Friendship

The Book of Genesis recounts that in a time before history,Abraham, whom Jews,Christians, and Muslims all claim as forefather, was visited by three men. (We know they are G-d and two angels.) The two men go on to investigate stories of wickedness in the city of Sodom (crimes unspecified, but possibly preying on travelers on a trade route.) G-d stays behind and tells Abraham he intends to destroy Sodom. Abraham argues that good people should not be punished with evildoers, and G-d agrees that if there are fifty good men, he will spare the city. Abraham argues the number down to forty-five, then forty, thirty, twenty, and finally G-d agrees that if Sodom holds only ten righteous men, the city will not be destroyed. (Genesis 18:26-33)

In 1839, the United States and Great Britain had outlawed slave trade across the Atlantic Ocean, but Spain had not. The movie “Amistad” (meaning “friendship”] recounts that a group of men and women were captured in West Africa and transported in the Portuguese schooner Amistad to be plantation slaves in Cuba. The captives mutinied. The ship was seized by the US revenue cutter Washington, and the Africans were incarcerated in Connecticut. Officers of the Washington claimed the Amistad and its cargo (including the African captives) as salvage. The Spanish were charged with enslaving Africans. Spain requested that the captives be returned to Cuba under international treaty. The movie recounts the efforts of US citizens to learn communicate with the captives and support their quest for freedom instead of slavery. Our religious forebears were among those supporters.

All of the men of Sodom tried to rape the strangers who were really G-d’s angels, and the city was destroyed (Genesis 19:1-13, 23-25.) The human issues presented by the Amistad involved national and international laws and treaties and were finally resolved by United States Supreme Court in 1841 (United States v. The Amistad, 40 U.S. 518, 1841.) These stories provide examples of good people whose ideas of friendship extended to protecting even strangers who were in danger. May we always be ready to do the same.

Lyn Pickhover, Trying

Good

I was rereading John Shelby Spong’s book Born of a Woman, to get ahead on planning the next Advent Bible study, and found the latest Westar 4th R magazine in my mailbox. The entire issue was devoted to memories of Jack Spong, whom many have credited with making it possible to return to church after being disillusioned by unbelievable teachings from their childhood. Then I watched Rev. Marlayna’s Sunday sermon about a need to engage in politics, that is, the business of the community. (I hereby admit skipping the service and watching the video later.)
Jack Spong made a name for himself by challenging religious interpretations (including Biblical passages) that created “us and them” divisions and subtly dehumanized the “other.” He would have been front and center cheering Rev. Marlayna’s presentation that both the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament) and the story of Jesus celebrated good news to the poor, release to captives, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed. How right to conclude that Jesus focused more on our earthly mission of community responsibility rather than earning individual access to a heavenly afterlife. (Or maybe taking care of others was the way to “earn” heaven.)
I whole-heartedly agree that it is our Christian duty to confront evil and stand with its victims. But sometimes evil is so sneaky that we tend to miss it. Last week the Bible study topic was the parable usually called “The Good Samaritan.” You know the story: A resident of Jewish Jerusalem takes a long walk through barren and dangerous hills down to Jerico on the west bank of the Jordan River. (Yes, think a modern reference.) Set upon by robbers, he is found, half-dead, by a Samaritan, an enemy who goes out of his way to care for the victim. In good Jesus fashion there are surprises: indifferent priest, indifferent Levite; the expected caring Jew turns out to be a hated Samaritan.
Today we celebrate the “Good Samaritan,” naming all sorts of admirable works after him.” But wait! We don’t talk about a “Good Canadian” or a “Good Franklinite” because such designation would imply that other Canadians or Franklinites were not so good. Calling a single Samaritan “good” is a way of asserting that, to the Jews of Jesus’ day, Samaritans in general were bad. They were “others” to be feared because they were not part of the favored tribe. Unfortunately, our scriptures and history are full of such veiled disparagements.
May we be vigilant against such hidden disrespect.

Lyn Pickhover, Trying to Be More Aware

January 30th Worship Information

Information for this Sunday’s Worship

Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
January 30, 2022 - 10 am

(found on church website Franklinfederated.org and FaceBook page and in-person!)

Service will still be live-streamed for all who cannot attend in person.

Order of Worship:

• Prelude

• Welcome and Announcements

• Call to Worship

• Hymn: # 687 "In Christ There is No East or West”

• Scripture Reading: Luke 4:21-30

• Sermon: “Who’s the Favorite?”

• Pastoral Prayer

• Lord’s Prayer

• Hymn: "Sent Forth by God's Blessing” (from THE NEW CENTURY HYMNAL, #76)

• Benediction

• Postlude

Link to scripture: Luke 4:21-30

Hymns for Sunday, January 30, 2022
#687 In Christ There is No East or West
― Sent Forth By God's Blessing (TNCH)

Sermon: “Was Jesus Political?

Scripture Reading:  Luke 4:14-21

The Beginning of Jesus’ Galilean Ministry

14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
        to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to let the oppressed go free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Sermon:  “Was Jesus Political?

As some of you may know, I grew up in an evangelical Christian family.  I was taught at an early age that believing in Jesus and trusting him to save our individual souls was the most important thing that anyone could do.  That mindset permeated every aspect of my life, as was illustrated by one of my favorite jokes when I was a teenager, which went something like this:  A girl is sitting in a theatre and next to her is an empty seat.  Someone comes up and asks the girl, “Excuse me, is this seat saved?”  And the girl’s response is:  “No, but I’m praying for it!”  Get it?  “saved!”  Salvation was always on our minds…

So, if someone had come up to me when I was a teenager and asked me, “Was Jesus political?”  Which, no one ever did, but if they had, I am sure that my response would have been, “No, of course not, Jesus doesn’t care about politics.  He cares about our souls.” 

The Social Justice Team here at Franklin Federated Church is reading a book called, The Politics of Jesus.  It was recommended to us by Rev. Harris, who led the Diversity Training that many of us took part in last fall.  By the way, if you are interested in reading and discussing this book with the Social Justice Team, you are welcome to.  We have discussed the first part of the book--and we’ll have another discussion of the second part of the book on February 23rd by Zoom, and anyone is welcome to join us.

The author of the book, Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., had a similar upbringing to mine--in terms of the emphasis of his family and his church on the salvation of individual souls.  (For the record, he doesn’t mention any corny religious jokes. J)   His book chronicles how his understanding of Jesus changed as he grew up and began to reflect on the causes of human suffering and what the Scriptures have to say about it.  It’s fair to say that Obery Hendricks dedicated his life to understanding the ministry of Jesus and how it relates to the human condition.  He became a Biblical scholar, professor, and president of a seminary.  He kept his passion for Jesus and Jesus’ teachings, and, the more he studied, the more Dr. Hendricks began to see that Jesus’ emphasis wasn’t only--or even mainly--on saving individual souls so that people could get into heaven--rather, Jesus’ emphasis was on liberation:  freeing people now, in this life, from “fear and oppression and exploitation.”  (p. 4)

He says this on p. 5 of his book:

…Jesus of Nazareth was a political revolutionary.  Now, to say that he was “political” doesn’t mean that he sought to start yet another protest party in Galilee.  Nor does it mean that he was ‘involved in politics’ in the sense that we know it today, with its bargaining and compromises and power plays and partisanship.  And it certainly doesn’t mean that he wanted to wage war or overthrow the Roman Empire by force.

          To say that Jesus was a political revolutionary is to say that the message he proclaimed not only called for change in individual hearts but also demanded sweeping and comprehensive change in the political, social and economic structures in his setting in life:  colonized Israel…

That is quite a sweeping statement, I realize, but what I love about this book is that Obery Hendricks gives specifics:  example after example of how our Scriptures bear this out. 

Today’s Scripture Reading, set by the Lectionary, is a case in point.  In this sermon, I am going to dive into various aspects of this Scripture and then talk about how it could apply to us today.  Today’s reading describes Jesus speaking in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth at the beginning of his ministry.  The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary refers to today’s passage as a “keynote” to the entire ministry of Jesus, “setting the perspective from which it is to be understood.” (NIB, p. 102) As was the custom in synagogue worship in Jesus’ day, Jesus stood up to read, and when the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, he unrolled it and chose the passage he wanted to read.  We would identify the passage he read as coming from Isaiah, Chapter 61, verse 1, and Isaiah 58:6.  After he read, Jesus sat down to teach, in the posture of a first century rabbi.

