September 6 – Fourteenth after Pentecost

September 6 – Fourteenth after Pentecost

 

Lectionary

Lectionary readings from Vanderbilt Divinity Library online

(http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/BPentecost/bProper18.htm)

 

Proverbs 22:1–2, 8–9, 22–23

A good name rather than riches.

Psalm 125 (VU pg. 849)

Do good, O God, to those who are good.

James 2:1–10, 14–17

Faith without works is dead.

Mark 7:24–37

The Syrophoenician woman’s faith challenges Jesus.

Call to Worship

Psalm 125:1–2

Spark

Contact children, teachers, janitors, and bus drivers before this Sunday and invite them to a “back to school” time in the service. Prepare for this by gathering small, pocket-sized rocks and painting an equal sign on each rock.

With Children

Begin the service (after the Wisdom call to worship) by acting out the James passage. Someone who is richly dressed enters the sanctuary and is warmly greeted by elders and/or choir members. They fuss and overdo the welcoming. Then someone who is poorly dressed enters. The others ignore the person, or say curtly, “You can sit back there, I guess.”

Talk with the children about the drama. What would it feel like to be the rich person? The poor person? Do you think that happens today? Where and how? Does it happen at school?

Invite the children, teachers, and other school-related participants to move to the front. With reverence, give each person a rock. Explain that the equal sign indicates that in God’s Wisdom we are all equal. Pray for them as a congregation in their holy task of learning, guiding, and teaching.

Sermon Starter

For at least part of the sermon time, let folks know that we are going to listen for Wisdom in one another. Break into pairs, making sure that each child is paired with an adult.

Read the gospel lesson and say that here we have an astonishing thing: Jesus is learning from the woman. Imagine how she must have felt at the beginning…what courage it must have taken for her to go to Jesus. Explain the barriers of race, language, religion, and gender that were against her; don’t try to explain away Jesus’ response to her request. Rather, emphasize her courage/desperation and his willingness to be taught. This is a sign of his oneness with God—the willingness to be open to pain and to learn. We are at our most God-like when we learn from one another, and sometimes from people we wouldn’t have imagined learning from. Invite the pairs to share their reactions to this passage, and have them share one important thing they have learned from someone else in their lives. We are listening for the voice of Wisdom in one another.

Hymns

Hebrew Scripture

VU 702            “When a poor one”

VU 892            “Who comes from God”

Psalm

MV 104           “Know that God is good”

Epistle

VU 265            “Creating God, your fingers trace”

VU 603            “In loving partnership”

VU 627            “Now there is no male or female”

Gospel

VU 287            “Wellspring of wisdom”

VU 595            “We are pilgrims”

MV 62             “There is room for all”

MV 145           “Draw the circle wide”