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Woship Resources 2009-2010 — Year C: Live Generously, Love Courageously
Return to Year C: 2009-2010
Resource Index
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Salvation Has Come
Ordinary Time (Proper 26)
Scriptures: Habakkuk 1:1–4, 2:1–4; Psalm 119:137–144; II
Thessalonians 1:1–4, 11–12; Luke 19:1–10; I Nephi 3:186–88;
Doctrine and Covenants 163:9
Building on the worship center from the last four weeks, add several items
representing the scripture from Luke (e.g., some coins and a bonsai tree) and/or
illustrations by the children’s Sunday school classes representing the parable.
Prelude
Welcome and Announcements
Call to Worship: I Nephi 3:186–88
*Song of Invitation
“As the Deer” NS 2
OR “Come, Holy Spirit, Come” NS 6
OR “This Is God’s Wondrous World” R-1
OR “In God’s Most Holy Presence” HS 5
*Prayer of Invitation
Come then, Holy Spirit, breathe on us
—fill us with life anew!
Grace us with new depths of honesty, integrity, and sensitivity.
Grant us new eyes to see the hidden gifts of friend, family, and
stranger.
Open unfettered highways of trust, appreciation, and transforming
friendship.
Let leadership and management be eclipsed by ministry.
Let not public performance impoverish personal piety.
And finally, gracious God, stir within us the true spirit of servanthood
—remind us of why we do what we do
—the call, the passion, the joy, the hope, the tears, the great
laughter.
Give us breathing lessons!
Breathe on us that we may stir your breath of life in others!
In Jesus name we pray. Amen
—Danny Belrose, Let the Spirit Breathe
(Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, 2004), 22.
*Response
Scripture Lesson: Luke 19:1–10
Use a modern-language version. Consider having several youth or
young adults act out this scripture as it is shared.
Sermon
Based on Luke 19:1–10
Children’s Object Lesson
Use the following object lesson to prepare for Disciples’ Generous
Response. Use a pan of brownies or similar treat to demonstrate how we are
sometimes guilty of giving God the leftovers. Invite the children to come
forward to receive a treat. Give some children larger pieces than others and
make sure that the whole pan is given away except for a few crumbs by the
time the last child is being served. The last child symbolizes God receiving
our leftovers. Talk about generously giving back to God what is his from the
beginning and offering it as our first and best gifts. (Be sure to have an
extra brownie for the last child!)
Disciples’ Generous Response
Each Sunday, as part of the Disciples’ Generous Response, we ask you to
integrate the message of “share equally” between Local and World Ministries
Mission Tithes. Generosity stories are provided to keep the church in touch
with how contributions to Mission Tithes spread the peace of Jesus Christ.
Please use the stories, testimonies, and up-to-date contribution information
as part of your offertory ministry. Visit
www.CofChrist.org/generositystories to print a copy, or contact your
pastor, congregational financial officer, or worship coordinator for a copy.
Scripture: Doctrine and Covenants 163:9
Blessing and Receiving of Mission Tithes
The congregation sings during the receiving of the offering.
“We Give Thee but Thine Own” HS 401 OR “Heaven Shall Not Wait”
SP 28
Confessional Reading
“God of Many Names”
We have named you Father, yet have at times sensed your presence as a
mother’s nurturing care and warmth.
We have named you Friend and have sometimes experienced you as “mystery
beyond understanding”—in those moments, too distant to know at all.
We have named you Comforter and have found you meeting us, most
surprisingly, in the midst of our greatest discomfort.
As we move from our rich time of struggle, we name you Light and pray for
your illuminating presence to grace our journeys—those we take alone and
those we take together.
When the shadows of our pain or grief overwhelm us or our friends,
shine through our darkness as compassion.
When we confront ignorance and bigotry in ourselves or another, in the
midst of our prejudice, shine through us as compassion.
When we are tempted to view our own opinions as more important than
the feelings of another person, in the midst of our arrangance, shine
through us as compassion.
When our differences divide us, help us create a climate of acceptance.
In our diversity, shine through us as compassion.
When our deliberations must be made, let justice foundation our
decisions. In our choices, shine through us as compassion.
As we leave this cherished company of concerned friends, commissioned by
new insights, stretched to new understandings, placed in positions of risk,
may we accept the challenge of this hour together.
Burn in us, Eternal Light, that we may name you once more, and we
shall name you Love. Amen.
—Barbara Howard in Prayers and Readings for Worship,
Vol. 2, Peter Judd, ed.
(Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, 1996), 63.
Song: “Everyday God” by Bernadette Farrell from Restless Is the Heart,
audio CD, ASIN: B000EZ4X68. This may be sung by the congregation or by two
individuals as special music using the CD as accompaniment.
OR “Lord of All Hopefulness” HS 185
Prayer for Peace
*Hymn of Challenge: “Jesus Is Calling” HS 391
OR “Seek Ye First” NS 44
OR “We Are Your People” SP 34
*Sending Forth
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
May God enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the
power to accomplish all the good things that your faith prompts you to do.
Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live.
Amen.
—II Thessalonians 1:1–4, 11–12 New Living Translation
adapted
*Postlude
Sermon Helps
Scriptures: Habakkuk 1:1–4, 2:1–4; Psalm 119:137–144; II Thessalonians
1:1–4, 11–12; Luke 19:1–10
Exploring the Scriptures
The story of the encounter between Zacchaeus and Jesus appears only in the
Gospel of Luke. Even so, it is familiar to most disciples. Sometimes, the
familiarity of a story from the scriptures can lead us to read or listen to the
entirety of the scripture passage with knowledge of the end already in mind.
When this happens, we might quickly pass over some of the richness of the text,
thinking that the conclusion is what is most important.
As you explore today’s scripture from Luke for yourself, try to imagine you
are reading it for the first time without already knowing what comes next in the
passage. Spend some time focusing on the details of the verses leading up to the
conclusion stated in verse 10. These details can add significantly to your
understanding of the many lessons to be learned from this passage. They can also
help you present this familiar story to your listeners in a fresh way to allow
them to sense new meaning for it in their lives.
Zacchaeus is described as a wealthy chief tax collector. These facts set the
stage for understanding why the crowd is so disgruntled with Zacchaeus and
Jesus’ actions toward him later in the passage. A chief tax collector would be
perceived as even more corrupt than a regular tax collector. In fact, this is
the only reference in the New Testament to a “chief” tax collector. Being
identified as rich is a theme in many stories in Luke and is usually associated
with a harsh judgment from Jesus. Understanding that, at this point in the
story, tends to lead us to expect such a result here as well. A reversal of that
expectation later in the passage provides a new lesson: While it may be easier
for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter
heaven, Zacchaeus becomes that camel and shows us the way.
In this story Zacchaeus is attempting to see Jesus, while in the previous
story in Luke the blind man Jesus passes by is also attempting to see. Note the
similarity of the details of these two stories. Both men want to see, both stand
to speak with Jesus, and both are hindered by the crowd. Perhaps the most
significant similarity is that in both stories a healing takes place at once.
The blind man regains his sight “immediately” and Zacchaeus receives salvation
“today.”
As a tax collector, Zacchaeus would have been perceived as someone thought to
be too dignified to run through a crowd or climb trees. The fact that he submits
himself to ridicule by the crowd for these actions signifies how intense his
desire is to see Jesus. In contrast, the crowd can only see Zacchaeus as the
sinner they know and not as the repentant sinner he desires to be and Jesus
wants him to be.
The act of generosity displayed by Zacchaeus in verse 8 is remarkable when
measured against the Old Testament laws of restitution. Such laws were varied
and Zacchaeus chose to apply the most demanding ones to himself. In his
response, Jesus does not validate whether or not Zacchaeus has exhibited the
correct amount of generosity. Instead, he acknowledges that Zacchaeus has
changed and accepted Jesus’ vision of the peaceable kingdom.
Finally, in verse 10 we reach the concluding statement that makes it clear
the story is not really about Zacchaeus but is about Jesus and his mission. In
retrospect, it causes us to consider whether Zacchaeus was seeking Jesus, or if
Jesus was seeking Zacchaeus.
Central Ideas
1. For Luke, salvation involves more than just the soul. It also includes
our earthly existence in the sense of being made well, healed, or made
whole.
2. When we apply labels to others (rich, sinner, etc.), it keeps us from
seeing the potential for their change—as God sees.
3. We should be open to the immediacy of salvation (healing) that is
possible through Jesus Christ.
Questions for the Speaker
1. What labels are used in your congregation that inhibit people from
seeing the potential in others?
2. When have you seen changes in yourself or others that remind you of
the salvation experience of Zacchaeus?
3. Doctrine and Covenants 163:9 says in part: “Give generously according
to your true capacity.” How can you relate this scripture to today’s text
from Luke? What difficulties do you have in identifying what your true
capacity really is?
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