Leader: Through our words:
People: Let your Love be known.
L: Through our actions:
P: Let your Love be known.
L: Through how we treat others:
P: Let your Love be known.
L: Through how we obey Your commandments.
P: Let your Love be known.
L: Through our worship today:
P: Let your Love be known.
All: Amen.
Thursday, March 27, 2025
Call to Worship based on Revelation 21:1-6 & "All Shall Be Well"
Leader: The home of God will be among mortals.
People: All shall be well.
L: God will wipe away every tear from our eyes and Death will be no more.
P: All shall be well.
L: God declares, “I am making all things new.”
P: And all manner of things shall be well.
L: May we place all our hope in our eternal, re-creating God.
All: Let us worship - Amen!
People: All shall be well.
L: God will wipe away every tear from our eyes and Death will be no more.
P: All shall be well.
L: God declares, “I am making all things new.”
P: And all manner of things shall be well.
L: May we place all our hope in our eternal, re-creating God.
All: Let us worship - Amen!
Call to Worship based on "Take My Life and Let It Be"
Leader: Lord, take my life -
People: And let it be consecrated to thee.
L: Take my moments and my days -
P: Let them flow in ceaseless praise!
L: Take my hands -
P: Let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
L: Take my feet
P: let them be swift and beautiful for thee.
L: Take all of us, Lord -
P: Let us be, ever only, all for Thee.
All: Amen.
People: And let it be consecrated to thee.
L: Take my moments and my days -
P: Let them flow in ceaseless praise!
L: Take my hands -
P: Let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
L: Take my feet
P: let them be swift and beautiful for thee.
L: Take all of us, Lord -
P: Let us be, ever only, all for Thee.
All: Amen.
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Call to Worship on Prayer
Leader: Today we will pray:
People: Here I am, Lord.
Leader: Today we will pray:
People: Not my will, but Yours.
Leader: Today we will pray:
People: God, what do you want to do through me?
Leader: Today we will pray:
People: We will pray to, out of, and for Love.
Leader: Let us pray:
All: God, be with us in this time of worship. Amen.
People: Here I am, Lord.
Leader: Today we will pray:
People: Not my will, but Yours.
Leader: Today we will pray:
People: God, what do you want to do through me?
Leader: Today we will pray:
People: We will pray to, out of, and for Love.
Leader: Let us pray:
All: God, be with us in this time of worship. Amen.
Monday, March 24, 2025
"Grounded in Gratitude" a sermon on Colossians 2:6-7, 3:15-17 & Luke 12:22-34
Colossians 2:6-7, 3:15-17
Luke 12:22-34
“Grounded in Gratitude”
Preached Sunday, March 23, 2025 at Boardman United Methodist Church
Today we are celebrating Gratitude Sunday.
This is a part of our Today, Tomorrow, Together Capital Campaign as we express gratitude for the faith, church, and community we have received. AND, it is important to our faith to regularly talk about, express, and practice gratitude.
And so in order to talk about gratitude…I am first going to talk about worry and anxiety. You may have wondered at the Gospel lesson, talking about worry, on this day themed for gratitude. It is important that we talk about what keeps us from gratitude - for anxiety and worry are the antithesis of gratitude and thanksgiving. Anxiety is worrying over what could be; fearing what is not yet; fixating on what is not present, what is missing. Gratitude fosters a sense of appreciation of what is; cultivating thanksgiving for what’s here in the present; celebrating what is right in front of us.
(Disclaimer about sometimes anxiety is also in the chemical make-ups of our brain.)
When we’re worried about what the future holds or what today has in store for us, we are not grateful for what we currently have. When we’re worried that the future will not be like the past...we’re not giving gratitude to God for all that God has already done for us...and all that God can and will do for us. Worry and gratitude are opposites.
So now let’s look at some conflicting statistics.
In a 2015 PEW Research survey, it stated that 80 percent of Americans said they felt a deep sense of gratitude every day. A more recent study I found from 2023 conducted by OnePoll has a similar statistic: 83% of Americans experience gratitude daily.
Given this, our anxiety levels should be low. But that’s not the case.
“The 2024 results of the American Psychiatric Association’s annual mental health poll show that U.S. adults are feeling increasingly anxious. In 2024, 43% of adults say they feel more anxious than they did the previous year, up from 37% in 2023 and 32% in 2022. Adults are particularly anxious about current events (70%) — especially the economy (77%), the 2024 U.S. election (73%), and gun violence (69%).”
