Welcome
Welcome to our website!
St John’s is a congregation and parish within the Church of Scotland. As such, we seek to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all in as faithful and friendly a way as we can. As a fellowship, we endeavour to encourage one another and provide the means whereby we can grow in Christian grace and faith.
During this time of global pandemic, the church is not meeting in person, but that does not mean that church is cancelled! Rather it means that we have moved to a variety of different ways of supporting each other, building community, nurturing faith, and participating in God’s mission in the world.
Our Sunday service is now online — you can find it here each Sunday morning. We also have regular video devotions on our Facebook page, and some on our YouTube channel as well. In addition there is a weekly devotional email, which you can subscribe to by clicking here.
The children’s time, geared for children age P2 and younger, that normally happens in the middle of a Sunday service is currently happening via Zoom on Sundays at 11. If you would like the login information, please contact Teri.
Our elders and members are building community and deepening relationships through phone calls, cards, and emails. If you or someone you know is in need of some support through a friendly phone call or a neighbour who can help with essential tasks, please contact the minister and she will make connections.
Sunday Service for 24 January 2021
24 January 2021
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson, Gourock St. John’s
email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland (dot) org (dot) uk
~~~~~~~~~
Call to Worship and Prayer
Today Christ calls us to make room for unexpected amazement—
in our schedules, in our places, in our minds, in our hearts.
Whatever our situation,
wherever we find ourselves,
however we are feeling today,
God is with us,
making all things possible.
Come, let us worship.
Let us pray.
God of surprises, you are always doing a new thing. Even when we are tired, even when we are curious, even when we are sure and when we are anxious, you call us to trust you. We admit that we often think we know better, and find it difficult to follow where you lead. We confess that we don’t want to go through the deep water, however much life might be found there amidst the danger. And we confess that when we do receive the riches of your providing, we would prefer to keep it for ourselves. Yet you call us to turn our amazement into discipleship, to leave the profits and the spectacle and follow your way. Forgive us our hesitancy, our unwillingness to let go of the things that define and secure, our fear of what others might think. Forgive us, and help us to put our words of faith into actions of trust. We ask in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.
Amen.
Hymn #189: Be Still, for the presence of the Lord
Reading: Luke 5.1-11 (Common English Bible)
Last week we heard Jesus give his first sermon, in his hometown of Nazareth. It started well but by the end people were quite upset. He went on from there to Capernaum, where he was again teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath when a demon who was possessing a man shouted out his identity for all to hear. Jesus cast out the demon and healed the man, and people began to talk about him even more than before. After synagogue, Jesus went to Simon’s house, where he healed Simon’s mother-in-law, and then once the sun went down and the Sabbath was over, the whole town came to the door to ask for healing. That night, Jesus went out and prayed, and decided it was time to go preach in new places, even as word about him was spreading. We pick up the story today in Luke chapter 5, beginning at verse 1. I am reading from the Common English Bible.
~~~~~
One day Jesus was standing beside Lake Gennesaret when the crowd pressed in around him to hear God’s word. Jesus saw two boats sitting by the lake. The fishermen had gone ashore and were washing their nets. Jesus boarded one of the boats, the one that belonged to Simon, then asked him to row out a little distance from the shore. Jesus sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he finished speaking to the crowds, he said to Simon, “Row out farther, into the deep water, and drop your nets for a catch.”
Simon replied, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and caught nothing. But because you say so, I’ll drop the nets.”
So they dropped the nets and their catch was so huge that their nets were splitting. They signalled for their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They filled both boats so full that they were about to sink. When Simon Peter saw the catch, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Leave me, Lord, for I’m a sinner!” Peter and those with him were overcome with amazement because of the number of fish they caught. James and John, Zebedee’s sons, were Simon’s partners and they were amazed too.
Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on, you will be fishing for people.” As soon as they brought the boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.
For the word of God in scripture,
For the word of God among us,
For the word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.
Sermon: Open
One day…just an ordinary work day like any other. Morning chores were in process, merchants were setting up their stalls, day labourers were congregating and waiting for work, children were running underfoot on their way to get water from the town well, fishwives were gathering up the night’s meagre catch to sell — not from Simon’s boats, though, since they had caught nothing — and fishermen were cleaning nets to prepare for the next night instead. Everyone else’s workday was gearing up, but theirs was winding down.
Jesus had been visiting synagogues in all the villages, but this was a work day, not a Sabbath day, so he was out doing what normal people did on an average weekday morning. Perhaps he was out waiting to buy fish beside the shore, or talking to day labourers, or waiting for the baker to get fresh loaves from the ovens. People recognised him though, and started to gather round, hoping to hear him say something profound. When the crowd got to be a bit too claustrophobic, he hopped into Simon Peter’s boat. Jesus clearly could not handle the boat himself, he asked Peter to push away from the shore — a task that actually would have required the crew of 4 or 5 men to stop their net-cleaning and get back into the boat.
Once Jesus finished everything he had to say that morning, he ask them to go out into the deep water and go fishing.
