Sunday service for 9 March 2025, first Sunday in Lent
Sunday 9 March 2025, 1st Sunday in Lent
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
Prelude Music
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.
Call to Worship
One: The Word made flesh is among us — listen to him!
All: Turning from the distractions, we turn toward the Holy One in our midst.
One: The Living God has a story of eternal life now — listen to him!
All: Looking for our part in the story, we open ourselves to hear.
Sanctuary Hymn 519: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Prayer
Ever-present God,
we have a lot on our minds,
our to-do lists run off the page,
we flit from one thing to another,
sometimes doing three things at once.
Capture our attention today,
that we may focus on what you have given us to do,
be present to the people you have put in our paths,
slow down enough
to feel compassion
to show mercy
to listen.
You say, O God, that the way to abundant life is to live it:
to love with all our heart and soul and mind and strength,
without asking who deserves it or how much is too much
or any of the other questions we use to limit your love, and ours.
We confess that we’d really like a list, please.
Who exactly is our neighbour, and how will we know if someone is or isn’t?
What is the appropriate level of attention and care and effort?
How do you propose we accomplish the rest of the to-do list if we give our attention to you or others?
Forgive us, Lord,
when we demand an itemised checklist before we act on love.
Forgive us when we draw the circle so tightly that we neglect to do mercy.
Forgive us when we are pulled in so many directions we can no longer see you in the work we do.
Forgive us when we get caught up in justifying ourselves and our activities,
and so miss your call to a new way of life.
Lead us back to your way —
the way of love manifest in the world,
the way of eternal life lived now.
Amen.
God looks on us with compassion, and God’s grace does not abide by the boundaries and barriers of the human imagination. So hear and live this good news: anyone who is in Christ is a new creation, with the opportunity and the power to live a new life in God’s kingdom today. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Online Hymn 519: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Sanctuary Children’s Time
Lent: a time when we pay extra special attention to our relationship with God, and practice new habits that help us be close to God — prayer, self-reflection, abstaining from something, doing justice, giving alms.
Sanctuary Hymn 552: Oh, For a Closer Walk With God (tune: Martyrdom)
Scripture Reading: Luke 10.25-42 (Disciples Literal New Testament)
And behold— a certain Law-expert stood up, testing Jesus by saying, “Teacher, what must I have done to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “What has been written in the Law? How do you read it?” And the expert said, “You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole strength, and with your whole mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” And Jesus said to him, “You answered correctly. Be doing this and you will live.” But the man, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”
Jesus said, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. And he fell into robbers, who, having both stripped him and beaten him, went away— having left him half-dead. And by coincidence, a certain priest was going down on that road. And having seen him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise also a Levite having come upon the place and having seen, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, while traveling, came upon him. And having seen, he felt deep feelings of compassion. And having gone to him, he bound his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. And having put him on his own mount, he brought him to an inn and took care of him. And on the next day, having taken out two denarii, he gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him. And whatever you spend further I will give back to you on my return’. Which of these three seems to you to have become a neighbour of the one having fallen into the robbers?” And the one said, “The one having shown mercy to him”. And Jesus said to him, “Go, and you be doing likewise.”
As they traveled, Jesus entered into a certain village. And a certain woman, Martha by name, received him. She had a sister called Mary, who also was following His word, having sat near to the feet of the Lord. But Martha was being distracted with much service. And having stood-near, she said “Lord, do You not care that my sister left me to be ministering alone? Tell her then that she should help me”. But having responded, the Lord said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. But there is a need of one thing. For Mary chose the good part, which will not be taken away from her”.
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: one thing
These are stories many of us know well — perhaps so well that it’s easy to just think we know how it goes so we stop listening. But we rarely read the stories back to back, the way Luke wrote them. Luke obviously intended us to learn something by putting these stories one after the other, and the people who added the chapter and verse numbers must have recognised that as well since they kept them together in the same chapter. So what is it that we see differently — what insight becomes clear — when we look past our usual ways of reading these as separate stories we already know backwards and forwards?
As I have been pondering this throughout the week, I have heard Jesus’ voice echoing this sentence: there is need of one thing.
We might echo the law expert in asking: what is the one thing?
