Sunday service for 14 August 2022

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

Prelude Music

Welcome/Announcements

Stilling Video: birdsong (from eco-congregation Scotland)

Psalm 19.1-4
1: The heavens are telling the glory of God,
    
and the sky proclaims God’s handiwork.

2: Day pours out speech to the next day,
    
and night declares knowledge to night.

3:  Their voice is not heard;
they have no speech, nor are there words;

4: AND YET… their voice goes out through all the earth
    
nd their words to the end of the world.
All: Listen for the voice of creation, singing God’s goodness and power.

Hymn 147: All Creatures of our God and King, vv. 1-2

Prayer (adapted from Creation Time resources: Sky Sunday)
God, our Creator, we look into the skies and celebrate the wonders of the world that surrounds us. The subtle orange skies at dawn, the red and purple and teal and yellow at sunset. We join the heavens in praising you, our voice mingles with the atmosphere and is carried on the wind, reaching for the stars to light the universe with your glory.
Yet we confess that while we find it easy to see your handiwork in the beauty of sunset and the feel of the breeze, too often we forget our place. We take advantage of what you have created, using it for our own ends, caring nothing for the damage we do. We admit we have not listened to the cries of the earth in the howling winds, we have ignored the tears of the heavens falling like rain, we have allowed our desire for comfort and convenience to silence the songs of your creatures that wing their way over the earth.We confess we have simply assumed all this is here for our enjoyment and our use, or abuse. We have forgotten that the creation is yours, and exists for your purpose. We do not hear its songs of praise, and we do not understand the story it tells.
We are sorry for our part in the pain your world bears — for the earth itself, the air around us, the sky above us, the creatures we share with, and the people we do not see as neighbours are hurting and begging for us to pay attention.
Forgive us. Help us to see your presence not only in the beautiful photo moment, but also to hear your call beating down in scorching sun or whipping round us in a chill wind. Forgive us, and teach us to hear your good news and the challenge of your kingdom way, from the skies and the clouds and the birds at the window. Forgive us, and give us courage to act on what we hear, that once again all creation might sing in harmony, as you intend. We ask in the name of Christ who unites heaven and Earth we pray. Amen.

Sanctuary Hymn 141: Oh the Life of the World

Sanctuary Children’s Time— Song: Oh the earth is the Lord’s (chorus)

Reading: Genesis 1.1-5, Robert Alter translation
1 – When God began to create heaven and earth,
2 – and the earth then was welter and waste and darkness over the deep
3 – and God’s breath hovering over the waters,
4 – God said, “Let there be light.”
5 – And there was light.
6 – And God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness.
7 – And God called the light Day, and the darkness God called Night.
8 – And it was evening and it was morning, first day.

Reflection
That segment of Psalm 19 we read together at the beginning of worship is fascinating — the skies, days and nights, all the air and atmosphere around us, speaks of God’s glory and power and creativity…even without words or what we would call voice. Yet somehow they are heard, even to the ends of the earth.

Which makes me wonder: what does it take for us to listen to the creation? What would we hear, what would we learn, if we listened more carefully? Some of the earliest Christians in Scotland spoke of reading two books about God’s work — the little book of scripture, and the big book of creation. Both were to be read together, so that the written word and the created world would combine into one witness. But at some point we lost that sense of the creation revealing God’s care and God’s call to us, and decided that the only thing that mattered was what we thought, despite the fact that we are but one part of the creation….a big part, yes, but also the most destructive, because we have believed ourselves to be above, or outside, or in control of this place.

Yet all through scripture we are pointed, again and again, toward ALL the ways God is revealed, and toward the fact that we are not in control, not above or outside, and indeed that we can never even fully comprehend the mysteries of the natural world. It was God’s breath hovering over the waters before the first day, and that same breath is the wind that blows where it chooses, without our knowledge or manipulation. We can hear it but we don’t know where it comes from or where it goes…and the inhale that precedes God’s word and the exhale that carries God’s voice is literally still the air all around us.

What if we listened to it?

It feels a little strange to think of listening to the skies, or even to the air. After all, it’s just….there. We take it for granted that the air we breathe will continue to surround and support us without us ever noticing or really caring much about it. It’s often only when something goes wrong that we pay any attention at all — when there’s pollution that smells bad or irritates our eyes or lungs, when smoke clouds over the sky, when there’s zero wind on a sweltering hot day. The same is true for the inhabitants of the skies — for instance during my holiday in southwest France I heard almost no birds the whole time. It was strangely silent compared to this neighbourhood where it feels like the birds talk nonstop from sunup to sundown! But the birds weren’t just quieter there…they were absent. Because there’s a significant drought, which means the river was very low, which means fewer fish and insects, which means the birds can’t eat, so they moved away. I didn’t see a single butterfly and only one bumblebee…the air was just…empty. Add in the wildfires that weren’t all that far away — even though the smoke painted some of the sunsets with colour — and the reality is that the silence of the air tells a story we really need to listen to.

