3rd SUNDAY OF EASTER
WELCOME, MINUTE FOR MISSION & ANNOUNCEMENTS
HYMN # 415 God, We Praise You for the Morning
CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: Binding us into community.
All: Christ is among us!
One: Banishing out doubts,
All: Christ is among us!
One: Ending our fears,
All: Christ is among us!
One: Bringing us hope,
All: Christ is among us!
PRAYER OF APPROACH:
One: Singing praises to God, you faithful,
give thanks to God’s holy name!
All: Weeping may linger for a night,
but joy comes in the morning.
One: God turns our weeping to dancing
and clothes us in gladness.
All: May we praise God and not be silent!
Thanks to you, O God, forever! Amen.
HYMN # 166 Joy Comes with the Dawn
PRAYER FOR WHOLENESS:
One: Christ, you shed light into our darkened world.
All: Yet we choose to walk in shadows of indifference and fear: forgive us, Risen Christ.
One: From the cool, refreshing waters of a deep well,
you offer us a drink of life-giving water.
All: Yet we choose to drink from wells of bitterness and anger:
forgive us, Risen Christ.
One: As life emerges from fertile soil,
you invite us to newness and growth.
All: Yet we choose the parched soil of hatred,
materialism and greed:
forgive us, Risen Christ.
One: With songs of celebration,
you invite us to join the dance of God’s tomorrow.
All: Yet we choose to sit, ignoring the music.
(silent confession)
One: Take our hands, O Christ,
All: and lead us in the dance of your tomorrow.
CHOIR ANTHEM: Bless Me, Lord
SCRIPTURE READING: Revelation 5: 11 – 14
Psalm 30 (# 757 VU)
THE STORY STOOL
HYMN: We Are the Church
I am the church! You are the church! We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus, all around the world! Yes, we’re the church together!
vs 1: The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple,
The church is not a resting-place; the church is a people!
vs 2: We’re many kinds of people with many kinds of faces,
All colors and all ages, too from all times and places.
SCRIPTURE READING: Acts 9: 1 – 20
John 21: 1 – 19
HYMN # 563 Jesus, You Have Come to the Lakeshore
SERMON: “Come and See …”
Did you know that in our world today there are in excess of 2.3 million children suffering with HIV/AIDS?
And a full 88% of them are in Africa?
Did you know that each year an additional 640 000 children contract HIV/AIDS, and less than 100 of that number live in Europe or North America?
Did you know that over one half of those children will die before their 2nd Birthday?
Did you know that 500 000 children die each year of this horrible disease?
Perhaps most startling of all – did you know that every three seconds, a child dies in our world?
Every three seconds a future Gandhi, a future Nobel Prize winner, a future doctor, a future teacher, a future parent, a future grandparent, … every three seconds a future is snuffed out when a young life ends …
Every three seconds a child dies …
Every three seconds another child dies ... every three seconds ...
Those were just some of the horrifying and shocking statistics that were shared last night at the STARVE (Support the families and Children with HIV-AIDS in Ethiopia) Benefit organized and put on by the participants of the 30 Hour Starve event held at MCI this past week …
As we reeled from the statistics the group who gathered in the school gymnasium to hear the presentations were able to look around the room at a group of young people who have embraced the commandment of the Risen Christ to “Feed My Sheep …”
What is truly startling for me is the knowledge that in that group of less than 50 kids from THIS community, I could count on ONE hand the number of them who attend Church at all … These kids are doing the very thing Churches are struggling to do – and they are NOT church kids.
I spent some time at the school on Friday afternoon with the kids as they did a session on volunteering – one of the questions they worked on was simply – “Who attends Church?” the group I was with had 2 out of the 12 kids … there was less than 10 kids in that room who come to Church … YET, this group of teens, in a week where we’ve heard of teens stealing cars in Winnipeg (again), we’ve heard of teens bringing guns to school, and we’ve heard of teens beating each other – this group of teens not only raised their awareness of the issue of HIV/AIDS in Africa – they ALSO raised close to 7000 dollars to benefit a Junior School in GOBA province in Ethiopia.
Personally, I think we should be very proud of our community teens … and at the same time we should be a little ashamed of ourselves … The cause these teens are embracing is one that is central to the ethos of the United Church. It is central to the ethos of the Church Universal and Catholic. It is central to our faith, and the Churches were notably absent … BUT, like the number of teens who attend church, I could count on both hands the number of people in that room who attend church regularly who came and supported the teens in their awareness and fund raising event … This is one of those moments when we of the Church should be there en mass … this is what we yearn to see happening in our community – people beyond the pews caring for and caring about others … Feeding the sheep …
And when it was happening … we weren’t there …
Ann Weems, the poet and theologian writes:
He said, “Feed my sheep.”
There were no conditions:
Least of all, Feed my sheep if they deserve it.
Feed my sheep if you have any leftovers.
Feed my sheep if the mood strikes …
if the economy’s OK …
if you’re not too busy …
No conditions, … just … “Feed my sheep.”
Could it be that God’s Kingdom will come when each lamb is fed?
We who have agreed to keep covenant
Are called to feed sheep
Even when it means the grazing will be done
On our own front lawns …
In our readings today we heard the words – “Feed my sheep Peter” … show your love – show your faith … Feed my sheep …
As a poet, Ms Weems names the harsh and sad truth for the Church – we WILL feed the sheep, so long as they are content with the pennies we offer … we will feed the sheep, so long as we are NOT inconvenienced … we will feed the sheep, so long as they are OVER THERE somewhere … we will feed the sheep, so long as we can feel good about it, and we aren’t asked to really look in the mirror and see ourselves lacking … We will feed the sheep … BUT …
Yesterday the young people of our community made a commitment to feed the sheep of Ethiopia … their fundraising was nothing short of impressive … They raised awareness in our community of ways in which we – that is you and I – can make a difference – a real difference in the world.
Yet, in the Church too often we rub our hands together uncertain of what to do … we look at the problems in the world and wonder how we could possibly make a difference.
