Prayer of Confession: Lord, I confess that you are my Lord, I have no good apart from you. So I turn to you to confess my failings, so that you can fill me with your grace and love, so that you can be with me and teach me. Show me the path of life I pray.
Prayer of Confession: Lord I confess aha some days I worry if there is not enough grace for me and my sins. I so often feel so full of holes, that I do not count myself as holy enough for you. Yet, you are ever with me, with your presence there is a fullness of joy, there is enough. Remind me that there is enough, I pray.
Assurance of Pardon: Lord you are the path of life, fullness of joy and pleasure forevermore, so we can be confident of the truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Assurance of Pardon: Lord, it doesn’t matter if we come to you in the beginning, the middle or the end, we are assured of your grace. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
He made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in it.
God reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power and love
For our God is the one who executes justice for the oppressed, the one who gives food to the hungry.
Who cannot praise our God, Our God is an awesome God!
Our God is an awesome God, let us praise God together.
Call to Worship
God, you are the God of the hungry, the blind and the oppressed.
We praise you for opening the eyes of the blind, for lifting up those who are bowed down, for upholding the orphan and the widow
Prayer of Confession: Lord we think that blessings are like pie. We confess we want to be the closest to God, because we think those closer to God will get the most blessings. Remind us that blessings are not pie. Remind us that your blessings are enough. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
Prayer of Confession: Lord, we admit that we sometimes cause stumbling blocks. We put things in other’s paths so they cannot succeed. Sometimes we even have to get out of our own way to be able to see you. Forgive us when we build walls, remind us to open any and all paths to Shalom, and help us be creators of those paths we pray.
Prayer of Confession: Lord I now my transgressions, my sin is before me and it is against you alone God, I have sinned. I have done what is evil in your sight. I was born imperfect. Remind me that you desire truth in my
Assurance of Pardon: Jesus promises us, that we are forgiven, loved and enough.
Assurance of Pardon: Our God is the God of healing, wholeness and peace. Our God gives us Shalom! Let us share the good news: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen
Assurance of Pardon: God promises to always execute justice, know that God’s justice includes mercy, hear the good news: In Jesus Christ you are forgiven.
Assurance of Pardon: The Lord will have mercy according to God’s steadfast love, blotting out all trangressions. Know we are loved and forgiven by God.
Prayer of Dedication/Prayer of the Day: God, you are the God of Hope precisely because you are the God of justice. When we forget who you are: open our eyes when we are blind, teach us again to feed the hungry, show to us how uphold the orphan so that we can remember who you are, Lord who will reign forever. Amen.
Hymns:
Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us
Create In Me Clean Heart
Jesus Thy Boundless Love to Me
A Short Order of Worship
Call to Worship: Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith for ever;
who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous. —Psalm 146:5-8
Communion
Oral Story: Matthew 18:1-9 Who is the Greatest?
Burning of Our Sins: The Lord says, if there’s a piece of you that causes you stumble, cut it off. What do you need to cut off or let go of ? Or what do you need to hang onto and grow so that you can be more joyful and curious like a child? (ceremonially burn our sins written on paper)
For a child will come conceived by the Holy Spirit?
Who is this child
You shall name him Jesus, for he will save all people from their sins.
What are we waiting for?
O Come Emmanuel, we are waiting
Prayer of Confession: We confess we do not know how to fulfill your prophecies of love. We forget that Jesus was born to save all flesh, and we get caught up in shame and judgement. Lord God you came down to earth as a lovable baby to show us love. Teach us how not to value pride or fame or money but instead to work for hope, peace, joy and love we pray.
Assurance of Pardon: Remember God so loved the world that he gave his only son, not to condemn the world, but to save it. Hear the good news: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Prayer of Dedication: Almighty God, bless all the gifts that we bring here and to one another at Christmas. Fill us with the intangibles we need to practice are faith, and let this Christmas be an opportunity to connect with you we pray. Amen
Sunday School ideas; Look at all the names of Jesus and/or look up the meanings of the names of people in Church, Ask children what their favorite gift ever was and why.
