[♫]
Well good morning, and welcome to
University Christian Church in Fort
Worth, Texas my name is Russ Peterman I
am the senior minister here and I am so
thrilled that you have chosen to worship
with us this morning.
University Christian Church is one
congregation right now in many locations,
as we are worshiping online-only. And so
we're glad that you have chosen to come
and be with us. Right now, I want to
invite you as we enter into this time of
worship, to visit our website if you
have not already this morning and
to let us know of your presence. There's
a place to let us know and to register
your attendance. There's also a link on
that page as well to let us know of
any prayer concerns that you may have. If
there's a way that we can surround you
with our love and with our prayers, if we
can pray both with or for you, we hope
that you will let us do that. There's
also a way for you to share your tithes
and your offerings with us. If you are
joining us from another congregation
that doesn't have online worship right
now, we hope and pray that you will
support that local congregation. We are
all in this together.
Church it is important in times like
these, with so much going on, not just the
pandemic, not just the social and racial
divisions that we are experiencing so
much, but now more than ever, we need to
be able to come together to connect, to
recognize that we are all in this
together, that we are a part of something
bigger than ourselves.
and so we come to do that here in
worship. This morning, we are kicking off
a new series that we're calling "The
Anatomy of Hope." And over the next several
weeks, we will talk about what it means
to live in hope, and to give that hope
away. Church, let us come together now, and
let us worship God together.
[Tower Bells Ring Out]
Who are we, O, God, that you draw near
when we call? Who are we, O, God that you
care for us? Who are we, O, God, that you
crown us with honor? Who are we, O, God,
that you make us stewards of the earth?
We are your faithful people, O, God and
we worship you today and every day.
[♫]
[♫]
As I invite you to join me in a spirit
of prayer I want to remind you that you
can still submit prayer requests, both
online at our church website and by
calling our dedicated prayer line number
listed below. You can also view the joys
and concerns of our faith community on
the church website each week by
downloading our online worship bulletin.
The Lord be with you and with your
spirit. Let us pray. Divine Creator,
breathe your peace into our cities and
our nations and quell the violence that
threatens to overtake us. Make space for
us to meet our siblings in Christ who
are angry and hurting and help us to
hear their pain. Give us courage to speak
up and speak out against injustice in
every time in place, so that no more
lives will be taken in the name of
privilege or power. Holy Spirit, we ask
that you continue to rush among us like
the billowing wind and stir us out of
our complacency. Make yourself known
among us and rest upon our shoulders as
we transform the world just as Christ
did. Give us ears to hear your word, which
is alive and at work through each of us,
so that your deeds of power might be
proclaimed throughout the earth. Most
Precious God, there are those who think
the church has stopped meeting because
they cannot hear your voice of hope. In
these times, we pray that you make
yourself visible, especially in our
neighborhoods experiencing economic
disparity, food insecurity and
oppression.
You already make yourself visible in
hands that serve without concern for
race or gender or socio-
economic status. Allow our hearts to
be empowered by these people and by one
another as we continuously aspire to be
the hands and feet of Christ. Sovereign
Redeemer, save your people everywhere
from ignorance and self-righteousness
and turn our hearts to you. Give us
wisdom and discernment, compassion and
empathy. Give us courage and kindness and
comfort and hope. We ask this in your
son's name who taught us to pray, saying:
 
 
 
 
 
As I said this morning, we are kicking
off a new series that I'm calling "The
Anatomy of Hope" and over the next four
weeks, we're gonna look at what hope is,
where we find, it what it looks like. How
do we live in hope and how do we
give it away? We all need hope, especially
now during this time of this global
pandemic, during this time of racial
strife and division in the middle of our
country. Right now, there is this
desperate need for hope. We're gonna
start by looking at some of the Psalms.
The Psalms are in many ways, the ancient
Israel's prayer book. It's the hymn book.
It's filled with songs and prayers and
liturgies, and what's interesting is if
you open up your Bible right in the
middle, right in the middle, you find the
Book of Psalms, it is indicative of the
role that they play in our lives. In many
ways they are the heart and soul of the
Bible. It captures the heart and soul
of the people of God in the middle of
all of the various seasons of their life.
There are times when the psalmist is
happy, filled with joy and thanksgiving.