And I think we would get the same answer Jesus gave him — the one who showed mercy…go and be doing likewise.
I love that super literal translation: go and be doing likewise. I know that “go and do likewise” is correct and efficient but there’s something about the phrase “be doing” that feels a little bit different…a little bit more continuous, if you will. Like it is a state of being, a constant choice to be doing mercy.
When Martha welcomed Jesus, it says that she was distracted with all her service, all her ministry. It’s the same word that’s used when the angels minister to Jesus in the wilderness after his temptations, the same word that when applied to men is always translated ministry, the same word that Paul writes the Spirit gives people the gift of ministry…that word is the one we normally translate as Deacon! Martha is a deacon, she is ministering through service…which is so important! It’s a role she clearly took seriously, and also one that took a lot of her attention and energy. The word for “distracted” literally means “pulled apart” and isn’t that what it feels like, when there are so many things that need doing? So much service to offer…in so many different directions…so many needs to try to meet…her ministry was pulling her apart, and she lost sight of the one thing.
You could perhaps say the same about the priest and the Levite — they were religious professionals who had been born into those roles, and had been brought up to them. And that ministry is important. They were on their way down from Jerusalem, perhaps after their two weeks on duty, thinking about all they would encounter at home, all the people they had met during their shift, still smelling of sacrifices, looking forward to a rest. But the way Jesus tells the story, they had so much going on they missed the one thing.
And then there’s the part where Martha demands that Jesus talk to her sister — first of all, that is not healthy communication. That’s called triangulation and it’s a classic manipulation move. If Martha has a problem with Mary, she should speak to Mary, not get someone else to do it for her. But aside from that, the other day I noticed something interesting. The word Martha uses when she triangulates Jesus — she says “tell her to help me” and the word for “help” is only used one other time in the entire New Testament, in Paul’s letter to the Romans, when he says that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness, interceding for us because we don’t know how to pray. It’s a word that implies deeply personal support, coming alongside and working as a mutual partnership.
I was thinking about that word and wondering if part of the problem is that Martha actually needs to ask the Holy Spirit for that help, not her sister. And by asking for that kind of help that the Bible attributes to God, rather than another kind of assistance with a task, Martha was maybe unintentionally going to pull Mary apart a little too…pull her away from her own ministry, her own discipleship, to do Martha’s. When in fact, Mary and Martha each have their own callings to follow, their own separate ways to be doing the one thing: showing mercy, loving neighbour.
Meanwhile the person who does this is actually the one person you’d never expect: the foreigner from the country we hate. The person whose religion we think is corrupted, whose language and accent are inferior, whose character and culture we make assumptions about. The Samaritan had plenty on his mind as he traveled, he obviously was going somewhere for a purpose, he had business to attend to. And yet, having seen a person in need, he did the one thing.
He did not try to ascertain if he was seeing someone of his own nationality, religion, or class. He saw a human being in need. He did not stop to look around and see if the robbers were still around, waiting for another victim. He felt deep compassion — that same gut-twisting feeling we talked about Jesus having a few weeks ago when he raised a widow’s son from the dead. And as we said then: compassion is not optional. Acting on compassion is not optional. Having felt it, the Samaritan did the one thing: he put his compassion into action. He was doing mercy.
And then he kept doing it. At every step where we might say “well done, you loved your neighbour” he kept going…just like that slightly awkward translation: go and be doing. Continuous. He bandaged the wounds, and that could have been enough. But it wasn’t, he kept going…he took the man to an inn. That could have been enough, he could have handed it over to someone else. But it wasn’t, he kept going…he stayed and nursed the man, delaying his own journey and the business he had to attend to. That could have been enough, but it wasn’t, he kept going…he left money to continue his care…and that could have been enough, but it wasn’t, he kept going…he promised to come back and pay any extra.
Go and be doing the one thing.
We are in a situation right now in the world where there’s a lot going on. And that is by design: it is a strategy that is meant to overwhelm with a constant stream of drama so we barely even know where to look. We can’t put out all the fires out at once so we get discouraged and give up…and then they win. But it is a small number of people who are pulling those strings, and there are a lot of us. And if we refuse to be pulled apart…if we refuse to be distracted from the one thing…if we refuse to give up and say we’ve done enough and we’re handing it to someone else…we can make a difference.