The verses Jesus read clearly lay out his understanding of what he was called by God to do:

1.     To bring good news to the poor

2.     To proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind

3.     To let the oppressed go free

4.     To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Obery Hendricks in his book examines each of these callings.  I will take each in turn, and highlight Hendricks’ main points. 

1.     To bring good news to the poor.  Dr. Hendricks points out that the Greek word used here for poor is ptochois, which “indicates a collective or class identity.”  In other words, Jesus’ ministry will involve bringing radical change to the literal circumstances of a whole group of people whom the institutions of society have kept down. (p. 8)  We in the church sometimes gloss over the fact that Jesus was speaking of literal poverty here.  When we read the word “poor” in the gospels, our minds may naturally jump to a metaphorical interpretation, associating it with the phrase “poor in spirit” used in the Sermon on the Mount.  But the phrase “poor in spirit” comes from the Gospel of Matthew, and it’s not a phrase that Luke uses.  When Jesus in the Gospel of Luke speaks of the poor, it is always literal poverty that he is addressing.  In Luke’s gospel, Jesus makes it clear that God is committed to drastically changing the actual circumstances of the poor, not just changing their spiritual state.  (Eg, Luke 14:13, 21; 16:20, 22; 18:22; 21:3) 

2.     To proclaim release to the captives.  Hendricks asserts that it would have been obvious to Jesus’ contemporaries-- and those in the early church hearing these words-- that Jesus was calling for the literal release of people who were unjustly suffering in Roman prisons.  It was common knowledge that “Roman jails were full of political prisoners and those reduced to penury by economic exploitation.”  (p. 8)  And when Jesus proclaimed “recovery of sight to the blind,” he was not just speaking metaphorically there either.  Roman prisons were places where captives literally sat in darkness, far from the light of day, unable to see the world around them.  I Googled “Roman prisons in the first century” and found this description:  “[Roman prisons were] “filthy, poorly ventilated, and underground.”  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisons_in_ancient_Rome#:~:text=The%20prisons%20were%20filthy%2C%20poorly,not%20have%20had%20individual%20cells.)  Hendricks’ assertion is that Jesus is making a political statement here by calling for the literal release of people unfairly locked away in the dark depths of Roman prisons. 

3.     To let the oppressed go free.  Hendricks points out that the word translated into English as “oppressed” is from the Greek word thraw-o, which means “oppress or crush” and refers to those experiencing the “crushing weight of the empire.” (p. 8)  And when Jesus says

4.     To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, he is referring to the practice of “Jubilee” described in the Hebrew Scriptures, the book of Leviticus, chapter 25, where after a 49 year cycle, land that had been sold off as a last resort to pay creditors or had been unjustly acquired in some way had to be returned to the family of its original owners, in order to maintain a fair and just distribution of wealth among the people. 

After quoting these specific verses from the prophet Isaiah, and then sitting down in the posture of a rabbi to say, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” it would have been clear to all listening to him what Jesus understood to be his calling from God.  Jesus understood his ministry to be dedicated to making sweeping changes to society, which is a political act.  (Politics being defined by my dictionary app as “activities associated with the governance of a country or other area…especially when concerned with power and status in a society…) 

Okay, I know today’s sermon style has been more academic than my usual style, so let me stop here and turn to more traditional preaching--bringing it home with the question, what difference does all of this make to us?  That, of course, is a question each of us needs to sit with in prayer, but let me suggest some possibilities, beginning by sharing what difference it makes to me.   

Since Jesus didn’t spiritualize people’s predicaments or tell them that they should simply put up with suffering, then neither should I.  If Jesus emphasized that the Spirit of God called him to address the politics of his day, then as someone who calls myself a follower of Jesus, I should not be afraid to follow in his footsteps and prayerfully address the politics of my day.    

If Jesus proclaimed relief for those who were crushed by the economic system of his day, liberation for those who were unfairly victimized by the justice system, and reparations for those who were treated unfairly, then I should do the same. 

Can I--can we-- identify places in our society where we see these things happening?  The erosion of voting rights, for example.  The disproportionate number of African Americans in our prisons.  The way climate change affects the poor much more than the rich or even middle class.  I’m sure you can think of other examples as well.  Can we speak out when we see unfair discrimination happening?  Can we ask questions?  Can we vote for local, state, and federal politicians who prioritize the needs of the poor and minorities, the people whom Jesus prioritized?  Can we call out politicians who prioritize the interests of the rich over the interests of the poor?  Can we look for and listen to the experiences of people who have been victims of oppression and ask them how we could help rather than assuming that we already know how? 

May God be with us--each and all-- as we prayerfullly figure out how to get involved in political action for Jesus’ sake. 

Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt

Franklin Federated Church

Franklin, MA

January 23rd Worship Information

Information for this Sunday’s Worship

Third Sunday After Epiphany
January 23, 2022 - 10 am

(found on church website Franklinfederated.org and FaceBook page and in-person!)

Service will still be live-streamed for all who cannot attend in person.

Order of Worship:

• Prelude

• Welcome and Announcements

• Call to Worship

• Hymn: #464 “God of Grace and God of Glory”

• Scripture Reading: Luke 4:14-21

• Sermon: “Was Jesus Political?”

• Pastoral Prayer

• Lord’s Prayer

• Hymn: #469 “I Am the Light of the World”

• Benediction

• Postlude

Link to scripture: Luke 4:14-21

Hymns for Sunday, January 23, 2022
#464 God of Grace and God of Glory
#469 I Am the Light of the World

Sermon: “Filling up the Emptiness”

Scripture:  John 2:1-11

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.  When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “they have no wine.”  And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?  My hour has not yet come.”  His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”  Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.  Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.”  And they filled them up to the brim.  He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.”  So they took it.  When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk.  But you have kept the good wine until now.”  Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 

 Sermon:  “Filling up the Emptiness”

The first part of our scripture passage today reads like a short story by Hemingway—the details are very sparse.  On the 3rd day there is a wedding in Cana of Galilee.  Jesus is there.  The mother of Jesus is there.  So are the disciples.  But the gospel writer is not telling me anything I want to know about this wedding!  Who are the bride and groom?  How are they connected to Jesus and his mother?  Are they followers of Jesus—or were they simply friends from the neighborhood?

But, these details are not important to the gospel writer.  What is important?  Apparently the answer is to be found in verse 6, because this is where the writer finally offers up an abundance of details:

 “Now standing there are six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 to 30 gallons.” 

I paid enough attention in high school English class to know that when a writer spends a lot of time and energy describing something, there is usually some symbolism that we are supposed to pay attention to. 

So, I invite you to reflect on the jars with me this morning. 

First of all, they’re empty.  They were supposed to hold water for religious rituals, rituals of purification, of hand-washing that would normally have been performed at meals and feasts, but they’re holding nothing.

The emptiness of the jars suggests a lot to me.

Maybe the religious rituals themselves were empty.  Maybe the rituals no longer held meaning for the people, so the jars sat unused, pushed aside, irrelevant to the lives of the couple getting married—and their guests. 

Or maybe the empty jars point to the emptiness of the people.  We all know that emptiness is part of the human experience.  There are times when all of us feel empty—when loss leaves a void in our lives, when work is unfulfilling, when we lose faith in someone we used to respect-- a partner, a colleague, a leader of our country.  At those times we may well feel like a cold, stone jar—that’s supposed to be brimming with water and life, but instead has nothing inside. 

But then something happens.  Our scripture passage today is an Epiphany story.  In church, we are in the season of Epiphany, the time of the year that we celebrate those “ah-ha” moments when the light gets turned on.  In our story, the light of God’s glory shines through Jesus into those jars.  At Jesus’ request, the servants fill the jars with water, and when they draw some out, it becomes wine. 

And not just cheap wine, like the kind that comes in a box, but good wine.  In fact, such good wine, that the wine steward can’t even believe it!  And not just a few drops of it either.  The gospel writer was eager to tell us that each jar holds 20 to 30 gallons, so if we do the math, we’re talking 120 to 180 gallons of good wine.  Clearly an abundance. 

Some of the first readers of the gospel would, no doubt, have recognized the symbol of abundant wine in this story, for it was a common motif in Greek folklore.  In Greek folklore, a miraculous supply of wine was often a sign of the presence of a god.   Further, and perhaps more relevant to our story, many of the first readers of this gospel would also know that in the writings of the Hebrew Bible, an abundance of good wine was a sign of the joyous arrival of God’s new age. 

