Information for this Sunday’s WorshipFourth Sunday in Advent, December 19th, 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 Liturgy

• Duet: “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly” - Julie Gorman and Tim Danielson

• First Lesson: Isaiah 9:2,6-7 [Prophecy: “Unto us a child is born…”]

• Christmas Carol: “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” - #160, Verses 1 & 2

• Second Lesson: Luke 1:26-38 [Angel appears to Mary]

• Special Music: “Mary Did You Know” - Jenna Van Hyning (video)

• Third Lesson: Luke 1:46-55 [Mary responds in song]

• Christmas Carol: “It Came upon the Midnight Clear” - #153, Verses 1 & 4

• Fourth Lesson: Luke 2:1-7 [“A decree went out…gave birth…”]

• Christmas Carol: “What Child Is This?” - #162, Verses 1 & 2

• Fifth Lesson: Luke 2:8-20 [Shepherds and Angels]

• Christmas Carol: “Angels We Have Heard on High”- #155, Verses 1 & 2

• Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

• Christmas Carol: “Joy to the World” - #143, All 3 Verses

• Benediction

• Postlude

Hymns for Sunday, December 19th
#160 Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming
#153 It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
#162 What Child Is This
#155 Angels We Have Heard on High
#143 Joy to the World

Sermon: “Antidote to a Small Heart”

The lectionary has done it again.  We come to church in this Advent Season looking for some much-needed comfort and joy, and we are hit, instead, for the third week in row (but who’s counting?!) with a Scripture Reading that contains challenging metaphors and allusions to violence and judgment.  It’s almost enough to make me choose other readings for this season--and one year I might.  But not this year.  Because, as much as I/we may resist reading them, there are things we can learn from these Advent Scriptures if we can set aside our understandable discomfort with them long enough to reflect on what they are trying to say.

And, interestingly enough, Dr. Seuss’ TV special from the 1960’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, when looked at along side today’s Scripture, can also help us learn something about how God calls us to behave in the world.

In fact, I couldn’t help smiling when I read this Scripture after seeing the Grinch special, which a dozen of us watched together in the sanctuary last night.  The way John the Baptist doesn’t pull any punches when addressing the crowds reminds me a bit of the narrator’s description of the Grinch.  “You brood of vipers!” John says, as he begins his speech warning them about the coming judgment.  “Even now the ax lying at the root of the trees” ready to cut them down and throw them into the fire!  His way of speaking is very similar to the tone the narrator takes in Suess’ story when the narrator sings the song, “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch.”  Have you listened closely to the words of that song?  Let me share a verse:

You're a monster, Mr. Grinch. Your heart's an empty hole.
Your brain is full of spiders. You've got garlic in your soul.
Mr. Grinch! I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole!

Minus the rhyming, this speech is very similar to what John the Baptist is saying to the crowds--calling out their bad behavior and the consequences thereof in no uncertain terms. 

I wonder what John the Baptist’s speech to the crowds would be like if Dr. Suess translated this Scripture?  I took a stab at one possible verse.  Picture John the Baptist singing: 

          You’re filled with poison, all of you!  You’re a bunch of hissing snakes!

          Your arrogance is astounding, your hypocrisy so great,

          Change your behavior, or you will not escape!    

Okay, I better stop there. I am no Dr. Suess.  Or Thurl Ravenscroft, who did the vocals for the song.  (Here’s a bit of trivia for you:  Credit for singing the song, “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch, is often given to Boris Karloff, but, in fact, Mr. Karloff didn’t sing it.  Mr. Karloff was the narrator and spoken voice of the Grinch, but Thurl Ravenscroft, who did the voice of Tony the Tiger, was the singer.  The things you learn when you come to church, eh?)*  But, I digress…  I would like to make 3 points about the Grinch story that I believe our Scripture is also trying to teach us.

1.     Self-reflection is important. 

After the opening song, the Grinch story begins with these words,

…The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.

 “The Grinch hated Christmas! …  No one quite knows the reason.”  Hearing these words made me wonder what the Grinch would have been like if he had made it a practice to engage in self-reflection.  What if the Grinch had engaged in daily prayer, confessing his sins to God, accepting God’s grace, trying to do better?  What if the Grinch did journaling or therapy or simply sat with the discomfort of his own feelings and tried to accept and understand them?  Maybe he would have behaved more kindly toward others and even himself.  But he doesn’t do these things.  At least not at the beginning of the story.  Instead, he lashes out at the world and his poor little dog, Max. 