Our God is the God of Peace, let us worship his holy name
How do we know this is God’ time?
There is a time for everything
Even in such a time as this?
Whatever God does endures forever, Come let us watch for God together
Prayer of Confession: Dear God, we confess that we get so busy that we forget. We forget to look for God and we forget to take time to practice peace. Forgive God, we pray. Amean
God of Peace, we have to admit are not a people of peace. We are more into plucking up than planting. We see more times to tear than times to sew. We pray that you teach us more about the time for peace.
Lord God, some days we have nothing but bad timing. Whatever we do is wrong and whatever we say is wrong, and we can’t find the right timing. Help us, we pray. Help us when we are fumbling for the right time. Help us when we feel so full of wrong that peace seems impossible. Gift us with your presence and fill us with your love and peace we pray.
Assurance of Pardon: Our God will give us peace beyond understanding, thus in that promise we can know the truth. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Prayer of Dedication/Closing Prayer: Send us into your world as a people of Peace we pray. Amen
God, grant us enough hope that we can continue to pursue peace, we pray. Amen.
O come, O Branch of Jesse’s stem,
unto your own and rescue them!
From depths of hell your people save,
and give them victory o’er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel)
Fear not, for one shall conceive and bear son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, God with us.
God so loved the world he sent his only begotten son, Jesus, who came not to condemn the world, but to save us, Jesus will save his people from his sins.
Christmas Candle
How long shall I cry for help?
Christ is on the way. O Come Emmanuel
Can Christ be here?
(Optional Hymns: Taize Christe Luxe Mundi or O Come O Come Emmanuel or God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel)
Go, and know this will be a sign to you, for you will find a child lying in a manger.
And we will know good news of great joy for all people, for unto us is born to us is the Messiah, the Immanuel, the Wonderful Counselor, the Strength of God, The Eternal Protector, the Champion of Peace.
(Translation of Text from Illustrated Children’s Ministry)
Look at the nations, be astonished and see!
A work is being woven That you’d not believe
The Son of Salvation is promised to come
And stay with us present, and lead us all home
(Isaiah 42:1-9)
God send us your servant, in whom you delight
Let justice be woven An’ covenants of light
God who stretched heavens & birthed us with love Give light to the nations being taught from above.
(Psalm 139 and Matthew 1:21-22)
Come God and be with us, through babe ‘mmanuel
Let your child be woven a child in the womb, Hold fast with your left hand and lead with your right So we can know your Son and name him aright
Meditative Thought: Does infinity look like justice, mercy and kindness?
Call to worship:
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak
For he will speak peace to his people
Surely his salvation is at hand for all God’s people, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
Let us worship the God of Righteousness.
How shall we approach the Lord, with great sacrifice?
The Lord has told you what is good
What does the Lord require?
Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God
Prayer of Confession:Lord we admit that we have trouble with the words justice, mercy and kindness. We confess that it would be easier to just give over some goods or money than to do things. Guide us on the path of righteousness, show us justice, mercy and kindness so that we can do that same, we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Forgiveness: Fear Not, God promises that Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss. So we know the truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Eucharist Prayer: Lord we give thanks that you have given us many ways to experience your love. And when you sent your only son to die on the cross, we were able to witness your mercy. Whenever we taste your bread and cup we can experience your kindness and abundance. When we gather into communion with one another and you we can practice your justice. Creator of all good things, add your spirit to this meal, make it a meal of righteous and holiness, so that we might be nourished to continue your kingdom work today and everyday we pray.
Prayer of Dedication/Closing Prayer: God, you are love, you are mercy, you are justice. Send us into the world with hope for all these things. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen
When I worked at the psych hospital and asked the patients (for their spiritual assessment) if they had hope, some would say, no but I’m hoping for it–hoping for hope.
