Jesus on Prozac

 Eastern Parkway United Methodist Church 

 

 A warm welcome to each worshipper today. We celebrate you and offer you our friendship and love. We are a congregation of people who seek to grow spiritually, to become more like Christ in His compassion and acceptance of everyone while growing more aware of what it really means to be Christians today. 

As a Reconciling Congregation, EPUMC affirms the sacred worth of persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities and welcomes them into full participation in the fellowship, membership, ministries, and leadership of the congregation. 

  

  

943 Palmer Avenue, Schenectady, NY 12309 / 518-374-4306 epumc943@gmail.com / www.easternparkway.org 

Order of Worship 

August 21, 2022 

10:00 a.m. 

*You are invited to rise in body or spirit. 

  

Prelude For the Beauty of the Earth Charles Callahan, arr. 

 
 

Greeting and Announcements 

 
 

Mission Statement: 

We are a faith community striving to be, to nurture, and to send forth disciples of Jesus Christ. 

  

Call to Worship: 

In a world of pain and trouble, we need a place to heal. 

Here and now, we have come into the presence of God 

our healer. 

God is our rock and our refuge. 

We seek deliverance from the evils of sickness, illness, 

and disease. 

God is our rock and our refuge. 

Let the old and the aging, the young and the innocent, 

the confused and the lost, turn to the Lord in hope. 

God is our rock and our refuge. 

Jamie D. Greening 

  

*Hymn Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise #103 

              

Prayer of Confession: 

God of the promise, you have declared yourself to be our Provider. Forgive our denial of your promised care through anxiety and our hesitancy to identify ourselves with you despite your past provision for our needs. We are sorry for the unfaithfulness we have shown you from time to time. Absolve us, and let us start anew. Amen. 

  

Assurance: 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and his love is enough. Amen. 

 
 

Scripture Reading Matthew 6:25-34 

 

Do Not Worry 

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,[a] or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?[b] 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God[c] and his[d] righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 

34 “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today. 

 

 
 

Sermon Jesus on Prozac 

 

Friends, here we are, now at week 3 of 7 of Stump the Preacher 2022, sermons requested by you and then preached by me. Today’s request came from my husband. I’ve had the honor of sharing “Stump the Preacher” with four different churches, and the one person who’s been constant in all that change is, of course, him. And he asks the best questions every year, and I’m not just saying that because I married him. 

Sean’s question was about mental health. But, one of the “Stump the Preacher” topics last year was mental health-related, and that’s a very broad topic, so I asked Sean to help me winnow that down, and he asked this: If you were one of the one in five American adults who suffers from mental health issues, and you had Jesus’ ear for a minute, and you asked him what you should do to cope and recover, what would he say? 

Well this is one week of Stump the Preacher where I nearly am, in actual fact, stumped. Not in the sense that I don’t have scriptural verses to refer you to, or theology to lean on, or official statements from the UMC to bring into this, because I have all of those. I mean I’m stumped more in the broad sense where I gesture widely at the whole world and then ask Jesus, with what little sanity I personally have left, what on earth it is that he suggest we do to make this better. 

Last year, when I preached about finding faith and hope in the wake of mental health crises, including that of a friend of mine who lost a family member to suicide, I shared some very alarming statistics, about the disproportionate impact mental health struggles have on people of color, the poor, the LGBTQ, the homeless, the addicted, and especially the incarcerated. It’s important for you all to keep those staggering realities in mind, because we really do desperately need help treating mental illness in this country, we’re doing a pretty terrible job of it on our own.  

In order to really draw you a picture of what exactly I mean, I did some sobering research via a periodical titled Psychology Today that shares new research and perspectives with therapists and psychologists. The article in question was shared by Dr. Matthew Smith, a professor of health history at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. The title was “Asylums and Their History.” Oof. 

Dr. Smith referenced our world’s infamously inhumane treatment of the mentally ill, and the “insane asylums” and “mad houses” that began popping up as early as the 8th Century CE. Treatment, rehabilitation, and lifelong coping were seldom goals, or even ideas, at an asylum, the primary purpose of these facilities was to get those deemed mentally ill—not necessarily those who were—locked away from the general population. Literally, think shackles and handcuffs. The secondary purpose, as made notorious by the Bethlehem Royal Hospital in London, later colloquialized as “Bedlam”, was to exploit the mentally unwell for entertainment. The good news out of that horror, if there is any, is that our society began finding those places “distasteful”, and they began shutting down in the early 20th Century.  

But in their place, we established precious little, and our respect for those needing help never grew. What we have now, at least in this country, is a patchwork system with giant holes. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, passed in 2008, theoretically makes your private health insurance company limit what they can make you spend out of pocket on mental health care and addiction recovery, but there’s huge loop holes. You’re welcome, of course, to find a therapist, and there are many excellent ones out there, but your insurance might not cover that care, and an increasing number of therapists no longer accept health insurance. Scientific research has gifted us hundreds of medications that can do wonders to treat the neurological side of mental health problems, but figuring out which medication, which dosage, how often, and how long can be a painstakingly delicate process that some people can’t commit to, especially if money gets in the way. Some of our cities, especially large ones, have Psychiatric Emergency Departments in their hospitals, and then long-term, residential treatment facilities, but not everyone has access to that kind of care, or would thrive from it. Meanwhile, when finding appropriate treatment is so hard, and just living in this stressful world is making people buckle into anxiety and depression, the end result is what I dare say really becomes of the majority of our friends suffering from mental illness: best case scenario, they mask their pain as hard as they can at work and school, and then turn to harmful coping behaviors in private. Worst case scenario, they lose family, friends, safe shelter, and jobs, struggle to conform, become people of concern to a prejudiced criminal justice system, and end up in jail. We traded in the chains of bedlam for handcuffs. Lord, have mercy. How do we do better? 