Father Elias Chacour a Palestinian Christian priest who lives in a village not far from a city called Nazareth shares the story of a moment in his training when he was asked a telling question about his journey of faith …
Father Chacour relates the story of one of his last lectures at Seminary when his mentor sat before the class of eager young priests and said – If there is a problem somewhere this is what happens. Three people will try to do something concrete to settle the issue. Ten people will give a lecture analyzing what the three are doing. One hundred people will commend or condemn the ten for their lecture. One thousand people will argue about he problem. AND one person – only ONE – will involve himself so deeply in the true solution that he is simply too busy to listen to any of it … Now, the kindly mentor looked each of the young priests in the eyes as he asked the question – which person are YOU??
Which person are you ??
Feed my sheep ??
They are part of the same challenge … are we one of the thousands who talk, argue, commend or condemn? Or are we among the handful who are doing something concrete to bring about the true solution?
Yesterday, in our little town on the Canadian Prairie, we were privileged to witness our TEENS, the young people that we so easily dismiss and criticize – we were privileged to witness our TEENS doing something significant and meaningful to address a problem in our world … Thanks to our teens, the Hesu Junior School has almost 7000 dollars to help make a difference …
Feed My Sheep … “Feed my sheep.”
There were no conditions:
Least of all, Feed my sheep if they deserve it.
Feed my sheep if you have any leftovers.
Feed my sheep if the mood strikes …
if the economy’s OK …
if you’re not too busy …
No conditions, … just … “Feed my sheep.”
Could it be that God’s Kingdom will come when each lamb is fed?
Today, I for one am thankful and proud of the teens at MCI – the teens in this town, for showing the rest of us how to do it … for feeding the sheep …
Now, the challenge for us is simply to follow their example, rather than condemning, criticizing, or debating it … They shown us how … our job as a Church is to catch up and follow their lead …
May it be so – thanks be to God … let us pray
OFFERING, OFFERTORY AND PRAYER OF DEDICATION
HYMN #433 Day Is Done
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE /THE LORD’S PRAYER (# 959 VU)
HYMN # 438 The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended
COMMISSIONING & BENEDICTION
One: Doubts cannot hold us.
All: Fear cannot hide us.
One: Apathy cannot subdue us.
All: Death cannot defeat us.
One: Love cannot reject us.
All: Time cannot capture us.
One: Christ is for us.
All: God will eternally secure us.
SUNG RESPONSE: HYMN # 958 Halle, Halle, Halle
The worship has ended….
…the work of God’s people has just begun.
Go in peace.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
Sermon for April 15th 2007 ...
This past week at Presbytery one of our ministry personnel spoke of serving a community not far from a First Nations’ community. She said that her community prides itself on being an open, loving, and inclusive community. But then one Sunday just as worship was about to begin one of the elders of the church approached her looking distressed and concerned.
“Two native men have just come into the sanctuary,” the elder said, “should we ask them to leave ??”
The minister was shocked, then angry …
A nervous gasp passed over the Court of Presbytery in that moment as we were discussing the place of Gays and Lesbians in our Church and the ways in which we are challenged to live out the words – “All Welcome” that so often graces the front of our Churches on our signs …
Too often in the Church those words “All Welcome” hold a hidden caveat … a hidden warning … a hidden condition …
I’ve witnessed it innumerable time in my journey in the Church, where we boldly say – “all welcome” but what we live out is very different …
I remember once being in a setting in a church where we were discussing that very idea and one of the elders of the Congregation said – “oh we’re a welcoming place. We take in everyone. If some shows up, we’d make them feel welcome and be happy to see them …” As she spoke, as though on cue the door opened and very inebriated, very dirty, first nations man walked in the door of the lounge and asked what we were doing. We answered “Bible Study,” and unbidden, he sat down and joined us.
What was painful in that moment was not that he entered the room. We had the words – all welcome on the front of the church. He was welcome. But the reaction of the participants and the elder who had been speaking when he entered ran counter to those two simple words. All of them quickly grabbed their purses and possessions and tucked them safely under their arms, away from the man …
The eloquent words of welcome crashed on the harsh rocks of reality …
All Welcome are easy words to speak … they are easy to speak when we are in a place where we know and like everyone around us. They are easy words to speak when everyone around us are “the same” as us. But they are words that become a challenge to live out …
And it is that kind of context that Peter and the disciples find themselves within in our reading from the book of Acts.
The time after Easter was a yeasty time. A time of potential.
Jesus had been crucified. And now the group of men and women who had barricaded themselves away behind locked doors had suddenly found not only their voice, but their courage to go out into the markets and the temple and to speak openly and boldly about the Risen One – about the message Jesus had left them – about the transformative power God offers.
They went from the story in John where they were locked away in a darkened room – fearful and even terrified of everyone and everything … to where they stood before the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem, and BOLDLY defended not only their right to speak openly and publically, but the very content of what they had to preach.
This is a moment of high drama when Peter stands before the Council and they say – “We asked you to stop. We told you what you could say. We told you to shut up …”
Peter likely smiled and said – “we are witnesses to these things …” He wouldn’t shut up … he couldn’t shut up … he had to be true to his faith …
We are witnesses to these things …
What does it mean to be a witness to these things? And for that matter what are we, citizens of the 21st Century, some 20 Centuries removed from the events of Jerusalem, witnesses to??
How can we speak of Resurrection, if we have no idea what it was?
This week is a time and place where we, that is our Worship committee decided to mark College Sunday and highlight the work of St Andrew’s Theological College in Saskatoon. So, I spent sometime this past week looking up and reviewing information on St A’s and what it offers the United Church.
Bear in mind, I am a Queens’ grad, so St A’s is one of the unwashed others that train our ministry personnel. But I quickly realized that what makes St Andrew’s College different is its commitment to training ministry personnel and laity in the “prairie context”. The college has consciously chosen to ground itself in the very soil which so many of its graduates serve in ministry.
They want the training to not only be relevant – they want it to be current to the issues and crises that ebb and flow across the Prairies. Depopulation, economic crises, aging and dwindling congregations, increasing irrelevancy, … the list is long, and if we took time here we could no doubt add to it if we looked around and honestly assessed the situation of the modern church.
But within that – St A’s seeks to proclaim the certainty of the Hope we have in the Resurrection.
They want to serve the Church in a way that is relevant and real to the context in which we live …
As I considered this I realized that for the first time in two millennium we in the Church have
returned to the place where we began. In the New Testament Church the world was opposed to the Church – the Jewish council was only the tip of the ice berg. The Roman authorities didn’t care for the Christians either … so, to be a Christian was a risk.