Hymns:
Live into Hope
I’ve Got Peace Like a River
Lift Every Voice and Sing
Amazing Grace
Sunday School Ideas: Footprints to follow & talk about walking humbly, trace shadows and talk about being made in God’s image, Take pictures of everyone and fill them in as the body of Christ to do God’s work
Naaman’s personal leprous disaster drives him to plan a trip to Israel, but this time not as conqueror but as sickened supplicant. But first he must go through the hoops of ancient channels of diplomacy. He asks his king to write a letter of introduction to the king of Samaria, the northern kingdom of Israel, to smooth his way into the presence of the mighty prophet, Elisha, fabled for his miraculous abilities to effect cures. The king of Aram agrees to write the letter, while Naaman prepares to depart, assembling a vast caravan of silver and gold and festal garments, stacked on numerous carts, guarded by a phalanx of his finest soldiers. No general would or could do less!
Unfortunately, the king’s letter, though intended to assuage any fears the Israelite monarch may have as he watches the general and his enormous train approach, instead terrifies the king due to its straightforward, though perhaps ambiguous prose. “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy” (2 Kings 5:6). What, shouts the king, tearing his royal robes in horror. “Am I God to give death or life, that this man sends me word to cure someone of leprosy” (2 Kings 5:7)? This letter, reasons the king, is nothing more than a ruse to start another war. Once I fail to effect the cure, which I surely will, the Arameans will think I do not care about their general, and will come at me again with force of arms.
[Another rendering of this part of the story from http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1747%5D The message to the king is a bit like a medical referral getting lost en route, Naaman’s case is held up by bureaucratic twists and turns. Israel’s king panics when he receives the letter — how in the world is he supposed to cure leprosy? And if he doesn’t, will Aram attack again? Is this some kind of trick? Interestingly, the King of Aram could have asked for almost anything else, and the King of Israel would have figured out some way to handle it. But curing leprosy was not an option for him. Elisha, upon hearing of the King’s anxiety, tells the King to send Naaman to him.
Fortunately, the prophet hears that the king has torn his clothes in terror, and himself sends a letter, calming the king and suggesting that he send Naaman to him; that way all will know “that there is a prophet in Israel” (2 Kings 5:8). So, after receiving Elisha’s address from the king, and coordinating his GPS, Naaman heads toward the house of the prophet. He brings all of his entourage with him and draws up to the entrance to Elisha’s house, horses stamping and wheezing, chariots squeaking and creaking in the dust. And then another improbable emissary appears.
Instead of Elisha, an unnamed messenger steps from the house and announces to the great throng, and especially to the general, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored and you will be clean” (2 Kings 5:10). And with that he turns and heads back through the door. And Naaman is enraged, commanding that all the chariots and horses turn around and head for Aram. “Does this so-called prophet not know who I am,” he fumes? I thought he would come out with magic robes whipping in the wind, wave his arms about, calling on the name of his God, YHWH, point at my skin and cure the leprosy. And the Jordan River? I know the Jordan River; we have just passed through that muddy creek. There are fabulous, rushing clear streams in our own land that make the Jordan look pathetic! I will not stand here and be treated like this. We are not amused! We are going home!
[Also from http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1747%5D Being treated as a nonentity by rude or busy practitioners and then being subjected to strange and distasteful procedures — this is very much the stuff of life on the other side of health and wholeness. Losing his identity, becoming a number, and feeling foolish and desperate at the same time proved overwhelming to Naaman. How could he possibly trust the prophet’s strange prescription relayed through a lowly underling?
And still one more improbable emissary shows up in the story. Again, some servants (the third time servants have delivered the powerful truths of the tale) admonish their leader, saying that if the messenger had asked Naaman to do something really hard, he would have done it, thinking that a cure can only come through arduous trial. How much more should he do this simple thing, dipping his body into the Jordan? The general again listens to a servant, takes his Jordan bath, and comes out clean as a baby (2 Kings 5:13-14). This grand story is driven by improbable emissaries at every crucial turn. http://professorhswaybackmachine.blogspot.com/2013/03/tales-from-bible-1955.html
Themes/Titles:
Not specifically mentioned anywhere I found is baptism/renewal of baptism, which my husband used preaching a first-person sermon on this passage many years ago. He notes that washing 7 times can be seen as reflecting the 7 days of creation ending with the new/re- creation.
