Clean up

Worship on the Lord’s Day
Fourth Sunday of Lent
10:00 am March 19, 2023
Onsite & Online (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
led by Rev. Bradley Childs
Music director: Binu Kapadia
Elder: Jane de Caen

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: Just as the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness,
P: the Spirit leads us into places of uncertainty where we confront our weakness and insecurities.
L: Here we are taught to pay attention to those whom others ignore.
P: Jesus insists that God’s grace is revealed in unlikely people.
L: God’s realm is a place where all are welcome, regardless of their state or position. In a world of disparity, we recognize that some receive what is denied to others.
P: Let us break through barriers that keep many from receiving the grace that they need.

Opening praise: Great are you, Lord

Prayers of approach and confession

God of Great Wisdom,

You are beyond our imagining, beyond our control,

and sometimes beyond our comfort zone.

You amaze us.

You have given us more than we could ever earn or deserve,

and in response, we are not only grateful but determined to be faithful stewards.

Receive our worship this day, O God.

Speak to us in the sounds and silence of this hour

and amaze us once again in your presence.

God of Goodness,

You share your abundance with us and shower us with gifts.

But we confess that we have squandered those gifts.

We have wasted knowledge, friendship, beauty and wealth; we have squandered our time and energy, sometimes even our trust and love.

Forgive our foolishness.

Have mercy on us.

Teach us new ways of living out your love in the world today and every day, with the help of Jesus Christ, our Friend and Saviour. Amen.

Response: We come to ask your forgiveness, O Lord

Assurance of God’s forgiveness

While it is true that we have sinned and squandered God’s gifts at times, it is a greater truth that we are forgiven through God’s love in Jesus Christ.

To all who humbly seek the mercy of God I say, In Jesus Christ our sin is forgiven. Be at peace with God, with yourself and with one another.

Musical Offering: Pie Jesu (Linda)

We listen for the voice of God

Children’s time

Gradual: Open our eyes, Lord (445)

Story: There was a woman who went to go see a Catholic priest. She be;ieved that she had seen Jesus. She went to the priest, and she said, “Father, I have seen Jesus, and it was like, well, just like He was right there like you are – right there, right nw.”

The priest didn’t really believe the woman had really seen Jesus and wasn’t really sure what to say.

So he said, “Did he talk?“ The woman said that he didn’t

The woman went away, and a few days later she came back to the Catholic priest, and she said, “I saw Jesus again just as clear as you , standing there in front of me.” And the priest said, “Did he speak?” And the woman said, “Yes,” he said, “I love you and I forgive you and everything is okay.”

Again, the priest said, Hmm. Sounds a little suspicious. Why don’t you go back and this time you aske Jesus what you confessed in the confessional this morning?

So the woman went away and, a few days later, she came back.

She said, “I’ve seen Jesus again standing there in front of me, clear as day, just like you. And he spoke.

“What did he say? Asked the priest.

He said, “I love you, and I forgive you, and everything is okay.”

Then the priest says, “And what about the sins you confessed? How did he respond when you asked him what you had said in the confessional?”

The woman paused for a second.

Then she looked up the priest, and she said, ”He said, ‘I forget.’”

The little trick here is that once you confess, God says that our sins are as far away as East is from West.

They are forgiven.

They are gone. They do not exist.

Prayer: Our God. We don’t always do what’s right. Sometimes we’re rude to our parents, to our grandparents, to our friends. Sometimes we’re selfish. Sometimes we think just about ourselves. Lord, help us to be a part of a bigger family to do better, to be better.

The Lord’s Prayer (535 or 469)

Transition music

Today’s Message

Scripture reading: I Samuel 16: 1-13

Response: Jeus, remember me

Message: “Clean up”

A young man was playing basketball in the driveway when a lens popped out of his glasses. He looked all over for it but found nothing. For about 5 minutes he searched the ground but couldn’t find it. So, he gave up; went inside and reluctantly told his mother she would have to buy him a new pair of glasses.

Right away the boys’ mother marched outside. Within a single minute the mother found the lens sitting on the lawn and had popped it back into place. Impressed that his lens had been found, the boy asked his mother, “how did you find it so fast?” With motherly wisdom indeed, the mother replied with these words, “You were looking for a piece of glass. I was looking for $400.”

While the boy was looking for an object and gave up quickly, the mother saw the true value of the thing.

Okay, so the year is about 1025 BC.

Saul is the King of a divided Kingdom of Judah with its capital Jerusalem in the South and Israel in the north.

Samuel the prophet had anointed Saul King, but things have changed since then.

God had rejected Saul’s Kingship because Saul had become increasingly cruel, drunk on his own power, and had disobeyed God. Secretly Saul had even informed a subset of his own enemy forces about his plans to attack and thus allowing them to escape. This will not end well for him.

In addition, Saul had refused to wait in his attack on his enemies, the Philistines.

Samuel the prophet was in the process of traveling to the front line to offer sacrifices and to ask God to protect the people. But instead of waiting for him King Saul assumed both the prophetic and priestly roles for himself, made his own sacrifices and called for his own blessing.

Now, Saul did this not because Saul was a faithful person seeking God’s advice and favour. Saul did this because he wanted to go to war without having to wait.

And then on top of that, after going into battle Saul once more disobeyed God’s direction in order to plunder the Philistines. As a result, God would soon remove the anointing from King Saul and appoint for Judah and Israel a whole new King. But there would be no mutiny. This new King would not assume his role until Saul had died.

Eventually and sadly, King Saul would die by suicide on the battlefield while fighting against the very same Philistines he had allowed to escape in first place; killing himself to prevent the opposing army from claiming his life. (As a side note – If you have ever wondered about a possible biblical position on physician-assisted death or DNR’s, this is probably a good place to start.)

When we pick up our reading for today the prophet Samuel is mourning the fact that God wants him to appoint a new King. While YHWH felt sorry that he had ever allowed Saul to be appointed as the Prince of the People, Samuel mourned for Saul who he thought of as a mighty warrior and frightening figure in a world where war seemed all but inevitable.

Three thousand years ago Israel was in crisis. Only a few years before, the nation had insisted on getting a king, so that they could be like all the other nations that surrounded them. The prophet Samuel (the most respected man in Israel) had reluctantly given into their demands and had anointed Saul as leader largely because of his height.

But Saul had proved to be a very poor choice – moody, tyrannical, superstitious, hostile – a man that found himself at war every single year of his reign without fail. Clearly a new direction was needed for the nation of Hebrews. And so it fell on Samuel’s tired old shoulders, once again, to find somebody to be king – someone who would be worthy, somebody who could command the respect of the people. Where would Samuel find a man like that? God would send him.

As our reading today says, “the spirit of the Lord directed Samuel” to the household of a man named Jesse whom he had never met or heard of. Samuel was to find a new king for Israel among the several sons of Jesse and God would help him find the man that would be king.

The story starts off in a very interesting manner. Although it’s a short story – in its original language it’s full of political satire and word play as well as at least one extremely sticky point and one more I’ll give you for homework later.

God rejected King Saul who had become wicked and directs Samuel to the sons of Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint a new soon to be king. But Samuel is afraid. What he’s being asked to do, at first, appears tantamount to insighting a political coup and overturning an entire government system. Samuel fears for his life and says to God, “If Saul hears about it, he’ll kill me”.

Samuel’s fears are not unfounded. To get to Jesse in Bethlehem is just a 15km hike, but to get there, Samuel must leave Ramah and pass through Gibeah (where Saul lives). And not only is Saul King, but he also already assumes that something is amiss. He’s prone to fits of violence. He’s said to be 7 feet tall, and he’s spent his entire life on the battlefield.

What’s more if we were to glimpse into the future by turning ahead to chapter 18:10-11 we would see Saul, twice, throw a spear at a soon to be very famous young musician while he is attempting to perform a song.

And then something very odd happens.

If you would open those pew bibles to 1 Samuel 16:2 on page 259.

But Samuel said “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” And “The LORD said, ‘Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.”

Did you catch that?

Samuel says I can’t go through Saul’s Village. If Saul hears about it, he’ll kill me. And God responds to Samuel’s objection by instructing him to take a young female cow with him and tell the people that he’s come to offer a sacrifice.

Now I want to be clear here. God doesn’t tell Samuel to lie exactly. But… the sacrifice is certainly not the main reason he’s there is it? Samuel is there to anoint a new King. He’s there to replace Saul.

God’s direction to Samuel is true (he will make a sacrifice) But it’s also perhaps a bit deceitful as it is clearly not the whole truth. (Let that one sink in for a moment.) Remember, this is purportedly God who proposes the sneaky solution. Also, just for future notice, I have a whole evening bible study on that topic coming up this spring titled: Deceit, Lies and Truth presented in the Christian Scriptures.

In any case in verse 4 it says, “Samuel did what the Lord said…” and tells the people who meet him that he has “come to sacrifice to the Lord.”

After this Samuel tells Jesse and his sons to “consecrate themselves” and come along to the sacrifice he will make. Now it’s fair to say that this is a spiritual practice (this consecration). They are readying themselves. But… to put it plainly it’s also just a bath. Basically, Samuel tells them to wash up, take their monthly bath, put on some clean clothes and then come for the ceremony.

The plan has worked but now Samuel is face-to-face with the sons of Jesse. He’s hidden his real motives, made it there alive and now he actually has to do the thing he was told to do – to anoint a new King.

Now, before we go any further, we need to know a couple of things about this particular place and time. You see, height and stature were very important to the ancient Israelites. To be tall was a thing of reverence. King Saul for example was chosen in part simply because he was said to be “a head above any other” (an imposing figure that would command the attention of the nations who sought to harm Israel). To be tall was to be respected. And this is something that is been repeatedly proven to-still-be true today. Studies often show that taller men and women tend to move up the corporate ladder at quicker rates and command higher salaries. It’s the same idea here.

But height wasn’t the only thing that garnered respect. In fact, if there was one thing most important for status at this time it would have to be family position.

Do we have any First-Born Sons here today?

Ah, you are the chosen people.

And for you non-first-born males – Good on you too. You are generally the Heroes of the bible.

(My mom might hear this – so, this is hyperbolic, lighthearted and completely jocular. No tears. Just smiles!)

I am not the first. I have an older brother who is also at least a half foot taller than me and by some perverse cosmic justice also much smarter. Did you ever see the 1988 movie Twins with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito where the one brother hit the genetic lottery and the other one was made up of all the left-over bits/ That’s pretty much it. So, I sort of get this story.

In my family Chad is the first-born son. Hannah is the first-born daughter. Amanda is the baby. And I am basically just the second money-sucking thing that should have been the first girl. I think I was supposed to be Cassandra (I may have that wrong).

Now, at this time in history the first-born son held a particular place of honour. And it mattered. As a leader’s child it meant that you would someday be the leader. It meant that you would be the leader of an entire extended family system within your clan. Massive numbers of people would count on you for water and food and protection.

When a father died for example, often the first-born son received ½ of everything from the father’s estate. In part this was because it carried the honour of caring for the matriarchal widow. Following this, the rest was to be split up among the remaining sons (sorry ladies, it was definitely not an egalitarian society). Please note that scripture is not telling everyone how it should have been or be – just how it was.

Nevertheless, there are some examples of money being split evenly between all children in this culture, but there are many other accounts of money being split up from the oldest male to the youngest (with each son receiving half of what was left before going to the next oldest son).

So, case in point… for the clan elder Jesse (from our story today) who had 7 or 8 sons depending upon how we read this story and/or what source material was first written (probably 8 children is correct). In any case, the youngest would receive only a miniscule amount. To be the youngest was a disgrace; the lowest position a person could have.

So, let’s say for the sake of argument that Jesse had $1,000,000.00.

Well (if Jesse were to die) the first son, Eliab, would get $500,000.00 (not bad). But the second would get $250,000.00 and the third $125,000.00 (still not too shabby). But the fourth would get $62,500 the fifth $31,250. the sixth $15,625. the seventh $7,812.50 (that might be the youngest one), or the eight sons (if there are in fact 8) would get just $3,906.25!

That’s the equivalent of giving one of your children a two-bedroom condo on the water in Victoria BC and giving another one of your children a used hot tub.

The first-born son would get half a million dollars and the last would get a fairly well maintained 2001 Pontiac Aztec with 240,000km’s and fresh back from it’s 6th factory recall. (I’m sorry if you bought a Pontiac Aztec.)

The oldest son was considered the most important person in any family. The oldest was the one that would receive the largest share – would later be responsible for the others, the head of the house, the person who fathers had to spend the most time with, to teach; to guide. The eldest son was the one the others envied; the one parents wanted their daughters to marry; the one with respect. Each son after that first son was worth exactly half as much as the last. This is the society the Prophet Samuel lived in when he visited Jesse and his sons.

And so, Samuel first sees the eldest. But not just the eldest but also the tallest: Eliab. And Samuel just new this guy was the one. It had to be. And even though God had told him that he would reveal the one who was to be King, it is so ingrained in Samue from society that the eldest and tallest is the best that Samuel actually thinks in verse 6 “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here”.

But it wasn’t. Verse 7 reads, “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’”

So Samuel moved on to the next son… ½ a man compared to the last… and then the next… and the next… and the next… and the next… and the next… and the next until at least 6 men had been passed over. And so, Samuel is confused. He has risked his very life to come here. God had promised that He would show him the next King of Israel and he’s looked them all over and no King was to be found. He must have wondered, “Is this a joke?”

And so, in nervousness he begs a vey important question. He says, “Are these all the sons you have?”

But no… These are not all the sons Jesse has. There is one more.

And so the father, no doubt surprised, tells Samuel, “There is still the youngest” “He’s tending the sheep”. And so, Samuel stops the presses. He stops everything he’s doing and then sends for this youngest child (literally ½ of a ½ of a ½ of a ½ of a ½ of a ½ of a ½ of the man Samuel had expected). A waste of his time. And they all wait… they wait until someone can travel all the way out to the fields, search them, and find the boy and return with him.

But then as soon as this youngest boy appears, Samuel is told what to do. “Rise and anoint him,” said the Lord.

The anointing of David indicated that “from that time onward” David was now king de jure dei.  The following chapters describe how he became king de facto. All the deeds of politics, of guerrilla action and intrigue, of marriages of convenience and questionable service with the Philistines are trumped by this a priori fact: already at the start God had anointed David to someday be Saul’s successor.[1]

Now I want to stop the story here for just one second to point out something strange in the text. When David appears in the translation, it generally says, “He was glowing”. The contemporary English version says, He was “healthy”. But that’s not that accurate. The vast majority of translations say, “he was Ruddy”.

The Hebrew word here is ‘admoniy (ad mo nay) which actually only has one meaning. It means red. In other words, when David appeared before Samuel he was described as being red in appearance. Now, it could be that he was embarrassed as some have argued but that’s not really the way they described embarrassment in Hebrew so that is very, very unlikely. More than likely then this actually means that David has red skin (freckles) or most likely of all, that David is a red head.

Bet you didn’t know David was a ginger!

Now that’s not actually important to the text but I do think it’s pretty cool for red heads to know they aren’t alone. David is one of you soulless devils.

Now back to the story. In all truth it didn’t matter what David looked like. It’s a clean heart God is after. Sure, he’s described as being sort of handsome but that doesn’t really matter either. In fact, that’s kind of the point. David almost doesn’t matter at all. This isn’t about him. David is a completely passive participant in this story.

It sounds odd to say this but this story isn’t about David. Think about it, we don’t even know his name until the very last line in the story. This story isn’t about David so much as it is about God and how God works.

The point of the story isn’t about David’s looks any more than it is about Saul’s height or Eliab’s (the first-born son’s statue). The point isn’t who the people would choose or even who the religious icon Samuel would have chosen (he liked the first kid). The point comes from verse seven where it says that “people look at the outward appearance,” but “the LORD looks at the heart.” It is the clean heart that matters.

In religious circles a lot of people like to talk about Orthodoxy. That means Right Thought. It means having the right theology, knowing God correctly. Other people put a lot of focus on Orthopraxy. This means Right Acts. The idea here is that what you do might actually be more important than what you believe.

I think this is a false dichotomy because one must inevitably flow into the other from my perspective. How can you really do what is right if you don’t believe in what’s right? And how can you honestly believe in what right but then not do it?

What God seems to care most about in this passage is Orthocardia. Here God says that what he looks for is not just the right belief or the right acts but the Right Heart.

The world tells us that God is looking for the well-spoken, the young, or the wealthy. It tells us that the kid on the street corner with the blue hair and the torn jeans is worth less than the businesswoman. It gives us all kinds of criteria by which to measure and judge people. But God doesn’t work that way. God chose David: the youngest and the lowliest.

(½ of a ½ of a ½ of a ½ of a ½ of a ½ of a ½ of the man that the people were looking for) – a guy whose family didn’t even think to bring him – he was so worthless!

When God looks at people he knows what he’s looking for. He’s not like that boy in the driveway looking for a chunk of glass. He’s like the wise mother who sees the real value. When God looks at us, he sees the heart…

May you see (yourself and all those you meet) with the eyes of God – Eyes that judge not the appearance of a person but… the presence of a clean heart. Amen.

And now for your homework. Feel free to open those bibles (NRSV) back up to page 260 and Read 1 Samuel 16:14-15 and then ask yourself this question: “an evil spirit” from who? Have you ever read the introduction to Jesus being led out into the desert for 40 days. It’s the same line there. He’s led out by God to be tested by the devil. But God is fully in control.

Song: Open my eyes that I may see (500)

We respond to serve God

Reflection on giving: We have been giving faithfully since the beginning of the pandemic and we are committed to continuing the ministry and mission that define Dayspring – using the ways described below. Thank you all for your support of our shared vision and mission.

Prayer of gratitude and for others and ourselves

We give thanks to you, O God, because you have blessed us with all we need to do your work.  May the offerings we share today become a source of healing for a world in need, for the sake of Jesus Christ, the One who sends us out in love.