The first place I’ll turn us to is the United Methodist Book of Discipline, paragraph 162. The UMC professes: “Nevertheless, we know that regardless of our illness we remain created in the image of God and that nothing can separate us from the love of God.” Despite the negative energy we’ve experienced in the last few years from this denomination, as it struggles to find its way forward, our Wesleyan history is rooted in social justice, and we remain committed to the humanity and equality of our neighbors. This is our official position: “The UMC pledges to foster policies that promote compassion, advocate for access to care, and eradicate stigma within the Church and in communities.” 

I’m going to show my hand here: if this is our commitment as a Church, then I think it must logically follow that we advocate for single payer, universal health care, and specifically for a national plan that closes all the holes I just told you about. I know that’s controversial, and I can’t tell you what to think, but Jesus showed tremendous compassion for the sick and hurt, treated everyone with equality and equity, and never stopped to ask if someone was worthy of his care. The anxiety of our society will toss around words like “socialism”, but this is simply the love ethic of Jesus. 

But putting that aside, and getting back to the core of Sean’s question, about what Jesus might say to your tender heart if you asked him for help with the mental health burdens that you face, I take us to the verses of scripture that my confirmation teachers of yore told me to look up and then memorize. Matthew 6, Jesus teaching us not to worry. 

The risk of guiding you to those verses is that they might sound dismissive if you take them the wrong way. The cure for a mental health problem is not to simply stop worrying. Jesus wouldn’t tell you something like that. What Jesus would tell you is that there’s never a moment that he isn’t taking care of you. He points up to our Creator God, who looks after every detail, big and small. We have clothes on our backs because God creates the earth which grows the cotton which we turn into what we need. We have food to eat because God brings the harvest that becomes nutritious sustenance. Even when this society in which we live allows those with mental health issues to slip through the cracks, God holds us firmly in the Divine Hand, and will never let us fall away from our Creator’s reach. God will never abandon us, and will stand with us as we cope with whatever this life throws our way, whether that takes us to therapy, to rehab, to endless doctor appointments, to the pharmacy, and to the arms of friends and family that wade the waters with us.  

God will be there. And when we’re lucky enough to not be the one who needs help, then Jesus teaches us to be that steadfast for one another. Our deepest lacking, and what has plunged so many of our friends into mental crisis, is not lack of money, or therapies, or medications, or alternative treatments, or even a lack of hope. It’s a lack of responsibility. We can’t watch our neighbors fall into the crevices of our careless society, shrug, and tell God we aren’t our brother and sister’s keeper. We have a God who tells us “don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.” Those six words, and the commitment that comes with them, are a flashlight in the abyss, and might be the one thing someone needs to hear from you more than anything. Say it. 

 

Amen. 

 
 

*Hymn This Little Light of Mine #585 

 
 

Offering Minuet Johann Sebastian Bach 

 
 

Offertory  

 

*Doxology #94 

*Prayer of dedication             

  

Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s Prayer 

 

Loving Creator, 

We come to you on this National Day of Prayer for Mental Illness Recovery and Understanding, because we know that you are a God of love and compassion. 

We come as people of all creeds and all nations seeking your presence, comfort and guidance. We come as consumers, family members, friends, co-workers and mental health professionals. We come this day because we believe that you, Divine One, love each one of us just as we are and walk with us on our individual journeys through life. You see 
ignorance and injustice that divides and separates persons struggling with mental illness and you weep with us. 

Give us courage to face our challenges and open us today to the many ways you are already working in our 
midst. Help us to identify mental illness as the disease it is, that we might have courage and wisdom in the face 
of ignorance and stigma. Inspire us as we seek to overcome fear, acquire knowledge, and advocate for 
compassionate and enlightened treatment and services. 

Lead us as we open our hearts and homes, our communities and job opportunities, our houses of worship and 
communities of faith. Enable us to find ways to be inclusive of persons living with mental illness in our 
everyday lives. Be with doctors, therapists, researchers, social workers, and all those in the helping professions 
as they seek to overcome ignorance and injustice with care and compassion. 

Sometimes, Divine Spirit, we feel discouraged and hopeless in the face of so many challenges. 
Help us to see ourselves as you see us…persons of value and worth…persons of creativity and potential. May we come to understand the inter connectedness of mind, body and spirit in bringing about health and wholeness. And may 
we go forward into our communities with a renewed sense of vision, hope and possibility for the future. 

Amen 

Reverend Susan Gregg-Schroeder 

 

Our Father, Mother, Creator God, 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 have trespassed against us. Lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen. 

 
 

*Hymn Here I Am, Lord #593 

 
 

Benediction 

 
Postlude He Never Sleeps Spiritual, Larry Shackley, arr.  
 

Staff 

Natalie Bowerman Pastor 

Betsy Lehmann Music Director 

Joe White Custodian 

Cassandra Brown Nursery Attendant