The deep water…where anything can happen. It’s away from the crowds, and it’s the most dangerous part of the lake, where you can’t see what’s down there and where squalls could rise quickly and without much warning. It was also the place where, at that time of day, there might be more fish than closer to the shore. Life and danger together summed up in one phrase: the deep water.
These men were tired, they’d worked all night…perhaps they didn’t even have the energy to resist their new friend who was brought up inland. Even though a tired crew out on the deep water was likely an extra layer of concern, they humoured him — “if you say so, I’ll drop the nets.” The nets they had just cleaned, for the record, as their last work task before finishing their shift. It’s like when the tables are wiped and the machine is cleaned and the floor is mopped and with one minute before closing time someone comes in and orders a cappuccino.
But they did it — they dropped the nets. And the result was so far beyond their imagining they didn’t even have time to think. Pretty soon they had so many fish that two boats were sinking — and each boat at the time could have safely held nearly half a ton of fish! With a literal ton of fish, they struggled — an exhausted crew working overtime on the biggest catch they’d ever experienced, they probably were barely even able to hum a sea shanty as they rowed their sinking boat to shore. Once they were safely on land, though, the truth hit: this was the best day in their small business owner lives! Nothing like this had ever happened before. Even after taxes, this was a huge windfall for them and their families.
Peter’s first reaction, though, was to worship. In awe, he sank to his knees and recognised that he was in the presence of something, someone, so great he could never deserve it. This man had power over the deeps, and though he wasn’t a fisherman he knew the fish better than anyone. They had experienced his teaching and healing but now they saw something else, something cosmic that could control creation.
All of them were overcome with amazement. Imagine realising that such power and holiness had left the sanctuary and the synagogue and come down to the shore in the midst of all the people and work and commerce, and plopped itself down in your business. That’s not how the world works! God is supposed to be safely in the holy places, not in the middle of the workweek, visiting our shops and offices and turning everything upside down!
It’s no wonder Jesus has to say “don’t be afraid.” Think of the other times human beings have encountered the presence of God — Isaiah in the temple seeing the hem of God’s robes and the seraphim singing Holy Holy Holy…the people at the foot of Mount Sinai, with the pillar of cloud and fire quaking with God’s voice…Samuel in the temple, uncertain where that voice is coming from…Elijah on the mountain hearing God in the silence…even when the people of God faced the moment with courage, they were nervous. Because meeting God is dangerous, for two reasons — first because human beings can’t handle or comprehend the fullness of God’s holiness, we’re made to be “a little lower” as the psalmist says. And second because all of these encounters end with God sending the people out to do something that they would likely not have chosen to do on their own. Isaiah and Samuel and Elijah all had to go proclaim a message that the kingdom would not want to hear.
What would come next, for these fishermen who understood they were experiencing something beyond them?
Jesus said: come with me to fish for people. And they left everything and followed him.
They left everything. Their boats. Their nets, which now needed to be re-washed and mended. A literal ton of fish, the catch of a lifetime. Their families and friends. The life they knew and were comfortable in, even though it was hard work. They left it all and followed Jesus. His invitation, to be close to that level of holiness and power and grace all the time, was more compelling than their social network, than their massive income boost, than their exhaustion at the end of the work day — more compelling than anything else.
So they left everything and followed him.
Whatever they expected that day, it wasn’t that. The crowd that pushed and pressed and begged to hear the word…the tired fishermen that humoured this itinerant preacher when he tried to tell them how to do their jobs…then found themselves overcome with wonder and amazement, falling on their knees and then getting up to follow. That was not how they thought their day was going to go when they got up that morning.
But when it happened, they were open to it. When their expectations were shattered and confounded, they adapted to the new situation. When God showed up, they recognised and responded.
It’s easy to get caught up in all the tasks of a day, and in what we think is and is not possible in our situation, and our own sense of our expertise compared to others. Simon Peter and his business partners and their crew could have said “it’s the end of our shift, we’re done for the day” and just laid their nets out to dry and clocked off. They could have said “we’re professional fishermen telling you that there are no fish to catch today” and rowed back to shore. But they had enough space in their spirits to recognise when something divine happened, even unexpectedly in the middle of their everyday life.
Wherever we find ourselves — at home whiling away hours, or working more than ever before without the usual boundaries between work and home; managing home learning, or never getting even a moment’s break from our family members; walking the dog half a dozen times a day for an excuse to go out, or relishing the time to get a break from the hectic pace — what would happen if God turned up? Can we make space within our minds and hearts for God to do something…and then to leave what we know and follow him?
May it be so. Amen.
Hymn #509: Jesus calls us o’er the tumult
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, you walk right in to everyday life:
in the middle of the work day,
in the middle of our families and friends,
in the middle of the things we know all about and the messes we have made.
You come bringing holiness out of the sanctuary and into the street,
drawing us into your powerful grace.
Your voice reaches us wherever we are,
at work and play, through screen and silence,
in the endless ordinary days,
even when we are numb to the possibility that we might be called
to belovedness and belonging.