This morning’s scripture actually says that worrying cannot add a single hour to your life - and we know it’s actually bad for your health! The stress and strain that anxiety puts on our body and can actually shorten our lifespans.
Actually, let's pause here. As I wrote this sermon and I wrote that last line I noticed a tightness in my chest. My shoulders were scrunched up to my ears. My jaw was clenched. Perhaps sitting in the pews now, you are noticing a similar sensation.
Put your feet on the ground. Let your weight settle into your seat. Take a deep breath in, and out. Do three breaths. Shrug your shoulders, roll your neck, release your jaw. Think of one thing you are grateful for.
Okay. With hopefully more looseness in your body and soul, let’s turn our attention back to gratitude.
Some researchers and people with opinions online say that the percent of Americans experiencing gratitude is too high. After all, it’s self-reported. I am not going to make that claim but I will make this claim:
We may THINK we are grateful. But. We are very bad at expressing gratitude and without the expression of gratitude, we are not actually practicing the ethic of gratitude.
According to that OnePoll survey, only 40% write down what they are grateful for. And only 25% verbally express their gratitude.
Studies have been done, one by the National Library of Medicine, that show that some ways of expressing gratitude are more helpful than others. To sum up: being explicit in your gratitude, writing it out in letter or long form, and somehow expressing it versus just thinking it is more beneficial.
Christian author and theologian Diana Butler Bass wrote a whole book on the subversive power of gratitude, she says this: “Gratitude is, however, more than just an emotion. It is also a disposition that can be chosen and cultivated, an outlook toward life that manifests itself in actions—it is an ethic.”
Research backs up that gratitude is an ethic. That gratitude, when truly felt and put into practice, looks like actions and a way of life. Greater Good magazine says that “Grateful people have been shown to be more helpful, kind, supportive, and altruistic.” One study showed that those who kept gratitude journals were more likely to be empathic and offer more help than those who wrote about struggles or even neutral events. The Templeton Giving Survey found that people who say that they practice gratitude daily, donate more money and volunteer hours a year than those who don’t.
How are we practicing the ethic of gratitude? It starts with explicitly expressing gratitude about specific things.
Here are some examples to get the most out of our gratitude, to truly let gratitude change our hearts, minds, and souls. To let it be the antidote to worry. To let it be the seed to praising God and storing our treasure in heavenly things.
So here are those examples from my life.
It’s one thing to say, “I am grateful for my family.”
It’s another thing to say, “I am grateful for the way Winnie smiles at me in the morning. I am grateful for the way Agnes wants to cuddle with me. I am grateful for my husband who has chosen to make these girls his number one priority for this stage of our lives.”
It’s one thing to say, “I am grateful to live close to my parents.”
It’s another thing to say, “I am grateful that on a random Tuesday I can call up my dad and invite him to the playground and then watch my daughter and him play together.”
It’s one thing to say, “I am grateful for those who taught me the faith.”
It’s another thing to say, “I am grateful to my parents for bringing me to church. I am grateful to George and Bob and Don for showing me what being a faithful pastor looks like. I am grateful to Jen who showed me what it means for a women to be in the pulpit. I am grateful to her and Jeremiah who first told me, “I see gifts for ministry in you.” I am grateful to Bill for the countless camp sermons. I am grateful to Cherie for taking me under her wing and working with me through the growing pains of becoming a pastor. I am grateful….the list could continue.”
It’s one thing to say, “I am grateful for this church.”
It’s another thing to say, “I am grateful for the people, especially the women, who graciously and joyfully sit by my daughter for the beginning of worship. I am grateful for those individuals who delight in watching the wonder and excitement of children coming forward for Communion. I am grateful for those who stop by my office to wrestle with theological opinions. I am grateful for when I go to the nursing home or make a phone call to pray with someone, thinking I will be blessing them - and I leave that interaction feeling absolutely floored by the way they just blessed me, the way they shared with me, the way they prayed for ME. I am grateful for the countless volunteers who serve this church by giving of their prayers, presence, service, gifts, and witness. I am grateful…for you.”