Before this week, it had been years since I had seen this TV special, and, honestly, the first thing that struck me about it this time when I watched it was how horribly the Grinch treated his dog, who was, in fact, his only friend in the world.  Now I know that the Grinch was just an animated cartoon character who debuted on the small screen in 1966, in an era where cartoon characters like Wiley Coyote routinely fell of cliffs, got into fights, and got boulders dropped on their heads.  But I have to say that the Grinch’s violence against his dog--even in satirical, cartoon form-- was hard to watch.  (Which reminds me how one of our deacons commented that the violence of the main character in the 1947 film “It’s a Wonderful Life” that we watched a couple of weeks ago was similarly hard to see.)

But back to self-reflection.  If the Grinch had, himself, ever stopped to realize what the narrator knew--that his heart was 2 sizes too small, the Grinch might have spared Max, the Whos down in Whoville, and even himself a considerable amount of on-going pain.  Because what does it mean to have a heart that is 2 sizes too small?  Since it’s a rich metaphor, I don’t have the final answer on that, but one possibility is that if you have a heart that is 2 sizes too small, then you have a heart that has minimal capacity to feel your own pain--and the pain of others. 

And that is a problem because it is only through feeling our own pain that we are able to hear and understand the pain of others and develop empathy for them.  And the more we develop empathy, the more we increase our capacity to form relationships with others.  But, conversely, the less we are in touch with our own pain, the less we allow ourselves to feel the pain of others.  And the less we feel the pain of others, the less we are able to form relationships.  And we become isolated.  And, before we know it, we find ourselves living alone in a cave on top of a snowy mountain hating Christmas--or at least that’s what happened to the Grinch.  So my point?  Self-reflection is important because without it, we do not develop empathy and our relationships suffer. 

Which brings me to my second point about the Grinch story that I believe our Scripture is also trying to teach us: 

2.     Isolating ourselves from our own pain-- and from other people’s joy and pain-- does not make us feel better.  And neither does trying to make other people hurt like we are hurting.

The Grinch stood on top of his own isolated mountain and cursed the people down in Whoville who were gathered around the Christmas tree holding hands and singing because they had the nerve to enjoy themselves at Christmas.  But rather than seeking an end to his own pain by joining them in community, he decides instead to complain about them, and then his complaints escalate to a plan:  he decides to try to rob them of their joy in order to make himself feel better.  But praise be to God, it doesn’t work. 

I’m not saying that any of us consciously act like the Grinch in this regard.  Of course, none of us would ever consciously try to isolate ourselves from our own pain--or from the pain and joy of others.  None of us would ever consciously try to rob the joy of others.  But unconsciously?  That’s a different story.

Let me give you an example.  Last week in church we prayed for my aunt who had fallen and was in rehab.  It turns out her health had been failing since August, but her kids, my first cousins, hadn’t shared that with the rest of the extended family, partially because we are all spread out across the country and we have been more or less out of touch during the pandemic.  But we managed to find out anyway, though rather belatedly.  So another of my cousins, when she found out about our aunt’s failing health, called my aunt’s oldest son and said, gently, “Why didn’t you tell us about your mom?”  His answer was understandable.  In fact, it’s probably something any one of us could say or has said.  He said something like, “Well, we know it’s been a tough year for everybody.  We’ve all got a lot on our plates.  We didn’t want to bother you with our stuff.  We didn’t want to add to your pain.”

To her credit, my cousin who had initially asked the question responded with empathy and care, saying something like this: “I understand that.  And I appreciate your not wanting to add to anyone else’s burden, but we are happy to help.  We’re family.  You know that old saying, ‘A burden shared is cut in half.’  That’s really true,” she said.  “We’re here for you.  Let us know how we can help.”  And he thanked her and said it was good to hear that.  Which underlines my second point:  isolating ourselves from our own pain--and from the joy and pain of others--does not make us feel any better.  Conversely, sharing our joy and pain in community does.  And that brings me to my third point about the Grinch story that I believe our Scripture is also trying to teach us:  

3.     There is an antidote to having a small heart.  In other words, there are things we can do to increase our own empathy and strengthen our relationships with one another.  And these things are very concrete. 