Your call is so urgent, so clear
to leave what we know
to discover that what seems impossible~
justice, mercy, love, equality~
is your dream for your kingdom here on earth,
and we can be a part of it as we follow You.
We lift up to you, O God,
people who live each day with violence and fear,
for our neighbours who can’t see their way through the system,
for our friends who do not see how they hurt or how they could help.
We pray, O Christ, for those suffering in mind, body, or spirit.
For those awaiting the research that could bring relief,
for those eagerly anticipating their vaccine appointment and those who are nervous about it,
for those awaiting the day when every tear is wiped away,
and for those who work each day to save lives and heal people.
We remember, O Spirit, those who have no heart or hands or will
except our own, as your disciples.
Give us courage to speak up, to work, to care, and to go out
on behalf of those you love.
We give you thanks for those who make our world, our nation, our community, our church work:
those who serve in office, and those who hold them accountable to our highest ideals,
those who work behind the scenes, and those who are at the forefront of the news.
Give them wisdom and courage to seek the good of all people and of your earth,
and to do what is right.
We pray…
for our world.
for our country.
for our earthly home.
for our children and our children’s children to the seventh generation,
for the sick and lonely,
the disengaged and angry.
Help us to remember
that we belong to You,
and you are Love,
and we are beloved.
Gather us up as your disciples,
Bind us together in peace,
Claim us so completely that we give all we have
to be healers of the breach,
offerers of grace,
a voice of hope.
In the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Benediction
Friends, as you go about your everyday lives, be open and alert to what God is doing, and allow yourself to be drawn by the compelling love of Jesus that calls us to follow. And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you; may the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion; may the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone; and may the Spirit of God go within you, to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Announcements
* All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) until further notice — the building is closed during the government’s lockdown and during level 4 restrictions. We will let you know when in-person worship begins, and whether any new procedures will be in place at that time.
* The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church by post or with a neighbour who is coming to in-person worship and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
* The theme for worship during the season of Epiphany is “Confounding Expectations.” We will be considering how Jesus and his ministry are beyond, around, beneath, outside, blowing-open, confusing, and generally…confounding, compared to what we expect!
* The coffee money that we normally send on to the school in Venda has been exhausted. If you would like to contribute to keep our donations to the school going, please send your donations to Rab & Eileen Gowans.
* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email devotions! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. Feel free to share with your friends, too!
* Evening Prayer with Connect will be led by both David this evening. Join us on the Connect Facebook Page at 6:58pm.
Sunday Service for 17 January 2021
17 January 2021
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson, Gourock St. John’s
email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland (dot) org (dot) uk
To hear the audio recording, including music: 01475 270037 (let your friends, family, and neighbours without internet access know!)
Call to Worship
Listen! The good news of God’s grace is all around.
Even now, the Spirit is fulfilling God’s word in Christ —
and we are the Body of Christ.
Listen beyond your amazement
and hear the truth of Emmanuel
weaving between the lines
and beneath the shallow pride
and behind the pieces we understand.
Come, with hearts and minds open,
and meet the Word made flesh.
Hymn 757: Come All You People
Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
your vision of good news is broader than we can see.
We pray this day that you would move us
past our expectations and entitlement, toward our proper place
in the story of your grace transforming the world.
May we not simply speak well of you,
but follow your way of liberation and healing for all.
For we love to praise you, to proclaim your wonders and count our blessings.
We are so grateful for all you have done for us.
We confess that is what we want: for you to do things for us.
And when we hear that your good news prioritises
those who need your tangible justice-creating grace,
more than our desire to feel good about ourselves,
we confess that we don’t like that very much.
We admit that, if we’re being honest,
we’re a little uneasy about the mission you state,
worried that our privilege might be in danger
as you lift up and heal and set free in this world, not only in spirit.
Forgive us for our self-centred view of your work
that tempts us to join the crowd headed toward the cliff.
Open our hearts and minds,
and turn our lives to embody your good news for the poor.
We ask in your holy name, and we join our hearts to yours,
praying as you taught us:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.
Amen.
Reading: Luke 4.14-30, New Revised Standard Version
Last week we heard about John the Baptist preaching at the Jordan River, and baptising people, including Jesus, who then heard God’s voice proclaiming him God’s beloved Son. After his baptism, the Holy Spirit led Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days, where he experienced several temptations — to turn a stone into bread, to worship Satan in exchange for the glory of the kingdoms of the world, and to demonstrate his specialness by throwing himself from the top of the Temple. Having resisted all these, he then returned home, where we pick up the story today in the gospel according to Luke, chapter 4, beginning at verse 14. I am reading from the New Revised Standard Version.
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Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’ He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.”’ And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.’ When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
Sermon: Beyond and Beneath
Can you imagine the scene that day in the synagogue? This hometown boy has been away for a few months, listening to John the Baptist and then going on that wilderness prayer retreat, and he’s been making his way home — they’re hearing glowing reports from every village along the way and can’t wait to welcome him back, to hear all about his experiences and what he’s learned about God and the scriptures, and to celebrate that one of their own is rising to prominence as a preacher.
