Order, Words, & Voices
09.25.22 When You Have No Voice
Order
Pre Worship Music
Opening Songs: To God Be the Glory Lynn
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Call to Worship Renee, Christian, Nikki, Emily,Linda
Song: My Deliverer is Coming Lynn
Reading Numbers 27:1-11 On Line – Randy
Song Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord Lynn
Message When You Have No Voice On Line – Rick
Song: Way Maker Lynn
Closing Peace Rick
Benediction Rick
Post Worship Music
Words and Voices
Music [Slides]
To God be the glory great things He has done
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin
And opened the life gate that all may go in
Chorus
Praise the Lord praise the Lord
Let the earth hear His voice
Praise the Lord praise the Lord
Let the people rejoice
O come to the Father through Jesus the Son
And give Him the glory great things He has done
Verse 2
O perfect redemption the purchase of blood
To every believer the promise of God
The vilest offender who truly believes
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives
Chorus
Praise the Lord praise the Lord
Let the earth hear His voice
Praise the Lord praise the Lord
Let the people rejoice
O come to the Father through Jesus the Son
And give Him the glory great things He has done
Verse 1
Great is Thy faithfulness
O God my Father
There is no shadow
Of turning with Thee
Thou changest not
Thy compassions they fail not
As Thou hast been
Thou forever wilt be
Chorus
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning
New mercies I see
All I have needed
Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness
Lord unto me
Verse 3
Pardon for sin
And a peace that endureth
Thy own dear presence
To cheer and to guide
Strength for today
And bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine
With ten thousand beside
Chorus
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning
New mercies I see
All I have needed
Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness
Lord unto me
Call To Worship/Lord’s Prayer [Slides at Prayer]
[Renee] Our Call To Worship today comes today from Psalm 40 verses 1-10 and 16-17. These are King David’s earnest words of thanks and gratitude for God’s deliverance combined with words that reveal David’s continually growing understanding of the God he seeks to worship and praise.
[Nikki] Psalm 40 is a proclamation of our ever present voice, a reminder that we have a voice even in times when we are the most silenced.
[Christian] “I waited patiently for the Lord; God bent down to my level and heard my cry. God drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
[Linda] God put a new song in my mouth, a song immersed in praise sung back to our God. May we all see, fear and put our trust in the Lord.
[Emily] Happy are those who make the Lord their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods. God, you have multiplied, O Lord God, your wondrous deeds and even your thoughts toward us; there is none to compare with you.
[Renee] Were I to attempt to proclaim all your wondrous deeds and try to tell of them, they would be more than can be counted.
[Nikki] You do not desire sacrifice and offering, instead you give me an open ear to hear. You do not require burnt offerings and sin offerings, instead you give me eyes to see.
[Linda] I search your Holy Words to find what it is that you desire of me, what I am to do, and as I discover your truth I respond with the words, “Here I am; I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
[Christian] I do not restrain my voice from telling the glad news of your deliverance to the great congregation. I have not hidden your redemptive words within my heart, instead I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
[Emily] May all who seek you God rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation constantly say, “The Lord is great!” God, I am poor and needy, but you take notice of me. O my God, You are my help and my deliverer; I will trust your presence and your timing.
(Psalm 40:1-10, 16-17)
[Nikki] Please stand and join together as we use our voices to share in the prayer that we first hear from the voice of Jesus.
[All] [Slides Begin] 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.
Forgive us our trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us.
And God, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
Amen.
Music (Slides)
Chorus
My Deliverer is coming
My Deliverer is standing by (2X)
Verse 1
Joseph took his wife and her child
And they went to Africa
To escape the rage of a deadly king
There along the banks of the Nile
Jesus listened to the song
That the captive children used to sing
They were singing
Chorus
My Deliverer is coming
My Deliverer is standing by (2X)
Verse 2
Through a dry and thirsty land
Water from the Kenyon heights
Pours itself out
Of Lake Sangra’s broken heart
There in the Sahara winds
Jesus heard the whole world cry
For the healing that would flow
From His own scars
The world was singing
Chorus
My Deliverer is coming
My Deliverer is standing by (2X)
Bridge
He will never break His promise
He has written it upon the sky
Chorus
My Deliverer is coming
My Deliverer is standing by (2X)
Chorus
My Deliverer is coming
My Deliverer is standing by (2X)
Reading [No Slides]
Zelophehad, a man of the Tribe of Manasseh, a tribe whose land came within the promised land not east of Jordan (where the Reubenite and Gadite tribes chose to keep their land)
Then the daughters of Zelophehad, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah, came forward. The four sisters stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying, “Our father died in the wilderness; he was not among the congregation of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the congregation of Korah but died for his own sin, and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father’s brothers.”
Moses brought their case before the Lord. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “The daughters of Zelophehad are right in what they are saying; you shall indeed let them possess an inheritance among their father’s brothers and pass the inheritance of their father on to them. You shall also speak to the Israelites, saying: If a man dies and has no son, then you shall pass his inheritance on to his daughter. If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan, and he shall possess it. It shall be for the Israelites a statute and ordinance, as the Lord commanded Moses.”
