Call to Worship (Charity Children’s Home, Calcutta)
Take time to think;
It is the source of power.
Take time to play;
It is the secret of eternal youth.
Take time to laugh;
It is the music of the soul.
Take time to pray;
It is the greatest power on earth.

Unison Prayer
Gracious Lord, it is hard for us to trust each other and to trust you.  Loved ones let us down; friends fade from view; strangers make us nervous.  We yearn for human contact, but are afraid of getting hurt.  Help us to place our trust in you and to open ourselves to others.  Remind us that we are not alone.  Amen.

Words of Assurance: Psalm 56:3-4, Good News Bible
When I am afraid, O Lord Almighty, I put my trust in you. I trust in God and am not afraid; I praise him for what he has promised. What can a mere human being do to me?

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.

Opening Song: Lauren Daigle, “Trust In You”

Scriptures: Isaiah 26:3-4, NIV and Proverbs 3:5-6, Good News Bible
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.  Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way.

Sunday Sermon

I wrote this sermon in the IRS office.

I received a letter saying that I needed to prove my identity. I wasn’t able to do it online or on the phone, so I had to come into the office. And of course I thought of Karim. And I asked myself if I really trusted the government. Did I trust them to make decisions on my behalf, to operate in my best interests, to be moral?

It was surreal to sit in an office while someone else tried to prove that I was real, that I was me. It was hard to trust that things were going to work out. I wondered, who am I if I’m not me? If I’m not me, or if no one can prove that I am anyone, do I still owe taxes?

Later that night, because for some reason I decided to put all my stress on the same day, I took the required annual 3-hour Sexual Ethics and Training course. Ethics training asks us if we can trust other human beings. The requirement is largely based on mistrust, fear, lawsuits and liability. It assumes that we will be on our worst behavior if untrained, and that if we are not reminded every year not to abuse others, we might forget.

This attitude can lead us down a slippery slope. You may have heard about the woman last year who said that she never returned a shopping cart because she was afraid while she did so her children might be kidnapped. My immediate response was “Maybe you should shop somewhere else!” How paranoid should we be? At what point does trust become naiveté? Are people more good or more evil and if they are more one than the other, by how much?

Trust begins with an unwritten social contract. First, children have to trust their parents; they have no alternative. But at a certain point, parents have to trust their children. In the meantime, children will learn to trust or distrust others, and at some point, they will have to talk to strangers; otherwise they will never make friends or be able to do well in school or in any public setting.

Riding over all this is the question of trusting in God. Do we trust that God has a plan, and not only a plan, but a good plan, even when we don’t see the details? Do we trust that things will eventually be alright? Do we trust, even when things are going bad, that God is still good? Do we trust that when doing the right thing hurts, that God understands?

The alternative is to lean on our own understanding. But this is dangerous, especially in light of the fact that half of all Americans say they are the smartest person they know. When we lean on our own understanding, things can go horribly wrong.

Christianity puts us on the side of trust, but with a twist. We will be taken advantage of. We will be hurt. This is part of the human condition, and part of the reason that Christ died: first, because others killed him, and second, because he died for those very same people.

We land on the side of trust because the alternative is worse. In a marriage, we have to trust our spouse; if we’re paranoid all the time, we’ll lose them. At work, we have to trust our co-workers; we can’t do everything ourselves. On a team, we have to trust our teammates. This doesn’t mean we won’t get burned. Sometimes people cheat. Co-workers can be lazy. In a playoff game last week, two outfielders ran full speed into each other and both were injured. Trust is saying “I understand the risks, but I also see what kind of person I’d be if I didn’t trust anyone, and I don’t want to be that person.”

Many people choose not to trust. They say things like, “I can handle this on my own. I’m fine. I don’t need GPS, advice, feedback, therapy, another person’s opinion or even God.” But why make life so difficult when easier, more peaceful options are available, when many good people want to help and do have our best interests in mind, when God is available 24/7 and always eager to listen and to encourage?