New archaeological evidence suggests that Nazareth was a bigger town than previously thought, maybe having a thousand or so people. The scholars think that there may have been a number of priestly families living there, and that on the whole the town was more stringently devout than some other places — archaeologists have found evidence that they followed tighter rules and restrictions than some neighbouring towns did. If that’s the case, how much more proud would they be that this native son was becoming a teacher and healer, following in the footsteps of John the Baptist, encouraging people to repent and turn to God’s way? The buzz about Jesus was growing, people were talking about him at home, in the streets and marketplace, and in the synagogue.
His first weekend home, of course he was invited to the front to speak. It happens to everyone training for the ministry! Just come up and say a few words, we’re so proud and excited to hear from these young people who have grown up in our Sunday School classes, we just know they’re going to do great things and be a credit to us and all the time we invested in them.
Jesus stood and was handed the scroll for the week’s lectionary reading — Isaiah. Isaiah is a long scroll, 66 chapters, so unrolling it would take some time, carefully finding the spot for chapter 61, near the end, before reading out a passage we heard just a few weeks ago during Advent. All eyes were on him as he rolled and rolled, then found the right place, and finally read out: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” Then when he finished reading, he rolled and rolled until the scroll was carefully put away. Only then did he start a sermon.
Already after the first sentence, people were thrilled. He spoke so well, especially for a workman’s son. They murmured to each other and swelled with pride for being the place that this great man came from, the neighbours who looked after him and changed his nappies, the friends who studied with him, the people who taught him and who bought their furnishings from his father — they knew him before he was famous, in fact it was probably their help in his upbringing that made him this way! They would definitely get a mention in his award speech.
And then Jesus kept talking. He didn’t stop where they were happy and leave them wanting more. He didn’t quit while he was ahead. He had read what was to become the mission statement of his own ministry, and now he was going to tell them what that meant in practice.
The truth is, he said, the good news is for the people who are beyond you — outside your circle of holiness, like the gentile widow that Elijah fed during the drought. And the good news is for people who are beneath you — like the enemy general that Elisha healed of leprosy. God’s grace is good news to the poor, the captive, the blind, the outcast, and the oppressed.
And the people of Nazareth, who were careful and observant about correctness and holiness and purity, who were priests and small business owners and tradesmen, were furious. They are not the poor, the captive, the blind, the outcast, or the oppressed. Or at least, they don’t see themselves that way, aside from the situation with the Romans. So what does that mean for them, and their expectations for how their hometown celebrity Jesus will treat them?
In essence, Jesus said to them: not everything is about you.
That doesn’t mean God doesn’t love you and care about everyone. It just means that God’s world does not necessarily revolve around me.
And Jesus’ mission was for those who never had their moment in the sun: those that the people of Nazareth assumed were beneath them or beyond their bounds. Too often, we expect that everything God says and does is for us — by which I mean the “us” that is in our comfortable circle. Us in our nation, or our language, or our skin colour, or our religion, or our socio-economic status. But if the way we interpret something is not good news to the poor, the captive, the blind, the outcast, and the oppressed, then it is not actually Jesus’ good news. It’s just our expectations, reinforced by some pretty words.
No wonder the people of Nazareth were furious enough to try to throw Jesus off a cliff. He pointed out their privileged position, and said his mission was to people who needed him more — and then gave examples that suggested that his work would challenge their position, hold them accountable to a vision of God’s kingdom that was more just than the world in which they lived. Their response suggests that they would prefer the status quo rather than the work of God as described by the prophets, or even by Jesus’ mother in her magnificat.
The thing is, if it isn’t good news for the poor, it isn’t good news for anyone. And, despite what the people of Nazareth and down through the ages think, if it is good news for the poor, it will also be good news for the rest of us, no matter how uncomfortable it feels at first. As Emma Lazarus wrote, and later Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said, “until we are all free, we are none of us free.” Our welfare is bound up with each other, and — like the word I mentioned last week, kuleana — we have a responsibility to one another. So as long as we think some people are beyond us, outside the bounds, or as long as we think some people are beneath us, then none of us have truly received the good news.
So what would be good news to the children who received such paltry food parcels for their lunches this week?
If it isn’t good news to hungry children, it isn’t good news for anyone, no matter how happy we might be to hear it.
What would be good news to the person fleeing their home because they can no longer live in the midst of war or famine or abuse or lack of opportunity?
If it isn’t good news to the person standing on the beach at midnight trying to decide whether to get into the overloaded raft, it isn’t good news for anyone, no matter how good it makes us feel about God or ourselves.
What would be good news to the immigrants who serve as carers, working for private companies or councils rather than the NHS, wondering about their immigration status and their place in the immunisation priorities, and paying for their own PPE from their minimum wage?
If it isn’t good news for the invisible members of society, it isn’t good news for anyone.