There are times, though, when it feels
like life has gone to pieces,
and the psalmist is angry, frustrated, sad,
despondent. We all know what that's like.
We've all experienced those various
seasons in life and I think part of the
reason that the Psalms are so powerful,
is that they are the heartfelt response.
The people of God, in the middle of the
ebb and flow of life. We're gonna begin
by looking at Psalm 40, which is
attributed to King David. He wrote a
number of them. In fact, 73 of the 150
Psalms are attributed to David. He wrote
this, it seems, having come through a
difficult time;
some great and pressing need in his life.
We don't know what it is, but what we
hear is how he has been delivered by God.
Today's scripture is from Psalm 40:1-3.
Here begins the reading:
 
 
 
 
the word of God for the people of God,
thanks be to God.
♫
Have you ever been at the end of your
rope?  I know I have. Maybe you have as
well. You go through a time when you just
lose all patience, all perseverance, all
sense of hope, you just feel overwhelmed,
frustrated, you feel disoriented. I spoke
with a young mother not too long ago who
talked about her son who was a first-
grader that that just recently ran
outside screaming. He had a terrible
temper-tantrum and it wasn't that he was
upset about one thing, it was about all
of it. About not being able to see his
friends. About not being able to go to
school. About not having a rhythm; a sense
of normalcy in life. He just needed a
good cry. So he ran out into the street and
cried. Sometimes it just adds up. It just
takes a toll on us. In many ways, that is
the collective cry of our country this
week. The cries of the protesters, those
that that took to the streets, many of
them in tears, it wasn't just the killing
of George Floyd, which was horrific
enough, but it's all of those, all of
those that have been killed, all of those
that have felt the knee of injustice on
their necks for years, for decades, for
generations. It's all of the ways that
people of color have been treated, all of
the ways that they've been shown to
be less-than. It's the build-up of the
systems of injustice and racism. We saw
this week that much of America running
into the streets throwing a temper-tantrum, screaming, just needing a good
cry. We're all looking for
hope right now. We desperately,
desperately, need hope right now.
Hope is what keeps us going. It
gets us up in the morning. Hope is what
allows us to suit up, to show up. We
can't survive without hope. It's what
keeps us from giving up. We all
desperately need hope. But when we talk
about hope, what is it exactly that we
mean? Maybe we need to start there,
because it has a number of different
layers.
It can mean something casual like 'I hope
it's sunny tomorrow'. It could mean in
that sense sort of a wishful thinking
type thing. I wish, I hope, I want. I
really want steak for dinner tonight; I
hope we can have that. But the
type of hope that we're talking about
this morning, the type of hope that we'll
be looking at over the next several
weeks is something bigger than that.
It's something deeper. The hope that we
are needing, that we're longing for is
much deeper than that.  And so, I've taken
a stab at this and I want to offer you
my working definition of what hope is
and I want you to keep in mind that
hope is both a noun and a verb. So as a noun:
 
and as a verb
And I might just add, too,
that it's not just choosing to believe.
It's not just acting as if things are
going to be better, but being willing to
work, to partner with God to help it
become better. This is the adverbial form
of hope. It's not just something to
believe, it's not just something to act
on, but to work towards.
We looked at one of the Psalms a minute
ago, just one of the ones that we could
have chosen, because there are all sorts
of Psalms of hope in the scriptures, in
part, because there were many different
reasons, a lot of different circumstances
that made the Israelites feel, well,
pretty hopeless. Walter Brueggemann
is an Old Testament scholar, a
scholar of the Hebrew Scriptures. I had
the opportunity to study with him when I
was working on my doctorate. He's an
amazing scholar, abrilliant
theologian and just a wonderful human
being.
Many believe him to be the preeminent
scholar on the Psalms. And I mentioned a
moment ago that the Psalms reflect the
various seasons in our lives.
Brueggemann says that essentially there
are three of those seasons and those
seasons are reflected in the Psalms and
that we find ourselves living in those
as well and he says that we can
categorize, we can break down, essentially,
the Psalms into these three
different types, into these different
seasons of life. The first is what he
refers to as orientation. There are those
times, those seasons in our lives when
things when things, by and large, are just going
well. Things are relatively settled, they
are ordered.
