February 20th Worship Information

Information for this Sunday’s Worship

Seventh Sunday After Epiphany
February 20th, 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: #636 “Abide with Me”

• Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:1-4

• Sermon: “Blessed Are those who mourn"(in Aramaic: Tubwayhun lawiwle d’hinnon netbayun - translation from Prayers of the Cosmos by Neil Douglas-Klotz, p. 45)

• Pastoral Prayer

• Lord’s Prayer

• Hymn: “Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing” #77 NEW CENTURY HYMNAL

• Benediction

• Postlude

Link to Scripture: Matthew 5:1-4

Hymns for Sunday, February 16, 2022
— #636 Abide with Me
— Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing (TNCH)

Sermon: “Blessed Are Those Who Mourn”

Matthew 5:1-4

1When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Sermon:  “Blessed Are Those Who Mourn”

A few years ago, my little 5-year-old next door neighbor came over to tell me that her cat had died, and long story short, I ended up conducting a funeral for the cat in their back yard.  At the funeral, family members and friends shared stories and prayers and poems.  It was actually quite moving.  We even sang an adapted version of a song by Cat Stephens, no pun intended, “Moonshadow.”  The five-year-old had changed the words to, “I’m being followed by a kitty shadow, kitty shadow, kitty shadow.”  We ended the service with that song, and it made everyone smile despite their tears over losing their beloved pet. 

But, humor aside, such losses—whether of a beloved pet, hope,  dream, or person-- are painful.  Rabbi Earl A. Grollman, a pioneer in the field of crisis intervention, writes, “Grief is unbearable heartache, sorrow, loneliness.”  When you are in deep mourning, Rabbi Grollman says, “You find no pleasure in anything or anyone.  You feel naked, unprotected.”  (Living When a Loved One Has Died, p. 14 & 43.) 

We have all felt that raw feeling of mourning a loss, haven’t we? 

Today is the second week of a sermon series I am doing on part of Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount,” called the Beatitudes.  Today we are looking at the second beatitude--or blessing, found in Matthew, chapter 5, verse 4, where Jesus says, “Bless-ed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”  

This is a tough beatitude to read, I think.  I have to admit that my first response--my gut response-- to Jesus’ words in this verse is bewilderment, disbelief, even anger.  How can mourning--how can feeling deep sorrow--be connected to blessing?  To even suggest that connection almost feels like Jesus is glossing over the pain of grief, like he is glibly uttering some kind of platitude like, “Don’t worry, be happy…  Chin up--It’s not that bad...  Tomorrow’s another day.” 

But, thanks be to God, that is not what Jesus is saying.  The actual meaning of his words becomes clearer when we look at them in the original language that Jesus spoke, Aramaic. What I’ve learned about the Aramaic words of Jesus comes from this little book by scholar and mystic, Neil Douglas-Klotz, and the companion CD that goes with it.  Last week we noted that Aramaic was an ancient language spoken by people in the middle east and still spoken in some parts of Syria to this day.  Aramaic words have multiple meanings, and it is hard to convey all of those meanings in just one English translation.  So, this week, we will look into the various meanings of the words used in verse 4, in order to get a fuller picture of what Jesus said. 

First of all, to give you a sense of what the beatitude sounds like in Aramaic, let me read the words.  Let me ask Steve to put up a slide so you can see the phonetic pronunciation:  Tubvayhoon   La-wi-lay,     dih-hih-known    net-bye-yoon.  [Note:  the phonetic spellings listed here are my adaptations of Douglas-Klotz’ phonetic spellings listed on p. 50]

- Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

- Let me repeat that a couple of times.  [M:  REPEAT 2X]

(Thank you, Steve! [STEVE TAKES DOWN SLIDE]

Let me delve into the meaning of the three key words in this passage.