Trust can be a relief. Last week I was at a football party when all but two of us went into another room. My friend turned to me and said, “I know I can trust you. I’m not doing well. I’m under so much stress and I’m not handling it well.” He didn’t need an answer; he needed a friend, and later he thanked me. A few days later I was in the same situation with the roles reversed. A friend asked how I was doing and I gave an evasive answer and she kept looking at me and I admitted that I was having a hard week. And I didn’t need answers either; I just needed to emote. And it changed the course of my week.

Now back to the IRS, because I know you want to hear the rest of the story and I left you hanging. Apparently the IRS has a thing where they try to prove your identity for 30 minutes, and if they can’t do so, you have to come back. And since I was trying to prove my identity for two years, I needed two half hour sessions. They told me, “Mr. Allen, we were able to prove your identity for 2025, but not for 2024, so you’ll have to come back in six to nine weeks.”

At this point, I had a choice of how to react. It was helpful to hear other people screaming in other rooms, giving the IRS agents so much abuse that I thought the police were going to come. It was very tempting to join that chorus, but I decided I didn’t want to be that person, so I said, “thank you, I know you have a hard job,” and I left, and I think the IRS agent almost cried because he was so relieved and he looked like no one had said anyone nice to him in a year.

In a sitcom, everything is wrapped up in half an hour. But life isn’t like a sitcom. And trust isn’t easy. It takes time and practice and patience. Trusting friends, trusting spouses, trusting strangers, and trusting God are not actions, but approaches, but when we take that leap of faith – when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable – that’s where the real healing begins. Amen.

Closing Song: Hillsong Worship, “In God We Trust”

This Sunday’s service is all about trust: trust in each other, and trust in the Lord. Both Sunday School classes (older & younger) will be in session, beginning approximately ten minutes into the service, immediately following the Children’s Message. Confirmation Class meets at 5, followed by dinner for Confirmation Class and Youth Group at 6 and Youth Group from 6:30-7:30. We have a brand new Youth Page on this website to keep you updated. Hope to see you Sunday at 10!

Call to Worship (Jacob Trapp)
To worship is to sing with the beauty of the earth,
To listen through a storm to the still, small voice within.
To worship is to be silent, receptive,
Before a tree astir with the wind
Or the passing shadow of a cloud.
Worship is an inarticulate silence learning to speak;
The window of the moment open to the sky of the eternal.
Worship is the mystery within us
Reaching out to the mystery beyond.

Unison Prayer
May we be reminded here of our greatest aspirations, and inspired to share our gifts of love with the people of God.  May we remember that we are not isolated beings, but connected, in mystery and miracle, to our creator, to this community of faith, and to each other.  Amen.

Words of Assurance: Proverbs 15:33a, Good News Bible 
Reverence for the Lord is an education in itself.

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.

Opening Song: Jordan St. Cyr, “Weary Traveler”

Scripture Lesson: Numbers 22:21-33, NIV

Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials. But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road.

Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards, with walls on both sides. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat the donkey again.

Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”

Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”

The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”

“No,” he said.

Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.”

Sunday Sermon: “Donkey Lessons”

Men are notoriously bad at asking directions. We can be so overconfident that we ignore maps and rely on our own instincts. This is almost always wrong.

When I was a teenager at a Christian camp in Connecticut, I took a walk in the woods with another kid. We saw markings on the trees but decided to ignore them because we saw more interesting things off the trail, and of course we got lost – really lost. We ran into some other people and asked where we were and they said “Massachusetts.” (We didn’t know that we were only a mile into Massachusetts so we thought we’d walked across an entire state.). When the sun started to set we knew we were in trouble. I remembered something about following a river so we did that. Eventually we found the markings on the trees again. While we were walking, two different groups of people came up to us and asked us if we’d seen any lost children, and we were like “No, that’s horrible, we hope you find them!” (Worst search parties ever!) When we got back to camp, we realized that they had been searching for us.

King David writes, “Show me the right path; point out the right road for me to follow” (Psalm 25:4). One of the most basic human questions is “Which way should I go?” But what if we receive an answer we don’t like? God points out the path, and we can follow the directions or we can ignore them. Balaam chooses to ignore them.