We can reach out in love and care toward others.  There are several examples in our Scripture.  When the crowds come out to John in the wilderness to be baptized, he tells them, in his own fiery, apocalyptic style, to “Bear fruits worthy of repentance.”  But the fruit metaphor isn’t clear enough for the crowd.  They want specifics, concrete examples of what they can do to please God and be part of God’s Kingdom, and John is happy to comply.  It occurred to me, reading through this text, that the examples John gives could be considered to address 3 different sectors of society. 

His first example addresses people in the individual/family sector.  It’s what anybody can do.  If you’ve got 2 coats at home, if you’ve got food on your table, then share your coats and your food with people who don’t have any.  It’s not rocket science; it’s the simple math of sharing.  It’s what it means to love our neighbors as ourselves.  It’s not just feeling warmly toward them, it’s doing something to help them keep warm.  Literally.

John’s second example--when he addresses the tax collectors--could be interpreted, I think, as addressing the corporate or business sector.  John says to them, “Collect no more than what is prescribed for you.”  In other words, the family sector is not the only sector where we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves.  Our behavior needs to be consistent across all the sectors in which we operate, including the business sector, our work places.  John is calling the tax collectors to act ethically in their jobs.  His words imply that how we behave in business is important to God.  We can’t just say, “There are different rules in business” or “Everybody cuts corners” or “I can’t change the system.”  No.  Being part of God’s Kingdom means we need to apply the same ethic of loving our neighbor at work as we do at home.

John’s third example--when he addresses the soldiers--could be seen to address the government, which is the sector that controls the military.  John tells them not to use threats or false accusations to extort money.  In other words, you could read this to mean that John is telling the government that it too falls under the sovereignty of God.  It too needs to behave according to the ethics of God’s kingdom. John is, in effect, saying to the soldiers, to the military arm of the government, “Do not abuse your power.  Don’t use threats of violence--or actual violence-- to get what you want, because tearing others down to build yourself up in any sector is not God’s way.  Treat others the way you want to be treated.”

In a way, John’s message echoes the message of the Grinch story:  there is an antidote to a small heart--it’s doing the things that build up, not tear down, community.  It’s sharing in the joys and pain of others and doing your part in all sectors of life to love your neighbors as yourself.  In the words of Dr. Seuss, in the song the Whos sang around the tree, the Whos celebrate the power of Love shared in community:

Christmas Day is in our grasp
So long as we have hands to clasp.

Christmas Day will always be
Just as long as we have we.

Welcome Christmas while we stand
Heart to heart and hand in hand.      

Amen.

* quotes from the Grinch and information about the show are from this blog:  https://ninjamonkeyspy.livejournal.com/585154.html

Let us pray…

Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt

Franklin Federated Church

Franklin, MA

Information for this Sunday’s WorshipDecember 12th, 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 #119 "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"

• Scripture Reading: Luke 3:7-18

• Sermon: “Antidote for a Small Heart”

• Pastoral Prayer

• Lord’s Prayer

• Hymn #129 "Lift Up Your Heads, O Mighty Gates"

• Benediction

• Postlude
  

Link to scripture: Luke 3:7-18

Hymns for Sunday, December 12th
#119 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
#129 Lift Up Your Heads, O Mighty Gates

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.

Information for this Sunday’s WorshipNovember 7th, 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.

“Do not be afraid...for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give…” (Luke 12:32-33)

Order of Worship:
- Welcome
- Announcements
- Stewardship Moment
- Call to Worship
- Hymn: #572 “Take Time to Be Holy”
- Scripture Reading: Luke 12:22-34 (NRSV)
- Sermon: “Celebrating Stewardship”
- Pastoral prayer
- Lord’s Prayer
- Communion of the Lord’s Supper
- Hymn: #459 “Lord, You Give the Great Commission”
- Benediction
- Postlude

Link to scripture: Luke 12:22-34 (NRSV)

