Sunday Service for 15 May 2022, fifth Sunday of Easter
15 May 2022, 5th Sunday of Easter
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse: 632143
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
Prelude Music (sanctuary only)
Welcome
Call to Worship
One: Come from your familiar and comfortable places,
to look for God in new ways.
All: We join our minds and hearts in seeking a glimpse of the One
in whom we live and move and have our being.
One: Come with your faith and your curiosity,
to meet others of God’s people.
All: We take the time to observe and learn,
trusting the Spirit will lead us to common ground.
One: Come to be present to all Christ places in your path.
All: We come, open to meet God, even here.
Prayer
In the marketplace of ideas, there’s always something new, O God. We confess that we are torn between our attachment to tradition and our belief that the latest fad will solve our problems, and so we trust the market to sort it out. We admit that when we contribute to public discourse, it is often either with judgment of others or demands for society to centre our feelings and desires. And we confess we are uncertain and anxious about sharing our faith story, worried we will get it wrong or offend. Forgive us, God, for our misplaced trust, for our misdirected speech, for our self-centering ways. Remind us that you are near, and give us confidence to allow your grace to take the lead, that we may be witnesses to the power of your love. Amen.
Online Hymn: You, Lord, Are In This Place, by Keith Duke
(Sanctuary Hymn 510: Jesus Calls Us Here To Meet Him)
(Sanctuary only Children’s Time and Song: Hallelujah Christ is Risen)
Reading: Acts 17.16-34 (New Revised Standard Version)
Last week we heard about Paul encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus, and having his perspective changed and his life transformed as a result. He then went to various places to proclaim the good news and invite people into communities that follow Jesus together. Along with Barnabas, Silas, and Timothy he traveled from Antioch to Cyprus and many cities of modern day Turkey in between, including Thessalonica and Philippi. In many places, they encountered opposition from those who did not wish to receive the message about Jesus as God’s messiah, and they had to leave quickly and go to the next town. We pick up the story today in Acts chapter 17, beginning at verse 16, just as they have escaped a riot, with Paul, Silas, and Timothy leaving town separately to meet up again in the next city. I am reading from the New Revised Standard Version.
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While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and also in the market-place every day with those who happened to be there. Also some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, ‘What does this babbler want to say?’ Others said, ‘He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities.’ (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him, ‘May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? It sounds rather strange to us, so we would like to know what it means.’ Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.
Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, ‘Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, “To an unknown god.” What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said,
“For we too are his offspring.”
Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.’
When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, ‘We will hear you again about this.’ At that point Paul left them. But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
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: Good New Days
Once upon a time, Athens had been the centre of everything. It had been well known as the place for intellectuals in every field, brimming with ideas about mathematics, philosophy, government, and the arts. People came from all around to experience it.
By the time Paul arrived in Athens, those bright days had dimmed into the past. The centre of power had shifted to Rome, and Athenians were left trying to recapture what once was. They filled their city with statues and shrines, and filled their time with ideas and debates, hoping desperately that something would bring them back to the days when they were bursting at the seams with young people, money, power, and vitality.
The people of Athens tried everything that used to work, and the things they saw other people doing too. They made statues and sacrifices and offerings in every place and to every god they could think of. They worshipped at the altar of memory, of success, of fashion, of the latest trends and the oldest mysteries. They covered all their bases, hedging their bets even with an altar to an unknown god—just in case they might have missed one along the way.
It was a strategy of desperation, full of activities, bound by extremes, and longing for something they couldn’t quite put their finger on. While the Epicurean and the Stoic philosophers—as far apart on opposite ends of the spectrum of philosophy as you can get—debated in the marketplace, the people gorged themselves on any crumb that might bring back the good old days.
Paul walked in and said “I see how religious you are,” and that can sound sarcastic to us, because of course in hindsight we can see that they’d missed the point. Religion isn’t about doing things that look religious, it’s about connection and relationship and experience between God and human, which can’t be bought. But in the moment, Paul was simply acknowledging the hope the Athenians held, that they might be able to do what they’d always done and find it returned them to the glory days they remembered.
