October 31, 2021
Welcome! We’re so glad you have joined us today! Gathering Gathering Song I Gave Up Mark Schultz https://youtu.be/uRAG5NM6MXQ Announcements Thursday, 7:00 PM Zoom Worship Here is your link: Elisabeth Smith is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Bible Study Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86066732644?pwd=emorNUc2RlJkWEN4UUdrZHJZY0o2Zz09 Meeting ID: 860 6673 2644 Passcode: 762435 One tap mobile +19292056099,,86066732644#,,,,*762435# US (New York) +13017158592,,86066732644#,,,,*762435# US (Washington DC) Dial by your location +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) Meeting ID: 860 6673 2644 Passcode: 762435 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcyTFEtQFq *Call to Worship On the golden days of sunshine or the silvery days of clouds and rain, God is always our bright and shining hope. God is the one who fills our hearts with love and joy. God helps us to become renewed and re-centered for the best living of our days. Therefore let us worship God. (John Killinger, adapted) Opening Prayer O God, for the sun and the stars, the mountains and the valleys, we your children come offering you our thanks and seeking your presence. Be among us and open our hearts to the sway of your power and your peace. Work through all that is said and sung during this service so that we will leave this place knowing that your hand has touched us. Amen. Celebration of Birthdays and Anniversaries Song Satisfied With Jesus Bill Gaither, Michael English, Mark Lowry, Wes Hampton https://youtu.be/_xJkwUGFpDk Hearing the Word Scripture Exodus 20:17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Sermon The Ten Commandments 10 Be Happy With What You Have One thing I really enjoy is being a part of an active clergy association. When I moved to Middlebury, Vermont in 2011, I was really excited to learn that they had a great clergy group that met every month, and I went to the first meeting eager to meet my new colleagues in ministry. Almost every church in town had a member of their staff present. We all sat down around a table at the host church, with our coffee and donuts, and almost everyone pulled out their smartphones and put them down next to their plates. Except for me. I didn’t have a smartphone. I had a flip phone. And I was embarrassed to put it out on the table. I wanted a smartphone. And seeing all of those smartphones out there on that table, I REALLY wanted a smartphone! I coveted those smartphones. Well, this went on for several months. The clergy would gather around the table with coffee and goodies, and everyone but me would put their smartphones on the table, and we would have our meeting. And the longer it went on, the more I coveted those smartphones. I just had to have one. But they seemed too expensive for me to be able to afford one. I traveled to South Carolina for Thanksgiving that year to visit a friend, and we went out to the mall on Saturday to hit the sales. We were walking from one store to another when I saw a Verizon kiosk in the middle of the walkway. I was a Verizon customer. They were offering free smartphones if you signed up for the service for 2 years. And the offer was good for existing customers. Well, I couldn’t sign up fast enough! In a matter of minutes, I had a working smartphone in my pocket – one that I had no idea how to use yet – and I felt like a million bucks! I couldn’t wait till the next clergy meeting when I could put my smartphone out on the table along with everyone else’s! It is hard not to break the 10th commandment in a culture like ours. Simply stated, coveting is wanting something that we do not have, especially if it be-longs to someone else. The first recorded incident of the sin of coveting took place with Adam and Eve, and their desire for the forbidden fruit. God had given them every other tree to eat from except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But there is something about being told that we cannot have something that makes us want it even more. Adam and Eve were told they could not have that fruit, and all of a sudden that was all they wanted. And the serpent pushed them along by helping them to rationalize their decision to take the fruit by convincing them that it was their right to have what they should not have. And finally they took the fruit and ate it. In America, we have plenty of encouragement to break the 10th commandment. Adam Hamilton writes in his book, Words of Life, “We live in an economic system that relies on fueling our desire for more to increase consumer spending. Those who manufacture, sell, or provide goods and services must constantly create new or improved products in order to persuade you to buy. It’s not hard. Our hearts are so easily drawn to covet … [T]housands of companies, and tens of thousands of very smart people, work constantly to convince you that what you have is not enough … Producers of goods and services must create discontent with what we have, thus fueling our desire for more.” He goes on to say, “Wanting things and shopping for them are not necessarily signs of covetousness. But when my passion for consuming consumes me – my time, my emotional and spiritual energy, or money that I should have spent on some-thing else, when it becomes an obsession or desire for something that I’m not meant to have – it can cross the line into covetousness or greed.” Coveting what belongs to others is so much a part of our nature that it can be seen even in children. John Killinger records an instance where a teacher in Great Britain did an experiment. He gave each of ten children in a classroom a different toy, and then left them alone for fifteen minutes. He observed them from a hidden location. Killinger writes, “Within sixty seconds, two of the children were pulling at others’ toys, while a third child greedily collected the toys those two had laid aside. At the end of the quarter hour, three children were in possession of two toys each; three had none; two had different toys from the ones with which they had begun; and two were huddled in corners, clutching the toys they had been given and warily eyeing the other children.” On the surface, it may seem like coveting is all about wanting more stuff, having more possessions. But the thing is, some people never get enough stuff. We acquire more and more and more, until our homes can’t hold it all and we have to rent storage units. Adam Hamilton reports that the construction of storage facilities in this country has increased by five times in recent years. J. Ellsworth Kalas, in The Ten Commandments From the Backside, points out that “covetousness is not cured by getting. It has nothing – or virtually nothing – to do with what we have, or with what we need … [C]ovetousness is a state of mind, not a state of the economy. As long as our hearts are covetous, we will want what the other person has, no matter how much we have or how little he or she has.” Covetousness is not only about wanting or taking what is someone else’s. Coveting