What's Your Beef?

 Eastern Parkway United Methodist Church

 A warm welcome to each worshiper 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

January 28, 2024

10:00 a.m.

*You are invited to rise in body or spirit.

 

Prelude

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:

Fount of Life, your works are full of honor and majesty;

The earth that we stand on, the trees that shade us, the birds that soar above us.

Ever-Living God, your goodness and faithfulness endure forever:

The wisdom we learn, the justice we work for, the hope you offer.

Sheltering God, you remember your covenant and its promises to us:

The grace and mercy you give, the healing you offer, the tenderness you show to us.

The works of your hands are faithful. Your teachings are trustworthy and true.

Your praise endures forever.

*Hymn                     Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies                   #173

Prayer of Confession:

Merciful God,

You see deep into our hearts

and know us better than we know ourselves.

Forgive us we pray.

For the times we turn away from Your word,

remind us that You are the Lord our God,

our eternal protector and guide.

For our impulses of anger and jealousy, scorn or spite,

grant us Your healing peace.

For our resistance to forgiveness, generosity and mercy,

inspire us with Your compassionate love.

Assurance:

God holds true to the Divine promises and sends redemption to us. Let us rejoice in the God who remembers and redeems.

Scripture Reading 1 Corinthians 8: 1-13

Food Offered to Idols

8 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” “Knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If any one imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if one loves God, one is known by him.

4 Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through being hitherto accustomed to idols, eat food as really offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 Only take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if any one sees you, a man of knowledge, at table in an idol’s temple, might he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak man is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother’s falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to fall.

Sermon                                    What’s Your Beef?

I read a good joke this week, about a virtuous man who died and then went to heaven. An angel meets him at the Pearly Gates and shows him around. She informs him that heaven is made up of many rooms in which reside the deceased who had belonged to the many different Christian denominations. The angel takes the man down a hallway upon which the man hears beautiful choral singing. "Who's in that room?" the man asks. "Oh, those are the Episcopalians. This is how they want to praise God." The angel takes the man a little further down the hallway and all of sudden the man hears clapping and tambourine music. "These are the charismatics," the angel explains. A little further down, the man hears speaking in tongues. “Those are the Pentecostals,” explains the angel. While peering into the next room, the man sees everyone praying over a 9x9 casserole dish. “Those are the Baptists,” explains the angel. In the next room, one person drones out a message while others snore. “Those are the Presbyterians,” explains the angel. After several more such rooms, the angel takes the man to the last room at the end of the hallway. The angel places her finger over his mouth and warns the man to be very, very quiet. "Why?" the man asks. The angel answers, "Because this is the room with all the Methodists, and they think they're the only ones up here."

You get where I’m going with this. A quick and dirty Google search told me that over 45,000 different iterations of Christianity exist around the world. You could argue that every one of those factions of Christianity branched off from a tree with three big roots: Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. But that explanation wouldn’t work for many followers of Christ around the world, who maintain that their witness to the Good News is so uniquely perfect that it can’t possibly be looked at as a branch off of a big root. If you drew a big flow chart that attempted to show all the different splinter groups breaking off over the course of history, every one of us Christians will find one tiny line somewhere in the middle and say “There, right there, is where we came along and suddenly did things perfectly.”

When I was in college, the group I worshiped with on campus was ecumenical, and we quarreled over which of the three hymnals we had a supply of was the best. I, of course, always argued for the superiority of the 1989 United Methodist Hymnal, and even bought my very own when I was 22, right before I started seminary. It’s a beautiful worship book, but by no means the only one from which I draw wisdom these days, and now it sits in my office next to the Presbyterian Hymnal and the UCC Hymnal. In that same group, we had a split over who says “debts” and who says “trespasses” during the Lord’s Prayer. For a few years, our chaplain would stop talking during that line and allow us to say whatever we felt called to. But that bothered everyone. Eventually, we compromised and all started saying together “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us.”

Christianity is so notoriously splintered that the jokes write themselves. Another classic one, depicted in art, shows John the Baptist performing submersion baptisms on surprised believers, to which he replies, “look, if you only wanted to get sprinkled, you should have gone to John the Methodist.” 

Another classic joke about the many divisions among Christians is about several churches in a town dealing with nuisance squirrels. The Presbyterian church called a meeting to decide what to do about their squirrel infestation. After much prayer and consideration, they concluded that the squirrels were predestined to be there, and they should not interfere with God’s divine will. At the Baptist church, the squirrels had taken an interest in the baptistry. The deacons met and decided to put a water slide on the baptistry and let the squirrels drown themselves. Unfortunately that backfired because squirrels can swim, and they loved the slide, so twice as many squirrels showed up the following week. The Lutheran church decided that they were not in a position to harm any of God’s creatures. So, they humanely trapped their squirrels and set them free near the Baptist church. Two weeks later, the squirrels were back when the Baptists took down the water slide. The Episcopalians tried a much more unique path by setting out pans of whiskey around their church in an effort to kill the squirrels with alcohol poisoning. They sadly learned how much damage a band of drunk squirrels can do. But the Catholic church came up with a more creative strategy! They baptized all the squirrels and made them members of the church. Now they only see them at Christmas and Easter. Not much was heard from the Jewish synagogue. They took the first squirrel and circumcised him. They haven’t seen a squirrel since.