We may all be doing the one thing in different ways, and that’s okay. There’s plenty of ministry and service to go around. And each of us has our calling to follow. And as I often say: there is a church for everybody, but not every church is for everybody. Our congregation has a calling to follow. Sometimes like the priest and Levite we might get caught up in the stuff we think we have to do because of who we are, what role we play in society, what people think church is supposed to be…but when we feel that gut-twist of compassion, we need to be ready to lay that other stuff aside and respond, no matter what people will think. And just as Martha demanding Mary abandon her ministry to shift to Martha’s isn’t okay, the same is true for churches. We ask the Holy Spirit for support, and we invite those who are also called to carry out the one thing the way we are to come and join in, and we bless those who carry out the one thing a different way. There is room in this world for every bit of compassion and mercy we can muster. And it is the only thing that will make a difference.
I realise it feels like it doesn’t make a difference. I also realise that it can sound exhausting to be doing mercy continually. And that’s why we need to be doing it as a community — so that we have a bigger impact with critical mass, and so that individuals can tap in and out as needed to practice sabbath rest. When vulnerable people languish and the rich get richer, we must come together to be doing mercy. When powerful people play games with the lives of others, we must come together to be doing mercy. When people of colour or LGBTQ people or women are targeted so that a few people can feel superior, we must come together to be doing mercy. When the leaders of our governments serve only themselves, we must come together to be doing mercy. When people are fleeing their homes because of violence or climate change or economic collapse and meeting hostile environment after hostile environment, we must come together to be doing mercy. When nations rise and empires fall, we must come together to be doing mercy. When some people try to claim empathy is a sin — thus making Jesus himself a giant sinner — we must come together to be doing mercy. Whether it’s homelessness or hunger or social isolation or refugees and asylum seekers or gender inequity or education and employment injustice or climate change or international peacemaking or healthcare disparity or disability and special needs accessibility or children in poverty or violence against women or whatever is the main thing that pulls at our gut-feeling…if we want to be like Jesus, if we want to follow the instructions of Jesus, then we must come together to be doing mercy. We don’t have the luxury of apathy or waiting for someone else to do it or believing we can’t make a difference or trying to manage what other people think about us. This is what it means to love our neighbour — to love without checking to see who they are first, to see beyond the reasons and the fears and the distractions and the interrupted to-do lists, to let the one thing be our focus for our action: go and be doing mercy.
I know how easy it is to get pulled apart in worthy tasks. Sometimes the activities and the meetings and the news stories and the needs and the pains and the never ending decisions about what to have for dinner all add up to distraction…but there is one thing that needs to be in front of us. One thing that drives our decisions about what activities and tasks to do and which to put off for a little while because we get that gut feeling. One thing that pulls us back together and focuses us like a lens focusing the light. One thing that should be our constant orientation, our north star, our compass point: compassion in action.
Go and be doing mercy. In the doing, you will find eternal life.
May it be so. Amen.
Online Hymn 374: From Heaven You Came
Sanctuary Hymn 254: O God, We Bear the Imprint of Your Face (tune: 691 Finlandia)
Sanctuary Offering and Response Hymn 465 vv. 1 & 4
Be thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart,
naught be all else to me, save that thou art;
thou my best thought in the day or the night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
Riches I heed not, nor earth’s empty praise,
thou mine inheritance, now and always;
thou, and thou only, the first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.
Concerns of the Church
*Bible Study
*devotions
*During Lent, starting TOMORROW, I’ll be leading a book group that will meet at 7pm on Monday evenings in the Spinnaker. The book is Jesus for Everyone, Not Just Christians, so get your copy now!
*Contact Group 11 March Alec Galloway
*Prayer groups
Please consider yourself invited to participate, and to pray for all the activities, ministry, and mission God is calling us to do together.
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
You are a God who desires wholeness,
and you pour yourself out that all creation might live abundantly.
Your love creates and sustains,
your mercy is from everlasting to everlasting,
your word echoes even in our hearts today.
We ask your healing grace for those places that are pulling apart at the seams —
where nation rises against nation and neighbour against neighbour,
where there is not enough to go around
and people live in fear.