can cause us to break other commandments, too, because it is a spiritual matter as much as a physical one. Hamilton writes, “Coveting can be a form of idolatry. It can lead us to misuse God’s name or work on the Sabbath or dishonor our parents. It is sometimes behind the violence we do to one another and is, by definition, central to adultery and stealing.” How do we know when our desire has become sinful? How can we tell if we are breaking the 10th commandment? Adam Hamilton gives us four signs to look for. First, when we desire something to the point that we would act immorally to take it from someone else. If you would actually steal something from someone in order to have it for yourself, then you are breaking two commandments. You’ve broken the commandment against coveting, and you’ve broken the commandment against stealing. Second, when we crave and become obsessed with having something we’re not meant to have, something that will hurt us or others, or something God has said we’re not to have. For example, if you become obsessed with someone else’s spouse, then you have crossed the line into coveting. Third, when the object we desire becomes a false god or idol. Perhaps you have known someone that practically worships a car. They want that car and would do al-most anything to have that car. They look at pictures of it. They go to the car lot and look at it in person. They dream about driving it. It’s like all they think about is that car. Kalas says that what has happened is that the person has put something else into first place and put God into second place. He writes, “When we covet, we think some object or person or position will bring us happiness. That’s far too great a burden to put on any person or thing. Only God can fill the God-shaped void. Having allowed God to fill the ultimate place in our lives, we can accept money, lands, clothing, honors, and people for what they are: worthy secondary factors in life.” And fourth, when we’ve overspent, put ourselves in debt in order to have what we crave, or when our spending keeps us from taking care of our family or serving God. One of my friends had a daughter in school at Auburn University a number of years ago. She couldn’t understand why Stephanie kept running out of money. And then she got her credit card bill in the mail and found that Stephanie had run up charges to her spending limit. She tried to talk to Stephanie on the phone about it, but got nowhere. So she finally drove from SC to Alabama and met her daughter in her room. There she found something like 500 Beanie Babies piled up. Stephanie had become obsessed with these things and gone on a buying spree. So how can we address our temptation to covet? What are some alternatives? Adam Hamilton suggests three. First, we can practice gratitude. When we spend our time being grateful for what we have, we don’t have room to think about what we don’t have. He suggests keeping a gratitude journal, and writing two or three things each day that you are grateful for. He writes, “The more I give thanks for what I have, the less I want what I don’t have.” Sheryl Crow said much the same thing in a line from her song, “Soak Up the Sun”: “It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got.” Second, we can practice generosity. When we are giving to others, it doesn’t allow us to focus on what we want for ourselves. We can focus on the needs of others, instead of our own wants and desires. I love to hear about kids who have birthday par-ties and instead of having friends bring them presents, they ask for donations to a chari-ty. They have learned this generosity from their parents, of course, and it is a lesson that they will continue to practice all their lives. People who are generous tend to be among some of the happiest people I know, because they get such joy from making a difference in someone else’s life. And third, we can practice love, love for God and love for each other. It is im-possible to love our neighbor and also crave what is theirs and want to take it away from them. In fact, Kalas points out that if we love our neighbor as ourself, then we find joy in their having good things. He writes, “When I rejoice in my neighbor’s having, I become wonderfully, almost unimaginably rich. When I covet, my life is so small and petty, but when I rejoice with my neighbor, my life has no boundaries. I feel better about myself, because I’m so much more likable when I’m not envious. I feel better about God, be-cause I’m seeing more of God’s goodness when I get out of my own small world. I feel better about life, because I see it’s blessings more clearly; I see what I have, instead of what I haven’t. All of this leads to a spirit of contentment … the richest persons are not those who have the most, but those who are happiest with what they have.” Adam Hamilton writes about a man named John Betar and his wife, Ann. When John died in the fall of 2018, he and Ann had been married for nearly 86 years; John was 107 years old and Ann was 103. As they grew older, they were interviewed many times and they were often asked what it took to stay married for so long. They would respond, “Live within your means and be content.” That’s pretty good advice for life in general, as well as for staying married for a long time. Live within your means and be content. Be happy with what you have. If you can do that, you will avoid breaking the tenth commandment. Song I Shall Not Want Audrey Assad https://youtu.be/12NMGC5YjYY Praying Together Concerns and Celebrations: Please share any concerns or celebrations you may have with Pastor Elisabeth. Please note if you do not want this shared with this faith community. Pastoral Prayer Holy and Righteous God, We live in a land of more than plenty. And we are tempted to covet every single day. We see the ads on TV, on our cellphones, on our computers, on billboards. We are driven by our consumer culture to want more, to keep up with the Joneses, to have what everyone else has. We are sometimes even tempted to take what someone else has for our own. Help us to keep our desires from becoming obsessions. Teach us to master our lust for more things, more pleasure, more of everything. Let us learn the secret of being content with what we have, and with who we are. May we grow grateful hearts and generous hands. And may we love others as we love ourselves. And may we love you above all. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, who taught his disciples to pray: 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Responding Offertory: You may send your offerings to Grantham United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 152, Grantham, NH, 03753. Doxology UMH #95 Prayer of Dedication Thank you, God, for the opportunity to share in your creative and restorative work among people. Because you have blessed us, we have much to give. These offerings express our gratitude and our aspiration to be more fully your own loyal community. Amen. Song Don’t Worry Be Happy Playing for Change https://youtu.be/uWXUWepSak4 *Benediction The love of God, the grace of Jesus Christ, and the communion of the Holy Spirit abide with you all. Amen.