Lord of every person and every part of creation, the world we live in is so complicated. We are grateful for your company, and for your compassion, as we try to figure out how to live well and respond to complicated challenges.

Thank you for your Word, and for its wisdom, even when we don’t entirely understand it. Thank you for Jesus, who can also confuse us. when he calls us to love and live in ways very different from what the world expects.

You are far wiser than we are, and we rest in this knowledge. Still, even as we thank you for your guidance, we plead for your mercy. Because we have sometimes been like the dishonest manager, distracted by money and making poor choices, we ask for your mercy.

Because we know people who suffer, people who are barely making ends meet, people who feel as if they have not even one person to help them, not even us, we ask for your mercy.

And because there are places in the world where chaos reigns, where clean water is just a dream, where violence is an everyday occurrence, we ask for your mercy.

Hear our silent prayers for those who suffer. and for those situations stir in our hearts this day…

Keep silence for 30 seconds.

O God, we trust that you hear us when we cry out, when we complain, when we whisper, when our words for you are angry, and when we have no words for you at all.

In your mercy, hear us and help us, not because of our own goodness but because of the mercy and love already demonstrated for us in Jesus Christ, your son and our Lord. Amen.

Song: I’m gonna live (work, pray) so God can use me (648)

Sending out with God’s blessing

And now we go into the days ahead. May we find strength. May we have wisdom. May we keep humble. And as we live and work together may we also build a new and better world for tomorrow in light of Christ our Lord. Amen

Response: Go forth into the world

Music postlude

————————————————————————-

Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One Licence (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2023) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

[1] Klein, R. W. (1983). 1 Samuel (Vol. 10, pp. 158–162). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

Depend on them

Worship on the Lord’s Day
Third Sunday of Lent
10:00 am March 12, 2023
Onsite & Online (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Led by the Rev. Bradley Childs
Music director: Binu Kapadia      Vocalist: Linda Farrah-Basford
Elder: Iris Routledge

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship

L: Just as the Spirit drove Jesus into the  wilderness,
P: the Spirit sends us into places of uncertainty where we confront our weakness and insecurities.
L: Here we are taught to pay attention to those whom others discard.
P: Jesus insists that God is revealed in unlikely people.
L:Jesus offered living water to the Samaritan woman at the well who was the wrong religion, the wrong gender, and had the wrong marital status.
P: We, too, are a gathering of nobodies, yet Jesus claims us as somebodies who all have a place.
L: In Christ, there is neither insider nor outsider, invited nor shunned, accepted nor rejected.
P: We, too, are called to see beyond outdated categories and to offer living water to the thirsty.
L: It is those who have been rejected who most need to know acceptance.
P: Let our gatherings be a place for those who have been told they don’t belong.

Opening praise: Here’s my heart, Lord

Prayers of approach and confession

Lord God, our Maker and Redeemer, who to know is to love and to love is to worship, we gather delighting in your presence and reveling in your holiness. We gently cradle delight and peace, encouraging them to settle deep within. They alone satisfy our hunger for meaning and our thirst for the fullness of life. And they alone come from you and your gifts to us.

Many are the things that compete for our worship in this world but we are here in your house for you alone hold the words of life. Each week we come for care and support, to learn and teach, to share and grow and you will never lead us down the wrong paths.

You know us best. You love us most. You alone create and You alone take home to you what is yours.

You speak the nourishing words of truth and all we want is to hear. In you do we find joy, pressed down and running over.

And in response we cannot help but offer you our praises.

Lord help us as we help each other, increase your blessings and lead to on this journey. Pick us up when we fall, aid us when we sin, burn away what’s not quite right and refine our hearts and make them pure once more. And so Lord hear us now as we confess and then bring us back into a right relationship with you once more. Amen

Response: I will trust in the Lord

Assurance of God’s forgiveness

Forgiven and restored we are the sheep of God’s hand and the people of God’s pasture. There is no fear for there is no need. Forgiveness is ours. Amen .

We listen for the voice of God

Children’s time

Gradual: Jesus loves me (373)

Story: Prayer isn’t just for emergencies.

“I cried to my God for help.

From his temple He heard my voice.”

Psalm 18:6 (NIV)
I brought my cell phone today just in case we have some kind of emergency. You know – if there’s a fire or if someone needs an ambulance. If that happens, what number do I dial? Right! 911!

You dial 911 and the dispatcher says, “911. What is your emergency?” And then they send whatever help you need.

You know, some people think of prayer as a kind of 911. Whenever they have a problem, they pray.

Maybe a problem at work, or money problems, or even a problem with someone at school. They pray and ask God to help them. It’s like sending up a 911 to God.

And we should take our problems to God. King David did. In Psalm 18:6 he says, “I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice.” So David sent a 911 up to God and God heard him.

But do we use our cell phones only for emergencies? No! And we shouldn’t use prayer only for emergencies, either. God wants us to talk to Him about everything, not just emergencies.

We should tell God what we’re thankful for.

Maybe tell God what we’re excited about.

And He especially likes it when we tell Him how much we love Him.

I mean, how would you like it if you had a friend who only talked to you when she had a problem and the only thing she ever said to you was, “Help me! Help me!”?

I bet it’s the same with God.

Sure, God does want to us to turn to Him when we have an emergency, but prayer isn’t just for emergencies.

In fact, let’s pray now.

Prayer: Dear Father, we thank You that we can talk to You in prayer. Help us to remember that we can talk to You anytime about anything. We thank You in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Transition music

Song: I will call upon the Lord

Today’s Message

Scripture readings: Exodus 17:2-7

Response: Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet

Message: “Depend on them”

It’s weird for me to say this. It’s probably weird for you to it. But I’m actually sort of a skeptic. I like logical answers. I like science, archeology, even when it comes to theology, I like historical theology and systematic theology. I like order. I like proof.

The Haggadah are the oral traditions and sermons of the ancient Israelite priests and later Rabbis that were never really written down. Instead, they were passed from generation to generation by memorization and camp-fire retellings. Many portions of Haggadah (contained in the Talmud and Mishnah) if not older or the basis of, are at least, almost as old as the biblical stories they often seek to explain.

Certainly, some of these commentaries and sermons on certain scriptures are actually much older than other scriptures. Some of them were never originally written down simply because they are in fact, older than written language. In the case of one of today’s scriptures it appears that the oral tradition led to it being written down.

But after that the Haggadah still contains comments on it. In this Rabbinic literature it says that not only did God miraculously provide water from a rock for the Israelites in the desert but it also goes on to suggest that from that point on, the Israelites were accompanied in the wilderness by that very same rock which they claimed continued rolling along with the people and pouring out water for them to drink (until they came to a place where water could naturally be found).

This rolling stone story is very interesting to me. Even though, it’s not actually a story found in the bible itself, it was interesting to many others as well. In fact, by the time of Jesus it was generally accepted to be true by most Jews.  A life-giving, water providing, rolling stone? The whole thing sounds… well, crazy. And it is… Except it also isn’t.

Sailing Stones are a geological phenomenon that occurs in California’s Death Valley, and they are exactly what they sound like. They are moving rocks. They range from small stones to 800 pound boulders, and they move along the dry lake bed leaving behind them a trail cut in the sand, or dirt or mud. Some of their trails are as much as 900 feet long!

Now, make no mistake – these are just rocks. They aren’t carried by a bunch of ants or some strange hybrid of rock and animal. As far as anyone can tell, they’re just rocks. Some go straight, others curve and some make 90 degree turns left or right (like they’ve abruptly changed their minds and decided to go somewhere else. They only move about once every three years or so and have never been witnessed or recorded doing so.

There have been a lot of theories about Sailing Stones over the years. Some people believe that aliens move them to coordinate landing sites. On the slightly more serious side, others say that it has something to do with magnetic fields. A few of the rocks have actually been stolen by people hoping to figure it out. Every once in a while, someone claims to have solved this scientific mystery but no one has really proven anything. One popular and probable answer is that in cold weather ice forms at the base of the rocks which makes them glide along aided by strong winds until the sun rises and melts the ice. But no one really knows for sure. And it’s not a myth or a trick, or a hoax. It is a scientific fact. They move.

Truly no one knows for sure how these rocks do the impossible. But they do.

It’s a very strange little story (just a few sentences long) squashed between the provision of Manna in the wilderness and the Amalekite war. It’s tiny and it’s almost out of place. Here at ancient Rephidim, these people are not just thirsty – they’re MAD. They’ve been 6 months in the desert with nothing but rocks and sand and all they do all day; every day is walk.

The people have been getting angrier and angrier. They complained about not having food, then they got food and they complained that they had too much and that they didn’t want that kind of food and on and on. These people’s lives have literally been filled with miracles and yet they had the shortest memory when it came to recalling that fact.

And it all came to a head that day. They’d come too far from the last oasis and didn’t know how long it would be before they came upon any more. They were going to die. Their animals were going to die. They were going to die and their kids were going to die. And that tends to make a person’s blood boil. The people were looking for someone to blame.  And they didn’t have to look far. Moses was their leader. It had to be his fault. And so the people turn mutinous.

Now most of us have either fortunately or unfortunately received a little too much of our education from the Television. Largely I think due to Monty Python most of us have an incorrect understanding of the practice of stoning. We tend to think that a crowd gathered and picked up little rocks and tossed them at you. But that’s not generally how it worked. In reality the practice was to attack someone, break some portion of their legs and then push them off of cliff or some other high point. Then they would drop large rocks onto your body while you lay helpless until you were both dead and buried.

This is about to go down. Moses is about to be killed. And so, he cries out to the Lord and says, “What am I to do with these people? They are ready to stone me.” And so the Lord answered Moses.“Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

And then that’s it. That’s how this odd little story ends. The people get thirsty, and God makes water come out of a rock and everyone is saved.

Now (because of the different kinds of words used) some have pointed out that this story seems to be a compilation from a bunch of different time periods which was then added to make for transitions in the desert narratives. Others have rightly noticed that this story is a duplet (a story told twice in the bible but told with two opposing outcomes).

There are a few of these kinds of stories – enough of them anyway that theologians had to come up with a term for them. In numbers chapter 20 we get the other side to this duplet. It says “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water.” In this case two notable things are different. In the first case God tells him to hit the rock with his staff. And everyone is saved.

In the second story Moses is told to speak to the rock, but he doesn’t believe it will work, so he (instead he does what he did last time – the time we’re reading about now) hits it (twice actually, as if he’s not even sure that will work) and this time not everyone is saved. In fact that denial of God’s power is then listed as the reason why Moses isn’t allowed to enter into the promise land. People who ascribe to the doublet theory of meaning generally believe that the point of both stories is that God’s power cannot be doubted.

More recently a few scholars have begun to suggest that this story was never meant to be taken literally. They suggest that the original authors didn’t think of it as history. Instead, they suggest that the whole thing is an allegory for putting ones trust in God even when it seems impossible. After all, God is often referred to as a Rock in both the New and Old Testament.

Deuteronomy 32:4 says, “The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.” A few verses later it says Jeshurun “scorned his own maker, the Rock of his salvation”. (vs15) When referring to the Philistine gods the author writes, “Indeed their rock is not like our Rock, Even our enemies themselves know this.” (Deuteronomy 32:3) And even Paul in 1 Corinthians 14 will explain that Jesus is like the rock in the desert that brought forth water and so he calls Christ, “The Rock of my salvation”.

Of course, the thing is, all of those quotes are from later time periods than this story about God bringing salvation through a rock that miraculously pours out water. In fact, it’s this story that establishes the context for future allegories about God as a rock. Without this story the allegory doesn’t really make sense.

Others have claimed this story to be nothing more than an etiological tale (a story with the sole purpose of explaining why something was given a particular name). The reason for this suggestion is because they name this place quarrel and test as a result of the people quarreling with Moses and Testing God.

Others just get uncomfortable with miracles all together and seek to explain them away by natural terms. For example, sometimes people will suggest that the limestone in this area can actually contain trapped water (but it’s not actually true). Some others have said that Moses actually finds an old well (with a cap on it to keep wild animals out). But nothing in the story suggests that. It’s just conjecture. Similarly, some say that Moses came across an aqueduct covered by a layer of thin rock. Thus, he struck it; revealing a source of water beneath. But to be fair if that’s true, I wouldn’t find it any less miraculous. I don’t think it really explains anything away. After all, the water doesn’t have to be produced by the rock for this to be a miracle.

Trying to explain this story is nothing new of course. In 325 AD, Eusebius said you could still see the rock that Moses struck to provide water for the Hebrews. He said it was at the town of Petra. The rock he identified as that rock Moses struck is still there today. A town (where today about 25,000 people live) has sprung up around it.

In fact, a building was constructed around the sacred rock to protect it. Directly below the rock (still alive and well today) is spring. At its base, it’s now been carved out into a proper looking pool with smooth walls and sharp edges. But the spring is natural. People of the city and travelers can still come and collect clear spring water. And they do. The path the water flows from the rock is called the “Wadi of Moses”. It flows down the 1 km SW then turns 90 degrees right at the “treasury,” then winds its way down into the Arabah Valley.

Now I don’t know how you feel about miracles. The idea that God sometimes intervenes in this world. Maybe you’re a true believer. Maybe you’ve widened your scope, as to what you consider miraculous. Maybe you are a bit of a skeptic at heart.

I don’t know, maybe it is allegorical. Maybe it’s just about trusting God. … Maybe it’s historical and God reached down into our world and bent the rules of nature to save these people’s lives.

You know, if I didn’t believe that were at least possible I’d never bother to pray again.

I believe in Jesus Christ. So pretty clearly, I believe that God intervenes.

I believe we should pray for miracles.

I don’t think we should demand miracles. And I don’t think this particular type of miracle is common. If miracles were common, they’d be called “normals” not miracles. I don’t think we should even expect miracles, but I do believe in them. And when someone I know and care about has cancer or is facing Alzheimer’s or whatever it might be I find myself not just hoping but truly believing in miracles like this one all the more.

The problem is… I don’t have proof. And like I said a while ago. I’m a bit of a skeptic.

I really want to believe that this rock at the Wadi of Moshe is the real deal; the proof of a miraculous event. If this is the rock, then we could all say with one voice united that we believe in miracles, that we have proof, that from now on we will pray for our loved ones to get better and though not always expect it to happen – at least always believe it’s possible to happen.

But the problem of course with the Wadi of Moses, is that the geography doesn’t actually fit. It can’t be the right rock. See, this rock is just not quite in the right place. And so we probably don’t have any proof that miracles happen, that God reaches down into our world and that our prayers can be answered. The only way that this could be the rock… is if… rocks could somehow inexplicably move on their own like the haggadah suggests.

I don’t really know what happened that day in the desert. No video camera captured the event. But I know, inside me that God does move in this world. And so today I would just like to encourage you with the words of Laurence J Peters. He wrote, “Don’t believe in miracles… depend on them.” – Amen

Song: I hunger and thirst

We respond to serve God

Reflection on giving: We have been giving faithfully since the beginning of the pandemic and we are committed to continuing the ministry and mission that define Dayspring – using the ways described below. Thank you all for your support of our shared vision and mission.

Prayer of gratitude and for others and ourselves

God, our Renewer, we offer you our thanks for the truth we know and the activity of your Spirit we have experienced.  We have found that, as a river gradually wears its way through the mountain rock making a new space of great beauty for itself, so your spirit gently enlarges its dwelling space within, deepening the pond of quiet wherein your spirit and truth can settle, creating an inner space where our own spirit can bathe in yours and be refreshed. We thank you.

From that inner space flows a stream that nourishes the roots of hope and faith, making it possible for us to live in your light, making it possible to stay sane amidst the crazy making activity around us, sustaining us through the sad and empty times, deepening our joy in the happy moments. We are grateful for what we know of your truth.

We thank you as well for the power of prayer.

And so, we pray for those we love, asking that good things may abound. (Silence)

Grant them freedom to live their truth and use their gifts. Deepen their joy in the good that is their portion and bring them more fully alive in your spirit.

We pray for those at the centre of our thoughts because their needs are great: The ill, unemployed, over worked, scared, lonely, the silent, the suffering, those at loose ends.

We ask to be tools of your hands to make these changes but we also pray for you to do the things we simply cannot. We pray for miraculous healing. We pray for unexplainable recovery. We pray for new gifts and new blessings and we pray to see your hands at work.

Create convergences between their deepest need and your loving providence. Bridge the gaps. Send the people and the materials that will help them most to the people most in need. Provide the money and the time and talents to the people who need it at the exact moment that they need it most.

Gently lead each of us in the way of truth and worship.

We pray for those who lead us in government, businesses and the institutions that give our public life structure. Delve down into their lives and shock them with your works.

Bring peace to the troubled places of our world.  Show you face in new ways and demand to be seen and heard.

And finally, we pray for ourselves.

We open ourselves to you now, praying for the week ahead.

We are not blind in the desert to the blessings you have given. We are not people of short memories.

We are a people that knows we have been blessed.

This week may we live that truth boldly. May the way of the Spirit be reflected in our actions. May worship be our response to all this week brings as we seek to follow and serve Jesus our Lord today and forever. Amen.

Song: Be Thou my vision (461)

Sending out with God’s blessing

Hold firmly to truth. Delight in the Spirit. May the grace of God: Creator, Redeemer and Spirit be with you and yours until eternity. Amen.

Response: God to enfold you

Music postlude

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Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One Licence (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2023) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

Stuck in Haran

Worship on the Lord’s Day
March 05, 2023    10:00 am     Lent 2
The Sacrament of Holy Communion
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Led by the Rev. Brad Childs
Music Director: Binu Kapadia           Vocalists: Cheryl & Peter Sheridan
Elder: Gina Kottke

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: Just as the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness,
P: the Spirit sends us into places of uncertainty where we confront our weakness and insecurities.
L: Even when our situation changes, we cling to the tried and the true.
P: We insist that what worked in the past will work in the future.
L: Yet, Jesus calls us to die to our old ways so that the new will emerge.
P: He said that we need to be born again to see God’s new realm.
L: Embracing God’s realm will mean accepting different principles that no longer feed our egos.
P: It will mean putting the needs of others before our own.
L: We know the depth of God’s love, revealed to us in Jesus, God’s Son.
P: When we are reborn by God’s Spirit, we will go where the Spirit leads us and love as God loves us.