You know, I’d get even more specific on that last one. I would say your names. I would give a reason for each and every one of you. I could give a reason for every week I’ve been here - a reason to be thankful. But we’d be here all day and I don’t want to put any of you on the spot.
What I do want to do is inspire you to really reflect on what you are grateful for. In your life and in the church. And then I want you to get really specific about that thing. And then I want you to express it - to write it, to say it out loud, to share it.
That’s the only way that gratitude moves from a brief, passing feeling, to something that actually changes us - and then, because we are changed, we live out the ethic in all we say and do.
Gratitude is the soil in which we grow as Christians, as disciples, as people of love, of enough, of generosity, of community. Butler-Bass says, “We are safer and happier when we care for each other in community, when we do things for each other.”
We are called to be completely grounded in gratitude so that the Spirit can bear fruit in this life.
By practicing gratitude we are saying that ALL that we have is a gift from God. Nothing is completely ours, nothing is earned.
By practicing gratitude we are saying that God is inherently good, as is this world and our lives, and we marvel at this and praise God for that.
By practicing gratitude we are saying that living out our faith means building a bigger table to invite more in, not a wall to keep others out.
By practicing gratitude we are saying that we are called to show our gratitude through generosity, in all the ways that we can, because through it we recognize that ALL people, everyone we share life with, is a beloved child of God, equally loved, equally worthy…
This morning, I would like to invite you to an opportunity to practice gratitude.
In your bulletins is an insert of colored cardstock. After the sermon, the ushers will pass out pens. Please write in pen. If you’ve gotten ahead of yourself and wrote on it with those little pew pencils, you’re encouraged to go over it in pen. During the special music, fill out the prompts on the card. The responses are anonymous. There is no need to write your name on it. After the service there will be a basket in the Narthex, please return your card and pen there. These will be displayed at least next Sunday through Easter if not a little more. We will encourage you every Sunday to take time to read other’s statements of gratitude and love for this church, our church.
If you are online and wish to participate, post your responses in the comments.
These are the two prompts:
I am grateful for…
What I love most about my church is…
You’ve heard examples of gratitude from our children during the children’s sermon and in this sermon. I would encourage you to be as specific and as precise as you want.
Hold tight to those instructions, let’s wrap up this sermon by hearing once again, the words of encouragement from Colossians today.
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving…And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Amen.
Luke 12:22-34
“Grounded in Gratitude”
Preached Sunday, March 23, 2025 at Boardman United Methodist Church
Today we are celebrating Gratitude Sunday.
This is a part of our Today, Tomorrow, Together Capital Campaign as we express gratitude for the faith, church, and community we have received. AND, it is important to our faith to regularly talk about, express, and practice gratitude.
And so in order to talk about gratitude…I am first going to talk about worry and anxiety. You may have wondered at the Gospel lesson, talking about worry, on this day themed for gratitude. It is important that we talk about what keeps us from gratitude - for anxiety and worry are the antithesis of gratitude and thanksgiving. Anxiety is worrying over what could be; fearing what is not yet; fixating on what is not present, what is missing. Gratitude fosters a sense of appreciation of what is; cultivating thanksgiving for what’s here in the present; celebrating what is right in front of us.
(Disclaimer about sometimes anxiety is also in the chemical make-ups of our brain.)
When we’re worried about what the future holds or what today has in store for us, we are not grateful for what we currently have. When we’re worried that the future will not be like the past...we’re not giving gratitude to God for all that God has already done for us...and all that God can and will do for us. Worry and gratitude are opposites.
So now let’s look at some conflicting statistics.
In a 2015 PEW Research survey, it stated that 80 percent of Americans said they felt a deep sense of gratitude every day. A more recent study I found from 2023 conducted by OnePoll has a similar statistic: 83% of Americans experience gratitude daily.
Given this, our anxiety levels should be low. But that’s not the case.
“The 2024 results of the American Psychiatric Association’s annual mental health poll show that U.S. adults are feeling increasingly anxious. In 2024, 43% of adults say they feel more anxious than they did the previous year, up from 37% in 2023 and 32% in 2022. Adults are particularly anxious about current events (70%) — especially the economy (77%), the 2024 U.S. election (73%), and gun violence (69%).”
This morning’s scripture actually says that worrying cannot add a single hour to your life - and we know it’s actually bad for your health! The stress and strain that anxiety puts on our body and can actually shorten our lifespans.
