Sunday service for 4 July 2021

Sunday Service for 4 July 2021, 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday school Revisited week 6
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson, Gourock St. John’s
Manse phone: 632143 
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk

To hear an audio recording of this service, phone 01475 270037

Prelude Music (in person only)

Welcome/Announcements

Call to Worship
Teri: Lift your eyes and see —
All: God is among us!
Teri: Come with all of who you are:
1: We bring our minds, with our thoughts and questions,
and our hearts, with our joys and longings.
2: We bring our bodies,
whether with sore muscles and aching joints, or energy we can’t hold still,
our strength and our weakness.
1: We bring our stories, past and present, and our hopes for the future.
2: We bring our time, our resources, our gifts, all the stuff of life.
All: We bring it all and offer it to God, who is here, calling us today.

Prayer
Loving God, we thank you for the many ways you reveal yourself to us, and for your love that knows no boundaries. You walk among us, coming to our doors, calling us in the street, sitting beside us on the bus, hoping we will see your face in the crowd. We confess that most of the time, we are not looking. And when we do look, we are afraid of what we see. We close our ears and laugh it off when you call our names. When we are too wrapped up in our own concerns to recognise you, forgive us. When we are too certain, or too attached to our own understanding, leaving no room for your mystery, forgive us. When we have locked our doors, our minds, and our hearts, shackling ourselves to the past, forgive us. Show us your face again, living God. Teach us to see, and to welcome you in. Amen.

In the beginning, God breathed life into being, and every morning God’s mercies are new. Know that you, child of God, made in God’s image, are forgiven, loved and free. Believe and live the good news: God’s goodness is planted more deeply than all that is wrong. Thanks be to God!

Music
Online: hymn 764, God has made laughter

Children’s Time (in person only)

Baptism: Corran Paul Malcolm (in person only)
A sacrament is an outward sign of the grace that God has already given us—and this sacrament of baptism is the ultimate sign of grace. Before we can receive, before we can respond, God loves us and marks us as God’s own people. Before we can ask for forgiveness or change anything about ourselves, God makes us into God’s own people.

In this sacrament we are incorporated into Christ, as we die to what separates us from God and rise to new life. We enter into the community of God’s people throughout history and around the world, who worship one Lord and practice one faith, in response to God’s call in our one baptism. We acknowledge that we cannot do this alone and we make promises to one another, that we will support each other in the life of faith, teaching these new members of Christ’s family to know God’s love and God’s call. Through these waters, we proclaim that we are children of God together, learning and growing in faith together, committed to walking with the Spirit together.

Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything he commanded us. And scripture reminds us that the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls.

Confident of this promise, we baptise those whom God calls, promising to be a true family for one another, traveling the journey of faith together. Let us remember our own baptism as we celebrate with Corran.

Brian and Danielle, in presenting your child for baptism, do you desire that he may be grafted into Christ as a member of his body, the Church, and do you receive the teaching of the Christian faith which we confess in the Apostles Creed? Do you? (I do)

If you’re comfortable doing so, please stand as we affirm our faith together using the ancient words of the apostles creed:
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
He ascended into heaven,
He is seated at the right hand of the Father,
And he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The holy catholic Church,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body,
And the life everlasting. Amen.

You may be seated.

Let us pray.
We give you thanks, O God, for you nourish and sustain all things by your gift of water. You led your people to freedom by parting the sea, you sent John to the Jordan to baptise and call us to repentance, and in Christ you give us streams of living water. We pray now that you would pour out your Spirit on this water, set it aside from a common to a sacred use. May all who now pass through these waters be buried with Christ, and rise with him to new life, born anew of water and the Spirit and so be delivered from death to life, from bondage to freedom, from sin to righteousness. Bind us together in one family through your Holy Spirit. Strengthen Corran to serve you with joy. We pray in the name of Christ. Amen.

Corran, for you Jesus Christ came into the world, for you he lived and showed God’s love, for you he suffered the darkness of Calvary and cried at the last, “It is accomplished”; for you he triumphed over death and rose in newness of life; for you he ascended to reign at God’s right hand. All this he did for you, though you do not know it yet. And so the word of Scripture is fulfilled: “We love because God first loved us.”

Corran Paul, I baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. You have been sealed by the Spirit in your baptism, and you belong to God forever. May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you, may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace, both now and forever.
Amen.

This child belongs to God. From this day forward, he is at home in the Christian community, and there will always be a place for him—even when he is loud, or wiggly, or upset, or perfectly well behaved.