Opening praise: Holy Spirit, you are welcome here

Prayers of approach and lament

Almighty God, we know you as both Lord and Servant.

We know you to be vast beyond our mind’s grasp  yet small enough to dwell in our hearts.

We know you as light and love, yet you are able to encompass all darkness.

When we gather together it is not because we are strong, because we understand you, or because we are good people.

When we gather, we acknowledge that we have weakness, that we couldn’t ever possibly fully understand you, and that we are seeking to always be better people.

Lord, deepen our sense of your mystery’s this day.

Free us to worship your transcendence even as we cling to your nearness.

While we treasure our knowledge of you, we rejoice that you are more than we can ever know.

That doesn’t scare us – that amazes us.

Free us from the need for a small, manageable God so we can contemplate your majesty, power and might.

And hear us now as we confess before you. Amen

 …

Response: I waited, I waited on you, Lord

Assurance of God’s forgiveness

Hear the good news: God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever shall believe in him will have eternal life.

We are forgiven. Amen.

We listen for the voice of God

Song: In the bulb there is a flower (674)

Scripture reading (NRSV): Genesis 12:1-4

Response: Glory to the Father

Message: “Stuck in Haran”

At a rather fancy retirement care facility, a group of residents were sitting around talking about all their ailments. “I take so many pills I’m too full to eat.” one woman began “And my arms have gotten so weak I can hardly lift this cup of coffee.”

Not to be outdone another person spoke up. “Yes, well, my cataracts are so bad I can’t even see my coffee.” “Oh yeah” said another, “I couldn’t even mark an “X” on the election ballot the last time I was supposed to vote. My hands are so bad now I can’t even hold a pen let alone a cup.”

“That’s nothing” said another woman “I can’t turn my head because of the arthritis in my neck. I can only look straight forward all the time. If I want to see someone I have to rotate my whole body”. “Well,” said someone else, “I’d kill for a problem like that. My blood pressure pills make me so dizzy I keep falling asleep all the time!” “And I forget where I am, and I forget where I’m going. And where I just came from.” “I guess that’s just the price we pay for getting older,” winced one man as he slowly shook his head.

The others nodded in agreement. “Well, count your blessings everyone and thank God for the things we still have. Enjoy the journey,” said one woman cheerfully, “At least we can all still drive just fine”.

The gift of a long life comes with its own challenges. Sometimes it’s the sore feet and at other times it’s the road not taken in the first place.

By the time we first meet Abram in the Bible he’s already 75 years old. And I bet 4000 years ago things weren’t all that different for 75 year olds than they are today. I bet he woke up with pain in his back. I bet his feet hurt and he probably didn’t see all that well either. I bet he had great struggles and I bet he had regrets.

He might be the patriarch of Muslim, Jewish and Christian faiths but he was a human being first and he didn’t float on the clouds or live a life without challenges. So when God came to him and wanted him to do something new, I bet he struggles with it.

It’s interesting. God comes and says “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” And then in verse 4 it says, “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him”. But is that really how it all went down? Is that whole story?

The reality of it is this: Abram was living as a part of a clan system. And he’s not even the head of the house. He actually didn’t even have the right to move without permission. On top of that, Joshua as well as other sources tells us that Abram is with his father Terah. And as a strange side note I’d also point out that at this time Terah and Abram don’t even know the God they’re speaking withy. They are actually Babylonian moon- god worshipers. (Josh 24:2) The God of the Bible just sort of drops in on him and expects him to respond.

But this isn’t the first time Abram or his family has been asked to do something by this God that they didn’t even worship.  See In chapter 11 (just before our reading from today begins) there is this strange little line. It says, “Then Terah (Abram’s father) took his son Abram… and together they set out from Ur to go to Canaan (the promise land). But when they came to Harran, they settled there.”

Now there is a big problem here. Ur was a city in present day Iraq. That’s where Abram was from and that’s where he lived. But then God calls them to go to Canaan. And yet they settled in Haran (up in what is present day Syria). Now if you’re not up on your Middle Eastern geography, that’s okay. See the point is pretty simple. Harran is not on the way to Canaan. Not even close. In fact, he goes North (the complete opposite way). He walked 600 kilometers north – out of the way (when the whole trip was only 600 kilometers and after they got to Harran they were still 550 kilometers away from Canaan). That is not “on the way”. This is like leaving Edmonton for Dawson creek BC and ending up stopping in St. Mary, Montana. It’s a big triangle out of the way. And then the family “settled” there.

The book of Acts sheds a little bit more light on all of this. Acts 7:2-4 reads, “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘LEAVE YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR RELATIVES, AND COME INTO THE LAND THAT I WILL SHOW YOU.’ “Then he left the land of Ur and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.”

This is where our story really starts. It doesn’t start the way it seems to. It doesn’t start with a guy that’s willing to do anything for God. It doesn’t start with a guy that steps out in faith or that was completely unwavering in his faith. It starts with a guy that’s already been told to do something once and didn’t do it. And he probably started out with nothing but good intentions. You know, it says, “and together they set out from Ur to go to Canaan”. They started out right. They just somehow got off course along the way.

Have you ever done that?

For me it’s really telling that there is no space between chapter 11 and chapter 12 where this is made really clear. There is no verse that says, “But Abram followed his father to Haran instead and the Lord punished him for his failure.” That verse doesn’t exist.

It doesn’t work that way. Abram settles in Haran and God lets him go out of his way. He doesn’t force or punish. But God does keep pursing anyway.

And so, when Abram’s father Terah died. God comes to him again. Following a death of a loved one God often challenges us with new things.

Here he comes once more and he says, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” When God calls Abram a second time, there is a command to leave all that is familiar. This time he wants commitment. But like challenges always do, this one also comes with a promise. He says, “I will make your name great”.

What is your name?

Abram comes from combining a noun and a verb together in Hebrew. It’s Ab for Father and R’wm (ram) for Exalted. His name means “exalted Father”. Terah must have expected a lot from his son.

Later when his name is changed to Abraham it adds the word for “of multitudes”. Abraham means “exalted father of multitudes”. His two names Abram and Abraham are found 190 times just in the book of Genesis.

Now, if you didn’t know this, for many years I had a monthly column in our national magazine, The Presbyterian Record. And every month they send me two free copies and I must admit that every month I open the package up like it’s my own little Christmas present and I flip to find the article. It’s silly but I get a little glimmer in my eye when I see my name printed at the bottom of that page. Well Abraham got his name in the Bible! 200 times… In the Bible!!!

Moreover, from Genesis on, whenever God spoke to someone new, He would usually say something like “fear not for I am the God of… Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”. Think about that for a second. That is crazy. What that means is that even though these people may not have known who God was, they knew for sure who Abraham was. Now that is a “great name”. People came to identify who God was, by who Abraham was.

And in 4000 years really nothing has changed. God still reveals himself through his people.

David Will wrote, “You are the only Jesus some will ever see.”

Abram was a blessing because his life pointed to faith in God. How do we do that?

I am glad you asked that question. By being seen.

The world is watching you. They don’t even know that they are watching you. But they are. At your job they are watching you. In the classroom they are watching you. When you call yourself a person of faith, the world begins to watch you. When you are doing well. They are watching. When you go through the mess that you have to go through, and the world sees you going through turmoil and pain…they are watching.

People see that when all hell is breaking loose in your life, that you still have an anchor… that you bend a lot but you don’t break. They see you. And when they see you, they see him. When they see you and the storms are raging in your life and you are still able to give God praise. They see someone worthy of respect. They stand back in amazement and say there’s something about that God of . That is a part of the legacy that you leave.

And then God says, “And I will bless you”.

As the old story goes, the prison warden told the condemned man to order whatever he wanted for his last meal and he offered some suggestions: “Lobster, Filet Mignon, Beef Wellington, Caviar or Shrimp get whatever you want?”

“No,” the prisoner said. “I’ll just take a bowl of mushrooms.”

Confused the warden asked, “Why mushrooms?”

To which the prisoner replied, “I’ve always been afraid to eat that fancy stuff.”

It seems nuts. But… what kind of fear, keeps you from the blessings God has in store for you? What keeps you from going where God is leading you in life? What stops you from taking that leap of faith?

Of course, with our God, a person can’t just be left alone as blessed. Blessings exist to be shared. And so, God says, “And you will be a blessing”. But it all starts with following God where he wants to lead you.

And nobody ever said, taking a leap of faith is easy. It’s not. That’s why it takes faith to do it. But you just do it, one day at a time. Laozi once said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with just one step. That’s how faith works too sometimes.

Maybe like Abram you started off on your journey some time ago but somewhere along the line you got stuck in Haran along the way.

Abram was 75 years old when he set out from Haran. He’d been ignoring that first call to follow God to a new place for some time. But God hadn’t given up on him. He knew there was faith in there. He knew he was destined for something. And when Abram finally took that leap of faith, God promised to make his name great and to bless him and others through him. And I believe that God is still making that promise today.

I don’t know where God is calling you to follow but if I may give one piece of advice… Enjoy the journey. Amen

Song: All my hope on God is founded, vss. 1, 3, 4, 5 (462)

We respond to serve God

Reflection on giving

 

 

 

 

Prayer of gratitude and for others and ourselves

Generous God, we offer our gifts to you in gratitude for all that we have received in Christ and in creation. Bless our gifts and our lives, so that we can share in the building up of your kingdom in the world you love.  In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Lord God, you are our keeper, our shade in the heat of the world’s troubles, light in every shadowed time of life. In all our comings and goings we are yours.

And so we thank you for your care which sustains us, and offer you our trust for those things we can do nothing about.

Thank you for the energy to focus on the things we can do day by day, putting our love and care to work in community and creation.

By the power of your Spirit, bless us with the insight and passion to act in hope.

May your wisdom guide us in all things.

Attentive God, we bring our concerns for the world to you in these uncertain times.

We think of Abraham and Sarah setting off to an unknown land and pray for people on the move:

  • For those seeking safety and shelter, fleeing violence;
  • For those settling into a new home or community;
  • For those who must travel, whatever the conditions. (brief silence)

God, our Companion, walk with us on the way.

We think of the Psalmist looking to the hills and we pray for people seeking help:

  • For those seeking help for the earth itself as its fragile balances are threatened;
  • For those seeking help to make ends meet as bank balances are threatened;
  • For those seeking help for vulnerable people to right the balance of justice. (brief silence)

God, our Companion, walk with us on the way.

We think of Nicodemus turning to Jesus with questions in his heart and we pray for people seeking answers:

  • For those with health challenges, seeking diagnosis and treatment;
  • For those researching problems and policies, seeking to better our common life;
  • For those wondering if you exist, O God, wondering if you have a purpose for them. (brief silence)

God, our Companion, walk with us on the way.

We think of Jesus, calming his disciples amid their fears, challenging us all to follow him in love and faithfulness for he is our Companion on the way. Amen.

The Sacrament of Holy Communion

Invitation

Welcome, all who follow Jesus are met here in this act. It is not Dayspring’s table or mine but God’s. Gather gladly for this tiny foretaste of a feast in heaven to come.

Song: I come with joy (530)

We affirm our faith: The Apostles Creed (539)

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit

and born of the virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to hell.

The third day he rose again from the dead.

He ascended to heaven

and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.

From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer (469)

Communion Prayer

Creating father we thank you for the gift of life and for the gift of all creation. All that is praises your name. Providing one, we are forever grateful to you for the unending gifts you bestow upon us and entrusted to us. Your faithfulness and mercy astound us. God of sacrifice, You are our rock and our shield. Your compassion and grace know no end.

We thank you, Almighty God, for the salvation you offer and we give complete control of ourselves to you and call You “Lord”. Help us to know your ways, To share them with others and to forever seek after your divinely hidden face.

Precious Lord, we thank you for the gift of salvation sent through your son Jesus Christ. We thank you for the incarnation, as you made yourself low and brought yourself down to be a vulnerable human being. And from this blessing we were given instruction but also freedom. Our god it is completely beyond our understanding how you could send Christ to live among us, love us, and know that he would died at our hands. Such love is too far above us. And through him you the author of salvation have also shown us what it means to rise to new life.

Father God, we also thank you for the gift of your spirit. It is by your Spirit of glory that we find comfort and council. We praise you also for the works of the divine Spirit in both creation and our holy scriptures. We praise you for that the same Spirit which empowered the holy conception of our Lord also empowers us today. By your spirit we are called to service for your divine will. Let none of us remain in conflict with one another but instead bring as peace that passed understanding… both now and forever. Amen.

Sharing of the bread and wine

Breaking of the Bread (Fraction)

“Therefore, I received from the lord what I also passed on to you: the Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed took the bread and when he and given thanks, he broke it and said This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Pouring and Elevation of the Cup

“In the same way after supper he took the top saying “this is the new covenant in my blood do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me” , “for whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

Distribution of the elements

Bread: The gifts of God for the people of God “take eat”

Wine: The gifts of God for the people of God “take eat”

Song: One bread, one body (540)

The prayer after Communion

Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world, in the strength of Your Spirit, to do just as you have done, to give ourselves for others. In the name of Jesus Christ of Lord – Amen

Hymn: Shout for joy! (557)

Sending out with God’s blessing

As we continue our Lenten journey, remember the promise of the Psalmist: “The Lord will keep your going out and you’re coming in from this time on and forever more.” So go now, trusting that your help comes from God,

And may God’s presence strengthen you,

Jesus’ faithfulness guide you,

And the wind of the Spirit bring you energy to serve with love.

Response: The Blessing

Music postlude

————————————————————————-

Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One Licence (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2023) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

Tested

Worship on the Lord’s Day
First Sunday of Lent 10:00 am February 26, 2023
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Led by the Rev Brad Childs
Music director: Binu Kapadia     Vocalist: Sam Malayang
Elder: Jane de Caen

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements!
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: Just as the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness,
P: the Spirit sends us into places of uncertainty where we confront our  weakness and insecurities.
L: In the wilderness, we, too, are confronted by our hunger and thirst.
P: We are tempted to grab at empty promises that offer an easy way out.
L: Like Jesus, we are tempted by power and prestige.
P: Unlike him, we often submit to their glamour.
L: We wonder whether God is with us.
P: We wonder whether we can trust God to take care of us.
L: We can only move forward in faith.
P: Let us stand on the cliff edge and, like Jesus, dare to trust.

Opening praise: Forever God is faithful

Prayers of approach and confession

Providing Father, We come before you as servants to the King of all creation. You, Oh God, stand at the door and knock. We seek only to answer your call to us. We gather in your name before you as unworthy people drawing near to you and to your perfect word. Father blesses us and our worship of you for the benefit of your will and your world.

Our LORD you are supreme. Your security is overwhelming and your powers without limits. Oh, Holy! Holy! Holy God! your sovereignty holds us. Salvation is from you and you alone. Father of Knowledge and Wisdom your wrath, mercy, justice and faithfulness abound; your deeds are wise and perfect; your goodness overflows. Our gracious Father you are good and all that is good comes from you. You are Patient. You are Love; your grace and personal attention to all creation is unending. Your Jealousy and Majesty reign on High and you are ever faithful to your word and to your people. You are God, Eternal King.

As we draw near to You oh LORD, advance us even more toward the living water and to your right hand. And hear our confessions to make us whole again. Silence

Gradual: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God

Assurance of God’s forgiveness

Hear the words of the Psalmist:  Happy are those who are forgiven. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice.  (Psalm 32) Thanks be to God. We are made new. Amen.

We listen for the voice of God

Children’s time

Gradual: Jesus, we are gathered (514)

Story: There was this Jewish grandmother, and she loved her one and only grandson. She loved him like crazy. She gave him anything that that he wanted, and she never said no.

One day she took him out to the beach, and she put these big floaty things on his arms, and she put a big white floppy hat on his head and a big smear of white goo on his nose so he wouldn’t get sunburned and then she sat down on a chair on the beach, put her umbrella up, and read her book.

She looked out, and she saw her happy grandson out playing in the ocean and having a good time, and she was excited.

This grandma wasn’t a particularly nice lady..

She was nice to her grandson, but she was kind of mean to everybody else. She always cheated on her taxes, and she stole their neighbor’s newspaper every morning. She always said mean things about the ladies down the hall, but she loved the grandson.

So, that day at the beach she looked up, and she saw him playing, and she was so happy, and she went back to her book.

Then she looked up again and all of a sudden, she realized he was gone. Her grandson was missing in the ocean, and she was terrified.

And so she falls down on her knees, and she starts praying right away.

God, please, please, bring me back my grandson. Don’t let him be hurt. Please bring him back. Let him be okay. I won’t steal the paper anymore. I won’t cheat on my taxes. I’ll be nice and the ladies down the hall. I’ll do anything, please.

And then, Boom! Thunder! Crash!

Lightning flashed, and a huge swell of waves started building in the ocean, and it pushed forward right up in front of her, and it deposited the boy just perfectly standing there on 2 feet, floaties on his arms, goo on his nose.

She ran up and she hugged him, and she said, Thank you, thank you. God! My boy is Ok.

And then she moved back a bit and looked at his face and said: But he had a hat!

Sometimes in life we are tempted to take things for granted, but every good gift comes from above.

In the letter of James. It says, you should be humble of heart, not wanting what other people have, but being content with what God gives you. (James 4:5) Let’s try, this week, to be very content with what God gives us, and not worry so much about the hat.

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Transition music

Song: Forty days and forty nights (197)

Today’s Message

Scripture readings: Matthew 4:1-11; Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

Response: Behold the Lamb of God

Message: “Tested”

When I was in high school I went white-water rafting in Colorado. It was the scariest thing on earth. And I distinctly remember the feeling of that raft turning sideways down the rapids, with my stomach sinking and my heart in the throat. And as the rocks got closer and closer the fun became more dangerous and I prayed harder and harder and I paddled until my arms just burned.