Jesus reads this passage from Isaiah, a passage about God’s kingdom being a kingdom of jubilee, of justice that creates equity, and then says it is fulfilled in him, this is his mission. In his person, in his very being, by his presence among us, these words become true in our present reality. Throughout Luke’s gospel we will see him bringing this about — he is anointed for this purpose, to make God’s kingdom visible here and now, and that will be good news for the poor, the captive, the blind, the outcast, and the oppressed. We may well join the people of Nazareth when we realise the good news is not targeted just to us — indeed, that it is actually targeted to “them.” But only when it’s good news for the least can it be true good news for the greatest. Anything else is just shallow empty words…or even idolatry, a god made in our own image. And the good news of Jesus Christ is so much more than that, so much deeper, so much wider. He challenges us to follow him beyond our comfort zone, so that all people, even “them,” can hear good news and experience God’s kingdom, here and now.
May it be so. Amen.
Hymn 710: ‘I have a dream,’ a man once said
Prayer
God of mercy and justice,
we lift our hearts and voices in praise,
for you have done wondrous things.
You provide for your creation and your people,
You heal and teach,
Your gift of freedom is for all.
In gratitude we come,
amazed and hopeful.
We bring our prayers for those who long for good news —
for those awaiting test results,
for those living with illness, pain, and treatments,
for those in poverty even in our own community.
May your word be fulfilled today.
We bring our prayers for the captives —
those in prison and those working their way through the justice system,
those imprisoned by injustice, greed, or selfishness,
those bound by expectations, broken relationships, or their past.
May your word be fulfilled today.
We bring our prayers for those who cannot see clearly —
whose vision is narrowed by their own desires,
whose sight is clouded by certainty and pride,
whose lenses do not allow them to look toward the full truth.
May your word be fulfilled today.
We bring our prayers for those who do not believe they are worthy of your favour,
who have come to believe the lies about who is deserving of love,
who have found themselves tethered to old stories.
May your word be fulfilled today.
Gracious God,
grant that your Church may be anointed with your Spirit
to be a tangible, living embodiment of your grace that changes the world.
May our life together be good news for the poor and release for the captives.
May our witness point people to your love.
May our praise translate into faithfulness to your story
that is farther-reaching than anything we can imagine.
We ask in the name of the One who brought your Word to Life, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Hymn: God of Justice (Tim Hughes)
Benediction
Friends, go into the world today to be the living embodiment of God’s word for the world — to live as the Body of Christ, anointed to bring good news for all people, for all creation, even. And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you; may the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion; may the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone; and may the Spirit of God go within you, to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Announcements
* All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) until further notice — the building is closed during the government’s lockdown and during level 4 restrictions. We will let you know when in-person worship begins, and whether any new procedures will be in place at that time.
* The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church by post or with a neighbour who is coming to in-person worship and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
* The theme for worship during the season of Epiphany is “Confounding Expectations.” We will be considering how Jesus and his ministry are beyond, around, beneath, outside, blowing-open, confusing, and generally…confounding, compared to what we expect!
* The coffee money that we normally send on to the school in Venda has been exhausted. If you would like to contribute to keep our donations to the school going, please send your donations to Rab & Eileen Gowans.
* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email devotions! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. Feel free to share with your friends, too!
* Evening Prayer with Connect will be led by both David and Teri this evening. Join us on the Connect Facebook Page at 6:58pm.
Sunday service for 10 January 2021, Baptism of the Lord Sunday
10 January 2021, Baptism of the Lord Sunday
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson, Gourock St. John’s
email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland (dot) org (dot) uk
Call to Worship
In a new year, with change on the horizon,
yet still carrying the year past,
we come.
Amidst all the ways we mark time—
calendar
clock
administration
liturgical colours
age
God breaks in with a new thing.
Beloved, come and see,
and allow the Spirit to re-orient us to a new way of being.
Let us worship God together.
Hymn #757: Come All You People
Let us pray.
God of Love and Justice, you reveal yourself in ways we do not expect. Just when we thought things had settled down, you come reminding us that we cannot rely only on the past to carry us into the future. We confess that we find your words hard to hear. After all the gift giving and heavy-laden holiday tables, the instruction to give away all we do not need sounds harsh in our ears. We do not like to be vulnerable, so can’t imagine having only just enough. Letting go of our extra stuff and our carefully constructed self-image at the same time feels too much to bear. Forgive us for holding on to things that offer only the illusion of security, even as you reach out to hold us in your hand. Turn our hearts and minds, and then our lives, to your way. We ask in the name of Jesus the Christ, who is the Way, Truth, and Life, and who taught us to pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.
Amen.
Reading and Sermon: Kuleana (Luke 3.1-22)
Today’s reading may be a familiar story to some of us, but this is one of those times when our familiarity makes it easy to gloss over some of the details in the way Luke tells the story. But those details are important, because they tell us things about how God is working, who Jesus is, and what the Holy Spirit is doing in and through us as God’s people. So today, rather than reading all 22 verses at once and then talking about them, we’re going to read and discuss bit by bit. The reading today is from the gospel according to Luke, chapter 3, verses 1-22, and I’m reading from the New Revised Standard Version. We’ll begin with just verses 1-6.