So, what is this story trying to get across?  That the time of empty religious rituals is over.  That our time of personal emptiness will have an end.   God is present in our daily lives and can take our emptiness and fill it with joy and hope.  Not that our circumstances will always—or even often—miraculously improve overnight, but as we ask God to fill us, God will do just that—and bring us the joy and hope that we may not have dared to believe was possible. 

Let me give you an example.  Years ago I had a friend who told me about a very empty time in her life.  She was between jobs, her marriage was falling apart, and she told me that at the time she felt so depressed that she didn’t even have the energy to make herself a tuna-fish sandwich.  But slowly, she got her life back on track.  She put her faith in God, she found a good therapist, she found a job she liked, and she was able to stay strong even when her marriage ended.  It took lots of prayer and a concerted effort to keep moving ahead one step at a time (sometimes it was 2 steps forward, one back), but as she moved forward step by step, God filled up her empty jar with good, new wine, more than she ever thought possible. 

I believe that God’s Spirit still works to fill up empty jars-- not only on a personal level, but also on a political one.   These days with the pandemic dragging on and daily news of more political rancor within and between countries, exhaustion and anxiety is constantly nipping at everyone’s heels.  And, if we’re not vigilant, we can find ourselves empty, as individuals and a country-- our emotional and physical reserves spent before we even realize they’re gone.  And what’s worse, when we’re feeling exhausted and empty, it is so much easier to re-fill our reserves with bitterness and hate rather than with God’s good wine. 

But we are not called to do what is easy.  We, as Christians, are called to follow Jesus.  We are called to look to God both in times of joy and in times of crisis.  We are called to ground ourselves in God’s Love, as our Scripture from last week reminded us, and then we are called to step out in faith, asking God to fill us with good wine--not for our own sake alone, but so that we can be used by God to bless our world. 

On this Martin Luther King weekend, we remember his strong witness to God’s Love in a world that was often hostile to his message.  But what always strikes me most about Rev. Dr. King’s life and witness is that he effected change not through hate but through love.  Rev. King had every reason to hate the people who railed against him, the people who threatened him and his family and demeaned him for the color of his skin and the audacity of his message, but he did not give in to hate.  He grounded himself in God’s Love, and he continued to find the courage to speak out against injustice--preaching equality and calling out unjust behavior,  in ways that did not demean the humanity of his enemies. 

Let me quote a portion of Rev. Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, which was the keynote address given in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for Civil Rights.  Commenting on the way the vast majority of his hearers-- regardless of their race--reacted to the call for justice in this speech, Rev. Dr. King’s wife Coretta King once said, “At that moment, it seemed as if the Kingdom of God appeared.  But it lasted only for a moment.” 

Rev. Dr. King writes:

Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.  We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.  We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.  Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force…We cannot turn back.  There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?”  We can ever be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality…We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one…  We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.  No, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. 

Powerful words, aren’t they?!  And it’s clear that nearly 60 years later we still have work to do.  My friends, in our world today, we are called to do that work.  We are called to follow the example of Dr. King.   We are called to invite God’s Love to fill and re-fill us daily--through prayer and meditation--as Jesus filled the empty jars at the wedding with good wine.  And then, from that centered position, we are called to live out that love by seeking justice for all people--in both personal and political arenas, as Dr. King did, as Jesus did, speaking out for those whom society demeans.  May God use us to love our neighbors, ourselves and our enemies, and may God strengthen us to preach equality and to call out unjust behavior wherever we see it-- in our enemies, our neighbors, and even in ourselves.  Let us pray: 

Infinite God of all peoples and all places, you created the earth, with its mountains and valleys, oceans and plains, and you have filled it with extravagant abundance.  Yet humanity has parceled out your good earth in unequal shares and built great armaments to protect our separate parcels.  Forgive us, O God, and teach us how to share.  Make us more generous on a personal level, and give us the courage and strength to incorporate generosity into our human systems on a political level.  Rid us of injustice and discrimination, that all may share in your bounty.  Breathe your Spirit of unity into all peoples, that the world may live in harmony, and war shall be no more; through Jesus, the power of peace, we pray. 

Hear now our specific prayers.  First, for our country and our world.

As the spike in Covid cases continues to increase, we pray for health care professionals.  We pray for those who are sick themselves, and pray that they recover quickly.  We pray for those who are overworked and stressed--that you will help them to find times to rest physically and emotionally--and that they stay alert and able to work when they are on duty. 

We pray for people who are still fearful of the vaccine or feel it is unnecessary.  Help them to trust their own doctors’ advice and get vaccinated for their own sake and their families--and to prevent hospital overcrowding which is causing pain and deepening illness for more and more people.

- Afghan refugee family re-settling in Franklin area this week.

[An earlier version of this sermon was written and preached by Marlayna on Jan 14, 2007.  ]

January 16th - Second Sunday After Epiphany

Information for this Sunday’s Worship

Second Sunday After Epiphany

January 16, 2022 - 10 am

(found on church website Franklinfederated.org and FaceBook page and in-person!)

Service will still be live-streamed for all who cannot attend in person.

Order of Worship:

• Prelude

• Welcome and Announcements

• Social Justice Testimonial

• Call to Worship

• Hymn: #351 “Fill My Cup, Lord”

• Scripture Reading: John 2:1-11

• Sermon: “Filling up the Emptiness”

• Pastoral Prayer

• Lord’s Prayer

• Hymn: #261 “Sweet, Sweet Spirit”

• Benediction

• Postlude

Link to scripture: John 2:1-11

Hymns for Sunday, January 16, 2022
#351 Fill My Cup, Lord
#261 Sweet, Sweet Spirit

Sermon: “Soaking in the Spirit”

Scripture Reading:  Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Sermon:  “Soaking in the Spirit”

Do you ever feel frantic?  Unsettled?  Off-kilter?  I know I did last week when I had to go to the dentist fearful that I needed a root canal!  But root canals aren’t the only things that unsettle us.  Everyday life can be pretty unsettling even in the best of times, never-mind when we’re all trying to navigate the shifting sands of a pandemic.  You know what I’m talking about.  Between work, children, grand-children, parents, volunteering, managing a household, taking care of ourselves, staying informed, doing what we can to make the world a better place--all while attempting to manage the ever-changing protocols around Covid, our lives can get very full-- and sometimes that fullness spills over into franticness.  I say sometimes, but these days it seems to be more often than not.  Doesn’t it?! 

Now, before I increase our collective anxiety level any more than I have already, let me tell you some good news.  (Of course, this is news which you already know, but we can all stand to be reminded of.)  There are things we can do to counteract the franticness in our lives.  There are things we can do to be more centered, more at peace, calmer, more tranquil. 

And you’re all doing one of those things right now.  It’s like that old TV commercial from the 1970’s, when Madge, the manicurist, is trying to sell her client on the curative properties of Palmolive dishwashing liquid.  You may remember it.  As a woman is getting her nails done, she has her hand submerged in what she thought was a moisturizing solution, but then Madge tells her, “No, it’s Palmolive.  Dishwashing liquid.  You’re soaking in it.”  (If you’re too young to remember this commercial--I’m jealous!  I mean, you can look it up on You-tube. J)

But, my point is this--similar to the woman whose hand is submerged in Palmolive, you are submerged in worship right now.  You are soaking in God’s peace (which, incidentally, is much better for you than dishwashing liquid.)  You have taken an hour out of your schedule, and you have come here, to this sacred space-- in-person or virtually--to this place which has light pouring in the windows and crosses in the architecture reminding us of God’s love and power to resurrect new life out of hopeless situations.  You have come here to let music and singing lift your spirits.  You have come here to pray and to breathe and to remind yourself that there is something larger than just us.  That life has meaning.  That God is with you.  That Jesus walks by your side.

You have come to hear the ancient stories of scripture, which are full of life-giving symbols.  Symbols, that when meditated upon, when allowed to soak into our psyche, can alleviate and disarm franticness.  

Take today’s scripture passage, for instance.  The story of Jesus’ baptism is one of the most powerful, evocative stories in all of scripture.  Jesus walks down into the waters of the Jordan River, where he is baptized by his cousin, John, and then, when he is coming up out of the water, the heavens open, and the Spirit of God descends on him, like a dove, and he hears a voice from heaven saying, “You are my son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.”

This is a story that I meditate on when I am feeling frantic.  