Today, the world doesn’t so much oppose us. The world doesn’t really care one way or another.
Over the last few months I have noted the number of people I meet who “used to attend” the United Church. We lost some over the conflict that arose in the 80’s when the place of Gays and Lesbians was debated, but the majority of people have been lost because they don’t care any more for the WAY in which we who remain continue to live out our faith.
The reasons for their departures are legion … there have been dozens of books written about it – but the thread that runs through all of it is one simple painful truth – “they simply don’t care any more.”
The Church – you and I – have become irrelevant to them, to the world and perhaps even to each other. We are an anachronism that we are desperately trying to maintain, while every indication is – no one cares any more and we are DYING. We have failed to be witnesses to our faith, and instead have been busy preserving something that no longer speaks to the people out there. We can say – “all welcome” but if when they arrive, they are met with hostile glares – they won’t be back.
We can say – “we’re inclusive” but if when the newcomer comes they don’t feel welcome or included, we’re not living our words.
We can say we are a community, but if we spend our time dithering over money and bickering over how things are done, and stabbing each other in the back – there is NO community.
What I have found startling in my time in ministry is the staggering number of people who have walked away from the Church not because of anything they’ve heard from the pulpit, but because of how the congregations have lived, or not lived out their faith …
But all is NOT hopeless yet … The church is in a place where there is great potential. We ARE after all a Church that proclaims their certainty in the presence and power of the Resurrection.
What we need – what you and I as members of this community of faith – is courage like Peter’s to stand up for what we believe in, and to not only say – “we are witnesses to this …” but the courage and the boldness to LIVE OUT those words.
If we hang the words – All Welcome, on our front door – then we need to etch those words in our hearts as well, and those words MUST be found. We in the United Church of Canada stand in a place today where we must each chose whether we will cast our lot with the Council and silence those voices that make us uncomfortable and that tell us that the way we continue to be and do things is not acceptable, or will we cast our lots with Peter and his crew and go into the world not just saying the words – “all welcome” but living them out …
The challenge we face is to be open, not just to the “prairie context” in which we find ourselves, but to the changing context of the society around us. Church is no longer what we do here once a week – Church is so much more …
We need to open our minds, our hearts and our arms to embrace that simple fact … Then when the drunken stranger staggers in, or when the member who hasn’t darkened the door in 25 years or more comes home, they will NOT be met with hostile glares, but they will hear and experience the words – “welcome home …”
We are called to be the Church – the place called HOME - to witness to, and to live the Resurrection … and it begins with love and kindness
May it be so … thanks be to God …
Let us prayer …
“Two native men have just come into the sanctuary,” the elder said, “should we ask them to leave ??”
The minister was shocked, then angry …
A nervous gasp passed over the Court of Presbytery in that moment as we were discussing the place of Gays and Lesbians in our Church and the ways in which we are challenged to live out the words – “All Welcome” that so often graces the front of our Churches on our signs …
Too often in the Church those words “All Welcome” hold a hidden caveat … a hidden warning … a hidden condition …
I’ve witnessed it innumerable time in my journey in the Church, where we boldly say – “all welcome” but what we live out is very different …
I remember once being in a setting in a church where we were discussing that very idea and one of the elders of the Congregation said – “oh we’re a welcoming place. We take in everyone. If some shows up, we’d make them feel welcome and be happy to see them …” As she spoke, as though on cue the door opened and very inebriated, very dirty, first nations man walked in the door of the lounge and asked what we were doing. We answered “Bible Study,” and unbidden, he sat down and joined us.
What was painful in that moment was not that he entered the room. We had the words – all welcome on the front of the church. He was welcome. But the reaction of the participants and the elder who had been speaking when he entered ran counter to those two simple words. All of them quickly grabbed their purses and possessions and tucked them safely under their arms, away from the man …
The eloquent words of welcome crashed on the harsh rocks of reality …
All Welcome are easy words to speak … they are easy to speak when we are in a place where we know and like everyone around us. They are easy words to speak when everyone around us are “the same” as us. But they are words that become a challenge to live out …
And it is that kind of context that Peter and the disciples find themselves within in our reading from the book of Acts.
The time after Easter was a yeasty time. A time of potential.
Jesus had been crucified. And now the group of men and women who had barricaded themselves away behind locked doors had suddenly found not only their voice, but their courage to go out into the markets and the temple and to speak openly and boldly about the Risen One – about the message Jesus had left them – about the transformative power God offers.
They went from the story in John where they were locked away in a darkened room – fearful and even terrified of everyone and everything … to where they stood before the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem, and BOLDLY defended not only their right to speak openly and publically, but the very content of what they had to preach.
This is a moment of high drama when Peter stands before the Council and they say – “We asked you to stop. We told you what you could say. We told you to shut up …”
Peter likely smiled and said – “we are witnesses to these things …” He wouldn’t shut up … he couldn’t shut up … he had to be true to his faith …
We are witnesses to these things …
What does it mean to be a witness to these things? And for that matter what are we, citizens of the 21st Century, some 20 Centuries removed from the events of Jerusalem, witnesses to??
How can we speak of Resurrection, if we have no idea what it was?
This week is a time and place where we, that is our Worship committee decided to mark College Sunday and highlight the work of St Andrew’s Theological College in Saskatoon. So, I spent sometime this past week looking up and reviewing information on St A’s and what it offers the United Church.
Bear in mind, I am a Queens’ grad, so St A’s is one of the unwashed others that train our ministry personnel. But I quickly realized that what makes St Andrew’s College different is its commitment to training ministry personnel and laity in the “prairie context”. The college has consciously chosen to ground itself in the very soil which so many of its graduates serve in ministry.
They want the training to not only be relevant – they want it to be current to the issues and crises that ebb and flow across the Prairies. Depopulation, economic crises, aging and dwindling congregations, increasing irrelevancy, … the list is long, and if we took time here we could no doubt add to it if we looked around and honestly assessed the situation of the modern church.
But within that – St A’s seeks to proclaim the certainty of the Hope we have in the Resurrection.