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”’
We are familiar with this quote from Isaiah — usually we hear it during Advent, and it calls up memories of Handel’s Messiah. Isaiah wrote to people who were in exile, waiting for God to come and take them home. To hear God’s promise accompanied by the call to prepare the road on which God would travel to rescue the people meant that they should be hopeful because it would happen soon, they should get ready! Luke uses that same passage to describe what John the Baptist was doing — preparing the way of the Lord, because he was coming soon, so people should both be hopeful and get ready. Now, what John thought that would mean is unclear, we don’t know what he expected the Messiah to do or how he would act, we just know that he was preparing the way.
Usually that’s all we read for this section, but actually we really need to back up to the beginning! All those names and places seem so easy to skip over, but they are there for a reason. Luke tells us that all these things took place during a particular time and in a particular location. They didn’t have a calendar like ours where you could just say the month and year…but that isn’t he only reason he describes that time and location by referencing the important people of the day: the emperor, the governor, and the client kings, and then the high priests of the Jerusalem Temple. These are the people who defined the age, the ones who controlled the politics, economy, culture, and religion. While ordinary people would not interact with any of these leaders, the fact is that even if they didn’t think about it all the time, their lives and options were affected by those leaders’ choices and actions. Their images were on coins and buildings, their movements could ease or disrupt business, their rulings changed how people ate and worked and worshiped, and they were generally just the backdrop to life.
Against that backdrop, we have John, son of a priest, out in the wilderness — unsupervised, in other words — preaching and baptising outside the institutional and liturgical structures of the time. So after naming all the people who have power in the empire in one way or another, who define our lives, suddenly Luke changes focus, drawing our attention away from all those things that have consumed our energy and around which we have oriented our worldview. The word of God is in the wilderness. Out on the margins, away from the centre of earthly kingdom power, the kingdom of God is breaking in, and it will change the way we see. It will change the way we mark time. It will change what we think is important, and what will define our lives and actions and options.
All those imperial powers are still there, but they are no longer the star of the story or the defining characteristic of the age. Instead, we tear our eyes away from their antics and we are drawn toward something happening out at the edges, where we have the space to re-orient our worldview around God’s kingdom instead of the empire.
Unlike some other gospel writers, Luke does not tell us about John’s clothes, he only tells us about his words. He was pointed in his preaching, as we hear in verses 7-14:
John said to the crowds that came out to be baptised by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’
And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’ In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ Even tax-collectors came to be baptised, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’ Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.’
It doesn’t seem that John is interested in winning people over with charm — it’s hard to imagine many people would love being called a brood of vipers! He wants people to realise that the fact that their name is on the roll of the chosen people is good and all, but that’s the beginning, not the end. They can’t rely only on their past to carry them into the future — how we live as God’s people matters. After all, the psalms tell us that all creation sings the glory of God in its own way — including the stones. So if all God wanted was names on the roll, the rocks would suffice. But we are meant to bear good fruit for the kingdom of God — this kingdom that is breaking through the world’s ways and drawing us out.
What then should we do? The people stand at the waters edge, dripping wet, receiving God’s grace and wondering how to live in response. How will their everyday lives reflect the change they have undergone in the river?
If you have two coats, give one to someone who doesn’t have any. That way everyone in the community has a coat.
If you have two servings of your meal, give one to someone who doesn’t have any. That way everyone in the community has enough to eat.
If you have a position of power, don’t use it to enrich yourself, but rather to serve others.
Now tax collectors, who were Jewish but also collaborated with the Roman Empire, augmented their wage by inflating the amount people owed. That way they could keep the extra and so live more comfortably themselves. And soldiers were Romans, an occupying force meant to keep the peace, but they did so by terrorising people into submission.
All of these people — those with an extra coat, those collecting taxes, even the soldiers — are normal everyday people, the middlemen of the empire. They’re not the leaders, but they’re also not the poorest of the poor. They’re people with more than enough. People like most of us. And John tells them that what they ought to do if they want to live according to the grace they have received is to take responsibility for one another.
Having two coats and giving one away might make us feel vulnerable. What if I need that coat tomorrow? But in this kind of community, that moment would be met by someone else giving their extra one to me. It’s a way of life that is both generous and dependent at the same time.
Last week I learned a new word from a friend who lives in Hawaii. The Hawaiian language has a word, kuleana, that’s hard to translate, but basically it means reciprocal responsibility. So for example, Hawaiians say they have a kuleana to the land, to care for it and respect it, and in return the land has a kuleana to us, to feed and provide. I think this word perfectly encapsulates this sense of responsibility to one another that John is preaching: I have a responsibility, as someone with more than enough, to give away that excess to those who do not have enough. And when I am in a vulnerable position, those with more than enough have a responsibility to give their excess to me. And so as a community, we depend on one another, in a constant give and take. No one is hedging against future vulnerability by storing up for themselves, like you would do in the imperial worldview, but rather by being part of a community of reciprocal responsibility. We have a kuleana to each other in the kingdom of God.