Paul started where they were, and then built on that hope—he started with a bright spot: an altar to a god unknown, a desire for more, a longing for a new story—and he combined it with their own familiar words in order to offer them The Truth: God, who created all things, cannot be controlled by us, no matter how many statues and sacrifices we make. God, who created all things, is so close to us that it is impossible to know ourselves apart from the divine. And God, who created all things, is doing a new thing even right now, even while we are busy trying to recreate the past. He took their old story and showed them how it could be the beginning of a new story, rather than simply re-treading the old ways that no longer worked. He used their own poets, their own storytellers, their own words, to give them a way in to seeing their part in God’s story.
It’s so interesting that the Athenians, for all their seeking, could not see God already in their midst. Their own poets said “he is not far from each one of us.” Their own altars had a sense of mystery. It was clear that their attempts to get their way by controlling the gods were ineffective. It had to be obvious to them that the past was never coming back—I mean, even their public discourse had descended into arguments between polar opposites.
And yet it had not occurred to them that maybe God, in whom we live and move and have our being, was also dynamic, not static. It had not occurred to them to look around and see what God was doing, or if there might be a future just as bright as the past. They spent so much time looking at yesterday that there was no room for tomorrow.
It makes you wonder: what can’t we see? What has never occurred to us? Are there ways we are like the Athenians? How have we trapped God in a static set of ideas and missed out on God’s dynamic, ever-moving ways? Have we also crowded out tomorrow by clinging to yesterday? And what next chapter could be written from the seeds of our well-known stories?
The next chapter will feel ridiculous, of course. Because raising someone from the dead is, frankly, ridiculous. If God does things like resurrection—things so completely uncontrollable and unbound—then what does that mean for those who want to be in relationship with God? If God can’t be bought, or appeased, then how are we supposed to relate? If God is God—loving, just, and faithful—no matter what we do, then what exactly are we supposed to do? It seems that if the relationship with God is not a transaction, where we control at least a portion of the situation, then it’s not worth it. If it’s true that our life, movement, and existence is held by God, is in God — a God who can do anything, even overcome the power of sin and death — then we cannot be separated, we cannot be cut off, we cannot truly be lost, and there is nothing to earn.
The implications were too much to handle for many of the people who heard — just as they still are today, if we’re being honest. Ever since that day they met Paul, people across time and place have heard this story and decided to turn away—sometimes we have turned away by constructing elaborate theological systems that allow us to feel like we have some control, and sometimes we have turned away by simply insisting it doesn’t make sense, or even by simply glossing over the power and shock of resurrection and acting as if it’s so normal it makes no difference. Sometimes we have turned away by believing the church is a building we visit now and then, like a shrine to an idol, and sometimes we have turned away by using the words of scripture to pretend that God’s grace is only available to some. There are many ways to scoff at what God offers, because we cannot comprehend unconditional love.
But a few people followed the Way. And a few people said “we want to hear more.” It wasn’t a giant crowd that converted that day, but it was enough. Those few changed lives, and those few curious hearts, were enough to set a new story in motion:
a story that didn’t look sideways at what others are doing,
or backwards at where we used to be,
a story that helps us learn to see God right in the midst of
where we are right now, who we are right now,
to discover that God is as close as our own breath—
and is always leading us forward into the kingdom,
into the good new days God has planned.
May it be so.
Amen.
Hymn 506: All I Once Held Dear by Graham Kendrick
Mission Focus: Inverclyde Youth For Christ
In sanctuary worship today, we are commissioning Charlene for her role as youth worker with Inverclyde Youth For Christ. She will reaffirm her faith, and answer questions about her commitment to reaching young people with the grace of God. We as a congregation will also answer questions about our commitment to support her ministry in whatever way we can, including prayer and financially. We will pray for her and give her a blessing, too: “may you know the blessing of being present, the blessing of making space for others, and the blessing of the right words at the right time, as you bear the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit into the lives of young people. Amen.”
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
You came to live among us, Lord,
knowing the fullness of human experience,
starting where we are yet revealing the way to your kingdom.