Knit us back together in your vision of peace and justice,
that the world may reflect your heart.
We ask your healing grace for those relationships that are fraying at the edges,
where scorekeeping and grudge holding are normal,
where we talk about each other instead of to each other,
where we don’t notice the cares or callings of the other.
We lift up especially those for whom home is not a safe place,
those who live with the threat of violence or manipulation,
those who no longer know themselves beloved.
Let your loving-kindness overflow,
and your spirit of courageous compassion fill every place.
We ask your healing grace for those who feel they must justify themselves,
those who are caught in the lie that they are loved only for what they do.
And we ask your healing grace for those who are targeted for being themselves,
for pursuing their calling rather than giving in to people-pleasing,
for disrupting stereotypes and refusing to stay in categories and boxes.
May your unconditional love be their foundation,
and your truth be their guide.
We ask your healing grace for those who have been hurt by others,
those who have been left to suffer,
those we can’t bring ourselves to look at,
those who are just the latest collateral damage of the world’s systems and injustice.
May they be treated gently, with dignity,
and may we finally have the will to do something so no one else is left lying abandoned at the margins.
On the 9th day of the month we join our hearts as your St John’s family to pray
*For all who live and work in the Ashton area, along the waterfront of Gourock. For families, tourists, those who take their exercise and who sit to admire the view.
*For the Bible Study groups at St John’s, for the Intercessory Prayer Group, that they may encounter you, Living God, in word and prayer.
*For the land, people, and governments of the nations of Türkiye, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine, Egypt, and Cyprus.
For all who act as your hands and heart, caring for others,
we give you thanks.
For all who break down barriers, we give you thanks.
For all who come to recognise your image even in the faces of enemies, we give you thanks.
For all who learn the one thing that is needed, and the transformed life that flows from your grace, we give you thanks.
And we pray, Lord, that we might go and be doing likewise.
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 374: From Heaven You Came
Sending
Rev. Traci Blackmon once said: How often the church prioritises sermonising instead of seeing, teaching instead of touching, inviting people to join rather than welcoming them to belong….while Jesus’ priorities are the opposite, stopping what he is doing to ensure people know they are seen and heard and loved.
Go and be doing likewise.
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
Announcements
* We worship in the sanctuary on Sundays at 11am, and Sunday worship is also online. The Sunday evening service is taking a break during Lent so that we all have capacity for the amazing Lent Book Group! (See below)
* The first Sunday of the month at 11am is now 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 and Blether is on the first and third Mondays of each month through the winter, the next one is Monday 17 March. Doors open at 11:30am, soup and sandwiches are served from noon – 1:30. All are welcome to join us for lunch and a chat in our cozy warm hall. Volunteers are also needed and welcome, please speak to Teri, Graham Bolster, or Charlene if you’d like to volunteer for soup making (9-11:30am), toastie-making (11:30-1:30), serving (11:15-1:45), or clean up (1:15-2:30).
* Starter Packs are in need of handwash, soap, kitchen/bathroom cleaners, washing up liquid and tea-bags.
The FoodBank are in need of diluting juice, tinned carrots and other vegetables, tinned meat & tinned meals.
You can bring donations to the church and place them into the boxes in the vestibule. Thank you!
* Teri will be leading a Lent book group on Monday evenings in the Spinnaker beginning Monday 10 March at 7pm. The book is Jesus For Everyone, Not Just Christians. All are welcome — come along and have your dinner, or a drink, or just come for the discussion!
* The Contact Group meets on Tuesday 11 March at 2pm in the large hall. All are welcome.
* Wednesday Evening Bible Study is at 7:30pm in the Manse and we are reading Luke!
* Did you know that the ministry we do at St John’s costs about £3000 per week? Everything we do is funded by your generous giving — all our support for young people, older people, bereavement care, community outreach, worship, study, spiritual growth, and community work is because of your offering. If you would like to set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online by clicking here. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Teri and she can give you the treasurer’s details. You can also send your envelopes to the church or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received. It is also possible to donate to the work of the parish assistant, speak to Anne Love about how to go about directing new donations to that item in the budget.
* 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.
* Free period products are available in the church toilets for anyone who might need them, thanks to Hey Girls and Inverclyde Council.