Tell him of his baptism. Teach him of the treasure he has received today, and of the further wonders of growing in grace and love within the family of the Church, that he may come in time to make his own response to this gift, and to join in the work of the Holy Spirit in this world. Teach him the story of God’s love and pray with him for the hope of God’s future, that he may bear fruit for Christ’s kingdom.

As you seek to fulfil this responsibility of Christian parenting, the Church offers to you its prayers and its support. In this Bible you will find the word of God written and illustrated for children, and also the well-wishes, blessings, and prayers of your church family, that you may be always reminded of this community that promises to be with you in the joys and the trials of bringing up children in the faith.

So now I ask you, as his parent: do you promise, depending on the grace of God, to teach this child the truths and duties of the Christian faith, and by prayer and example to bring him up in the life and worship of the Church? Do you?

And David and Hannah, as godparents, do you promise to guide and encourage Corran, through prayer and example, through word and deed, teaching him to know and love Christ and his Church? Do you?

Children of the church…do you promise to love Corran as a friend, to help him learn how to love Jesus and to be a part of his church?

And you who are gathered here represent the whole Church.
Word and Sacrament bring you the joy of Christ’s presence in your midst.
They also bring you responsibilities as Christ’s people in this place.
Do you welcome Corran,
and do you renew your commitment, with God’s help,
to live before all God’s children in a kindly and Christian way,
and to share with them the knowledge and love of Christ?
If so, please say “we do.”

All of us are called to plant seeds in all that we do,
whether our interactions are with friends or strangers,
children or peers or elders,
church members or not.
Today we particularly promise to this young family, but the promise extends to all of us.
Will you take up this call to build up Christ’s body,
nurturing one another in faith,
upholding one another in prayer,
and encouraging one another in service?
If so, please say “we will.”

Let us pray.
God of love, we rejoice again to receive your grace in Word and Sacrament.
We have heard your call, we are made new by your Spirit,
we have committed ourselves to your path.
Guide and guard Corran all his days.
May your love hold him, your truth guide him, your joy delight him.
Bless his family, that he may grow up in a secure and happy home.
Give them wisdom and courage, laughter and peace,
and the love that endures all things.
God of grace and glory, you have called us to your
One Church, proclaiming One Faith, One Baptism, One Lord.
Help us to profess this truth with our lives, not only our words.
Remind us of the love poured on us in our baptism,
and bring us once again to new life with you.
Water the seeds that have been planted this day,
and help us bear fruit for your kingdom, living in your love.
We pray to you, our Creator, in the name of Christ and with the power of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Music (in person only)

Reading: Genesis 18.1-15 (NRSV)

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, ‘My lord, if I find favour with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.’ So they said, ‘Do as you have said.’ And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, ‘Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.’ Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

They said to him, ‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ And he said, ‘There, in the tent.’ Then one said, ‘I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.’ And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?’ The Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh, and say, “Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?” Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.’ But Sarah denied, saying, ‘I did not laugh’; for she was afraid. He said, ‘Oh yes, you did laugh.’

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: Talking to Strangers
Some of you have heard before about my most notorious children’s talk ever — it was my first year as an ordained minister, and I was sitting on the floor of the sanctuary with a dozen or so children seated on the steps in front of me. We were talking about the story of Jesus’ disciples walking to Emmaus, and being met by Jesus along the way, though they did not recognise him. At some point, as I was talking, I realised that I had painted myself into a corner. Over the edge of the communion table, I saw my colleague realise it at the same time, and his poker face was briefly interrupted by one slightly raised eyebrow. I kept talking, trying desperately to think of a way out, but there was nowhere else to go. The only thing I could say to these children, ranging in age from 3 to 9, was that they should talk to strangers because they might be Jesus.

I rushed the words out and tried to cover with something about how on the first day at a new school, everyone is a stranger, and then I ended as quickly as possible and hoped no one had noticed. Even 15 years and hundreds of children’s moments later, I still get nervous when stories like this one appear in the lectionary.

Because, unlike what we teach our children, scripture is full of stories that essentially say that you absolutely should talk to strangers.

These three strangers arrived at Abraham’s place at just about the most inconvenient time possible—the heat of the day. Midafternoon. The lull time, nap time. The only worse time would be the middle of the night. And yet Abraham runs out to greet them. He runs to Sarah and tells her to get baking—three measures of flour is about 22 pounds, so Abraham seems to expect a full complement of breads and cakes, not just a few finger sandwiches. Then he runs to the field and tells a servant to kill the fatted calf and fire up the grill.

