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CONTENTS

4250

Worship Services

Three-Part Series Outline

“Living More with Less” Three-Sunday Worship Series

NOTES:

First Sunday Order of Worship

Call to Worship: “Children from Your Vast Creation” #1, by David A. Robb (stanza 1 spoken by leader, 2 by women, 3 by men, 4 by all)

Opening Hymn: “Children from Your Vast Creation” #1 (tune: Beecher, New Century Hymnal [NCH] #368, or Beach Spring, NCH #332)

Time with Children: (“80-20” illustration from “Do Justice” in “Flex Talk,” p. 16)

Preparing for the Offering: “When a Prophet Sings of Justice” #3, by John Core (stanza 1 spoken by leader, 2 by women, 3 by men, 4 by all)

First Lesson (spoken together): “And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” – Micah 6:8.

Second Lesson (spoken together): “Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?” – Ezekiel 34:18

Sermon: “Living More with Less,” part 1 [Introduction, Principles 1: Do Justice, and 4: Cherish the Natural Order from “Flex Talk,” pp. 13-19]

SERMON PREFACE: In this series of three sermons, I assume that everyone here has heard the Good News of God’s love, that Jesus put things right between God and us through his life, death and resurrection. I’m going to assume that we have the power of the Holy Spirit available to us to live as disciples of Jesus… that we can stop saying NO to the Holy Spirit and live lives of integrity. That’s what Voluntary Simplicity – Living More with Less – is all about.

Sermon Hymn: “When a Prophet Sings of Justice” #3 (tune: Psalm 42/Freu Dich Sehr, NCH #101)

Prayer: Gracious God, we thank you for this opportunity to worship you today. Please help us to learn day-by-day what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. In his name we pray the prayer he taught us. Our Father…

Closing Hymn: Simple Gifts (Accompaniment: The Presbyterian Hymnal #302 – “I Danced in the Morning”)

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ‘tis a gift to be free,
‘Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be.
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan‘t be ashamed.
To turn, turn will be our delight,
‘Till by turning, turning we will come out right.

Second Sunday Order of Worship

Call to Worship: “Once Jesus Loved a Rich Man” #5, by Amanda Udis-Kessler (stanza 1 spoken by leader, 2 by women, 3 by men, 4 by women, 5 by men)

Opening Hymn: “Once Jesus Loved a Rich Man” #5 (tune: Materna, NCH #594)

Time with Children: (a recipe from “Extending the Table” or “More-with-Less Cook book,”p. 40; or a cooperative game, like “Zoom” on p. 40 in “New Games for the Whole Family”)

Preparing for the Offering: “A Place at the Table” #2, by Shirley Erena Murray (each refrain spoken by all, stanza 1 by leader, 2 by women, 3 by men, 4 by women, 5 by men)

First Lesson (spoken together): Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need, or I shall be full, and deny you, and say, “Who is the Lord?” or I shall be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God. – Proverbs 30:8-9.

Second Lesson: Luke 12:22-34

Sermon: “Living More with Less,” part 2 [Principles 2: Learn from the World Community, 4: Nurture People, 5: Nonconform Freely, pp. 16-20; concept of “enough,” pp. 35-37]

Sermon Hymn: “A Place at the Table” #2 (soloist sings stanzas; congregation sings refrain)

Prayer: Gracious God, we thank you for this opportunity to worship you today. Please help us to learn day-by-day what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. In his name we pray the prayer he taught us. Our Father…

Closing Hymn: “Simple Gifts” (See First Sunday)

Third Sunday Order of Worship

Call to Worship: “Your Spirit, God, Moves Us to Pray” #4, by Mary Nelson Keithahn (stanza 1 spoken by leader, 2 by women, 3 by men)

Hymn: “Your Spirit, God, Moves Us to Pray” #4 (tune: Sweet Hour, NCH # 505)

Time with Children: A St. Nicholas Celebration (available in several forms from Alternatives)

Preparing for the Offering (spoken together): “Children from Your Vast Creation” #1 (stanza 1 or 4 spoken together)

First Lesson: Matthew 25:31-40.

Second Lesson (spoken together): “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” –James 1:27

Sermon: “Living More with Less,” part 3: Celebrating Responsibly through Alternative Giving [from “Flex Talk,” pp. 22-23, and from “10 Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas,” p. 57.]

Sermon Hymn: “Children from Your Vast Creation” #1 (also used on First Sunday; tune: Beecher, NCH #368, or Beach Spring, NCH #332)

Prayer: Gracious God, we thank you for this opportunity to worship you today. Please help us to learn day-by-day what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. In his name we pray the prayer he taught us. Our Father…

Closing Hymn: “Simple Gifts” (See First Sunday)

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Additional Appropriate Texts

(also see “Bible Verses,” pp. 27-28)

First Sunday: Genesis chapters 1 & 2. “And Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it.” (“to work it and take care of it.”) –Genesis 2:15.

