The Need For A Sense Of Community And Deeper Relationships
2
"I Just Need To Talk To A Real Person." by Arley K. Fadness.
Synopsis: Hattie, an elderly woman who is homebound, attempts to make contact with the outside world through her latest technological wonder -- a cell phone. She encounters the same difficulties with voice mail that most everyone has experienced. Hattie longs for human contact.
This chancel drama is a setup for preaching to the theme of "The
Need For A Sense Of Community And Deeper Relationships."
I Just Need To Talk To A Real Person
Theme: The Need For A Sense Of Community And Deeper Relationships
Characters: Hattie, elderly lady
Heidi, Hattie's young niece
Voice over a microphone backstage
Tone: Humorous, empathetic
Setting/Props: Living room in Hattie's apartment, cell phone
Approximate time: 5-6 minutes
Hattie: (Sitting in rocker and knitting) I think I'll get myself
something sweet. (Gets up and goes to her cupboard) Now let's see
... Where are my prunes? I love nibbling on prunes. (Looks at
audience) And they are good for you, too. (Chuckles) But now,
where are they? Oh my, I'm all out! Hmm, looks like I'm about out
of food, period. Guess I need to call the grocery store. Let's
see: some cereal, bananas, skim milk, bread, eggs, and, of
course, some sweets like my "it'll keep you regular" prunes.
(Smiles at audience again)
Let's see; I need a refill on my pills, too. Only got two
left. That'll just last me today and tomorrow.
This is a nice place my children had me move into. I'd
rather be in my own house and neighborhood but "Mom," they said,
"you've got to have it more convenient. You're not a spring
chicken anymore." What am I, an old hen? (Makes chicken sound) So
I moved into this apartment.
Let's see, where is that newfangled phone they got me?
(Picks up an exaggerated size cell phone)
Kids said this cell phone would get me anything - anytime -
- anywhere I would ever need something.
I'd rather just go downtown like I used to. Sure miss my
car. It was so nice to get out and visit with people. I get so
tired of those talk shows, and the news is all bad ... Well, here
goes -- got to get groceries, medicine, a few supplies, and ...
(dials)
Recorded Male Voice Over Microphone: Hello, shoppers. This is the
Super Duper Store. Our hours are from 6 to 6. That's 24 hours for
your shopping convenience. Super Duper Store offers free carts,
abundant credit and today -- canteloupes are on sale. Welcome,
shoppers.
(Hattie can spice up the following recorded message by her facial
expressions as she is bewildered, amazed, surprised, disgusted,
and a bit confused.)
Voice: If you know the extension number you are trying to reach
or if you know the last five digits of the store employee who
will help you, enter that now.
If you would like to talk to the Meat Department and you
have a push button phone, push 1 now. If you would like the
Cereal Aisle, push 2 now. If you would like the Dairy/Freezer
section, push 3 now. If you would like the Fruit Department, push
4 now. If you would like the Vegetable Table, push 5 now. If you
would like the Cat and Dog Food Shelf, push the pound button and
also push 6 now.
If you are a satisfied customer and desire the Pharmacy,
push 7 now. If you want Hardware, push 8. When you get Hardware
and you want either hammers or screwdrivers, push pound 8 now or
the star key. If you want nails, screws ... (Fade away
momentarily in order to hear Hattie's comment)
Hattie: (Looks quizzically at receiver) You've got to be kidding.
Oh, my goodness!
Voice: If you do not have a push button phone, dial 0 now and an
operator will help you. Thank you so much for your order. Your
call is important to us.
Hattie: Well, maybe I can get some help now. (Hattie exaggerates
her frustration as she pushes button on phone)
Voice: This is a recorded message from your Operator. All of our
lines are busy right now so if you would like to leave a message,
wait until after the beep. Remember, at the Super Duper Store
your message is very important to us.
Hattie: Oh, mercy me! How am I going to get what I need? (Puts
cell phone down) Kids left this pager for me to use. I can't
remember how it works though. I need to talk to somebody. (Moans
softly)
Who can help me anyway? Social workers are busy. Home Health
says I'm too healthy to qualify. Meals On Wheels delivers only
meals. I know -- I'll call 911 and groan and say, "I've fallen
and I can't get up." Naw. I'd better not.