The baptism of Christ… this is where it all began. As the Bible tells us, Jesus came up out of the water and was greeted by the voice of God as the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove. The great voice from heaven spoke and said, “This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.” It is perhaps the single most beautiful picture described in all of our Holy Bible. And yet… it comes with a catch. You see, this beautiful story of Baptist doesn’t stand alone. It appears in all three of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) and in every single case the story ends in the same way.

Right after the Spirit descends upon our Savior, we’re told that Jesus was led out into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil who immediately challenges Jesus with “if you really are the Son of God”… a direct challenge to the words the Father has just spoken and the same exact words Matthew will later tell us that the people called out to Jesus when he was on the cross again saying (just like the Devil did) “if you really are the son of God come down off that cross and save yourself”. (Matthew 27:40)

The Hebrews had this belief in Tiamat and the Leviathan which are serpent-monsters of the ancient world that almost every nation feared. Both are mentioned in scripture and have to do with evil, chaos and death. Snake stories were popular.

In Ancient Samaria the people believed in a snake-god called Ning-ish-zida whose name means “Lord of the Produce tree”. They had a similar Adam and Eve type of story involving the serpent and the fruit from its tree. But the snake isn’t really the bad guy in that story.  Then again the snake isn’t really the bad guy in ours either. In Gen 3:4 the serpent is called “crafty” but not evil. In fact he never lies to them in the story. And the same word we translate “crafty” is used in other parts of the Bible to describe Godly people). Unlike the Christian idea of a powerful and evil foe, the Hebrew’s had no concept of a singular personification of evil (a Devil).

The Old Testament talks about a character called ha-Satan. Used as both a noun and a verb it can mean “to oppose” or “the adversary”. Ha-Satan is applied to supernatural beings in Numbers and 1 Chronicles. But it’s also used to describe humans in 1 Kings and 1 & 2 Samuel. Ha-Satan is also used 14 times in the book of Job. But in Job ha-Satan is a part of the heavenly court (what’s sometimes called “the hosts of heaven”). Essentially his job is to act as the prosecuting attorney. Yes, I did just say that Satan is a lawyer. Save the lawyer jokes, though, because the way he is portrayed – this particular prosecutor actually works for God and can’t do anything without his permission. The same is true in 1 Kings where God actually asks ha-Satan (three times) to do things for him.

Now at some point when the Israelites were concurred by Babylon they began to view ha-Satan as more of a foe to fight than a part of God’s counsel. This would be natural because the Persians were Zoroastrian worshipers and their God had a mirror-opposite, evil version of himself whom he was always battling. Some people think of this as a developing theology whereby the Israelites borrowed parts of their religion from other ancient people. Theologians just call this progressive revelation.

By the time of Jesus, Greek speaking Jews were using the Greek word (diabolos) “Devil” instead of ha-Satan but it’s really just a translation. Both words mean accuser. In his version of the story Matthew refers to this character as “Satan”, “the tempter” and “the Devil” just so everyone is clear. And really nobody doubted the existence of pure evil personified. In fact, it was assumed.

In the present age the world scorns those who believe in the supernatural (the idea of a “Devil” with horns and goat feet (not a biblical picture by the way) is shunned. Yet Christianity has historically affirmed the existence of the divine and quite frankly although it makes people very uncomfortable and seems superstitious to others… One cannot deny that it is the very same book that tells us there is a God which tells us there is a Devil. If one already believes in Angels (as most people do in the world – even the non-religious) it’s not exactly a giant leap to say that one should also believe in fallen angels.

In any case whether we believe or not one thing is for sure. Jesus and his followers did. In fact in the Lord’s Prayer we know (which comes from Matthew’s gospel) Jesus says, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from πονηρός ponēros (pah-neh-ross) The Evil One”. That is what he actually says.

Now, our story takes place at the very beginning of Jesus’ journey; before he even gathered his disciples.

And we’re told that for 40 days and 40 nights Jesus is in the wilderness. 40 days and 40 nights is important. It’s like recalling Noah’s time of rainfall as he prepares to start anew, Moses’ time on Mount Sinai as well and Elijah’s time in the desert as well as others. To the original audience it’s like a hint that this story is about temptation and preparation.

As an interesting note we’re told that Jesus was led out into the wilderness TO BE TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL. BUT He’s not led out by the Devil. He’s led out BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO BE TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL. In the end it’s actually God that wants him tempted.

As the story goes, a billionaire oil tycoon from Texas decided to find a husband for his only daughter, a girl who wasn’t exactly having much luck in the dating department. He initiated his search by inviting local bachelors to a party in his backyard. A large, elegantly designed swimming pool dominated the yard. As the men edged by it to get their refreshments, they saw it was filled with sharks.

Clustering beside the pool, the bachelors puzzled over the strange sight. Just then the tycoon appeared on the patio and gave an emotional speech, telling how much he loved his daughter and expressing how much he wanted her to marry someone deserving of her. He then laid out The Deal. “Anyone who will jump in the swimming pool and swim to the other side will have their choice of a check for one million dollars with no questions asked or the hand of my daughter in marriage and your place in my will, which will result in your inheriting my entire fortune.”

The bachelors were speechless. Their questioning looks seemed to say that none of them would be crazy enough to risk his life–even for all that money. The long silence was finally broken by a splash. Everyone turned to see one of the men swimming to the far side of the pool as fast as any Olympic swimmer ever could. Leaping out of the water, he shook himself off and walked over to the tycoon. With a hug and a handshake, the oil man congratulated the boy on a fine swim.

“Son, would you like a million dollar check?” he asked. “No sir, I wouldn’t,” responded the young man politely, and slightly out of breath. “Fine,” said the tycoon. With a tear in his eye the tycoon asked, “Then, my boy, would you like my only daughter’s hand in marriage?” To the surprise of the gawking bachelors, the young man replied, “No sir.” Puzzled and a little hurt, the tycoon asked, “Well then, son, what do you want?” “I only want one thing,” he answered. “I want the name of the guy who pushed me.”

Nobody would willingly jump into a shark-infested pool–even for a million dollars.

Similarly, no one really wants to be tested. It’s something forced upon you. And in this case it’s God’s idea. And I can’t help but wonder… Maybe it always is??? Not because God wants us to fall for temptation though… maybe it’s because he wants to watch us overcome it.

After living in the hot desert (Luke’s word), and eating nothing for 40 days (most likely living off only water), staving, smelling of the desert sun and the wild animals, emaciated, in his most vulnerable state; skin most likely just hanging off his skeleton – the Devil asks a literally starving Christ to turn stones into bread (something God does for Moses and the Israelites when they are in the wilderness) and Jesus just waves his nearly lifeless arms and shrugs the very notion of it away. The way he deals with temptation is – He calls on God. He quotes the Hebrew Bible and says, “Man cannot live on bread alone”. Jesus has no need to prove He is the Son of God.

In the story it all just seems so easy for him. But I don’t think it was. It can’t be a real temptation unless it’s actually tempting. I suspect it wasn’t quite as easy as it appears. If Jesus was truly fully human as we say he was, then I bet he had to struggle with it, just like us.

I read this story about a boy and a shopkeeper this week. Apparently the shopkeeper sees a little boy standing outside of the storefront; wide eyed and staring down at a large basket of apples with a lot of sideways glances as if he’s constantly checking to see if anyone is watching him. “What are you doing son?” the shopkeeper asked the little boy “Trying to steal one of those apples?” “No sir” said the boy as he stood up straight. And then he swallowed hard “Then what’cha do’n boy” the shopkeeper said. And at that the boy took a deep breath and said, “Trying not to”.

I suspect that’s more the way it is for most folks. That’s why Humorist Sam Levenson said, “Lead us not into temptation. Just tell us where it is; we’ll find it.”

It’s a struggle. And even if we weren’t surrounded by it – we’d find it anyway.

The Huntington River Gorge, near Richmond, Vermont, is beautiful but deadly. In recent years, twenty people (mostly in their early twenties) have lost their lives in the gorge. Hundreds of gorge swimmers have been severely injured.

See, on the surface the water of the gorge looks calm and placid, but beneath it are strong currents that run swiftly over treacherous underwater drops, crags and whirlpools. Public safety officials have designated the gorge “the single most deadly place in the state of Vermont.” Warning signs have been posted all over the place, reading, “When the water is high due to rain or snowmelt, especially powerful currents can easily sweep you over the falls and trap you underneath the water.” There are Danger and Warning signs everywhere.

Over the years people have debated about what to do about the gorge. Some argue for more public information about the gorge’s risks. Others want to ban anyone from visiting the place all together.

Meanwhile, swimmers continue to be attracted to the scene. One college student attending the University of Vermont—just fourteen miles from the gorge—said she had heard about the beauty of Huntington River Gorge and wanted to swim in it. She said people already know about the dangers and try their best to be careful. But as young Katie Zezima told the New York Times, “You can’t change the water, and you can’t stop people from going in,” (Katie Zezima, “An Enticing Gorge Poses a Deadly Problem,” The New York Times (July 16, 2006)147 725-729)

The world can be a dangerous place. And even though we don’t often think of it in those terms, we are surrounded by temptations. You can’t keep people away from temptation. Whether it’s the temptation to speed or lie your way out of a ticket, or cheat on your taxes, have two extra helping of desert, or something far, far more serious, temptation is literally everywhere because it is anything you know you shouldn’t do – and so because of that temptation is far more than the personification of evil… that’s part of it but really – it takes every possible form known to man.

When the Devil takes Jesus up to the Temple and says “throw yourself off if you are the Son of God and He will protect you” Jesus again quotes the Hebrew Bible and says, “No.”, “Do not put the LORD your God to the test.”

And when the Devil promises him every kingdom in eye’s sight (even his beloved Israel, at that very moment – oppressed by Rome and its army) and says all you have to do is “bow”… Jesus says “No”. “You shall worship the LORD your God and Serve Him only”. When dealing with temptation his first response is always to call on God.

And then that’s it. Matthew shows that Jesus has been tested and has come out victorious. And that’s the end of the story. The End.

But it’s not. Not really. You see, I promise you that wasn’t the first time in 30 some years that Jesus was ever tempted. And I promise you that it wasn’t the last either.

What’s more, if you read this over carefully you’ll see that the Bible doesn’t actually say, “Jesus went out into the desert to fast” or Jesus “was to be tempted 3 times” It actually says, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.” And in Luke it says, “for 40 days he was tested”. And for me… that one little sentence makes all the difference. See, it’s not that Jesus defeated this pure personification of evil in three great temptations. These are just the three that get their own headlines. He was tempted every day.

And that’s where I find the most meaning in this story. Because I think that’s just how it is for us. It’s not just a one-time deal or even a three-time deal. It happens every day of our lives. In fact more than that, it’s a part of our lives. Who hasn’t been tempted in one way or another? There is no escaping it. The fact that we’re tempted to do things we shouldn’t do is a part of who we are as fallen people.

There is no getting away from the danger. You can’t stop people from going to the gorge. The gorge is everywhere. Moreover if the bible is to be trusted, God even puts us to the test on purpose sometimes just to see what we’re really made of.

And as if that isn’t bad enough, sometimes, some of us will actually go out looking for it too.

In the end, I can’t help but think back to my time in the raft as the best possible way to deal with trials and temptations in life. There is something about that image of uncontrollably being pushed into the rocks that speaks to me. And so, in the end, I think Ralph Waldo Emerson put it best. When writing about temptations he wrote “Call on God, but row away from the rocks”.

This is the Lord’s example. May we follow. – Amen

Song: O Jesus, I have promised (569)

We respond to serve God

Reflection on giving: We have been giving faithfully since the beginning of the pandemic and we are committed to continuing the ministry and mission that define Dayspring – using the ways described below. Thank you all for your support of our shared vision and mission.

 

 

 

 

 

Prayer of gratitude and for others and ourselves

Lord God, we offer our gifts in thanksgiving for all the goodness you provide. Bless our gives and our lives so that we become a source of goodness for others, in the name of Christ, our strength and our hope.

God of all life and each life, we offer you thanks for all the ways we meet you in our daily lives:

  • in a word of encouragement, (brief silence)
  • an insight into truth, (brief silence)
  • an answer to prayer. (brief silence)

Thank you for a breath of calm in the midst of stress,  and an offer of support when we need it. (brief silence)

Thank you for a sense of accomplishment that our work matters and moments of rest and relaxation to renew us.  (brief silence)

Thank you for all these signs that you love us, understand us and walk with us, Loving God.

Our gratitude for your love reminds us of the need for your mercy in the world.

And so in times of silence we pray for:

The world and the people and places in the news this week. (silence for a count of 10)

Leaders facing difficult decisions and balancing different needs in complex situations. (silence for a count of 10)

Your church and congregations facing new challenges and opportunities for mission. (silence for a count of 10)

Our workplaces and our community facing many needs and pressures. (silence for a count of 10)

Our family, friends and neighbours, especially those facing hard choices these days. (silence for a count of 10)

And for ourselves, offering to you our own concerns. (silence for a count of 10)

Thank you for your grace that embraces all for whom we pray, O God. In the week ahead, help us notice your hand at work in our lives and in this troubled world.

Song: Word of God across the ages (497)

Sending out with God’s blessing

As we begin our journey through the season of Lent, remember the words of the prophet Micah: What does the Lord require of us? To do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God.

May God’s loving kindness comfort you,
God’s justice inspire you,
And Jesus walk beside you in humility and hope.

Response: Amen, we praise your name, O God

Music postlude

————————————————————————-

Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One Licence (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2023) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

The Real McCoy

Worship on the Lord’s Day
Transfiguration Sunday (Mark 9:2-8)
10:00 am     19 February 2023
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering  as a Worshipping Community
Led by the Rev Brad Childs
Music director: Binu Kapadia     Vocalist: Lynn Vaughan
Elder: Sam Malayang

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: The Lord rules over the earth in majesty and mystery.
P: We praise God’s awesome name!
L: The Lord loves justice and calls us together in equity.
P: We come to honour God’s purposes with love and loyalty.
L: The Christ of glory shines in this place.
P: With the Spirit’s power, we will lift our voices in prayer and praise!

Opening praise: Revelation Song (vss.1-2)

Prayers of approach and confession

Our God, we worship and adore you. But we seldom feel it.

God, you have given us salvation through your Son. But we rarely acknowledge it.

You have made the nations our inheritance. But we seldom claim them for you.

You call us into your household. But we constantly move in and out the doors.

You send us promises and secure our future. But our trust could be more robust.

We gather as your people all call upon your Spirit. But we rarely expect Him to appear.

But today, we confess these things. We confess and seek your face again.

Lead us to the mountaintop. Show us to love yet to fear your face. Find our worship, even in meekness, enough. Forgive our ways and take our hearts and make them yours once again.

Response: I will trust in the Lord

Assurance of God’s forgiveness

In the Book of Hebrews, it says, “Since then we have a great high priest (one like no other) who passed through not the church but through the heavens themselves, let us hold fast to our confession and approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy” just as he has promised.

Forgiveness and peace is found in Christ, so share that peace with your neighbors. Amen

We listen for the voice of God

Children’s time

Gradual: Open our eyes, Lord (445)

Story: Once upon a time a family of mice lived inside a large piano. They loved their piano world and the music that often came to them, filling all the dark spaces with sound and harmony.

At first the mice were impressed by it. They drew comfort and wonder from the thought that there was someone our there who made the music. Although this someone was invisible to them, he felt close to them. They loved to think about the unseen Player whom they could not see.

Then one ay a daring mouse climbed up part of the piano and returned in a very thoughtful mood. He had made a discovery which revealed how the music was made. Wires! Wires were the secret. He had found tightly stretched wires in graduated lengths and they vibrated. Now the mice had to revise all their old beliefs Only the most conservative mice could believe any longer in the Unseen Player.

Later, another mouse explorer returned from an expedition with yet another new discovery of the origins of the music. Hammers were the true secret! There were dozens of hammers that danced and leaped upon the wires. This was a more complicated theory, but it all went to show that they lived in a purely mechanical universe. The Unseen Player came to be thought of as a myth.

Meanwhile, the Unseen Player continue to play the piano.

Now this was a little bit more complicated theory about where the music comes from, but it showed that they lived in a purely mechanical universe.

The Unseen Player came to be thought of as a bit of a myth.

But meanwhile the music kept playing on and on.

In the Scripture, in first Timothy there is this line in chapter 7 that says, “I pray that honor and glory will always be given to the only God who lives forever – who is invisible, immortal, eternal, our King forever.”

Often when we are learning about our world, we think more about the strings and the hammers, and sometimes when you see the strings and the hammers that put our world together, you think that’s all there is. But never forget that Someone plays the piano making the music of our world. There’s always a Grand Player behind the scene.

Can you remember that?

Prayer: Lord, we don’t always see you, but we know that you are there.

You are the Unseen Player of music that fills our world.

We become too focused on the strings and the hammers, and we forget about the player our world deserves.

Lord, remind us that you are there, building our life, filling our lives with music.

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Transition music

Special Music: Mountain Top (Amy Grant)

Today’s Message

Scripture readings: Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:26-36

Response: Behold the Lamb of God

Message: “The Real McCoy”

We in the Christian Church do have some strange words: pulpit, lectern, chancel, narthex, and font. If you’ve studied theology, you know it gets even worse: sitz im leben, consubstantiation, parousia, even the parts of the communion service include specific sections called: The Fraction, Memorial Acclamation, Benedictus, and Sursum Corda. Today is one of those words. We call this “Transfiguration Sunday.” And that name comes from Matthew’s reading for the day. It says, “After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” 

But what is this? What happened exactly? It sounds so strange. And sadly, nobody stood up on the mountain with a camcorder to capture the whole event for us. To make matters more complicated yet, Jesus (in verse 9) tells the disciples not yet to speak about ὅραμα hora-ma (which means vision or dream). So, what happened?