They want to serve the Church in a way that is relevant and real to the context in which we live …
As I considered this I realized that for the first time in two millennium we in the Church have
returned to the place where we began. In the New Testament Church the world was opposed to the Church – the Jewish council was only the tip of the ice berg. The Roman authorities didn’t care for the Christians either … so, to be a Christian was a risk.
Today, the world doesn’t so much oppose us. The world doesn’t really care one way or another.
Over the last few months I have noted the number of people I meet who “used to attend” the United Church. We lost some over the conflict that arose in the 80’s when the place of Gays and Lesbians was debated, but the majority of people have been lost because they don’t care any more for the WAY in which we who remain continue to live out our faith.
The reasons for their departures are legion … there have been dozens of books written about it – but the thread that runs through all of it is one simple painful truth – “they simply don’t care any more.”
The Church – you and I – have become irrelevant to them, to the world and perhaps even to each other. We are an anachronism that we are desperately trying to maintain, while every indication is – no one cares any more and we are DYING. We have failed to be witnesses to our faith, and instead have been busy preserving something that no longer speaks to the people out there. We can say – “all welcome” but if when they arrive, they are met with hostile glares – they won’t be back.
We can say – “we’re inclusive” but if when the newcomer comes they don’t feel welcome or included, we’re not living our words.
We can say we are a community, but if we spend our time dithering over money and bickering over how things are done, and stabbing each other in the back – there is NO community.
What I have found startling in my time in ministry is the staggering number of people who have walked away from the Church not because of anything they’ve heard from the pulpit, but because of how the congregations have lived, or not lived out their faith …
But all is NOT hopeless yet … The church is in a place where there is great potential. We ARE after all a Church that proclaims their certainty in the presence and power of the Resurrection.
What we need – what you and I as members of this community of faith – is courage like Peter’s to stand up for what we believe in, and to not only say – “we are witnesses to this …” but the courage and the boldness to LIVE OUT those words.
If we hang the words – All Welcome, on our front door – then we need to etch those words in our hearts as well, and those words MUST be found. We in the United Church of Canada stand in a place today where we must each chose whether we will cast our lot with the Council and silence those voices that make us uncomfortable and that tell us that the way we continue to be and do things is not acceptable, or will we cast our lots with Peter and his crew and go into the world not just saying the words – “all welcome” but living them out …
The challenge we face is to be open, not just to the “prairie context” in which we find ourselves, but to the changing context of the society around us. Church is no longer what we do here once a week – Church is so much more …
We need to open our minds, our hearts and our arms to embrace that simple fact … Then when the drunken stranger staggers in, or when the member who hasn’t darkened the door in 25 years or more comes home, they will NOT be met with hostile glares, but they will hear and experience the words – “welcome home …”
We are called to be the Church – the place called HOME - to witness to, and to live the Resurrection … and it begins with love and kindness
May it be so … thanks be to God …
Let us prayer …
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Preach it Brother Boyd ...
ON Wednesday at our Meeting of Assiniboine Presbytery, The Reverend Boyd Drake (minister at Rapid City - Cadurcis Pastoral Charge) offered the following reflection as part of our morning worship service.
Boyd began quietly, almost nervously ... yet his words ended on a crescendo ... He stood before us, we of rural churches in decline, we of communities struggling just to survive ... He stood before us and spoke a truth that we not only long to hear, we long to follow ...
The road ahead for rural Churches is not easy, nor will it be brimming with easy answers. We are facing some huge questions and even larger crises ... The challenge for us is to hear the words of those like Boyd, and boldy and audaciously follow them ...
On Wednesday Boyd Drake, my friend, my collegue, and man I admire greatly spoke a truth. And today I am honoured that he is allowing me to share it all of you ... I invite you to read his words, to reflect on what they mean to you, and to the church, and then to pass them on to others. Like the epistles of Paul, reflections like this gain in importance when they are handed on and live out in community ...
Thank Boyd for letting me do this ...
“A Letter To the Angels”
Meditation preached at Assiniboine Presbytery meeting
April 11, 2007
Strathclair MB
The Reverend Boyd Drake
Text - Revelation 1:4-8
The Book of Revelation begins with John of Patmos writing letters to seven churches of Asia - Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. These churches are representative of all churches and John’s letter speaks to the church at large in that area and that era.
And so I need to speak audaciously, boldly, maybe a little presumptuously perhaps, and write a letter to seven churches in Assiniboine Presbytery. While these churches are representative of all of the churches in this presbytery, they are also particular in that they are all facing ministry vacancies, or who have been living with these vacancies for sometime now.
This letter goes to Deloraine, Hartney/Lauder, Minto, Reston/Pipestone, Shoal Lake/Decker, Oak Lake/Griswold and Rapid City/Cadurcis. It is a letter that goes to all of these churches together even though the letters in Revelation - Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea - are written to each church separately.
And what might be said?
Well, John of Patmos wrote to the Angels at each church, urging them, reminding them of their reason for being, assuring them they are not alone, that they are witnesses to the Risen Christ, that they have a responsibility to the world.
What are they witnesses to? Why do they have a responsibility? These are questions to be considered as this letter goes out to the Angels at Deloraine, Hartney/Lauder, Minto, Reston/Pipestone, Shoal Lake/Decker, Oak Lake and Rapid City/Cadurcis.
***********************
Friends:
I greet you in the name of the Risen Christ. Grace and peace to you. I remind you that the focus on Jesus is what we are all about and we should not forget that. It is easy in this day and age where we are beset on all sides by many distractions: Population decreases as people move out of our towns and off our farms; constant money shortages; buildings are getting older; the lure of the hockey rink, the casino and the shopping mall are better entertainment than church on a Sunday; where we struggle to recruit ministers and leaders; where so many others see us a irrelevant and a little quaint. It is easy to focus on the issues of organizational dysfunction; issues of financial management and stewardship; of losing hope as our kids play hockey and video games; of fighting amongst ourselves; of creating traumatic conflicts between people. It is as though we are the Thomas who needs proof in advance that his involvement and participation will be worth his time energy and money.
It is true there are many issues that need to be dealt with as we contemplate the future. It is true that some churches will close as people have moved away or there are simply not enough people to provide sufficient support. This is a faithful committed thing to do when it is necessary and we should embrace our responsibilities in this situation.
But that does not mean we become non believers, non attenders, non supporters. That does not mean we stop going to church simply because the community church closes. That does not mean we stop being Jesus followers because we might have to drive 20 or 30 kms to church.