First of all, Tubvayhoon.  We looked at this word last week, but it’s worth a review.  Tubvayhoon, translated into English as blessed, does not simply mean “happy” or “favored,” which are the most popular English definitions.  In Aramaic, Tubvayhoon has multiple definitions, and the fullest meaning of the word is reached when we put all of those definitions together.  “Blessed” in Aramaic also means,

-         “Healthy,”

-         “Healed,”

-         “Aligned with the One,” [aligned with God, God’s love, God’s values.  Like aligning tires on your car…J]

-         “Tuned to the Source.”  [Tuned to God, like you would tune a musical instrument so it would be in tune with itself and others…]

The next Aramaic word in this beatitude is La-wi-lay, which Neil Douglas-Klotz says, “can mean ‘mourners’…but in Aramaic it also carries the sense of those who long deeply for something to occur, those troubled or in emotional turmoil, or those who are weak and in want from such longing.”  (D-K, p. 51) Hearing these definitions of the word La-wi-lay made me think of Andrew Wyeth’s famous painting Christina’s World.  I’ll ask Steve to put it up on the screen now for a minute.  I bet you know the painting I’m talking about--a website refers to it as “one of the best known American paintings of the middle 20th century.  It depicts a woman, Anna Christina Olson, crawling across a treeless field, looking toward a gray house, a barn and various other outbuildings on the horizon.” (artsnfood.blogspot.com)  Even though you do not see the woman’s face, the longing in her body language is palpable as she leans and reaches toward home.

- Thank you, Steve!  [steve takes down slide]

The final Aramaic word in this beatitude is net-bye-yoon.  Douglas-Klotz says, “netbayun can mean ‘comforted,’ but also connotes:

·        being returned from wandering,

·        being united inside by love,

·        feeling an inner continuity, or

·        seeing the arrival of (literally the face of) what one longs for.”  (D-K, p. 51) Going back to the analogy of the Wyeth painting, it would be the woman finally arriving at the house, seeing the faces of her loved ones, and being swept up into their arms. 

So, taking these expanded definitions into account, Neil Douglas-Klotz offers several possible translations of Tubvayhoon   La-wi-lay,     dih-hih-known    net-bye-yoon. 

The four that spoke most to me were:

·        Healthy are those weak and overextended for their purpose; they shall feel their inner flow of strength return.

·        Healed are those who weep for their frustrated desire; they shall see the face of fulfillment in a new form.

·        Tuned to the Source are those feeling deeply confused by life; they shall be returned from their wandering.

·        Aligned with the One are the mourners; they shall be comforted. 

(D-K, p. 51)

Being in the state of mourning--or longing deeply for something--can, paradoxically, make us more open to God.  It can be one avenue through which we can connect more deeply to God and to each other. 

We know what that’s like, don’t we?  We know what it is like to experience a deep pain, to mourn a loss, and, in our mourning, to share a deep connection with the people around us, in whose faces we see compassion and recognition.  I dare say that is part of why we come to church.  We come because we know that we are not alone.  We know that the people in the pews around us--and those who participate on line and share prayer requests-- have also experienced both the pain of loss AND the joy of healing.  We know they walk with us in faith and understand what we are going through.  In worship, we experience together the joy of smiling through our tears because we believe in God’s promise that death, that loss, is not the final end of things.  Bless-ed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.

There is an old Swedish proverb that goes something like this, “Joy that is shared is doubled; sorrow that is shared is cut in half.”  We know that to be true, don’t we?  Even when we are feeling raw, we trust that when we share our sorrows with the God who loves us, and with our brothers and sisters in faith, our sorrows are cut in half and our joys are doubled. 

One of the difficulties of this Covid pandemic that we have been living through is that our normal way of connecting face to face with each other was severely curtailed, and sometimes completely cut off.  We have been mourners, la-wi-lay, those who long for each other’s faces.  We have had to be creative and find new ways of connecting virtually, and it hasn’t been easy.

As we transition out of this pandemic and learn to live with an endemic, may we continue to seek the comfort of God’s face in each other.  May we not give up connecting, even when it is hard.  May we continue to look for and find opportunities to comfort one another-- in-person, on-line and through note-writing and phone calls. 

And may we proclaim the truth of  Tubvayhoon   La-wi-lay,     dih-hih-known    net-bye-yoon. 

Healed are those who weep for their frustrated desire; they shall see the face of fulfillment in a new form.

Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt

Franklin Federated Church

Franklin, MA

Note:  Earlier versions of this sermon were preached in Manchester, NH in Feb ’17 and Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA in Feb 19.