Hymns for Sunday, November 7th

#572 Take Time to Be Holy
#459 Lord, You Give the Great Commission

Sermon: “Celebrating the Saints”

Scripture:  Hebrews 12:1-3 (NRSV)

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of* the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.  3 Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

Sermon:  “Celebrating the Saints”

“I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints.” Some of you may recognize this quote--it’s not from our Scripture reading.  It’s a line from a Billy Joel song that was popular in the 1970’s when I was in high school.  Billy Joel, apparently, thought of saints the way most of us in our culture do:  people who are excessively virtuous, on the fast-track to heaven, including those formally recognized by the Catholic Church to have performed miracles and led exemplary lives.  Saints, in our culture, are not typically thought of as people who get much enjoyment out of life. 

I am happy to proclaim that, according to the Bible, that understanding of the word “saint” is much too narrow.  The word saint is used 64 times in the Bible--once in the Hebrew Scriptures (Psalm 31) and 63 times in the New Testament--primarily in the Letters attributed to the Apostle Paul as well as the Book of Revelation.  In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word saint means simply, “child of God,” and in the New Testament, the definition is expanded to include all followers of the God we see revealed in Jesus.   

As you may know, the word “saint” comes from the Latin “sanctus,” which means “holy.”  And “holy” didn’t originally carry the connotation of “virtuous,” but rather meant someone dedicated to a divine purpose.  [repeat].  I know I’m sounding more than a bit like Webster’s Dictionary here, so let me cut to the chase.  In case you’re in Billy Joel’s camp and think that being a saint is nothing you want aspire to--that being a saint would be basically dedicating your life to a joyless, holier-than-thou, monastic existence that you would prefer to avoid at all costs, thanks be to God, that’s NOT what being a saint means!  Being a saint means dedicating your life to God’s purposes that we see in Jesus.  That is, living a life characterized by joyful, abundant welcome; spiritual growth, and loving service that promotes justice for all--to expand a bit on FFC’s purpose statement.

Tomorrow, November 1st, is “All Saints Day” on the Christian calendar.  On “All Saints Day,” we remember and honor those whom today’s scripture describe as being part of a “great cloud of witnesses,” that is, people who have gone before us and been an inspiration to our faith.  People whose lives have been an example to us as we go through our own struggles.  People whose memories and spirits cheer us on, like spectators in a race, whose words and actions point us to Jesus, whose own example of endurance gives us strength when we are weary. 

Today, you will hear 4 testimonies from 4 fellow church members of people and actions that illustrate the true meaning of “saint.”  

May God bless our hearing of these stories.   

Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt

Franklin Federated Church

Franklin, MA

Note:  The third to last paragraph uses words from a sermon written and preached by Marlayna on November 5, 2006 and Nov 2, 2014.  Scripture:  Hebrews 12:1-3 (NRSV)

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of* the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.  3 Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

Sermon:  “Celebrating the Saints”

“I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints.” Some of you may recognize this quote--it’s not from our Scripture reading.  It’s a line from a Billy Joel song that was popular in the 1970’s when I was in high school.  Billy Joel, apparently, thought of saints the way most of us in our culture do:  people who are excessively virtuous, on the fast-track to heaven, including those formally recognized by the Catholic Church to have performed miracles and led exemplary lives.  Saints, in our culture, are not typically thought of as people who get much enjoyment out of life. 

I am happy to proclaim that, according to the Bible, that understanding of the word “saint” is much too narrow.  The word saint is used 64 times in the Bible--once in the Hebrew Scriptures (Psalm 31) and 63 times in the New Testament--primarily in the Letters attributed to the Apostle Paul as well as the Book of Revelation.  In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word saint means simply, “child of God,” and in the New Testament, the definition is expanded to include all followers of the God we see revealed in Jesus.   

As you may know, the word “saint” comes from the Latin “sanctus,” which means “holy.”  And “holy” didn’t originally carry the connotation of “virtuous,” but rather meant someone dedicated to a divine purpose.  [repeat].  I know I’m sounding more than a bit like Webster’s Dictionary here, so let me cut to the chase.  In case you’re in Billy Joel’s camp and think that being a saint is nothing you want aspire to--that being a saint would be basically dedicating your life to a joyless, holier-than-thou, monastic existence that you would prefer to avoid at all costs, thanks be to God, that’s NOT what being a saint means!  Being a saint means dedicating your life to God’s purposes that we see in Jesus.  That is, living a life characterized by joyful, abundant welcome; spiritual growth, and loving service that promotes justice for all--to expand a bit on FFC’s purpose statement.

