Sunday service for 9 October 2022

Sunday 9 October 2022, NL1-5 (moving God-ward 2)
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse: 632143 
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk

Prelude Music

Welcome/Announcements

Call to Worship
One: You are the people of God, chosen, treasured, and beloved!
All: What does it mean to be God’s people?
One: You are the people of God, the conduit of blessing to the world.
All: What does it mean to be a blessing?
One: You are the people of God, an example of right relationship in human and divine community.
All: What does true community look like?
One: Come, people of God,
to hear God’s word, to learn God’s way, to choose each day to respond to God’s faithfulness.
All: We come to be re-oriented to a new way of life.

Sanctuary Hymn 21: Lord, Teach Me All Your Ways (Psalm 25)

Prayer
You are the Lord our God, and you have brought us out to new life as your people.
We thank you for choosing us, for loving us, for treasuring us.
And we confess that it’s very easy to downplay your part in our lives,
focusing instead on the things we think we can control.
We confess that we have claimed your divine sanction for things that serve us,
and that we have focused on our own gratification and success
without a care for how it affects us, others, or the world.
We confess that we have not honoured our elders,
seeing them either as a relic, a nuisance to wait out, a crutch to lean on, or a constituency to pander to,
rather than as real people with gifts and experience to share.
We confess that while we may not have personally struck a fatal blow,
we have stood silently by while governments and corporations
make choices that steal lives and livelihoods,
and we have benefitted from land and labour stolen from indigenous people.
We have been dishonest about our own and others’ motivations,
and allowed things to be done in our name
because it gave us opportunities and inexpensive stuff with which to fill our lives.
Forgive us, God,
for even when we think we’re carefully keeping your commandments
the truth is that if we scratch the surface, we have not been faithful to your call.
Forgive us, and teach us once again how to live in your beloved community,
remembering that all the earth is yours,
and you have not only instructed us but lived among us to open your Way of truth and life.
Amen.

Online Hymn: We Lift Our Voices (Resound Worship)

Children’s Time— Song: We will walk with God (Sizohamba Naye)

Prayer of the Season
The whole earth is yours, O God.
From the beginning of the story,
you have been drawing us toward you.
We give you thanks that you have brought us this far
even when we feel like we have to trudge every step.
Though we don’t know how to be your people,
still you coax, call, and carry us forward.
Show us again today what it means to be people who live close to your heart,
not through our own efforts, but yours.
Amen.

Reading: Exodus 19:1-8 (New Revised Standard Version)
After God parted the sea and brought the people out of Egypt and into freedom, God led them, as a pillar of cloud and fire, through the wilderness. When they complained about having no food, God gave them manna every morning. When they complained about having no water, God showed Moses a rock to hit with his staff and water flowed. When they were tired, God led them to an oasis where they could camp.We pick up the story in the book of Exodus, chapter 19, beginning at verse 1, and I am reading from the New Revised Standard Version.

At the third new moon after the Israelites had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.’
So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. The people all answered as one: ‘Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.’ Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.

For the word of God in scripture,
for the word of God all around us,
for the word of God within us,
thanks be to God.

Sermon: Treasured
I should probably begin today by saying that I don’t camp. My family did it when I was a child, in various forms from tents to cabins in the woods, but the truth is that I don’t like to sleep outside, I don’t want to pitch a tent, I definitely don’t want to stay somewhere with no running water. I do like to have a wee fire and cook on it, and I enjoy an evening of singing or stories or drinks around the fire, with some toasted marshmallows, but that is as close as I get to camping. So I have some sympathy with the Israelites who complained their way across the wilderness! No water, no food, it’s hot, it’s cold, their feet are sore, the children are whining, their packs are heavy, they have to pitch a tent and strike camp every day or two, they’d like a bath or to wash their clothes, they don’t even really know where they’re going….I realise that for some people that sounds like a holiday but to me it sounds like torture.

I imagine that if I had been with them, and then stood at the foot of Mount Sinai and heard Moses say “God carried you on eagles wings and brought you here to God’s presence,” I might have actually said “God didn’t carry anything, I carried everything on my own two feet for the past three months!”

And isn’t pretty much what we’re like? It’s so easy to think we’ve done something under our own power. Nevermind that if God hadn’t parted the sea, and before that if God hadn’t done all those things in Egypt, we wouldn’t even have been in the wilderness to walk away from that life of forced labour and fear in the first place.

No wonder, then that the very first words God said to Moses on the mountain were “remind the Israelites that they saw what I did in Egypt, they saw how I brought them out.” Because it just doesn’t take us long to forget that it was God, not us, who made all this possible. It probably still felt like a long slog, like hard work, like we were the ones dragging one foot after the other…because it’s true, sometimes life is hard work and we can barely carry the burden. Imagine doing it actually on our own, and not with God’s power and leading and help? The reason they could take each step, however difficult or easy it was, is only because God carried them. If only that carrying felt more like…floating! And less like giving us what we need to lift our foot again.

But God didn’t choose the people for a life of ease as a contrast to their previous life of slavery. Instead God chose them for a particular task in the world. Of course God starts out by saying “You will be my treasured possession” — which sounds amazing! Who doesn’t want to feel treasured? It’s so close to…favourite. And the idea we are God’s favourites so easily leads us down a couple of problematic roads — it could make us think we’re better than others, even though God clearly says that the entire earth and all its people belong to him; or it could make us blame God when things go wrong or when we are in pain, because surely being God’s favourite is supposed to make our lives easier and better, right? Or perhaps it could make us think that we’ve somehow been bad enough to lose God’s grace, which is never possible. But what God means by calling us treasured doesn’t seem to mean favourite in the way we normally think of it.