Numbers 27:1-11
Music [Slides]
Chorus
Open the eyes of my heart Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You
I want to see You
Verse
To see You high and lifted up
Shining in the light of Your glory
Pour out Your power and love
As we sing holy holy holy
Chorus
Open the eyes of my heart Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You
I want to see You
Verse
To see You high and lifted up
Shining in the light of Your glory
Pour out Your power and love
As we sing holy holy holy
Bridge
Holy holy holy
Holy holy holy
Holy holy holy
I want to see You
Message – When You Have No Voice [No Slides]
Numbers 27:1-11
In the summer of 1962, on a hot and humid Arkansas Sunday, two cars came to pick up Lela Mae and her nine youngest children—ages two to 14—and take them 150 miles to Little Rock’s bus terminal. Lela Mae had believed the promise of a local segregationist lawyer, a promise that she was going to have a better life for her children, better jobs and better housing if she got on a bus heading north. Southern segregationists, furious over civil rights advances that dominated the 1950s, were determined to prove that the northern states were hypocrites in their concern for anyone who did not share their skin color. Part of the false promise made to almost 200 Arkansans included a personal greeting from the President of the United States once they arrived in Hyannis Massachusetts. As the buses grew nearer to Hyannis, the passengers quickly changed into their nice interview clothes expecting job interviews would be the first thing to be done upon arrival, after meeting the president of course, and then they would proceed to their new homes and lives. Instead, they realized they were part of a political stunt as they were dumped near the Kennedy house, over a thousand miles from home. (‘Reverse Freedom Rides’, Gabrielle Emanuel, 02.29.22)
These people tricked into boarding the bus did so out of a human cry for dignity, a human cry for a voice. A cry to not be victims but to have a seat at the table just like other humans.
The daughters of the passed Zelophehad – Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah, had recently become invisible. While gender assigned them a lesser place in society, the death of their father, and absence of other male family members, was about to make them totally undefined and non-existent. They were crying out for a human right to a voice and personhood.
So, the five women, in much the same stance that five women stood before you this morning, stood before Moses, the priest, the leaders, and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. For these five women it was surely an intimidating moment. Nevertheless, they stood for justice – they stood challenging a long unchallengeable way of thinking.
These women were third generation Isrealites out of slaverey. Their father was second generation. With no remaining male family members, the lineage of the women was about to end. No male to carry on the family name and no male to claim the promise of personhood for their family.
Old Testament land inheritance laws are a bit muddied, but what happens here with the women in Numbers 27 is a game changer in the understanding of the inheritance laws. Previously, the understood guidelines were basically that ‘a man’s principal heirs were the sons born to him by his wife/wives). In the absence of sons, the next in line were the deceased father’s brothers,paternal uncles, and finally the nearest kinsman of his clan.’ (Bruce Wells, Professor, Saint Joseph’s University)
Land was sustenance and land was existence. Society told these five women they had only one known option, become invisible until a man chose them to be his bride. As they thought about this ‘only’ option they realized that this option also made their father invisible and their ancestors invisible. The more they considered this ‘only’ option the more they realized that it was a truly unacceptable option. They came to a holy alternative, they decided to question the status quo, to challenge the standard way of thinking – it was a risky unprecedented move. This action, to question and challenge, could have ended with an official decision making them, and their lineage, permanently invisible.
However, they did it anyway, they stood before Moses, the priest, the leaders, and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting bringing their call for justice. Through them, from this point forward, women were not invisible in regard to inheritance issues. These women, and all women, had made a successful call for personhood, and it reverberated for generations.
Moses and the leaders heard the plea from these women and, instead of falling back on the usual response, they chose to take the challenge to God. God agreed with the women. The way it had always been done was questioned and challenged and justice prevailed. The issue of personhood was changing from being a cultural issue to being an issue of God’s creation, God’s created.
It is important to grasp that all of this took place before the Isrealites crossed over the Jordan into Canaan, the promised land. It was before Moses’s final teachings, it was before any battles were won to gain control of the land, it was before Moses said his final goodbyes and even before Joshua was anointed as the replacement for Moses. It was long before there was actually any land to acquire, any land to divide.
This is what makes this entire story, and especially the gall of these five women, even more extraordinary. They were seeking justice for themselves, their family, and even for their ancestors based solely on a promise. The actual plea they made was still conceptual. There was no land, only a centuries old promise of the land. Yet, it was that promise that served as the foundation of their passion. It was their belief that ahead of them was their promised land, and that in that land they too would have a seat at the table as well as a voice.
Look at the lessons of truth we see in this small story!
- The women faced a lifetime of living as victims or, instead, taking the risk, they set their sights on personhood.
- God affirmed his promise to the earthly powers that had control that these women were of equal standing among all of God’s creation.
- God was not bound by man’s misunderstood interpretations of the law and life.
- Moses and mankind exhibited an amazing understanding of authority in asking God before falling back on their own way of understanding truth.
- Trust in God was the thread that weaved throughout this entire story. The women trust God enough to take a risk, the men trust God enough to lay down their pride and arrogance to ask God.
