Sunday service for 31 May 2026

Sunday 31 May 2026, Relationships Unmasked 2
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse phone: 632143
Email: TPeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk

If the video doesn’t play, please click here to view it on our YouTube channel!

Sanctuary Prelude Music (praise band)

Welcome

We Gather As God’s Family (As the Bible is brought in, we stand and sing)
A family gathered in love,
striving for justice and joy,
blessing the broken-hearted,
and sharing the hope of God’s kingdom.

Opening Responses
One: In all the ups and downs of life,
All: we can trust our relationship with God.
One: From generation to generation,
All: we can be honest and real with God.
One: When we feel close and when we feel far off,
All: ultimately the love of God never fails.

Sanctuary Hymn GWA146: Waymaker (praise band)

Prayer
You are committed to your people, O God,
and we give you thanks for calling us your own.
Through it all, you bear with us,
showing us your ways
and remembering your promise.
As we are made in your image,
so let us reflect your faithfulness, too,
bearing with one another
and revealing glimpses of your glory
in this holy human life.

We long to know you with us, O God,
to see your presence and to feel your hand holding and guiding.
And so we sometimes look in the wrong place,
and put our trust in something other than you.
We confess, too, that sometimes we take your forgiveness too lightly.
We trust your grace, we trust your love, we trust your promise…
and therefore it can be easy to think we need not change our lives.
We admit that we have plenty of reasons
why our loyalty to other powers and systems is compatible with your word.
We think little of the cost you bear
to hold our betrayal,
to see our unwillingness to enact your will,
to hear us use your name to justify ourselves,
and yet continue your steadfast love.
In the midst of the mess we have made,
you see us,
even when we create complicated new ways to hide.
So we pray you would forgive us,
and renew our relationship with you
that in turn our relationships with one another might also be renewed.
Forgive us, and hold us close in your faithfulness.
Forgive us, and stay with us.
Turn our hearts and lives to your way,
and draw us ever nearer to you.
We ask in your most holy name. Amen.

Friends, hear and believe this good news: the Lord our God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, pouring out love to the thousandth generation. Let that grace transform you today. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Online Hymn GWA146: Waymaker

Sanctuary Children’s Time

Sanctuary Hymn GWA62: Bring It All To Me (Video)

Scripture Reading: from Exodus 32-34
Today’s reading takes us to the top of Mount Sinai, where Moses has been meeting with God while the rest of the people are at the bottom of the mountain waiting…they got restless and worried he wasn’t coming back, so they melted down some jewellery and made a golden calf and began to worship as if it represented God. We pick up the reading in Exodus chapter 32 and read selections through chapters 33 and 34 as well, in the New Revised Standard Version.

The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ” The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, and of you I will make a great nation.”
But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
The Lord said to Moses, “Go, leave this place, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, and go to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’
Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey, but I will not go up among you, or I would consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’ ” Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.
Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have said to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favour in my sight.’ Now if I have found favour in your sight, please show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favour in your sight. Consider, too, that this nation is your people.” He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favour in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth.”
The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have asked, for you have found favour in my sight, and I know you by name.”
The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name, “The Lord.” The Lord passed before him and proclaimed,
“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
And Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshiped. He said, “If now I have found favour in your sight, my Lord, I pray, let my Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

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: stay
It’s a pretty uncomfortable idea, that God would want rid of the people at the first time they made a big mistake. To be fair it’s a huge mistake, to make a statue and worship it as if it was god just a few weeks after they had heard God say “you shall have no other gods before me, and you shall not make any statues or images.” But still. God immediately turns to Moses and tries to pass off the whole people to him like a parent who says to the other parent “do you know what your children did?” And God is so furious that he’s ready to just wipe them all out and start over with Moses.

It’s quite an offer for Moses. He could be the patriarch that doesn’t just lead a group of people with a long history, he would BE their history. He could be the one through whom the blessing of God flows to the world. It could be his name that echoes down through the generations as the carrier of the promise.

But Moses doesn’t want that. And he knows God well enough to know that actually, it’s just the anger talking. So Moses stands up to God in a way I think many of us would tremble to do! He stands there on the mountain and basically shouts back “You made a promise! And you aren’t the kind of God who breaks promises. Imagine what people would say if they found out that you are just as fickle as their own gods are? Don’t you remember Abraham? He trusted you and you trusted him, remember the promises you made?”

And it worked. God changed God’s mind about destroying the people.

Meanwhile, down at the bottom of the mountain, the people have no idea how close they came to disaster. They have no idea that Moses is up there literally arguing with God on their behalf. Moses who they have alternately loved and hated, trusted and distrusted, fought with and followed…that Moses who has never fit in with the Israelites or the Egyptians, and yet for some reason is so committed that he will stand toe to toe with God arguing for mercy. And they will never know the extent of what he did for them.

Moses talked God down from the heights of anger, but the relationship between God and the people was still damaged. It’s a bit like that old story of putting nails into the fence and then taking them out — the holes are still there. It will take some work to repair the breach, and in the meantime, Moses is the one standing in that breach holding both sides together with all his might.

On the one side, Moses tells the people how hurtful they have been, and the people repent. They grieve, and they put away their finery and their partying. On the other side, Moses stands firm and insists that God fulfil God’s promises. Because though God had decided not to destroy them all after all, there was still a question of ongoing relationship.

One of the ways I often talk about forgiveness and relationship is as a multi-level situation. Forgiveness is really for the person who is doing the forgiving. When someone has hurt me, whether I choose to forgive them or not is about me. It’s about whether I want to carry that grudge. If I choose to forgive, it changes things for me but it doesn’t really change anything for the other person.

Forgiveness does not necessarily lead to reconciliation. But also reconciliation can’t happen without forgiveness. The choice to move toward reconciliation, where we come together and work out our differences, requires both of us. It will involve moves on both sides to be honest and to come to understanding, it will require repentance — a change of behaviour, not just being sorry — and also forgiveness, but then it also needs us both to decide to move on and not let this moment define us.