Read the Story of Noah in Genesis 6-9:17. Reflect on 6:19-22 and 9:8-17. God does not want the Earth harmed.

Second Sunday: “Be still and know that I am God!”–Psalm 46:10.

Third Sunday: James 1: 9-11-poverty & riches; 1:12-17-temptation; 1:22-27-doing the word

Suggestions for Easy Offertories (Prelude, Offering Music, Postlude) on Simple Gifts

Sermon Illustration

“WHOSE BIRTHDAY IS IT, ANYWAY?”

Matthew 3:1

In the land of Puzzling Tales there lived an eight year old boy by the name of Jason. Now in this land and in the neighborhood where Jason lived, the unexpected always happened.

Instead of football, they played kneeball; instead of the children “going to school,” the teachers were busy “going to homes”; and in the summertime it was not uncommon to see water freeze and in the wintertime leaves grew on trees. It was a funny, strange place.

One incident in the land of Puzzling Tales stands out. When it was time for Jason’s 9th birthday, as usual, the unusual happened.

Jason’s grandparents came from their home across the state to help celebrate, but of course when they got to Jason’s neighborhood, they went immediately to the Brown’s down the street and visited and stayed there.

When Jason’s mother baked the birthday cake, she gave it to the letter carrier to eat.

And when all the neighborhood kids heard it was Jason’s birthday, they exchanged gifts with one another and, of course, Jason got none.

There was a blizzard of birthday cards. The post office had to hire extra workers and work longer hours to handle the deluge of cards. Of course, in the land of Puzzling Tales the unexpected was the expected and all the kids, the moms and dads, the grandparents, even a couple of dogs and a parakeet got cards, while poor Jason got none.

Finally, about nine o’clock, in a fit of frustration and anger, Jason went out of his house, borrowed the school cheerleaders’ megaphone, rode up and down the street on his unicycle and shouted at the top of his lungs, “WHOSE BIRTHDAY IS IT, ANYWAY?”

And the night was so silent that all night long echoes bounced off the mountain sides: “Whose birthday is it, anyway? Whose birthday is it, anyway?”

The baby Jesus will be kidnapped again this year and held ransom for millions of dollars. This year people will surrender more than 30 billion dollars to stores to buy gifts to swap.

But it is Jesus’ birthday! Jesus ought to receive the gifts. Jesus said, “Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these, my brethren, you have done it to me.” We give to Jesus when we give to the poor, the weak, the hungry, the homeless, the refugees, the prisoners.

It will be a great birthday celebration when God’s people begin in earnest to give once again to Jesus. For, after all, it is his birthday, isn’t it?

–Rev. Arley Fadness

Sermon for Any Worship Service

By Pastor Laura Nedeau-Owen
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Amos 5:18-24; I Thess. 4:13-18; Matt. 25: 1-13
24th Sunday after Pentecost (Series A)

Sisters and Brothers in Christ, Grace to you and peace from God our Creator and our Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN. Thank you for inviting us here to share with you in worship [and in discussion on voluntary simplicity at the adult forum,] as sisters and brothers who struggle together and rejoice together in our Christian journey.

Ten women, all excited by the promise of being part of the celebration. A celebration that may well go on for days, even a week. All they had to do was wait for them to return. And upon their return they were to go out and greet them, light their way into the party hall, and in so doing would guarantee themselves a place at the feasting table. All ten were willing, all ten were there, all ten had lamps. In the parable, what divides the wise and foolish, those who go in and join the party, and those who are left in the dark, is whether or not they think to bring enough oil for the wait. The story that begins with Jesus telling us what the kingdom of heaven will look like at the end of the age, ends by telling us that those who had the oil, (those who were ready, those who made the right preparations) would be the ones allowed in. Those who don’t, won’t. It is no wonder to me this passage from Matthew 25 is not one chosen by many as a memorization text for Sunday School or one we turn to for encouragement, or support or comfort along our way.

It is a parable about the Kingdom of God at the end of the age. A parable about wise and foolish women. A parable about being ready, about oil. For that is what divides the women – the oil.

The oil. That which makes the lamps burn. Without the oil, the lamps aren’t worth much, no matter how big they are, how handsome they are, how expensive they are, how enviable the lamps are. It is the oil that produces the light. And some have it, others do not.

Nice parable, well sort of nice, but what’s the point? What’s the message for me, for us today and how can this have anything to say to us about our faith, our Christian journey? I haven’t really liked this text much in the past because, as I do, when I read scripture, I talk back to the characters. That’s one way the scripture is alive for me, in an on-going dialog with the people. I crawl into the texts and try to see what they see and hear the sounds around them and smell what they smell.

