Sunday Service for 16 May 2021, Seventh Sunday of Easter

Sunday Service for 16 May 2021, Seventh Sunday of Easter
Prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson, Gourock St. John’s
Manse phone: 632143 
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk

To hear an audio recording of this service, including music, please phone 01475 270037.

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Call to Worship
Whoever you are out in the world,
in this community we are all one in Christ Jesus.
Whatever you have accomplished, or earned…or not,
it is Christ’s work that matters here.
Wherever you have come from,
here we remember that we belong first to Christ.
So let us lay aside the things that separate, and join together in worship.

Let us pray.
Gracious God,
you draw us close to you,
aligning us with your way,
repairing our relationship
that we might embody your goodness.
In gratitude for your gift,
we offer ourselves,
praying for the courage to be consistent in word and action,
that all who see us may recognise your love
that transcends barriers and backgrounds,
past and present.
Give us the grace to trust you,
to have faith in your constancy
and so take our place in your family
that continues to bear your blessing for the world.
Amen.

Music: Hymn 415, This Joyful Eastertide

Children’s Time (in person only)

Reading: Galatians 1.13-16, 2.15-21, 3.6-9, 26-29 (Common English Bible)

You heard about my previous life in Judaism, how severely I harassed God’s church and tried to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my peers, because I was much more militant about the traditions of my ancestors. But God had set me apart from birth and called me through his grace. He was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might preach about him to the Gentiles.

We are born Jews—we’re not Gentile sinners. However, we know that a person isn’t made righteous by the works of the Law but rather through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. We ourselves believed in Christ Jesus so that we could be made righteous by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the Law—because no one will be made righteous by the works of the Law. But if it is discovered that we ourselves are sinners while we are trying to be made righteous in Christ, then is Christ a servant of sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild the very things that I tore down, I show that I myself am breaking the Law. I died to the Law through the Law, so that I could live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith, indeed, by the faithfulness of God’s Son, who loved me and gave himself for me. I don’t ignore the grace of God, because if we become righteous through the Law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Understand that in the same way that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, those who believe are the children of Abraham. But when it saw ahead of time that God would make the Gentiles righteous on the basis of faith, scripture preached the gospel in advance to Abraham: All the Gentiles will be blessed in you. Therefore, those who believe are blessed together with Abraham who believed.

You are all God’s children through faith in Christ Jesus. All of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Now if you belong to Christ, then indeed you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.

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: Lined Up
Reading Paul’s letters can be tricky, because they are part of a conversation and we have only one side. Often we have no idea — or only a very vague idea — what Paul is responding to. There were likely many letters exchanged, so it’s like listening to a phone call that started before the person talking came into the room, and continued on after they were out of earshot, and we only heard one side in the middle of the chat.

Sometimes, we can piece together context from other letters, or from the book of Acts. You might remember two weeks ago when we heard the bit of Acts that sounded like the minutes of a church council meeting — when there was a disagreement about whether gentiles who became followers of Jesus would need to first become Jewish as Jesus and his disciples all were. The question then and now was whether or not we all need to become like each other in order to belong, or whether all of us in our disparate lives and backgrounds and experiences are seeking together to become like Christ. The council decided that it was more important to seek transformation into Christlikeness, and that it was okay for people to have some different lives and practices on things that were non-essential. They sent a letter along with the minutes of the meeting back to the congregations that were struggling most with the question.

And those congregations were…in Galatia.

It all starts to fit together now, doesn’t it?

The timeline isn’t exactly clear, but it seems that the conflict that had been resolved by that council meeting in Jerusalem had flared up again a few years later — as often happens in communities, when we think we’ve moved on but then something seemingly unrelated brings up the frustration that a few had simmering under the surface all along! So Paul picked up his pen and reminded them of the truth, that there is no way to earn God’s favour, no matter who you are or who you have been or what you have done. It is through Christ’s faithfulness on our behalf, and because we are clothed with Christ, that we are able to live in grace and know ourselves as children of God.