But the choice to continue a relationship is yet a third step that does not necessarily follow but also can’t happen without the first two steps. It is entirely possible to forgive but not be reconciled. And it is entirely possible to forgive and be reconciled but decide not to have an ongoing relationship. It is not possible to have an ongoing relationship without both forgiveness and reconciliation.

God has decided to forgive, because of who God is. Moses reminded God that forgiveness is part of God’s identity, and if God was going to act with integrity, God would have to forgive.

The people repented, because Moses told them about the hurt they had caused and reminded them of who they were called to be, and which God had saved them and called them. If the people were going to be who they were created to be, they needed to change their ways.

All that remained, then, was to figure out whether an ongoing relationship would be possible.

At first, God said no. God would send someone else, an angel, to show them the way to the promised land. God needed a break, because being close to them just wasn’t possible at this point. Yes, God would fulfil the promise, but just couldn’t imagine actually staying together.

Again, Moses was the one standing in the middle — the only one who was managing to have a relationship with both sides. So fascinating, since he was also the one who had been an outsider in every community his whole life, that now he’s the one holding this whole situation together because of his security in his relationship with both of them! Moses trusted that God would not walk away from him, and so he was able to hold God accountable to the promises. Moses trusted that the people wouldn’t walk away from him, despite the difficulties they’d had in the past, and so he was able to speak the hard truth to them. There’s no way to say the things Moses said — to God or to the people — if you’re afraid that it might lead to the end of the relationship entirely. This kind of argument is founded on secure attachment and trust.

So when Moses said to God: “if you won’t go with us, then we’re going to stay here,” God listened. Moses was bringing the people along, closer and closer, and saying to God “actually, we want to be where you are.” Even if it means we never get to the promised land, we would rather be where you are.

This is what moves toward ongoing relationship look like. The forgiveness step was all on God’s side. The reconciliation involved the people coming forward and admitting they were wrong and wanted to do better. And then both of them work toward relationship, choosing to continue in each other’s company, even if it means that the future looks different than anticipated, or even if rewards they expected never happen — they choose to be together.

Moses is then bold enough, trusting enough, secure enough in their relationship, to ask for something more: show me yourself, he says to God. If we’re going to be in this together, I need to know you more deeply, more like the way you know us. And God does! Not revealing the fullness of divine glory, because that would be too life-changing for a human to hold onto, it would mean Moses couldn’t live his human life among human community once he’d seen that much. But a glimpse of God’s back, and hearing God’s voice, yes. And so God stood before Moses and proclaimed who God is — a statement of God’s identity and truth, a commitment to God’s integrity, a promise to be God’s fullest and best self with this people. Not sugar coating the justice side that can be hard for us to hear, but leading with grace, mercy, love, and faithfulness. Not saying there are no consequences for hurtful or harmful actions, but saying that this relationship will endure, we can trust it, even through the consequences.

And Moses saw and heard, and on behalf of all the people he said: We want to be where you are. Wherever you are. Take us with you. Stay with us.

Forgiveness, reconciliation, relationship. In the end, both sides say the same thing to each other: I want to be where you are. Stay. And God does…and they do…so we can.

May it be so.
Amen.

Silence for Reflection
During this season you are invited to consider a question during our silent reflection, and to put a few words in answer to that question onto the post-it note you’ll find on the back of your seat. There are pencils in the book rack at the back of your seat as well. Today as we reflect on what the Spirit is saying to the church, we’re wondering if you have ever argued with God about something? What and how did it go? Answers on a post-it!
(To be collected during offering and added to mind map)

Sanctuary Hymn GWA152: The Mind of God (organ)

Sanctuary Offering Hymn: Better Is One Day (praise band)

Sanctuary Offering Response: GWA148 chorus (organ)
I will sing a song of love
to the one who first loved me,
and I’ll sing it as a child of God,
who is named and known and free.
For the love of God is good,
it is broad and deep and long;
and above all else that matters,
God is worthy of my song.

Concerns of the Church
*Bowl & Blether
*Bible Study
*potluck brunch cafe church next Sunday
*Ann Caldwell — funeral 5 June 1pm crematorium
*prayer groups

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Holy God,
you have called us your people
and showed us how to follow your way
to make your kingdom visible on earth as in heaven.
On the 31st day of the month we join our hearts as your St John’s family to pray
*For the whole community of Gourock, for our beautiful natural environment: the river, burns, lochs, soil, air, flora and fauna of all kinds, and for all who live, work, play, pray, and pass through in this place.
*For those who use the building at St John’s — may they encounter your grace in our hospitality — and for the volunteers who keep the building clean and in good repair.
*For the health of the whole creation, all the nations of the world, and the work of the United Nations, that we may know ourselves as a global community.

Loving God,
We thank you for your voice that echoes through the ages,
for your faithfulness to our ancestors,
for your Spirit that teaches us still.
When we have lost our way or turned away,
you have overcome your anger and disappointment with grace,
and reached out in prophets and even in your Son,
bridging the distance we have created
and bringing us home to you, again and again.
With gratitude we stand before you,
asking once more for your gracious mercy
for a world that has turned to idols.
We hear the sound of revelry
and the songs praising your name
and with the next breath come hate and dehumanising and exclusion.
We see the excuses of supposed danger used to justify violence.
We, like Moses, don’t know how to hold together across the chasm
and our only hope is in you.
We pray for those who have been led astray by insecure leaders.
We pray for those who have been harmed by the power-seeking of others.
We pray for those who have been left behind in pursuit of greed and security.
We pray for those whose anger boils over, and those on the receiving end,
and for relationships ruptured, futures foreclosed, hopes dashed
by words that can’t be unsaid.
We pray for those who have to pretend everything is okay,
and for all who are putting in the hard work of repair.
And we thank you, gracious God, for not giving up.
We pray for the grace to stand firm too,
to recognise your voice
and to trust we can bring you our fear and our anger alongside our grief and our hope.
Even when things are messy between us, and messy between your people,
we pray that as you are gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,
you would make us so too.
Turn us to your way
and make us reflect your goodness and your justice,
until the world is transformed in your image.
We ask these and all things in the name of Christ and in the power of the Spirit
who intercedes for us with sighs deeper than words,
as we pray together as Jesus taught us:
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 511: Your Hand, O God, Has Guided (organ)

Sending
Go out into the world trusting the gracious mercy of God. Let your relationship be real, your conversation with God honest, your work in the community truth-telling, and may you know the blessing to be found in hanging in there through the ups and downs.
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.