My own take is heading toward who Namaan was. He is an example of intersectionality, which notes that we are not monolithic beings. He is admired, famous, accomplished as a military leader and he is despised, rejected, unclean as a leper. And yet neither of these apparent polar opposites ultimately define him—ultimately he is a person in need of God’s mercy and healing, which he receives—as we all are.
Teasers from other sources
Geneva Notes http://www.ccel.org/g/geneva/notes/2Kings/5.html
2Ki 5:11
5:11 But Naaman was {f} wroth, and went away, and said, Behold,
I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and
call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand
over the place, and recover the leper.
(f) Man’s reason murmurs when it considers only the signs
and outward things, and has no regard for the word of
God, which is contained there.
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc2.iiKi.vi.html
Note, the methods prescribed for the healing of the leprosy of sin are so plain that we are utterly inexcusable if we do not observe them. It is but, “Believe, and be saved”—”Repent, and be pardoned”—”Wash, and be clean.”
Now the United States of America was commander of the free world. She was a great country, in her own sight and in the sight of others, highly regarded, because through her the Lord had given victory. She was a valiant warrior, but she had leprosy.
Ways of retelling the story: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/theperipateticpreacher/2016/06/improbable-emissaries-2-kings-5/
Naaman’s personal leprous disaster drives him to plan a trip to Israel, but this time not as conqueror but as sickened supplicant. But first he must go through the hoops of ancient channels of diplomacy. He asks his king to write a letter of introduction to the king of Samaria, the northern kingdom of Israel, to smooth his way into the presence of the mighty prophet, Elisha, fabled for his miraculous abilities to effect cures. The king of Aram agrees to write the letter, while Naaman prepares to depart, assembling a vast caravan of silver and gold and festal garments, stacked on numerous carts, guarded by a phalanx of his finest soldiers. No general would or could do less!
Unfortunately, the king’s letter, though intended to assuage any fears the Israelite monarch may have as he watches the general and his enormous train approach, instead terrifies the king due to its straightforward, though perhaps ambiguous prose. “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy” (2 Kings 5:6). What, shouts the king, tearing his royal robes in horror. “Am I God to give death or life, that this man sends me word to cure someone of leprosy” (2 Kings 5:7)? This letter, reasons the king, is nothing more than a ruse to start another war. Once I fail to effect the cure, which I surely will, the Arameans will think I do not care about their general, and will come at me again with force of arms.
[Another rendering of this part of the story from http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1747%5D The message to the king is a bit like a medical referral getting lost en route, Naaman’s case is held up by bureaucratic twists and turns. Israel’s king panics when he receives the letter — how in the world is he supposed to cure leprosy? And if he doesn’t, will Aram attack again? Is this some kind of trick? Interestingly, the King of Aram could have asked for almost anything else, and the King of Israel would have figured out some way to handle it. But curing leprosy was not an option for him. Elisha, upon hearing of the King’s anxiety, tells the King to send Naaman to him.
Fortunately, the prophet hears that the king has torn his clothes in terror, and himself sends a letter, calming the king and suggesting that he send Naaman to him; that way all will know “that there is a prophet in Israel” (2 Kings 5:8). So, after receiving Elisha’s address from the king, and coordinating his GPS, Naaman heads toward the house of the prophet. He brings all of his entourage with him and draws up to the entrance to Elisha’s house, horses stamping and wheezing, chariots squeaking and creaking in the dust. And then another improbable emissary appears.
Instead of Elisha, an unnamed messenger steps from the house and announces to the great throng, and especially to the general, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored and you will be clean” (2 Kings 5:10). And with that he turns and heads back through the door. And Naaman is enraged, commanding that all the chariots and horses turn around and head for Aram. “Does this so-called prophet not know who I am,” he fumes? I thought he would come out with magic robes whipping in the wind, wave his arms about, calling on the name of his God, YHWH, point at my skin and cure the leprosy. And the Jordan River? I know the Jordan River; we have just passed through that muddy creek. There are fabulous, rushing clear streams in our own land that make the Jordan look pathetic! I will not stand here and be treated like this. We are not amused! We are going home!
