Sunday Service for 2 January 2022

2 January 2022
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse phone: 632143 
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk

To hear the audio recording of this service, please phone 01475 270037. It’s a local landline number so minutes should be included in your phone plan.

Prelude Music

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship
One: Who are you?
All: We are the ones God has called, to tasks large and small.
One: What are you looking for?
1: We are looking for someone who can change things,
2: We are looking for a better future,
3: We are looking for answers to our wonderings,
4: We are looking for justice,
1: We are looking for peace,
2: We are looking for a teacher,
3: We are looking for an easier way,
4: We are looking for hope,
All: We are looking for a million things we don’t even know how to express.
One: Why are you here?
All: We are here hoping to recognise and understand the Spirit among us,
for we trust God is at work.
One: Come and see!

Prayer
Holy One, you will make a way…
A way that leads beyond our established systems and rules,
calling us to new possibilities, new community, new ways of life.
Holy One, you call us to make a way…
A way for those left out to join in,
calling together all who long for a new day.
Reveal our part in your story this day,
that we may take up our role
and use what gifts and power you give us to bring about your will,
here and now.
Loving God, we thank you for the people who have brought us to you — those who have told us your story, who have taken us by the hand and accompanied us in prayer, those who have invited us into the community of your disciples. We remember with gratitude the whole cloud of witnesses who have brought us to this point in our journey with you and your people.
And we confess that we are shy to do what they have done. We admit that we find it difficult to say to another that we have experienced a grace and love that changes our lives. We long for your Church to grow, yet we keep silent about the joy and challenge of Christian community. We read of your disciples calling each other, and we celebrate those who have shared your good news with us, but we confess we can’t quite get there ourselves.
Forgive us our reluctant witness. Forgive us our over-reliance on “use words if necessary” in a world where few see our deeds or even know to ask a question. Forgive us for lamenting decline while holding our faith as private. Forgive us for keeping this experience of grace and mercy and love and hope to ourselves, even while you continually call “Come and see.”
Show us your glory once again, and give us courage to share it. We ask in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Music
online: From Life’s Beginning (let praise resound) by Resound Worship
in person: ‘On Dulci Jubilo’ by F.Liszt/arr P.Norris

Children’s Time: Magnifying glasses

As we enter a new year, you are invited to look at the world, other people, yourself — everything, really — through a new lens. How does the lens through which you look colour the way you see the world? Does looking through a new lens help you to see God more clearly, to look for the movement of the Spirit, to see Jesus?

Magnifying glasses help to make small things visible, large and clear. And they are an essential part of the detective’s kit, as they look for clues. So you are invited to use a magnifying glass word (like the Star Words we have sometimes done before), as a lens to look for clues of God’s work, to enlarge and clarify and colour the details of the world so that you can see Jesus in a new way in your life and in the world around you. 

If you would like a magnifying glass word, you can either pick one up from the manse porch anytime, or let Teri know and she’ll pray and draw one out for you and post it to you (or WhatsApp/email a photo until the post can reach you!).

Music: Your Light Has Come by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan

Reading: John 1.19-51 (New Revised Standard Version)

This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ Then they said to him, ‘Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said,
‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
“Make straight the way of the Lord” ’,
as the prophet Isaiah said.
Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, ‘Why then are you baptising if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?’ John answered them, ‘I baptise with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.’ This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptising.
The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” I myself did not know him; but I came baptising with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptise with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptises with the Holy Spirit.” And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’
The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.’ And he said to him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’

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: Peer-to-Peer

We have begun our journey through John’s gospel, from now through Easter in the Narrative Lectionary…though I confess that today we have actually read the passage assigned for last week as well as the one for today, because the lectionary had cut apart this one long story into two halves, meaning that the second half started with the words “the next day, John was again…” and I was immediately curious about two things. First of all, what happened the previous day? And second, what was John doing a second time? So I had to back up, and when I read the entire story together as it was meant to be, it seemed to make more sense. This is why it matters to read sometimes long chunks all at once, because when we cut it up, we might miss something important!

Today’s story took place over the course of four days. On the first day, the authorities questioned John, and he told them that he was just pointing the way to the one who was coming after him. They were not excited about this answer, because not only does John not fit into any of their categories, he was also engaging in religious rituals without their oversight, and people were finding meaning and belonging in his new way…which means the authorities were losing control over the spiritual lives of people.