What started as “let me bring you a little bread” has become a feast of epic proportions. Why would Abraham kill the fatted calf—the best and most celebratory meat—for strangers? Why bake so furiously? Why so much running during the hottest part of the day?

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews, reflecting on this story, says it gives a clear lesson: “do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Heb. 13.2)

This seems like an awful lot of hospitality, though. Surely just offering them water and whatever he had handy, easily accessible leftovers, would have done?

Granted, it turns out to be God visiting Abraham and Sarah’s tent. So maybe the welcome is just enough after all.

The text doesn’t say that they knew it was God. Sarah seems to realise, just at the end of the story, but by then they’ve been hanging out in the shade of the oak trees for hours. These were just three guys, dusty from travel. In some neighbourhoods, they would be called a gang. In others, their sitting under the tree might be called loitering. Many would hesitate to open the door to three strange men who come up the front walk. But Abraham rolls out the red carpet and pulls out all the stops. He serves them a feast on the fine china—and he stands by, ready to refill their cups and offer them seconds, to attend to every need.

It seems ridiculous to us. We have become so used to not really looking at people. We are practiced at suspicion-at-first-sight. We like our personal space and the private enjoyment of our things. We’re perfectly willing to give what we have left after we’ve made sure we have enough for ourselves. But in scripture, especially in the desert but also in town, hospitality is the most important practice there is. Any traveler was to be welcomed and cared for, no matter who they were or where they came from.

Every traveler.

Some have entertained angels…or even the Lord himself.

More accurately, everyone who has shown hospitality to a stranger has been in the presence of God—Jesus says whenever we do it to the least of these, we do it to him. Every person is made in God’s image, every breath comes from the Spirit, so everyone, stranger or friend, is a chance to welcome God in our midst.

Part of what makes this difficult, for us and for Sarah and Abraham, is that an important element of hospitality is not just food and water and a place to rest, but also making room for the person and their words to enter our lives. You never know what the strangers might say or how they might touch your heart or change your life.

In this case, the strangers bring news that defies the limits of imagination. After all these years, following a promise and fearing she might never see it fulfilled, all these years waiting and hoping and being disappointed, Sarah will have a son. It is almost cruel, to tell a woman who has tried so hard that she needs to try again. I hear Sarah’s laugh in my mind as that nervous-and-incredulous laugh that is an attempt to defuse tension and mask pain. But the words of the stranger have entered the house, and there’s no shooing them out now. Just as Abraham made every effort to make them comfortable and welcome, now Sarah will have to make every effort to accommodate these words, ponder them in her heart, and make space for Abraham in her bed.

Sometimes the words of a stranger are as disruptive as their physical presence. They demand things of us—expanding and shifting our mental space the way we add leaves and more chairs to the dining room table.

No wonder we prefer to be afraid of strangers.

A few years ago I heard the political leader of a European nation that was refusing to allow refugees in say they could not take them because too many non-Christians would change the Christian character of the culture. The same was once said of the Irish Catholics coming to this country. That same sentiment is often behind the campaigns like “Make America Great Again” or the idea that we somehow need to rebuild Britishness into something like it used to be, without those pesky immigrants or low-skilled workers or people with different skin colours or native languages or religious traditions.

It is true, when we welcome the stranger, we also make room for the ways they are different. When I think about how often our ancestors in the faith migrated for one reason or another—most notably to Egypt to escape famine, and out of Egypt to escape leaders who were needlessly afraid of them—and then I hear this story of Abraham’s family in the midst of migrating and still offering extravagant welcome, and think of the least of these Jesus talks about, and hear the strong words from Hebrews: “Do Not Neglect to show hospitality to strangers”…I can’t help but think that we are replaying this same story. Do we, with Abraham, see the image of God in the face of the stranger? Are we willing to offer our best in welcome? Will we go out of our way to bring them in? Or are we too unwilling to make both mental and physical space for people who are different?

Sarah and Abraham extended themselves, their resources, and their emotional lives to offer hospitality. And ultimately, that changed their lives. They had to then make even more room, this time for a baby…a baby named laughter, to remind them always of that day they talked to strangers, and saw the face of God.

May we follow their faithful example.
Amen.