February 13th Worship Information

Information for this Sunday’s Worship

Sixth Sunday After Epiphany
February 13, 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: Matthew 5:1-12

• Sermon: “Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit”

• Pastoral Prayer

• Lord’s Prayer

• Hymn: “Sent Forth by God’s Blessing” #76 NEW CENTURY HYMNAL

• Benediction

• Postlude

Link to Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Hymns for Sunday, February 13, 2022
#687 In Christ There Is No East or West
— Sent Forth by God's Blessing (TNCH)

Empire

For some time I have been translating the Biblical phrase “basileia tou theou” as the “empire of God” instead of the “kingdom of God.” I appreciate the word parallel with “basileia romaion,” Greek for the Roman Empire. This week, on Westar’s “Inside Scoop,” someone made a negative comment that using “empire of God” suggested the empire in Star Wars. George Lucas’ evil Galactic Empire supposedly mirrored the fascist rule of Nazi Germany, but it could just as well have been the powerful, violent, dangerous Roman Empire which Jesus and his followers opposed. The Galactic Empire followed a republic, just as the Roman Empire replaced the Roman Republic, and Darth Vader’s storm troopers were employed to accomplish the Empire’s priorities, just as elite legions had enforced the dictates of the Roman emperor. In his “Histories,” the Latin writer Tacitus made the defeated British leader Calgacus say of the Romans: “To robbery, slaughter, and plunder, they give the lying name of empire; they make desolation and call it peace.”

In the twenty-first century, the “kingdom of God” can suggest peace and love, but calling it the “empire of God” expresses the seriousness of the battle Jesus was quietly waging against the forces of evil in his day. Three hundred years later, the Roman emperor Constantine turned the Christian church into a support of his empire, and the irony of the phrase was lost. Jesus’ words were highly subversive: the empire of God opposed the empire of Rome.

Jesus’ listeners understood that the God’s loving community was a powerful force for good. May we strive to be part of God’s empire and not that of Rome.

Lyn Pickhover, Striving

February 6th Worship Information

Information for this Sunday’s Worship

Fifth Sunday After Epiphany

February 6, 2022 - 10 am

“Leave Your Nets” by Artist: He Qi

(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: #467 “Fill the World with Love”

• Scripture Reading: Luke 5:1-11

• Story Sermon: “It’s Not about the Fish”
  [Sermon today is a monologue on the theme of trust, written by Rev. Marlayna from the perspective of the disciple, Simon Peter]

• Pastoral Prayer

• Lord’s Prayer

• Communion of the Lord’s Supper

• Hymn: #422 “Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ”

• Benediction

• Postlude

Link to scripture: Luke 5:1-11

Hymns for Sunday, February 6, 2022
#467 Fill the World with Love
#422 Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ

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.

DISCOVERY

Rev. Marlayna read a story sermon from the point of the innkeeper who missed Jesus’ birth because he was busy with everyday concerns. I noticed several anachronisms – such as the innkeeper “doing the books” at a time when a “book” (“biblos” in Greek and “liber” in Latin) would have been a painstakingly handwritten manuscript, and accounts, if kept at all, would have been scratches on reusable clay tablets. Anachronisms can help move the story along – as long as you don’t take them as hard facts.

It was a weekend of small earthquakes, and I thought of predictions that movements of the North American tectonic plate would eventually cause “the big one” in the Boston area. Fast forwarding a few thousand years, I imagined archaeologists digging in rubble of our church building which would be covered with a many feet of dirt, decayed plant life, and junk accumulated over post-earthquake centuries. I imagined that the building’s stones and metal siding collapsed in a way that sealed off the contents of the Faith Development Room, saving part of the library there.

The future archaeologists discover partially preserved copies of books, including The Five Gospels and The Acts of Jesus. These contain explanations that different colored print indicates the authors’ conclusions about the historical accuracy of each passage. There is a letter revealing the donors’ connection to the scholars. They also find a copy of the story sermon about the innkeeper. Once these treasures have been preserved, deciphered, and read, future researchers conclude that the innkeeper’s story is part of the scholarly collection and adds important factual information about the time of Jesus’ birth. They start looking for other evidence to support someone’s theory that formal account-keeping was much older and wide-spread than had previously been assumed. The innkeeper becomes a sophisticated businessman whose bottom line depended on taking advantage of ignorant travelers. A new study subject has been born.