Sanctuary Postlude Music (organ)

Announcements

* We worship in the sanctuary on Sundays at 11am, and Sunday worship is also online.

* The first Sunday of the month at 11am is an all-age service, with different ways of encountering God’s word without a traditional sermon. All people — young and old, different personalities and learning styles, are welcome! You’ll find a more informal service with a variety of music, a Bible story, prayer, and some more interactive elements. The online service for the first Sunday will therefore also be different — there will still be a reading, prayers, and music, but usually not a sermon.

* Bowl & Blether is on the first Mondays of the month, with doors open from 11:30-1:30, and lunch served from noon. All are welcome for a bowl of soup, a toastie, a friendly chat in our warm hall! See you TOMORROW the 1st of June! This month our ingredients were sponsored by the Co-Op, who are a sponsor of Warm Welcome. Many thanks! Soups tomorrow are lentil & bacon, tomato basil, and pea & mint!

* The service next week on the 7th of June will be our all age cafe church service and for this we decided that for this we will be holding a Brunch Potluck!! We’d love you to bring a dish to share as we feast together. If you are wishing to bring a hot dish can we ask the you bring it hot as we won’t be able to heat it up.  We also ask you please to avoid nuts and label things if they are vegetarian/vegan/gluten free or if they contain any typical allergens. Thanks! We cannot wait to come together as a family of God and share a delicious meal with you all!

* There will be a time of prayer and reflection following the service on Sunday June 14th and 28th. The focus will be on family, relationships, loss and grief. It will include short readings to focus our thoughts and some time for silent, personal prayer. Please pick up a coffee and come back into the sanctuary after the service.

* Starter Packs are in need of Shampoo, Deodorant, Shaving Foam, Bathroom/Kitchen Cleaner.
* The FoodBank are short of tinned meat/soups/veg, diluting juice, cereal, noodles, microwave rice, jarred sauce, biscuits, and UHT milk.
You can bring donations to the church and place them into the boxes in the vestibule. Thank you!

* Registration is now open for the summer exploratorium: On Holy Ground, an Inverclyde Staycation, the week of 27 July! We are looking for some volunteers — especially in the kitchen, and in crafts, as well as in shepherding groups. If you would be interested in learning more about volunteering, please speak to Teri or Graham Bolster.

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

* Did you know that the ministry we do at St John’s costs about £3000 per week and we are currently running about £500 short? 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.

* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email newsletter! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word and Theology Thursday on Youtube, get snippets of thought or inspiration following Teri on TikTok, and of course keep up with announcements and events on Facebook and our weekly email.

Sunday service for 24 August 2025

Sunday 24 August 2025
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse: 632143
Email: TPeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
Email Charlene, Parish Assistant: CMitchell (at) churchofscotland.org.uk

Sanctuary Prelude Music (praise band)

Welcome

Call to Worship
One: God speaks and new things are created —
All: from the world to a community, God brings life into being.
One: God calls us a treasure —
All: ordinary, everyday people, God’s treasured possession!
One: God shows us how to be his holy people —
All: living life together in ways that reveal God’s presence.

Sanctuary Hymn: O God, Who Gives Us Life (words: Carl P Daw Jr; tune: Noel)

Prayer
You are a holy God,
you save us by your power and you call us to follow you.
You care about each person and each moment,
you treasure us and hold us close,
and your desire is for us to live according to your way,
to reflect your heart and your life in our own lives.
We confess that we have not lived up to your expectations.
We have not even lived up to our own expectations, O God.
We make mistakes…
and sometimes we turn aside on purpose,
because we get distracted,
or we think another way will be easier or happier,
or we just don’t want to try anymore when it feels like there’s no quick reward.
We admit that we find it hard to care about your instructions
when the world seems to be falling apart around us
and nothing we try makes it better.
We don’t have an answer when people ask
why we bother with faithfulness if nothing changes.
Yet we know there is something else,
something beyond us,
something that matters about this strange and wondrous way.
So we come to ask for your help.
For your forgiveness where we have failed to be the community you want us to be,
forgiveness where we have reflected an image other than your own,
forgiveness where we have put our trust in idols instead of you.
You are gracious and merciful,
you are loving beyond our understanding,
you are faithful even when we are not,
and we pray that you would make us more like you.
Make our individual lives a picture of your grace.
Make our community life a picture of your kingdom.
Until all the world can see your glory, reflected in every face.
We ask in the name of Jesus the Christ,
whose obedience opened the way of life for all of us.
Amen.

Online Hymn: O God, Who Gives Us Life (words: Carl P Daw Jr; tune: Noel)

Sanctuary Hymn: Sing Out With Joy (words: Fred Anderson from Psalm 81; tune: 81 Dundee) 

Bible Story and reflection: selections from Exodus 19-34
We last left off with the Israelites being fed by God with manna and quail in the wilderness, and God breaking open a rock to provide water for them out there in the desert. They had just come near the area where God spoke to Moses in the burning bush. Today we pick up a couple of weeks later. We are going to hear selections from chapters 19 to 34 today, with some thoughts and questions interspersed along the way.