Whatever this shared experience is exactly, it must be important. The event has three New Testament authors desperately trying to explain the seemingly unexplainable.

Now all three accounts are a little bit different. Luke is an historian, and his concern is for an “orderly account.” Matthew seeks to speak to a Jewish audience about the Jewish Messiah. But Mark is perhaps the most interesting here. See, Mark was the first gospel written, and it’s John Mark’s written account that he got from the apostle Peter. The book we call Mark is really Peter’s gospel. And Mark’s (or Peter’s) version comes off as slightly funny. He writes, “Jesus’ clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could wash them.”

I’ve always found that funny. It was like God did his laundry.

In Luke 9:29 it says, “As [Jesus] was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.” You can almost feel the frustration as the gospel writers attempt to describe the indescribable. The term in our Bible translated as “transfigured” is also interesting because the Greek word is μεταμορφόω (metamorphoō) which is where we get the English word “metamorphosis” from. So, it’s not just that he turned bright, somehow, but also that he was “changed,” somehow. And there are only two other places in the entire Bible where this exact word (metamorphoō) is used. But we’ll get back to that.

First… The Real McCoy.

The real McCoy really wasn’t… That is, the real McCoy wasn’t really a McCoy at all. His real name was actually Norman Shelby.

Shelby was raised on a farm in Indiana. He left home around 1890, and after years of training, he emerged as a boxer by the nickname “the Kid McCoy.” In the days of bare-fisted boxing, “the Kid” was something. He said he’d fight anyone, anywhere, any weight class… and he did. Whereas most fighters today have one or two big fights per year. McCoy averaged just over one fight a month and won most by knockouts. But the popularity of his reputation created an atmosphere where a host of imitation Kid McCoy’s soon popped up – hoping to cash in by pretending to be him.

That created a certain amount of confusion until “The Kid” agreed to a title fight with the legendary Joe Choynski. With that fight, “The Kid McCoy” ended the confusion of his identity for all time. In a titanic slugfest that cost him three broken ribs, Kid McCoy finished off the legendary Joe in the 20th round. After the fight, the San Francisco Examiner’s boxing writer put a massive picture on the front page of the paper and, in huge writing, declared, “Now You’ve SEEN The Real McCoy!”

This is essentially what happened to the disciples. Whatever it was exactly that they experienced – God somehow gave them a glimpse into Christ’s true glory and showed them The Real McCoy… the Real Jesus.

We don’t often look at Jesus in all of His glory, do we? Too often, we see Jesus as only our loving and tender babe in a manger. These days we like our Jesus meek and mild (not overturning the tables of the money changers, chasing people with a whip, or dripping in blood like he’s described in the book of Revelation). Now while He is all those things (fully human), we also need to see Him in all of His glory as the God of the universe who has created and will judge all things.

But that’s hard to do. Throughout the Christian tradition, we’ve had trouble with this, always seeming to shed too much light on either his humanity or his divinity and seldom being able to see him as fully both. The fact that God could be so “wild” and “untamed” and yet so “loving” or so “out there” and yet still “personal and right here” seems too hard to grasp. And this isn’t a new problem. The apostles had the same issue.

They got distracted and lost sight of this too.

“Just then, there appeared before the apostles Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.”

So not only is Jesus brightly shining in some way and changed in some way but now he’s also accompanied by two others.

Right away, Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three tabernacles (tents) — one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Now, this has always confused me. Just how Peter knows what these two guys look like is beyond me. One has been dead for 900 years, and the other for 1,500 years.

However this happens, they suddenly realize these two men were Moses and Elijah – perhaps the two greatest heroes of the Hebrew faith: The man who represented the whole Law and the man who represented all the Prophets right there in front of them. It’s like the entire Hebrew Bible is represented.

Now Peter being his usual self is so excited he just blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. Like a giddy little schoolboy, he says, “Hey guys, let’s have a sleepover.” He says, “let’s camp out!” It’s understandable. Peter is so excited to see the heroes of the past that he misses the whole point. He forgets he’s been hanging out with the Son of God for three years now – the one that’s glowing. And his attention is on someone else???

I wonder if Peter was ashamed after he said that. I wonder if he felt odd about it. He just put two mere men on the same page as the Son of the living God.

Let’s not be too quick to judge, though.

We all do what Peter did.

Christianity has always been plagued by people who get caught up in the legalism of the Law or the energy and excitement of prophecy, or the freedom we have in Christ, knowing that we will always be forgiven.

Moreover, the world is full of syncretistic thought[1] that wants to make one tent for Jesus and another tent for Success, as if they are equally to be worshiped.

The Church is continually trying to plant itself down in the past like Peter rather than look for what God is doing in the present. Occasionally, it breaks through the old way of doing things and transforms itself into something fresh and new, only to allow what was once new and exciting to become old and stale itself; eventually doomed to become that very thing it once challenged.

But this is one time God simply will not allow for this to happen.

The voice of the Father interrupts Peter. “While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them all, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my son, whom I love; with him, I am well pleased.” And then God adds these very important words, “Listen to him!” and when they realize what they’d done, they fall on the ground, “terrified” of him because of who he is. So, when Peter gets excited about Moses and Elijah, God steps in to remind him that the guy he went fishing with also hung the stars in their place and shook the mountains.

In the end (for me), this story comes down to just two more of those silly theological church words. 1) Transcendence 2) Immanence

The story of the Transfiguration is about Transcendence. It reminds us that Jesus is the ruler of the universe, and we can’t ever take him too lightly. The baby in the manger is also the healer of humanity. The story of the Transfiguration, though, is also about Immanence. You see, when the disciples fell to the ground with the proper amount of awe and respect, the verse says, Jesus immediately reached down and touched them and said, “Get up and do not be afraid .”Because the God that made all creation… the God that is “untamed” and “out there,” is also “loving” and is also so close that He’s sitting right here in this room too.

He is “out there” and “in here” all at once.

Now, remember earlier, back at the beginning of this sermon, I said that the word μεταμορφόω (metamorphoō) appears in another place in the Bible. That place is 2 Corinthians 3:18, which says, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed (metamorphoo) into his image with ever-increasing glory.”

In the end, Transfiguration Sunday is not just about the Transformation of Jesus. It’s also about the transformation of everyone in this room. Because, like the apostles, when we recognize Jesus for who he really is… (when we see the Real McCoy and bow in awe), he reaches down, touches us on the shoulder too, and reminds us that we’re not just his creation but that we too are being transformed; “into his image with ever-increasing glory.”

The Story of the Transfiguration is the Story of the Gospel, the story of a God who changes everything. It’s the story of the Real McCoy. -Amen.

Song: At the name of Jesus (340)

We respond to serve God

Reflection on giving: At this time we just want to acknowledge all of the offerings that are given, all the volunteerism, and all of the prayers.

And now to be a bit more personal – thank you, too, for all of your prayers over the last 4 weeks which have been wonderfully received.

 

Prayer of gratitude and for others and ourselves

Lord God of heaven and earth, with gladness, we praise you, for you create all things and sustain all things. For making us in your image to love and for sending your redeeming Son. By your Spirit, empower us to show your love to others even as we pray.

We pray for the Church and those who lead in it…

For the world that we may learn to care for it…

For our nation’s leaders and servants…

For researchers and healers, caregivers and researchers…

For the poor and the homeless and the hungry…

For those who mourn…

For those alone…

For those imprisoned…

For those seeking truth and justice…

For the powerless and oppressed all around the world…

For the persecuted and for the persecutor…

Eternal God, keep us in communion with Your everlasting covenant (and hard at work for the Kingdom) until your will is done on earth just as it is in heaven. Amen.

Song: One more step along the world I go (641)

Sending out with God’s blessing
May God the Father prepare your journey,
Jesus the Son guide your footsteps,
The Spirit of Life strengthen your body,
The Three in One watch over you, on every road that you may follow.

Response: The blessing

Music postlude

————————————————————————-

Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One Licence (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2023) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

[1]syncretistic thought: the fusion of diverse religious beliefs and practices

I’ve got something to shoot for

Worship on the Lord’s Day
10:00 am     Feb 12, 2023
Onsite & Online (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Led by Tracy Childs    Children’s Time: Lynn Vaughan
Music director: Binu Kapadia     Vocalist: Linda Farrah-Basford
Elder: Sam Malayang

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: How blessed are we when we meditate on God’s teachings
P: and when we desire God with our whole hearts.
L: Let us praise God with attentive minds and eager spirits,
P: for we are God’s servants, working and praying together.
L: So let us worship God and praise God’s holy name.
P: Let us seek God’s path and listen for God’s call.

Opening praise: Everlasting God

Prayers of approach and confession
God of all life and each life,
You are the light of minds that seek to know you.
You are strength for those who seek to serve you.
You reveal truth to those who search for you.
In worship, we pause in your presence,
resting from our work and responsibilities,
from our worries and distractions.
We come to enjoy your presence
and praise you for the gift of life in Christ and in creation.
Receive our prayers and praise this day,
for we open our hearts in love and loyalty to you,
O God, our All in All. Amen.

God who is all in all,
You call us to choose life and walk in your ways,
but we are tempted by short cuts and easy solutions.
You ask us to turn from anger and settle our differences,
but we cling to grievances and point fingers at others.
You ask us to be true to our word,
but we prefer to keep everyone happy.
Forgive us, O God
and give us courage to follow the paths you set for your people.

Response: We come to ask Your forgiveness, O God

Assurance of God’s forgiveness

God invites us to choose life and find the blessing that comes from following God’s ways.  Accept God’s gift of forgiveness and choose new life. Forgive one another and discover the peace of Christ. Amen.

We listen for the voice of God

Children’s time

Gradual: Jesus loves me (373)

Story: Heart Offerings

Who knows what this is? Do you guys know what this is?

It’s an envelope.

Is it any special kind of envelope?

It’s an offering envelope. Most of us bring an envelope every week, and we put in some money, and we give our offering to the church. We give our offering to God, our gift to God, and it’s very important to do this because we need to support the congregation. We need to support our ministry here. But I’m going to tell you a secret.

This isn’t the most important thing that God wants us to offer to him. It is more important for us to offer what’s in our hearts. So this is the important part of the offerings that we give to God.

In Sunday school we’ve been talking about Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount, and one of the things he says in that is that when you come to offer something to God, when you come to offer your gifts to God, if you have something in your heart, if you have hurt, someone then leave your gift there, go back and ask forgiveness from that person, and then come back and offer your gifts to God. God doesn’t really want our gifts unless we also have a pure heart.

So give me an example of some things that we could do that might cause our hearts to not be quite so ideal.

Have you been angry about something? Have you been angry with someone else? Raise your hands if you’ve been angry.

Have we said anything bad to someone else, and hurt their feelings?

Have you said something about someone else that maybe wasn’t true?

Have you called someone a bad name? Like even when I’m driving the car down the street. Yep, everybody’s hand should go up for that one all right.

So those are a few examples of maybe some things we do that aren’t so ideal.

So what happened to our heart? It breaks. Did it make our heart kind of dirty and unclean, and not looking so good?

Yeah, so, what can we do about that? We can fix the problem, how can we fix the problem?

Hug them.  We could go, and we could say sorry, right? So we could ask those people that we hurt to forgive us and hug them there’s a lot of hugging going on.

So we’re going to ask Jesus to forgive us as we ask those other people to forgive us as well.

So we went, and we said, sorry to those people that we hurt. And then what happened to our heart? It comes back together. It’s all better now, right because God wants us to come to Him with our gifts and our offerings.

But He wants us to come with our hearts pure and clean, and the only way to do that is to ask forgiveness from those people that we hurt, and to ask God to forgive us as well.

Now, will you guys say a prayer with me? So you can repeat after me.

Prayer: Dear God, sometimes we say things in anger, sometimes we say things in anger that hurt other people that hurt other people help us to only say kind words, help us to only say, Forgive us. We are sorry. Forgive us, and help us to keep our thoughts and our hearts pure. And now together we’ll say the prayer that You taught us.

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Transition music

Song: I am the church! Vss. 1,2,4 (475)

Today’s Message

Scripture reading: Matthew 5:21-37

Message: I’ve got something to shoot for

Unique to Matthew, this large section from Chapter 5-7:29 is probably a composite collection of linked teachings rather than a record of one single discourse.

Luke has much of the same material but a lot of it is spread out in Luke (who intended to keep an “orderly” and more chronological accounting of Jesus’ time). In this section Jesus speaks in ideals. In fact, many have found the standards set up in this section (in particular) to be utterly unrealistic because he speaks not just of actions but also of intent and thoughts. But there is no indication here that Jesus is speaking hypothetically. In short, Jesus is speaking about a target or an ideal standard for human thought and behavior that we are meant to shoot for.

Like with many of his saying Jesus here too, appears to criticize the leaders of his time as being too harsh, while at the same time, asking his followers to do even better than the leaders did. It’s odd but it’s very typical of Jesus. Basically, he calls for such a conservative view that it shows the weakness of both liberals Sadducees and conservatives Pharisees and exposes everyone’s imperfections.

For example: “You’ve heard don’t commit adultery. BUT I tell you that if you have ever lusted after someone then you have committed adultery in your heart.”

In other words he does what he always does, he takes the rules and then he bends them back onto themselves so that nobody is left to judge but God and the people who thought they were innocent see that they actually aren’t perfect either.

He doesn’t alleviate responsibility. He just exposes the true heart of the matter. As Dan Kimble says, “He turns the whole world upside down.”

This can be confusing at times. It’s also confusing sometimes because we are so far removed from the original context.

For example, whereas Moses allowed for a divorce, Jesus says (though he provides room for exceptions) that he doesn’t… and even goes so far as to say that a man who divorces his wife makes himself an adulterer. It’s a harsh statement (especially for a first century Jew deathly afraid to break one of the Ten Commandments).

This is an extremely conservative position, right? Well yes and no. While it is certainly true that Jesus is very much against divorce, it’s also true that this verse has been greatly misused over the years.

Here Jesus admits that Moses allowed people to divorce but says that He; himself, really doesn’t.

But if you understand that, at the same time when Jesus said this, a woman had no power to divorce her husband… that only a man could divorce his wife. If you understand that at this time serious debates raged under the rabbi’s about how many times a wife had to burn the food before you could divorce her… the common answer being three times by the way, it sort of changes things. If you understand that if divorced, a Jewish woman would lose her status and no longer be considered a part of the “chosen people”. If you understand that she had few educational and job opportunities. If you understand that after being divorced and sent away that she would likely only find work as a prostitute and couldn’t own land in Judea and thus couldn’t earn a living and may well starve to death… If you understand the context… then you see that Jesus’ command to almost never allow for a divorce (which at first seems very strict and harsh) was actually meant to protect women from being discarded and abused. Then things change a bit.

Certainly, Jesus is very much against divorce. But sadly today, this very same verse about not frivolously divorcing a wife is far too often used against the very women it was meant to protect, as Christian counselors encourage couples to stay together no matter what.

Now I don’t say this to promote the virtue of divorce I just say this to show that some verses in Scripture are actually very complex.

God’s word is deep and penetrating and things aren’t always what they first seem to be. Sometimes the plain and simple – isn’t so plain and simple.

Other times… it sort of – is simple. Case in point: Jesus moves quickly from divorce into oath-taking. Matthew writes, 33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”

Now at the time Jesus said this the Pharisees had refused to pledge an oath to Caesar and were fined for that. It nearly started a religious war. A wealthy and pious man had settled the matter by simply paying the fine for all 3000 men who refused to say the oath.

Debates raged on in the Jewish community about oaths. Donald Hagner is one of the world’s top scholars on the book of Matthew. He’s the author of the magnificent two part volume in the Word Biblical Commentaries series. In his engagement with this section of oaths he writes, “[Jesus] lifts the entire matter to a new level by denying the necessity of oaths altogether. The ethics to which Jesus calls his disciples are those of the kingdom and its perfection. Here a person’s word can be relied upon without qualification and without need of the further guarantee an oath might afford.

Oaths are thereby rendered superfluous. With the dawn of the new era comes a wholly new standard of righteousness, one in which a yes is really a yes and a no is really a no. It is a mistake, however, to take a biblicist approach to this passage that would disallow Christians from taking an oath, say in a court of justice. [That is not the issue.] The issue is nothing less than, and nothing more than, pure and total truthfulness in all things.[1]

The point is clear, In Jesus’ mind; we are called to be a totally honest people all the time. To an honest person, an oath means nothing. You always mean what you say. As my Grandpa Wes would say, “Kid, if a man hasn’t got his word, what has he got?”  And that’s pretty much what Jesus is talking about here.

He’s talking about integrity. Christian Women and Christmas Men are called to be known as a people that need take no oath; to be a people that are simply understood to be telling the truth. What an amazing world it would be if Christians were known to be so honest that they everyone just assumed we were always telling the truth?

That’s the ideal Jesus wants us to shoot for.

Here’s a little story for you.

A little boy had to write a report for school, so he went to his mother and asked, “Mom, where did I come from?”

Surprised at hearing such a question from her child, his mother discreetly answered, “Um, the stork brought you.”

“And where did YOU come from?” the boy continued.

“Well, the stork brought me, just like he brought you. Now go to your room. No more questions, please.”

But the boy stood strong with his pad and paper in hand, quickly scribbling down as best he could, his mother’s responses. “Wait! What about Grandma? Where did Grandma come from?”

“Look” said mom, “the stork brought Grandma, the stork brought me, and the stork brought you! Now go to your room. I do not want to talk about this anymore!”

So the little boy went to his room, set his notes to one side and began writing his report.

“Our family hasn’t had a normal birth in at least three generations.” he began. (1001 ill, 46)

As a parent, I suppose I understand the temptation of the “little white lie”. But I don’t like it, and I try hard – VERY HARD, not to give my kids a reason to doubt anything I say. I have this idea constantly going through my head as a parent. If I gives them a reason to doubt what I have to say about the stork then maybe later when they are older they will have a reason to doubt what I say about the cross.