Because friends - We believe in God. We believe in the Risen Christ. We believe in love and forgiveness. This is important to us. Too important to give up simply because the church we know is changing before our very eyes. We are called to be the transformed Thomas who falls to his knees in mystery and adoration.
It is because Jesus the Risen One is the beginning and the ending; who has been there for us; who is there for us; and who will always be there for us. Our worship and praise, the life anew we gain and celebrate this is why we must find ways to deal with the struggles before us. Do not give up. Do not try to fit old antiquated ways into new realities.
Let us contemplate churches without buildings; worship with all people as ministers; mission done in spite of/because of our own financial woes. Let us not be a fading flickering diminishing candle, but a shining beacon speaking and witnessing to the world because of the power and presence of the Risen One. AMEN
Boyd began quietly, almost nervously ... yet his words ended on a crescendo ... He stood before us, we of rural churches in decline, we of communities struggling just to survive ... He stood before us and spoke a truth that we not only long to hear, we long to follow ...
The road ahead for rural Churches is not easy, nor will it be brimming with easy answers. We are facing some huge questions and even larger crises ... The challenge for us is to hear the words of those like Boyd, and boldy and audaciously follow them ...
On Wednesday Boyd Drake, my friend, my collegue, and man I admire greatly spoke a truth. And today I am honoured that he is allowing me to share it all of you ... I invite you to read his words, to reflect on what they mean to you, and to the church, and then to pass them on to others. Like the epistles of Paul, reflections like this gain in importance when they are handed on and live out in community ...
Thank Boyd for letting me do this ...
“A Letter To the Angels”
Meditation preached at Assiniboine Presbytery meeting
April 11, 2007
Strathclair MB
The Reverend Boyd Drake
Text - Revelation 1:4-8
The Book of Revelation begins with John of Patmos writing letters to seven churches of Asia - Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. These churches are representative of all churches and John’s letter speaks to the church at large in that area and that era.
And so I need to speak audaciously, boldly, maybe a little presumptuously perhaps, and write a letter to seven churches in Assiniboine Presbytery. While these churches are representative of all of the churches in this presbytery, they are also particular in that they are all facing ministry vacancies, or who have been living with these vacancies for sometime now.
This letter goes to Deloraine, Hartney/Lauder, Minto, Reston/Pipestone, Shoal Lake/Decker, Oak Lake/Griswold and Rapid City/Cadurcis. It is a letter that goes to all of these churches together even though the letters in Revelation - Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea - are written to each church separately.
And what might be said?
Well, John of Patmos wrote to the Angels at each church, urging them, reminding them of their reason for being, assuring them they are not alone, that they are witnesses to the Risen Christ, that they have a responsibility to the world.
What are they witnesses to? Why do they have a responsibility? These are questions to be considered as this letter goes out to the Angels at Deloraine, Hartney/Lauder, Minto, Reston/Pipestone, Shoal Lake/Decker, Oak Lake and Rapid City/Cadurcis.
***********************
Friends:
I greet you in the name of the Risen Christ. Grace and peace to you. I remind you that the focus on Jesus is what we are all about and we should not forget that. It is easy in this day and age where we are beset on all sides by many distractions: Population decreases as people move out of our towns and off our farms; constant money shortages; buildings are getting older; the lure of the hockey rink, the casino and the shopping mall are better entertainment than church on a Sunday; where we struggle to recruit ministers and leaders; where so many others see us a irrelevant and a little quaint. It is easy to focus on the issues of organizational dysfunction; issues of financial management and stewardship; of losing hope as our kids play hockey and video games; of fighting amongst ourselves; of creating traumatic conflicts between people. It is as though we are the Thomas who needs proof in advance that his involvement and participation will be worth his time energy and money.
It is true there are many issues that need to be dealt with as we contemplate the future. It is true that some churches will close as people have moved away or there are simply not enough people to provide sufficient support. This is a faithful committed thing to do when it is necessary and we should embrace our responsibilities in this situation.
But that does not mean we become non believers, non attenders, non supporters. That does not mean we stop going to church simply because the community church closes. That does not mean we stop being Jesus followers because we might have to drive 20 or 30 kms to church.
Because friends - We believe in God. We believe in the Risen Christ. We believe in love and forgiveness. This is important to us. Too important to give up simply because the church we know is changing before our very eyes. We are called to be the transformed Thomas who falls to his knees in mystery and adoration.
It is because Jesus the Risen One is the beginning and the ending; who has been there for us; who is there for us; and who will always be there for us. Our worship and praise, the life anew we gain and celebrate this is why we must find ways to deal with the struggles before us. Do not give up. Do not try to fit old antiquated ways into new realities.
Let us contemplate churches without buildings; worship with all people as ministers; mission done in spite of/because of our own financial woes. Let us not be a fading flickering diminishing candle, but a shining beacon speaking and witnessing to the world because of the power and presence of the Risen One. AMEN
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Easter Sunday as a Pilgrim People ...
We gathered to worship in "The Pit" atthe local elementary school ...
They supplied the chairs, piano and the space ...
We hauled in (in Rubbermaid tubs) our hymn books,
our worship ware, and tables from elsewhere in the building.
The AOTS Mens' Club supplied their traditional breakfast ofeggs, hot cross buns, coffee and tea.
At 11 am we gathered for the second service of the morning.
It was beautiful ... the readings, the music ... every thing flowed together to celebrate the day:
Resurrections Loom !!!Thanks be to God !!
Order of Service for the 11am Service:
HYMN # 105 Dust and AshesREADING: “It was on the Friday…”
It was on the Friday
that they ended it all.
Of course
they didn't do it one by one.
They weren't brave enough.
All the stones at the one time
or no stones thrown at all.
They did it in crowds ...
in crowds where you can feel safe
and lose yourself
and shout things
you would never shout on your own,
and do things
you would never do
if you felt the camera was watching you.
It was a crowd in the church that did it,
and a crowd in the civil service that did it,
and a crowd in the street that did it,
and a crowd on the hill that did it.
And he said nothing ...
He took the insults,
the bruises,
the spit on his face,
the thongs on his back,
the curses in his ears.
He took the sight of his friends turning away,
running away.
And he said nothing ...