I thought I would share with you today one of the techniques that I use to meditate on Scripture.  I share it with you because I didn’t learn how to meditate on Scripture until I went to seminary--I didn’t even know that meditation was a thing that Christians did.  I thought it was part of only Eastern religions.  I wish I’d learned about it much sooner in church.  So all that to say, if you already know how to meditate on Scripture, I hope this will be a helpful review.  but if you don’t know how or it’s not part of your devotional practice, I hope this technique is something you consider trying.  (There are other techniques as well that help us meditate on Scripture, but I’ll just go over one in today’s sermon.) 

I read through a Scripture passage, and when a phrase speaks to me, stands out for some reason, I repeat it over and over again throughout the day.  Sometimes I say it out loud; sometimes I repeat it silently to myself.  Using today’s passage as an example, the phrase that stands out most to me is God saying to Jesus, “You are my son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.”  This phrase became a mantra for me this week as I prepared for this sermon.  As I repeated it to myself, I changed the word “son” to “child” and I imagined God saying it not just to Jesus, but to me as well.  And I soaked in the peace of the Spirit. 

A cool thing about meditation is when we repeat a phrase over and over again, whether we are sitting with our eyes closed in prayer or going about our day doing other things, sometimes insights come to us which feel like a surprise gift from God.  In fact, this happened to me yesterday.  I was repeating the phrase in my head “You are my child, the beloved, with you I am well pleased” while I was driving to Walgreens on a mundane errand, and I had a sudden insight.  When I was repeating the phrase, it suddenly occurred to me that God declared God’s love and favor to Jesus before Jesus had started his ministry.  Before Jesus had done anything noteworthy or noble or particularly amazing, God declares God’s love and favor.  In other words, Jesus did not earn God’s favor, God loved Jesus simply because he was God’s child, he belonged to God.  It occurred to me that the same thing is true of us.  We do not need to do anything to earn God’s favor; we’ve already got it.  God looks at us and loves us from the beginning simply because we are God’s children.  And that’s an insight that came to me through meditation, thanks be to God.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that meditation should be our only spiritual discipline.  (There are many other important spiritual disciples, such as study, intercessory prayer, care for each other).  I’m also not saying that meditation alone will magically solve all of the world’s problems.  What I am saying is that meditating on Scripture is one excellent technique to counteract the franticness that is part of our daily lives, franticness that adds to the tensions in our world. 

And meditating on this passage in particular helps to ground us in the love of God.  Which may be part of the reason why the people who put together the lectionary (the list of readings set for Sunday mornings in churches across the country) always include the accounts of Jesus’ baptism on the second Sunday of the new year.  They want us to start off each year grounded in God’s love.  I’m sure that’s not the whole reason why they’ve chosen this reading for this day, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were part of the reason.

And here’s why that’s important.  When we are grounded in the love of God, when we truly believe that we are God’s beloved children, then our actions flow out of a place of peace and wholeness.  When we are grounded in God’s love, then we act in ways that are in sync with God’s values of justice and inclusion.  When we are grounded in God’s love, we do not lash out in anger with our hackles up.  We do not try to get our own way at the expense of others or forge ahead with our own plans that do not take others’ needs into account.  We listen and care and take stands and speak out and allow God to work in and through us-- and we pray for God to work in and through others as well--because we know that God loves the whole world, not just us. Or people like us.

When we act from a centered place like this, then our actions are deliberate, compassionate, and blessed. 

In this new year, may we meditate more on Scripture, and may we meditate on this Scripture in particular.  May we see ourselves as God’s beloved children, baptized by God’s Spirit, empowered to be instruments of God’s Love and Peace in the world, as Jesus was. 

In just a minute, I am going to invite you to participate in

renewal of Baptism ritual.  No pressure.  If you don’t want to participate, feel free to just sit prayerfully where you are and know that God’s love is with you.

But, if you’d like to participate, here’s what I ask you to do.

In a moment, I am going to read the questions on the screen, which are the traditional questions from the UCC book of worship asked at the baptism of an adult, and I invite you to read the responses. 

As you read, I invite you to picture yourself grounded in God’s love, blessed by God’s Spirit, and empowered to act in the world guided by God.

After the questions, I will invite you to take your little bottle of hand sanitizer, squeeze some out onto your hands, and place some on your own forehead, as a reminder of your own baptism.  I chose to use hand santizer today instead of water not because of its magical, germ-killing properties, but because it is a ubiquitous element in our lives these days--even more ubiquitous than water, and I believe the best religious rituals incorporate elements from our everyday lives and imbue them with new meaning.  It is my hope that from now on, every time you use hand sanitizer, you will think of this worship service and remember that you    blessed by God’s love to be God’s agents for good in the world.   

If you have not yet been baptized, please still feel free to participate, as I am sure Jesus would want you to be included.

RENEWAL OF BAPTISMAL VOWS

Pastor:   Do you desire to be baptized into the faith and family of Jesus Christ?

ALL:     I do.

Pastor:    Do you renounce the powers of evil and desire the freedom of new life in Christ?

ALL:      I do.

Pastor:    Do you profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?

ALL:     I do.

Pastor:    Do you promise, by the grace of God, to be Christ’s disciple, to follow in the way of our Savior, to resist oppression and evil, to show love and justice, and to witness to the work and word of Jesus Christ as best you are able? 

ALL:     I promise, with the help of God.

Pastor:    Do you promise, according to the grace given you, to grow in the Christian faith and to be a faithful member of the church of Jesus Christ, celebrating Christ’s presence and furthering Christ’s mission in all the world?

ALL:     I promise, with the help of God. 

Pastor:          I now invite you to spread some sanitizer on your hands and place some of it on your forehead as a reminder of your baptism.  

Let us pray…  Loving God. We thank you for the words of Scripture that remind us of your great love.  We thank you for the gift of baptism, reminding us not only that you love us, but that you also call us to mirror the love and justice of Jesus out in the world.  Forgive us for those times when we cling to our fear, our guilt, or our self-hatred, rather than letting ourselves be warmed and healed by your compassion.  Give us courage to trust you and to let your love flow through us to others.

[An earlier version of this sermon was written by Marlayna and preached on January 13, 2008]

Material not used in this sermon:

A second technique that I use when meditating:  I use my imagination and I picture myself as a participant in the story.  For example, with today’s Scripture, in my mind’s eye I picture myself right there getting baptized along with Jesus.  I imagine what it’s like to be walking barefoot into the Jordon River, to feel the gritty sand ooze between my toes; to feel the cool water splash against my ankles and shins—and then against my forehead as I am baptized.  I imagine what it is like to come up out of the river and to see the clouds part, and the Spirit descending like a dove; to feel the soft feathers of the Spirit’s wings brush gently against my shoulders.  Such visualizations enable us more fully to soak in the peace of the Spirit.

A third technique that I use when meditating:  I focus on one symbol that is present in the passage, and I let my mind run with it.  For example, I see in my mind’s eye the heavens opening and the Spirit of God descending slowly and gracefully like a dove.  And I remember other times when the image of the Dove or the Holy Spirit is mentioned in Scripture.  The Spirit of God, like a dove, hovered over the face of the waters during the story of creation.  The Spirit of God, like a dove, brought news to Noah that the flood waters had subsided and hope was on the horizon.  Then I picture the Spirit of God, like a dove, descending on the world today, and bringing peace to all people, including places that are fraught with tension that need Peace beyond what we humans seem to be able to bring right now:  places such as the border of Ukraine where thousands of Russian troops still remain; immigrant detention centers in Europe and Mexico and Arizona; the United States Congress, where divisions between the parties seem to deepen with each new day.  I picture the Spirit of God descending like a dove.  Such visualizations enable us to expand our compassion for others.

Making Way for God

Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth
Isaiah 40:3-4, Luke 3:4b-5

Guest preacher Rev. Emma Brewer-Wallin began her sermon on protecting our environment
with John the Baptizer’s call to repentance and forgiveness.

As I listened to these well-known verses from 2nd Isaiah, my mind flashed to gravel pits and heavy equipment tearing into hillsides for material to fill low spots for construction. No! No! No!
That’s not how to interpret this passage!

We need to transport ourselves back to the time when the Babylonian captivity was coming
to an end, a time when imagination still had God walking on the earth. Since the principal method
of transportation was one’s own legs and feet, this poetry was a call to straightening out the mixed-
up parts of our lives to make it easier for God to reach us – and for us to reach God.