On the second day, John saw Jesus and declared him to be the lamb of God that he’d been waiting for. That was a very weird thing to say, especially since John followed up with “I didn’t actually know him, but this is definitely the one” — and apparently those who heard him say it didn’t think much of it. Even after hearing about the Spirit descending on Jesus, nothing seems to have happened! John said that he hadn’t known who Jesus was at first, he didn’t understand, but now he did…and then he went home and went to bed, apparently!

The next day, John was again standing with two of his disciples — which tells us that they heard him say those things about Jesus the day before! I picture the scene like John and his disciples just hanging around in the village square, chatting and having a coffee or whatever they did back then. Jesus walked past, as presumably dozens of people did, and John said “remember what I said yesterday? Here he is again!”

This is the part we normally wouldn’t notice if we only read the little bit assigned for each Sunday: that it was the second time John had said the same thing before these two disciples decided they’d better go see what Jesus was all about.

It makes me wonder if perhaps the night before, after John had said it the first time, did they have an evening of discussion round the fire? Perhaps they talked late into the night about what they saw God doing and what their part was, and he explained a bit more about his role — which he clearly knew was temporary and minor, yet he played his part faithfully — and the role of the One who was to come. Or maybe the disciples just laid there in the dark and thought about what their teacher had said, wondering what it might mean. Whatever happened that night, when Jesus walked past them on the street again the next afternoon, they jumped at the chance to learn more.

That’s when something really fascinating happened. John’s disciples appear to have basically just…left John standing there on the street corner and started following Jesus around, in a way that was hopefully not at all creepy. He could probably feel their eyes on him and hear their footsteps behind him, so he turned around and instead of saying “what do you want?” he said “what are you looking for?”

What are you looking for?

That is the question, isn’t it. We’ve already talked about how we look, and gotten some new lenses to look through…but what are we looking for?

Those two disciples of John didn’t seem to have an answer. I suspect many of us would be similarly paralysed if we were asked this question. Think of when you attend a workshop or class and the instructor starts off asking people to go around the room and say why they signed up for this course, what you’re hoping to learn…and how uncomfortable we all are answering that specific question! Now imagine Jesus asking it, face to face: what are you looking for? I suspect we’d all be even more tongue-tied than usual!

Instead of an answer, they stuttered out their own question: where are you staying? The word there is actually “abiding” — where do you abide? And Jesus doesn’t exactly give an answer. Instead he offers an invitation: Come and see.

Come and see. That’s it. No pressure. No commitment. No prerequisites or vetting. No experience necessary. No need to be able to answer the question. Just…come and see.

Don’t you wonder what they saw?

Whatever they saw, the experience made them want to invite others to come and experience it too. Andrew went home and found his brother Simon Peter and invited him, and he came to check it out and see what had gotten Andrew so excited.

The next day, the fourth day, Jesus met Philip and invited him…and Philip’s experience was also interesting enough for him to go find his friend Nathanael and invite him too. Now Nathanael was likely the studious one of the bunch — to say someone sits under the fig tree was a metaphor for studying Torah. He resisted at first, because he knew from scripture that Nazareth wasn’t an important town…and sometimes when we think we know something, it’s really only part of the story. But operating on that incomplete knowledge as if it’s the whole truth is dangerous — as we see when Nathanael comes out with his prejudiced slur about people from Nazareth! But Philip is persistent, so he uses the same words: Come and see. Just come check it out, and see what happens. Come have this experience with me.

And the experience Nathanael has changes everything — he realised in that moment that for all his studying, he still had only partial understanding, and in the presence of Jesus he met God more fully than ever before.

Come and see…but be prepared that having an experience might change your mind, or your life.

The thing I find fascinating about these four days is that nearly everyone who comes to Jesus comes because of what we might call a peer-to-peer invitation. It’s a friend, a teacher, a brother who invites them. And sometimes they take some convincing, or have to be invited twice! And yet they come, maybe even just to please their friend or brother and then go home later with a good story…but even when they didn’t know what they were looking for, they found the fullness of God dwelling in human flesh and the experience changed them.