(Brightens up) I know. I'll try my church. Why didn't I
think of that before? (Dials church)
Female Voice: Hello. God bless you. This is St. Martin's
Community Church. If you have a push button phone and you desire
Holy Communion, push 1 now. If this is an emergency, dial 911. If
you would like a Baptism, Marriage, or a Funeral, push 2 now. If
you would like to speak to our Senior Pastor, push 3 now, or our
Associate Pastor, push 4 now. If you would like our Youth and
Education Director, push 5 now. If you would like the Devotion
for the Day, push 6 now, and if you would like our Secretary,
Malinda, please stay on the line and she or a recorded voice will
answer your questions. Your call is very important to us. God
bless you and thank you for calling St. Martin's Community
Church.
Hattie: I can't believe it! My church has gone high tech, too.
Oh, what's this world coming to? If I don't get my pills I won't
be around long enough to find out.
Oh, I'm kinda tired. (Lays down; lights dim; she prays) O Lord, you came down as a person, didn't you? Where are all your people when I need 'em?
(Knock-knock or door bell; Hattie wakes up)
Hattie: Oh, oh, c-c-come right in. Oh, it's you, Heidi.
Heidi: Hi, Aunt Hattie. What's a favorite niece for but to visit
her favorite aunt once in a while?
Hattie: Oh, Heidi, I'm so glad to see you. I haven't talked to
anybody for three days.
Heidi: (Looks at cell phone) But what's that? I thought Mom got
you that.
Hattie: Oh, yes, she did, bless her, but you know it just doesn't
do what I need.
Heidi: What do you mean?
Hattie: I called the grocery store, the other day I called the
post office, last Monday the doctor's office and would you
believe just a little while ago I tried to call my church, and in
every situation I got the same response. A mechanical voice
answered me.
Heidi: Oh, I know how it is nowadays.
Hattie: Do you, Heidi? Do you?
Heidi: You are lonely, aren't you?
Hattie: (Ignores Heidi's question; laughs) If the disciples were
living today, you know what would happen.
Heidi: (Curious) No, tell me, Aunt Hattie.
Hattie: If the disciples of Jesus had voice mail it would go like
this: You have reached the office of Jesus of Nazareth.
To confess your sins, press 1 now; to request a miracle, press 2
now; to hear a parable, press 3 now; to file a complaint, press 4
now; to schedule a baptism, press 5 now; to learn about the next
sermon on the mount, press 6 now; to leave a message with one of
the other disciples, press 7 now; and if you are using a rotary
phone, give up. To repeat this frustrating process, push the
pound button and scream now!
Heidi: (Laughs heartily; Hattie joins her. They hug) Oh, I love
you, Aunt Hattie. Remember, you have me.
Hattie: And I love you, Sweetie.
Heidi: What you need, Auntie, is a cup of tea, and me and some
good conversation. Tell you what - I'll do your errands for you
Hattie: Oh! Wonderful!
Heidi: But I can't do 'em today-maybe next week-Bye,Auntie. (Leaves)
(Hattie looks forlorn and dejected.)
Hattie: (Looks at cell phone) Is this all I've got?
The End
Welcome
10:45 Learning Community for all ages
6/14 7 pm Diaconate in Giura Building
6/15 6 pm Daycare closing program - sanctuary
Calls to Worship
Leader: As Jesus called disciples so long ago — Peter ... Andrew ... Mary ... James ... Martha ... Mary Magdalene ... John ...
People: Let us listen for our own names, written on God’s heart and called in the voice of the Spirit.
Leader: They were fishermen, tax collectors, keepers of homes, brothers and sisters. God transformed them into the beloved community.
People: We are retired, teachers, office workers, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters.
All: May God transform us into the beloved community. May our prayer and praise give glory to God! Let us worship God!