This may sound far-fetched, but it is probably not much different from how “facts” have been added to the original stories memorialized in our Bibles. How difficult it is to know what really happened two, three, or four millennia ago! But, really, the facts do not matter as much as the ideas and lessons we find preserved in the collection that we, today, call “The Bible.”

May we search for meanings instead of facts in our holy books.

Lyn Pickhover, Digging

January 9th Worship - First Sunday After Epiphany - The Baptism of Christ

Information for this Sunday’s Worship

First Sunday After Epiphany - The Baptism of Christ
January 9, 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: #241 “Holy Spirit, Truth Divine”

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

• Sermon: “Soaking in the Spirit”

• Renewal of Baptismal Vows Ritual (If you are watching the service on-line and want to participate in this ritual, please have a container of hand-sanitizer with you)

• Pastoral Prayer

• Lord’s Prayer

• Hymn: #530 “I’ve Got Peace Like a River”

• Benediction

• Postlude

Link to scripture: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Hymns for Sunday, January 9, 2022
#241 Holy Spirit, Truth Divine
#530 I've Got Peace Like a River

Story: “The Lion who Feared,” written by Roger L. Robbinnolt (slightly adapted) Retold by Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt

Scripture:  Matthew 2:1-12                                       

The Visit of the Wise Men

1In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
    who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Story:  “The Lion who Feared,” written by Roger L. Robbinnolt (slightly adapted)  Retold by Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt

[Note:  This story follows the story told on Christmas Eve about a unicorn visiting the manger.]

The lion had spent most of his life developing his roar.  He was not a happy beast.  His father had given him little attention as a cub—being intent upon strengthening his own position as the king of all the beasts in the immediate area through skilled lionic diplomacy.  His mother was a dreamer who spent hours [each day] watching imaginary landscapes in the clouds and wishing she were there. His brothers and sisters teased him unmercifully because one front leg was a bit shorter than the other.  He rolled in an odd way as he walked.

The lion became a loner.   He spent hours [each day] hidden in a cave developing a ferocious roar.  When he was ready, he stood at the top of a low hill.  The sound of his angry voice reverberated off the nearby cliffs.  Shepherds gathered their flocks in anxious knots.  Ravens dropped from flight in sheer fright.

The lion was pleased.  He too could rule the countryside.  He would not reign by his father’s diplomacy but with the weapon of fear.

His tactic worked.  Sheepherders put extra sharp-horned rams on guard duty with the flocks.  As the lion’s roar engulfed fields and villages, unwise parents would say to troubled children, “You do what I tell you, or I’ll leave you out for the lion to eat!”

One cold winter’s day, the troubled beast stood on a hilltop watching unusually large crowds of people streaming toward the nearby town [of Bethlehem.]  He kept a sharp eye out for straying pack animals.  He saw none.  His hunger deepened. 

When night fell, he quietly crept toward a flock of sheep, trying to avoid the guardian rams whose sharp horns could slit open the belly of a lion.  If he was lucky, he might sneak up on a lost sheep.  

At that moment, the night silence was [suddenly] embroidered with angelic songs heard more in the heart than the ear.  When the sky blazed, the lion momentarily wished for his mother.  She would have loved the display.  The lion saw the shepherds embrace in fear and hope.  When he sensed the words concerning a babe born in Bethlehem, he saw the shepherds choose prize lambs from the flock and, leaving a ram in charge, rush toward the village.  The lion followed.  Surely something edible would stray into his path.

Just outside the city limits he observed three camels coming down a nearby road.  Their riders were richly dressed.  The lion paused, gathered all his strength, and let out the loudest, most ferocious roar of his entire life.

The camels bolted.  One rider dropped a small, ornately carved chest, which bounced down a steep slope in the darkness.  After a great distance, the riders controlled their mounts and turned them again toward Bethlehem. 

The roar caused quaking in the village inhabitants and guests a like.  The couple in the stable clutched their child tightly and the kneeling shepherds hugged their lambs.