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October 24, 2021
Welcome! We’re so glad you have joined us today! Gathering Gathering Song For the Beauty of the Earth John Rutter https://youtu.be/xlBkpAm3fhw Announcements Thursday, 7:00 PM Zoom Worship Here is your link: Elisabeth Smith is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Bible Study Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86066732644?pwd=emorNUc2RlJkWEN4UUdrZHJZY0o2Zz09 Meeting ID: 860 6673 2644 Passcode: 762435 One tap mobile +19292056099,,86066732644#,,,,*762435# US (New York) +13017158592,,86066732644#,,,,*762435# US (Washington DC) Dial by your location +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) Meeting ID: 860 6673 2644 Passcode: 762435 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcyTFEtQFq *Call to Worship We come broken. This is a place of hope. We come fearful. This is a place of peace. We come cynical. This is a place of liberation. We come empty. This is a place of life. (Cheryl Lawrie, adapted) Song For Who He Really Is Steven Curtis Chapman https://youtu.be/x_n9Pr37l6s Opening Prayer From the cowardice that does not face new truths, from the laziness that is content with half-truths, from the arrogance that thinks it knows all the truth, deliver us today, good Lord. Amen. (From the Church in Kenya) Celebration of Birthdays and Anniversaries Song Honesty Billy Joel https://youtu.be/SuFScoO4tb0 Hearing the Word Scripture Exodus 20:16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Sermon The Ten Commandments 9 Honorable Living I want you to imagine for a moment that you have been arrested for a crime that you didn’t commit. The police came to your door, put you in handcuffs, and took you to the police station. You were fingerprinted and your picture was taken, you were put in orange overalls and locked in a cell. You were appointed a defense attorney who never seemed to have much time to talk to you because he was carrying such a heavy load of cases. You know you are innocent, but everyone else seems to assume you are guilty. That is what happened to Darryl Burton on June 28, 1984, when he was arrested for murder. Eyewitnesses to the crime said that the killer was short, about 5’6’’ tall, and a light-skinned black man. Darryl is 5’10’’ tall and dark-skinned. There was no motive, no weapon, no fingerprints, no DNA, no confession, and no evidence of any kind, except for two false witnesses who agreed to testify against Darryl in exchange for having serious criminal charges against them dropped. When an actual eyewitness to the crime attended the trial, she realized that they had the wrong man and she told the police. But because Darryl’s lawyer had not interviewed her in preparation for the trial, she was not permitted to testify. Darryl was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to 50 years plus 25 years, to be served consecutively. It would be 75 years until he could be considered for parole. It took 24 years, but Darryl was finally exonerated on August 29, 2008. It is estimated that somewhere between 1 and 4% of those people currently in prison in the United States were falsely accused and wrongly convicted. That may seem like a small percentage; after all, that means that at least 96% of the time the prosecutors had the guilty party. But we have about 2.3 million people in prison, which means that between 23,00 and 92,000 of them are innocent people who are behind bars for crimes they did not commit based on false testimony. Adam Hamilton points out in his book, Words of Life, that a criminal justice system only works if people tell the truth, and that it is clear that bearing false witness can have devastating results. As J. Ellsworth Kalas states in The Ten Commandments From the Back Side, truth in a court of law is a matter of life and death. But courts of law are not the only places where people bear false witness. The ninth commandment is also broken in the political arena. And not only by politicians, but by people just like us. Adam Hamilton writes: We live in a time when it is increasingly difficult to tell what is true. In our nation and local communities, our traditional sources for investigating, discerning, and report-ing the truth are caught in the political polarization that is dividing our country. Regard-less of who fair and unbiased a media outlet attempts to be, if its reports are critical of a politician or political party, they will be blasted by supporters of that party or politician as “fake news.” We tend to choose news sources that align with or confirm our biases, which serves only to deepen our polarization. This polarization sometimes manifests itself in people of faith participating in bearing false witness in the area of politics. Because we’ve not taken the time to listen to or understand the political “other,” we often represent them in ways that do not, in fact, reflect their views. Rather than digging in to understand another’s views …, it is easier to oversimplify and misrepresent their views. One reason that this kind of thing can take place so easily is because of social media. It is so easy for false information to be spread. In the 2016 presidential election season, the Pew Center reported that 23 percent of Americans either knowingly or un-knowingly shared a made-up news story on social media. That means that nearly 1 in 4 of us were posting stories that were not true; we didn’t take time to verify that they were factual before we shared them with other people. This is breaking the ninth commandment and is really not acceptable behavior. Another area in which we are guilty of bearing false witness is gossip. Why is it that we enjoy gossip so much? Adam Hamilton states, “We seem hardwired to share gossip. There is something within us that enjoys knowing the ‘latest dirt’ or sharing the ‘inside story’ on someone else. At this office, this used to take place around the water cooler. It was the stuff that was shared at the barbershop or beauty salon. An amazing amount of gossip happens in church groups, where it is sometimes shared as a ‘prayer concern.’ Gossip makes us feel empowered, often because it makes us feel morally superior as we point out the perceived failures or foibles of others or pass along what someone else has shared with us in confidence. In the process, we bring harm to people and damage their reputations.” I had a woman in my church in Pepperell, Massachusetts named Ethel. She was an absolute snake. She lived on her telephone, spreading gossip and innuendo like it was going out of style. If she was home, you couldn’t get her on the phone, because she was on it. She was so mean, that if people saw her coming down the street, they would turn and go in the opposite direction to avoid having to talk to her. And I have it on good authority that her gossip was responsible for breaking up a marriage. And yet, she considered herself a good Christian woman and sat in church every Sunday without a clue that she was doing anything wrong. And men can be just as bad about gossip. I love watching reruns of “The Andy Griffith Show.” In one episode, Andy and Barney are teasing Aunt Bee and some of her friends about being gossips. So the women plot to show the men that they are just as involved in gossiping as the women. A stranger has come to town who is a shoe sales-man. But the women start a rumor that he is really a talent agent looking for new performers. So pretty soon the men are all lined up outside his door at the hotel with their children or other relatives wanting to audition for him. The salesman ends up selling more shoes than he has ever sold before! And the women get the last laugh on the men. But gossip can have devastating effects. It can ruin reputations and break up marriages. And social medial makes this so much easier to do, too. People can put as many lies and half-truths out there as they want to, stating them as if they were facts, and once something is out there it can’t be taken back. And the damage can be more than just to a reputation; it can cost a life. Young adults have taken their own lives in response to lies that have been posted about them on social media. But the people doing the gossiping are only part of the problem. Those who listen to it are just as guilty. J. Ellsworth Kalas writes, “If we sit in silence while a reputation is being discredited, when we know the truth or have good reason to question what is being said, we become party to slander and to the destruction of that person. Silence is not always golden; sometimes it is criminal.” So while we may get a thrill from being “in the know,” it is breaking the ninth commandment to participate in gossip by listening. Another issue related to bearing false witness is hypocrisy: when a person’s actions do not match their words, or when a person’s behavior does not match what they say they believe in. In their book, UnChristian, David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons write about perceptions that young people outside the church have about the church. About 85% of people ages 16 to 29 perceive the church to be hypocritical. They see Christians as people who say one thing and do another, or who don’t follow their own advice. Some of Jesus’ harshest words were for the Pharisees and teachers of the law whom he accused of being hypocrites. He knew that hypocrites were the worst kind of witnesses to the truth of the faith. Why would someone be attracted to Judaism or to Christianity if they don’t see followers practicing what they preach? It’s as if the teachings of our faith don’t really matter to us. And when we say one thing and do something else, it’s a kind of falsehood, a kind of lying, perhaps even to ourselves. I want to reflect for a moment on the fact that we follow a man who was arrested and put to death for a crime he did not commit, based on the testimony of false witnesses. Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin – the Jewish Council – who were hoping to find false witnesses willing to testify against Jesus. Matthew 26:59-61 reads, “The chief priests and the whole council were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to death. They didn’t find anything they could use from the many false witnesses who were willing to come forward. But finally they found two who said, ‘This man said, “I can destroy God’s temple and rebuild it in three days.”’” Of course, Jesus really did say that, but they misrepresented what he meant by it. And the Council had the two witnesses that they needed in order to satisfy the legal requirement to condemn Jesus to death. Which is exactly what they did. And Jesus was executed – with the help of the Roman governor – for a crime he did not commit, based on false testimony. Breaking the ninth commandment can have deadly consequences. I’d like to end by telling you the rest of the story of Darryl Burton. While Darryl was still in prison, he promised God that if God got him out of prison then he would serve God for the rest of his life. And he found it within himself to forgive those who were responsible for him being there: the false witnesses, the prosecutors, and the ineffective defense attorney. And when Darryl got out of prison, he attended seminary and when he graduated, he was hired as a member of the staff of Church of the Resurrection, as a pastor of congregational care, the church where Adam Hamilton is senior pastor. He is helping to lead one of the largest United Methodist churches in the United States. Song Take My Life Chris Tomlin https://youtu.be/agROj9nTQP4 Praying Together Concerns and Celebrations: Please share any concerns or celebrations you may have with Pastor Elisabeth. Please note if you do not want this shared with this faith community. Pastoral Prayer Holy and Gracious God, We hold so much power in our words. We can make or break someone’s reputation simply by what we say about them. We can choose to spread malicious gossip about someone or we can speak words of truth and mercy. We can stand by and watch as an injustice is done when we know something that might make a difference, or we can speak up and change someone’s life. We have complete control over what comes out of our mouths. And, to some extent, we have control over what goes into our ears. We choose what to listen to, whom to listen to, what information or misinformation we allow to come into our brains. And we then choose whether or not to pass along what we hear. O God, help us to use this power wisely and lovingly. When our words will build up and demonstrate compassion, let us speak them loudly and clearly. But when our words would only tear down and show hostility, let us keep them to ourselves. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, who taught his disciples to pray: 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Responding Offertory: You may send your offerings to Grantham United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 152, Grantham, NH, 03753. Doxology UMH #95 Prayer of Dedication Here, Lord, we put our love into practice. These gifts we offer came from your love for us. Now, let them express our love for you, as they reach out to others with your love for them. Amen. (Robert D. Ingram) Song The Meditations of My Heart Elaine Hagenberg *Benediction From where we are to where you need us, Jesus, now lead on. From the security of what we know to the adventure of what you will reveal, Jesus, now lead on. To refashion the fabric of this world until it resembles the shape of your kingdom, Jesus, now lead on. Because good things have been prepared for those who love God, Jesus, now lead on. Amen. October 17, 2021