Responsive Reading Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
*Hymn of Praise # 88 I’ve Found a Friend
Invocation (the Lord’s Prayer) Gracious Father, you shelter your people in the midst of their distress; you provide them a place of safety for security and rest. You bring comfort to those with affliction, and hear the appeals of the persecuted. You cause your mercy to flow like living water; your compassion stretches to the ends of the earth. We come in praise of all your goodness and lift our voices with thanks for your care.
Offering
Jesus proclaimed the good news of the kingdom, curing disease, pouring out his compassion. Through Christ, the kingdom of heaven draws near. As we have received, so shall we give — freely, generously, joyfully, wholeheartedly!
Prayer of Dedication
Gracious God, accept these gifts as signs of our desire to serve you. Make our offerings to be instruments of peace and grace in the world. Use them to heal the sick, and to bring comfort to the brokenhearted, comfort for the afflicted, justice for the oppressed and good news to all. And let all that we do be a foretaste of your reign on earth. Amen.
*Hymn of Prayer insert Make Me a Servant
Pastoral Prayer Calling Christ, we come to you, grieving for our
own lost opportunities and lack of faith.//Silent reflection//We know, all too well, that many times we choose to stay in known places with known people, convincing ourselves that this is where you want us to be, closing our ears to your calling voice.//Silent reflection//Bring us your pardon. Do not give up or leave us alone.Call to us again, Jesus Christ./////If our message to the world has been one of judgment rather than your healing and mercy, bring us your pardon.///Do not give up and leave us alone. Call to us again, Jesus Christ.
This we pray in faith. God's great news of hope in Jesus Christ is indeed good news for us all. Whatever the past has held, we are forgiven and offered new life.
*Prayer of Thanksgiving We thank you, O God, for your commitment to all of humankind and the universe itself. We thank you that your love is never confined to narrow boundaries, held tightly within laws and qualifications. We thank you that you call us to see people differently through your eyes of mercy and understanding. Thank you, God, for Jesus Christ, who makes all that clear.
*Prayer of Intercession O God, the whole world waits for your love to emerge. It holds its breath in hope for justice and kindness to be seen.
It longs and dreams of a time of peace for all people. Give us the gifts we need to be part of the bringing in of your reign. Open us in fresh ways
to your ideas for needed change, and bring us to a place where we see who we could be in your name.//A silence is kept//Come deeply into our life, Jesus Christ, that we may be more open to hear the cries of those who wait in despair.
We bring their names before you and hold them in our hearts of care. We pray for these people and situations now, O God./////Send us out, O God. Send us out, holding fast to your strength and wisdom, claiming in faith your power to heal and release,and humbly walking as those who have experienced your love.
This we pray in your holy name. Amen.
*Hymn of Praise # 278 Jesus Is All the World to Me
Scripture Reading John 15:13-17
"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another."
Sermon "The Need For A Sense Of Community And Deeper Relationships."
Remember the story of a Chicago couple who left their two little girls home alone for nine days -- unsupervised and uncared for. And the couple seemed surprised to be arrested upon their return from a vacation in Mexico. This story was a disturbing version of the hit movie Home Alone. We laughed at the box office hit, but the movie failed to portray the frightening side of it. It's not very fun to be left home alone,
Or to feel isolated, ignored, or forgotten.1
Now we come to the second sermon in this series of six on the spiritual needs of Americans. Our focus is on George Gallup's discovery of this second need -- the need for a sense of community and deeper relationships.
Dick Meyer tells about a woman who shared her story as a childhood polio victim. She said, "When my mother left me in Sunday School, I always asked her if I could wear her locket. She thought I liked it, but that wasn't it at all. I knew I wasn't worth coming back for, but I knew she would come back for her locket."2
Then there is the story of a woman who faked having cancer for two years. This woman shaved off all her hair. She lost thirty pounds to make people believe she had cancer. She joined multiple cancer support groups. But she was found out when a health professional checked her story. Why had she gone to all this effort? She was so depressed when her boyfriend broke up with her, and she felt so alone, she decided to get sympathy and attention by pretending she had cancer.3
Mother Teresa once said, "The biggest disease today is not leprosy or cancer. It is the feeling of being uncared for, unwanted - of being deserted and alone!"4 I believe she was right and things haven’t improved since she died. The surveys show it and deep within our hearts we know it. Three persons in ten say they have been lonely for a long period of time.