- The women’s fight for personhood ended up not just being for them. In the end, they stood for all marginalized people whether due to gender or any other labels. Their cry went far beyond land and inheritance. Their risk gave them a voice, but, in doing so, opened the ears of the leaders so that they too would hear God’s voice.
Our lesson – Once we have risked letting God take us outside the box, we have no preparedness for where he will take us. Our only preparation is to listen to the voice and direction of God trusting God all the way.
Heber Brown III, former Pastor of Pleasant Hope Baptist Church in Baltimore, Md grew tired of visiting members of his church for diet-related illnesses. He was exhausted offering just prayers and scripture at their bedsides. He knew they were invisible, they lived in a produce desert. He wanted to put feet and hands to his prayers through God’s truth. The closest grocery store to the church, one that offered fresh produce, but it also was a high end business – he thought maybe there could be a partnership. As he went to look into the possibilities he wondered the aisles of the store landing in the fresh produce section. There he found an amazing array of produce. Then, as he looked at the prices it hit him that even in a partnership, any partnership would be another effort at charity, it too, would not give his people dignity or a place at the table. This would not bring the people to true personhood. He left frustrated without talking to the leadership of the store and headed back to Pleasant Hope Baptist Church. He knew the people needed a road to personhood not just another version of victimhood. Reverend Brown thought of the daughters of Zelophehad. He thought of their desperate out of the box thinking, their passion to be seen and heard. He wondered what risky act like standing in front of Moses and elders would look like. He was tired of the standard lie he told himself that the problem is just too big to solve. As he arrived across the street from the church he took a look – there, he says, he had an
“epiphany. If we couldn’t afford fresh food, why not use church land to grow our own? That’s just what we did. On about 1,500 square feet of our church’s front yard we now grow greens, broccoli, tomatoes, squash, and herbs. We sell the produce at rates that beat the pricing of local markets and the garden has deepened our ties to our local community as well. The vision grew to the point where now under the banner of the Black Church Food Security Network, I help other African American congregations establish gardens on their land and link the churches with historically marginalized Black farmers to provide a pipeline for fresh produce from “soil to sanctuary.” I realized rather quickly that what we were being led by God to do in our ministry context was not simply transactional, but rather transformational.”
This story is not about feeding the hungry, housing the unhoused, it is not about wars and injustice, it is not about gender inequality, it is not a call to action. It is a call to question and challenge. To search for the truth and decide if the interpretation of truth you are given is truly true.
Five women, sisters, chose to stand against the ingrained traditional way of thinking – the ‘Godly ways’ according to those before them. They stood against the thought that change cannot happen. They refused to believe that God stood with injustice instead for justoce. They chose to not sit as victims and, instead, stand for change. They joined a parade of the countless individuals and organizations that have challenged and questioned the long held translations and interpretations of God’s truth.
The Syrophoenician woman, knowing that she was considered unclean by the followers of Jesus, still challenged Jesus on his statement comparing her to the dogs. Jesus agreed and changed the view of the disciples forever.
Gentile Conelius was instructed by God to speak with the Jewish Christian Peter. Knowing that was unacceptable to Peter’s interpretation of God’s people he hesitated and soon Peter entered Cornelius house. Changing Christianity forever.
The bible is replete with stories of those who asked questions and voiced challenges. Stories of those sought personhood knowing that they were created for nothing less.
Are you ready to take the risk and do the work to follow the footsteps of five invisible women who just wanted a seat at the table?
Let’s Pray.
Music [Slides]
Verse 1
You are here moving in our midst
I worship You I worship You
You are here working in this place
I worship You I worship You
Chorus
(You are) Way Maker Miracle Worker Promise Keeper
Light in the darkness my God that is who You are
Verse 2
You are here touching ev’ry heart
I worship You I worship You
You are here healing ev’ry heart
I worship You I worship You
Chorus
(You are) Way Maker Miracle Worker Promise Keeper
Light in the darkness my God that is who You are
Tag
That is who You are
That is who You are
That is who You are
That is who You are
Bridge
Even when I don’t see it You’re working
Even when I don’t feel it You’re working
You never stop You never stop working
You never stop You never stop working
Chorus
(You are) Way Maker Miracle Worker Promise Keeper
Light in the darkness my God that is who You are
Community [Slides]
- [Slide] Next Sunday, Collaborative Faith, Judges 4:1-7
- [Slide] Fall Bible Study – Beginning Wednesday, October 5m (new start date) at noon (5 weeks)
- Cleveland County Crop Walk, Sunday October 16 @ 1:30pm, locally and globally, Food and Shelter has doubled it number of clients served by 100% since Covid hit (has not gone down)
Closing Peace [Slide]
May the Peace of the Lord go with you. And also with you.
Benediction [Slide]
“Depart now in the fellowship of God the Father and as you go, remember: By the goodness of God you were born into this world. And by the grace of God you have been kept even until this very hour. And by the love of God, fully revealed in the face of Jesus, you have been redeemed even as you are being redeemed. So go in peace.”
Order, Words, & Voices 