little in the night, I would wake up with him looking me right in the eye.
Last Thursday was such a beautiful day – warm and sunny, and the cats were enjoying the sunshine. Out of nowhere, three large white dogs appeared in the back yard and came up on the porch after the cats. Jackson was out on the front steps, and they must have gotten to him first. I was able to chase them away, but the damage was done. Jackson was gone. A neighbor boy helped me bury him under the longleaf pines at the edge of the driveway. A little stone marker tells it all: “Jackson, Best Meanest Cat in Jackson Springs: All Things Grow With Love.”
A Norse Legend tells the story of “Rainbow Bridge,” a place where animals go when they die, and wait for their masters, and when they come, together they cross the rainbow bridge into new life together. Whether this is true or not, I can’t say just yet, but I sure do hope so. I am “more” because an old cat came into my life and loved me. “All things grow with love” works for people too.
Elizabeth