“So women, you, the ones with oil, why not give some of your oil to the women who ran out?”

“Because there is not enough for both, they must get their own.” “Why? What is so personal about this OIL that they must have their own.”

What part does the oil play in the story? What does it represent? It is what makes the lamps burn. And each woman has to get her own, it cannot be given from one to another.

And it is necessary to have in order to enter the celebration hall and sit at the feasting table. So what is the oil? It is faith. It is the relationship, our relationship with the one for whom we wait. Our relationship with God? Yes. Our relationship with God and our relationship in community that grows out of our relationship with God.

And so we cannot give some of ours to another, even though we may want to, and sometimes try to. It is also not something we can rush out and buy at the last minute when we realize we need some and haven’t taken the time to “get any” yet. That’s what the foolish women in the story tried. They went off to the merchant to “buy some” and while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived and they missed out.

The same happens to us. We have the nice lamps, we look nice, we look good, we have the right stuff, we work hard, we marry, we raise good looking children, we have beautiful homes, enviable homes, we recycle our egg cartons, we speak the words of faith, we are here and we want to do what is right but none of that is faith. None of that produces the light.

I grew up in a stable, healthy, well-to-do family. My parents were married for 43 years when father died. My brother and I had all the things we ever wanted. I had a first rate education. Somewhere along the line I learned that if you’re having a bad day, you go shopping. Buy something. You’ll feel better. Growing up I took full advantage of that.

Then I grew up, and some where in the years between high school graduation and my years in seminary I realized this going shopping cost a lot of money. And could actually be a little depressing because when you are used to getting what you want, and then your lifestyle all of a sudden can’t support that anymore, it gets depressing. Those habits die hard. When our first child turned one, he, though of course he did not know it at the time, had his first lesson in buying to be happy… first grandchild on both sides, a child so wanted, the gifts filled the room. Elias cared for what? Right! The empty box his godfather pushed him around the living room in while his father and grandfather tried to put his fancy multipurpose, newest top-of-the line riding fire truck together. It may well be that our son didn’t even care as much for that box, as he did for the attention his godfather was showing him, giving him.

We can learn much from our children. And I confess, that it was with our children in mind that I began the process, the journey of voluntary simplicity... a process that has meant for me an on-going freedom from material possessions, straightening out who owns whom, and a redirection of energy so I can spend more time concentrating on relationships... my relationships with my children, my husband, those in my community in need, and with my Creator. The practice of voluntary simplicity encourages us to live more fully to pursue the light, with far less concern about what kind of “lamp” we have.

To let go of so much of the clutter and complexity we are bombarded with every time we turn on the TV, or open a magazine or surf the Net, to have and have and have, all that tries to focus our attention, our living and our values, on the outer aspects of life, what we possess and own and consume. In a world that turns all its attention to the kind of lamps we own, it is easy to lose sight of our oil.

Voluntary simplicity is the choice to shift attention toward the quality and depth of our relationships. A choice that encourages us to ask why we are choosing to buy something, how useful is it, how will it affect our living and what does it do to our relationships.

As God’s children, those claimed and named God’s own in Baptism, we become new creatures, we are promised so and we believe it, at least I hope we do. It has to do with what changes in us, the inside stuff when our life choices are such that we cannot keep going on like we have before, the oil of faith burns in us when we are forced, yes forced to make other choices in how we are living so the focus is no longer on me, mine, wants, haves, but on others, on service, on giving, on reflecting the light… showing in outwardly ways that it is my relationship with God that guides me and is my focus.

My children sing in Sunday School “Give me oil in my lamp, keep it burning, burning, burning, give me oil in my lamp I pray, alleluia. Give me oil in my lamp, keep it burning, burning, burning, keep it burning till the break of day.”

What a great prayer; give me oil, help me to focus on that, on the light, on the shining of the light, help me to focus on my relationships and be able to let go of those things, those demands, those societal pressures that keep me focused away from relationships and towards things, and the influences that would have me believe what is of most importance is not whether I have oil, but what the lamp looks like, how much it cost, what a good investment for the future it is, and how few others can afford such a nice one. Give me oil. When we can do nothing else than proclaim our relationship with God by how we live, by what we buy, and don’t buy, in how we use our time, in the jobs we have, in the differences we make in the lives of others, then there is light. And then at the end of our day we can give thanks that our prayer has been answered, that we have oil, and because of that there is light in a world of darkness.

We sit and wait, for our Creator to come, some of us are wise, some are foolish, some will go into the light and sit at the feasting table, some will be left in the darkness. And it matters not what brand of lamp we carry, only that we have oil.

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