A haunting song you still hear is "Eleanor Rigby." "Look at all the lonely people - where do they all come from?" Eleanor Rigby became the symbol of loneliness in the '60s and '70s, and we still hear it and resonate to it. The Beatles were not singing the blues for themselves. They vocalized loneliness - our saddest disease - a condition brought on by the changes and strangeness of modern life.
There are concrete reasons for this epidemic of loneliness.
1. In 1940, most family members lived within 100 miles of each other and got together regularly for family times. They enjoyed uncles, aunts, grandparents and grandchildren sharing life together. Today, the average family consists of 1.5 parents and 1.7 children, with no blood relatives within 100 miles.
2. In 1940, the average person lived in the same neighborhood for a lifetime and got to know and care about the other people in the neighborhood like a family. Today, the average person moves every five years and the neighbors are often total strangers.
3. In 1940, the average person stayed with the same job for 25 years. Today, the average person changes jobs every seven years or is moved to another city to keep his present job.
4. In 1940, the neighborhood church was the center of the life of the average member - from the cradle to the grave.5 Today, it is common to church shop every few years.
We've discovered as a people that to prevent the pain of saying good-bye, we no longer say hello.
So what George Gallup has discovered as a key spiritual need is this NEED For A Sense Of Community And Deeper Relationships.
The Bible teaches us three principles about loneliness and community and deeper relationships.
1. We were created to belong. When God created Adam, God said, "It is not good to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him" (Genesis 2:18). One of the Scripture's first lessons is that by ourselves we are incomplete. We need others to fill the emptiness within us. We are created to be social, not independently self-sufficient. Robert Bellah's diagnosis of an out-of-balance individualism is highly accurate.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says, "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their work. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help."
C.S. Lewis said, "We are born helpless. As soon as we are fully conscious we discover loneliness. We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we need them to know anything, even ourselves" (The Four Loves, p. 12).
We were created to belong. It is not good to be alone. Jesus modeled such belonging behavior for us. He called the twelve to be with him. The New Testament Greek word is koinonia. It is more than fellowship - it is "life-sharing." That's why joining a church is one thing, but belonging to a church is another – that is the topic for today’s Learning Community. When we belong we share life, we connect, we are a team, an empowered body.
Michael Jordan is considered the greatest basketball player that ever lived. Yet Michael Jordan never won a championship until the Chicago Bulls had the right players to support him.
God created us to belong to each other. Together we share our lives, resulting in deeper relationships.
2. Jesus redeemed us for friendship. I like the way Jesus defines "friendship" in our Gospel reading from John 15. He defines friendship as an event. "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends" (v. 13). 13 We are to love each other as Jesus loved us, and he loved us enough to give his life for us. We may not have to die for someone, but there are other ways to practice sacrificial love: listening, helping, encouraging, giving. Think of someone in particular who needs this kind of love today. Give all the love you can, and then try to give a little more.
There is also the quality of taking one into one's confidence: "I have called you friend because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father" (v. 15). Because Jesus Christ is Lord and Master, he should call us servants; instead, he calls us friends. How comforting and reassuring to be chosen as Christ’s friends. Because he is Lord and Master, we owe him our unqualified obedience, but most of all, Jesus asks us to obey him because we love him.
A friend will come through in a pinch: when you need help; when in crisis; when in trouble; when your car won't start; when your loved one dies; when you lose your job. Your friend comes through.
We know a friend by what he or she does for us. That makes
friendship an event and not a feeling.
A friend is also determined by the degree to which one can take people into one's confidence. Is he or she trustworthy? Jesus said, "I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father."
Do you have one good friend? If you do, you are a most lucky person.