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Holy God,
you appear in unexpected places
under the trees
on the highway
in the kitchen
and we long for eyes to see you.
We come into this space,
expecting to hear your voice,
praying for a glimpse of your kingdom
making room in our day for you to enter.
We give you thanks for your constant presence
for whether we see you or not,
you are there.
Your Spirit whispers
even when we are too busy talking to listen.
It is your image we see
in the eyes of friend and stranger and enemy,
and even in the mirror.
And so we pray for your people,
especially those who seek refuge and find only fences.
We pray for those who feel overwhelmed
by change, or fear, or despair.
We pray for your world that longs for peace yet continues in war.
We lift up your children who suffer
under the weight of grief, illness, and loneliness.
We carry to you those people who have faced extreme heat,
and those working to slow or reverse climate change,
and we ask for your creative power to make us better stewards of your creation.
We carry to you the people of
Syria, Yemen, Ethiopia, Palestine, Colombia, Venezuela,
and so many places around the world
who live each day with the reality of our human brokenness,
and we ask for your healing Spirit to flow freely.
We carry to you the leaders of our nation, and of all nations,
charged with working for the good of all,
and we ask for your wisdom to infuse their every thought and action.
Shine your light, O God,
and bring a new day to dawn.
As we walk this earthly journey,
give us courage to be extravagant in our welcome,
to live as if your love is real and true,
to lay aside our fear of strangers
and find instead that we are all your people,
one body, together on this one earth.
Make us people of grace,
who offer ourselves to others just as you offer yourself to us.
Help us to make room
in our homes and in our hearts
that we may be ready to receive you
in whatever form you come.
We pray all these things in the name of Christ, who welcomed the sinner and ate with the outcast, 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.

Hymn 694: Brother, Sister, Let Me Serve You

Benediction
Friends, go into your week looking for God, and ready to welcome whoever God sends to cross your path the same way you welcome Christ. 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.

SUNG Benediction Response (tune: Gourock St. John’s, words by John L Bell)
Now may the Lord of all be blessed,
Now may Christ’s gospel be confessed,
Now may the Spirit when we meet
Bless sanctuary and street.

Postlude Music (in person only)

Announcements

* All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) and we also meet in person, subject to the usual protocols for distancing, hand hygiene, mask wearing, and some limited singing! We can welcome approximately 35 people for worship, so if you would like to come in person, please phone Cameron (630879) on a MONDAY afternoon between 1-3pm or Anne Love (07904 617283) on a Saturday morning between 10-12 to book a place.

* Tonight we will gather with Christians across the nation for evening prayer on the Connect Facebook Page. David is leading tonight’s service, log on at 6:58pm to join in.

* 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 by clicking here. 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 or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!

* 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 6 June 2021

Sunday Service for 6 June 2021
Prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson, Gourock St. John’s
Manse Phone: 632143 
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk

To hear the audio recording of this service, phone 01475 270037.

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Prelude Music (in person only)

Welcome/Announcements (in person only)

Call to Worship
1: In the beginning God created, light and dark and everything in between.
2: God’s creation is filled with every colour of the rainbow, more colour than we can even see.
1: God’s people are every size and shape and colour and language, reflecting God’s image.
2: And we are called together to walk with God.
Teri: So we turn our hearts to God’s way, and our minds to God’s word,
All: and our lives to God’s glory.

Prayer of Confession
God of rainbow promises, all creation sings your praise and reflects your glory. We come to join our voices to those of the earth, sea, and sky…and to the voices of your faithful people who have gone before us in this place. Together we seek your face, and we long to hear your voice, echoing through the generations, showing us your vision. You call us to trust you into the unknown, to go forward in faith. We confess that often we follow our own ways instead. We forget that you are God and we are not. We admit that we use your creation for our own ends, heedless of the consequences for the earth and those who live in it. We hide behind the way things have always been, and we confess that we look back with both gratitude and nostalgia, and forget to look forward in faith. Forgive us, Lord, and show us the way out of our destructive path. Forgive us, and remind us that you are our true centre. Forgive us, and shine your many-coloured light around us. Re-member us into your people once again, that we may live in your good news. We offer our confession and our gratitude for your grace, in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.

If anyone is in Christ, the whole creation is renewed. We are forgiven in order to live with love, joy, and peace. Thanks be to God. amen.

Music
Online: In the Midst of New Dimensions
In Person:

Children’s Time (in person only)

Reading: selected verses of Genesis chapters 6-9, NRSV (Seonaid Knox and Derek Reid)
(6:9-14 and 17-22, 7:12, 7:17-8:22, 9:8-15)

These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth. And God said to Noah, ‘I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth. Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.