Welcome! We’re so glad you have joined us today! Gathering Gathering Song Look at the World John Rutter https://youtu.be/6Gpdc5Mjjq8 Announcements Thursday, 7:00 PM Zoom Worship Here is your link: Elisabeth Smith is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Bible Study Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86066732644?pwd=emorNUc2RlJkWEN4UUdrZHJZY0o2Zz09 Meeting ID: 860 6673 2644 Passcode: 762435 One tap mobile +19292056099,,86066732644#,,,,*762435# US (New York) +13017158592,,86066732644#,,,,*762435# US (Washington DC) Dial by your location +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) Meeting ID: 860 6673 2644 Passcode: 762435 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcyTFEtQFq *Call to Worship We have come to worship and to recommit ourselves to following the way of Christ. We also recommit ourselves to following the guidance of the Ten Commandments. God gives us these guidelines because they ensure right relationships between people and God, and between individuals. They create the basis for a healthy, faithful community. We want to live in the way that God calls us to live. Opening Prayer O God, we have been given the gift of life and the opportunity to make what we can of ourselves. In the course of our lives we acquire things that mean something to us. Remind us to keep things, and money, in their proper perspective, so that we are not tempted to take what is not ours. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. Celebration of Birthdays and Anniversaries Song Give Me Jesus Danny Gokey https://youtu.be/bbh43MGoigw Hearing the Word Scripture Exodus 20:15 You shall not steal. Sermon The Ten Commandments 8 Taking What Isn’t Yours I was eight years old and I had gone with my mother to the grocery store. We used to shop at the Community Cash, which was a local chain in Spartanburg, SC. We had gotten everything on the list and we were standing in line at the checkout. And, of course, right there at eye level for an eight-year-old was a display of all sorts of candy. I had my eye on a Hershey bar. Then, as now, I was a chocoholic. I asked my mom if I could have it, but she said no. Then it was our turn to check out, and she got busy loading our groceries onto the conveyer belt. She wasn’t paying any attention to me at all, and, quick as a wink, just like that, I put a Hershey bar in my pocket. When we got out to the car, I climbed all the way into the way back of our station wagon, which was roughly the same size as my first apartment. They built them big back then! And as my mother pulled out of the parking lot, I began to unwrap my candy bar. I thought I was being quiet about it, but my mother hollered back at me, “What are you doing back there?” “Nothing!” I answered. And I kept right on with what I was doing. I had just taken my first bite of that delicious chocolate bar when my mother pulled into the parking lot of the funeral home, got out of the car, and came around to see what I was doing. She saw me with the candy bar in my mouth. “Where did you get that?” she asked. Well, duh, she knew exactly where I got it; she just wanted me to admit that I had stolen it. “Did you take that from the grocery store?” she finally asked. “Yeah,” I answered. “What?” she said. “Yes, ma’am,” I replied. Well, she turned the car around, drove back to the Community Cash, and told me that I was to go in and find Mr. Jones (the store manager) and tell him what I had done. I was to give him the candy bar and the quarter to pay for it and come right back out. I knew Mr. Jones. He went to our church. He was about 6 foot 3 inches tall, and very large. And he almost always was in the customer service booth at the front of the store. I took the candy bar and I took the quarter and I walked into the store. I was scared to death. When I asked for Mr. Jones, he came out of the booth and asked what he could do for me. I handed him the candy bar and the quarter, told him that I had taken the candy without paying for it, and said I was sorry. He replied that he appreciated me bringing him the money, and to tell my daddy he said “hey.” I don’t really remember whether there was any other punishment forthcoming or not. Because that by itself was enough to make a huge impression on an eight-year-old girl. Standing there looking up at tall Mr. Jones, it was almost like standing in front of God and admitting that I had stolen the candy bar. And it made me feel especially guilty, to remember that I had been taking something from someone that I knew, who was a member of our church. It definitely discouraged me from ever stealing again. And yet, I probably have stolen other things, perhaps without even realizing it. We break the eighth commandment in a whole host of ways, big and small. While most of us aren’t the kind of thieves who end up in jail, we all have a little guilt to bear. What about that old adage, “finders keepers, losers weepers?” asks Adam Hamilton, in his book, Words of Life. But if you abide by that rule, it means it’s okay to keep something that isn’t yours. And keeping what you find is really stealing, whether it’s a twenty dollar bill on the sidewalk, or a wallet, or too much money in the envelope from the bank where you just cashed a check. Hamilton mentions a variety of other ways that we might be guilty of stealing. For example, when we eat out and get our check and find that the waiter omitted an entrée or beverage. Do we say anything, or just count our good fortune? Well, a restaurant operates on a profit margin of just 2-6%, and we might just be costing them any profit on our meal. Or what about sneaking into a second movie after we finish watching the one we paid for? Or borrowing something and never returning it? Or taking credit for someone else’s work? Or selling a car to someone without telling about it’s problems. Or being late for a meeting or appointment? After all, that is stealing someone’s time. The list goes on and on. John Killinger adds the store manager who overcharges his customers, the sales rep who pads her expense account, the student who copies someone else’s homework, the woman who shoplifts at the grocery store. And perhaps the most common of all, what about cheating on your income tax, by overstating the value of your charitable contributions or by being paid for something in cash and choosing to not report it as income? It is estimated that tax evasion and fraud cost the U.S. government about $450 billion a year in lost revenue. In the eighth commandment, You shall not steal, the Hebrew word for steal is simple. But our modern methods of stealing require more than one word: petty larceny, grand larceny, fraud, embezzlement. The list goes on and on. There is the trader who can steal from thousands of people at once by manipulating the market in a particular stock. And a public official who discovers she can take advantage of her position for personal gain. And the con artist who convinces an elderly widow to purchase a new furnace when her old one is in perfectly good shape. Stealing is a big deal. It is, after all, one of God’s top ten. And one of the reasons it is such a big deal is that when someone steals, we all pay for it. If the government is not receiving $450 billion it is owed in taxes, somehow those of us