This word-of-mouth invitation from a friend is always the best advertising for anything, of course — we all do it. Besides the online reviews many people write, we’re all more than willing to share about a restaurant we’ve visited, or the hotel we loved on our holiday, or where the best walks are around here. And often we’ll say “oh, I’ve been wanting to try xyz place, want to meet there for lunch?” or we’ll offer to show someone our favourite place to take photos of the cruise ships or share the train ride to a favourite show. A few years ago I practically begged one of my friends to come to Disneyland with me, and even though she would have preferred to go kayaking or something, she came and we had a great time, even staying until the park closed at midnight! We share the things we enjoy, and invite people to have their own experience of them because we thought they were great. Maybe even life-changingly good.

But we don’t do it much with church. How often do we have an experience in church, or with our church family, that makes us want to tell other people about it, to invite them to have an experience too? When have we seen God at work and thought “I need to let so-and-so know about this because they will want to see it for themselves”? Maybe we even wonder what people would see, if we invited them to come and see? Would they experience God here? Would they see Jesus in our community? Would they sense the Holy Spirit moving among us? Do we?

The beauty of these four days here at the beginning of John’s gospel is that, paradoxically, those who try to use all the right words to explain what they believe or what they think God is supposed to do are the ones who struggle with the first invitation. It’s the experience of being with Jesus, of abiding with him, in his presence, that changes people. Not the knowledge, and not the pretty words; they actually, in some way, obscure. So often we think “I don’t know enough, I’m not sure what to say” but it turns out that what to say is “come and see” — and then the experience we have together is what opens our eyes and hearts to a new Jesus-life. What matters is to come into the presence of Christ…then we’ll see where it leads.

This season, as we look for Jesus, don’t forget to invite others to come and see with you. Together we’ll be changed in his presence.

May it be so. Amen.

Hymn 320: Joy to the World
in person Hymn: New Days Come (words: Tom Gordon, tune: Regent Square)

Prayer for a new year
It’s a new day, O God, and we long to know what the year ahead holds,
but we trust you hold all these days in your hand.
We have high hopes and also significant worries,
looking ahead at what might be.
We pray for your presence to be made known to us, whatever may come.
For those who face days of grief, anxiety, or pain, we ask your comfort.
For those who face empty cupboards and cold boilers,
watching bank accounts drain and wondering where to turn, we ask your providing.
For those whose new year will hold more of the same as the old,
illness or treatments or struggling along day to day with no change in sight,
we ask your healing.
For those who hope this is finally the year when peace comes, when justice is done,
we ask your courage.
For your church, seeking your path
and wondering how to be faithful in a changed world,
we ask your Spirit to strengthen our will to work for your kingdom.
For all the longings and hopes and fears in our hearts,
we ask your help and we trust your grace is enough for us.
As we step into the future you have in mind for us,
we pray for the vision to see as you see.
We ask for your strength to lift our burdens,
that we may enter this year with light hearts,
ready to overflow with compassion.
We ask for your hope to infuse our lives,
that we may enter this year with a spring in our step,
ready to move forward with conviction.
We ask for your wisdom to clear our minds,
that we may enter this year with curiosity,
open to the possibility of your plans.
You know us, God, better than we know ourselves,
and we pray that we may come to know you in all your fullness,
and to follow faithfully through whatever is to come.
Lead us. Guide us. Show us. Keep us. Empower us.
We ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught us to pray together:

Benediction
Friends, go out into this new year looking for the kingdom of God come among us, and ready to invite others to come and see what Jesus is doing in your life. 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 (John L Bell, tune Gourock St John’s)
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.

Announcements
* This winter our theme is “Seeing Jesus.” Where do you see Jesus? What is he up to in your life, and in our community’s life?

*You are invited to join in reading the Bible in a year for 2022 — immersing ourselves in God’s word throughout the year. Click here to find a reading plan that’s five days a week (leaving a couple of days for catch up each week!). Watch this space for information about a Bible study as we go through the scriptures together!

* 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. We can now welcome up to 85-100 people for worship with 1m distancing between households. No booking is required. Masks are required at all times inside the building, including while singing. If you are able, please enter by the front door in Bath street, and only those who need step-free access should use the back door.

* Tonight we will gather with Christians across the nation for evening prayer on the Connect Facebook Page, led tonight by Jonathan. 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 and/or Westminster Wednesdays 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!