We give you thanks for your incarnate Word,
and for your resurrection power bringing us into community with you.
And we pray that you would move us along the journey,
for this world feels so stuck.
We are divided, and unwilling to loosen our grip on our rightness.
We are captured by nostalgia and can’t imagine a future.
We insist on doing what we’ve always done, hoping for a different outcome.
And so we cannot find our way to a story of peace, or justice, or hope.
We see news of violence in Palestine, in Sri Lanka, in Afghanistan, in Ukraine, in South Sudan,
and we feel helpless to change anything,
yet we pray that people may be comforted in grief,
strengthened in resilience,
encouraged in adversity,
and challenged to turn away from hatred and oppression and injustice.
And when they must flee, seeking refuge or a better life,
when desperation drives them to dangerous crossings of sea and desert,
we pray that people may be met with warmth and hospitality,
with compassion and practical help,
for we remember that whatever we do to the least of these, we do to you.
Just as you taught us to do to others as we would have done to us,
grant us the courage to treat our neighbours of other nations
with the same love and care we have received from you and would expect for ourselves.
We give thanks for our ability to participate in our community and government,
and we pray for our councils as they organise for a new session of serving the common good,
and we ask for your spirit of grace and wisdom to be their constant guide.
We pray today especially for the situation in Northern Ireland as they seek a way forward,
and also hold in our hearts the people of Lebanon as they vote today.
May all who find themselves in positions of power or influence be faithful
in pursuing truth, justice, and a future with hope.
You are a God who meets us where we are
yet does not leave us there but calls us forward into your kingdom.
Show us how to follow you this day,
to be fully here, wherever you have planted us,
to listen well and value whatever glimpses of you others show us,
to speak the truth we know without needing to control the outcome.
We ask in the name of the risen Christ, who taught us to pray together…
(Sanctuary Hymn 252: As a Fire is Meant for Burning)
Benediction
Go from the familiar and comfortable, with curiosity and faith, to look for God in unexpected places, to hear Christ’s word through unexpected voices, to follow the Spirit leading you to unexpected opportunities. 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.
Postlude Music (sanctuary only)
Announcements
* Happy Easter! Easter is a season that lasts for 50 days, so we will be celebrating resurrection for the next several weeks.
*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!
* Join our team walking for Christian Aid in the month of May! You can sign up here with Christian Aid to join in, and be sure you join our St John’s fundraising team! If you can’t walk all 300,000 steps yourself, you can do it as a group or a family, too! If online fundraising doesn’t work for you, you can also pick up an envelope at church.
**You can join Teri for a midweek walk on Wednesday at lunchtime this week — meet at the top of Bath Street beside the church at noon, or at the cenotaph at 12:05, for a walk-and-talk along the front (nice and flat!).
* 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 one-chair-between-households distancing. 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 for evening prayer on the Connect Facebook Page, led tonight by Karen. 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 Spring Church Notes are now available! You can read them by clicking here.
*Young Adults Bible Study is on Zoom most Sunday afternoons. Contact Teri for the link to join and for a copy of the book they are using.
* To learn more about Inverclyde Youth For Christ, and to support the ministry Charlene is doing with young people in our community, click here to visit their website.
Sunday Service for 17 May 2020, Sixth Sunday of Easter
17 May 2020: 6th Sunday of Easter
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri C Peterson,
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Contact: tpeterson@churchofscotland.org.uk
Welcome and Announcements
Though we cannot be together in person, we can be together in spirit! Please note the following announcements:
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- Children’s Time happens each Sunday morning at 11am on Zoom. If you would like the login details, please contact Teri.
- HEART AND SOUL happens online today at 2pm! You can join in on the Church of Scotland website or Facebook page.
- Churches across Scotland are calling people to join together in prayer on Sunday evenings at 7pm, placing a lit candle in the window and spending time in prayer for others, and we will have a prayer service Live on our Facebook page. In addition, the moderator of our Presbytery has asked us to pause each day at 11am to pray for healing, health care workers, and our community.
