Eighth Sunday after PentecostProper 13(18)
Unifying Theme: |
||
| Scripture | Theme | Hymns |
|---|---|---|
| Hosea
11:1-11 --or-- Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23 |
God's unfaltering love --or-- People's meaningless pursuits |
247: O Morning Star, How
Fair and Bright 397: I Need Thee Every Hour 700: Abide with Me |
| Psalm
107:1-9, 43 --or-- Psalm 49:1-12 |
The wise consider God's great love --or-- This life is temporary |
103: Immortal, Invisible,
God Only Wise 348: Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling |
| Colossians 3:1-11 | Christ is all! | 362: Nothing but the
Blood 469: Jesus Is All the World to Me |
| Luke 12:13-21 | Fullness of life is not measured by possessions | 363: And Can It Be that I
Should Gain 373: Nothing Between |
Hymn #469
Words and music by Will L. Thompson
Tune Name: ELIZABETH
The lectionary scriptures for this week carry a common thread that contrasts the perfect and eternal nature of God with the flawed and temporal nature of humanity. An interesting story of the founding of a library illustrates a similar contrast.
The time was late in the 19th century. The town was East Liverpool, Ohio, a community on the Ohio River less than ten miles from the Pennsylvania state line. The huge steel mills and factories of Pittsburg lay several miles downstream, built by (or perhaps for) steel barons and other captains of industry. But this town of East Liverpool had a reputation and a character of its own. The lands at this bend of the Ohio River were full of clay, and East Liverpool was the "Pottery Capital of the World." Song writer Will Thompson (1847-1909) had a music store here.
The pottery industry of East Liverpool grew fast. Affluence grew, and it wasn't long before people started efforts to establish symbols of a "cultured society." How about a library? Will Thompson had a room in his music store which he opened as a reading room, refusing to accept any rent. To fund the project, though, a group of ambitious businessmen took over the project and began charging dues. These people asserted their own individual preferences concerning the management of the reading room, until the library project fell apart after only half a year. No matter how well intentioned they may have been, the leaders' lack of focus brought the project to an end.
Undaunted, the community continued to pursue the library idea, and eight years later a new library was established by renting a room from Thompson to hold a collection of some 2,500 books. The effort didn't stop here, though. There were ongoing questions about facilities and funding until several years later when the town established a public fund and obtained a grant from the steel mogul Andrew Carnegie. A new building was erected, and Will Thompson himself was made the first president of the library. The library itself had become the focus of the project, instead of the differing hopes and plans of many individuals.
A society's disjointed, unfocused efforts will often lead to failure, just as it did with the first attempt to set up a library in East Liverpool. There is a solution for this problem, though. What is the solution? It is finding the right, singular focus, and making a real commitment to it. For the "library society" in East Liverpool, the solution involved focusing on the establishment of a public library and committing real funds to support it.
God's people encountered the same failures in both Old and New Testament times. They lost focus, lacked commitment, and separated themselves from God. We still do the same thing today, and there is still a solution to the problem. The Psalmist found it. So did the "teacher" in Ecclesiastes. So did the epistle writer in Colossians. And we can find it, too. Will Thompson put the answer into words in this week's featured hymn, "Jesus Is All the World To Me." If Christ is all the world to us, if Christ is the focal point of our lives, if our commitment is to Christ, then the ministry in our lives is destined to succeed. As you read the words to this week's featured hymn, ask yourself--what means the world to you?
| 1. Jesus is all the world to me, my life, my joy, my all; he is my strength from day to day, without him I would fall. When I am sad, to him I go, no other one can cheer me so; when I am sad, he makes me glad, he's my friend. |
2. Jesus is all the world to me, my friend in trials sore; I go to him for blessings, and he gives them o'er and o'er. He sends the sunshine and the rain, he sends the harvest's golden grain; sunshine and rain, harvest of grain, he's my friend. |
| 3. Jesus is all the world to me, and true to him I'll be; O how could I this friend deny, when he's so true to me? Following him I know I'm right, he watches o'er me day and night; following him by day and night, he's my friend. |
4. Jesus is all the world to me, I want no better friend; I trust him now, I'll trust him when life's fleeting days shall end. Beautiful life with such a friend, beautiful life that has no end; eternal life, eternal joy, he's my friend. |
Hallelujah! Christ is all!
God bless you--
Lection at HymnSite.com
God bless you!
| Passages suggested are from The Revised Common Lectionary: Consultation on Common Texts (Abingdon Press, 1992) copyright © by the Consultation on Common Texts (CCT), P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville TN 37203-0003. Reprinted with permission of CCT. |