[Also from http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1747%5D Being treated as a nonentity by rude or busy practitioners and then being subjected to strange and distasteful procedures — this is very much the stuff of life on the other side of health and wholeness. Losing his identity, becoming a number, and feeling foolish and desperate at the same time proved overwhelming to Naaman. How could he possibly trust the prophet’s strange prescription relayed through a lowly underling?
And still one more improbable emissary shows up in the story. Again, some servants (the third time servants have delivered the powerful truths of the tale) admonish their leader, saying that if the messenger had asked Naaman to do something really hard, he would have done it, thinking that a cure can only come through arduous trial. How much more should he do this simple thing, dipping his body into the Jordan? The general again listens to a servant, takes his Jordan bath, and comes out clean as a baby (2 Kings 5:13-14). This grand story is driven by improbable emissaries at every crucial turn. http://cep.calvinseminary.edu/sermon-starters/proper-9c/?type=old_testament_lectionary
Nearly everyone needs some kind of healing. It may be from physical or mental illness. Or perhaps it’s from haunted memories or grief. Yet while God’s people know to look to God for that healing, we don’t always get to choose its method. So we may not always particularly like the way God chooses to heal us. https://www.pulpitfiction.com/archive/2017/02/24/ep-21-seventy-apostles-of-christ-on-the-wall-or-proper-9c-ordinary-14c-pentecost-7?rq=naaman
war vs healthcare
Interfaith relations/dialogue
How might we reclaim evangelism as a way of showing God’s goodness and not about getting more members?
Are we willing to accept the strangeness of the Gospel in order to be healed?
The story of David and Bathsheba is part of the RCL lectionary for 2 consecutive weeks Proper 12/Ordinary 17B and Proper 13/Ordinary 18B; the second half of the story makes 2 appearances, also appearing as Proper 6C/Ordinary 11C.
This passage is, as they say, “a sticky wicket”–from the odd slicing of this pericope to the passage’s relationship to our society’s growing awareness ofthe abuses of men; see Gennifer Brooks’ commentary at https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3813
With regard to the NL pericope, if the congregation knows the story (mine does), one could preach from just the Nathan part of the story and use that to review the larger saga. I plan to use 2 Samuel 12:1-13/14/15; I am not yet sure what to do with the punishment being the death of David & Bathsheba’s child—as if she hasn’t suffered enough already! If the story needs to be told more fully, vv. 26-27 don’t work well in isolation from the rest of the story; one at least needs to include (in the reading or as an explanation) that David arranged Uriah’s death.
With regard to the relationship of the text to today, I am thinking of God requiring repentance before offering forgiveness–a piece that is often forgotten when victims are told to forgive their abusers. I am thinking of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, which saw telling the truth as a road to reconciliation. I am thinking of the controversial political cartoon featuring Judge Kavanaugh’s daughter praying for forgiveness for her father, a backhand recognition that we all need God to be our ultimate arbiter, forgiver, and healer.
PH 1993
Hymns relating to truth, abuse of power
278 Our God, to Whom We Turn
285 God, You Spin the Whirling Planets
289 O God of Every Nation
291 O God of Earth and Altar
386 O for a World Where Everyone
Hymns related to Penitence/God’s Mercy
261 God of Compassion, In Mercy Befriend Us
301 Lord Jesus, Think on Me
303 Jesus, Lover of My Soul
345 Dear Lord and Father of Mankind/Dear Lord. Creator Good and Kind
A friend of mine who is a NT scholar, Rene Schreiner, recently did an extended Sunday School class on Bathsheba, including looking at the history of its interpretation.
If you want to get into the idea that 2 Sam was written by the Deuteronomist, a great podcast on Deuteronomy can be found on The Bible for Normal People with Peter Enns (Episode 39).
Veggie Tales also has Nathan’s song posted on YouTube.”
katyandtheword 