- Feel free to share this with others, with the attribution information at the top. If you know someone who does not have access to the internet and who also does not receive the tape ministry, you can either print this service out and share it with them, or let Teri know via email or phone call and we will be sure they receive a printed copy.
- Mid-week there is a devotional email that goes out, it will be printed and included with the following Sunday’s sermon distribution. You can subscribe to the email here.
- Also mid-week there is a facebook live video devotional on the St. John’s Gourock Facebook page.
- We now have a youtube channel! You can subscribe there so you never miss a video. Don’t miss “wine and the word” — an occasional series during the 5pm hour that helps us transition from one part of the day to the next, via reflections similar to those that would normally have been in the “God’s Story, Our Story” take home inserts given out each week.
- If you or a church member you know is in need of friendly phone calls or help with anything while they self-isolate, please contact Teri. Elders are already in contact with people in their districts as well, and you can pass information to them! We are hoping to continue and even deepen our connections to one another, building up the Body of Christ even when we can’t be in the building.
- Parklea has plants for sale! While we can’t have our usual plant sale in the church hall, you can still support this community organisation and get your spring and summer plants by visiting their website.
- Pentecost is coming soon—31 May! If you’d like to download and colour in a Pentecost prayer to hang in your window, you can get one here. We’d love to see them everywhere when we’re out for exercise! Also, midweek just before Pentecost, around the 25th or 26th or so, when you’re out for a walk you might find a Spirit Selfie Station on one of the church doors! Stop and take a selfie and send it to Teri so we can put together a slideshow—both to see each other and to celebrate the Church’s birthday….and to remember that the Church is the people, not the building.
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The Doxology (tune: Old Hundredth)
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Christ all people here below;
Praise Holy Spirit evermore;
Praise Triune God, whom we adore!
Amen
Prayer
God of resurrection power,
you called your Son out of the tomb
and in so doing, called the whole creation into new life.
Even now, you call us to join your way of resurrection,
you lift our eyes and raise our hearts,
you transform our minds and renew our spirits.
Bring us once again into awareness of your presence,
that we may offer you our worship,
and be nourished for your kingdom’s work.
We pray in the name of the risen Christ. Amen.
The readings and the sermon are on video here, or the text is below if you prefer to read it yourself!
Reading: Acts 17.1-9 (New Revised Standard Version)
After Paul and Silas had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, ‘This is the Messiah, Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.’ Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the market-places they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly, they attacked Jason’s house. When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some believers before the city authorities, shouting, ‘These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.’ The people and the city officials were disturbed when they heard this, and after they had taken bail from Jason and the others, they let them go.
Sermon: A Teachable Spirit (including second reading 1 Thessalonians 1.1-10, NRSV)
(Easter theme: Witness Apprenticeship Programme)
Did you catch what happened there? It’s something that’s actually still happening a lot these days, but it’s sometimes difficult to recognise it when we’re in the middle of everything.
The people who gathered the mob and set the city in an uproar accused the people they were attacking of turning the world upside down. And the ones who were accused, who were not the ones in the mob but rather the ones dragged out of their own house by the mob, ended up in jail and having to pay bail to get out, while the ones who started the riot went away with no consequences.
How often do we see these situations where some people are accusing others of the very thing they are actually the ones doing?
It’s an interesting accusation: these people have been turning the world upside down. They say there is another king besides the emperor.
On the one hand, that’s true! The followers of Jesus do proclaim another king, and following him does require changes to our relationship with the political system of the world. And the followers of the empire recognise the danger, because if too many people start following Jesus instead, then a whole host of things would change…things that currently benefit a few at the expense of the many. Imagine the Roman industrial complex if people loved their neighbour….and also loved their enemy? Imagine the imperial economy if people shared their food and their possessions so that no one went without. Imagine the class structure if landowners paid workers according to their value as people, rather than according to how much wealth they produced for him. Imagine partisan politicking if leaders cared as much about the one lost sheep as the 99 who were safely grazing within sight. Imagine the society pages if children, outcasts, homeless people, widows, the sick, the poor, and the marginalised were all invited to the feast. It would indeed turn the world upside down, and the imperial system couldn’t survive it.
