Worship on the Lord’s Day
20th Sunday after Pentecost World Communion Sunday
10:00 am Oct 06, 2024
Minister: The Rev. Brad Childs
Music Director: Binu Kapadia
Vocalists: Cheryl and Peter Sheridan Welcoming Elder: Jane de Caen
Music Prelude
We gather to worship God.
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
Preparation for worship
Call to worship:
L: The banqueting table is prepared: God calls us to feast together.
P: We have come from east and west, from north and south, to sit together at the Lord’s table.
L: Compassion, love, and grace pour out like fine wine.
P: God’s Word is bread for our journey.
L: Let us join Christians around the world to share in God’s gifts.
P: Let us taste and see that the Lord is good!
Opening praise: Forever God is faithful
Prayers of adoration and confession
Gracious and Generous God, you spread a banquet table and make room for all to come: friend and foe, healed and sick, hopeful and hopeless.
You feed our desires with goodness and fill our longing with steadfast love.
We worship you with grateful praise, together with all your people, here and everywhere, who break bread at your table and who share the cup.
We celebrate our life together in Christ and offer our love and loyalty to you, O God,
Source of all goodness, through Jesus Christ, who shares our flesh, and your Holy Spirit who prays within us.
God of mercy and mystery, When you invite us to your table, you ask us to come with clean hands and open hearts.
You ask us to come in peace, seeking reconciliation with you and with each other.
In this silence, we hand over to you the broken relationships, disagreements and disappointments that keep us from living in your peace.
Free us from the burdens we carry which we share in this silence. so that we may be a source of peace in this troubled world:
Hold silence for 20 seconds.
Response: I will trust in the Lord
Assurance of God’s pardon
Hear and believe this good news! Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old life has gone, and a new life has begun. Know that you are forgiven. Have the courage to forgive one another, and be at peace—with God, with your neighbor, and with yourself.
We listen for the voice of God
Song: Amazing Grace, my chains are gone
Scripture readings:
Genesis 2:18-24; Mark 10:2-16; Matthew 5:17-37; and Matthew 19:1-10
Response: Glory to the Father
Message: The great divorce debate
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. Mark’s version is typically shorter. 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, 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 behaviour 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 him. Basically he calls for such a conservative view that it shows the weakness of both liberals and conservatives 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 against themselves so that nobody is left to judge but God. 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.”
And this can be confusing at times. 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 adulater. It’s a harsh statement (especially for a first-century Jew deathly afraid to break one of the Ten Commandments).
But at the same time, if you understand that 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. If you were divorced, a woman would lose her status and no longer be considered a part of the “chosen people.” If you understand 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 not allowing for divorce (which at first seems very harsh) was actually meant to protect women from abuse. Then things change a bit.
Sadly, today, this very same verse is used by people who don’t understand its context to keep women in abusive relationships (the very opposite intent from which it was originally given). 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.”
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 the need for a further guarantee that 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 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 truthfulness.[1]
The point is clear: In Jesus’ mind, we are called to be a totally honest people. 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.
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 “little white lie”. But I have to admit, I don’t like it, and I try hard – VERY HARD, not to give my kids a reason to doubt anything I say. With some things, I may not do well. 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 for my word… see me as someone with integrity (even if they disagree with my views).
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 who she is 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 the 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, handed each of them a test booklet, and told them to begin. They looked at the first problem. It said (5 points) and was a question about free radical formation, but it was fairly simple. “Cool,” they thought, “this is going to be easy.” They solved that problem in their own time, and then each one 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 have not been able to escape the reality that something has been lost. When I was a kid, a “handshake” really did mean something. When my dad said, “Tomorrow we are going to… (whatever)”, he really meant it. The old “a man is only as good as his word” was something people believed in.
Maybe it’s more nostalgic than reality – but my perception is that when I was younger… for the most part, when a woman spoke, she truly honestly believed in what she said. Integrity meant something.
Today (especially if you are a news junkie like me)… 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.
So, will I leave this pulpit and never tell a lie again in my life?
I’d like to say yes, But I don’t want to lie to you.
So let me just say. I’ve got something to shoot for.
How about you? Amen.