We know how life works, it's predictable
to an extent. We understand that
there is a in order and a rhythm to life.
We just sort of trust that things are
going to go well. Many of us were living
in one of those seasons right up until
March. Unemployment was low, the stock
market was up, consumer confidence was
high, there was hope. Things
were ordered, until they weren't. And so,
there are orientation Psalms. And those
Psalms reflect order in creation.
Psalm one, for instance.
"Blessed is the one whose delight is in
the law of the Lord."  You can you can
count on that if your delight
is in the law of the Lord, that things
are going to go well with you, right up
until the time that they don't. Or Psalm
8. "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your
name in all the earth!" Things are good,
things are great, things feel settled,
until they're not. In those times of
orientation, life is good, life is
relatively good. These seasons, though, we
all know too well, don't last forever.
They didn't for Israel. They don't
for us. There will be times when things
are good for us, but then there
will be times when it feels like
everything falls apart. Happens for us. It
happened for the Israelites as well. They
were attacked. There were times of famine,
there were times of drought. They went
through a pandemic much like we are
going through. They had both natural and
national disasters. We know what that's
like. In many ways, we are living in one
of those times right now. We're dealing
with both a natural and a national
disaster. When those things happen we
enter into a season of disorientation.
Sometimes because of something that
we've done or maybe something that we
haven't done, but  sometimes
things just happen to us, not because of
anything that we've done or left undone.
Sort of like the virus, it just sort of
happened to us. Life sometimes just
happens to us, and when that happens we
become confused, we become disconnected.
We lose faith. We run into the
streets and cry out to God.
Those are
the Psalms of disorientation. Take for example
In other words, I'm being attacked,
God, don't you even care? Or
 
How many of us have ever felt forgotten
by God, wondered why God is
hiding? or Psalm 22 maybe one of the
famous of all the Psalms my God my God
It's the very
psalm that Jesus cried out on the cross
just before he took his last breath.
Almost half of the Psalms are these
types of disorientation Psalms. Sometimes
we call them laments. When we cry
out, there is this deep disappointment.
You can't understand why is this
happening, where is this going, God?
We've all had times in our lives when it
feels like things are just
falling apart. In those moments, we look
to the Psalms and we find ourselves in
part, because they so eloquently express
what we are feeling.
But what's interesting is that in almost
every single one of those Psalms of
disorientation and lament, there
is, by the end of the psalm, a 'but'. There
is a turn that happens, there's a pivot.
There's this turn towards God. Psalm 13
that we talked about just a
second ago, "How long, O God. You've
forgotten me, you're hiding your face from
me. But I trust in your unfailing
love. My heart rejoices in your salvation.
Now how does this happen? How does this
happen? How does that same person ask "How
long will you forget me, O God, how long
will you hide your face from me?" And then
turn and say "But I trust in your
unfailing love." Trusting in a deliverance
that's not yet seen. I don't know when
it's gonna happen, O God, but I trust
that it will. It may happen immediately,
it may take years, but God, I trust you.
See, that trust is built on experience. In
the past, God, you have saved me and I
trust that you will save me again.
Trusting in a deliverance that's not yet
seen, trusting that that even if
we don't know when it's gonna happen,
that it will happen again. You see hope
is faith in the midst of darkness. It's
faith based on history. It's based on
experience. Martin Luther King once said
"Only in the darkness can you see the
stars." Based on faith that at some point
King had seen a glimmer, a
glimmer of a star, and that was hope for
tomorrow. Remember the working definition
that I offered. The conviction that
despite one's present circumstances, that
the future will in some meaningful sense,
be better than the present. You sees for
the people of Israels that hope sustained
them. They didn't have evidence that it
was gonna happen, except that in the
past, God had delivered them, and surely
they believe that God would
deliver them again. It was that
experience, that history that
allowed them to say 'I trust in the
unfailing love of God.' That in that love
my heart rejoices.
And eventually, it came. Sometimes it took
weeks or months, sometimes it took years.
But on the other side, they were changed,
they were transformed they were
different, having walked through that, God
redeemed them. God set their feet back on
solid ground and we call these seasons
of reorientation. Things have bottomed
out, and yet there is new life, there is
deliverance, there's hope in
these seasons of reorientation. We see
these beautiful Psalms, written like the
like the one that Harry read just a
moment ago. 'I put all of my hope in the
Lord, you lean down to me, you heard
my cry, you lifted me up out of the pit
of death, out of the mud and the mire'
and the filth in that season of
disorientation. God, I put all of my hope
in the Lord, and God you delivered me.