So in a way, the people who started the riot were right. They recognised the truth of what God was doing in Jesus and his followers….the trouble is, they didn’t want any part of it!
If we back up a little bit in the story we just heard, we can see something of how this hard-heartedness happens. Paul and Silas did the thing they had done for their whole lives — they went to synagogue on the Sabbath day. There they worshipped with the community of their fellow Jews, and they preached and taught just as guests were often invited to do. It was during that preaching and teaching that Paul started to turn things upside down.
It says that he spent his sermons “explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead.” That was pretty much the opposite of what Jews had said and taught about their own scriptures for many hundreds of years. He was offering the congregation a brand new interpretation of scripture, changing their traditions, and reshaping everything they thought they knew. Only once their understanding of what the Messiah was had shifted would they be able to see Jesus as the Messiah God had promised. Only once they had let go of their old ways would they be able to enter into this new way God had revealed in Christ.
Some people were open to re-thinking, and they received this teaching and joined in following Jesus. And others could not stretch their imaginations to see how Jesus was the fulfilment of God’s promises.
It’s the ones whose hearts and minds could not stretch and shift, like a new wineskin stretching to accommodate the fermentation of wine, that tried to use other means to hold their rigid position. They could not imagine something new, so they fought instead. They accused, and rioted, and gossiped, and ran the people who were trying to change the tradition out of town.
But just as Christ could not be contained by a tomb, and just as the Holy Spirit cannot be contained in one language or one upper room, the good news of God’s love and promise fulfilled in Jesus cannot be stopped by closed minds and hearts.
So it is true that Paul and Silas and those who joined in the way of Christ with them were turning the world upside down. And it is true that they were disturbing the peace — the Pax Romana, which was only good for some — by proclaiming the far deeper justice of the peace of Christ instead. And the grace of God continued to be alive in that place, even after Paul and Silas moved on, leaving this fledgling community to try to be faithful in the face of opposition, from both the religious authorities who would not countenance the idea of changes to tradition, and the political authorities who understood that their power and socio-economic system were threatened by this new Way.
A bit later, Paul wrote back to the community in Thessalonica to encourage them. In the very beginning of that letter, he wrote:
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace.
We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of people we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place where your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.
How did this community formed in the midst of a riot end up being an example of faith so great that everyone knew about them, even many miles away? All across the Roman Empire, people had heard about this church and their faithfulness to the Way of Christ. They continued to turn the world upside down, changing not just their minds but their hearts and their way of life — their faith was public.
And all of that because they were open to a new interpretation of their traditions.
So Paul writes to them to remember those early days — the way the Spirit worked in them, the joy of experiencing the truth of God’s amazing grace, the love and faith and courage that sustained them through the difficulties. Remember the feeling of the Spirit opening your heart and mind. Remember the exuberance of fresh, new understanding. Remember how that newfound faith changed everything about your outlook on life. Recapture that excitement, that joy, that hope. Not only has it been an inspiration to others in ways you don’t even know, it will also sustain you in the days to come.
In these days when everything is changing, when we are just beginning to realise that there is no going “back” to the way things were, only forward into a new way, and when we are considering how to prepare to be witnesses for Christ in this changed world, perhaps there is a lesson here. Remember when we were excited about our faith, about trying our best to live a Christian life, about learning more about God’s word and faithfulness and love. Remember…Not so that we can go back to that time, but so that we can recapture that teachable spirit that first allowed grace to transform us.
I think a “teachable spirit” sums up the ethos of that Thessalonian congregation. They had to be willing to shift and change, to re-shape their understanding and their tradition, in order to incorporate the new thing God was doing into their faith and life together. They didn’t rigidly insist that the way they’d always done it, or the way they’d always understood, was the only way. Instead, they were open to the Holy Spirit moving them in a new direction, and that journey of faith changed not just them, but the world around them. It was dangerous to the empire, threatening to the people who used the tradition as a way to hold onto their own power…threatening enough to be worth rioting about!…but it was also a source of hope and courage and peace for those who were ready to experience the goodness of God in a new way. Their witness opened the path to faith for countless others.