He let them do their worst,
until their worst was done,
It was on Friday they ended it all ...
and would have finished themselves
had he not cried,"Father, forgive them ..."
CHOIR ANTHEM: Face the Cross
READING: “It was on the Sunday”
It was on the Sunday
that he pulled the corn ...
They arrived with flowers,
shuffling through the dawn
as the dawn snuffed out
the last candles of night.
Their faces betrayed their belief
that yesterday would always be better
than tomorrow
despite what he said.
He would not say it again,
so why bother to believe him on that score?
And the flowers,
they too were silent witnesses to disbelief.
Like the grass,
they were cut to be dried to death,
cut off from their roots,
their bulb, their source of life.
He was the flower they cherished,
the flower now perished
whose fate the lilies of the field,
now tight in handwould re-enact.
So when they passed the crouched figure
at the edge of the road,
they thought little of him,
scarcely seeing his form through their tears.
Had they looked even a little,
they would have seen a man
letting grain fall through his fingers,
dropping to the earth
to die and yet to rise again.
It was on the Sunday
that he pulled the corn ...
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 24: 1 – 12
PRAYER:
One: Jesus Christ, we greet you!
Your hands still have holes in them,
your feet are wet from the dew;
and with the memory of our names
undimmed by three days of death
you meet us,
risen from the grave.
All: We fail to understand how;
we puzzle at the reason why.
One: But you have come:
not to answer our questions,
but to show us your face.
All: You are alive
and the world can rejoice again.
Hallelujah !!
One: This is the Good News:
The grave is empty,
Christ is Risen.
All: Hallelujah !!
One: This is the Good News:
The light shines in the darkness
and the darkness can never put it out.
All: Hallelujah !!
One: This is the Good News:
Once we were no people,
now we are God’s people.
All: Hallelujah !!
One: Christ is our peace,
The indestructible peace
we now share with each other
All: and with the world !! Amen.
One: The Church is Easter.
Out of Death:
Life.
All: Out of Darkness:
A lush green world.
Flowers in the ice,
Sunrays in the storm,
Mustard seeds galore.
One: Our souls enter a spiritual springtime,
All: our bodies given over to leaping and dancing,
our very beings saturated with hosannas.
One: Our shouting crashes in upon this world:
The Lord Lives.
All: We live !!
One: Resurrection resounds throughout our community !!
All: Christ is Risen !!! Hallelujah !!
HYMN # 155 Jesus Christ is Risen Today
PRAYER:
One: Lord God,
early in the morning,
when the world was young,
you made life in all its beauty and terror;
you gave birth to all that we know.
Hallowed be your name,
All: Hallowed be your name.
One: Early in the morning,
when the world least expected it,
a newborn child crying in a cradle
announced that you had come among us,
that you were one of us.
Hallowed be your name,
All: Hallowed be your name.
One: Early in the morning,
surrounded by respectable liars,
religious leaders,
anxious statesmen
and silent friends,
you accepted the penalty for doing good,
for being God:
you shouldered and suffered the cross.
Hallowed be your name,
All: Hallowed be your name.
One: Early in the morning,
a voice in a guarded graveyard
and footsteps in the dew
proved that you had risen,
that you had come back
to those and for those
who had forgotten, denied and destroyed you.
Hallowed by your name,
All: Hallowed be your name.
One: This morning,
in the multi-colored company
of your Church on earth and in heaven,
we celebrate your creation, your life,
your death and resurrection,
your interest in us;
so we pray,
All: Lord, bring new life,
where we are worn and tired;
new love,
where we have turned hard-hearted;
forgiveness,
where we feel hurt
and where we have wounded;
and the joy and freedom
of your Holy Spirit,
where we are prisoners of ourselves.
(silence)
One: To all and to each,
on his community and on his friends,
where regret is real,
Jesus pronounces his pardon
and grants us the right to begin again.
Thanks be to God !
All: Amen.
HYMN # insert Deep in Our Hearts
SCRIPTURE READING:
Isaiah 65: 17 – 25 & Acts 10: 34 – 43
HYMN # 179 Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Give Thanks
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND MINUTE FOR MISSION
THE STORY STOOL
HYMN # insert Every morning is Easter Morning
PRAYER:
One: We are not alone.
All: We live in God’s world.
We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus,
the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others
by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with is.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.
One: In life, in death, in life beyond death,
All: Jesus Christ is Lord.
One: Over powers and principalities,
over all who determine, control,
govern or finance the affairs of humankind,
All: Jesus Christ is Lord.
One: Of the poor, of the broken,
of the sinned against and the sinner,
All: Jesus Christ is Lord.
One: Above the Church,
beyond our most excellent theologies
and in the quiet corners of our hearts,
All: Jesus Christ is Lord.
One: Thanks be to God.
All: Amen.
CHOIR ANTHEM: Who is He?
REFLECTION:
This weekend, the Canadian media has been occupied by the events surrounding the 90th Anniversary of the battle known to us now as Vimy. One of the happenings that caught my attention in the midst of the hub-bub has been the reburial of the remains of a soldier who for the bulk of the past 90 years has been listed among the 11 000 who were simply missing in action.
This weekend with military pomp and circumstance, the remains of Private Hebert Peterson who died in battle 90 years ago … What caught my attention was the use of the word closure repeatedly by the media. Over and over the reporters spoke of this event bringing “closure” for the family of Herbert Peterson. I had to wonder what kind of “closure” was possible for a family who now knew of Pte. Peterson only as a name on the family tree – his parents and siblings and even those nieces and nephews who MAY have known him being long gone … Yet, the use of the term “closure” has floated around in the reporting of this story …
In the story of Pte. Peterson finally being laid to rest under his OWN name, we find a microcosm of early Christianity in its first stirrings … 90 years after the fact, we as citizens of Canada are invited to honour a fallen hero – we are asked to assume much, we are given a sparse story and told to believe certain things, and we are told with no proof whatsoever that Pte Peterson died a hero’s death …
In Christianity we hear the words of Paul who was writing a decade or more after Jesus death about Resurrection … but we can not be certain what he meant by Resurrection …
In Christianity, we hear the words of the Gospels who speak to us of Resurrection from the perspective of several decades removed from Jesus’ own death … but we can not be certain what they meant by Resurrection …
In Christianity, we speak repeatedly of Resurrection in the Church and as an Easter people … but we can not be certain of what we even mean by Resurrection …
We are an Easter People. We are a people defined by the Resurrection. But now 1900 centuries removed from that happening in Jerusalem, we are asked to assume much … we are given a sparse story and told to believe certain things and we have no proof AT ALL that Jesus died a hero’s death, but rather we have every indication that he died the horrible, pathetic death of one who had run amuck of the authorities of his day and died a victim’s death …
There is nothing exemplary nor heroic in how Jesus died. Yet we are to believe that he died as God’s chosen hero … and today on Easter Morning we tell the phenomenal story of his Resurrection – and as a Church we can’t even agree what the Resurrection was …
So, as an Easter People who are defined by the Resurrection – what do we do ???
