September 27 – Seventeenth after Pentecost
Worship
materials for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost through the Twentieth
after Pentecost were contributed by Carmen Lansdowne, Member, World Council of
Churches Central Committee (Executive), and Karen Hamilton, General Secretary,
Canadian Council of Churches.
Carmen
and Karen do not serve in congregational ministries, but rather in the ministry
of ecumenism. Ecumenism (also oecumenism)
refers to initiatives aimed at greater religious unity or cooperation. In its
broadest sense, this unity or cooperation may refer to religions worldwide. In
a Christian context, ecumenism is used with a narrower meaning, referring to a
greater cooperation among different denominations.
The
World Council of Churches and the Canadian Council of Churches, both of which
are important partners of The United Church of Canada, serve to foster unity
and religious cooperation within and by the Christian family both in Canada and
worldwide.
Karen
is the author of The Acceptable Year of
the Lord: Preaching the Old Testament with Faith, Finesse and Fervor
(Novalis). Carmen, a member of the Heiltsuk First Nation, is engaged in
interdisciplinary doctoral studies at the Graduate Theological Union in
Berkeley, California, where she is pursuing a Ph.D. in missiology and social
theory using ethics to bridge the mission of the church with the plight of
people who are oppressed. They are both ordained in The United Church of
Canada.
Lectionary
Lectionary readings from Vanderbilt Divinity Library online
(http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/BPentecost/bProper21.htm)
Esther
pleads for the life of her people.
If
God had not been at our side.
The
sick should be anointed by the elders.
If
your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off.
Spark
Drape
an easel in the chancel with three “rivers” that flow into one another—one has
purple material, lace, sparkles, and a tiara; another is a big swath of black
fabric; and a third is a swath of rainbow colours.
With Children
What is the hardest thing
you have ever had to do? (Listen to
answers.)
When
have you been afraid? (Listen to answers.)
So
there was Queen Esther, all dressed up in her very fancy robes, with her jewels
and her makeup and her very sparkly crown, so beautiful, but so afraid. Her
people, the Jews, were going to be killed, probably Esther too, but maybe, just
maybe, she could save them. It meant asking the king—and kings in those times
had lots and lots of power. He might not listen, he might send her away, or he
might tell his servants to kill her! She knew deep inside that she had to do
something to help, so people could live. Can you see Esther pulling her fancy
robes nice and straight, making sure her crown was settled on tight, taking a
deep breath, and stepping forward?
So
my friends (stand up, take some of the
children by the hand) this week, even if it is hard, very hard, do
something you know will help someone else. Step forward (step forward).
Sermon Starter
The
Jewish woman Esther has found herself Queen of Persia. In that context she has
learned that there is a plot to kill her people. As a person with some
influence, she has the potential to save life. Such action on her part requires
great creativity, great courage, great risk—even to the point of death.
Esther
uses all of her experience (God never asks us to turn off our brains) and
wisdom to act strategically and creatively, and life is saved. The life of her
people is preserved, and our Jewish sisters and brothers still celebrate this
story in the riotous, fun commemoration called Purim.
Life
is preserved for the people of Israel, though not for the one who plotted their
destruction.
This
text, like all biblical texts, raises hard questions that we should not, must
not ignore. How are we called to respond to those who are dealers of death in
our world? Where is the line between needful restraint and vengeance? And what
are we prepared to risk in order to preserve life?
This
is not a question to be answered easily in a North American context in which
many of us are very comfortable. For many of us, the thought of physically
putting our lives on the line is unimaginable, though some of our sisters and
brothers in Africa, the Middle East, South America, and Asia live that reality
day after day.
Really struggle, then, with what acting in wisdom, experience, risk, and creativity to preserve life looks like on this Sunday and in the days to come in your context.
Hymns
VU
589 “Lord, speak to me”
MV 165 “There
is a time”
VU 131 “If
our God had simply saved us”
VU 385 “Spirit
divine, attend our prayers”
VU
215 “Hope of the world”
MV 146 “The
kingdom of God”