Actually, let's pause here. As I wrote this sermon and I wrote that last line I noticed a tightness in my chest. My shoulders were scrunched up to my ears. My jaw was clenched. Perhaps sitting in the pews now, you are noticing a similar sensation.
Put your feet on the ground. Let your weight settle into your seat. Take a deep breath in, and out. Do three breaths. Shrug your shoulders, roll your neck, release your jaw. Think of one thing you are grateful for.
Okay. With hopefully more looseness in your body and soul, let’s turn our attention back to gratitude.
Some researchers and people with opinions online say that the percent of Americans experiencing gratitude is too high. After all, it’s self-reported. I am not going to make that claim but I will make this claim:
We may THINK we are grateful. But. We are very bad at expressing gratitude and without the expression of gratitude, we are not actually practicing the ethic of gratitude.
According to that OnePoll survey, only 40% write down what they are grateful for. And only 25% verbally express their gratitude.
Studies have been done, one by the National Library of Medicine, that show that some ways of expressing gratitude are more helpful than others. To sum up: being explicit in your gratitude, writing it out in letter or long form, and somehow expressing it versus just thinking it is more beneficial.
Christian author and theologian Diana Butler Bass wrote a whole book on the subversive power of gratitude, she says this: “Gratitude is, however, more than just an emotion. It is also a disposition that can be chosen and cultivated, an outlook toward life that manifests itself in actions—it is an ethic.”
Research backs up that gratitude is an ethic. That gratitude, when truly felt and put into practice, looks like actions and a way of life. Greater Good magazine says that “Grateful people have been shown to be more helpful, kind, supportive, and altruistic.” One study showed that those who kept gratitude journals were more likely to be empathic and offer more help than those who wrote about struggles or even neutral events. The Templeton Giving Survey found that people who say that they practice gratitude daily, donate more money and volunteer hours a year than those who don’t.
How are we practicing the ethic of gratitude? It starts with explicitly expressing gratitude about specific things.
Here are some examples to get the most out of our gratitude, to truly let gratitude change our hearts, minds, and souls. To let it be the antidote to worry. To let it be the seed to praising God and storing our treasure in heavenly things.
So here are those examples from my life.
It’s one thing to say, “I am grateful for my family.”
It’s another thing to say, “I am grateful for the way Winnie smiles at me in the morning. I am grateful for the way Agnes wants to cuddle with me. I am grateful for my husband who has chosen to make these girls his number one priority for this stage of our lives.”
It’s one thing to say, “I am grateful to live close to my parents.”
It’s another thing to say, “I am grateful that on a random Tuesday I can call up my dad and invite him to the playground and then watch my daughter and him play together.”
It’s one thing to say, “I am grateful for those who taught me the faith.”
It’s another thing to say, “I am grateful to my parents for bringing me to church. I am grateful to George and Bob and Don for showing me what being a faithful pastor looks like. I am grateful to Jen who showed me what it means for a women to be in the pulpit. I am grateful to her and Jeremiah who first told me, “I see gifts for ministry in you.” I am grateful to Bill for the countless camp sermons. I am grateful to Cherie for taking me under her wing and working with me through the growing pains of becoming a pastor. I am grateful….the list could continue.”
It’s one thing to say, “I am grateful for this church.”
It’s another thing to say, “I am grateful for the people, especially the women, who graciously and joyfully sit by my daughter for the beginning of worship. I am grateful for those individuals who delight in watching the wonder and excitement of children coming forward for Communion. I am grateful for those who stop by my office to wrestle with theological opinions. I am grateful for when I go to the nursing home or make a phone call to pray with someone, thinking I will be blessing them - and I leave that interaction feeling absolutely floored by the way they just blessed me, the way they shared with me, the way they prayed for ME. I am grateful for the countless volunteers who serve this church by giving of their prayers, presence, service, gifts, and witness. I am grateful…for you.”
You know, I’d get even more specific on that last one. I would say your names. I would give a reason for each and every one of you. I could give a reason for every week I’ve been here - a reason to be thankful. But we’d be here all day and I don’t want to put any of you on the spot.
What I do want to do is inspire you to really reflect on what you are grateful for. In your life and in the church. And then I want you to get really specific about that thing. And then I want you to express it - to write it, to say it out loud, to share it.