I don’t want to be the dad that tells the kids about the stork. I want to shoot for the ideal.

I am far from perfect. But I want to be trustworthy (especially to them). Even if what I have to say is hard or awkward. I want them to believe that they can accept me at my word… see me as someone with integrity (even if they disagree with my views). I want them to know that my “yes” means “yes” and my “no” means “no”. And what I want for my kids I want for my friends and for my wife and my coworkers and on and on. How about you?

In their book A Chorus of Witnesses, Thomas Long and Cornelius Plantinga wrote, “Some people ask, ‘Who am I?’ and expect the answer to come from their accomplishments. Other people ask, ‘Who am I?’ and expect the answer to come from what other people think about them. A person who dares to make and keep promises discovers for herself who she is simply by the promises she has kept to other people.” (1001 Ill, 499) That’s the ideal we’re meant to strive for.

But… as if integrity isn’t enough reason on its own to “let your yes mean yes and your no mean no”, you can always just add to that, the fact that, if you don’t “say what you mean and mean what you say” you’re likely to get caught anyway. After all, as every little kid eventually learns, it’s easier to keep the truth straight.

As the story goes: well before the internet and cell phones came along, there were two sophomores at Duke University who were taking Organic Chemistry and who did well enough on all of the quizzes and the midterms and labs, that they had solid “A’s” going into the final exam. These two friends were so confident going into the final that they decided to go up to University of Virginia and party with some friends on the weekend before finals, even though the Chem final was on Monday.

However, with their hangovers and everything, they overslept all day Sunday and they didn’t make it back to Duke until early Monday morning. Rather than taking the final then, they went to Professor Aldric after the final and explained to him why they missed the final… Sort of…

They told him that they went up to the University of Virginia for the weekend, and they had planned to come back in time to study, but they had a flat tire on the way back and didn’t have a spare and couldn’t get help for a long time and so were late getting back to campus.

Aldric (a very well respected Presbyterian professor) thought this matter over and then agreed that they could make up the final on the following day. The two boys were elated and relieved.

They studied that night and went in the next day at the time that Aldric had told them. He placed them in separate rooms and handed each of them a test booklet and told them to begin. They looked at the first problem. It said (5points) and was a question about free radical formation but was fairly simple. “Cool” they thought, “this is going to be easy.” They did that problem in their own time and then each young man in his own separate room turned the page. Yet, they were unprepared for what they saw next.

At the top of the next page it simply said, “(95 points) Which tire?” (1001 Ill, 63)

In the past few years I cannot escape the reality that something has been lost. I know I probably sound like I’m 200 years old and perhaps my small town Kansas roots are showing but – When I was a kid a “hand shake” really did mean something. When my dad said “tomorrow we are going to… (whatever)”, he really meant it. The old statement that “a person is only as good as their word” was something people truly believed in. Integrity meant something.

Today, (especially if you are a news junkie like I’m trying my hardest not to be)… If you watch more than 5 minutes of TV. you will quickly start to believe that – the age of honesty is dead.

The words of Mark Twain ring true, “Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason.”

It’s hard, it’s very hard today… hard to believe that simple honesty has a place in our world. And I think it’s getting harder to find good examples to follow.

But there are some.

Officials in Philadelphia were astonished to receive a letter and payment from a motorist who had been given a speeding ticket. John Gedge, an English tourist, had been visiting the City of Brotherly Love when he was cited for speeding. The penalty was only $15, but Gedge forgot about the ticket until he discovered it in an old coat. As soon as John Gedge found it he felt terrible. “I thought, I’ve got to pay it” said the 84 year old nursing home resident from East Sussex. “Englishmen pay their debts.” he said. Of course, he wrote the check for considerably more than $15, since he got the ticket in 1954 almost fifty-two years before he found it.

That’s integrity. That’s an ideal to shoot for.

That’s what it means to let your yes be yes and your no be no. That’s a world turned upside down. That’s a person whose words can be trusted. That’s a witness people can believe.

So… will I leave this pulpit and never tell a little white lie again in my life?

I’d like to say yes, But… I don’t want to lie to you. I don’t want to lie to anyone. Sooner or later we all sink down, take the easy way out and talk about storks. I can’t honestly say I will never lie ever again.

So let me just say. I will do my absolute best. I’ve got something to shoot for.

How about you?  Amen.

Song: Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life (565)

We respond to serve God

Reflection on giving: We have been giving faithfully since the beginning of the pandemic and we are committed to continuing the ministry and mission that define Dayspring – using the ways described below. Thank you all for your support of our shared vision and mission.

Prayer of gratitude and for others and ourselves

God of Life and Love, in spoken words and in the silence of our hearts, we give you thanks for all of life, for the grace you provide to creation in its diversity, and for your loving kindness known in the details of our lives.

Hear us, we pray, as we speak of matters on our hearts and minds this day.

Where the church is divided by squabbling or deep disagreement; where Christians emphasize our differences instead of seeking unity in Christ, where we put energy into guarding tradition at the expense of honouring new life and relationships with our neighbours, transform us and make all things new.

God, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.

Where families are divided by old hurts or new tensions; where friendships have ended through misunderstanding or neglect; where relationships have been severed by betrayal or thoughtlessness; transform us and make all things new.

God, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.

Where countries are torn by war and conflict; where communities are divided by prejudice or unexamined privilege; where leaders provoke anger instead of building understanding co-operation; transform us and make all things new.

God, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.

Where the poor and lonely find little support or comfort; where people are tired from overwork or pressured by rising costs; where workers fear for their jobs in the present or the future; transform us and make all things new.

God, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.

Where people suffer pain with physical, emotional or spiritual roots; where loss marks the beginning and ending of every day; where young people fear for the future of the planet and their elders mourn the loss of what they once assumed would last; transform us and make all things new.

God, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.

God, our Source and Saviour, in Christ you make all things new.

Song: We are on in the Spirit (471)

Sending out with God’s blessing

Go with joy and peace, to claim new life as you serve God and one another.

And may the blessing of God who is Source, Saviour and Spirit of Life be with you and those whose lives you touch, this day and always. Amen.

Response: God to enfold you

Music postlude

————————————————————————-

Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One Licence (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

Tracy Childs presented the material created by the Rev. Brad Childs, who retains the copyright (© 2023) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material presented that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

What good are you? (Lydia Calder)

Worship on the Lord’s Day
05 February 2023 @ 10:00 am
The Sacrament of Holy Communion
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Led by the Rev. Bob Calder & Lydia Calder
Music Director: Binu Kapadia           Vocalist: Vivian Houg
Elder: Iris Routledge

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and Announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Lydia: Good morning, everyone.  It’s nice for Bob and I to be here this morning. , in spite of the sad circumstances that have brought us here. Bob and I are returned to the Dayspring fold this morning.  It has been many months since we’ve been at Dayspring.  Bob and I are older, hopefully, a little bit wiser, and one us is much less agile than he used to be.

About 3 days after Bob said “yes” to Brad about leading worship today he discovered an infection in his foot and was later diagnosed with a rare foot condition. So, he is not supposed to be on his feet at all.  And that is why I am leading most of the service this morning.  Bob will be doing Communion, mostly from a sitting position.

Life can be hard.  But our God is always good.  And so we come to him with hearts full of praise.

Our Call to Worship is taken from Is 58: 1-12, which will be read in a little while.

Call to Worship
L: Shout to the Lord…
P: with justice and love.
L: Cry out to God…
P: for righteousness and truth.
L: Sound the trumpet…
P: of compassion and grace.
L: Shout to the Lord…
P: with justice and love!

Opening praise: Love the Lord your God

Prayers of approach and confession

Holy God, Three in One, we come before you this day in awe of your majesty and power.  Great Creator, who illumined this world with sun and moon and stars, shine upon us this morning that we may behold your glory and glimpse your wisdom.  Blessed Redeemer, may we sense your sacrificial love flowing through us that we may be filled with your compassion and grace. Holy Spirit, breathe upon us that we may have the courage to proclaim the good news and be instruments of change in this world.

We call on you, O God, crying out for the strength to walk in your ways and live in your truth. We know that we should not turn away from the faces of pain and poverty in our community, and yet we do. We know that we should not ignore oppression and injustice in the world, but we feel so inadequate and unqualified  that we do nothing. We know that we should be crying out to you for the anguish of humanity, but selfishly whimper about our own needs instead.  Forgive our neglect. Forgive our inattention. Forgive our selfish cries.

In the name of the Saviour we pray.

Response: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God

Assurance of God’s forgiveness

Friends, God hears the confessions of our hearts and forgives generously. It is through God’s amazing grace that we are given new life, new gifts, and new purposes. Let us go forth as new people sharing God’s message of hope and love.

Song: Lord, whose love (772)

We listen for the voice of God

Scripture readings (NRSV): Isaiah: 58:1-12 and Matthew. 5:13-20

Response: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet

Message: “What good are you?”

One of the things I’ve done off and on since I was in my teens is publish church newsletters.  Way back then when people used typewriters rather than word processors there was no such thing as cut and paste or changing font size. If there was a gap somewhere an editor would use a small quip or saying called a filler.

I used lot of fillers over the years, and most have been long forgotten.  But this one has stuck with me: “Some Christians are so heavenly minded they are no earthly good.”

That little phrase came to mind as I read today’s gospel lesson. Jesus said,  “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything…”

Hence, the title of today’s sermon – What good are you?

Our New Testament text today is Part 2 of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus is speaking to his disciples. These teachings are based on who Christ is, what he does for us and who we are as a result. This is not generic advice on how to live a nice life. It is rooted in Christ and our identity in him.

Salt is a necessity of life and is a mineral that has been used since ancient times.  In many cultures it has multiple uses: a seasoning, a preservative, a disinfectant, a component of ceremonial offerings, and even a unit of exchange. The Bible contains numerous references to salt. In various contexts, it is used metaphorically to signify, loyalty, durability, purification, value, and usefulness. There is a lot of symbolism packed in that one 4 letter word.

Following Jesus makes us distinctly useful in the world. Walking with Christ sets us apart and makes us who we are. As we embrace that distinctiveness, we have something very special to offer. When we add salt to food we can taste the difference. In the same way Christians should add flavour to relationships, to communities, to culture.

We have a neighbour who is a Christian.  He tells people that. But whatever his personal piety may be and however he conducts himself on a Sunday morning, he rubs people the wrong way. He is opinionated, especially about politics and pushes other people to get on board with his agenda. He is critical and demanding, expecting that everyone’s yard should come up to his standards. He pits neighbours against one another in an effort to freeze certain people out.

He is more like vinegar than salt.

And while there are uses for vinegar, we are not called upon to be vinegar in this world we are called to be salt and light.

When people interact with us, can they tell there is something different about us? Like in a good way? That would be our saltiness as a Christian. The Christian faith flavors and accents our lives.

In the parallel passage in Mark 9:50 we gain a little more insight into what this saltiness is. There Jesus says: “Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.” Being at peace with one another–that is part of our saltiness. The world is full of conflict and strife. People bear grudges against one another and don’t let go.

But Christians are all about forgiveness and peace. God has forgiven us for Christ’s sake. So we forgive one another. God has made peace with us by the cross of Christ. So we seek peace with others.  We reflect the character of our God when we seek and make peace.

Looking at Colossians 4:6  Paul writes: “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” Here saltiness has to do with the way we speak. Our speech needs to be seasoned with wisdom and grace.  Because the fruit of the Spirit tempers our tongues we speak differently. We guard against harsh, angry, or unwise words. Again, this is what gives us our salty distinctiveness as disciples of Jesus.

Turning to the Old Testament lesson from Isaiah 58 the Israelites have asked of God, “Why have we fasted, and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves and you have not noticed?”

Well, the answer comes, and I read here selected verses from the translation called The Message: “ The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit. You drive your employees much too hard. You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight.

Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after: a day to show off humility?

To put on a pious long face and parade around solemnly in black?

Do you call that fasting, a fast day that I, God, would like?”

“This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts.

What I’m interested in seeing you do is:   sharing your food with the hungry,   inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,   being available to your own families.

“If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims, quit gossiping about other people’s sins… If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down and out…Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness.”

The call for social justice resounds throughout this passage in sharp contrast to empty rituals, in this case,  fasting. It also gives clear descriptions of how to create a different social environment where justice rules.

In prophetic passages like this the church today still finds its mandate to call on its own resources and on political leaders for a realistic concern for the poor, the oppressed and the homeless.  That too is the way we demonstrate our saltiness.

I don’t think many Presbyterians fast.  I certainly don’t.  But we do have certain observances and practices that we see as part of our devotion to God. And we must watch carefully that those do not become empty rituals.

As we come to Communion this morning, we need ask ourselves, “What is my saltiness quotient?”

When I was a child the preamble for communion included a line that said that those who were out of fellowship with other Christians should repair those relationships before coming to The Lord’s Table.  That line was removed, probably partly because most of us would have to excuse ourselves because there is bound to be someone we are out of sync with. And it shouldn’t be a requirement of communion anyway.

But there is food for thought there because we come confessing our sins and acknowledging our need for a Saviour.  Yet are we ourselves people of forgiveness and peace? Do our words reflect the purposes of Jesus? Do our actions work toward freeing the oppressed, welcoming the refugee, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless?

Jesus said to his followers, “You are the salt of the earth.” This is not a command or an instruction. He is not telling us that we should be the salt of the earth. It is simply a statement of fact. “You are the salt of the earth.” Yes, he raises the question of whether or not we are effective salt.

But there is no plan B.

Whether we like it or not…for better or for worse… we are the salt of the earth.

Song: When the poor ones (762)

We respond to serve God

Reflection on giving: Dayspring is involved in many ministries within this congregation and in the community and in the wider world.  Such work is a reflection, not just of this Christian community, but of each individual within it.

We are the salt of the earth.  We are the light of the world. Our commitment to God’s work is apparent in our attitude, in our behaviour and in our generosity.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now let us come before God with our prayers of thanks and intercession…

Prayer of gratitude

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are a constant companion every step of every day, that you see our going out and our coming in. We thank you for the work that you have provided for us and for the protection you give us on our daily journeys.  We thank you for things to do, friends to meet and all the pleasures we enjoy.  We thank you for clothes to wear, food to eat, a home from which we go out and return, and for the loved ones that bring us joy and take thought for our needs. May we never take for granted all the things which come to us so regularly each day and may we ever remember you, the giver of every good and perfect gift.

Prayer for others and ourselves

Lord, Isaiah’s words continue to echo in our minds…  So we think of those who are oppressed, subjugated, victimized, people who have little power according to the world’s measurement of power. Defend the cause of the poor, deliver those in need, put an end to oppression and save those who are in harm’s way this day.

We pray for the powerful of this world, whether they be in government or in business, that they may lead with justice and compassion, choosing the common good over personal or political gain.

God of comfort and strength we pray for those… who are overwhelmed with personal darkness this day: who feel rejected or excluded because they are different; who are unemployed or burdened with financial difficulties; who are living with physical sickness that leave them in pain or dependency; who are plagued with depression, anxiety or other mental health issues. We pray for those who are estranged from one another, for those who struggle to make friends and live with loneliness, for those whose homes are conflict zones.   We remember the bereaved, especially thinking of Brad Childs and his family in the loss of Roy. Please grant comfort and hope to all who mourn.

Stretch us, O God, expand our horizons that we are able to see the wonderful ways you are at work in this world. Send us out, to be the salt of the earth, to be the light of the world, that we  may work with you in bringing peace, hope, justice and grace to this world. We pray in the name of Jesus, amen.

The Sacrament of Holy Communion

Invitation

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I invite to this Table all who are members of Christ’s body.

This is the Lord’s Table and belongs by right to all his people.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness;

for they will be filled.” Matt.5:6.

Jesus said: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens,

and I will give you rest.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls.” Matt. 11:28, 29.

Song: You satisfy the hungry heart (538)

We affirm our faith: The Apostles Creed (539)

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit

and born of the virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to hell.

The third day he rose again from the dead.

He ascended to heaven

and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.

From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer (469)

Declaration: We come to the Lord’s supper together.

We are gathered here in the Sanctuary and via zoom from west and east, north and south.

The resurrected Jesus revealed himself to his disciples in the breaking of bread around a table.

May we see His face today as we come to the Lord’s Supper.

Communion Prayer: O God, you are before all things; You are beyond all things. In the midst of all things and all peoples you have made yourself known.

In Jesus of Nazareth, is compassion for the outcast, forgiveness for the fallen,
hope for the poor and hungry; in his life poured out for others
and broken in rejection and disdain you have made yourself known.

Therefore, we join our praises with countless men and women before us, disciples and apostles, saints and martyrs, acclaiming your power in goodness and your might in compassion.

We greet the one who comes in your name, your true light, your true love, the bread of compassion, the wine of renewal.

As he broke bread before the brokenness of his death, as he poured out wine before his blood was poured out on the cross, as he gave his life in acts of goodness, as he invited all to the feast of new hope, so come to us, Jesus, in your love.

Come to us, Holy Spirit, and let the bread and wine before us be your life in our life, nourish us with his vision of hope, and unite us in one body.

Nourish us with your brokenness.

Renew us with your poured out life.

Empower us with your strength, that we may take root in your risen life and bear fruit in your world.

You are our life;
You are our hope;
You are our peace;
And we praise you.

In Christ’s name we pray. Amen

Sharing of the bread and wine

On the night he was handed over, the night before he was crucified,
Jesus gathered with his friends for a meal.
He took the bread, and after blessing it,
he broke it, saying,
“This is my body, which is broken for you.
As often as you eat it, remember me.”

Jesus, as we take this bread, let it be a sign of all you did for us, and who you are for us.

Thank you for this bread of life. In your name we pray. Amen

Offering of the bread

The body of Christ given for you.