Believe me, I can keep making jokes, I won’t run out of material. The problem is that not everyone is laughing. I belong to the Conference Committee on Religion and Race, a group that’s part clergy and part laity that works to dismantle racism throughout our connection. Our convener lives and serves near the Cornerstone District, south of Buffalo outside of Jamestown. That part of our Conference was hit the hardest by congregations disaffiliating from the United Methodist Church. A full half of the churches down there have left us. Over here in the capital region more of our churches decided to stay, but still we saw many departures up in the Adirondacks. It’s heartbreaking. Where will we all end up, and will we ever get back together? That future is unwritten. 

It’s not just Methodists that are embroiled in division. The Southern Baptist Convention recently doubled down on their patriarchy and ousted all of the women pastors that were hiding in sympathetic churches, to the outrage of many. Our Lutheran friends in the US have long suffered a deep split between the conservative Missouri Synod and the progressive Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. And our friends at the Saint John of God ended up in our building, and worshiping as they do, because the Roman Catholic Church could not embrace their truth. These fractures are about real human pain.

In this odd chunk of text from 1 Corinthians, Paul gives advice about a topic so First Century that you almost can’t believe it remained in the Bible for all these millennia: in Corinth, after a Pagan group completed an animal sacrifice, there would be meat left over. Were Christians allowed to eat it? It was good, inexpensive meat after all. But if they ate it were they affirming the Pagan ritual?

So why on earth did Pastor Natalie pick that text to preach on when there was a perfectly good Gospel parable in the lectionary? I mean, I don’t know about you, but I buy my meat at Hannaford. I’ve never been tempted to make a sloppy joe from what was left on a Pagan altar. But the advice Paul gives is about a lot more than that narrow issue. He says: don’t make your practices become a stumbling block to someone else.

And those words are evergreen. God is the Lord of your conscience, and only you can ultimately decide what feels right to you. By all means, follow your internal moral compass, and make the decisions that feel right with your spirit. But take caution that your moral decisions don’t hurt other people. When your interpretation of the Bible hurts someone else, it ceases to be an issue of personal morality, and it becomes an issue of justice. While our denominations fight over marriage equality and access to ordination, while Chrsitians take to the voting booths and political offices and start passing anti-LGBT legislation, and as we approach what promises to be another polarizing General Election, we need to be making extra sure that we’re looking out for one another. Discipleship to Jesus means guiding one another toward love and away from paths of hostility, prejudice, and selfishness. Our friends need us right now. And in the words of Barbara Brown Taylor: “The only clear line I draw these days is this: when my religion tries to come between me and my neighbor, I will choose my neighbor... Jesus never commanded me to love my religion.”

Amen.

*Hymn                        All Creatures of Our God and King                 #62

 

Offering

Offertory

*Doxology #94

*Prayer of dedication           

Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

God of our life, our everlasting, never ending hope; by your great will and power you have created and sustained the vast and unfathomable universe.  In the midst of all this greatness and splendour, you have set  us, creatures in Your own image!  By your grace you have called us to serve you and to be your people.  In your love and mercy you have chosen and laid hold on us, to be a light in darkness!  Teach us, O God, your ways.  Help us, each day to turn aside and to listen for you, and to study your word, and to pray to you, so that we might live as your people, and give ourselves - all we are and all we have – in obedience to your will – so that we might have strength and hope - peace and joy - and so that we might be able to impart these to others in your name.... Lord, hear our prayer...

Lord, You are the giver of life.  In the midst of suffering we celebrate the promise of Your peace.  In the midst of oppression - the promise of your freedom.  In the midst of doubt and despair - the promise of your presence and your kingdom.  In the midst of fear - the promise of everlasting joy.  In the midst of sin and decay - the promise of salvation and of renewal.  In the midst of death the promise of life eternal.  May we dwell in your promises and lift them up before others with love and compassion....  Lord, hear our prayer...

God, so many people are in need.  We pray for them as we pray for ourselves.

God, our healer, we pray for those who are sick,

     and for those who look after them.

We pray for those who are full of dread and anxiety

     and for those who carry the word of courage and faith.

God, our consoler, we pray for those who are sorrowful,

     and for those who have been bereaved

We pray for the weary

     and for those  weighed down by chronic illness, pain or frailty. 

We pray for those exhausted by the demands of work or caring for others.

     And for those who turn to you for new strength...

And we pray for those who are hungry, those who are without a home,

     and all those live under the threat of war.

Lord, hear our prayer.....

O God, we pray for the concerns and the individuals  whom you have placed upon our hearts this day.  Hear now the prayers that rise from our midst.... BIDDING PRAYER..... Lord hear our prayer....

We ask these things through Christ Jesus your Son, our Lord, our brother, and our friend..  Amen.

— written by Richard J. Fairchild, and posted on his Kir-shalom website. 

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, the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen.

*Hymn                      Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah                    #127

Benediction

Postlude

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Staff

Natalie Bowerman Pastor

Betsy Lehmann Music Director

Joe White Custodian

Cassandra Brown Nursery Attendant