That’s the only way that gratitude moves from a brief, passing feeling, to something that actually changes us - and then, because we are changed, we live out the ethic in all we say and do.
Gratitude is the soil in which we grow as Christians, as disciples, as people of love, of enough, of generosity, of community. Butler-Bass says, “We are safer and happier when we care for each other in community, when we do things for each other.”
We are called to be completely grounded in gratitude so that the Spirit can bear fruit in this life.
By practicing gratitude we are saying that ALL that we have is a gift from God. Nothing is completely ours, nothing is earned.
By practicing gratitude we are saying that God is inherently good, as is this world and our lives, and we marvel at this and praise God for that.
By practicing gratitude we are saying that living out our faith means building a bigger table to invite more in, not a wall to keep others out.
By practicing gratitude we are saying that we are called to show our gratitude through generosity, in all the ways that we can, because through it we recognize that ALL people, everyone we share life with, is a beloved child of God, equally loved, equally worthy…
This morning, I would like to invite you to an opportunity to practice gratitude.
In your bulletins is an insert of colored cardstock. After the sermon, the ushers will pass out pens. Please write in pen. If you’ve gotten ahead of yourself and wrote on it with those little pew pencils, you’re encouraged to go over it in pen. During the special music, fill out the prompts on the card. The responses are anonymous. There is no need to write your name on it. After the service there will be a basket in the Narthex, please return your card and pen there. These will be displayed at least next Sunday through Easter if not a little more. We will encourage you every Sunday to take time to read other’s statements of gratitude and love for this church, our church.
If you are online and wish to participate, post your responses in the comments.
These are the two prompts:
I am grateful for…
What I love most about my church is…
You’ve heard examples of gratitude from our children during the children’s sermon and in this sermon. I would encourage you to be as specific and as precise as you want.
Hold tight to those instructions, let’s wrap up this sermon by hearing once again, the words of encouragement from Colossians today.
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving…And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Amen.
Call to Worship based on "I Love To Tell the Story"
L: We gather today to tell the story.
P: I love to tell the story -
L: of unseen things above, of Jesus and his glory and love.
P: I love to tell the story -
L: for it’s done so much for me.
P: I love to tell the story -
L: We are hungering and thirsting to hear!
P: I love to tell the story -
L: of Jesus and his love.
All: Let us tell the story! Amen.
P: I love to tell the story -
L: of unseen things above, of Jesus and his glory and love.
P: I love to tell the story -
L: for it’s done so much for me.
P: I love to tell the story -
L: We are hungering and thirsting to hear!
P: I love to tell the story -
L: of Jesus and his love.
All: Let us tell the story! Amen.
Monday, March 17, 2025
"Under God's Wing" a sermon on Luke 13:31-35
Luke 13:31-35
“Under God’s Wing”
Preached Sunday, March 16, 2025
God loves you unconditionally.
God - God the Father, the Son, The Holy Spirit. The Divine. The Creator of the Universe. The Alpha and the Omega. Jesus Christ, God incarnate, God that is wind and fire and the very air we breathe. GOD
“Under God’s Wing”
Preached Sunday, March 16, 2025
God loves you unconditionally.
God - God the Father, the Son, The Holy Spirit. The Divine. The Creator of the Universe. The Alpha and the Omega. Jesus Christ, God incarnate, God that is wind and fire and the very air we breathe. GOD
Loves - Loves with an agape love - love that is patient, love that is kind, love that does not boast, that isn’t proud, love that doesn’t insist on its own way, that isn’t irritable or resentful, love that does not rejoice in wrongdoings but rejoices in the truth, love that believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things - LOVES
YOU - Yes, YOU (Name names of people present) - go ahead and say your name aloud for me. YOU.
Unconditionally. Cannot be earned. Cannot be bought. Cannot be worked for. AND there is nothing that can be done - to you or by you - to make that love go away - Romans 8: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, not depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. UNCONDITIONALLY.
God. Loves. You. Unconditionally.
Amen.
…
And I really debated ending my sermon here today! And yet .. I could talk all day about God’s unconditional love - or at least for the 10 or so minutes of a sermon. So I thought I'd go on…So filled with the wonderful knowledge of God’s love, let’s turn our attention to today’s Gospel lesson.