I want to be clear here that Paul is writing to a Christian Church where the conflict is between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians — not between Jews and Christians as we know them today. In the first century those were not distinct groups. Christians were a part of Judaism, which is why this was all such a question. Paul is not concerned in this letter about how non-Christian Jews practice their Jewish faith. He is concerned about how Christians of any background practice their Christianity. This is not an interfaith dialogue, it’s a dispute within the Church about how to live our faith and about what it takes to be in alignment with God.

Sometimes Paul uses fancy words that we translate as righteousness and justification — words that have different meanings in English than they used to have! Think of when you’re writing and you want something to be “left justified” for instance, so the whole page is in alignment from top to bottom, up against the left margin. That idea of what it takes to be in alignment with God is what Paul is writing about. Do we have to do something in order to line up with God? Are there actions we have to do, particular prayers to say, thoughts we have to think? Paul says no. Instead, it’s actually Christ who has done the work to bring us into alignment, to justify us, to make our relationship with God right.

That’s big news for people — thousands of years ago and right this minute today in 2021 — who have been trying to “get right with God” under our own power. The idea that we can do something to earn God’s favour, to get noticed by God, to make God love us more, is pervasive. I speak to so many people who think they have to act a certain way, or pray or think a certain way, or be free of their struggles, in order to be loved by God or included in the body of Christ. But the truth that Paul is trying to get us to see is that Jesus justified us with God already. It was his life’s work, his death’s work, his resurrection work. He was faithful even through the worst the world could throw at him, and that faithfulness pulled us along with him into alignment.

Which is not to say that we don’t need to try to live faithfully, to deepen our relationship with God, to do things that God calls us to do and try to please God. But we do those things because Jesus brought us into God’s way, not in order to get there. Imagine a line painted on the pavement…we want to walk on the line, because Jesus already set our feet on it. And the way we live, the way we pray, the way we treat others, all of that is about walking on the path, not about getting onto the path in the first place.

Which means that the practices we might have used when we were trying to find our way onto the path are not the ones we need when we trust that Jesus has set us on the Way. So Paul says not to rebuild the very things that were torn down — don’t recreate the old ways, because they are not fit for purpose for the life Christ has given us through his life, death, and resurrection. If all we do is rebuild the old ways of legalistic thinking and requirements for being part of the community, the old ways of being together and assumptions about what Church or christianity is, we will not be living the faith given to us. Trust in Christ requires new ways.

Being clothed with Christ, rather than any of the other markers we might use for ourselves, means we go through life differently, and we look at each other differently. Regardless of our place of birth, our skin colour, our favourite football team, our accent, our family structure, our previous church experience, our medical history, our political party, our musical preferences, or our socio-economic status, we are all one in Christ — not because we chose to be, not because we tried to be, but because he made it so. Our task is not to erase or ignore differences, but to live faithfully together because Christ’s life, death, and resurrection made it possible and demands that we continue in his way to the best of our ability. There is no place for supremacy or arrogance in his kingdom, no place for judgments made based on any human factor, no place for demanding others become like the ideals we cannot even reach ourselves. Instead, we are all to live and work together to become like Christ. He set us on the path, pulled us into alignment with God’s way, and calls us to walk it…together, not as lone pilgrims but as a whole Body of people near and far. And together we can hold each other accountable to staying on the path, we can pull each other back when we stray, we can encourage each other when the going gets tough, because sometimes new ways are harder than the old familiar ones, even if those old ways didn’t work.

What new ways do we need to build to live the life Christ has given us? What old ways do we need to keep tearing down because rebuilding them only betrays our lack of trust that Jesus did what we say he did? These are questions I hope every church is asking, especially right now as a new world opens before us. It’s tempting to try to give answers today, but as I said when we talked about that church council meeting a few weeks ago, discerning the Spirit’s call is best done in community, not with one person doing it alone! So please be praying about the new ways we can, together as the Body of Christ, live faithfully in this world, demonstrating the love and faithfulness of Christ who brought us together in one family with all God’s children. It is grace that brought us this far, and grace will lead us on.