This was such a radical idea — remember that the word radical means “root”, and John said that the axe was lying at the root of the trees, changing things by going back to the very foundations, and his preaching was really bringing people back to the very beginning of how God’s creation was meant to work, in kuleana to each other from the ground to the animals to the humans made in God’s image! It drew people in and re-focused them, and they wondered…as we hear in verses 15-22.
As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptise you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’
So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people. But Herod the ruler, who had been rebuked by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil things that Herod had done, added to them all by shutting up John in prison.
Now when all the people were baptised, and when Jesus also had been baptised and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’
For those who have never been to a threshing floor — chaff is the outer husk of wheat, and when the grains of wheat are agitated to loosen the chaff and then tossed into the air, the chaff separates and blows away. But it is very dangerous — even the tiniest spark of electricity can ignite that cloud of chaff and the fire can burn the whole field.
Each of us will have chaff that needs separating…and every community does too. Those practices that are dangerous and can easily ignite a fire of bad behaviour that destroys the community need to be separated and blown away. It may not be pleasant, but it is important.
Sometimes I think we forget that John said this right after giving those instructions about the kuleana of life in the kingdom of God, so we tend toward reading it as if there are bad people who are going to be burned away. And that may be one possible reading, but when we read the whole story together, it sounds to me more like the chaff is those ways of living that John was asking us to leave behind, to repent of — repentance literally means to turn around 180 degrees, to change the way of living and thinking. Chaff is a protective husk — and John has just asked us to shed our protections and entrust our welfare to the whole community of reciprocal responsibility. And chaff floating randomly in the air can be dangerous — we have to fully let it go, because grasping at those unhealthy old ways can destroy that community of care.
Perhaps that is one reason that baptism is the symbol of entering into this community — because the water washes that chaff away and we live differently in response. Isn’t it fascinating that Luke tells us that Jesus was just baptised with everybody else — he’s part of this community. Yet he’s also, of course, different: he sees the heaven opened and hears God’s voice proclaiming Love. He is one who does not need the chaff washed away himself, but he will still be in this community of kuleana, and so he shows us from the very beginning how to live in ways that bring God pleasure and delight. It will be a different way of life than the one defined by those important guys at the beginning of the chapter — we will need to turn 180 degrees and put that behind us if we are to instead focus on God’s kingdom living, here and now. This is what it means to be baptised: to live differently because we have experienced God’s grace and now can’t help but act on it.
May it be so. Amen.
Traditionally on Baptism of the Lord Sunday, we recall our own baptisms, that moment of meeting God at the water and encountering overwhelming grace that leads us to a new way of life.
Martin Luther famously repeated “I am baptised!” whenever he was in distress. In the face of all that is going on in the world and in our lives and our community, it is an important reminder that the powers that serve as the backdrop to daily life are not in fact the defining realities of life in the kingdom of God. And in the midst of a year when we have learned to wash our hands, what better than to repeat “I am baptised” as we make use of the gift of water?
Water is indeed a gift. In the beginning it flowed over creation, carving mountains and valleys. Throughout history it has nourished the earth, and so nourished life. We who are used to clean water coming from taps inside our homes find our thirst quenched, our bodies cleansed, our cooking and cleaning easy.
God brought our ancestors through the chaos of the Red Sea, and drew them to the banks of the River Jordan. Today God calls us to the water again — remembering those stories of faithfulness but not taking them for granted. God calls us to the water again that we may take our place in the story, living Christ’s way that others may count us among their cloud of witnesses. In each of our places, from near and far, the Spirit gathers us into Christ’s Body, and every drop of precious water we encounter is a reminder of this gracious summons to abundant life.
Having heard anew this call to embody God’s generous mercy, caring for our neighbour, recognising our place in community, and sharing our resources, let us re-commit ourselves to live for God’s delight.
I invite you to answer these questions, honestly in your hearts and truthfully with your lives:
*Do you reject sin,
and confess your need of God’s forgiving grace;
And, believing the Christian faith,
do you pledge yourself to glorify God
and to love your neighbour?
*At your baptism we proclaimed that you will always have a place in the family of God.
Do you commit yourself to that family,
this Christian community of reciprocal responsibility —
to depend on the grace of God,
to serve the Lord,
and to continue in the fellowship of the Church
all the days of your life?
*Do you renew your commitment to be faithful
in studying scripture,
in prayer,
in giving a proportion of your time, talents, and money
to the work of the Church in the world,
and to serving Christ in your daily work?
Let us pray.
Out at the edge of our understanding you speak, O God.
Through the voices of those pushed to the margins
we hear your call to mutual responsibility and vulnerability,
your call to be our neighbour’s keeper.
Through the voices of those beyond our controlled structures
we hear your call to a way of life that is more than
just a name on the roll.
Through the voices of those ordinary people just like us,
seeking to be faithful,
we hear your call to humility and a teachable spirit.
Out at the edge of our understanding you speak, O God.