Shall we stifle the voices that say – “He is Risen?” and remain silent?
Or shall we courageously wrestle with the very idea of Resurrection, and struggle to understand what Resurrection means to us in the modern era?
(I know what I want to do – and since I’m the preacher … let’s have a bit of a background lesson about the understanding of Resurrection in Jesus’ world …)
In Jesus’ world there was only one figure in the Jewish faith who never died. Elijah, the one our Jewish sisters and brothers continue to wait for at Passover, had not died, but rather had been taken up bodily into heaven by a chariot sent by God. Elijah was the one who’s coming at Passover would herald the arrival of the Messiah – God’s chosen one.
The very idea of a resurrection of the dead was a NEW idea … that’s a hard concept to wrap our heads around. We have been part of a culture that for centuries has believed whole-heartedly in an after life, and in an apocalyptic moment of history when the dead will be raised and the good ushered into a heavenly paradise, and the lacking punished for eternity.
It was actually not that long ago that the ideas of Hell and Purgatory (a sort of holding area for souls awaiting resurrection) were wide spread in our society – and some of us still hold to those ideas to some degree … Yet, the very idea of everyone living on beyond this life is an idea that scholars can trace back in human history.
In Jesus’ world, only the very important and prominent would live on beyond this life … the idea that EVERYONE would have a share in a paradise beyond this life was startling and new … So, when the words – “today you WILL be with me in paradise” are posited on Jesus’ lips and directed to a criminal of ALL people, it caught people’s attention. It was radical and totally off the wall …
In time when Paul spoke of Jesus’ resurrection, it would seem that he was speaking in broad terms – of the resurrection of ALL, not just some. Death would not swallow up everyone – but would be conquered by God’s gift of resurrection for ALL people … EVERYONE would be resurrected – everyone.
It was a startling concept – it went totally counter to the physical evidence of HOW Jesus died … yet, from our Scriptural evidence, it is the notion that the disciples of Jesus held in those first moments of time following his death …
Jesus died a loser … his death was pointless and accomplished nothing … he died in a garbage dump amongst criminals outside the walls of the city … there could be no lower and more reviled form of death than his … he died a criminal himself …
BUT – God wasn’t finished with him yet … God couldn’t be finished with him yet … the teachings and the ministry and the mission of Jesus couldn’t die shattered on the hill of Golgotha … God had more in store …
And the resurrection began …
This week I read a commentary that offers the notion (not a new one) that there was NO body following Jesus’ crucifixion, but rather like the other thousands of victims of crucifixion, Jesus ended up in the piles of carrion that were left on the back side of Golgotha for the elements, scavengers and time to deal with … It’s not a comfortable thought for modern Christians – and is provocative in the fullest sense of that word.
But it is not far off the realm of possibility, and if we are to fully comprehend and experience the Resurrection as members of a post-modern society, we have to consider the possibility that the Easter Story was simply a case of Jesus dying a criminal death, his body being unceremoniously dumped over the back of Golgotha, and his followers left bewildered, frightened and terrified …
But then … like our modern hymn I was there to hear your borning cry so boldly proclaims – “when the evening gently closes in, and you shut your weary eyes, I’ll be there as I have always been, with just one more surprise …”
Just when all seemed hopeless and lost, when his life ended in humiliation, shame, embarrassment and when all seemed utterly desolate … the message of Jesus stirred and reminded his followers and his disciples that God was NOT finished … There is and remains one more surprise …
The message of Jesus was and remains so radical that it was never a case of believing BECAUSE Jesus was resurrected, but it was a case of believing he WAS resurrected BECAUSE of the spirit-filled life that he had guided his followers to … it was a case of believing he was resurrected because of the spirit-filled life that he had lead his followers to … it was a case of believing that he was resurrected because of the spirit-filled life that God was offering all of us if we dared to believe …
The Resurrection as we know it may well be layer upon layer of embellishment and explanations rather than factual history … But the resurrection as Jesus’ followers understood and lived it, comes from the moment of utter failure and loss, and finds them stepping into the future knowing that God never lets the story simply end in death …
The telling words for us today are those uttered by Jesus from the cross – “today you WILL be with me in paradise …” we can not underscore the radical idea of a criminal being offered the resurrection of eternity … and this very utterance is central to the radical teachings of this rabbi from Nazareth who showed us a bold new way of life, death and eternity …
In life, in death … in life beyond death – God is with us – we are not alone … thanks be to God …
The resurrection is NOT what we may expect … and it is NOT what we may think it to be … but the resurrection WILL happen … again and again and again …
If we dare – we will see it every day …
May it be so … thanks be to God …
OFFERING, OFFERTORY AND PRAYER OF DEDICATION
HYMN # 161 Welcome, Happy Morning
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 24: 13 – 35
PRAYER:
One: Jesus Christ, you meet us;
your hands still holed,
but your breath warm,
and your conversation engaging.
Death has not changed your accent
or diminished your love.
And though the world
should still show signs of its imperfection,
the good news is that you have destined it
and all its people to be made whole.
All: So, as on this Easter Day
we are gathered in your house
and cheered by your gospel,
join us,
as you joined your first disciples
and make our worship your Emmaus road.
Amen.
HYMN # 245 Praise the Lord with the Sound of Trumpet
COMMISSIONING & BENEDICTION:
One: Today and tomorrow,
All: Today and tomorrow,
One: Lo, I am with you always,
All: when we try to do your will,
One: I am with you always,
All: when we go where we do not know,
One: I am with you always,
All: when we meet one we do not recognize,
One: I am with you always,
All: where faith ends and doubt begins,
One: I am with you always.