In our short, 5 verse, Gospel reading from Luke today, Jesus uses two animal metaphors. First, Herod as a fox. Secondly, the people of Jerusalem as a brood of chicks and Jesus as the mother hen, gathering them under her wing.
Let’s talk first about Jesus as a mother hen.
Mother hens nestle their chicks in their wings.
They just tuck them under there: safe, secure, loved. Mother hens are fiercely protective of their chicks. They will fight off any sort of animal that they think is a threat - in preparation for this sermon I watched hens fighting off cats and goats and crows and dogs and people and hawks…all while doing their best to protect their chicks. Hens are a symbol of motherhood and a mother’s love. They sit on their eggs, turning them even up to 30 times a day - a few days before the eggs hatch the chicks inside start to peep, talking to their mother, and the mother hen talks back. The chicks go under her wings not just for protection from predators but also the elements and for warmth and comfort…
Truly, a parent’s love. And this is the love that Jesus is expressing for those in Jerusalem - the children of Jerusalem, his children - God’s children…and we are all God’s children. AND I want to point out what he says about them first: He says:
“Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.'
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
Jesus knows that he goes to Jerusalem to be killed. Jesus knows that he goes to Jerusalem to suffer and die. He is a prophet who will be killed in Jerusalem, scorned, betrayed, hurt…bleeding and dying at the hands of those in Jerusalem.
And yet! In the very same breath that he says “They will kill me” he also says “I want to gather them as a mother hen gathers her brood under her wings.” Because there is nothing, nothing, that will separate the children of God from their Divine parents’ love. Not even killing him. Jesus loves you unconditionally. Jesus loves them unconditionally.
So now let’s talk about the other animal mentioned in the Scripture today, a fox aka Herod. There are 6 Herods mentioned in the Bible and this Herod is Herod of Antipas. The son of Herod the Great - or well, the not so Great - we know him from the Christmas story where he ordered the mass slaughter of children and infants under 2. Herod of Antipas followed in his father’s footsteps in being the governor of the Palestine area that he ruled under the Roman Empire. He was the one who, by request of his daughter, had John the Baptist, Jesus’s cousin, beheaded. He is the one who, Jesus would appear before his crucifixion although Herod would send him back to Pilate. In calling him a fox it would be seen as an insult - he is the puppet of the Lion, of the emperor, the one with actual power. A fox is one who uses deceit to achieve his goals, not real power. But also - foxes kill hens.
I did look up and watch a video of a fox killing a hen…I wouldn't recommend it.
But again - if Jesus loves his children in Jerusalem with the unconditional love of a mother - does God the Mother Hen love the fox too? If he loves those who will abuse and kill him in Jerusalem, I’d say that Herod is loved too, the fox, gathered under her wing.
Jesus loves you unconditionally. Jesus loves them unconditionally.
Which leads us to the question: Who is outside the love of God? Is anyone?
I am a fan of the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Anyone else here a fan? I believe one of the central themes or questions underlying this musical is: Is Judas beyond the love of God? At the end of the production that was performed at Playhouse Square several years ago, the final scene…. it ends with Jesus and Judas, post-Crucifixion and post-suicide, sitting side by side and looking at each other. No words. This was a directorial choice. And I believe the musical confirms, very subtly, what I believe. That absolutely no one - not Judas, not the children of Jerusalem, not Herod - no one is outside the love of God.
There is no one outside the love of God - even those who commit violence and sin against God and one another.
With that question answered, perhaps our minds are turning to the Herods or even Caesars, the Judases and all those who commit violence and harm their neighbor in today’s world. Too many, O Lord, too many.
As Christians the knowledge that God loves all unconditionally and that God desires to enfold all of us, all of THEM too, under God’s wing, well…it changes things.
Is [insert name of the most vile, violent person you can think of here] loved by God unconditionally?
Is Putin loved by God?
The answer we are forced to come to is - yes. You are loved by God unconditionally. And so is he. And many others who we call our enemies.
Now, I want to be very clear - God’s unconditional love does not mean that we are not to be held accountable to our actions - it does not mean that our sins against God and neighbor are excused - it does not mean that God does not hate evil.
So when it comes to the utter and absolute evil of waging war - God hates it. It is an abomination in God’s eyes.