May we turn aside to see,
and find our hearts opened and lives changed
as we remember our baptisms — your grace, both gift and call.
In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Hymn 336, verse 2 (tune: Highland Cathedral)
Christ is our love! baptised that we may know
the love of God among us, swooping low.
Christ be our love, bring us to turn our face
and see you in the light of heaven’s embrace.
Next time you wash your hands, sing this hymn (it takes 25 seconds!). Touch your wet fingers to your forehead and remind yourself “I am baptised!” with all that means about God’s love for you and God’s call for your life to reflect God’s kingdom. Amen.
Hymn #706: For the Healing of the Nations
Benediction
As you go to live according to the Kingdom of God even against the backdrop of the kingdoms of the world, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you; may the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion; may the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone; and may the Spirit of God go within you, to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Announcements
All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) until further notice — the building is closed during the government’s lockdown and during level 4 restrictions. We will let you know when in-person worship begins, and whether any new procedures will be in place at that time.
The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church by post or with a neighbour who is coming to in-person worship and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
The theme for worship during the season of Epiphany is “Confounding Expectations.” We will be considering how Jesus and his ministry are beyond, around, beneath, outside, blowing-open, confusing, and generally…confounding, compared to what we expect!
* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email devotions! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. Feel free to share with your friends, too!
Sunday service for 27 December 2020, first Sunday of Christmas
Today’s service is led by the Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rt Rev. Dr. Martin Fair.
Christmas Day Service 2020
Gourock St. John’s
Christmas Day 2020
Service prepared by The Rev. Teri Peterson
Email: tpeterson@churchofscotland.org.uk
~~~~Transcript:
*Hymn #301: Hark the Herald Angels Sing
John 1.1-14 (NRSV), lighting the Christ candle
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
Carol Calendar: O Come, All Ye Faithful
Teri’s Christmas Tree
*Hymn #313: See in Yonder Manger Low
Poem: I cannot tell you how the light comes (Jan Richardson)
I cannot tell you
how the light comes.
What I know
is that it is more ancient
than imagining.
That it travels
across an astounding expanse
to reach us.
That it loves
searching out
what is hidden,
what is lost,
what is forgotten
or in peril
or in pain.
That it has a fondness
for the body,
for finding its way
toward flesh,
for tracing the edges
of form,
for shining forth
through the eye,
the hand,
the heart.
I cannot tell you
how the light comes,
but that it does.
That it will.
That it works its way
into the deepest dark
that enfolds you,
though it may seem
long ages in coming
or arrive in a shape
you did not foresee.
And so
may we this day
turn ourselves toward it.
May we lift our faces
to let it find us.
May we bend our bodies
to follow the arc it makes.
May we open
and open more
and open still
to the blessed light
that comes.
*Music: Love Came Down at Christmas (improvisation by Philip)
Poem: First Coming (Madeleine L’Engle)
He did not wait till the world was ready,
till men and nations were at peace
He came when the Heavens were unsteady
and prisoners cried out for release.
He did not wait for the perfect time.
He came when the need was deep and great.
He died with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine. He did not wait
till hearts were pure. In joy he came
to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To a world like ours, of anguished shame
He came, and his Light would not go out.
He came to a world which did not mesh,
to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
the Maker of the stars was born.
We cannot wait till the world is sane
to raise our songs with joyful voice,
for to share our grief, to touch our pain,
He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!
Prayer
Thank you, God, for coming to be with us in the midst of everything.
Thank you for bringing your Word to life,
and thank you for living alongside us from birth to death,
not in a faraway powerful palace,
but in a normal family in all its complexity and wonder.
We never expected you to come so close —
right into our houses, when we’re still in our pyjamas,
without even time to sweep up the needles that have dropped off the tree overnight.
Yet here you are, demanding our full attention.
Now we pray that you would keep our eyes on you when you’re no longer a cute baby cooing and rolling over and sleeping in our arms…
Give us the stamina and courage to keep you at the centre of our lives
when you are stretching our minds,
asking questions,
and pointing a new direction.
Give us hands ready to reach out with your compassion,
hearts ready to open wider than we ever imagined,
feet ready to walk beside the wandering,
and minds set on your justice.
Remind us that the gift of Christmas isn’t just for Christmas, it’s for life —
abundant life, in the kingdom you are bringing to earth, even now.
We pray for your counsel, your peace, your comfort, your love
to be known in this and every place,
until all the world joins the song of the angels,
with our voices and our deeds.
We ask in the name of that beloved baby who is lord and saviour of all, Jesus the Christ, who taught us to pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.
Amen.
*Music: The Work of Christmas by Howard Thurman music by Dan Forrest (virtual choir video)
Benediction
You who have seen glory, shine it into the world!
You who have heard the word, speak it into the world!
You who have come to the manger, bear Christ into the world!
As you celebrate, may you know the fullness of grace and truth.
Love has come, and never will leave us.
May the love of God be the foundation on which we live,
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be the light that guides our way,
May the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be in our every breath.
Go in peace. Amen.