Instead, God explains that to be God’s treasured possession is to be a priestly kingdom and holy nation. To be in the midst of all the earth that is God’s, but also to be different in the midst of the world.

We might wonder just what it means to be priestly and holy? After all, those words have gathered a lot of baggage over the past few thousand years. And though part of that baggage includes the idea of self-righteousness or arrogance, the truth is that neither priestly nor holy has anything to do with being better than. Instead they are both words about being set apart for a function, for a purpose.

To be holy means to be dedicated to God. And of course “dedicated” means two things, right — one is about having been offered, given as a gift, the way we dedicate an offering or a building or the window or even a person to God’s work and God’s glory. We are given into God’s care, treasured, held in God’s heart. The other meaning flows from the first, and is about our own commitment, that we dedicate our time and effort and energy to serving God. Not dedicated to our own comfort or desires, not dedicated to the things we like or to telling our own story, as the rest of the world might expect or suggest, but dedicated to God. Because we are treasured, we can commit ourselves to being holy.

The role of a priest was to mediate between people and God — to be something like a go-between, a messenger. The priest stood in between and offered the people’s prayers and offerings up to God, and brought God’s gifts down to the people. They were a little like a phone operator in the old days, connecting the calls.

So what might it mean when God says that the chosen people are to be set apart as the mediators between the world and God? Among all the nations, all the peoples, God appointed the treasured possession to be the ones who stand between and offer up the prayers of the world to God, and bring the gifts of God to the world. What would it look like if we thought of ourselves as a conduit for prayers and blessings, a phone operator that helps people connect to God and both give and receive? How might our relationship with both God and our community be different if we thought this was our purpose here, as the people of God in this town?
Our neighbours are, like us, putting one foot in front of the other, carrying burdens, walking journeys we don’t know…they may feel they have to do it themselves, but actually God has given to the world people who have experienced God’s carrying, to demonstrate another way.

What would we be doing if we were intentionally trying to bring our neighbours’ needs to God?
What would we be doing if we were intentionally trying to bring God’s gifts and blessing to our neighbours?
How would it feel if we thought of that as our purpose in this place?

That’s what God chose us to do. That’s why God calls us treasured, holy, a priestly kingdom. And then the people said they would do everything God had spoken — which is quite a commitment, especially since God proceeded to tell them just how to do that via the ten commandments. But when we join them in making that commitment to live this way, we will find ourselves carried toward God’s kingdom, which isn’t just one place but anywhere God’s love is visible.

May it be so. Amen.

Hymn: We Rejoice To Be God’s Chosen (words John L Bell; tune Nettleton)

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Liberator God,
You set us free from the false gods
of self-sufficiency, constant productivity, violence, and ego.
You bring us, again and again, into the good and broad land
where we can trust you and live in harmony with each other,
and we are grateful.
We pray this day for all who find themselves still constrained
by those false gods who demand everything yet give nothing.
*For ourselves and our neighbours who believe we have to do everything on our own,
unable to ask for help or to share confidences and receive support.
*For ourselves and our neighbours who cannot see our way to rest,
whose time and relationships must always orient around doing more, making more, earning more.
*For ourselves and our neighbours who are bound by the tyranny of tradition,
or by the anxiety of the future,
who cannot move forward because their foundation is flimsy and their tether too tight.
*For ourselves and our neighbours who are only able to repeat the cycle of violence,
unable to imagine a way of peace or justice for themselves or others or the earth.
*For ourselves and our neighbours who barely have a grasp on our own wholeness,
and so have trouble respecting the boundaries of others,
and for those whose integrity has been breached.
May all your people know themselves beloved,
and recognise your powerful hand at work in others and the world.
…
Lord God we struggle to live fully in community, with you and with each other.
Yet you desire genuine relationship, and you continually show up with grace and justice.
We are grateful for your steadfast love that extends beyond our imagination,
and for your passion to set things right.
You are the One to whom we turn,
in joy and sorrow, in fear and frustration, in hope and anticipation.
Carry us once again God-ward,
that wherever we find ourselves, we may trust your presence and turn our eyes to your way.
Give us courage to keep your commandments,
just as you keep us.
We ask in your Holy name
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 256: May the God of Hope Go With Us

Benediction
Through you the world will be blessed by love, demonstrated in your way of life.
May God’s steadfast love re-orient your day, your week, and your being.
May the embodied Word of God in Christ reveal a still more excellent way for you to follow.
May the Holy Spirit knit us together into true community.

As you go into your week, 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

Announcements

* We are hosting an October holiday club for Primary aged children, 18-20 October, on the theme “Life in Plastic, NOT Fantastic: Caring for God’s Good Earth.” More information and registration is available at our website. If you are interested in volunteering in any way — whether helping shepherd groups, cooking lunch, providing leadership, or a little light decorating, please contact Teri!

* There will be NO Wednesday evening Bible Study this week, we will be together again next Wednesday the 19th! 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 manse at 6 Barrhill Road. 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.

* Next Sunday 16 October, in the evening, we’ll be hosting a BIG SING, with the Connect+ singing group! The group will lead us in short songs from around the world, including songs from Iona, Taize, various countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, and will guide us in harmonies and rhythms we didn’t know we could do. It will be a wonderful evening of making a joyful noise. No experience necessary, no need to read music, just the willingness to join in!

* All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) and we also meet in the sanctuary at 11am. 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 be 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!

* Young Adult Bible Study meets in the manse on the 2nd and 4th Sundays at 7pm for a meal and a study of the gospel according to John. If you’d like more information, for yourself, a family member, a friend, or neighbour who is in their 20s, please contact Teri for the dates/times and other information.