The people arrived at the foot of Mount Sinai almost 50 days after they had walked through the sea on dry land. Moses went up to the top of the mountain, and God told him that it was time to worship, so the people had to get ready. They washed their clothes and took baths, they were very careful not to get messy or to do anything wrong or hurtful, and they spent their time really trying to focus on getting ready to hear God. Moses reminded the people of all that God had done for them so far, rescuing them from slavery and oppression under the Egyptians, and feeding them in the desert, carrying them all the way from their old life to this new life. He also told them that God said that if they keep God’s covenant, they will be God’s treasured possession. The whole earth is the Lord’s, of course, but out of all the peoples God chose them to be a holy nation and priestly kingdom, the people who reveal God’s word and way of life to others.
And the people said “everything that God has spoken, we will do.”

Have you ever thought of yourself, or thought of us as a church family, as something God treasures? Something valuable and wonderful, something that brings God joy? Out of all the peoples of the earth, out of all the wonders of creation, God chose a community to be the ones who have a relationship with God that makes other people look at it and go “wow.” Sometimes we think words like “treasured” and “holy” and “priestly” mean we are better than others, or that we have to be perfect. Or like we are God’s favourites! But when we treasure something, we hold it close to our hearts, just God holds us close to his heart. And a priest is someone who brings God’s word to people, and also brings people’s prayers to God — a person who helps build a relationship between God and people. Imagine if we thought of ourselves as a community whose job it is to bring people’s prayers to God, and God’s word to people, helping to build a relationship between them? How would we live our lives differently than we do today, if that was our job?

At the end of three days of preparing their minds and hearts and bodies to worship God, the top of the mountain was covered in fire and smoke and lightning. And everyone was so afraid! The thunder was shaking the mountain, and the people were shaking in terror. Moses spoke to the fire, and there was thunder when God answered. And then God called Moses to come up…and up the mountain he went again, reminding everyone to stay back and not touch the mountain. But they were so afraid they were already backing up every time there was thunder anyway!
Once he got up there, God said “go back down and remind them not to touch…” and Moses said “don’t worry, they won’t.” But God made him go down and check anyway…
And then God spoke from the cloud and gave them these important words —
maybe you’ve heard some of them before, and can help me in remembering the list?

I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of slavery into freedom. You will not have any other gods more important than me, I will be the top of your priority list.
Don’t make yourself any idols — no statues or pictures or even thinking something is most important to you in the world… You can’t worship anything else except me. I show love to the thousandth generation, but there are also consequences for a few generations for those who don’t keep these commandments!
Don’t use my name for things that aren’t me, or aren’t honouring me.
Remember the sabbath, the seventh day. You already know from gathering manna that you work for six days and then you rest, just the same way I did when I created the world. Even your animals and your servants and your family and your neighbours, even immigrants who come to live among you…everyone takes the seventh day to rest and enjoy my providing.
Honour your parents, so that you may enjoy the land God gives you.
Don’t murder! (Hopefully that one is easy)
Don’t commit adultery — if you or the other person have partners, don’t go looking for someone else.
Don’t steal.
Don’t lie about people, or spread gossip about them.
Don’t wish you had what other people have.

God said these ten things and the people were at the bottom of the mountain, trembling, and they said to Moses: please will you do the speaking? We will listen to you…if we have to listen directly to God’s voice anymore we think we’ll die!
Moses told them: don’t be afraid, it’s only God speaking to you so you’ll know the truth of how powerful God is so you’ll follow his way and not turn aside from it.
And Moses went up the mountain to speak to the Lord while the people stayed at the bottom of the mountain thinking about all that God had said.

While he was up there, God explained to Moses all the laws and rules for building a new kind of society, different to the old ways they had learned in Egypt. God wanted the people to be free to serve God instead of serving Pharaoh, and that meant they had to learn a whole new way of living in community together. And so God elaborated on those ten commandments, explaining to Moses how they apply to all sorts of situations, from organising a household, to what happens if someone does break one — what do you do if someone kills someone else? Or if they have an argument that turns into a fight? What happens if someone is looking after your animals while you are away from home, and something happens to one of them — who is responsible and do they have to pay for it or not? There are even instructions about how to handle it when someone leaves work half-done and someone else gets injured because it wasn’t finished or cleaned up properly. There are rules and instructions for each situation, big and small. God cares about everyday life as well as unusual or difficult moments, because it’s in the way we live our everyday lives that we create the world, and God has chosen this treasured people for the purpose of creating a new way of being together, showing how life is in God’s kingdom on earth.
God explained rules for how things should go when young people fall in love with someone their parents didn’t choose, and rules for lending objects or money when someone is in need — you aren’t allowed to keep someone’s cloak or blanket overnight even if it was the insurance against a loan, because what if they didn’t have anything else to use as a cover? There are many instructions about making sure that immigrants and foreigners in the community are treated well, not oppressed or maligned or abused, because God says “you know what it is like to be a foreigner mistreated by others, so you know how to behave better than that for others.” God even promises that if a foreigner is abused in the Israelite community, God will listen to the foreigner’s cries more than he will to the Israelite excuses.
God explained to Moses instructions for worship festivals, and about how to manage the land in ways that are fair to everyone and also respectful of the earth, and there are many reminders not to gossip, not to work on the seventh day, not to be biased in favour of the rich who have means to argue their case, not to take bribes, and even more reminders about taking care of the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow — people who don’t have anyone to look after them.
There’s even a rule that says that if you see a donkey that belongs to someone you don’t like, and it is stuck somewhere or struggling under a big load, you have to stop and help it, you aren’t supposed to just walk by thinking to yourself that your enemy deserves to lose their donkey and all it is carrying!
God told Moses a LOT of things, and Moses wrote it all down and he went down and told all the people everything that God said. The people said “all that the Lord has spoken we will do. We will be obedient.” And the people offered sacrifices and prayed to God to seal the covenant between them.