The lion limped fiercely down the main thoroughfare.  Shouts of “The lion is coming!  The lion is coming!” echoed through the town.  Rocks and spears were readied.  [But it was dark, and the lion walked in the shadows of the buildings, so no one could see him well enough to take aim.]

The beast followed the scent of shepherds and lambs toward the stable behind the inn.

As he continued to slink down the cobblestone path, he found his way blocked by a unicorn with a golden horn.  The lion paused.  If he could avoid the horn, a fine feast surely awaited him.  He paused for a moment to consider what a mythological beast might do to his digestive system, but he was hungry enough to eat anything. 

The unicorn sang a soothing song:

Come now in peace,

O mighty beast,

I care for you;

Come now in peace.

Instead of listening, the lion gave another mighty roar and leaped at the unicorn.  The unicorn dodged to one side—but not far enough.  The lion’s claw caught him on the flank and flipped him end over end, his horn jamming itself into a crack between the stones.  [The horn broke—and began to bleed.]

Landing, the lion turned in a single movement, preparing to spring again.  He saw the bleeding unicorn huddled on the ground.  It still sang in a quiet voice:

Come now in peace,

O mighty beast,

I care for you;

Come now in peace.

Perhaps it was weakness from hunger.  Perhaps it was lifelong aloneness.  Perhaps it was the interweaving of the angels’ song and the unicorn’s.  But the lion cried until his hard heart broke.  Beating within it he discovered the heart of love that lies deep within all living creatures.

The unicorn struggled to his side and said, “Great beast, come with me.”   The limping lion allowed himself to be led through the stable door.  Light from the great star washed the marks of the lion’s claw from the unicorn’s flank.

The song swelled with the addition of the voices of the man and the woman by the manger and the counterpoint of the cooing child.

Come now in peace,

O mighty beast,

We care for you;

Come now in peace.

The lion and the unicorn knelt at the manger.

The heavy clop of camel hooves sounded on the stable path.  The great lumbering animals appeared, with their richly cloaked riders.

The man in the lead commented mournfully to his companions, “You have your frankincense and myrrh to offer to the young king in the manger crib.  I lost my gift of gold to the lion’s roar.  I come sad-hearted and empty-handed.”

Then he spied something at the edge of the cobblestone path glowing in the starlight.  Dismounting, he picked it up, and shouted, “I have a gift for the long-sought [king]!”

His compatriots climbed down from their saddles.  Together they entered the stable and knelt in the empty places, which seemed to be awaiting their arrival to the holy scene.  The cow nodded her approval.

[The unicorn’s song welcomed them too,

Come now in peace,

O mighty ones,

God cares for you;

Come now in peace.] 

Amen.

Second Sunday after Christmas (Celebrated as Epiphany)

Information for this Sunday’s Worship
Second Sunday after Christmas (Celebrated as Epiphany)
January 2, 2022 - 10 a.m.

(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

• Special Music: “For the Beauty of the Earth” - Jenna Van Hyning

• Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:1-12 [The Visit of the Wisemen/Magi]

• Sermon/Story: “The Lion Who Feared" - written by Roger L. Robbennolt,(from the book The Unicorn at the Manger: Yearlong Stories of the Holy Night)

• Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

• Hymn: #172 "We Three Kings"

• Benediction

• Postlude

Link to scripture: Matthew 2:1-12
Hymn: #172 We Three Kings

DID YOU NOTICE . . . ?

Did you ever notice that our Christmas Eve service uses passages from the Gospel of Luke while the service devoted to Epiphany quotes from the Gospel of Mark?

Did you ever notice that Luke brings Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem where there is no room in the inn with accommodations for labor and birth, so the couple is directed to a stable where there are animals, but no people, and angels deliver the good news (gospel or evangellion) to lowly shepherds? (No wise men, Kings, or magi., only poor and marginalized herders who wanted to know what the fuss was about.)
Did you ever notice that Mark places Joseph and Mary in their own house in Bethlehem where, some days after their baby is born, star-gazers are drawn from the east by astrological signs of an impending birth? (Israel is on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, so exotic magi could not come from the west.) A single angel warns Joseph to take his family to Egypt to escape the wrath of King Herod who wants to eliminate a rival king. (There are no shepherds here and no camels in either story.)