Tomorrow, November 1st, is “All Saints Day” on the Christian calendar.  On “All Saints Day,” we remember and honor those whom today’s scripture describe as being part of a “great cloud of witnesses,” that is, people who have gone before us and been an inspiration to our faith.  People whose lives have been an example to us as we go through our own struggles.  People whose memories and spirits cheer us on, like spectators in a race, whose words and actions point us to Jesus, whose own example of endurance gives us strength when we are weary. 

Today, you will hear 4 testimonies from 4 fellow church members of people and actions that illustrate the true meaning of “saint.”  

May God bless our hearing of these stories.   

Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt

Franklin Federated Church

Franklin, MA

Note:  The third to last paragraph uses words from a sermon written and preached by Marlayna on November 5, 2006 and Nov 2, 2014. 

Information for this Sunday’s Worship October 31st, 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.

“…we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…"

- Prelude

- Welcome
- Announcements
- Call to Worship
- Hymn: #337 “Jesus Calls Us O'er the Tumult”
- Dedication of New Pictures of Jesus
- Scripture Reading: Hebrews 12:1-3 (NRSV)
- Celebrating Saints - 4 FFC members share testimonies
- Pastoral prayer
- Lord’s Prayer
- Communion of the Lord’s Supper
- Hymn: #637 “For All the Saints”
- Benediction
- Postlude

Link to scripture: Hebrews 12:1-3 (NRSV)

Hymns for Sunday, October 31st

#337 Jesus Calls Us O'er the Tumult
#637 For All the Saints

Sermon: “The Paradox of Generosity”

Scriptures: 

Proverbs 11:24 

The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.

2 Corinthians 9

6 The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.

Sermon:  “The Paradox of Generosity”

Several years ago I read a book that blew the doors off my understanding of generosity.  It’s called 29 Gifts:  How a month of Giving Can Change your Life by Cami Walker.  Some of you may have read it too.  The book is a testimony to the healing power of generosity, and I want to share the gist of it with you because Cami’s story beautifully illustrates the truth of what our Scripture readings for today proclaim.     

Cami Walker--a young woman in her mid-thirties-- starts her book by describing the lowest point in her life so far—when she was diagnosed with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) at age 32, just a month after her wedding day! 

In a short period of time, Cami Walker goes from being a happy, active newly-married woman with a professional career to being a discouraged, unemployed, homebound person who can’t drive, walk, or even make a meal for herself.  She leaves her apartment only for doctor’s appointments.

When she is feeling really bad one day, Cami picks up the phone and calls a friend named Mbali, who is originally from South Africa.  Mbali is a spiritual healer, but Cami calls her not for healing advice, but rather just to complain about her situation.  After she goes on for a while, Mbali stops her.  “Cami,” she says gently, “I think you need to stop thinking about yourself.”  “Thinking about myself!?” Cami yells, protesting that because of her disease, she has no energy to think about anything else but herself. 

To Mbali’s credit, she doesn’t let this defensive reaction put her off.  Mbali persists in challenging her friend Cami, suggesting that by focusing all of her time and energy on herself and her disease, Cami is in effect falling deeper and deeper into a black hole.  Finally, Mbali says, “I have a prescription for you.  I want you to give away 29 gifts in 29 days.”  

I want you to give away 29 gifts in 29 days-- what an odd prescription to give someone who can barely function!  Even though the gifts recommended are just little, ordinary things—  a phone call, a letter, a smile, a word of thanks— even those things can seem like way too much to someone in Cami’s situation.  As I’ve reflected on this story, it occurs to me that Mbali is making the same point that today’s Scriptures are making:  the paradox of generosity is that when we give, we are not depleting our resources.  In fact, just the opposite—we increase the abundance in our lives. 

Our reading from Proverbs says:  “The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.”  When we give, we deepen and expand the connections we have with God and other people—and everyone benefits in ways that defy explanation—the giver as well as the recipient. 