The bread of heaven

After sharing the bread,
Jesus took a cup of wine, and gave it to them to drink, saying,
“This is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many.”

Prayer: Jesus, as we drink this cup, let it be a sign for us of all you did for us,
and who you are for us.

Thank you that you bring us peace that passes understanding.

In Jesus’ Holy name we pray. Amen

Offering of the cup

The blood of Christ, the cup of the new covenant.

The cup of salvation

Song: One bread, one body (540)

The prayer after Communion

Jesus, through your death and resurrection you reconciled the world to God, and through your example you have shown us a way to peace.

Give us strength to be channels of peace in the world, speaking your peace, living your peace, and always longing for that moment of eternal peace when we shall see you again.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Hymn: Worship the Lord vs’s 1,2,4,5 (555)

Sending out with God’s blessing

You are the light of world! You are the salt of the earth!

Go, with compassion, mercy and grace. Go, with confidence, strength and hope.

Shine, for all the world to see!

And may the grace and peace of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit be with you both now and forever more. Amen.

Response: Amen! We praise Your name, O God!

Music postlude

————————————————————————-

Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring licensing with One Licence (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

The Rev. Bob Calder and Lydia Calder retain the copyright (© 2023) on all original material presented by them. As far as they are aware, all of the material presented that has not been attributed to others is their own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

Support the Hurting (Raymond Baker)

Worship on the Lord’s Day
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
10:00 am, 29 January 2023
3Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Led by Raymond Baker
Children’s time: Lynn Vaughan
Music director: Binu Kapadia     Vocalist: Lynn Vaughan
Elder: Sam Malayang

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: Loving God, we come this morning seeking to abide in your presence.
P: Open our minds to your spirit of wisdom, that we may know how to live as your people.
L: Open our hearts to your spirit of truth,
P: that we may love all your people with a love that speaks of justice, kindness, and radical grace.
L: May this time of worship be authentic and pleasing to you.
P: In Jesus name we prayer. Amen

Opening praise: Lord, I need You

Prayers of approach and confession

Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. In your mercy, forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.

Response: I waited, I waited on You, Lord

Assurance of God’s forgiveness

Lord, you are compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. You have not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is your loving kindness toward us who fear You. As far as the east is from the west, You, Lord God, removed our transgressions from us because of the Atoning Work of the Cross–if we believe that because you died for our sins– we will inherit eternal life. You did all this because you love us. Thank you, In Jesus Name we pray.

We listen for the voice of God

Children’s time

Gradual: Open our eyes, Lord (445)

Story

Good morning, everyone, good morning. How are we today?

Welcome to all the children that are here in the sanctuary and to those who are on ZOOM.

Welcome to all the people that are young at heart.

So I wanted to share with you something that I got recently that I thought you might like. It’s a candle holder.

Do you have any candle holders at your house?

Now let me put a candle in it, and we’ll see if it works.

Here’s my candle. Safety first. Alright!

Now, how does it look?

Can you see the candle? Isn’t it so pretty?

So, we’re going to pretend that it smashed on the ground.

What would you do if you had this beautiful candle holder and it smashed into pieces, but you still wanted to use it

What could you do? Do you see what I dd?

I glued it together so now let’s try and put our candle inside and see if we can see it all right.

Can you see it? I’m telling you it would look a lot better if the lights were off in the sun wasn’t shining.

Here’s a better one that Mr. Baker lit with the Christ candle.

We will see if that shines brighter.

Can you see that better?

Okay, so this reminds me of people, because sometimes there are people in the world that think they’re kind of perfect and they don’t have any cracks in them.

But all of us are a little bit broken.

Can you think of what would make somebody broken?

Give me an example of why, someone might think they’re broken.

Could they maybe be sad?

Yes, maybe something’s going on in their life that’s making them sad.

Maybe they got hurt.

Maybe they broke a bone so they’re actually broken.

What else?

What else could make somebody feel like they’re broken inside themselves.

Maybe their friends don’t want to play with them.

Maybe they’ve done something they weren’t supposed to do, and they know that they have some sin, that they have to deal with.

So this example of this broken candle holder is just a reminder that sometimes, when we’re feeling like we’re broken and we’re sad, or we’re sick, that maybe we need God to pick up those pieces of our lives and kind of put us back together.

So just a reminder that even people that feel broken can shine.

God’s light can come out even more beautiful on the other side.

So let’s pray, and you can repeat after me, okay.

Prayer

Dear God, when we are feeling broken,

Please pick up the pieces of our lives,

and wrap them in your loving arms.

So that we can shine your light more beautifully than before.

Now together we’ll say the prayer that Jesus taught us ….

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Transition music

Song: We lay our broken world (202)

Today’s Message

Scripture readings: Acts 6:1-4

Gradual: Jesus, remember me

Message: “Support the hurting”

Good morning, Dayspring! I am so happy to be here with you today. I went to seminary with Reverend Brad and believe that you are blessed to have such a kind and Christ focused minister.

To begin, I have a question for you. Do you know someone who is hurting, because of the death of a loved one, or a diagnosis of cancer, maybe someone who is feeling isolated, or someone who is just getting over a traumatic event? I believe all of us know someone who is hurting or we may be hurting.

As Christians what do we do for those that are hurting?

This morning I would like to address ways that we as Christians can help those who are facing a difficult time in their lives. Today I will talk about Stephen Ministry and how we all can help.

My wife and I are Stephen Ministers at Greenfield Community Church located just down the road from here and we are very excited about the partnership going on between our two churches. One of the ways our churches are partnered is through Stephen Ministry.

This ministry is designed for lay people to actively help those going through a tough life circumstance. It is realistic to say that every church has congregants in need of someone to come alongside them for a period of time. Usually, Church leaders are the first to help, but many times the person needs support for a long period of time and on a consistent basis. Church leaders are simply too busy to provide this type of care to everyone who is hurting.

This is where church volunteers who become trained Stephen ministers can help. These individuals participate in fifty hours of Stephen ministry training. Stephen ministers learn how to guide their care receiver to make process-oriented goals in a Christ centred manner. This congregation is blessed to have three trained Stephen ministers: Nesta, Martin and Iris.

Now let’s look at why training is important and how we all can help those who are hurting.

Who here has heard, “God does not give you more than you can handle?” This is a notion I have heard many times from well-meaning Christians. However, this is not what the Bible says. It may be loosely based on 1 Corinthians 10:13 that reads like this:

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (NIV)

Many people misinterpret this verse to mean that God will not let bad things happen in life that we cannot handle. Such an interpretation contradicts Paul’s later writings found in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 where he said he experienced hardship in Asia where he personally was under great pressure, far beyond his ability to endure it, so he despaired of life itself. God allowed Paul, and allows us to experience difficulties that are too much for us to bear so we lean on God for strength, and do not rely on ourselves. 2 Corinthians 1:10 states, He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again.(NIV) On him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us. It is always God who we rely on.

In the past, I have worked in palliative care centres as a chaplain. There, I often heard people trying to provide comfort, yet what they said was not supportive to the one hurting. For example, saying to someone in despair, “She is in a better place now.” Can you imagine if my wife, whom I love, died and someone said to me, “Oh don’t worry, she is in a better place now.”? My question would be: “Was the place with me not a good place?”

Or another example is, “At least she is not suffering now.”  Often this is not helpful. If I have lost someone I love and the speaker is focusing on the dead person being in heaven, leaving me behind, I do not feel better. I am devastated that my loved one is not here. My suggestion would be to say to the bereaved that “I, personally, will continue to pray for you and your family at this time.” This is a larger statement for the one grieving as it assures them that you will petition God for them, because it may be hard for them to pray and it points them to God.

Proverbs 25:20 states: Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on a wound, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart. (NIV)

Dr. Kenneth C. Hauck, the founder of Stephen Ministry explains it well when he says that this proverb describes an all-too-human problem each of us faces from time to time. We want to reach out and help those who are hurting—but the words or actions we use may unintentionally add to their burden instead of easing their pain. As Stephen Ministers we are trained to offer Christ-Centred support.[1]

Who was this Stephen that Stephen Ministry is named after?

Stephen is first mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as one of seven deacons appointed by the Apostles to distribute food and charitable aid to poorer members of the community, those that were discriminated against and were mostly widows who were in the early church.

Let me read from Acts 6.

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews [those that had adopted the Greek way of life] among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; … They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. (NIV)

Similarly, Church and Stephen leaders today chose mature Christians to become trained as Stephen ministers to bring the love of Christ to those that are hurting. They were also chosen so as to allow the early church leaders time to preach and teach the Word of God just like the present day Stephen Ministry frees up the ministers in the church to preach and teach.

God not only uses Stephen Ministers to help the hurting, he uses all of us. He invites us to come alongside him as he works in peoples’ lives. We can’t forget the lesson from Jesus’ teaching in Luke 10:25-37 on who our neighbour is. This is where he describes a man who is beaten up and left at the side of the road and is ultimately helped by a Samaritan. The lesson was that the Samaritan was “the good neighbour” by helping a hurt man. Another lesson we can take from this story is that we are to help those that are hurting no matter who they are.

In Galatians 6:2 it states, Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. We can assume that Paul or whoever wrote Galatians indicates that we should help bear one another’s burdens.

Many years ago, there was a professor of theology dying at the University Hospital who could not leave his bed. Throughout the day he would take an interest in the lives and struggles of the workers that came to help him. Workers were literally taking their breaks to come and see him not because he was some kind of guru, rather he showed the love of Christ to others, listened to them and in some cases prayed for them. This professor made a big impact from his hospital bed. He is an example of how God can use us to bring the love of Christ to those in our circles. We all can be like that professor by listening to others and offering prayer.

In conclusion, I believe that Stephen ministry has helped so many people since it began in 1975. There is always a need for Stephen Ministers, so if you feel God is calling you to this ministry, please call the church office. If you are hurting or know anyone who is hurting and could use a Stephen’s Minister please contact the church office as well.

Many years ago I attended a church with a pastor named AI. He would end his sermons with homework for the congregation. So, our homework for this week is to remember that the Bible makes it clear that we need to give a cup of water to others in the name of Christ. (Mark 9:41) We can be the light on a hill, or a cup of water to a dark world for hurting people. Listen and offer prayer for the people God puts on your path. Amen.

Song: When we are living (630)

We respond to serve God

Reflection on giving: We have been giving faithfully since the beginning of the pandemic and we are committed to continuing the ministry and mission that define Dayspring – using the ways described below. Thank you all for your support of our shared vision and mission.

 

Prayer of gratitude and prayer for others and ourselves

Lord God, we thank you for your grace and mercy. We thank you for dying on the cross while we were still sinners.

Lord, make us an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let us bring love.

Where there is offence, let us bring pardon.

Where there is discord, let us bring union.

Where there is error, let us bring the truth.

Where there is doubt, let us bring faith.

Where there is despair, let us bring hope.

Where there is darkness, let us bring your light.

Where there is sadness, let us bring joy.

O Master, let us not seek as much

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love,

for it is in giving that one receives,

it is in self-forgetting that one finds,

it is in pardoning that one is pardoned,

It is in dying that one is raised to eternal life.[2]

We thank you for all who volunteer in this Church.

Lord God, we pray that all of us can receive your Word here in this service, including those that are watching or reading this service.  We pray for our leaders in this city, province and country. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen.

Song: Lord of all hopefulness (748)

Sending out with God’s blessing

May the Lord give you strength, compassion, and joy to be the light of Christ in a dark world. May the Lord help you to restore the broken hearted and encourage the hurting. May the God of love and peace be with you now and forever. Amen.[3]

Response: The Blessing

Music postlude

————————————————————————-

Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring licensing with One Licence (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2022) on all original material presented by him. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material presented that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

[1] Don’t Sing Songs to a Heavy Heart by Kenneth C. Hauk Ph.D.

[2] Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, La Ligue de la Sainte-Messe (translated)

[3] Based on 2 Corinthians 13:11 and Matthew 5:14-16

The Copper Kettle

Worship on the Lord’s Day
Third Sunday after Epiphany
10:00 am, 22 January 2022
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering
as a Worshipping Community
Led by the Darlene Eerkes and Fionna McCrostie
Children’s time: Fionna
Service Material prepared by the Rev. Brad Childs
Music director: Binu Kapadia     Vocalists: Sam & Ann May Malayang
Elder: Gina Kottke

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: O God, our light and our salvation, shelter us in your love.
P: O God, our stronghold, protect us from danger.
L: We come with shouts of joy to worship you this day.
P: We come with song and music to celebrate your love.
L: We come with longing to seek your presence.
P: Be with us now, O God, as we sing your praises. Amen.

Opening praise: O come to the alter

 Prayers of approach and confession

Our Holy God, You give us so much.

You surround us with good things. You fill our lives with meaning and families and friends. You provide for our every need and by the sacrifice of your son you prove that your grace abounds, and your love has no limits to which you will not go.

But as perfect as you are, we, who call ourselves Yours, are just as imperfect as ever.

Lord, we have spent too much time worrying about our work and not enough time being thankful to be employed.

We spend too much time worrying about money when compassion should be our currency.

We have eaten meals and taken too much and tossed out food wastefully when we know that others are literally starving. We’ve considered it normal.

We’ve said things we didn’t mean, or things we meant only momentarily without any real considerations.

We have hurt people we claim to love. And other we don’t love but shove try harder too.

We have made assumptions and judged others wrongly.

We have fought and forgotten that sometimes peace with each other is better than being right.

We have neglected to read your written word and we prayed for self, more than for those who need it most.

We have strayed from the right things to do sometimes on purpose because it was just easier, sometimes on accident because we just weren’t thinking. Yet in all of them, you already offered your sacrifice on our behalf. You already secured our forgiveness. The price paid for each one paid long ago on a cross. And so lastly Lord we these two words: “Thank you”. Amen.

Gradual: We come to ask Your forgiveness, O Lord

Assurance of God’s forgiveness

The Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ died on the cross innocent of any wrongs, taking away the sins of the world as a perfect and eternal sacrifice. Our sins are not our own. They were nailed to the cross with Christ. We are forgiven in Him.  Now let His light shine in and though you for all the world to see. Amen.

We listen for the voice of God

Children’s time

Gradual: Jesus loves me (373)

Story: God chooses us first

Who here has played dodge ball?

I have. I remember when I was your age, I had a really hard day at school, one day, because I got picked last for Dodge Ball.

They would pick 2 team leaders and the 2 team leaders got to pick who was on their team. They still do that.

I used to get picked pretty early, since I was pretty good at catching the ball. (I like to be the goalie in soccer.)

But everyone found out that I have trouble paying attention when more than one ball is flying at me. I just freeze. So it was actually pretty easy to get me out.

So after the other kids realized that, I got chosen last, which hurt my feelings.

But I remembered something very important.

We are chosen first by God. We are God’s favorites.

God picks us first every time.

That might not work in dodgeball, but it does in the kingdom of heaven.

You are God’s favorite, and I’m God’s favorite.

The Bible says that we are God’s special possessions, and that he has called us to shine His light in this dark world.

So let’s never forget that we are chosen by God.

Perhaps the light Jesus sheds on our world can help us to see things the way God sees them, so we can celebrate everyone.

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for choosing us first. Thank you for choosing your light on us. And help us to shine your light on us, and help us to shine your light on others, and help us to shine your light on others in your name.

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

 

Transition music

Song: Holy, Holy, Holy (623)

Today’s Message

Scripture reading: Exodus 34:29-35

Transition Music: Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet

Message: The Copper Kettle

General Charles Krulak wrote this as the introduction to his opening prayer at Wheaton College in October of 2000. It was the first time he had spoken of the incident publicly.

“25 years ago, I was a young second lieutenant who is just married after graduating from the Naval Academy. My wife and I went down to Quantico, Virginia, home of the school where officers learn about honor and courage and commitment. I shared my room with another married officer, John Listerman, who was a Christian. That meant basically nothing to me at the time except that John seemed a nice fellow. Because of John, I guess, all of this Christian stuff seems pretty good, not because I knew much about it, but because of what I knew of John.

“After graduating from basic training, John and I went to Camp Pendleton, California, where we joined the same battalion preparing to go to Vietnam. I saw John Listerman as a tremendous leader who was technically proficient in a way I had never seen before. What’s more, the men loved him. He was committed to his troops, and they knew it. He was what we call a Marine’s Marine. He was what we all aspired to be.

“In December 1965, John and I finally made it into the war zone. John Listerman’s war, however, lasted only 13 hours. While on our first patrol moving through the jungle, we came around a corner in the trail and ran into an ambush. John took a 50 caliber round to his left kneecap which exploded immediately. He fell on the ground in absolute agony. A second round hit him at the base of his heart and then exited from his side. I too was wounded but only barely. As the men backed out, I crawled forward about 30 meters to the front of the line to find John; to see if I could perhaps offer him a tube of morphine. But before I could say anything he saw me and he asked, ‘Are you okay.’ And then louder and more afraid, ‘Are you okay?’

“I didn’t know what to say and so I just said ‘yes.’ He continued without breaking asking ‘Are my men ok Chuck?… are they okay, are they safe now?’

“Again, I simply gave him the truth as quickly as I possibly could – they were in fact okay (we were the only two injured and I not that badly).

“As soon as he was sure his men were all right, he exhaled a huge sigh of relief, and a giant smile came across his face as he looked up into the sky and said the words that I will never forget. Bleeding from a hole in his side, still in danger of death with one leg left he said, ‘thank you Lord.’ ‘Thank you for caring for me my whole life through.’ ‘And thank you now for making me first in line around the corner.’ At that moment I (Charles Krulak) knew little of Christ, but I knew John, and so I knew too, that like him, I would also be a Christian.” (1001 Ill, pg75)[1]

In the reading from Exodus, we have this strange scene. It is actually the second time Moses has come down from Mt. Sanai with the tablets of the Ten Commandments. These are the replacements for the first set; Moses broke physically in response to people’s breaking of the first two literally as they bowed down before the golden calf.