The king, who is named Balak, calls for the prophet Balaam and asks him to put a curse on the Israelites. Balaam knows this is probably not a good idea, but he double-checks with God anyway. God tells him, “Do not go with them, and do not curse them, because Israel has my blessing.” That’s pretty clear. But then the king offers Balaam a lot of money, and Balaam is like, “Hold on, let me check with God again.” And this time, God’s response is basically, “Go ahead if you want to. Your call.” And this should make Balaam pause, but it doesn’t.

Balaam is trying to have it both ways. He sets out on the main road, which is the wrong path, fooling himself by thinking that God has given him permission when God has instead given him free will.

In general, we know what’s good for us and what isn’t. We know what’s right and what’s wrong. But sometimes we put God on mute so we can do what we want to. It can be as simple as withholding forgiveness and as complex as working for a corrupt company so we can feed our family. We may know the right path, but there are extenuating circumstances. In the words of James Moore, “Yes, Lord, I have sinned, but I have several excellent excuses.” Balaam’s excuse is money. God wouldn’t want his prophet to be poor, would he? Of course not!

How do we know when it’s God speaking with us? When we pray about what we should do, and God agrees with us, it may or may not be God; it’s hard to tell. But when God disagrees with us, there’s a much better chance that it’s God. Balaam doesn’t get the answer he wants, so he keeps praying until he gets the answer he does. Unfortunately, as he will soon learn, this is not the way prayer works.

Balaam sets out on his donkey, but God sends an angel to stop him. The donkey sees the angel, but Balaam doesn’t. The donkey goes off the road into a field, and Balaam beats the donkey. Stupid donkey! Then the donkey goes down an alley and crushes Balaam’s foot, and he beats the donkey again. Then the donkey has nowhere to go except toward the angel, who has a flaming sword, so he just lies down, and Balaam goes ballistic.

Donkey Lesson #1: Sometimes to save people’s lives, we have to act like donkeys. Donkey Lesson #2: Sometimes the people we think are donkeys are really our friends.

When we see someone we love headed down the wrong path, we have an obligation to tell them, even if telling them means that we’re going to be abused. They might not appreciate our insight. They might not see that we’re trying to help. They might get defensive. We might be saying, “You have to stop drinking” or “You can’t be cheating on your spouse” or “I don’t like the person you’ve become.” I once broke up with a single mom who had a habit of swearing at her 2-year-old daughter. She told me it was “none of my business.” I said, “You’re right, but I can’t watch this.”

Tough love sometimes means saying no, or even saying goodbye. It can draw verbal abuse. It usually hurts the one doing the loving.

God gives the donkey the gift of speech, and the donkey asks, “What have I done to you? Why have you beaten me three times?” Balaam answers, “Because you made a fool of me! If I had a sword, I would kill you!“

Balaam is so far gone, he doesn’t even notice that the donkey is talking. The donkey is trying to save his life while he is threatening to kill the donkey. The donkey is the only one doing the right thing, but is receiving no credit. “Haven’t I been a good donkey?” he asks. “Have I ever treated you this way before?”

Balaam might not have a sword, but the angel does. And God opens his eyes to see the angel. And the angel asks, “Why have you beaten your donkey? You are on the wrong path, and your donkey was trying to save you. If your donkey hadn’t turned away, I would have killed you by now, but I would have spared him.“

This is, by the way, the best moment of the donkey’s life. You can totally picture him doing a donkey dance, because he has been vindicated.

God is with us when we do the right thing. God defends. God rewards. After this, Balaam gets back on the right path. He blesses the Israelites instead of cursing them. He doesn’t get paid in money, but gets paid with a longer life. The king gets mad, but what is a king compared to God?

This is the story of a man who acted like a donkey, and a donkey who acted like a man. Donkey Lesson #3: If someone in your life is acting like a donkey, ask yourself, “Could God have sent them?” Donkey Lesson #4: If God asks you to be a donkey, be a donkey. The angels will be on your side. Amen.

Closing Song: Rend Collective, “Life Is Beautiful”