Sunday service for 25 June 2023

Sunday 25 June 2023
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse: 632143 
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk

Prelude Music

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship (bold lines to be sung to Old Hundredth)
We are a family, gathered in love to worship —
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
We aren’t perfect, but in this is love —
not that we loved God, but that God loved us first.
Praise Christ all creatures here below!
God breathed life into the world, and called us God’s children.
Praise Holy Spirit, evermore!
Striving for justice and joy, our lives together proclaim our faith:
Praise Triune God whom we adore!
We come to worship, to be empowered to serve.

Sanctuary Hymn 198 vv 1 & 4: Let Us Build A House

Prayer
You, Lord, have created a world of plenty,
and invited all creation to share your abundance.
You gathered us as your family,
filled us with love,
and taught us to share,
to do justice and love kindness and walk humbly,
and to live with joy.
We confess that we have not always stood up for what’s fair and right,
because when things are good for us,
we forget that isn’t true for everyone.
We admit that we turn our eyes away
from the collateral damage of our lifestyle,
and we do not challenge our leaders to work for the common good…
or when we do, we narrow the scope to people like us, or near us,
without thought for those we never see.
Forgive us for not walking humbly on the earth,
for taking more than our share and leaving others out.
Forgive us for not loving kindness,
choosing self-interest instead.
Forgive us for not doing justice,
for our fear of rocking the boat
and our unwillingness to let go of our privilege.
You have work for us to do, O God,
and so we pray your forgiveness would change us,
break open our old ways and our hard hearts,
to think creatively and to see a way forward,
and to pursue it,
until all creation can join together in your joy.
We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hymn 362: Heaven Shall Not Wait

Sanctuary Children’s Time

Reading: Luke 9.10-17 (Common English Bible)
When the apostles returned, they described for Jesus what they had done. Taking them with him, Jesus withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. When the crowds figured it out, they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about God’s kingdom, and healed those who were sick.
When the day was almost over, the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so that they can go to the nearby villages and countryside and find lodging and food, because we are in a deserted place.”
He replied, “You give them something to eat.”
But they said, “We have no more than five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all these people.” (They said this because about five thousand men were present.)
Jesus said to his disciples, “Seat them in groups of about fifty.” They did so, and everyone was seated. He took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them, and broke them and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. Everyone ate until they were full, and the disciples filled twelve baskets with the leftovers.

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: break it down
Whenever a story starts with something like “they returned and described for Jesus what they had done,” it’s worth looking back a bit at where they’d been and what exactly they’d done. Just before this, Jesus had sent the 12 disciples out into surrounding villages and towns. We don’t know precisely where they traveled or how long they were gone, but they were gone long enough that part of the instructions were to stay in one house in each town, not to move about whenever they got a better offer or saw someone with a nicer house.

Before sending them out to all these airts-and-pairts, as we might say here, Jesus gave them authority over illnesses and demons, and specifically sent them out “to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.” And then…they went. And they did.

I’ve talked before about how when a rabbi called a disciple, he did so because he believed that student could become like him, could do what he did. The disciples were with Jesus as he proclaimed the kingdom of God, and as he healed all kinds of people. The reason they were there, from the traditional perspective of rabbi-and-disciple, was so they could learn to be like their teacher. So when he then gave them power and sent them out, they did exactly what they were supposed to do: they did what Jesus did. They proclaimed the kingdom of God, they healed people who were ill, and it says they “went through villages everywhere” bringing good news.

So when they came back and told Jesus about their success at being like him and doing what he did, it makes sense that he would want to then take them away for a bit of debriefing, some rest and reflection. Every good teacher builds in time for their apprentices to reflect on what they’ve done so they can learn more for next time.

Unfortunately, this reflection time was cut short by the crowds appearing, and Jesus continued to teach by example: he welcomed the crowd — he made space for them and included them in the teaching he was doing, and he healed those who needed him. He could have run away into a house and shut the door, or gotten back in the boat and taken their rest out in the middle of the lake, or told them people to go away and leave them alone. But instead he welcomed them. And at the end of the day, when everyone was hungry, the disciples came and insisted that he send them away anyway…perhaps not their shining moment in being like him and doing what he did!

At this point I think it’s really interesting to notice some differences between the way Mark told the story, that we heard last week, and the way Luke is telling it. Remember in Mark’s telling, the disciples said to send the crowds away, Jesus said “you give them something to eat,” and then they immediately said “are we supposed to go spend six month’s wages on bread?” And Jesus had to remind them to first look at their own assets, to go check what they actually have and bring those resources forward before they panic about not having enough. In Luke’s telling, the disciples start out by naming how much they have, saying “we have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we are go go buy bread.” They know exactly what’s available to them, and they name the possibility of going to purchase more almost as sarcastically, like it’s outrageous. Which is hilarious to me because they just got back from a tour where they healed people and taught about God’s kingdom and did all the things Jesus gave them power to do — where is that power and self-confidence now??