May we see these words as a challenge to make God’s world a better, brighter place.

Lyn Pickhover, Challenged

A Deacon's Observations on the Movie

I had not watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” for years and noticed three things anew. As a lawyer, I winced several times and waited for George Bailey, supposedly a genuinely good person, to be arrested for assault and battery. Oh, well! Apparently such physical attacks were more acceptable in the movies seventy-five years ago.

A second issue was the disrespectful treatment of the Baileys’ black servant. Again, the film is 75 years old, so maybe there has been a little progress.

My third observation was that the resolution to the hero’s problem was not a return to the status quo ante with the money returned to the rightful owner. Potter still kept money he knew was not his, and the community contributed to solve George’s problem. But was this justice? George and his neighbors remained victims of a selfish rich man. This struck me as a good parallel to parables and acts of Jesus where subjugated individuals banded together for safety in the face of oppression. So Biblical!

Lyn Pickhover, Justice-Seeker

Information for this Sunday’s Worship December 5th, 10 am

(found on church website Franklinfederated.org and FaceBook page and in-person!)

Service will still be live-streamed for all who cannot attend in person.

Order of Worship:

• Prelude

• Welcome & Announcements

• Advent Wreath Litany

• Hymn: #101 NEW CENTURY HYMNAL “Comfort, Comfort O My People”
  Prayer for the Earth - written and read by Peggy Maxwell
  Scripture Reading: Luke 3:1-6

• Sermon: “In the Wilderness”

• Pastoral Prayer

• Lord’s Prayer

• Communion of the Lord’s Supper

• Hymn: #104 NEW CENTURY HYMNAL “We Hail You God’s Anointed”

• Benediction

• Postlude
  

Link to scripture: Luke 3:1-6

Hymns for Sunday, December 5th

― Comfort, Comfort O My People (TNCH)
― We Hail You God's Anointed (TNCH)

Sermon: “It’s a Wonderful Life?”

It’s the first Sunday of Advent, and many people are starting to gear up for Christmas.  On-line and in-person shopping is in full swing.  Decorations are up in churches and businesses and homes.  People are making more travel plans to be with family for the holidays than they did last year.  And, on top of all this, we’ve actually gotten some good news about job numbers and the economy in the past few weeks.  Plus, the verdict in the Ahmaud Arbery trial has led many to voice hope about us potentially turning a corner in terms of the problem of racism in America.  So, all that to say, all these things, taken together combine to form a climate that we might describe as “cautious optimism.”

But then we come to church today, on the first Sunday of Advent, and the Scripture--on first read, anyway-- is kind of harsh.  And the harshness proceeds to squash any optimism we may have been feeling.  My reaction to this traditional reading for the First Sunday of Advent could be summed up by the title of a bad country song I once heard:  “You done stomped on my heart and squashed that sucker flat.”  (My father liked country music, and I was subjected to songs with titles like this on a regular basis.  I have suppressed most of them, but occasionally they surface in my memory…but I digress.  Back to the Scripture…)

To help us understand the jarring aspect of today’s reading--the distress, fear and foreboding that stomp on our hearts, that surround the return of the Son of Man to earth--let me give you a little background on the text.  Advent lectionary readings come from a genre of writing called Apocalyptic Literature, a genre that arose when people of faith were undergoing oppression and persecution.   The most famous examples of Apocalyptic literature in the Bible are found in the book of Revelation in the New Testament and the book of Daniel in the Hebrew Scriptures.  Those books use scary imagery as a kind of code to talk about the persecution and oppression that people were experiencing, but to talk about it in a veiled way that would not further antagonize the authorities who were causing the persecution.

And, oddly enough, though the Apocalyptic images sound scary to us, they were meant “to convey a message of hope and faith” to the people who were going through hard times.  Telling them, in effect, “No matter how bad it looks [and feels right now—even if you feel like the earth is shaking and disaster is about to strike--] don’t give up.  Hang in there.  God is in control.”   And remember that at the end of everything, Love will have the last word.   Further, Apocalyptic passages in the New Testament have the added message:  Jesus the risen Christ will come back again to earth one day, at the end of time, to set up God’s Kingdom permanently.  And when God’s Kingdom comes, then death and evil will be vanquished forever.  Love will ultimately triumph and rule.  So, in the meantime, get with the program-- “watch and work and pray,” and keep on loving your neighbor as yourself so that you will be ready when Christ comes. (preacherrhetorica.com)  

That’s the message of today’s Scripture.  And, it is also the message of the 1947 classic film “It’s a Wonderful Life”--that some of us saw last night, and I bet most of us have seen at some point or other over the years.  Okay, so “it’s a wonderful life” doesn’t specifically refer to the second coming of Christ, but it does clearly convey the message that love will triumph in the end if we watch and work and pray and live out the Golden Rule that Jesus taught:  Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

In case you haven’t seen “it’s a wonderful life”--or haven’t seen it in a long time, let me give a synopsis.  The film follows the life of its main character, George Bailey, who has been described as a “modern day Job.”  (John A. Zukowski, Christmas on the Screen, p. 73)   Like the Biblical character, Job in the Hebrew Scriptures, George Bailey has lived an incredibly ethical life, but, rather than being rewarded as we might expect, he instead suffers for it.  George gives up his dreams and ambitions time after time after time in order to help his neighbors and members of his own family. 

For instance, at age 12, George saves his little brother’s life and, in the process, loses the hearing in his own left ear.  And, a little later, as a kid working in a drug store, George stands up to his boss, risking bodily harm, and prevents a terrible tragedy.  When he’s a young man, George gives up all his own dreams in order to take over the family business and carry out his father’s dream of giving low-interest loans to members of his community so they can build affordable housing.  When there’s a run on the bank, George gives out his own money to assuage his neighbors’ fears.  In short, George Bailey works hard for years, but, like his father before him, George’s hard work and ethical actions do not result in soaring financial success or any financial success at all.  In fact, just the opposite happens. 

We discover that George Bailey ends up on the verge of financial ruin due to a tragic chain of events that occur partway through the movie.  And, through an unexpected conversation with his nemesis--an evil, greedy tycoon named Potter, George comes to the realization that he himself (George) is worth more dead than alive.  And, in a moment of desperation, George decides to jump off a bridge so his family can get the insurance money. 

And this is where the power of prayer comes in!  Interestingly enough, although I’ve seen this movie a number of times since I was a teenager, seeing it last week was the first time I noticed that the movie starts with prayer!  In fact, the first scene is set in the heavenly realm where some angels are listening to the prayers of earth, and it comes to their attention that dozens of people are desperately praying for a beloved man named George Bailey--to help him and keep him safe.  So the angel in charge decides to “send someone down” to help--a guardian angel named Clarence. 

But it’s not clear that Clarence is up to the task.  As his superiors note (rather unkindly, I might say), Clarence is said to have “the I.Q. of a rabbit.”  In fact, we find out that Clarence’s rank is only “angel second class” because although he has been an angel for over 200 years, he has not yet been able to earn his wings.  But, nevertheless, Clarence is sent down when George himself utters a plea while drunk at a bar on Christmas Eve.  “Dear Heavenly Father,” drunken George begins his heart-felt prayer, “I’m not a praying man.  But if you’re up there and you can hear me, can you show me the way?” 

You might think that this would be when the movie turns around.  But no.  George doesn’t like God’s answer to his prayer!  As far as George is concerned, Clarence is no answer at all, and George completely gives up.  “I wish I’d never been born,” George blurts out, and Clarence--in his wisdom or perhaps his desperation-- grants George his wish.

Long story short, Clarence gives George a glimpse of what the world is like without him.  And it’s not a pretty picture.  Everything is bleak.  His nemesis, the evil Tycoon Potter, has exploited everyone and everything, and all the people most important to George are either miserable or dead--or simply do not exist.  In the process, George comes to realize what’s really important in life--and it’s not financial success.  “Please God,” George changes his prayer, “I want to live again!”

The interesting thing about this point in the movie to me is how George’s prayer has changed.  George is not asking for God’s help to stave off financial ruin or to help bail him out of the scandal he had wanted to escape.  George simply wants to live and to be reunited with the people he loves--his family and friends, come what may.  By the end of the movie George has come to understand what’s really important, and it’s not material wealth or financial power or realizing one’s youthful dreams or ambitions.  What’s really important is living ethically, with compassion, and by so doing building a caring community where people treat each other the way they want to be treated. 