Now, let me stop here for a moment with a disclaimer.  This is not a stewardship sermon--  at least not in the classic sense.  This sermon is not primarily about material giving—it’s about intentionally cultivating an attitude of generosity in our daily interactions with other people.  By so doing, I believe we expand our world to include the abundance that God intends us all to experience.

What struck me about the beginning of Cami Walker’s testimony, is that her world, through no fault of her own, had gotten smaller and smaller.  A debilitating disease put severe limits on her and cut her off from activities and friendships she had previously enjoyed—and had even taken for granted—in the past.  And more than that, the disease had limited Cami’s vision, depleted her imagination, and like a malevolent vacuum cleaner, had sucked all of the hope right out of her.  Her friend Mbali named it well—Cami was falling deeper and deeper into a black hole—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. 

To make a long story short, Cami Walker decides to try her friend’s prescription—giving away 29 gifts in 29 days—not because she is convinced that generosity will change her life or help her heal, but because, well, what the heck, she’s tried everything else and maybe this could help-- at least it couldn’t hurt. J 

The rest of the book describes the amazing change that takes place in Cami Walker’s life as she begins, intentionally every day, to give little gifts to other people.  In the book, Cami describes how she would go to bed at night thinking of what gift she might give the next day, and how she would wake up in the morning and pray about the gift.  Some examples of what she decided to give include:  a phone call to a friend, a thank-you note to her mother, a love-letter to her husband, a taco to a homeless man, and a used book to a neighbor— all just simple little things, but they have a profound effect.  As she begins to give her little gifts, Cami discovers that the focus of her life starts to shift from the limits of her disease to the abundance of what she still has left to give. 

I found this book incredibly inspirational.  But, unlike some of the inspirational biographies of great people that we read and come away thinking, “Wow, that person is incredible-- I could never do anything like that!”  with this book, I thought, “Wow, such a simple gift can have such a profound effect—I can do that!  I want to try it!”

When I first read the book, I actually adopted the challenge of giving 29 gifts in 29 consecutive days, and I became very intentional about giving little gifts to people.  For instance, during that time period, I went to a car wash, something I do once a year whether my car needs it or not.  (Yeah, I know it needs it…but I digress.)  The car wash I went to was one of those where you drive your vehicle into a garage-like building, where a couple of guys direct you onto a track, hook your car up to it, and flip a switch that starts machines that do the washing for you as you move along.  After I had gone through the wash, with the 29 gifts challenge in mind, I took a moment to drive back to the entrance and thanked the young men who had run the machines.  “Car looks great!”  I said, “Thank you!”  The young men beamed in response, and one asked, like a little kid who needed some positive feedback on his homework, “Did we do a good job?!”  “Yes!” I said, “Thanks again.  The car looks as good as the day I bought it, but, of course, now I have to clean the inside…” And they both laughed. J  

Seeing those young men smile and laugh like little kids really made my day, and it made me think how a simple gift, like an unexpected word of thanks, can benefit both the giver and the one who receives the gift.  That said, let me shift gears for a moment and say a few words about receiving.  I once attended a workshop called “Spiritual Finance,” and the workshop leader, Kerry Cudmore*, made the comment that being an intentional giver wasn’t nearly as difficult for some people as being an intentional receiver.  In my experience, those of us who are part of faith communities easily get enthusiastic about adopting giving challenges like the one described by Cami Walker, but we may have more difficulty being on the receiving end of gifts.  For instance, how many of us, when we’ve been given a gift, has ever said, “Oh, no, you shouldn’t have!”  or “Thanks, but really, I’m fine, I don’t need anything.  I’m sure  there is someone else who needs this more…”  J  Sound familiar?

Kerry, the Spiritual Finance workshop leader told us about her experience of going over to friends’ houses on several different occasions for dinner.  And, each time, she (Kerry) would carefully choose a hostess gift to present to the friend who had prepared the dinner, and each time, when she presented the gift, the person looked at it awkwardly - like “What am I supposed to do with this?”, mumbled a quick “thank you,” and then whisked the gift off into the kitchen where it was never seen again.   Kerry said that each time she was left feeling “thwarted and befuddled” and, to put it more strongly, even “robbed” of the opportunity to connect with the other person and feel good about knowing her gift was enjoyed. 