David writes. You could hear the
exuberance. You can hear the thanksgiving
,you can hear the joy. I was sinking down
in the mire and the muck, God, I was
depressed and despondent there was no
hope, but God, you delivered me. I put all
of my hope in you and God, you came
through. In Hebrew, the language of the
Old Testament, the Hebrew of the Psalms,
there are three different words for what
we oftentimes translate as hope. And here
in Psalm 40 the word that is used is
'qavah'. Almost all of the words,
interestingly enough, for hope
can also be translated as 'to wait'. This
morning, we looked at the CEB, The Common
English Bible, what we read from this
morning.  I put all
my hope in the Lord. But if we look at
the NRSV, the New Revised Standard
Version, it says this very same Psalm "I
waited patiently for the Lord" they're the
same thing.
Hope and waiting, both of them, mean
choosing to believe and act as if the
future will be better than the present.
Both require waiting, expectant waiting,
believing that the future will in some
meaningful sense be better than today. I
spoke with my friend Virzola Law this
last week. She is an African-American
pastor, disciples pastor, in Dallas and
she was speaking recently with her
therapist and her therapist reached out
to her and just says "You know, in the
middle of all of this, how are you doing?"
And Virzola said "You know, to be honest
with you, I'm not okay." Her therapist
looked at her and said "It's okay to not
be okay, but it's not okay to stop there."
It's not okay to stay that way. You see
hope is born in seasons of
disorientation. Amost all of the
passages about hope are born out of
a context in which things are going
horrible, yet people choose to believe
that the future can be better than the
present. Hope is born in disorientation.
So have you ever been at the end of your
rope? I think all of us have been there
some of us are there right now. Not too
long ago,
Kelli and I gathered with some friends
for a porch party, got together with
another couple and sat on our front
porch sharing a glass of wine and a
little bite to eat.
One of the people, one of the other
couples asked me "Russ,
how are you doing?" And I put on a hopeful
front, I kind of smiled and I said "I'm
okay."
But then Kelli jumped in and she spoke
for me and she said "Actually, he broke
down crying three times yesterday."
Maybe you've felt that way recently.
You've been stuck at home you've been
watching the news, maybe you've ran into
the streets crying like that little boy,
like those protestors maybe you just
needed a good cry, it felt like you were
at the end of your rope. You know I
learned something interesting this last
week in studying the scripture and
preparing for this sermon that the word
for hope that we talked about a moment
ago, qavah, then I looked at the etymology
of that word the history the roots where
it came from and originally that word
qavah it meant rope and
so I started to wonder I started to
think how did how did rope in Hebrew
how did how did rope become hope
how did this rope become expectant
waiting waiting patiently for God. In
what sense does rope become hope, and
then it struck me
that in many ways this was
painting a picture of the lifeline that
God throws to us that God is reaching
down handing to us throwing us something
to hold on to, that if we just hold on to
that rope if we hold on to that lifeline
that we find that God will deliver
us just as God has delivered us in the
past. It was Theodore Roosevelt
who once said "When you're at the end of
your rope, just tie a knot and hold on."
It's good advice, but the bigger question
ultimately, is who's at the other
end of your rope? Who is at the other end
of your rope? When you have reached the
end, who is on the other end? See when God
is at the other end, when we put our
trust in God, when we put our hope in God,
we find that God is able to
rise us up out of the muck and the mire
to lift us up,  to carry us to put our
feet on solid ground.
You see when will you put your trust in
God will sustain you,
God will carry you through, God will help
you make it through, that God will take
this season of disorientation and make
something good and beautiful out of it.
So maybe you find yourself in one of
those seasons when you are at the end of
your rope, but if you trust in the
Lord, if you put your faith, you put your
hope in God, God will lead you into a
time of reorientation, that you can live
with a sense of hope, with a sense of
certainty that
tomorrow can be better than today, that
the future can be better than the
present. God's done it before. God will do
it again. Will you pray with me, please.
