Mic Drop - 1/23/22
Call to worship:
L: Come, let us worship the Lord.
P: Whose law revives the soul.
L: Come, let us worship the Lord.
P: Whose testimony instructs the mind.
L: Come, let us worship the Lord.
P: Whose precepts gladden the heart.
L: Come, let us worship the Lord.
A: And the Lord our God shall bless us!
Opening Hymn: Lord of the Dance #261
1. I danced in the morning when the world was begun,
and I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,
and I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth.
At Bethlehem I had my birth.
[Refrain:]
Dance, then, wherever you may be;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.
And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be,
and I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.
2. I danced for the scribe and the Pharisee,
but they would not dance and they would not follow me;
I danced for the fishermen, for James and John;
they came to me and the dance went on. (Refrain)
3. I danced on the sabbath when I cured the lame,
the holy people said it was a shame;
they whipped and they stripped and they hung me high;
and they left me there on a cross to die. (Refrain)
4. I danced on a Friday and the sky turned black;
it’s hard to dance with the devil on your back;
they buried my body and they thought I’d gone,
but I am the dance and I still go on. (Refrain)
5. They cut me down and I leapt up high,
I am the life that’ll never, never die;
I’ll live in you if you’ll live in me;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he. (Refrain)
Opening Prayer:
O God, we come together to explore the meaning of our membership in the body of Christ. As we examine ourselves, keep ever before us the example of him whom you appointed the head of the body. So guide our reflection on the life of Jesus that we might find your purpose for ours. Amen.
Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 12: 12-31a
¹²For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
¹⁴Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰As it is, there are many members, yet one body. ²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²²On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; ²⁴whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, ²⁵that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
²⁷Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. ²⁸And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. ²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
Hymn: Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore #344
1. Lord, You have come to the lakeshore,
looking neither for wealthy nor wise ones,
You only ask, Lord, that I should love You. (Refrain)
[Refrain]:
O Lord, with your eyes you have searched me,
and while smiling have spoken my name;
now my boat's left on the shoreline behind me;
by your side I will seek other seas.
2. Lord, You well know so well my possessions;
my boat no gold nor weapons;
you will find there my nets and labor; (Refrain)
3. You need my hands, full of caring;
through my labors to give others rest,
and constant love that keeps on loving. (Refrain)
4. You, who have fished other oceans,
ever longed for by souls who are waiting,
my loving friend, as thus you call me. (Refrain)
Prayer of Dedication:
O God, whose majesty fills the heavens with glory and whose love floods the earth with meaning, we approach you in awe and gratitude, giving thanks that we are made in your image, called according to your purpose, and commissioned to do your will.
O God, shine your light upon us and reveal to us our purpose here so that when it is complete, we will once again reside with you. Amen.
Gospel Reading: Luke 4: 14-21
¹⁴Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
¹⁶When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
²⁰And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Sermon Title: Mic Drop
It is said that if you drop the microphone at the end of a particularly moving performance or maybe you have seen it done – then you understand the concept of the mic drop. It is basically a power move from the speaker that emphatically shows that as well as being the end of the routine, said routine stands on its own and does not welcome or need anything further said. Perhaps you might even recall the character of Forrest Gump when he would finish one of his many stories and then profoundly proclaim, “That’s all I have to say about that.”
Today, in our message from the Book of Luke, we are reminded of a mic drop moment in history. Of course it would be blasphemous to describe anything Jesus did or uttered as a performance, but I do feel that we can appreciate not only the finality of his statement, but also the clear and unmistakable public beginning to His ministry.
“Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus has just read from a scroll written by the Prophet Isaiah. Mind you, he wasn’t handed a page to read or even a verse that had already been turned to. The scroll that had been handed to Jesus was the entire book of Isaiah, all sixty-six chapters of it, and unlike our Bibles in this day and age, the chapters and verses were not numbered or marked or separated in any way. It was just one continuous and long scroll of beautiful, religious verbiage.
So when we read that Jesus “found” the place where it was written, know that this was no easy feat. And the message that he read was by no means random. He read a very specific and very important few lines from Isaiah, a prophet from the Old Testament. This message, although ancient writings as far as anyone was concerned, was to be Jesus’ big introduction to the public eye of the religious elite and the law makers. Not only was he telling them that the Savior that they had all been waiting on for so long was finally here; but also that He was the One.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…”
This bold statement, while first relayed to the world by Isaiah, was describing Jesus and his mission in no uncertain terms.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…” “I (Jesus) have been called (chosen, born to this purpose). And Jesus keeps reading, “…because He (the Lord) has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” “He has sent me (I did not strike out on my own) to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
If you have ever been responsible for getting a child who isn’t sleepy to bed, then you know the plight of the parent in this story.
There was once a very young boy who having been put to bed at the appropriate hour felt uneasy and definitely not sleepy. He called for his mother and asked if she would read a book to him. His loving mother obliged and read a story to him and then tucked him back into bed. The boy still felt restless and then called to his mother for an extra blanket. She brought it in and covered him with it and again told him to get to sleep. The boy’s eyelids, however, still refused to close and so he again beckoned his mother, this time asking for a drink of water.
By now, his mother had figured out what the problem was. He was afraid and needed comfort. So she went to her son with a loving heart and open arms. She picked him up in a warm embrace and this time, before she tucked him back in, she prayed with him. Her son looked up at her tender face and told her thank you for the prayer, but he also said thank you for the hug. He told her that while he did believe in God and trusted him for his care; what he really had needed was God with skin on and that came in the form of a hug from his mom.
Many times, no matter how deep our faith goes, we still long for God with skin on to get us through the night or the fight or the whatever is holding our attention at the time.
After Jesus had read the scripture, rolled the scroll back up and handed it back to the attendant, he sat down. Of course every eye in the place was on him as they stared in amazement. So his mic drop moment came in the form of one last statement.
“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jesus was telling them directly that he was here to be our Savior; to be (quite literally) God with skin on.
To say that those who were listening were impressed is probably a gross understatement, but unfortunately, they were not all impressed in a good way. I can just see them sitting there all slack-jawed and wide-eyed wondering if they had actually heard Jesus just say what he had said.
Well, he did, he has, and he will keep on saying it. He is the Messiah, the Holy Son of God who came to save us from our sins and restore our connection with Father God.
Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing….mic drop.
Amen.
Closing Hymn: Dear Lord and Father of Mankind #358
1. Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
forgive our foolish ways;
reclothe us in our rightful mind,
in purer lives thy service find,
in deeper reverence, praise.
2. In simple trust like theirs who heard,
beside the Syrian sea,
the gracious calling of the Lord,
let us, like them, without a word,
rise up and follow thee.
3. O sabbath rest by Galilee,
O calm of hills above,
where Jesus knelt to share with thee
the silence of eternity,
interpreted by love!
4. Drop thy still dews of quietness,
till all our strivings cease;
take from our souls the strain and stress,
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of thy peace.
5. Breathe through the heats of our desire
thy coolness and thy balm;
let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.
In this place your healing has begun. Now begins the healing of the world. Go in peace.