Sometimes it feels like religion is all about rules, and all those rules are “don’t”s. Don’t do this and that, don’t have fun, don’t get into trouble, and that they’re rules about stuff that’s either super obvious like “don’t murder” or about such minutiae that they don’t matter, like what colour the church curtains should be. It’s easy to get caught up in the legalistic side of things, and also easy to dismiss it all because some of it feels so silly. But remember what is happening here: the Israelites had left a whole way of life, where their work and family and life was confined by the oppression of slavery and attempted genocide. The laws of Egypt as they applied to Israelites were harsh but clear-cut. Now they were out in the wide open space, where anything goes…and God was trying to show them how to be a community in an entirely new way. A new way where no one would be oppressed, where people looked out for each other, where the way we live together and treat each other is a reflection of our relationship with God. These instructions are like the rules of a game — they tell us how to do something we’ve never done before, how to create a whole new world where things are different than they are in Pharaoh’s world. Creating a whole new world requires instructions that are clear and precise and cover all sorts of possibilities, including the ones we won’t know we need until the situation comes up! And the fact God has thought of them already is a reminder to us that God sees a bigger picture than we see, and that God cares about us in everyday life, not only when we turn up to worship, or when we do things exactly right, or when we get something spectacularly wrong. God is invested in this community and the way we live the kingdom life right now, even when the world around us keeps trying to make us go back to Pharaoh’s ways of greed and power and violence.

Moses and seventy elders went up to see God and they worshipped there, and then the others went down and Moses was to go back up again, this time with his assistant Joshua. And the cloud of God’s glory settled in on the mountain, and God and Moses spoke face to face. This time the conversation was all about the instructions for building a place to worship: what kind of material, and what colour fabric, and what size and shape of bowls and tables and lamps, what the priests would wear and what kind of oil would be in the lamps and what sorts of offerings people would make for all different times and seasons and occasions. God was very detailed — caring about even the smallest things, just like in regular life! It took a long time to explain everything and for Moses and Joshua to write it all down…in fact it took forty days!

As days and then weeks passed and there was no sign of Moses, the people at the bottom of the mountain started to get nervous. Maybe something happened up there? Maybe Moses had been swallowed up by that cloud, or hit by lightning, or died because he got too close to God. What if he was never coming back? The people turned on Aaron and said “what if he’s never coming back? You’re his brother and his co-leader. You make God appear to us!”
Aaron panicked, and said “give me all your gold jewellery.” He took it and melted it down and made a statue that looked like a calf, and he said “here is your god who brought you out of Egypt!” And the people were so relieved, they had a worship festival and made sacrifices and then they had a party.
Up on the mountain, God saw and became angry, and said “Moses you’d better go back down to your people that you brought here, they’re misbehaving.” And Moses said “umm, God? They’re your people, you brought us up out of Egypt…if you destroy them now, what will the other nations say? That you weren’t a good enough God to take care of them?” They talked about it for some time, and eventually God changed his mind about the full disaster he wanted to bring on them, but God still said to go down so Moses went, carrying with him two stone tablets that had God’s commandments chiseled into them.
When Moses got down and saw just what was happening, he threw down the tablets and everyone heard them shatter…Moses was so angry that the people had done something so wrong, in such a short time! He confronted Aaron who tried to explain…but it all sounded like excuses. He ground up the statue into dust and put it in the water and made the people drink it, so they couldn’t even make new jewellery to replace what they had used for this idol. He told them again what God’s commandments were, and that they were in danger of having to make the rest of this journey themselves…and they were very sorry for having gone back on their promise to follow God’s way and do everything God said. To show how sorry they were, they wore their oldest simplest clothes and no jewellery or anything fancy at all, as if they were in mourning.
Moses promised to go speak to God but he couldn’t promise how it would go. The people continued their mourning and apologising, and Moses went back up. God was FUMING! Literally. Moses said “the people know they were wrong, and want to try again.” God said “you can take them, I don’t want anything to do with them anymore.” Moses said “they’re yours! You brought us out of Egypt, cared for us in the wilderness, made a covenant with us. Remember your people Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Remember Joseph, and all these descendants you made a covenant promise with? Remember calling us your treasured possession, your holy nation, a kingdom of priests who show the world your glory?” And God remembered, and said “ok I’ll send my messenger with you but I’m too angry to go with you myself, it’ll be dangerous.”
Moses decided not to push it just then…he went down and reported to the people what happened, and he built a tent out beyond the edge of the camp where he would go to meet with God. And he said to God, “if you won’t go with us, then send someone else because I can’t do this without you. I know we are hard hearted and stiff necked and hard to deal with but you are a God who merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” And God relented from his anger and decided to show himself to Moses — early in the morning Moses went into a cave on the side of the mountain, and God passed by and allowed Moses to see his back. And afterwards God called Moses to come up again and re-write the tablets…and this time during the 40 days God was reiterating the whole set of instructions and rules and laws for Moses to write down, the people behaved themselves at the foot of the mountain.

Whenever Moses came back from speaking with God, whether at the tent of meeting or up on the mountain, his face was shining, glowing with holy light. It made people nervous though, so when he finished telling them what God said today and reminding them of the commandments they had promised to obey, he would put on a veil so the light wouldn’t scare them. He would wear it when he was going about his regular day, and then take it off to speak to God and to share God’s word with the people.

This is a hard part of the story, where God is so angry that he wants to break the covenant that was only made a few weeks ago. But it is a really important part of the story, because it is the first time that we see God’s forgiveness instead of a disaster that leads to starting over. God has made a choice: that it is more important to continue the relationship between God and people than it is for the people to get everything exactly right all the time. God recognises that we are going to mess up, we’re going to look for something more concrete to hold onto, we’re going to get scared and our trust will falter sometimes, and God chooses to stick with us anyway, and to try again. This is the moment that God becomes the God of second, and third, and millionth, chances. And that reality, that a relationship with God does not depend on our being good enough, is at the core of the new world that all these instructions have been about. It isn’t the first time that God did something without regard for whether the people deserved it — after all, God set the people free from slavery without requiring anything of them first — but it is the first time that God explicitly forgives and moves on with the whole community. Not the last, though! God has decided that we will never be able to earn our way in, we will never be able to keep our side of the covenant perfectly, and yet God will keep his side no matter what. We will never be abandoned in the wilderness, because whatever happens, God still holds us close to his heart, and still wants us to keep trying to be that holy and priestly nation that shows the world what it means to live in God’s kingdom here and now.