May it be so. Amen.

Music:
In person: Hymn 526, This is the day of new beginnings
Online/phone: Christ Was Raised (Resound Music)

Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer
Living God,
we come with gratitude for your continual work of grace,
and especially for the gospel which moves us to faith.
We pray you would enliven our belief,
that we might move from mere intellectual assent to your goodness
toward a visible faith, demonstrated by our way of life.
For the world is in need of more than a glimpse of your grace.
Too many have been trampled, set aside, overlooked.

We offer our prayers today for those who have found themselves on the outside,
especially when it is your Body, the Church, building those walls.
May they be surrounded by a sense of your presence,
and know themselves valued and beloved.

We offer our prayers today for those whose sense of belonging is fragile,
based on ephemeral things, or on an image rather than reality.
We especially lift up this day young people who are still discerning,
and indeed all who feel uncertain about their own place in your story.
Reveal your truth to them, that they may stand firm in trusting your word,
whatever other stories may whisper through their worlds.

We pray this day for those who have experienced violence
against their body, mind, or spirit.
May your peace that passes all understanding
become a reality in every heart, every home, every nation.

We remember those who are caught in systems that obstruct abundant life,
demanding adherence and allegiance while offering only false hope.
May your liberating love set all people free —
free from white supremacy, free from religious bigotry,
free from patriarchy, free from economic oppression —
that together we may live in your kingdom way, even now.

We lift up those who are ill …
and those who care for others …
we give thanks for scientists and lab technicians,
for cooks and cleaners,
for grant-writers and study participants,
and all who labour behind the scenes to bring hope in the midst of pandemic.
May your healing power flow through their hands.

We offer our prayers for your Church,
begging that you would make us into who we say we are.
Give us the will to enact our faith, not only to speak it.
Clothe us with Christ once again, that we may truly walk his way,
doing justice, welcoming the stranger, feeding the hungry,
blurring categories and loving all.
We ask these and all things in the name of the One
who heals all division, re-members us into his Body, and renews all life:
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.

Benediction
Friends, go to walk the way of Christ with joy and gratitude for his work in bringing us into alignment with God, welcoming all whom the Holy Spirit puts in your path. 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
* NEXT SUNDAY, the 23rd of May, is the Day of Pentecost! And we need YOU to participate in our celebrations! If you stop by the manse, behind the door you’ll find some squares of black card. Take one, and use something sharp (like the end of a pen cap, for instance) to scratch out a design — either something related to the Holy Spirit (perhaps one of the traditional symbols of flame or dove, or something else!), or something related to what you love about church (people? music? serving others? sacraments? something else?). Return it to Teri by Friday if at all possible — by post or by putting it through the door at 6 Barrhill Road!

* 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 no singing yet. We can welcome approximately 33 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.

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

* Tonight we will gather with Christians across the nation for evening prayer on the Connect Facebook Page. Karen 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!

* The theme for worship during the season of Easter is “Re-membering” — being put back together as a community, perhaps in new ways! Easter is a season that lasts 50 days, from Easter Day until Pentecost.

* The theme for worship during the season of Pentecost (30 May – 5 September, also known as Ordinary Time) will be “Sunday School Revisited” — look out for some well-known stories, and maybe even some crafts as we explore in depth the things we learned the basics about long ago.

* May includes Christian Aid week! While door to door collections, book sales, and coffee mornings are not possible, Christian Aid is encouraging us to undertake a month-long sponsored walk. Can you, or a group/family, commit to walking 300,000 steps during the month of May? It’s around 10,000 steps per day. Get some sponsors and get walking — together we can become more fit and also help people most in need. You can collect your sponsorships in an envelope and send them to the church for forwarding to christian aid, or you can collect donations online. If you need help with that, contact Teri. If you would like to sponsor one of the other church members who have committed to this walk, you can learn more on Facebook here, or contact Teri for more info.