who are paying will end up paying more. When someone shoplifts, it results in the prices of merchandise going up. It is estimated that prices are raised 2-5% to cover the cost of shoplifting and employee theft. When someone collects insurance money on a phony claim, that means that the rates will go up for all customers. And then there is the personal price we pay for stealing. First, we pay internally. J. Ellsworth Kalas writes in his book, The Ten Commandments From the Back Side, “When we steal, we pay with a piece of our character, and that can never be replaced. We also give up some measure of our self-respect. Perhaps we won’t be apprehended for the theft, so the community will never know. But we will know, and we will think less of ourselves because of what we know.” Second, we pay a price because it changes our relationship with God. When we break the commandment, when we sin, we put up a barrier between ourselves and God. My 8th-grade Sunday School teacher said that you spell sin “SFG,” or “separation from God.” And that separation is not so easily repaired. It means that we have to admit our guilt to God, and ask for forgiveness, and commit ourselves to not doing that again. In his mercy, God will grant us grace and forgiveness. But I know that it is hard for a person to really feel right with God for a while after something has gotten in the way of their relationship. Third, we pay a price in our relationship with others. We become guarded around other people, because we are afraid that they will find out what we have done. That puts up a barrier between us and them. And not only that, we may also become suspicious of other people; we assume that if we are stealing, then they are too. This barrier is one that only the one who committed the sin can remove. When things are made right, then that sense of needing to hide from others will go away, and we become less suspicious of the people around us. Sometimes committing the sin of stealing requires making restitution before our relationships with other people can be made right. I am reminded of the story of Zaccheus in Luke 19. Zaccheus was a tax collector who had been overcharging people on their taxes and making quite a profit for himself. But when he met Jesus, his life was changed. He gave away half of his possessions to the poor on the spot. And he pledged that, if he had cheated anyone, he would pay them back four times what he had stolen. Stealing is serious business. But dealing with a thief was the last business that Jesus took care of during his earthly ministry. You might remember that when he was crucified, it was between two thieves. Adam Hamilton reminds us that one of the thieves mocked Jesus as he hung there, but the other rebuked him. Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into my kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Even if you are guilty taking what isn’t yours, of stealing and breaking the eighth commandment, even if you are a professional thief, a real criminal, Jesus will forgive you for that sin. And all that is required is what was required of that thief on the cross: to admit your sin and to turn to Jesus for forgiveness. And every time, every time, Jesus will forgive. Song I’d Rather Have Jesus Steven Curtis Chapman, Herb Chapman Sr., Herb Chapman Jr. https://youtu.be/vVBVSunAjd4 Praying Together Concerns and Celebrations: Please share any concerns or celebrations you may have with Pastor Elisabeth. Please note if you do not want this shared with this faith community. Pastoral Prayer Holy God, you know all that there is to know about us and you hold us accountable for our actions, our words, and our attitudes. We live good lives, for the most part, and we don’t do anything that is really all that bad. We’d like to think that we are never guilty of breaking your commandment against stealing. After all, we’ve never robbed a bank or broken into someone’s home or anything like that. And yet. Perhaps there was that one time when we got back more change than we were due at the cash register, and instead of giving back the extra, we kept it, thinking that it was our lucky day. And maybe we did take office supplies home from the business to use for personal reasons, but everyone else did it too. And finding ways to get around paying taxes is considered acceptable and expected behavior, isn’t it? So maybe we aren’t so innocent, after all. We come to you in humility and honesty, laying before you our sins and our sinfulness. Forgive us for those times when we have done and been less than you call us to do and be. Help us to change our ways so that we follow your way, the way of Jesus. And grant us grace so that we might resist temptation in the future. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, who taught his disciples to pray: 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Responding Offertory: You may send your offerings to Grantham United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 152, Grantham, NH, 03753. Doxology UMH #95 Prayer of Dedication Gracious God, we thank you for the many blessings that you have given to us and the blessing of life itself. We bring to you our gifts and offerings, asking you to bless them and to make them a blessing to others. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Sung Benediction Gaelic Blessing John Rutter https://youtu.be/vQcTBWPiUrA October 10, 2021
Welcome! We’re so glad you have joined us today! Gathering Gathering Song When God Made You Michael O’Brien/Natalie Grant https://youtu.be/TLE6Sqlwffo Announcements Thursday, 7:00 PM Zoom Worship Here is your link: Elisabeth Smith is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Bible Study Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86066732644?pwd=emorNUc2RlJkWEN4UUdrZHJZY0o2Zz09 Meeting ID: 860 6673 2644 Passcode: 762435 One tap mobile +19292056099,,86066732644#,,,,*762435# US (New York) +13017158592,,86066732644#,,,,*762435# US (Washington DC) Dial by your location +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) Meeting ID: 860 6673 2644 Passcode: 762435 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcyTFEtQFq Opening Prayer Lord, set your blessing on us as we begin this day together. Confirm in us the truth by which we rightly live; confront us with the truth from which we wrongly turn. We ask not for what we want but for what we need, as we offer this day and ourselves for you and to you through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. Song I Will Be Here Steven Curtis Chapman https://youtu.be/t_BMtmOL0rc Hearing the Word Scripture Exodus 20:14 You shall not commit adultery. Sermon The Ten Commandments 7 Faithful in Marriage So. Today is the day for the “sex” talk. The church should be a place where sex is talked about. But too often, we seem too embarrassed to even say the word “sex,” as if human sexuality were not a good gift of God. And human sexuality is a gift that is most rightfully enjoyed within the covenant of marriage. Before we can talk about adultery, we have to talk a little bit about marriage. Anne Robertson brings this home in her book, God’s Top 10: “What I think is missing, at least in the churches I’m familiar with, is a solid theology of marriage and sexuality. American culture, and especially American Christian culture, is so neurotic about sexual issues that we can hardly deal with the topic like mature adults. So we tend not to deal with it at all, except in childlike terms of good and bad … In most cases, what we know about sexuality and committed relationships comes not from the church, but from the popular culture around us … If Christian theologians are doing much of anything in the area of the theology of sexuality and commitment, it’s not finding it’s way into the churches. In forty-five years of church-going, I’ve heard little that’s more profound than a recital of ‘Thou shalt nots.’ I don’t think we can reasonably expect to solve the adultery problem by proclaiming our condemnation either more frequently or more loudly. The problem is not ignorance of the commandment. The problem, I think, is ignorance of God’s purpose in marriage.” This is a correct assessment of the issue. The church is not offering people any Christian understanding of marriage or of sex. For many centuries, the church taught that the purpose of marriage – and of sex – was procreation; the producing of children. But that understanding, at least for most Christians, has changed, as we have come to understand that some couples are unable, for physical reasons, to have children, and other couples choose to not have children for other reasons. We no longer understand the sole purpose of sexual relations to be creating children. Robertson suggests that the marriage relationship is ultimately about our faithfulness to God. She writes, “A covenant relationship to one partner is the gift God gives us so that by learning to be faithful to another person ‘for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health as long as we both shall live’ we might eventually be able to do the same with God … As our commitment to our life’s partner is strengthened, so is our ability to keep our commitment to God. If either one starts to fail, we can expect the other to suffer.” The Bible teaches us that the body is part of God’s good creation; according to J. Ellsworth Kalas, in his book, The Ten Commandments From the Back Side, this means that the Bible cannot have a cheap or casual view of sex. The Bible teaches that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit; therefore, our sexual relations will have a spiritual element. Sex is, in a way, a holy act. Anne Robertson has much the same idea, but comes at it from a different angle. She writes, “Sexuality is the greatest form of intimacy. After all, the Hebrew word for ‘naked’ also means ‘vulnerable.’ In sex, we’re vulnerable to another human being … In sex, we are what we are and we make that available to another person. When we do that, Genesis says that the ‘two become one flesh.’ We are bodily joined an for an in-stant we are one organism … Through our sexuality, we can experience in the physical world the spiritual union we’re meant to have with God … Our sexuality shows us how deep and all-encompassing is the love of God for us. We don’t have to pretend with God. We can be open and vulnerable. We can be naked and helpless and God will still love us. And God won’t take advantage of our vulnerability … Sex, to me, is a sacra-ment, an act that embodies the presence of God or, as the liturgy puts it, ‘an outward sign of an inward and spiritual grace.’” When we have such a strong spiritual and theological understanding of marriage, then we can understand why adultery is such a serious sin. In fact, in the Law of Mo-ses, it was considered such a grievous act that it was punishable by death. In Chau-cer’s Canterbury Tales, the parson says that the commandment about adultery comes in between the one on murder and the one on stealing because adultery is the greatest murder and the greatest theft; it is the murder of the “one flesh” union, and it is the theft of the body from the spouse. Adultery begins with lust, and basically it begins with a look. Think about the story of David and Bathsheba. David was walking on his rooftop patio and saw Bath-sheba taking a bath. And then he kept on looking, and he allowed lust to grow in his heart and mind until he decided that he had to act on that lust by having sex with Bath-sheba. He did this even though he was married to another woman and he knew that Bathsheba was married to another man. And his decision had deadly results for Bath-sheba’s husband and for the child that was the result of his adultery. Jesus understood that adultery was a sin that began with lust. He said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that every-one who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Jimmy Carter understood the truth of this teaching. In a famous interview he gave to Playboy magazine when he was running for President in 1976, he stated, “Christ set some almost impossible standards for us. Christ said, ‘I tell you that anyone who looks on a woman with lust has in his heart already committed adultery.’ I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times. This is something that God recognizes I will do – and I have done it – and God forgives me for it.” He went on to say that there were few men and probably few women who had not violated this commandment as Jesus defined it. The moment that we look on someone with lust is a moment of decision. Adam Hamilton quotes Walter Wangerin, who called it “the moment of ‘maybe.’” That is “the split second in which we may be seized by the thought of having an intimate relationship with someone who is not our spouse. When the thought crosses our mind, we either immediately shut the door – recognizing that an affair is wrong, is prohibited by God, and will result in pain – or we entertain the idea. We cultivate it. We imagine what it might be like. At this point, we might not have any intention of actually cheating on our mate or violating someone else’s marriage vows … The problem, Wangerin notes, is that when we begin to play with ‘maybe,’ it can be a short walk to ‘yes.” Kalas points out that adultery is rarely something that people choose because of lust alone. Most people who get involved in an adulterous relationship are looking for something more, something beautiful, something different from what they have with their spouse. And people are willing to forget their spouse, their children, their jobs, and their God when they are in the midst of an affair. But the truth is that adultery will never give us what we are looking for, because it will not fulfill the spiritual aspect of a sexual relationship. It makes sex very one-dimensional. Consider these examples of people who got involved in adulterous relationships. Both were members of Adam Hamilton’s congregation and came to confess their ac-tions to him. One woman came to him and “described the emptiness