Do you remember back in the 80s when we were all worried about the hole in the ozone layer? Scientists in the 70s had said that some of the things humans were using and doing were causing a problem, and then in the early 80s it became clear the problem was becoming bigger faster than anyone expected…so the world got together and decided to do something about it. We listened to what the atmosphere was saying, as it cried out for healing and justice, and we responded. The ozone layer no longer makes the news, because the entire global community — literally every nation signed on, the only treaty ever to gain 100% acceptance — heeded creation’s cry for help, the ozone layer has been healing itself and is no longer dangerous to the earth and its inhabitants.

Can you even imagine that level of listening to creation today? Hearing what the day calls out to the next day, what the night teaches the next night…listening in as the wind tells the story of grace and love, and answering when the sky begs for relief from all the burdens it carries. Not just taking note of the silence of the absent birds, but also participating in the conversation creation is having — as a part and a partner, not as the whole or its master.

Sometimes we might look at the scale of the challenge of this climate emergency and feel overwhelmed. In one sense, the ozone hole was simpler because it was easy to pinpoint the problem and replace those things with something else…while today we require much bigger change at every level. But in the bigger picture, going all the way back to the beginning of Genesis, we recognise there’s nothing new under the sun. Chapter one, verse one, tells us that when God began to create, “the earth then was welter and waste and darkness over the deep” — isn’t that what it feels like sometimes? Welter and waste and darkness…depths we cannot fathom…confusion and chaos, no consensus about how to get where we need to be, and no political will to climb the big hills ahead. But listen to the rest: “the earth then was welter and waste and darkness over the deep AND.” The welter and waste and darkness are part of the story, but not the whole story. There’s a big, huge, AND: God’s breath hovering over the waters.

Right there in the middle of the welter and waste and darkness, God’s breath: hovering over the waters.

The wind of God’s breath was already blowing, through all that chaos and shadow and uncertainty. Before anything else: God’s breath was hovering, moving, preparing.

When it seemed like there was nothing, actually there was everything: the breath of God, blowing where it will. When it seems like everything has been laid waste, and even the birds have fallen silent, actually there is still everything: the breath of God hovers. Still we hear the sound of it, but we don’t know where it comes from or where it’s going. God breathes in, and all creation waits and wonders. And then, on the exhale comes the voice that will never leave us nor forsake us, the voice of love and justice, of hope and healing, the voice that teaches and calls. Whatever welter and waste there may be, the breath of life is over it all, and all the earth harmonises along, birds and butterflies and breeze, sky and sun and shadows, the air we breathe and the light we see, telling God’s story and calling us to join in.

May we be listening.
Amen.

Sanctuary: reflection music
Online Hymn: Heaven’s Voice Brings the Dawn (Resound Worship)

Prayer Flags

(Adapted from Creation Time Sky Sunday prayers, with eco-congregations video: wind in the trees)
God our Creator, teach us to empathise with Earth.
Make our spirits sensitive to the cries of creation,
cries for justice from the air, the clouds and the sky.
Lord Jesus Christ, make our faith sensitive to the groaning of creation,
staggering under our weight and begging for relief.
Holy Spirit, make our hearts sensitive to the songs of our kin,
songs of celebration from the stars, the winds, the clouds, the birds of the air, the butterflies and bees and bats without whom we could not live…
Christ, teach us to care.

We join our prayers with our neighbours near and far,
humanity in need of justice and peace and freedom from poverty and oppression and fear…
creatures large and small seeking shelter and safety and playing their part in the ecosystem…
birds that sing and those whose voices have been silenced…
communities that are learning to live harmoniously with nature and those struggling to manipulate and dominate both the earth and each other…
May all creation know your care, through the wonders of this world you have given and also through the compassion of neighbours, strangers and friends.
We lift our prayers to you, letting the wind carry them,
joining in the song of the skies, sharing love and hope and peace with every place the breeze reaches,
trusting your breath to bring life for all.
In the name of Christ who taught us to pray together…

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.
Amen.

Sanctuary Hymn 149: Let All Creation Dance (tune: Darwall’s 148)

Benediction

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
 

*You are invited to join in reading the Bible in a year for 2022 — immersing ourselves in God’s word throughout the year. We get together to discuss each week on Wednesday at 7:30pm in the Sanctuary. Please enter via the front door on Bath street — if you can’t manage the stairs, let us know and someone will meet you at the St John’s Road door. All are welcome, no experience necessary! Feel free to invite a friend, too! Anyone who has ever wondered just what the Bible actually says and what it has to do with us is welcome.

*All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) and we also meet in the sanctuary at 11am. Hand sanitiser is available at every entrance, and mask-wearing is optional. Masks are available at the door if you would like one. 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.

* 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!

*If you or anyone you know is in your 20s and would like to join our young adults’ Bible study, please contact Teri for more information. The group will resume on 28 August at the new time of 7pm, studying the gospel according to John in the manse or another nearby home, with pizza and fellowship.

* Looking ahead: A Bowl & a Blether on 5 September will also be a Macmillan Coffee Morning! Come along for a cup of tea or coffee and a scone from 10:30, and/or a bowl of soup from noon – 1:30…whether you come for a bit or stay all day, we can guarantee a good fun time, a chat with friends old and new, and a chance to donate to a good cause. Why not invite a neighbour to join you?