If you read these two stories of Jesus’ birth side-by-side, you will notice that the only things they have in common are a mother, Mary, a father, Joseph, and a baby, Jesus. Even the genealogies are different. And if you read these two stories with the Hebrew Bible open, you will note that Luke’s story is about a shepherd king who cares for the poor and lowly in accordance with God’s instructions to his chosen people. Matthew, on the other hand, presents Jesus as the new and greater Moses who will lead his oppressed people to the safety of a new promised land.

I love Christmas as we know it, with shepherds, animals, kings – and a camel – worshiping the baby while the star shines and angels sing. However. I am always left with a sense that combining the two stories deprives us of important references that Jews of the first century would have seen in the separate versions. Both stories are important, and it does not matter that they disagree.

My New Years’ resolution is to try to understand stories in the Bible as Jews in Israel/Palestina and scattered across the known world would have received them in the 1st century C.E. and then apply the lessons to our 21st century world.

The winter-spring Bible Study will mine Jesus’ parables for meanings we don’t see but would
have been apparent to Jesus’ audience. If you would like to join us via Zoom on Saturday mornings at 9:00 AM, please contact me at lyn@pickhover.net. No homework assignments and no prior Bible knowledge necessary, but I will send out material to help with our explorations.

Happy New Year!
Lyn Pickhover, Still Looking

Information for This Sunday's Worship, December 26th

Information for this Sunday’s Worship
First Sunday After Christmas
 December 26th, 2021 - 10 a.m.

(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

• Solo: “If I had been in Bethlehem” - Julie Gorman
  
  “The Long Awaited Gift” - A Video Worship Service put together by the staff of the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ. It was originally planned for the Sunday after Christmas, 2020, but the message of the service is still relevant for 2021. May God bless our hearing of these words!
  

• Scripture Reading in the video: Luke 2:22-40

• Prayers of the People and Lord’s Prayer - Stephanie Potts

• Christmas Carol: “Good Christian Friends, Rejoice” - #164

• Benediction

• Postlude

Hymns for Sunday, December 26th

#164 Good Christian Friends, Rejoice

Christmas Eve - December 24, 2021 - 7 p.m.

Franklin Federated Church
A Community of Abundant Welcome to All, 
Growing Together in Christ and Serving with Love
Christmas Eve - December 24, 2021 - 7 p.m.
 

(found on church website Franklinfederated.org and FaceBook page)

Prelude

Welcome & Announcements

Presentation of the Peace Light - Jake Houlihan

Advent Wreath Liturgy (adapted from Touch Holiness)

ONE: Tonight is the night for which we have been waiting. The Advent wreath is completed with the Christ candle in the center. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders.”
ALL: With the birth of Christ our lives are centered, focused, turned toward God. We light this candle because Christ is the center of our lives.
(The purple and pink candles are lighted first, followed by the white “Christ” candle in the center.)
ONE: Please join me in prayer.
ALL: Dear God, who comes to us in Jesus, on this night as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, let the power of Christ come into our hearts that we might find peace with you forever. Amen.

*Christmas Carol: “O Come, All Ye Faithful” - #148, Verses 1 & 2

Reading: ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ by Clement Clark Moore
- Readers: Greg Flynn; Carrie Flynn; Lyn Pickhover; Bob Miller; Steve Kinson

Duet: “Hope Awakes” - Stephanie Potts and Julie Gorman

Scripture Reading: Luke 2:1-7 [“A decree went out…gave birth…]
- Jake Houlihan, Reader

*Christmas Carol: “O Little Town of Bethlehem” - #144, Verses 1 & 2

Scripture Reading: Luke 2:8-20 [Shepherds and Angels] - Hannah Burr, Reader

*Christmas Carol: “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” - #150, Verses 1 & 2

Sermon/Story: “The Inn Keeper,” written by Rev. Frederick Buechner
- recited by Rev. Marlayna

Christmas Prayer and Lord’s Prayer - Rev. Marlayna

Song: “O Holy Night” - Kathy Danielson (on video)

Tolling of the Bell - Steve Kinson/Brady Flynn

Benediction

Lighting of the Candles

*Christmas Carol: “Silent Night” - #145, Verses 1, 2 & 3

Postlude: “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” - Julie Gorman