The last time I preached this text, it was three years ago, right after the start of the Ukrainian War. I said this to my congregation - and I am going to just quote myself from three years ago because while a lot has been changed and politicized about this war, our response as Christians, as people of peace, should not change.
I said:
“The events happening in Ukraine are nothing short of evil. And we can and need to call them that. Civilians are being bombed. Formerly agreed upon humanitarian corridors are being mined. Maternity hospitals and apartment complexes destroyed. Children killed. And the evil atrocities of war have no end in sight.
We need to be praying. We pray for peace. We pray that each and every person carrying out the evil sins of war would realize that they are loved by God unconditionally. And if they are loved by God unconditionally, so are those they kill and harm. God wishes to gather all of God’s children under God’s wing. And when we’re all gathered under the wing of God, all in God’s fierce, protective, all encompassing, unconditional love - there is no room for war, no room for hate, no room for anything but peace and love.x
Three years later, we still need to be praying for peace daily. We still need to working towards peace daily.
Ann Weems who was a Presbyterian minister and poet wrote this poem called “I No Longer Pray for Peace.” I’d like to share it with you this morning:
“On the edge of war, one foot already in,
I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.
I pray that stone hearts will turn
to tenderheartedness,
and evil intentions will turn
to mercifulness,
and all the soldiers already deployed
will be snatched out of harm's way,
and the whole world will be
astounded onto its knees.
I pray that all the "God talk"
will take bones,
and stand up and shed
its cloak of faithlessness,
and walk again in its powerful truth.
I pray that the whole world might
sit down together and share
its bread and its wine.
Some say there is no hope,
but then I've always applauded the holy fools
who never seem to give up on
the scandalousness of our faith:
that we are loved by God......
that we can truly love one another.
I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.”
So this morning, may we pray for miracles. That every single person on this earth would know that YOU, THEY, ALL, are loved unconditionally by God. May the miracle of peace follow.
Amen.
YOU - Yes, YOU (Name names of people present) - go ahead and say your name aloud for me. YOU.
Unconditionally. Cannot be earned. Cannot be bought. Cannot be worked for. AND there is nothing that can be done - to you or by you - to make that love go away - Romans 8: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, not depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. UNCONDITIONALLY.
God. Loves. You. Unconditionally.
Amen.
…
And I really debated ending my sermon here today! And yet .. I could talk all day about God’s unconditional love - or at least for the 10 or so minutes of a sermon. So I thought I'd go on…So filled with the wonderful knowledge of God’s love, let’s turn our attention to today’s Gospel lesson.
In our short, 5 verse, Gospel reading from Luke today, Jesus uses two animal metaphors. First, Herod as a fox. Secondly, the people of Jerusalem as a brood of chicks and Jesus as the mother hen, gathering them under her wing.
Let’s talk first about Jesus as a mother hen.
Mother hens nestle their chicks in their wings.
They just tuck them under there: safe, secure, loved. Mother hens are fiercely protective of their chicks. They will fight off any sort of animal that they think is a threat - in preparation for this sermon I watched hens fighting off cats and goats and crows and dogs and people and hawks…all while doing their best to protect their chicks. Hens are a symbol of motherhood and a mother’s love. They sit on their eggs, turning them even up to 30 times a day - a few days before the eggs hatch the chicks inside start to peep, talking to their mother, and the mother hen talks back. The chicks go under her wings not just for protection from predators but also the elements and for warmth and comfort…
Truly, a parent’s love. And this is the love that Jesus is expressing for those in Jerusalem - the children of Jerusalem, his children - God’s children…and we are all God’s children. AND I want to point out what he says about them first: He says:
“Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.'
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
Jesus knows that he goes to Jerusalem to be killed. Jesus knows that he goes to Jerusalem to suffer and die. He is a prophet who will be killed in Jerusalem, scorned, betrayed, hurt…bleeding and dying at the hands of those in Jerusalem.
And yet! In the very same breath that he says “They will kill me” he also says “I want to gather them as a mother hen gathers her brood under her wings.” Because there is nothing, nothing, that will separate the children of God from their Divine parents’ love. Not even killing him. Jesus loves you unconditionally. Jesus loves them unconditionally.