For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in to you, to keep them alive. Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them.’ Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

The rain fell on the earth for forty days and forty nights.
The flood continued for forty days on the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters swelled and increased greatly on the earth; and the ark floated on the face of the waters. The waters swelled so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered; the waters swelled above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all human beings; everything on dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, human beings and animals and creeping things and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark. And the waters swelled on the earth for one hundred and fifty days.
But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and all the domestic animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided; the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters gradually receded from the earth. At the end of one hundred and fifty days the waters had abated; and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. The waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.
At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent out the raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent out the dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground; but the dove found no place to set its foot, and it returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took it and brought it into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark; and the dove came back to him in the evening, and there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another seven days, and sent out the dove; and it did not return to him any more.
In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and saw that the face of the ground was drying. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. Then God said to Noah, ‘Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.’ So Noah went out with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. And every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out of the ark by families.
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar. And when the Lord smelt the pleasing odour, the Lord said in his heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done.
As long as the earth endures,
    seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, day and night,
    shall not cease.’

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ‘As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.

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: Rainbow Road
Every time I read this story I wonder how we can possibly use it for cute nursery decorations or children’s songs. I even remember growing up singing at camp “God said to Noah, there’s gonna be a floody-floody”…but at least I wasn’t a church kid so I didn’t know what the song was about. Because the reality is that just a few chapters after looking around and declaring everything to be very good, God was heartbroken and regretted creating human beings. After investing so much, giving so much…earth’s people were on a path not only of self-destruction, but of violence that was destroying creation as well. God was upset and had to do something.

In the face of overwhelming disappointment, God decided the same thing many of us do: to counter violence with violence. The divine retribution is complete devastation—nothing will be left…except Noah, the 7 members of his family, and two of each living animal. That’s it—everything else will be utterly wiped out, drowned, washed away in the flood of God’s grief and anger.

Somehow that’s never part of the playset, or the song, or the wall decals.

In ancient Israel, water was a symbol of chaos. Think of the very beginning of the creation story—in the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. That word, formless void, is “tohu va bohu”— which actually means chaos. The creation story is about God making order out of chaos. And yet just ten generations later God decided to go back to the beginning and start over.

Well, almost start over. Because there was one person — one, in the whole world — who “walked with God.” We might wonder what it means to “walk with God” in this world, where there was no scripture and no temple and no tradition. How did Noah know God? What sort of relationship did they have? What was it about that relationship that made Noah different from everyone else? However it happened, Noah wasn’t participating in the corruption and violence that God saw as ubiquitous on the earth.

So Noah and his family, and the animals, and food, will all carry over, like seeds saved for next season. And through them, God promises to do a new thing.

After the rain stopped and the waters began to subside, after the ark came to rest on the top of a mountain, Noah began sending out scouts—first a raven, then a dove. When the dove came back with an olive branch, a sprouting twig of hope from below the tree line, a sign of spring, of new life, then Noah knew it was nearly time to go.

And then, just as all these animals walked out of the ark, family by family, God looked around at the fresh new world, shiny and clean, and recognised instantly that the curse didn’t accomplish what he intended. Now that the rain was gone, God saw that the creation will always contain the seeds that can grow into violence just as easily as they can grow into compassion. The question about those seeds is what kind of water they get, and the flood waters of violence will not stamp out violence. God sees clearly now that redemptive violence is a lie—fighting violence with violence will always fail. As Ghandi put it: an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. Or as Martin Luther King Jr said, hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.

And so God hung up the bow—a weapon, a vehicle for violence—facing away from the earth. God chose a different path, a path based on covenant and creation and love. This covenant to never again use violence against the world was not just with Noah and his family, but with all the creatures of the earth too. In this dawn of the new creation, this springtime of the covenant, God promises to look forward with hope, and asks us to do the same.

The word covenant is used hundreds of times in the Bible, and this is the first. This is the seed that grows into the kingdom—a promise to take a different road, a rainbow road. This promise does not have any conditions, no requirements or prerequisites, no quid pro quo expectations. It does come with a commission, though, a calling: to walk with God on this rainbow road, rather than the road of destruction and violence we tried before.

It wasn’t long until it became clear that human nature hadn’t changed much inside the ark — despite the entire world changing around them, they still went back to the old ways. But through the promise, and through the remembering of the promise, God had changed the strategy. No more fighting fire with fire. God decided to work in the world in more personal ways. God’s covenant starts out being with Noah, and then with Noah and his descendants, and then with the whole of creation that comes out of the ark. God speaks to people, and through people; to creation and through creation. Rather than becoming more distant to avoid heartbreak and grief and frustration, God becomes more involved, even to the point of taking on flesh and joining us in this fragile human life. This is the promise that God offers in the rainbow: not only “I will not destroy” but also “I will come that you may have life, and have it abundantly.”

