Afterthoughts
Our connection this week came through examining the story of a Hebrew wife named Hannah. Hannah suffered the social and personal indignity for years of being childless in a culture that assigned women worth almost exclusively on their ability to give their husbands children, and preferably male chldren. Her kindly, but mostly clueless husband, Elkanah, didn't understand, and even though he was kind and compassionate toward Hannah he did hedge his bets and secure another baby-making wife, who heaped indignity upon indignity at Hannah by constantly reminding her that she was a failure as a woman. Hannah took her plight to God day after day, year after year until one trip to the temple when her passionate, agonizing prayer caused the priest Eli to think she had been hitting the wine cask hard very early in the day. Assuring him of her sobriety, and sharing her story, Eli shifts out of judge into pastorly role and assues her that God has heard her prayer. She leaves uplifted, solely on the basis of this affirmation and a boy child, that she names Samuel, is born to her and Elkanah. Part of her plea bargain with God had included the promise to give the miracle child back to God, and the appropriate weaning period, Hannah journeys back to the temple and leaves the young boy with Eli to assist him in his priestly duties. The scripture also says that in addition to Samuel, God blessed Hannah with five more children.
During children's time we talked about how our parents and God deal with our requests. There are somethings they will provide for us whether we ask them for it specifically or not. I feed and clothe and shelter my children without them having to come and make a request from me. There are some things that it makes no difference how many times my children ask for it...I don't think it is good for them, so I'm not going to give it to them. God is like that as well. However, there are some things that I am ready to give my children, but I am waiting for them to ask me. They may receive it immediately, or they may have to wait until I think the time is right, but I am going to grant their request. Hannah asked for what she wanted. For whatever reason, God waited to grant that request. I love Hannah's faith and her deep confidence that in spite of the facts in front of her, God would grant her request. I do know however, women who pray for a child throughout their bearing years, and they are not able to have children. Some of them have said that God answered their prayer in a different way through adoption or in a job or ministry where they became a mother and mentor to others' children, but it doesn't change the fact that they didn't get their prayer answered in the way they wanted it answered. In a total God thing moment, Rachal Caron, a mom who just lost her son to cancer shortly after his high school graduation, was in the late service and in addition to thanking Journey for praying for her family and supporting them during Ryan's fight to live and eventual death, she and I talked about the blessing her son was and the way her prayers were answered, or not answered during his illness. I have a friend who was pronounced dead at the scene of an automobile accident, crushed in a small vehicle thast was mangled by a semi -tractor/trailer. He survived miraculously and says that prayer was the key...that he was "brought back by popular demand". It is a great story, but it needs to be set side by side with Ryan Caron's story who was prayed for by thousands of people as well, over the course of several years, and Ryan didn't recover.
So what is the point of the Hannah story? Not that every time we pray we get what we want. Hannah didn't get what she prayed for until years after she first began to petition God. But she did get an answer, and she kept praying, because she believed that God could be trusted with the desires of her heart, with her pain and discouragement, and with her deep faith and hope for her to be useful to the world. And oh...what a gift to the world Samuel was...we talk about him next week.
Listen to the Service
Today's Program
Gathering Our Spirit to God's Spirit
The glass tube sits right on top of the beginning of the yellow brick road. It is child friendly as all our readings will be from the Journey children.
- “Speak to Me, Lord” by Rebecca St. James plays
- A Journeyer steps up to light the lamp and another rings the bell
- David (E) and Leslie (L) make announcements…
Worshiping with Our Children
- A Journeyer leads our children in talking about what it feel like when there are people who don’t think you are important or valuable just because you are a kid, and then what it feels like when there is someone who believes that what you have to say is valuable and important.
Welcome and Breathe
- David welcomes, has us breathe…
- David talks about the series
From Our Spirit to God's Spirit
- Joshua Z. reads Matthew 19:13-14 (New Living Translation)
- Elizabeth & the Catapult “Taller Children” video plays
- Jamie Z. reads Mark 10:13-16 (The Message)
- Sigur Ros “Hoppipolla” video plays
- Two young Journeyers take turns reading a series of quotations during the playing of the video
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” -- Frederick Douglass, American author and statesman
“The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.” – e.e. cummings, poet
“The soul is healed by being with children.” -- Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian author
“Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: ‘I’m with you kid. Let’s go!’” -- Maya Angelou, poet
“Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they're looking for ideas.” -- Paula Poundstone, comedian
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” -- Pablo Picasso, artist
“The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.” -- Albert Einstein, scientist
“Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven.” -- Henry Ward Beecher, Congregationalist clergyman and social reformer
“A person’s a person, no matter how small.” -- Dr. Seuss, children’s author
- Dave Madden leads the community in singing “Jesus Loves Me”
- Rachel Z. reads 1 Samuel 3:1-11 (New Living Translation)
Giving -- To Help God Do God's Work in This World
- A Journeyer leads an offertory prayer
- Dave Madden sings "Short People" by Randy Newman as the ushers pass the baskets and take them to the foot of the cross
Telling The Story and Our Story
- Rick talks
- A young Journeyer leads the community in a responsive prayer
Speak, Lord: A Journey Responsive Prayer
Reader: God, there are times when we feel just like children. We don’t know where to turn or who to listen to.
Journey: Speak, Lord. We are Your servants, and as best we can, we are listening.
Reader: God, there are times when we feel small and unworthy. Why would You choose to speak to us?
Journey: Speak, Lord. We are Your servants. We often are not very confident servants, but as best we can, we are listening.
Reader: God, it is often hard to tell if it is really You speaking to us. There are so many voices. Can we really know if it is You?
Journey: Speak, Lord. We will do our best to breathe and get quiet. As best we can, we are listening.
Reader: God, often we just get numb. The pressure of relationships and the economy, our jobs and school, keeping our heads above water and trying to care about the world… It’s overwhelming, and we are tempted to tune it all out.
Journey: Speak, Lord. We will do our best to tune You in, without checking out of the world You love. We are listening.
Reader: God, in our best moments we know that You speak to us not only in the quiet still voice, but in the voices of our friends, the voices of our enemies, the stories of scripture, a scene from a movie, the lyrics of a song, the glow of a sunset, the words of a child.
Journey: Speak, Lord. We are Your servants, and we are listening. AMEN!
Go Out to Serve with Mercy and Grace
- David leads the community in reading together from the “St. Patrick’s Breastplate” prayer
I arise today through
God’s strength to pilot me,
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to see before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to secure me…
…Against snares of devils, against temptations and vices,
Against inclinations of nature,
Against everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear, alone and in a crowd…
…Christ, be with me,
Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit,
Christ where I arise…
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Salvation is of the Lord,
Salvation is of the Lord,
Salvation is of the Christ.
May your salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.
- David dismisses
- “Speak to Me Lord” plays again as folks depart