God, how grateful we are for you. For you
are our hope. Help us, O God, to grab hold
of that rope, that lifeline that you
throw to us. Help us in our despair and
our discouragement in those moments when
we cry out and
wonder 'God how long?' Help us in those
moments, to put our trust in you, our hope
in you, to remember your steadfast love
that has saved us in the past and will
save us again,
Help us to cling to our faith in you, O
God, to know with certainty that you will
see us through, that the worst things are
never the last things, that in this time
of disorientation, that you will redeem
it, that you will bring something
beautiful out of it, and so God, we put
our trust in you, help us to wait
patiently, to work with you to bring
about a better tomorrow and to be
instruments of your hope. Amen.
University Christian Church has been a beacon of hope in Fort Worth and beyond for over a
century and even in these last few
months of a pandemic even in the midst
of racial injustice and significant
tension throughout our country we still
have an opportunity to bring hope and
peace to those that need it most.
These last few months, I can't help but
think of the opportunities that we've
had to serve our local organizations and
communities I think about the way that
we've partnered with the Fortress Youth
Development Center to bring birthday
parties and milestone celebrations to
those elementary-aged kids who need it
so much, along with a message that they
are loved, not only by the people around
them, but loved by God.Can't help but
think about the way that we've partnered
with the Tarrant Area Food Bank, making
sure that the people in our communities
don't go hungry, or the way that we've
partnered with Fort Worth ISD to deliver
groceries to those families who normally
rely on the school system to feed their
kids, or how we've partnered with the
Presbyterian Night Shelter to deliver
300 sack lunches every single Friday. UCC
is delivering hope to people who don't
have much to hope for every single day,
and in order to continue doing that work,
we have to stay faithful
in that work by contributing to the
efforts with our time, with our treasure
,with our talent. You see, we have an
opportunity right here and now to
continue being that signal of hope that
people so desperately need. Will you pray
with me?
Holy and loving God, we come to you in
these moments, thankful for the ways you
have called us into partnership in Fort
Worth and the surrounding communities.
God in these moments we pray that you
would continue to inspire us that your
spirit would continue to move us to
action so that we can be deliverers of
hope to your people, to your beloved
creations. God we pray that these
offerings that we give to you this
morning would be used to continue your
work in the world as we move this world
towards wholeness. It's in the name of
Christ we pray, Amen I don't know about
you but for me when things get really
loud, when things get really tense, hope
can be hard to find. When there's
shouting and when there's fighting and
when there's disagreement. I mean it
doesn't seem like there's any easy path
forward. Hope can be hard to find. We've
all experienced those loud moments, we've
all experienced those tense moments in
our own lives. For me, I think about my
senior year of high school when one of
my dear friends lost a younger sister to
cancer. I think about waking up in the
middle of the night when my mother was
crying, learning that my uncle had passed
away from a drug overdose.
I think about coming home from college
one weekend, my birthday weekend to find
out that my parents were getting a
divorce. Those loud noisy moments, those
moments of high tension. It can be hard
to find hope. These days are no different,
that's why it's so important for us to
come to this table  where
God's message is about hope that endures
all things, that persists through all
things, a hope that God equips us with to
carry back into the world, to deliver in
those moments that feel hopeless. Friends
we have an opportunity at this table
this morning to find hope once again to
reclaim hope not only for ourselves but
for our community, for our country, for
our world. We do that by remembering that
in the moments of the first meal those
disciples didn't know what was coming
next, they didn't know what would happen
on Friday or Saturday or even Sunday and
in that moment of an uncertain future, in
that moment of fear, Jesus reminded them
of God's promise saying "This is my body,
broken for you. Remember me.
And also in the cup, which he gave thanks
for and gave to them saying: "This is the
cup of the New Covenant, poured out for
the forgiveness of sins. Take and drink,
and remember me. Let us pray. Most
merciful Father, we bow
before you today with humility. As we
partake of this communion, we ask that
you help us remain humble at the
receiving of this bread and cup and keep
in our hearts the supreme cost that your
son Jesus Christ paid with his life.
Thank you, Father, that you promised to
hear our prayers and petitions and to
nourish us with the body and blood of
your son. Father God, we ask that the
blessings of this table strengthen our
faith, increase our generosity and unify
our hearts. We pray in the name of Jesus,
the Risen One.