And that is the message of our Scripture reading as well.  Verse 34:  “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap…”  In other words, today’s Scripture reminds us that life can be difficult--no matter how much faith we have.  Things happen in this world that weigh us down and cause us distress, through no fault of our own, and having faith does not give us immunity to this pain.  Following Jesus does not mean we do not suffer. 

But, if we keep following Jesus, keep loving our neighbors as ourselves as he taught us, if we keep trusting in God, then we will prevail in the end.  For the Kingdom of God - the kin-dom of relationships -- is eternal.  To quote a modern day prophet (Bob Dylayn), if we “keep on keeping on”--if we keep praying and watching and living our faith, we will stand together through it all-- and find joy and meaning even in the midst of pain.  Let us pray…

Loving God, we are grateful for the gift of life--and for the hope and joy we can find in relationships.  We are also grateful for this time of year and all of the wonderful stories that inspire us--sacred stories of your love in Scripture and secular stories in movies and books and tv that help us find your love in the midst of our everyday lives.  Oh God, in this season that is always a mix of pain and joy, help us to stand firm together, in the faith of Jesus, trusting that despite the difficulties and grief that we may face, your Love will see us through.  Help us to feel your everlasting arms around us and the people we love. 

Hear now our prayers for our community and our world:

As people travel for Thanksgiving and Christmas, we ask that people will do all that they can to stay safe--from travel accidents and from exposure to the corona virus.  Keep us vigilant, O Lord, and despite our frustrations with continued covid protocols, help us to make smart decisions that protect our family and friends and neighbors. 

Bless doctors and researchers as they explore how to respond to the new omicron variant. 

Bless also our country as we respond to the news of the verdict in the Ahmaud Arbery trial.  We are grateful that jurors voted to hold the defendants accountable for their heinous actions.  And, we pray that going forward, as a society, we work to examine the biases that lurk in our hearts and in our systems so that we can live justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you and each other. 

Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt

Franklin Federated Church

Franklin, MA

After Jesus, Before Christianity

When my children were small, I used some of Jesus’ teachings as models of behavior modification,ways of acting to gently influence behavior in others. Little did I expect that early realization would begin a book review.

Deeper study of the Bible brought about the realization that Jesus was helping his followers act out a vision of love in the face of the violence of the Roman Empire of the first century of the Common Era (C.E. instead of A.D.) But then, in the 4th century, the Emperor Constantine co-opted the message to further his hold on peoples Rome had conquered over several centuries. What happened in the centuries between Jesus and Constantine? What happened to Jesus’ message of love and cooperation before it was over-written to support a violent domination system?

The discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library in 1945 proved to be a treasure trove of information about the development of Christianity in those intervening centuries. These 52 texts, many only small fragments, augmented by other archeological discoveries, revealed a range of practices in Jesus’ memory that had been systematically suppressed, first by the early church “Fathers” and later by Constantine’s insistence that Christianity present one unified message to the empire he ruled.
Contributors to the Westar Institute’s Christianity Seminar dug deep into the Bible and other available material from the 1st and 2nd centuries and noted it did not support the traditional party line that Early Christianity presented a single, unitary story about Jesus and his early followers. In fact, they realized that there was no organized “Christianity” until the 4th century C.E. Instead, different groups devised powerful and distinctive ways of remembering the dangerous teachings of an itinerant peasant from Galilee in the early years of the Roman Empire. One thing these early writings had in common was the very creative and courageous ways these illegal gatherings remembered Jesus the Anointed (Christ) in the face of fear, violence and persecution.

Our New Testament and other early “Christian” writings become more powerful and inspiring when read as underground literature opposing the might of the Roman empire.

The Christianity Seminar’s findings are now available as a very readable book, AFTER JESUS, BEFORE CHRISTIANITY (HarperOne, 2021). It’s available in hard back and Kindle. You can find a copy in the Faith Development Room, along with many of the papers and publications on which the book is based. Feel free to sign it out (and please remember to bring it back so other can read it, too.)

Happy reading!

Lyn Pickhover

Information for this Sunday’s WorshipNovember 28th, 10 am

(found on church website Franklinfederated.org and FaceBook page and in-person!) Service will still be live-streamed for all who cannot attend in person.
Order of Worship:

• Prelude

• Welcome & Announcements

• Advent Wreath Litany

• Hymn #135 “Blessed Be the God of Israel”

• Scripture Reading: Luke 21:25-36

• Sermon “It’s a Wonderful Life?”

• Pastoral Prayer

• Lord’s Prayer

• Hymn #125 "Come, O Long-expected Jesus"

• Benediction

• Postlude
  

Link to scripture: Luke 21:25-36

Hymns for Sunday, November 28th

#135 Blessed Be the God of Israel
#125 Come, O Long-expected Jesus

Advent/Christmas Activities

Franklin Federated Church
A Community of Abundant Welcome to All,

Growing Together in Christ and serving with Love

171 Main Street, Franklin, MA

Let us help you and your family and friends be filled with Christmas Spirit!

7pm – Saturday, November 27^th – “It’s a Wonderful Life” Movie
10am – Sunday, November 28^th – Advent Sunday Worship Service – HOPE

7pm – Sunday, December 5^th – Field Trip!  Meet at FATIMA SHRINE, Holliston
10am – Sunday, December 5^th – Advent Sunday Worship Service- PEACE

7pm – Saturday, December 11^th – Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”

10am – Sunday, December 12^th – Advent Sunday Worship Service – JOY

10am – Sunday, December 19^th – LESSONS AND CAROLS Worship Service – LOVE

7pm – Sunday, December 19^th – Outdoor Christmas Caroling

7pm – Friday, December 24^th – Christmas Eve Worship

7pm – Saturday, November 27^th – “It’s a Wonderful Life”
Kick off the Christmas Season with a showing of this classic 1947 film in the Franklin Federated Church Sanctuary, 171 Main Street, Franklin, MA.

10am – Sunday, November 28^th – Advent Sunday Worship Service – HOPE  

Join us for Sunday Worship in person or on the Facebook livestream to explore the themes of It’s a Wonderful Life.

10am – Sunday, December 5^th – Advent Sunday Worship Service – PEACE

Join us for Sunday Worship in person or on the Facebook livestream to sing carols and hear a sermon on Climate Change from the UCC Minister for Environmental and Economic Justice.

7pm – Sunday, December 5^th – Field Trip!  Meet at FATIMA SHRINE, Holliston
Bring family and friends to experience the Christmas lights at 101 Summer Street in Holliston MA. An outdoor experience for all ages where you walk paths to enjoy light displays and music. Fun for all!

7pm – Saturday, December 11^th – Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”

Join us to watch the Original TV Special (26 minutes) in the sanctuary, and then enjoy a craft and trinket to remember those in our hearts at Christmas time.  Max the dog as a balloon animal?  Yes, please.

10am – Sunday, December 12^th – Advent Sunday Worship Service – JOY

Join us for Sunday Worship in person or on the Facebook livestream to sing carols and explore the themes of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  How might our hearts need to expand?

10am – Sunday, December 19^th – LESSONS AND CAROLS Worship Service – LOVE

Join us for Sunday Worship in person or on the Facebook livestream to sing carols, enjoy special music and explore readings from the Prophets and the Gospels that prepare us for the birth of Christ.

7pm – Sunday, December 19^th – Outdoor Christmas Caroling
Join us on the front lawn of the church to sing carols around the firepit, drink hot chocolate and share fellowship.  (Hot Chocolate and other snacks will be available from C&C Food Truck)

7pm – Friday, December 24^th – Christmas Eve Worship   

Join us for a special service that includes the story of Jesus’ birth, a reading of Clement Moore’s ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, carols, special music and candle lighting. You can join in person or on the Facebook livestream.

Sermon: “Giving Our All”

Scripture:  Mark 12:38-44

38 As he taught, Jesus said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! 40 They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

41 He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” 

Sermon:  “Giving Our All”

I once overheard an argument between 2 middle-school-aged boys.  (They were in a public place, and apparently did not care if they were over-heard, so I didn’t feel too guilty about listening in.)  They were arguing about a tee shirt that one of them was wearing, which had a skateboard logo on it. 

“You can’t wear that,” one of them was saying, pointing at the logo.

“Why not?” the other one countered. 

“Because you don’t skateboard.”  The first one said. 

“So what?”  The other one said. 

“Because wearing that makes you a POSER!”  