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.

Hymn GWA199: Oh How Good It Is (praise band)

Sanctuary Offering and Response 809 (tune: Old Hundredth)

Praise God, the Source of life and birth;
praise God the Word, who came to earth;
praise God the Spirit, holy flame:
all glory, honour to God’s name.
Amen

Concerns of the Church
Youth Groups
Bible Study
Session Meeting 28th
Bowl & Blether 1st
Muriel 4th
Prayer Groups

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer (Graham B) (notes only)
As we listen to the story of how you set your people free
Instructions for a new world
Taking away the old rules and barriers to living the life that you had planed for them. How your people struggled to free themselves from them
As the traveled the wilderness
And only finally accessing the promised land when they could except this new life.

Lord as we look around at the world today help us challenge
Old rules
Old certainties
Powerful people try to recreate old borders through force and fear

Impassive and uncaring about the suffering and devastation that their wars cause just desperately craving more power and authority
They disregard the cries of the hunger in Gaza
The frightened people in Ukraine who just want to live a normal life in freedom to live like us
The poor and neglected all round the world who are left to die even though the medical and technical knowledge is there to save them because it will not make the rich richer
We look at the companies who try to keep the old ways of burning fossil fuels alive despite it warming the planet and choking or children. Just because that’s the way they have always made profit and these new instructions for the planet might not be as easy for them to turn to profit.
The politicians who stick to the old script blame refugees for all ills regather then admitting bad decisions and mismanagement that they oversaw and we voted for.

Let us be open to your Instructions for a new world
Let us welcome the new be it people or ideas let us pray for the injustice we see overseas but let us also look inward closer to home where it is us that cling to the old ways of doing things because it is comfortable for us.
Let us be aware and open when people are here in our midst that we can help let us have the courage to be open to new instructions new ways of doing things.
When there is a need Lord please remove the plank from our eyes and let us not be the ones who come up with the old excuses
It’s someone else’s responsibility
If They go back home, we’ll help them there.
We need to be sure that our help will be used properly before we can act in case they don’t deserve it.

Let us take on your new Instructions for a new world
And simply say
Let me help you
What can I do for you
And trust you the 1 God to set both us and them free from the old rules to be 1 people together united in the freedom and fellowship that your new Jerusalem promises

It is in that spirit that we join together on this
The 24th day of the month and pray for:
*For the nurseries and parent-toddler groups in our area — for the children, the staff, and the young families served. We ask for your blessing and guidance as children grow and learn and make friends, for your strength and protection from harm, and for your patience and grace for those who teach and nurture.
*For the music ministry of St John’s: for the choir, the praise band, the organist, and all who enable our worship and prayer through music.
*For the land, people, and governments of the nations of Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Aruba, and Curaçao.

And as we think of all the peoples in need near and far from us we call out to you in the words your son taught us:
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 529: Forth in Thy Name (tune: Truro)

Sending
Even here and now, God is creating a new world through us — through our community that lives God’s kingdom way. Go to let this time of worship flow out into a new way of living as God’s treasured and holy and priestly people.
And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you…and 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 if you thought you were 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.

Sanctuary Postlude Music

Announcements

* We worship in the sanctuary on Sundays at 11am, and Sunday worship is also online. 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.

* Starter Packs are in need of Bathroom/Kitchen Cleaner, Washing up Liquid, Cleaning Cloths and Hand Wash.
 The FoodBank are running low on diluting juice, tinned mince & onions, tinned stew, tinned ravioli, tinned macaroni, tinned fruit, and pasta sauce. You can bring donations to the church and place them into the boxes in the vestibule. Thank you!

* The Kirk Session will meet on Thursday 28 August at 7pm.

* The next Bowl & Blether is on Monday 1 September. Doors open at 11:30, and soup & toasties are served from 12 noon – 1:30pm. All are welcome! If you’d like to volunteer we have three shifts available: 9:45-12 for preparation and set-up; 11:30-1:30 for serving; or 12:45-2pm for clean up. Speak to Teri, Graham Bolster, or Charlene!

* We look forward to welcoming Church of Scotland mission worker the Rev. Muriel Pearson to speak on Thursday the 4th of September at 7pm in the sanctuary. Muriel will talk about her life and work experiences in Israel and Palestine over the past four years, the current situation there, our Church partners and work on the ground, and what we can do. She will also answer some audience questions. All are welcome!

* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email newsletter! 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.

* Wednesday Evening Bible Study is at 7:30pm in the Manse and we are reading Luke!

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

Sunday service for 11 October 2020

11 October 2020
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri C Peterson
Gourock St John’s Church of Scotland
Contact: tpeterson at churchofscotland dot org dot uk

Though we cannot yet be together in person, we can be together in spirit! Please note the following announcements:

* In September, Starter Packs were provided to 33 homes. Within these homes were 21 single people, and 12 families including 20 children. At the moment as donations are reduced some items are in short supply, they are looking urgently for Washing Up Liquid, Cleaning Cloths, Ladies Shampoo, Soap and Face Cloths. Thank you for your support!

* Coffee Fellowship Time will happen today on Zoom! The room will be open from 11:45 – 1 today, for you to drop in for however long you wish, so grab a cup of tea or coffee (or juice or whatever you prefer!) and maybe a biscuit, and come have a chat! We look forward to seeing you!

* 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 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 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!