Three times, I remember, I was painfully lonely. The first time was when I was a child. I was literally home alone. I was not abandoned, but my family just took a little longer to get home one night. Out in the country alone, during a horrible thunderstorm, with a child's imagination running wild can be quite an experience. The second time was my second year at college. After my mother died there was no mail in the mailbox, and loneliness gripped me and tried to smother me until Rick came along and went to the empty box for me. The third time, which still happens from time to time, is as a pastor. This business (ministry) can be awfully lonely.
Can you recall a time when you felt utterly and completely alone? Was it a move, a new job, a new school, or just life in general in these strange, detached times? And how did you feel when someone came to your side and walked with you? ////
Michael Guido writes in his column, "Seeds From The Sower":
My lawnmower had broken down and I had been working on it for hours, but all in vain. Just then a neighbor came along with a tool box.
"May I help you?" he asked.
"You may," I answered. And he fixed the mower in just a few minutes.
"Thousands of thanks!" I exclaimed.
"Oh," he answered, "you're welcome."
Just as he was about to walk away, I asked, "What do you make with that beautiful set of tools?"
"Mostly friends," he replied.6
The Living Bible says, "A true friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need."
Jesus said in John 15, "I no longer call you servants, I call you friend." Jesus redeemed us for friendship with him and for one another.
3. Where in the world can we find this sense of community and deeper relationships? Will the schools of higher education in our land provide it? Will the government or civic groups or sports teams or fraternities or sororities or guilds or book clubs or compact disk clubs? What or who has the capacity and power to bring us and Hattie some comfort?
We find a clue in Paul's letter to the Philippians. "I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now" (Philippians 1:3-5). ///
A letter came to the editor of a large city paper. It read, "I'm so lonely I could die, my phone never rings ... I'm the only one on earth. How else can I feel? All alone. See no one. Oh, dear God, help me ... will somebody call me?"
The letter containing $1 and six stamps for anybody who would call or write was signed, Jean Rosenstein. The Los Angeles Times printed the letter Thanksgiving morning, adding that Mrs. Rosenstein was an 84-year-old widow and retired nurse, living home alone in a tiny apartment on $200 per month.
The result was no less than a miracle. Jean Rosenstein received so many calls Thanksgiving Day she finally had to take the phone off the hook. "I hope people will forgive me," she told reporters on Friday, slightly hoarse. "I just couldn't talk anymore. The phone rang all night. I only got two hours of sleep."
The next morning, the letter carrier brought an armload of letters. Dozens of people stopped by her apartment. Many brought or sent flowers. Every table was covered with potted plants and the bathtub was full of flowers.
"I've got the most beautiful bathtub in the world," said Mrs. Rosenstein. To top it off she had to turn down many invitations and she had four turkeys in her refrigerator.7
If you and I cannot find health and healing we can find acceptance and a sense of belonging, and affirmation - in Jesus Christ. This is the greatest evangelistic time in history for the church of Christ. It is the greatest opportunity to bring people together as family - the family of God where love reigns, where sins are forgiven, and where we know we belong.
16 Jesus made the first choice—to love and to die for us, to invite us to live with him forever. We make the next choice—to accept or reject his offer. Without his choice, we would have no choice to make.
17 Christians will get plenty of hatred from the world; from each other we need love and support. Do you allow small problems to get in the way of loving other believers? Jesus commands that you love them, and he will give you the strength to do it.
You and I were created for others. We, by the grace of God, we were created to belong. We were redeemed for friendship. We need to look no further for community. It's right here - in front of you and around you - before your very eyes. Amen.
1. Faith at Work, Volume 106, No. 1, Jan/Feb 1993, p. 2. 2. Faith at Work, Volume 106, No. 2, Spring 1993, p. 3. 3. Ibid., FAW, p. 3
4. Ibid., FAW, p. 3. 5. Lyman Coleman, Training Manual for Small Group Leaders, p. 5. 6. Michael Guido, Guido Evangelistic Association, used by
permission. 7. Associated Press, 1970.
*Hymn of Response # 435 What a Friend We Have in Jesus
Benediction Let us rejoice at being servants of God — summoned by the Spirit, called into community, led by faith, inspired for service, and in all things, consumed by joy. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.