Jesus’ response is fascinating. Where in Mark’s gospel he had to remind the disciples to recognise their assets, in Luke he instead starts out giving them explicit instructions on getting organised: “seat them in groups of 50.”

Let’s take a moment to think about 5000 men, plus any women and children — so maybe, let’s say, between 8-10,000 people — milling about the hillside, trying to get closer to hear, perhaps, or talking to one another spreading the message back through the crowd. It’s a huge group, and while it may not have been unruly it was probably more chaos than not. I can imagine the disciples just looking helplessly down the hill with no sense of where to even begin. How are we supposed to do this?

Sometimes I feel like the disciples staring helplessly at the crowd when we look at the world today. All the issues of society feel overwhelming. We see climate catastrophe, homelessness, hunger, poverty, preventable disease, an attainment gap between children of different ethnic or socio-economic backgrounds, racism, sexism, homophobia, greed, selfishness, war…there are so many injustices, all intersecting and overlapping and just…milling about. Even knowing our assets, even when we’ve had some successes, how are we supposed to tackle all of this? Where do we even start? We want to be people striving for justice and joy, for a world that is fair and sustainable, for a community that is creative in using resources for the good of the whole….but it feels impossible to begin.

Like that weird old story about how to eat an elephant — one bite at a time — Jesus took the situation in hand by breaking it down into manageable chunks.

Many of us have been taught how to get things done by breaking a big task into constituent parts. So if you want to get ready for a party, you make a list that has things like “clean the kitchen, stock up the snacks, chill the drinks” and whatnot. For some people whose brains work in even smaller chunks, under “clean the kitchen” it might say “wash the dishes, empty the dishwasher, wipe the worktop, mop the floor,” or even “gather the dishes, rinse the sponge, fill the sink with hot soapy water, wash and dry the dishes, put the dishes in the cupboards,” etc…with each individual task for each part of the list.

What else can we accomplish if we break it down?

That’s what Jesus does here. He sees the disciples are overwhelmed by the enormity of the task, and so first breaks it down into something they can definitely do, a quick win: get the people into groups of 50 and have them sit down. There are twelve of them, and they can easily go through the crowd counting out groups and getting them to sit together…we’re talking about between 100 and 200 groups, so it’s still a big job, but it is simple and achievable.

Once everyone is seated, they can feel some accomplishment, and they can see the groups, people aren’t moving about confusing the situation, and they can then clearly recognise exactly what they’re dealing with. By the time Jesus blesses and breaks the bread, the disciples can breathe a bit easier knowing they can just deal with around 12 or so groups each. It’s still a huge task, but now it’s visibly easier to manage because it’s organised, and that organisation ensures fairness and justice — everyone will get enough, and no one will get left out, because they can see exactly what they need to do. And in those groups, people can talk and share and have a good time, too, so it’s a happier experience for everyone.

God has a big calling for us to fulfil, and it may well feel overwhelming sometimes, like how are we supposed to do all that when we are just a few hands, just a few loaves? Our Kirk Session has the seeds of a vision, and with everything that’s happened with Presbytery planning, we now have the opportunity to pursue that vision and work toward what we think God wants us to do. And it’s big stuff about our place in the community, our hopes and dreams for what we can do to serve in this place and work toward the world looking more like the kingdom of God, how best to use this place that has been given to us by previous generations, and how we hope to reach out and to grow our faith and our church family.

We’re trying to follow Jesus’ lead in breaking that down into small steps, which the session continues to discern together and we’re preparing to share more with the congregation this autumn…and bigger steps like hopefully hiring a parish assistant who can help us with ensuring our church family is well cared for. Seemingly small steps like discerning and writing a new mission statement will help us organise the rest of our work, but even that is actually the culmination of lots of other pieces that had to be put together first…and bigger steps like making some of our ideas a reality or working together with other congregations require first doing lots of tiny pieces and bringing together different people’s skills — after all, last week we said one of our assets is our people!

Ultimately the same principle that we see in this story is what we’ll do too, and it will help us face the future without fear: break it down into manageable chunks and do a bit at a time, each of us playing our part, looking after those groups sitting on the grass, and sharing the bread, piece by piece, loaf by loaf, striving for justice and joy until all are welcome and fed and empowered to share the good news that God’s kingdom is at hand.

May it be so. Amen.

Online hymn: God of Justice
Sanctuary Hymn 521: Children of God, Reach Out to One Another (tune: Lord for the Years)

Offering (Sanctuary only)

Sanctuary Offering Response 557 verse 1
O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee:
I give thee back the life I owe,
that in thine ocean depths its flow
may richer, fuller be.