Song: Jesus calls us here to meet him (528)
We respond to serve God
Our time of giving
Around this table we celebrate God’s generosity to us in Christ and in creation. We present our offerings in gratitude for all God has given.
God, you are the giver of every good and perfect gift. Our gifts may not be perfect but bless them with your Holy Spirit to spread your goodness in the world, for the sake of Christ, our living Lord.
Prayer of gratitude, and for others and ourselves
Let’s just take a moment in a time of gratitude for our offering and to pray for our world.
Around this table. We celebrate God’s generosity to us in Christ our Lord, your Son, and we present our offerings and gratitude for all that you have given. The offerings received, we asked that they be blessed and that hands of the givers be blessed.
God, you are the Giver of every good and perfect gift. May we continue your blessings, and may we continue to bless others through you.
And now, our Lord, we pray for the other churches in our community:
For the other Christian people who are struggling.
For the neighbors, for the folks who are seeking.
For those who are spiritual, but not religious, but looking.
For those who are thoughtful.
For those with questions.
Lord, we pray that you would be with those who suffer most.
With those who have lost a loved one.
Where those who in this moment are grieving.
Lord. We know that there is a great cloud of witnesses by whom we are surrounded: by the faithful, loved, and lost.
We thank you that they are here with us, celebrating in this holy day. And we imagine this room completely filled to the brim with those we know are here In the great cloud of us.
Bless us, Lord, as you always have, and help us to bless this world.
The Sacrament of Holy Communion
Invitation
This is the joyful feast of the people of God!
They will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God.
This is the table not of one denomination, but of our one Lord Jesus Christ.
It is made ready for those who love him and those who want to love him more.
So come, you who have much faith and you who have little, you who have been here often and you who have not been for a long time.
Our Saviour invites all those who trust him to share the feast which he has prepared.
Song: All who hunger, gather gladly (534)
The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you;
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts;
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God;
It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Holy God, Holy One, Holy Three,
You are source of all that exists.
You are beyond the galaxies, deeper than the oceans;
You pour down rain and bring forth the fruit of the earth.
You carry us through deep waters and hold us in the darkest night.
So with all your creatures, great and small, with angels and archangels, with saints and servants in every generation we join in the rejoicing of your creation:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Holy is your Son Jesus, O God,
Walking this earth, feeding the hungry, calling the lost, noticing the forgotten, healing those who reached out, teaching those who sought wisdom, he revealed your kingdom in our midst.
Today we thank you for all Jesus shared with usto show us that you are always with us in times of plenty and times of pain.
And so we celebrate the mystery of our faith in him:
Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.
Holy God, when the sounds of our rejoicing fall silent, we remember those who cannot rejoice today, who face times of pain or fear or upheaval.
We think especially of those whose countries have been overwhelmed by earthquake, flood and storm, by conflict, drought or famine.
(Keep silence for 5-10 seconds.)
Draw near to them in the power of the Spirit to strengthen and sustain them through Christ’s compassion and ours.
Holy Spirit, come now and settle on us and on these gifts of bread and wine.
May they become for us Christ’s body and life blood, healing, forgiving and making us whole.
So may we become Christ’s body, the Church, loving and caring throughout the whole world until that day when all creation feasts with you. Amen
The Story of the Last Supper
The Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks for it, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’
In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
As the bread is broken and cup lifted:
This is the body of Christ broken for you.
This cup is the blood of Christ shed for you.
The elements are shared
Song: One bread, one body (refrain) (540)
Prayer after Communion
Loving God, Christ our Lord, Holy Spirit, you have nourished us, body and soul, in this meal.
We have heard your love, so send us out to speak it.
We have seen your love, so send us out to show it.
We have been fed by your love, so send us out to share it.
And let all things be done for your glory. Amen.
Song: In Christ there is no east or west (480}
Sending out with God’s blessing
Go from here to serve God, your strength renewed and your faith reassured, for you are part of Christ’s body embracing the world in his name.
And may that God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
Response: The blessing
Music postlude
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The Communion liturgy is based on the liturgies of the PCC’s 1991 Book of Common Worship. 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 License (3095377) and CLC (A735555).
The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2024) 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] Hagner, D. A. (1998). Matthew 1–13 (Vol. 33A, pp. 128–129). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.