* We also now have an audio recording of the service available on the phone! Simply dial 01475 270 037 to listen to the most recent service. Please share this number with your neighbours, friends, family, and fellow church goers who don’t have the internet, so they can listen in!

* The theme for worship this autumn is “Becoming God’s People.” We’ll be exploring who God is and how God’s character informs God’s actions, and how our actions also ought to be informed by that character…by way of stories of God and humanity working out their relationship with one another through the Old Testament.

* Children’s Time happens each Sunday morning at 11am on Zoom. If you would like the login details, please contact Teri.

* The Young Adult Bible Study (BYOPizza) meets NEXT WEEK via Zoom at 1pm, reading chapter 5 of the Book of Revelation! If you’re aged 15-25 and would like the login details, please contact Teri.

* 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. Our Sunday evening prayer services will be shared across CONNECT. Tonight’s service will be led by Karen Harbison, beginning at 6:57pm on the Connect Facebook page, and be sure to like / follow it while you’re there!

* 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.

~~~~~~

Hymn 113: God the Father of Creation

Prayers, Reading, Sermon, and hymns:

Hymn: I Will Wait For You

~~~~~~

Call to Worship and Opening Prayer
God calls us —
out of our fear,
out of our complacency,
out of our careful control —
to worship.
What is the worship God desires?
To do justice, love kindness, and live humbly.
To seek the kingdom even when it is not yet visible.
To trust God’s faithfulness.
So come.
Turn your attention away from
all the seductive voices of this world,
and toward the One whose promise endures.
Let us worship God together.

Let us pray.

Holy God, your presence is awe-inspiring and your power is overwhelming. We are quick to praise you for the ways you reveal yourself in our lives, for we are grateful that you lead us, care for us, provide for us. We confess that we have a harder time in the in-between. In between big moments, in between thunderous appearances, in between quiet whispers, we don’t really know what to do. We would prefer a God we can see, a God we can shape and mould…dare we say it? a God we can control, so we know where you are at all times. We admit that those in-between moments, the ones that stretch on, that make up most of our lives, are hard on our faith.
Forgive us, God.
Forgive us for our limited vision and our faltering faithfulness. Forgive us for trying to manage our fear by domesticating your vastness in our ideologies and images. Forgive us for making worship more about what makes us feel good in stressful times, rather than the worship you desire. Turn back to us, and turn us back to you. Renew us in right relationship with you and with ourselves, that we may learn again to live as your people.
We ask in the name of the perfect One who embodied your presence and who promised to be with us always, 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,
and 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.

Sung Prayer: Blest are the pure in heart

Reading: Exodus 32.1-14 (New Revised Standard Version)
Last week we heard about the Passover meal that the Israelites observed the night before they escaped from Egypt. After that night, they travelled to, and through, the sea, and then into the desert, with God leading them in a pillar of fire to light the way at night and a pillar of cloud to show the way in the daytime. When they arrived at Mount Sinai, Moses made several trips up the mountain to speak with God, receiving the ten commandments and many other laws and instructions for how the people should organise their lives as a religious, social, and economic community. The story we will hear today happens during the fourth trip Moses makes up the mountain, which lasted 40 days and 40 nights as God and Moses spoke. Among the instructions given to Moses on this occasion was the call for the people to make an offering of precious metals and stones and fabrics for the building of a tabernacle—a moveable temple where God could dwell with the people wherever they were—with its furnishings, the ark of the covenant, the priest’s clothes, and the altar. As God is finishing up giving the law and instructions and Moses is preparing to take the tablets down to the people, today’s story takes place. It is from Exodus chapter 32, verses 1-14, and I am reading from the New Revised Standard Version:

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron and said to him, ‘Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 2 Aaron said to them, ‘Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’ 3 So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the gold from them, formed it in a mould, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.’ 6 They rose early the next day, and offered burnt-offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.
7 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; 8 they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it, and said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”’ 9 The Lord said to Moses, ‘I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. 10 Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.’
11 But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, ‘O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, “It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth”? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, “I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it for ever.”’ 14 And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

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: In-Between Times

Remember back at the beginning of the book of Exodus, when God first spoke to Moses from the burning bush, and Moses was shy and retiring, and looked for any excuse he could think of to get out of going to confront Pharaoh? He said he didn’t think people would listen to him, he said Pharaoh would just brush him off, he said he stuttered and so couldn’t be a public speaker…

You’d hardly recognise that Moses now! Here he is on top of Mount Sinai, not just talking face to face with God, but actually arguing with God and winning the point—something he was never able to do with Pharaoh. Talk about building confidence!

We don’t know for sure how long it’s been since God called Moses, but it’s been long enough for arguments with the king and the people, plagues, and finally escaping. The Bible tells us that it took three months for the people to get from crossing the sea to the foot of Mount Sinai. During that entire three months, they’ve been able to see God leading them in the pillar of fire and cloud, and God has fed them with manna and quail every single day in the desert. Before that, of course, they saw God split the sea so they could walk through, and protect them from the Egyptian army. Before that, they witnessed the plagues. So it’s been a while — a year? A few years? — of constantly knowing God’s nearness and depending on God for everything, from daily bread to protection from enemies to navigation assistance.

Then Moses went up the mountain to talk to God again, and unlike the first time, when there was smoke and thunder and earthquakes and lightning, this time it was quiet.

When Moses had been gone for 40 days — six weeks! that’s half as long as they’d been traveling — they couldn’t take it anymore. They were so used to God’s constant presence, they didn’t know what to do when it was quiet. Where is God, if we can’t see the pillar of cloud or hear the thunder? When we aren’t having a Big Spiritual Experience, or when we are away from our religious spaces and rituals that remind us of God’s presence, where is God in the everyday boring bits of life?

It can feel as if God has abandoned us, when we come down from one of those spiritual mountaintop experiences and then have to go about regular life. Of course God had not left the Israelites alone, and God does not leave us…but that feeling that maybe God wasn’t paying attention anymore must have been strong, because the quietness was so different than how they had experienced God so far.