I had never heard that term before, so I listened to the rest of their conversation, and it became clear what it meant.  The first kid was a dedicated skateboarder, threw his whole self into it, spent most of his free-time at the skateboard park improving his skills and enjoying the sport.  He was deeply offended that his friend, who evidently did not have a passion for skateboarding, was trying to “pose” as a skateboarder simply to look cool in the eyes of others, to capitalize on the prestige of a sport he had no interest in.  (I am no expert in child-development, but their argument seemed to be pretty advanced for kids that age!  I was impressed!)

I think of this conversation every time I read today’s scripture, because it seems to me that Jesus was upset with the scribes in today’s reading for a reason very similar to the reason the skateboarding kid was upset with his friend.  These particular religious leaders were not really interested in doing God’s work of caring for the poor and oppressed, the orphan and the widow, rather their main interest was to capitalize on the prestige that came with being in positions of power:  nice clothes, sumptuous food, social status.  To put it in middle-school lingo:  Jesus is critiquing the scribes for being posers!

And then Jesus moves on from there to critique more folks who are also “posing”—the wealthy people who are making a show of putting big wads of surplus cash into the temple treasury (which, by the way, wasn’t a building, but rather a collection box for freewill offerings to help the poor.)  Like the scribes, these folks were more interested in the prestige of being seen as charitable people rather than actually committing themselves to being passionately involved in caring about and partnering with people in need.   

In contrast to these “posers,” Jesus points out the poor widow, who “puts her all” into the temple fund for the poor. 

Now, before we go on, I want to point out something for the sake of clarification.  Jesus is not calling his followers to literally follow the example of this widow and give away all of our material wealth.  No.  Jesus is challenging his followers to refuse to be posers and, instead, like the widow, passionately “give our all” to God’s work in the world.  To give with integrity--to put our heart into our giving, not just go through the motions.  For some, this could entail a drastic change in lifestyle or location, but for most of us, it means staying where we are and putting our time, talent and treasure into serving God through loving our neighbors as ourselves.     

How do we do that?  How do we passionately “give our all” to God’s work in the world?  That, of course, is a question that each person needs pray about and answer on our own, in conversation with each other.  I can’t answer for you what it means to give your all to God’s work, and you can’t answer for me, but we can talk and pray about it together and help each other see how God is leading us as individuals and as a church community. 

In this stewardship season, as we each consider how to “give our all” to God’s work in the world, let me offer a few questions to help us in our decision making.

One way to think about giving is to divide it into the three traditional categories of time, talent, and treasure.  I’d like to offer some questions for us to ask ourselves in each category. 

First: time.  How are you--how am I--spending it?  If you are working, much of how you spend your time may be decided for you.  The same can be true of people who are retired.  How many retired people do I know who have told me, “I’m busier now than I was when I was working!”  But whether we are working or retired, if we’re not intentional about it, our time can be gobbled up by events and activities that expand beyond what we expected. 

It can be hard to do, but it is important to take stock of our time and dedicate it to God.  It is important to recognize and prioritize the activities that BOTH feed our own souls AND build community in the process.  It is also important to recognize the activities that sap our energy--and minimize those as much as possible. 

Second:  talent.  If someone asked you, “What are your talents?  Gifts?  Skills?”  How would you answer?  Do you know what they are?  Do I know what mine are?  Are we using them in ways that build community and feed our souls? 

Let me give you an example.  We have a new dog walker--I’ve told some of you about him.  He’s a retired state trooper.   He decided to become a dog walker in his retirement--not to earn money, but because he loves dogs.  And they love him.  Whenever he comes to walk our Foxhound, Moosie, she nearly jumps out of her skin with excitement.  For those of you who have seen Moosie on Zoom calls, I bet this is hard to picture, because Moosie is VERY low energy.  Her favorite activity is sleeping on the couch.  But when Michael comes to walk her, she can barely contain herself.  She wags and jumps like she is welcoming home her long-lost best-friend.  And the other dogs in the neighborhood whom Michael walks react in the same way. 

And Michael is using his gift of caring for dogs not only to make the dogs’ lives better--but people’s lives as well.  Michael chats with all of the neighbors he runs into on his walks.  He tells stories and makes people laugh.  He is contributing to a sense of caring community among dogs and people in addition to feeding his own soul.

Third: treasure.  Rev. Steve Gray, who was the Stewardship Minister on staff at the Massachusetts Conference of the UCC for years, gave many talks to help individuals and churches decide how to use their money.  He is long since retired, but I’ll always remember a children’s sermon he gave.  He talked about how he taught his own kids to make decisions around money when they were growing up. 

When each of his children got old enough to get an allowance, he gave them each 3 jars.  One marked, “Saving,” one marked “Spending,” One marked, “Giving away.”  And he told the kids they would each get $10.00 a week, in $1.00 bills, and it was up to them how they used their allowance, but he and his wife had one requirement.  Each week they had to put at least $1.00--10%--in the savings jar.  And they had to put at least $1.00 in the “giving away” jar.  The rest, $8.00--80%--they were free to spend however they wanted.   

The system worked really well.  Every so often, after the “saving” jar collected some cash, the parents would go with them and the kids would deposit their money in the bank.  And after the “giving away” jar accumulated some cash, the kids got to decide what to do with it.  Being active church members, part of the “giving away” money always went into the offering plate.  And part of it went to other things as well, charities the kids were interested in.  And sometimes extra money from the spending category went to church and charity also, when the kids would get excited about a particular mission project.

I loved this system!  (When I told my husband about it the other day he said, “You know, there’s an app for that now…”)  Even before the computer age, Steve Gray and his wife taught their kids how to use their money to meet not only their own needs, but also to help do God’s caring work in the world.

My friends, in this stewardship season, like the widow in our Scripture reading, may we “give our all” to God’s work in the world.  And, may God guide us as we prayerfully decide how to use our time, talent, and treasure to build community and care for our neighbors as well as meet our own needs.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt

Franklin Federated Church

Franklin, MA

(note:  first part of this sermon was adapted from sermon written by marlayna for Nov 22, 2006)

Information for this Sunday’s Worship November 21st, 10 am

(found on church website Franklinfederated.org and FaceBook page and in-person!) Service will still be live-streamed for all who cannot attend in person.

Order of Worship:

• Prelude

• Welcome & Announcements

• Call to Worship

• Hymn #276 “We Gather Together”

• Scripture Reading: Mark 12:38-44

• Sermon “Giving Our All”

• Duet “I Will Give Thanks to the Lord”

• Pastoral Prayer

• Lord’s Prayer

• Hymn #528 “Give Thanks”

• Dedication of Pledge Cards

• Benediction

• Postlude

Link to scripture: Mark 12:38-44

Hymns for Sunday, November 21st

#276 We Gather Together
#528 Give Thanks

We Stand with Our Jewish Neighbors

The Hebrew Bible, what we call our Old Testament, is the story of God’s designation of Israel as His chosen people. Jesus was a Jew and is quoted in the Bible as saying: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish, but to fulfill .” (Matthew 3:17) As a way of establishing his qualifications to declare his allegiance to “Christ Crucified,” the apostle Paul bragged about his background as “a member of the people of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews, as to the law, as Pharisee.” (Philippians 3:4-5) In the years after Jesus’ death, many Gentiles called “God-fearers” wanted to be associated with the Jews because of their stellar reputation.

In the 20th century, the Catholic Church found it necessary to declare that Jews were not “Christ-killers”? Today we see a need to display a sign saying: “We Stand with Our Jewish Neighbors” on the front lawn of the Franklin Federated Church. How did we get here? What happened to the Jewish Jesus’ instruction to love our neighbors?

The answer is complicated, starting with different groups of Jesus’ early followers, each insisting their interpretation was the only right one. Two Jewish revolts against Rome changed favorable treatment of the Jews to ostracism, exile, and worse. During the next two centuries there was no cohesive message that could be called “Christian” and no uniform organizational structure of what came to be churches.

In the early 4th century, the Emperor Constantine decided to impose a state religion as a way of unifying his vast empire, and, ironically, the movement Jesus began in opposition to Roman imperialism was co-opted by the Roman Empire.

A common enemy is always a unifying factor, so Eusebius, Constantine’s “historian” (actually a storyteller from the Latin “historia” meaning story or tale) advocated a doctrine of “supersessionism” which asserted that God was so angry at the Jews for not accepting Jesus as the Messiah (Christ, Anointed One) that He withdrew his promise that the Jews would always be his people and transferred His blessing to Constantine’s organized Christian Church. For over fifteen centuries, the Jews were blamed for most of the ills of the world, making them fair game for discrimination, abuse, and persecution.