Now in the story it says that the glory of God reflected upon Moses’ face after meeting with the Lord. And the way it is put has confused and confounded people for years. On a plain English reading it says clearly that Moses had an encounter with God and as a result of that, his face physically glowed with light. If you have ever seen a religious painting or a picture of an angel, that is what the Halo around their heads is supposed to be depicting. It’s supposed to be an emanating light from someone who has had an encountered God.

Now the Hebrew words here are really and oddly specific. It says that it is the actual skin of Moses’ face that glows and that it shone with Karen “radianceor “rays of light.”

Now in an odd twist of fate this verse was translated from Hebrew and into Latin for the Latin Vulgate edition of the Bible that the Catholic Church deemed to be a perfect translation. This was the only official translation of scripture that they allowed to exist. In fact, many early protestant leaders were executed because they chose to translate the Bible into English or French or German. That was a serious crime you see, because God (they said) had already handed down to the Holy Roman Church a perfect edition.

But here is one big problem with that. When this verse about Moses was translated into Latin, the translator took the very literal meaning of karan (for “rays of light”). And the exact word for word of that in Latin, which would be “and his skin grew horns”.

See the phrase kanan was a figurative description of the tops of the flickering flames (horns of light). And so, when the phrase was written in Latin it translated karan as “Moses’ face grew horns”.

Unfortunately, this “perfect” translation of this morning’s text, then led to the very rampant belief all throughout the Middle Ages (and especially in France) that Jews had horns. Interestingly if you have ever seen Michelangelo’s statue of Moses, you might recall seeing that his Moses has two short horns atop his head. So much for God’s perfect Latin translation. Luckily the Roman Catholic Church officials allowed another translation of this verse to be considered authoritative… after just 500 some years.

Now, a little closer to the source it might be worth nothing that in ancient Mesopotamian literature there was a concept called “fearless radiance” which suggests that after meeting a deity a person would shine with light and so have to hide their face. Thus, certain religious priests wore special masks while meeting their gods. Because of this, some have suggested that this portion of the story exists as a form of anti-myth polemic… which is a fancy of to say, “an insult”. See if the other traditions in the Sanai area used masks in cultic worship in order to hide their faces as proof that they had met with God, the God of the Hebrews would prove their God better by making Moses’ actual face glow with a shockingly bright light for all to see as proof that Moses had truly met the divine.

Some see this story as a very powerful statement which was meant to say to the people, “God does not want statues of animals or people behind masks to represent his glory but rather… otherwise ordinary human beings are to show God’s glory in how they live out the commandments God has given.

In his Commentary Dr. John Durham sates that nobody really knows the answer to the question of what’s going on here or how literal it is intended to be taken. He says, “In fact, we simply do not have enough information to enable us to form any clear understanding of what is meant by the use of קרן (karan) to describe what happened to the skin of Moses’ face as a result of his close communion with Yahweh (the LORD), but the key must certainly lie in Yahweh (the LORD) and not in Moses… It is at least possible that קרן (karan) was deliberately used [rather than [the much more common] הֹאִיר (ha’ur) “shine, give light,”…, because the narrator intended to suggest a light that was separate from Moses’ own person, [something God did through him, not something that came from him.]

Now whether you see the karan of light God placed around Moses as an affront to masks or idols, as a true, literal and physical and miraculous glow or even if you think the very word for word rendering is true and Moses actually was growing horns, whether figurative or literal, whatever you think, the point is really unchanged. Moses comes down from his time with God having absorbed the brightness of Yahweh’s Presence and he is visibly different in some way because of that. He is changed! And people can see it!

In reference to Christ, the apostle Paul talks about this verse from Exodus. In 2 Cor. 3:16-18 he says, “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the mask is taken away.  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we all, (with unmasked faces) contemplate the Lord’s glory, and are being transfigured into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit”.

The Message Bible puts it like this, “and so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.”

The problem is we aren’t always very good at it. I’m not very good at it at least.

W. Tozer once said, “I’m afraid we modern Christians are long on talk and short on conduct. We use the language of power, but our deeds are the deeds of weakness. We settle for words in religion because deeds are too costly. It is easier to pray, “Lord, help me to carry my cross daily” than to pick it up and carry it; but since the mere request for help to do something we do not actually intend to do has a certain degree of religious comfort, we are content with repetition of the words.” (https://quotefancy.com/quote/1446687/Aiden-Wilson-Tozer-We-modern-Christians-are-long-on-talk-and-short-on-conduct)

But it doesn’t have to be that way. And it shouldn’t

I have just one more story:

A well-known Bible teacher has just finished speaking to a large class of businesspeople on the Christians’ responsibility to be light in the world. He had emphasized the as believers we all have the obligation to reflect the Light in the world, the Lord Jesus.

After the class, one of the members related to him an experience he had in his home that impressed upon him the same truth. He said that in the darkest corner of his basement he had made a surprising discovery. Some potatoes in that darkest corner had sprouted and were growing. At first, he could not figure how they had gotten enough light to sprout and grow. Then he noticed that hanging from the ceiling on a row of hooks, not terribly far away from the basement window was a shiny copper kettle his wife rarely used. It was brightly polished, and it was in the perfect position to reflect the sun’s rays onto the potatoes in that darkest corner of the room.

At that point the man relating the story paused, and he leaned in close and pointedly said, “When I saw that, I thought, I may not be some great preacher. I may not be a gifted teacher of the Word, I may not read my Bible enough, or have lots of spiritual conversations. I may not even be the greatest Christian all the time. But I can be a copper kettle catching the rays of the S>O>N and reflecting them from time to time, into someone’s dark corner of the world.[2]

I don’t know exactly what happened to Moses. And I sort of don’t care really. The message is unchanged. Whatever it was, people saw him differently. They knew he had a true encounter with God and his light made that clear.

Not everyone is Billy Graham. Not everyone is Moses. You may not reach thousands with the light of Christ. That’s okay, likely neither will I.

But like Lieutenant John Listerman we can share the light of Christ.

I guess what I’m saying is… Go be copper kettle and help grow a few potatoes. Amen.

Song: Jesus bids us shine (773)

We respond to serve God

Reflection on giving: We have been giving faithfully since the beginning of the pandemic and we are committed to continuing the ministry and mission that define Dayspring – using the ways described below. Thank you all for your support of our shared vision and mission.

Prayer of gratitude: We marvel at the wonders of your love.

You bless us with your presence and wisdom.

You created a beautiful world that reveals your majesty.

Your Holy Spirit guides us, and you sent your son to show us how to live with compassion.

We thank you that you open our eyes to your presence with us each day.  Help us to look for you not only in mountaintop experiences but also in the everyday tasks of life.

Prayer for others and ourselves

Loving God, there is much in this world that needs the transformation only your light can provide.

Where there is violence, instill your peace. where there is poverty, send your sustenance. where there is confusion, bring wisdom, where there is chaos, bring order.

Transfigure the hearts of the rich to share, the wills of the powerful to act with justice.

Where minds and hearts are troubled bring your comfort, where pain is crippling grant release.  Hear the cries of all who suffer and fill them with the hope of new life with you.

Eternal God, we pray that your glory would fill your church and give to your people everywhere the energy to shine wherever there is darkness, persecution and despair.  And we pray for the congregations of this Presbytery, this Synod, this Church.  Bless them with wisdom and strength.

Give us all, a greater love of your holiness, a greater delight in your mystery, and a greater joy in seeking your presence.

We ask these things through Christ Jesus, who revealed your will to us, who taught us your revolutionary love,

Amen

Song: Lord, the light of Your live is shining (376)

Sending out with God’s blessing: And now as we leave these walls behind and enter into the mission field God has put before us, let us bring our hope and peace to everyone we meet. And May God’s grace be and abide with you and those whom you love, both now and forever.

Response: The Blessing

Music postlude

————————————————————————-

Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring licensing with One Licence (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2022) on all original material presented by him. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material presented that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

[1] https://www.biblia.work/sermons/a-marines-final-thanks/

[2] https://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~tankl/kettle.txt

There’s really only one, you know

Worship on the Lord’s Day
2nd Sunday after Epiphany
10:00 am, 15 January 2022
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering  as a Worshipping Community
Led by John Patrick Rudolph
(material prepared by the Rev. Brad Childs)
Children’s time: Roxanne
Music director: Binu Kapadia     Vocalist: Fionna McCrostie
Guitarist (Prélude and Postlude): Lorraine Wheatley
Elder: Darlene Eerkes

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: Listen up, everyone! God has given us work to do.
P: God has called each of us before we were even born.
L: It was God who named us.
P: It is God who claims us.
L: The light of God’s love shines in us.
P: Let’s shine God’s love into all the world!

Opening praise: Everlasting God

Prayers of approach and confession

We give you all praise, God of salvation. We come with devotion to you, Christ our redeemer. We honour you, Holy Spirit who gives us strength. Across life’s roaring seas you call us forth to follow you and bring others to you. You give us the resources to be your church and to grow in grace and faith.

We seek your face, Lord. Though you have been faithful to us, there are times we have failed you in thought and word and deed. Forgive us, when we ignore your call to service. Forgive us when we seek our own self interests and ignore the needs of others.

We confess that there have been times when we choose the easy routes rather than the right routes. But today together we say… we want to follow you more closely. Busy schedules and poor excuses will no longer get our way. Because you are our chief concern and your work on business. Help us to hear your voice amid the clamour of our hectic lives and lay down our nets to follow you in faith as the first disciples did so long ago. In the name of the one who calls us, Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen.

Response: Glory, glory, hallelujah

Assurance of God’s forgiveness

For God spoke words of forgiveness to His people through the mouth of the prophet: “I will forgive their evil deeds and remember their sin no more.” Through God’s amazing Grace we have forgiveness.

We listen for the voice of God

Children’s time: Roxanne Plischke

Gradual: Open our eyes, Lord (445)

 Story: And They Can Mend a Broken Heart

This is a book about how the magic of a child’s love can help a person through grief. (Independently published, May 20 2022).

Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Transition music

Song: Give us clean hands

Today’s Message

Scripture readings: 1 Corinthians 1:1–18 & John 1:29–42

Response: Behold the Lamb of God

Message: “There’s really only one you know”

Comedian Emo Philips used to tell this story. [1]

The other day I saw a man standing on a bridge about to jump to his doom.

I ran over and said, “Stop there so much to live for!”

He said, “like what”.

I said, “Are you religious or an atheist”.

He said, “I’m a Christian”.

I said “me too! Are your protestant or catholic?”

He said “Protestant”.

I said “Me too! – What franchise?”

He answered “Baptist”.

“Me too!” I spoke. “Northern Baptist or Southern?”

“Northern” he replied

“Me too!” I shouted

We continued to go back and forth like this for some time. Finally, I asked, my new friend “Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1879? or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1912?” He replied, “Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1912.”

I said, “Die you heretic!” And pushed him off the bridge.”

It’s strange, often it’s the people we have most in common with that make us the angriest.

When I first came to a Presbyterian Church, I was struck by this. I met a minister that belonged to the multi-faith council in Edmonton but who told me she’d never be caught dead in a Baptist church. It’s funny isn’t it. Many Presbyterians would probably feel more comfortable at an interfaith discussion with Buddhists and Muslims than they would sitting in a Pentecostal church service where they’d probably agree with about 95% of things.

There’s nothing new about this. This very problem existed in the earliest Christian churches. In the city of Corinth, the Apostle Paul was confronted with this very same issue. Corinth is interesting. It had all kinds of problems and disunity was just one of them. To be honest the church in Corinth was an absolute mess.

In Paul’s absence the people have even begun to bicker over leadership. Paul quotes one writes, “One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” But what a strange thing for Paul to get angry about.

What’s Paul got against “I follow Paul”. Why would Paul be upset to hear that some people in the church see him as a model of faith.

What’s wrong with saying “I follow Apollos”? It’s not like Apollos was a false teacher or a heretic or something. He was eloquent speaker. Nothing Paul says (or anything else indicated anywhere in scripture or history) shows Apollos to be anything other than an eloquent Christian leader in the early church.

What’s wrong with saying “I follow Cephas” Peter was a part of Jesus’ inner circle of disciples. He is figure of strength in the Bible and an example to all of us. But more importantly what’s wrong with this last group. They say, “I follow Christ”? How on earth can that be wrong? What about this could possibly make Paul angry?

Today we live in a world of great diversity. And the fact is that this diversity is sometimes great for the cause of Christ. Though we might differ on the details, Pentecostal and Baptist churches reach people with the same cornel of faith that Presbyterians do.

If you were to go to my friend Dylan’s church “Solomon’s Porch” in Athabasca, Alberta you’d see a big bald tattoo covered guy in a kilt sitting on a stool delivering communion with potato chips and Coca-Cola. And yeah, it’s weird and it’s certainly not for me, but he reaches people for Christ that wouldn’t dare set a foot in our building – just like we reach people for Christ that wouldn’t last 1 minute in a service where people are encouraged to debate with the minister throughout the sermon.

But I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. I think his people are just other parts of the body of Christ (maybe a funny part like an earlobe or a bellybutton but a part nonetheless).

More to the point. I call myself a “Calvinist.” Friends of mine call themselves “Lutherans”. To me that sounds an awful lot like “I follow Paul” and “I follow Apollos”. But again, I don’t think this is wrong either. Saying “I’m a Calvinist” helps explain some of the differences between the details of my faith and the details of others’ faith. And again, I think that’s good for the church. So, what is Paul so angry about? Is he wrong? What’s wrong with diversity?

Whatever it is that has Paul so worked up he gives us one of his most human moments in all of scripture… and I love it. He’s so mad he forgets he has baptized people in this congregation.

You see Paul didn’t really write this letter himself. He dictated it to a scribe. In fact, the only part of any letter Paul seems to have penned himself is at the end of Galatians where he signs it: “I Paul write this part with my own hand, see what large letters I use.” (Apparently Paul had really big handwriting.) See – at this time, paper (or papyrus) was actually very expensive. So as Paul is there dictating this letter, his scribe is quickly doing his best to get it all down. And in his anger Paul says, “I thank God that I did not baptize any of you” and then it hits him… wait a minute, yeah, I did… (But the scribes already got it down) so he adds “except Crispus and Gaius, and then again, he realized his mistake (but again the scribe has already got that down) so he adds further “Oh Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.”

Imagine that Paul is so worked up that he can’t even remember who he has baptized and quite frankly he doesn’t even care at this point. Instead, he says, Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.”  But again, why so angry?

In his book Stories that feed your Soul,[2] famed minister Tony Campolo recalls the following story. He writes, “I was driving through the town of Mount Joy, looking for the Church of God where I was scheduled to speak but couldn’t find it. Knowing I needed help I stopped at a gas station, where I asked the attendant if he knew where the Church of God was.

In a slow drawl the attendant answered, “I knew the Presbyterian had a church in this town and I knew the Methodist had one” but I wasn’t aware that God had one.” Amused by his one answer Campolo recalls the strange sad looked on the man’s face as he added “There’s really only one you know.”

Well, the man was right. We all get too caught up in our differences. And when we focus on those differences our critics mock us because they see those man-made differences that separate us, when they should see the God that unifies us despite our differences.

E Stanley Jones once said, “Talk about what you believe, and you will have disunity. Talk about who you believe in, and you will have unity.”

Make no mistake about it. We’re not all the same and we do believe very different things sometimes. And those differences are often important. I am a proud Calvinist and a proud Presbyterian because I think these distinctions are important. And I don’t think Paul would have a problem with that.

What angers Paul is not that some say they follow him or that others say they follow Peter or Apollos. It doesn’t bother him that some say they follow Christ. There is nothing wrong with saying “I follow Christ”.

The problem in Corinth is arrogance. Some say they follow Paul in order to prove their superiority and in response some counter with Apollos and others Peter (each one trying to one-up each other and show their own self-importance). And it doesn’t bother Paul that some say they follow Christ. He hopes all would say that. It bothers him that they would use the Son of God like a pawn in a silly game as if “I follow Christ” is the ultimate trump card to prove your point.

Oh, you follow Paul they say… that’s nice. Well, I follow Christ! This is what angers Paul. It’s not the diversity… it’s disunity… it’s arrogance.

So maybe you are from the “Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1879. Or maybe it’s the Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1912.” Maybe you’re a Calvinist, maybe you’re not sure or maybe you just don’t care. Well fine by me. Because what’s most important is that we recognize that the old man at the gas station understood just what Paul understood.

As far as Christian churches go “There’s really only one you know.” Amen.

Song: Revelation Song

We respond to serve God

Reflection on giving: We have been giving faithfully since the beginning of the pandemic and we are committed to continuing the ministry and mission that define Dayspring – using the ways described below. Thank you all for your support of our shared vision and mission.

 Prayer of gratitude

Generous God, from you comes every good and perfect gift. Receive these gifts, Lord, as signs of our desire to hear your voice and follow. Grant that they be used to bring your Good News to others and further your Kingdom on earth. In the name of Christ our Lord and saviour we pray.

Prayer for others and ourselves

Name above all others, who can probe the depths of your wisdom? Who can attain the height of your vision? Your goodness surrounds us like the waters of the ocean.

Your mercy envelops us as the sun warms our days. You bring order out of chaos, command discipline across a diverse and changing world, and offer forgiveness with the promise of new life. You stoop down to us as a mother bends to lift up her child. You lend an ear to our needs and hear our cries for help.

Merciful Lord, hear us now as we pray silently together for the needs of people all around the world and in our own backyards.

—Silence—

Lord hear our prayers, Amen.

Song: You are holy, you are whole (828)

Sending out with God’s blessing

Go now in peace and serve Christ with your whole being.
May your ears hear his calling.
May your feet walk the path he set before you.
May your eyes seek the lost and lonely.
May your hands reach out in care.
And may your voice speak love and truth and mercy.

Response: The Blessing

Music postlude

————————————————————————-

Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One Licence (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2022) on all original material prepared by him. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26624442

[2] Published by Regal (Sept. 13 2010)