You know what’s interesting about rainbows? It’s never clear where they begin and end. Most of them seem to be an open circle, embracing the earth with no regard for who is in or out. Kind of like the ark, really, and kind of like the church. The fast and slow, ugly and beautiful, smart and silly are all in the ark together, all in the church together, and all embraced by the rainbow together. Some in the ark are silent, others roar incessantly. Some eat more than their share. Some make room and others push and shove. Some are desirable by the world’s standards, and others are decidedly undesirable. And yet God put them all together…put us all together…in this body, this seed of new creation, and set us on this rainbow path toward the kingdom. We don’t know really where the path began, since scripture says the beginning was tohu-va-bohu, chaos. And we don’t get to see exactly where it ends, though we know that Jesus promises to be with us to the end of the age. But we do know that it doesn’t leave anybody out, even when we’d prefer it did.

This is a hard story hiding behind those cute animal stickers and rainbow paintings. Not only is it a story of violence, it’s also a story where we get an uncomfortable glimpse into the earliest days of God’s relationship with humanity…and that glimpse is of a God who tried something that didn’t work, and had to decide to go a different way. First it was God regretting making humans and deciding to get rid of them…and then God realising that was not going to solve the problem and covenanting never to do it again. That’s not how we usually think about God behaving! But this is a story of God turning a page and committing to something new—putting the past firmly in the past, even while carrying forward what is good. And in the process, God covers the whole earth and all that is in it with the promise, offering a new way to walk into the future.

As we look back at what was, and ahead at what could be, there’s lots of talk of a “new normal” — we can’t go back to the way things used to be, because it wasn’t actually good, however much nostalgia we might feel for it now. The question is how we’ll go forward, creating a community and society and world that reflects God’s love and perhaps even brings God some delight rather than grief. We know that God turned away from divine violence and promised never to pick that up again, but we still have experienced a wiping away of the old ways in this past year…and now we need to turn the page on a new chapter in our life together, bringing what is good and leaving behind the rest, to commit to turning away from the ways of violence and and toward inclusive community that walks the rainbow road of God’s promise together.

May it be so.
Amen.

Music
Online: Ewe Thina (“we walk his way”) sung by Ghana nat’l youth choir
In person: Hymn 260, Eternal Father Strong to Save

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

Holy God of all life and breath,
we give you thanks for your promise that is for all—
in every place and time, for every creature and person.
We give you thanks for your creative spirit,
colouring the world with love and wonder.
We give you thanks for your constant presence with us,
in the midst of the storm and the calm.
So often the world feels like storm…the news tells stories of destruction and pain.
We lift up to your care all those feeling the power of your creation,
in the path of fire and hurricane.
We hold in your light all those who feel they walk in darkness—
in the shadows of grief, with the burden of depression, or anxious about the future.
We offer our prayers for those who live each day with violence or fear—
in their homes, in their neighbourhoods, in their nation.
We especially pray for those who have fled and seek refuge—
from domestic violence, from war, from famine, from gang violence.
God of promise and peace, light up these grey skies with your rainbow.
Remember your people.
Cover the earth with hope, that we may see a new way, for our footsteps are faltering.
Give wisdom to this world’s leaders,
and courage to all of us, to seek peace and pursue it.
Show us your many-coloured path yet again, and guide us.
Make us an answer to prayer,
a place of refuge,
a community of hope,
a beacon of light in the shadows.
Fill your church with your breath again this day, and every day,
for we pray through the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of 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.

Benediction
Go into your week to walk with God on the rainbow road. 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.

SUNG Benediction Response (tune: Gourock St. John’s, words by John L Bell)
Now may the Lord of all be blessed,
Now may Christ’s gospel be confessed,
Now may the Spirit when we meet
Bless sanctuary and street.

Postlude Music (in person only)

Announcements

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* Young Adult Bible Study is on Zoom at 1pm, we are reading through the Gospel According to Mark. Contact Teri for login details.

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* Starter Packs update: in May Starter Packs were provided to 24 homes. Within these homes were 17 single people, 8 families including 13 children. The Monthly Focus for June is Children’s Shower Gel, Shampoo, Sponges/Face Cloths. Items in short supply: Shaving Foam, Soap and Hand Wash. As always, thanks to everyone for your continued support.