So, brothers and sisters, as part of our stewardship reflections this fall, I invite you to think about giving and receiving.  Which one is easier for you?  Which one is harder? Is there one would you rather not do?  Can you see giving and receiving as two sides of the same coin?  Can you imagine how being intentionally gracious in both giving and receiving can help you expand your world and deepen your connections with God and each other?

For each of us, the opportunities to practice intentional giving and receiving are endless!  On the giving side:  a phone call to a friend, a note to a someone who has been especially helpful, a box of instant mashed potatoes for the Thanksgiving Baskets.  On the receiving side, an answer of “yes”--without any words of protest-- when someone offers to help you, even if it’s something you feel you should be able to do yourself OR, to take it a step further, actually asking for help when there is something that you need--and enjoying the help you get. 

I know you already do such things, so I am simply suggesting that you do them more intentionally, asking for God’s guidance and blessing as you give and receive.  You may even want to follow Cami Walker’s giving prescription and give 29 gifts in 29 consecutive days.  Or, if that’s too overwhelming to think about, do it for a week, starting today:  7 gifts in 7 days--keeping in mind the gift can be as small as a thank you note or a smile to the checkout clerk at the grocery store.  I plan to do it.  And let me know after worship if you accept this challenge as well.  I’d love to hear about your experiences.

However you decide to practice giving and receiving, may we all discover, as our Scriptures remind us, that our world gets larger, as God provides us with “every blessing in abundance.”

Let us pray:  Loving God, our Scriptures remind us of your generosity in creating the world and giving us the gift of life itself.  We see this deep generosity reflected in Jesus, who poured out his life and love, forgiveness and wisdom on all people, showing no partiality.  Help us, O God, to mirror that generosity in ways big and small as part of our daily living.  Guide us in both our giving and receiving that we may live abundantly and share that abundance with others. 

Hear now our prayers for our community and our world…

- Vaccine roll out… vaccinating children…

PHONE

SLIPS

- Moment of silence…lifting up in prayer those we hold in our hearts.. others in this room and in our livestream…  [PAUSE]

- O God, bless the sick… those who are struggling… those who are grieving…caregivers… Give them strength and healing….  In Jesus name, Amen

PLEASE JOIN ME IN THE LORD’S PRAYER

- 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

Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt

Franklin Federated Church

*Kerry Cudmore leads the Spiritual Finance Initiative.  Website:  www.Kerrycudmore.com

Note:  original version of this sermon was written and preached by Marlayna at  Brooksby Village Chapel in Peabody, MA  1/24/10; an edit version was preached by Marlayna at Trinity in Gloucester on Feb 7, 2010. 

Information for this Sunday’s Worship October 24th, 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.

"The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller." (Proverbs 11:24, The Message)

- Prelude
- Welcome
- Announcements
- Call to Worship
- Hymn: #381 Take My Gifts
- Missions Moment
- Scripture Readings: Proverbs 11:24; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8
- Sermon: “The Paradox of Generosity"
- Pastoral prayer
- Lord’s Prayer
- Hymn: #614 “I'm Gonna Live So God Can Use Me”
- Benediction
- Postlude Links to scripture: Proverbs 11:24; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8

Hymns for Sunday, October 24th

#381 Take My Gifts
#614 I'm Gonna Live So God Can Use Me

New Mask Requirement

Council decided on Tuesday to require anyone entering the church building to wear a mask at all times. (The only exception being that a worship leader may remove their mask only when they are at a microphone speaking or singing, so that people can hear them. Worship leaders must wear their masks whenever they are not at a microphone.)

Background:
Concern brought forward by worship team to Deacons and Executive team related to current state of Covid and need to be more rigorous with protocols. This includes masking while singing for congregation.

Rationale:

· There are more breakthrough cases of Covid 19 occurring to people who are vaccinated.

· There have been instances when we haven’t been “social distancing” inside the building while we have had our masks off.

· It would be heart wrenching if someone died because they caught Covid from being in our building.

· The church could be held financially liable if someone died after catching Covid in our building because our protocols were too lax.

Theological reason: Jesus calls us to “love our neighbors as ourselves” and to care for the most vulnerable among us.