The Next Right Thing

WE GATHER

PRELUDE

BRINGING IN THE LIGHT OF CHRIST

WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS

*HYMN Great Is Thy Faithfulness UMH# 140 v 1, 3

*CALL TO WORSHIP

L: Our souls long for you, O God.

P: When shall we behold your face?

L: Our souls are uneasy..

P: When shall hope lead us to praise you again?

L: During the day, your steadfast love sustains us.

P: During the night, your song washes over us.

L: Our hope leads us to praise you.

P: We praise you, our song of hope.

*OPENING PRAYER (IN UNISON)

Lord, we have come to you this day bringing all that we have, our lives, our hopes and dreams, our fears and sorrows. We place these before you in faith and hope, knowing that no matter what has happened you are with us and blessing us. Open our hearts to receive your words and your spirit, that we may find healing and comfort. Open our lives to the wondrous possibilities for service and joy that you offer to us. Ease our minds and spirits that we may hear the words of encouragement and peace this day. AMEN.

*HYMN My Hope Is Built UMH# 368 v 1, 2, 4

WE PROCLAIM GOD'S WORD

CHILDREN’S CHAT

OLD TESTAMENT READING

Psalm 127: 1-5

God’s Blessings in the Home

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord guards the city,
the guard keeps watch in vain.

It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil,
for he gives sleep to his beloved.[a]

Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the sons of one’s youth.

Happy is the man who has
his quiver full of them.
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE AND OFFERING

NEW TESTAMENT READING

Luke 12: 49-53

Jesus the Cause of Division

49 “I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 they will be divided:

father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

MESSAGE “The Next Right Thing”

First, a heads up: I’m gonna be talking about our feelings after the election, and I know that’s not a subject some of you want to hear about from this wooden box. I promise, this isn’t about who voted for whom. That’s entirely aside from the point. I’m proud of all of you for exercising your right to vote. I’m not going to be talking at all about who I voted for. But, I’m also not silly enough to think that none of you could hazard a guess, and be right. So, I’m acknowledging that elephant (or donkey?) in the room.

I picked the title for this sermon a good few weeks ago, in time to put it in the newsletter. I knew, like all of you, that tensions were mounting, and that this last week would likely be a stressful and difficult one. I had no idea what outcome we’d have when I picked this sermon title, just that, afterward, as a purple community in a blue state in a divided country, we’d still have to put one foot in front of the other and move toward future days, together.

The sermon title was inspired by Frozen 2. That means the kids here, and their parents, will get the reference faster, and those of you who consume less sugar and get more sleep can turn to us for help and we’ll happily shed some light for you.

Warning, I can't explain this reference without movie spoilers.

In Frozen 2, Elsa gets reckless on her journey in the Magic River, and she freezes, effectively rendering her dead unless someone figures out how to reverse that magic. Anna has been with Olaf, and they both realize something must be very wrong with Elsa because Olaf starts shrinking, because he’s kept alive by Elsa. This was some intense stuff, y’all. At the turning point in the movie, Anna is in the dark, alone. Her sister may be gone forever, Olaf may be gone forever, it’s an overwhelming reality for her, and she can’t change it, at least not yet. And she sings this song, “The Next Right Thing”, about not only having courage when the future is uncertain, but about focusing. She doesn’t need to have it all worked out right now. She just has to find one action at a time that feels productive.

For some of us, last Tuesday night brought news we hoped for and found joy in. For some of us, last Tuesday brought news we didn’t want, and fear. And, in a bigger sense, the issues that drove this election are ones that have big ramifications for the most vulnerable among us: the poor, struggling families, immigrants, people of color, the disabled, and women.

This week’s Gospel passage, unlike the sermon title, I picked after I knew the election outcome, and after some very tense family conversations. Y’all have been there, right? Those conversations none of us want to be in that we nonetheless find ourselves stuck in every once in a while, usually around a Presidential election, and then at Thanksgiving when you, your Mom, your sister, and that one Uncle all have to sit at the same table and converse without bloodshed. If you have a Thanksgiving like that around the corner, may the odds be ever in your favor.

But we always have scripture, for wisdom. And it’s living wisdom that leaps off the page and interacts in our world. This passage for today can be very difficult to use from the pulpit. It goes against family values that most of us want to attribute to our faith. The idea that Jesus brings very personal division, the kind that turns parents and siblings and in laws against each other, doesn’t sound like the words we need to hear in a lot of contexts. But in this one…oh boy. It speaks so clearly to exactly what a lot of us are experiencing.

This week I had a difficult phone call with my dad, who thinks and votes very differently from me. Then I had a very difficult conversation with my older sister. She generally votes like me. And yet the tension came from me not feeling the same way as her about the thing we feel the same way about. Does that make any sense to you? Me neither. Join the club, we meet here every Sunday.

This election cycle has been one that made our world look just like what Jesus described: division. Even division in the name of what Jesus would have us do. Parents arguing with children, sisters sparring with sisters, and in-laws, oh boy…let’s just not even go there.

There’s good news coming, I promise. Anna unfreezes her sister, and they hug again. You will hug your sister again. Anna and Elsa rebuild Olaf. We’ll reconstruct in all places where there has been harm and damage, together. And sometimes fighting, even though it’s so uncomfortable, has value in that it forces the things we don’t talk about into the light, so we can deal with them.

As for our country, healing comes when we’re willing to reach across the aisle, protect and defend one another as Jesus asked us to, and find the love we always had in common.

A very prophetic clergy sister shared some words with me that I’m going to close this sermon with. These words, these hymn lyrics, were composed by Christian singer and songwriter Audrey Assad. She wanted to breathe some new life into The Battle Hymn of the Republic. It’s in our hymnal, but that hymn is so tied to the Civil War, and specifically the Union Army, that it often sounds super old-fashioned, militaristic, and even a touch culturally insensitive depending on the context. Assad decided to change that for us, and what she came up with is perfect, especially now.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord

You are speaking truth to power, You are laying down our swords

Replanting every vineyard 'til a brand new wine is poured

Your peace will make us one

In the beauty of the lilies, You were born across the sea

With a glory in Your bosom that is still transfiguring

Dismantling our empires 'til each one of us is free

Your peace will make us one

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Your peace will make us one

Amen.

*HYMN There Is a Balm in Gilead UMH# 375 v 1, 2

WE RESPOND

JOYS & CONCERNS

PASTORAL PRAYER

Ageless God, we seek the wisdom of Shiphrah and Puah,
midwives who defied Pharaoh’s orders and instead protected life.

Like the Hebrew women living under empire,
teach us how to create systems of mutual aid, community care, and resistance.

Help us center the vulnerable, so that all may experience abundant life, resisting the pain of empire.

We know, O God, that white supremacy, xenophobia, and homophobia must be defeated, no matter who holds dominion.

Give us strength to resist whenever a child of God is dehumanized.

God who is greater than all kings, may we remember the wisdom of our ancestors — their songs, prayers, and guidance.

May we remember your words to Moses when he feared Pharaoh’s wrath:
“I will be with you.”

In times of trial, faith has always found a way.

Along with the midwives, we hold on to the witness of Miriam,
who in fleeing Egypt had the forethought to grab her tambourine,
knowing that one day joy would be necessary.

God of liberation, we know that one day the captives shall be free.
We know that one day your peace shall have the final word.
Until that day, may we hold each other tightly,
work for your beloved community to reign supreme,
and live together in pursuit of peace for all of God’s children.

Amen.

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. Amen.

*HYMN Let There Be Peace on Earth UMH# 431

SENDING FORTH WITH BLESSING

POSTLUDE

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