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Holy and Loving God,
you gather your world into your embrace and fill us with your blessing,
you welcome and teach and heal,
and we offer you our thanks and praise.
You have answered prayers we didn’t even know how to ask,
you have kept close to us even when we have felt alone,
and you have empowered us to do things beyond our imagination.
We praise you for your Spirit’s constant presence,
your breath in our bodies,
your love overflowing into your world.
And we pray this day for those who have not experienced welcome,
who have found there’s no place for them,
who feel as if they’ll never fit in.
We ask your blessing that they may know themselves loved and valued,
and pray too that our community may be more inclusive.
We lift up today those who have heard rumours of your kingdom
but never seen a glimpse in action,
those who long for your vision to come to fruition
but don’t know how to look or how to participate.
We ask your blessing that words may be put into action,
so all people can see your kingdom come and your will being done
on earth as it is in heaven.
We remember today those who are ill and longing for healing,
those whose bodies or minds are in pain,
and those who care for them,
and we remember especially those whose healing
will only be found beyond this life.
We remember too those who are grieving,
who have said unexpected goodbyes and who have watched a long journey,
and especially those who have lost loved ones at sea in recent days,
in the submersible and in the refugee boats.
We ask your blessing of wholeness and comfort, peace and courage.
And O God we offer special prayers today for our NHS,
for the staff who work so hard in difficult situations,
doing their best with limited resources.
May they be given what they need to care well for others,
and be filled with your compassion and grace.
We hold in your light those people in positions of power in this world,
that they may see clearly each step in the giant task of seeking the common good,
that they may use resources fairly,
and that your light may shine not only in and through them,
but on them so we all can trust their work.
We ask your blessing of justice and joy in their service to the community.
And we pray today for your church, Lord, God,
that we may follow you faithfully in doing the work you have for us to do.
Increase our capacity for joy, and hope, and love, and welcome.
Make us a living representation of your grace on earth.
And call forth in us, through us, from us
your vision for this community, this nation, this world.
We ask in the name of 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.

Sanctuary Hymn 616: There’s a Spirit in the Air

Benediction
Dorothy Day once said “People say, what is the sense of our small effort? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time. A pebble cast into a pond causes ripples that spread in all directions. Each one of our thoughts, words and deeds is like that. No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There is too much work to do.”
Go to do that work, one small manageable bit at a time, 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. 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.

Postlude Music

Announcements

* We are seeking a part-time Parish Assistant! The role is 20 hours per week, in pastoral care and community work. More information is here or you can contact either John Boyle or Teri. The closing date for applications is the 7th of July. Please invite those who might be a good fit for working in our team to check it out!

* Registration is open for St John’s Summer Exploratorium, our new summer holiday club for P1- P7 children, will be from 24-28 July, 9am – 1pm. More information and registration will be available soon. If you would be interested in helping with advance preparation (decorating, advertising, etc), or during the week in the kitchen (breakfast club from 8:30am, or lunch), or during the week with the programme (which requires being added to our Safeguarding/PVG register), please speak to Teri or Graham Bolster.

* We worship in the sanctuary on Sundays at 11am, and all Sunday worship is also online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print). 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. If you feel unwell, please worship online, to protect both yourself and others in our community.

* Did you know that the ministry we do at St John’s costs about £2700 per week? Everything we do is funded by your generous giving — all our support for young people, older people, bereavement care, community outreach, worship, study, spiritual growth, and community work is because of your offering. If you would like to 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 Teri and she can give you the treasurer’s details. You can also send your envelopes to the church or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received. 
It is also possible to donate to the work of the new parish assistant, speak to Anne Love about how to go about directing new donations to that new item in the budget.

*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!

* Wednesday Evening Bible Study is on a summer break!

* Young Adult Bible Study is on a summer break!

* A funeral service for Betty Kemp will be held on Thursday 29 June at 11am at the crematorium.

* 2023 marks the 125th anniversary of the 2nd Gourock Boys’ Brigade. Our anniversary Grand Charity Ball will be Saturday 9th September 6.00 for 6.30pm in Greenock Town Hall. Tickets priced £50 or £500 for a table of 10 are available now from BB leaders. The benefitting Charities have been selected and will be announced shortly. We are delighted to announce that every penny raised from ticket sales and our charity auction on the evening will go directly to our chosen charities. This event is open to all so please spread the word, book your table, put the date in your diary and look forward to what we are sure will be a Second To None evening of enjoyment and celebration.

* Free period products are available in the church toilets for anyone who might need them, thanks to Hey Girls and Inverclyde Council.