What might God do with us, when we decide to have a teachable spirit? When we remember the joy of our early faith, and pray for the gift of openness and flexibility, of readiness to follow where Christ leads…even if that means we have to be willing to re-think the things we thought we already had figured out.
We will need to learn how to be Christ’s body, the Church, in new ways for a new world, making space for new interpretations of the living word, speaking a fresh message…and that might mean re-shaping tradition. We can’t go back, only forward. This may just be the moment when allowing the Spirit to teach and transform us again could lead to a renewal of faith, hope, and love in the whole community, church, nation, and world….and also a moment when having a teachable spirit is itself a witness, showing the world that Christ and his church are not only for the past, and not only for a far-off future, but also for right now: bringing life out of death and light out of the shadows, hope out of despair and joy out of fear…grace, for all.
May it be so. Amen.
Offering Prayer
In Christ you have given us all things, O God, and also called us to give of ourselves, following his way. As we enter into this resurrection life, make our giving a witness to your generosity. May we know the blessings of the kingdom, even as we seek to live in it each day. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
You are invited to place your offering envelope in a safe place until we can meet again. Or, if you haven’t already, to consider setting up a standing order so that your spiritual practice of giving can continue. Please remember: no one will come to your door to collect your offering while the church building is closed! Stay safe.
Offering Response Hymn 410, verse 4
(tune: Easter Hymn, Jesus Christ is Risen Today)
Sing we to our God above, Alleluia!
praise eternal as his love; Alleluia!
praise him all you heavenly host, Alleluia!
Father Son and Holy Ghost, Alleluia!
Prayer
We come before you with gratitude, O God,
for you provide so generously, sustaining us all our days.
We give you thanks,
for you place us in your abundant creation,
in communities and families, in nations and in churches.
You have created one human family
to live and flourish in peace.
You give us ways to order our life together
and call us to be faithful to you.
Now give us wisdom to live within your will,
as people saved by your grace.
Guide us as we seek your way,
and lead us in your paths of righteousness.
Give us a teachable spirit,
that we may be open to your leading.
As we walk this path of life and faith, Lord,
we are mindful of your call to love—
across boundaries and traditions,
in spite of distractions and frustrations.
When we have wandered from your way,
settling for the status quo
and believing our way to be the way,
you have called us back, again and again—
through your prophets ancient and modern,
through your Son’s life and death and resurrection,
through your word that continues to speak.
Remind us again, loving God,
that we need each other, and that our hands are yours.
We bear one another’s burdens,
carrying them to you for help.
We lift up this day your people who suffer
in body, mind, or spirit…
And also those who care for them,
on the front lines and behind the scenes.
We pray for peace among all your people,
in the streets of our cities,
in the halls of power, in homes,
in places where violence seems to reign…
We pray for those seeking refuge and help,
and those encountering hostile faces…
We pray for your church in every place,
that we may be one body even in our many members…
We pray for Martin Fair,
the new moderator of the General Assembly,
as he takes up his position in this strange circumstance.
We pray for our nation’s leaders,
that they may seek the good of all,
remembering that just as we do not walk alone,
we do not succeed or fail alone…
Strengthen our compassion, O God,
that we may walk side by side
and find that you are among us,
wherever we find ourselves.
Your Spirit is always on the move, O God.
Make and re-make us,
through your Spirit at work
in our hearts, minds, and lives,
that all may see your kingdom present on earth.
We pray these and all things in the name of Christ,
whose path we walk and whose life we imitate,
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 533: Will You Come and Follow Me
Benediction
As you live this resurrection life, preparing to be a witness to Christ’s love and God’s grace, may you remember the joy and wonder of faith, and may you have a teachable spirit, ready to be transformed by the word of God, living and active even now. And remember: the Spirit of God goes above you to watch over you; the Spirit of God goes beside you to be your companion; the Spirit of God goes before you to show you the way, and behind you — to push you into places you might not go alone; and the Spirit of God goes 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 Response (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.