So now let’s talk about the other animal mentioned in the Scripture today, a fox aka Herod. There are 6 Herods mentioned in the Bible and this Herod is Herod of Antipas. The son of Herod the Great - or well, the not so Great - we know him from the Christmas story where he ordered the mass slaughter of children and infants under 2. Herod of Antipas followed in his father’s footsteps in being the governor of the Palestine area that he ruled under the Roman Empire. He was the one who, by request of his daughter, had John the Baptist, Jesus’s cousin, beheaded. He is the one who, Jesus would appear before his crucifixion although Herod would send him back to Pilate. In calling him a fox it would be seen as an insult - he is the puppet of the Lion, of the emperor, the one with actual power. A fox is one who uses deceit to achieve his goals, not real power. But also - foxes kill hens.
I did look up and watch a video of a fox killing a hen…I wouldn't recommend it.
But again - if Jesus loves his children in Jerusalem with the unconditional love of a mother - does God the Mother Hen love the fox too? If he loves those who will abuse and kill him in Jerusalem, I’d say that Herod is loved too, the fox, gathered under her wing.
Jesus loves you unconditionally. Jesus loves them unconditionally.
Which leads us to the question: Who is outside the love of God? Is anyone?
I am a fan of the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Anyone else here a fan? I believe one of the central themes or questions underlying this musical is: Is Judas beyond the love of God? At the end of the production that was performed at Playhouse Square several years ago, the final scene…. it ends with Jesus and Judas, post-Crucifixion and post-suicide, sitting side by side and looking at each other. No words. This was a directorial choice. And I believe the musical confirms, very subtly, what I believe. That absolutely no one - not Judas, not the children of Jerusalem, not Herod - no one is outside the love of God.
There is no one outside the love of God - even those who commit violence and sin against God and one another.
With that question answered, perhaps our minds are turning to the Herods or even Caesars, the Judases and all those who commit violence and harm their neighbor in today’s world. Too many, O Lord, too many.
As Christians the knowledge that God loves all unconditionally and that God desires to enfold all of us, all of THEM too, under God’s wing, well…it changes things.
Is [insert name of the most vile, violent person you can think of here] loved by God unconditionally?
Is Putin loved by God?
The answer we are forced to come to is - yes. You are loved by God unconditionally. And so is he. And many others who we call our enemies.
Now, I want to be very clear - God’s unconditional love does not mean that we are not to be held accountable to our actions - it does not mean that our sins against God and neighbor are excused - it does not mean that God does not hate evil.
So when it comes to the utter and absolute evil of waging war - God hates it. It is an abomination in God’s eyes.
The last time I preached this text, it was three years ago, right after the start of the Ukrainian War. I said this to my congregation - and I am going to just quote myself from three years ago because while a lot has been changed and politicized about this war, our response as Christians, as people of peace, should not change.
I said:
“The events happening in Ukraine are nothing short of evil. And we can and need to call them that. Civilians are being bombed. Formerly agreed upon humanitarian corridors are being mined. Maternity hospitals and apartment complexes destroyed. Children killed. And the evil atrocities of war have no end in sight.
We need to be praying. We pray for peace. We pray that each and every person carrying out the evil sins of war would realize that they are loved by God unconditionally. And if they are loved by God unconditionally, so are those they kill and harm. God wishes to gather all of God’s children under God’s wing. And when we’re all gathered under the wing of God, all in God’s fierce, protective, all encompassing, unconditional love - there is no room for war, no room for hate, no room for anything but peace and love.x
Three years later, we still need to be praying for peace daily. We still need to working towards peace daily.
Ann Weems who was a Presbyterian minister and poet wrote this poem called “I No Longer Pray for Peace.” I’d like to share it with you this morning:
“On the edge of war, one foot already in,
I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.
I pray that stone hearts will turn
to tenderheartedness,
and evil intentions will turn
to mercifulness,
and all the soldiers already deployed
will be snatched out of harm's way,
and the whole world will be
astounded onto its knees.
I pray that all the "God talk"
will take bones,
and stand up and shed
its cloak of faithlessness,
and walk again in its powerful truth.
I pray that the whole world might
sit down together and share
its bread and its wine.
Some say there is no hope,
but then I've always applauded the holy fools
who never seem to give up on
the scandalousness of our faith:
that we are loved by God......
that we can truly love one another.
I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.”
So this morning, may we pray for miracles. That every single person on this earth would know that YOU, THEY, ALL, are loved unconditionally by God. May the miracle of peace follow.
Amen.
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