So now we take this bread,
We drink from this cup.
[♫]
This meal that we just shared around
this table is central to who we are as
Christians, and an important tenet of the
Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, the
denomination of which we are a part, is
the idea of an open table. You see, as
Disciples, we proclaim proudly that there
is room for everyone, regardless of your
beliefs or your background, regardless of
the color of your skin or even who you
love, that there is room for everyone, for
everyone who's ever been born. This last
week, we have seen the outpouring of
anger and frustration, of hurt and pain
and suffering by those who feel that
that they don't have a place at the
table that their lives don't matter as
much as others. Augustine of Hippo once
said that hope has two beautiful
daughters, their names are Anger and
Courage. Anger at the way things are,
and Courage, to make sure that they don't
stay that way.
You see Church, as people of faith, we
have a call on our lives to widen the
circle,  to proclaim proudly that all are
welcome, that all are loved by God as
they are, for who they are. Friends, there
is room at the table for everyone who has
ever been born.
[♫]
[♫]
[♫]
We have gathered for worship
we have experienced communion around
Christ's table and we've talked about
hope. I invite all families with children
or those of you with children in your
lives together for children's worship at
your convenience and at your time. 15
minutes of time together where we talk
about hope. You'll hear a good fishing
story and you will also be encouraged to
make mud pies as we all work together,
adults and kids, to put our faith into
action, to learn about hope from one
another and to practice listening and
learning as we move forward sharing
Christ's courageous love with the world.
Good morning I'm Stacy McCoy, member
engagement coordinator here at
University Christian Church and I'm
happy to report that I have good news
today and that is that our church
membership is growing. We have a whole
group of people who are joining us
online and they're showing us that even
though we're apart we can experience and
build spiritual nearness. Now we know
this is not about membership,
it's about discipleship. We have a
discipleship path at UCC that has five
tenants: we worship,  we pray, we study, we
serve and we give. And all of these new
members have committed to traveling with
us on this discipleship path, so I'm
excited for you to meet them. Elaine
came to us from Danville,
California. She's married to Greg and
they have two children. Their daughter
Georgia, is 21 and Sean is 19. Elaine is
a risk manager at the Charles Schwab
company. Now you'll want to make sure you
meet Elaine in person because she was
born and raised in Scotland and she has
a fabulous accent.
Emily Pope came to Fort Worth from
Denver, Colorado as a undergrad at TCU
and two weeks ago she graduated with
economics and mathematics,
now she's pursuing a Master of Science
in Business Analytics still at TCU. Emily
told me she didn't know about Disciples
of Christ when she got here but that she
has found her home at UCC because our
leadership and congregation are
dedicated to welcoming all, loving all
and serving all. I thought that was
pretty great. Finally I'd like to
introduce you to the Manske family. Lee
and Chandra married about a year and a
half ago. They have a darling
nine-year-old daughter Ella. Hey Ella. Lee
is a Sales Director at a medical device
company and Chandra is the chief
operating officer at Vickery Awning
Company, and her company has recently
started manufacturing face masks and
they have donated 1,500 masks to UCC for
us to use for our outreach programs, so
we want to thank Chandra and the Vickery
Awning Company. We welcome all of these
new members; Elaine, Emily, Chandra, Lee and
Ella to our UCC family. Welcome. We are so
excited to welcome Emily and Elaine and
the Manske family into the mission and
the ministry of University Christian
Church and we look forward to serving
alongside them for years and years to
come.
And now Church, we get ready to to be
the church at work in the world, to
transform this world by living out
Christ's courageous love. In this time of
social unrest and racial distress I am
inviting us as a congregation to read
over the next few weeks a book together
called "I'm Still Here,
Black Dignity in a World Made for
Whiteness", and on June 18, I'm gonna
invite us all come together via zoom to
discuss this book and to talk about
how we encountered this book and how we
encountered our own sense of privilege
and so I hope that you will go to our
website and then you'll register for
that event, that you will find this book
and over the next several weeks, that you
will read it. Church, now more than ever
we need hope. We need to live in hope, we
need to give that hope away. And so as we
go may God bless us and keep us, may
God's face continue to shine upon us and
throw us a lifeline to give us something
to hold on to. Let us hold on to hope. Amen.