Is God allowed to be present differently? Or only in the one way we know and expect, and if God doesn’t show up like that, we’ll decide to abandon the whole enterprise?

The Israelites seem to have chosen the latter. They could not figure out how to be faithful in this time in-between the big revelations. For them, it was all-or-nothing: either God had to be visibly present, displaying power, all the time, or else God wasn’t worth following. So they decided to fill that gap with a god they could see, who would never disappear or be cloaked in mystery or stay silent for too long. This god they create will always be immediately available to them, and would definitely not be free to take a different form or work in any different way. He would be the same forever, predictable, just the way they liked it.

It’s very easy to see how this happens, I think. Sure, we look back now and wonder how they could have fallen so quickly into this trap of making a statue, but if we’re completely honest, we do the same. We’d like God to be predictable, and always immediately available in the ways we prefer, and never silent. And when we’re in those long stretches of life when God’s presence is less obvious, we slip easily into filling the gap with something else instead. It’s like the grown up version of the teenagers who party while the parents are out of town. Sure, we don’t make a golden calf anymore, but the fact that our idols are less tangible doesn’t make them any less dangerous.

The people asked Aaron to create a god who would meet their needs and wants, that would make them happy right now…and isn’t that often what we do, too? The instant gratification we get from, say, our beloved traditions…or our possessions…or our work…or even our relationships…or those conspiracy theories that fill the internet and the headlines…all of those can easily become idols that take the place of the true God, who does not exist merely to serve our every desire.

So many stories of God’s people throughout history are about God making a promise, and then the people faltering in their trust and so taking matters into their own hands, trying to move God’s timeline along. At Mount Sinai we see that they take worship into their own hands, defaulting to the traditions they knew from pagan Egypt, making something that would tide them over until the next big epiphany. Essentially, they were told what God’s love language is, and they ignored that and did what made them feel good instead. It’s an easy trap to fall into — in our human relationships and even more so in our relationship with the Holy.

Part of becoming God’s people is learning how to be faithful to God’s way, to live and worship and speak God’s love language, even when we can’t actually see or even sense God with us, and even if it isn’t the thing that would make us most comfortable. We know that God is everywhere present. We know that God is faithful. The question is how we live as if those things are true in between the big moments when our spirits soar and our hearts are filled with peace. Being faithful when we can see the pillar of cloud and fire in front of us is one thing…but what about when it feels like we’re on our own in the desert?

As we wait in the wilderness of pandemic restrictions right now…
As we wait in the wilderness of political upheaval right now…
As we wait in the wilderness of grief and uncertainty right now…
What idols tempt us?

Perhaps it’s the temptation to find someone to blame — whether it’s another country, or a political leader or party, or the neighbours who don’t follow the rules.

Perhaps it’s the temptation to romanticise “normal” and focus all our energy on getting back to it, forgetting that normal also meant destruction of the environment, overlooking inequality, and shrugging our shoulders at poverty and at underfunding of health and social care.

Perhaps it’s the temptation to insist on the traditions that have formed us, whether or not they lead the next generation toward God.

Perhaps it’s more tangible than that — maybe some of us have given in to overspending on online shopping, or gambling, or drinking, as a way to fill the emptiness of the days.

Whatever idols have crept in to this in-between time, and however seductive they seem, however happy they seem to make us in the moment, I promise they are not up to the ultimate task.

As we join the Israelites in being formed as God’s people, both as individuals and as a community, we would do well to remember that we do not get to control how God appears to us, when or where God acts or doesn’t act, or who God calls. Our job is to keep our eyes and hearts open, to look for God’s presence and action everywhere, not to insist that God will always be one way or in one place. When we begin to believe that God should be predictable and controllable, serving our happiness first, we have made an idol that cannot save us. God cannot be contained in our images or in our ideologies, nor tamed for our consumption or pleasure.

Instead, God asks us to trust. God demands that we do justice and love kindness and walk humbly. God commands us to love our neighbour and our enemy, whether we can see them or not. God asks us to use the gifts and resources we have been given, not to build a monument for our comfort, but to build up the kingdom of God. And God places us in community, calls us the Body of Christ, so we can support each other, remind each other of the stories of God’s power, and encourage each other to look for God’s presence, even in the everyday.

May it be so. Amen.

Hymn #111: Holy, Holy, Holy vv 1 & 4
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty!
early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty!
all thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea;
holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity.

Prayer
Remember your people, O God.
In your wisdom and grace,
remember us.
Re – member us — put us back together,
for we have been pulled apart.
In places where people have turned against one another,
bring peace and remind us that we all belong to you.
In places where bodies and minds have turned against themselves,
give your healing and comfort, and a vision of hope in the midst of pain.
In places where fear outweighs love,
enlarge our hearts and open our hands.
In places where the creation is trampled under the weight of our desire for more,
show us the beauty of giving thanks for what we already have.
In places where some have plenty and others starve,
provide your bread of life once again, and show us how to share so that all may have enough.
In places where some use their power to silence minority voices,
lift up new ways of working together and guide us in your compassion.
In places where we have built walls to keep each other out,
renew your work of reconciliation, and bring us together to break bread and share stories.
In places where leaders have left others behind,
give them insight and courage to circle back and work for the good of all.
Remember us, O God.
You are holy, and you call us your holy people —
now reveal yourself once again among us,
that we may be re-made in your image this time.
With gratitude for your love, in praise for your wonders,
trusting in your faithfulness,
we pray through the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of your son, Jesus the Christ.
Amen.

Benediction
As you go into your week, do not be tempted by those idols that promise comfort and happiness. Instead, continue to trust the promise of God’s presence, love, grace, justice, and peace.
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.

Benediction Response
Words and tune (Gourock St. John’s): John L Bell
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.

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