of her marriage, a husband who was never home, never noticed, never told her she was loved or special or beautiful. Eventually she met another man who did tell her those things, and they ended up sleeping together. She knew it was wrong and had broken it off quickly. But she wept as she told me of the heartache she felt, the guilt and the shame. Her deep-est hope was that she could put her marriage back together again.” And there was a man in his 40s who came to Adam to talk about his affair. “It started as a flirtatious relationship at the office, seemingly innocent. But the excitement and energy of the forbidden relationship led the man and woman, both leaders in their churches, to a hotel room one night. They pledged they would never do it again, but the lure was too great. When the affair was found out, he said it was like waking from a stu-por. He did not love the woman he’d been sleeping with. He loved his wife. But he’d caused her such pain, destroyed her sense of self worth and her trust. He sobbed in my office, asking if there was any way he could heal the harm he’d caused to the wo-man with whom he’d always dreamed of growing old.” People are so in love when they get married, burning with desire for each other, walking on air. And they expect those feelings to last forever. But we know that they don’t. Life gets in the way. Jobs make us tired. Children may come along that demand time and attention. Sometimes we have to deal with health concerns, either for our-selves or for aging parents. And there are opportunities that present themselves for us to be unfaithful to our spouses. We are tempted; the grass is always greener on the other side, as they say. Adultery may seem to be an exciting alternative to the dull, boring married life that has somehow taken over your existence. Adam Hamilton writes, “Feelings of love come and go. The commitment we make in marriage is not to always feel in love. It is to always practice love; to seek to bless, encourage, and build up our mate. Those seasons of resentment or frustration or loveless days and nights are like the ‘check engine’ light in a car. They are not signs that the car needs to be sent to the scrap yard, only that it needs some help.” Maybe it is something that you can work out by having some open and honest conversations. Or maybe you need to see a trained marriage counselor. But taking action before adultery actually occurs is the best way to save your marriage. Hamilton also offers what he calls the 5 R’s of Resisting Temptation to help when you find yourself being tempted to commit the sin of adultery. First, Remember who you are. You are a follower of Christ, a spouse, a parent, a grandparent, someone who loves others and whom others love, someone that others look up to and respect. Is the action that you are tempted to take consistent with who you are? Second, Recognize the consequences of the action. What are the worst possible consequences of giving in to this temptation? How would you feel if you said yes? Who would be hurt by your action? Third, Rededicate yourself to God. Right there in the midst of being tempted, stop and pray and recommit yourself to God. Fourth, reveal your struggle to a trusted friend. Hamilton writes, “As long as something remains a secret, it has power over us. But when we share our secret temptation with someone else, the desire often dissi-pates. The friend will be able to hold you accountable. Enlist your friend’s support.” And fifth, Remove yourself from the tempting situation. That may be as simple as un-friending someone on social media. Or it may be breaking off a relationship. It could become as serious as changing jobs or even moving away; but when you consider the possible outcomes of committing adultery, taking this kind of serious action is worth it. To sum it all up, sex is a good thing when it is done within the kind of covenant relationship that God intends. Our sexuality is a gift from God that we are meant to enjoy. Sex has spiritual elements that connect us not only to the person we are with, but also to God. Giving in to the temptation of lust is the beginning of committing adult-ery. And committing adultery affects not only the people directly involved, but also their families and perhaps even their churches or workplaces. We have to take seriously the sin of adultery because of its harmful affects on our relationships with each other and with God. And we can find ways to resist temptation when we rely on our faith in God. Song Together Steven Curtis Chapman https://youtu.be/elIpqFQH-5I Praying Together Concerns and Celebrations: Please share any concerns or celebrations you may have with Pastor Elisabeth. Please note if you do not want this shared with this faith community. Pastoral Prayer Gracious God, we are living in a culture where sex has been devalued and cheapened in every way. It is used as a marketing tool, seen in advertisements for everything from automobiles to clothing to pharmaceuticals. It is ever-present for our viewing pleasure on major network television every night of the week, even during what used to be considered “family hours.” It is the constant theme of popular music playing on the radio. It would appear as if it were the norm for people to hop into bed with a different partner every other day. And yet, we know that there is something missing in this picture. For you call us to something better, higher, and more satisfying than sex that is loose and easy and casual. You call us to sex that is spiritual, that is sacramental. You created us as sexual beings; your intention is that we enjoy this good gift, but only within the bounds of a covenantal, faithful, monogamous relationship of marriage. In that kind of relationship, which the Bible compares to your relationship with us, we are safe enough to allow ourselves to become vulnerable, and we are able to form our most intimate bond. And sex becomes more than physical; it become the union of two souls into one flesh. Help us to commit ourselves to the Biblical mandate against adultery. And help us to remember why that is for our own good. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, who taught his disciples to pray: 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Responding Offertory: You may send your offerings to Grantham United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 152, Grantham, NH, 03753. Doxology UMH #95 Prayer of Dedication Lord God, let me give until it helps the poor and needy, let me love until it changes the abused and doubtful, and let me serve until it blesses the least and the oppressed through my tithe, time, talent, and testimony. Amen. (Darlene A. Moore) Song We Will Dance Steven Curtis Chapman https://youtu.be/fZFqE4GjFXs Benediction May the God who made heaven and earth, whom death could not contain, who lives to disturb and heal us, bless you with power to go forth and proclaim the gospel. The grace of God be with you all, now and always. Amen. |
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