Unfortunately, this “us versus them” attitude still persists and can only be countered by repeating and modeling Jesus’ message of love. That is why in the 21st century, the FFC has expressed its vision as “A community of abundant welcome to all, growing together in Christ and serving with love.”

May we always strive to live up to this vision.

Lyn Pickhover

Information for this Sunday’s WorshipNovember 14th, 10 am

(found on church website Franklinfederated.org and FaceBook page and in-person!) Service will still be live-streamed for all who cannot attend in person.

Order of Worship:
- Prelude
- Welcome & Announcements
- Mission Moment
- Call to Worship
- Hymn: “O Savior, Let Me Walk with You”
- Stewardship Moment
- Scripture Reading: I John 4: 12-21 (NRSV)
- Sermon: “Can We Walk the Talk?”
- Pastoral prayer
- Lord’s Prayer
- Hymn: “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”
- Benediction
- Postlude

Link to scripture: I John 4: 1-21 (NRSV)

Note: We will not be taking prayer requests from the livestream this week. Please email your prayer requests to Deacon Lyn Pickover by Friday, November 12th (lyn@pickhover.net)

Hymns for Sunday, November 14th

O Savior, Let Me Walk with You
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

Sermon: “Celebrating Stewardship”

Scripture:  Luke 12:22-34

          22Jesus said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 26If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? 27Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 28But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. 30For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

          32”Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Sermon:  “Celebrating Stewardship”

Years ago I visited a new UCC church in Boston that my husband Paul helped to start.  The most surprising thing about their worship service was not the fact that Paul and I were among the oldest people there—which we were; or that they had a 3-piece band instead of an organ—which they did.  The most surprising thing—to me—was how they did the offering.  When it was time for the offering, a woman got up and started playing bongo drums.  Can you believe it?!  Bongo drums!  And everyone started singing some kind of praise song that had a Caribbean beat.  Then, the kids got up and someone handed them tambourines—and streamers, and they started dancing down the aisle—tambourines or streamers in one hand, money in the other!  Then the adults got up—some of them had maracas and castanets in one hand, and if they didn’t dance, they at least all walked with a spring in their step, and they brought their tithes and offerings forward and put them all in a big basket on the altar that was decorated with bows and streamers.  It was really quite festive.  I whispered to Paul before we got up and took part in the parade down the aisle, “Is this their annual Stewardship Sunday Celebration?”  “No,” he whispered back, “They do this every week.”

Every week!  Which begs the question, “What, exactly, are they celebrating?”  I’ve thought about that a lot since I first witnessed their weekly stewardship celebration, and here is what I’ve come up with.

First and foremost, every week when this church takes their offering, they are celebrating God’s faithfulness, God’s provision for our lives.  Like our Scripture lesson reminds us, God faithfully provides for the birds of the air, God faithfully provides for the lilies of the field, so will God not much more faithfully provide for us, God’s children?  That’s not to say we should sit on our hands and do nothing, waiting for God to provide, to send the Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol to come knock on our doors with a million dollar check.  No.  God gives us each talents and skills to use to work to provide for ourselves, and God expects us to use those talents and skills, just like God expects the ravens mentioned in our scripture to use the wings and beaks God gave them to obtain food.  So, we celebrate that God has provided for us by giving us a beautiful planet with amazing raw materials—and by giving us talents and skills to make use of the raw materials.  

For isn’t that what stewardship is all about?  It is recognizing that everything we are and everything we have comes from and belongs to God. God is the Creator, and we are the creatures.  God is the Landlord, and we are the tenants.  The truth is—no one actually owns anything; we don’t even own ourselves.  We’re just taking care of it all for a while for God. 

So when the church I visited engages in a weekly stewardship celebration, they are celebrating two related things:  God’s faithful provision—and our part in it. 

Yet there is an unspoken dynamic that we need to address before we can celebrate God’s provision and our part in it.  And that dynamic is this:  in our world, everyone is not provided for equally.  We know the truth of this statement, don’t we?  We see it lived out in the world every day.   Everyone is not provided for equally.  Some people, some regions, some countries, some groups, get more of the provision pie than others.  Some get more of the raw materials; some even seem to get more of the talents and skills.  Which doesn’t seem fair.  And, actually, it isn’t fair, particularly when people are left out of the provision pie by the malicious intent--not of God, but of “the people in charge” who want to hold onto their own wealth or power. 

For example, in our diversity training this past week, we saw a very enlightening video--backed up by indisputable facts-- that showed how black and indigenous people of color--the acronym is BIPOC--were intentionally left out of the provision pie in our own country.  They were left out by state, local, and federal officials and business men who engaged in practices and passed laws to keep black and indigenous people of color from getting home loans,  from living in the suburbs,  and from giving their children an education that was on par with that of white children.  All of which worked--and continues to work-- to perpetuate a cycle of poverty in BIPOC communities from generation to generation. 

But let me get back to God.  Today’s Scripture makes clear that this type of discrimination and racist behavior--where people in power hold onto the biggest piece of pie for themselves and give others mere crumbs--this is not what God intends.  The Bible is clear, from start to finish (Genesis to Revelation), that God’s blessings are always meant to be shared.  And when they are shared, there is always more than enough to go around. 

For instance, God says to Abraham, the patriarch of Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 12, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  (Genesis 12:3) God said through countless prophets in the Old Testament—Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Amos, just to name a few--that God’s people need to take care of the orphans, widows, and the poor living among them—rather than focusing only on the needs of their own families.  And God said through Jesus that we in the church are to love and care for “our neighbors as ourselves.”   (Matthew 19:19)   God’s blessings were never meant just for one person or one family or one group alone—God’s blessings were and are   always   meant to be shared with the whole world. 

So, that’s where we come in—and how we get back to celebrating stewardship.  God is counting on us—God’s followers—to be the distributors of God’s blessings.  Every week when we give our gifts, tithes and offerings, and our talents and skills in church and beyond, we celebrate that God’s blessings, God’s Love, can--and must-- be shared in our community and throughout the world. And we celebrate that we are called to be the agents of that sharing!

But we celebrate more than that.  We celebrate the counter-intuitive fact that when we become agents of sharing,    when we step out in faith and share of our time, talent and treasure,    we not only benefit others and their well-being, we also benefit ourselves.  Because, when we give--whether it’s a pledge to the church or a thankyou note to a friend, we, in effect, remind ourselves that we are not alone.  We remind ourselves that, in the words of today’s Scripture, we do not need to worry or focus all our energy on taking care of ourselves.  God has provided a kingdom for us--a “kin-dom” of other people with whom we are joined in mutual care. 

We heard testimonies last week about saints--other people of faith who impacted our lives and made a difference to us.  Stewardship is first and foremost about recognizing our kinship with each other and our joy-filled responsibility to share our love and resources with the people around us, to build up the body of Christ. 

So, in this stewardship season, may we continue to celebrate the people whom God has brought into our lives, and may we continue to share our time, talent, and treasure to build up the kin-dom so that all can participate in God’s good gifts and no one is left out. 

Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt

Franklin Federated Church

Franklin, MA

[the first part of this sermon was written by Marlayna for a sermon she gave on October 21, 2012.]

Let us pray.  Loving God, we thank you for your faithful provision for us.  You have given us each time, talent, and treasure to use and to share.  Increase our awareness of both our own giftedness and of each other’s needs, so that we can figure out how to share what we have with each other and our world in practical ways that benefit everyone. 

Hear now our prayers for the world around us.

Bless the climate summit in Glasgow.  May each country make and keep promises that address the needs of our planet and reverse the damage we have done to our planet.

Bless people in Houston, Texas, particularly the families of those who lost their lives in the stampede at the music festival.  Surround the grieving families and the people who were injured with your healing love.

Bless the roll out of the Covid vaccine to children between 5 and 12.  May education about the vaccine continue, and may all families get accurate information as they weigh any potential risk of the vaccine vs. the danger of getting infected with the virus. 

Hear now our prayers for loved ones mentioned in worship today:

SLIPS

PHONE

And hear our individual prayers,  in this moment of silence, as we lift up the names of those whom we each hold on our hearts…

And now may we join our hearts and voices together in the Lord’s Prayer, saying:

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, and the power, and the glory, forever.  Amen.