All: and should we forget you…
One: I am with you always.
All: Today and tomorrow,
Today and tomorrow,
You are with us always
to the end of the world.
Amen.
HYMN # 173 (vs 1,2) Thine Is the Glory
The worship has ended….
…the work of God’s people has just begun.
Go in peace.
Order of Service for the 9am Easter Service:
READING: “It Was on the Friday…”
It was on the Friday
that they ended it all.
Of course
they didn't do it one by one.
They weren't brave enough.
All the stones at the one time
or no stones thrown at all.
They did it in crowds ...
in crowds where you can feel safe
and lose yourself
and shout things
you would never shout on your own,
and do things
you would never do
if you felt the camera was watching you.
It was a crowd in the church that did it,
and a crowd in the civil service that did it,
and a crowd in the street that did it,
and a crowd on the hill that did it.
And he said nothing ...
He took the insults,
the bruises,
the spit on his face,
the thongs on his back,
the curses in his ears.
He took the sight of his friends turning away,
running away.
And he said nothing ...
He let them do their worst,
until their worst was done,
It was on Friday they ended it all ...
and would have finished themselves
had he not cried,"Father, forgive them ..."
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 24: 1 – 12
HYMN # 155 (vs 1,2,4) Jesus Christ is Risen Today
CALL TO WORSHIP
One: This is the Good News:
The grave is empty,
Christ is Risen.
All: Hallelujah !!
One: This is the Good News:
The light shines in the darkness
and the darkness can never put it out.
All: Hallelujah !!
One: This is the Good News:
Once we were no people,
now we are God’s people.
All: Hallelujah !!
One: Christ is our peace,
The indestructible peace
we now share with each other
All: and with the world !! Amen.
One: The Church is Easter.
Out of Death:
Life.
All: Out of Darkness:
A lush green world.
Flowers in the ice,
Sunrays in the storm,
Mustard seeds galore.
One: Our souls enter a spiritual springtime,
All: our bodies given over to leaping and dancing,
our very beings saturated with hosannas.
One: Our shouting crashes in upon this world:
The Lord Lives.
All: We live !!
One: Resurrection resounds throughout our community !!
All: Christ is Risen !!! Hallelujah !!
HYMN # 179 Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Give Thanks
READING: “It Was on the Sunday”
It was on the Sunday
that he pulled the corn ...
They arrived with flowers,
shuffling through the dawn
as the dawn snuffed out
the last candles of night.
Their faces betrayed their belief
that yesterday would always be better
than tomorrow
despite what he said.
He would not say it again,
so why bother to beleive him on that score?
And the flowers,
they too were silent witnesses to disbelief.
Like the grass,
they were cut to be dried to death,
cut off from their roots,
their bulb, their source of life.
He was the flower they cherished,
the flower now perished
whose fate the lilies of the field,
now tight in hand
would re-enact.
So when they passed the crouched figure
at the edge of the road,
they thought little of him,
scarcely seeing his form through their tears.
Had they looked even a little,
they would have seen a man
letting grain fall through his fingers,
dropping to the earth
to die and yet to rise again.
It was on the Sunday
that he pulled the corn ...
PRAYER:
One: Jesus Christ, we greet you!
Your hands still have holes in them,
your feet are wet from the dew;
and with the memory of our names
undimmed by three days of death
you meet us,
risen from the grave.
All: We fail to understand how;
we puzzle at the reason why.
One: But you have come:
not to answer our questions,
but to show us your face.
All: You are alive
and the world can rejoice again.
Hallelujah !!
Amen.
HYMN # 175 This Is the Day That God Has Made
PRAYER:
One: Today and tomorrow,
All: Today and tomorrow,
One: Lo, I am with you always,
All: when we try to do your will,
One: I am with you always,
All: when we go where we do not know,
One: I am with you always,
All: when we meet one we do not recognize,
One: I am with you always,
All: where faith ends and doubt begins,
One: I am with you always.
All: and should we forget you…
One: I am with you always.
All: Today and tomorrow,
Today and tomorrow,
You are with us always
to the end of the world.
Amen.
It was on the Friday
that they ended it all.
Of course
they didn't do it one by one.
They weren't brave enough.
All the stones at the one time
or no stones thrown at all.
They did it in crowds ...
in crowds where you can feel safe
and lose yourself
and shout things
you would never shout on your own,
and do things
you would never do
if you felt the camera was watching you.
It was a crowd in the church that did it,
and a crowd in the civil service that did it,
and a crowd in the street that did it,
and a crowd on the hill that did it.
And he said nothing ...
He took the insults,
the bruises,
the spit on his face,
the thongs on his back,
the curses in his ears.
He took the sight of his friends turning away,
running away.
And he said nothing ...
He let them do their worst,
until their worst was done,
It was on Friday they ended it all ...
and would have finished themselves
had he not cried,"Father, forgive them ..."
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 24: 1 – 12
HYMN # 155 (vs 1,2,4) Jesus Christ is Risen Today
CALL TO WORSHIP
One: This is the Good News:
The grave is empty,
Christ is Risen.
All: Hallelujah !!
One: This is the Good News:
The light shines in the darkness
and the darkness can never put it out.
All: Hallelujah !!
One: This is the Good News:
Once we were no people,
now we are God’s people.
All: Hallelujah !!
One: Christ is our peace,
The indestructible peace
we now share with each other
All: and with the world !! Amen.
One: The Church is Easter.
Out of Death:
Life.
All: Out of Darkness:
A lush green world.
Flowers in the ice,
Sunrays in the storm,
Mustard seeds galore.
One: Our souls enter a spiritual springtime,
All: our bodies given over to leaping and dancing,
our very beings saturated with hosannas.
One: Our shouting crashes in upon this world:
The Lord Lives.
All: We live !!
One: Resurrection resounds throughout our community !!
All: Christ is Risen !!! Hallelujah !!
HYMN # 179 Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Give Thanks
READING: “It Was on the Sunday”
It was on the Sunday
that he pulled the corn ...
They arrived with flowers,
shuffling through the dawn
as the dawn snuffed out
the last candles of night.
Their faces betrayed their belief
that yesterday would always be better
than tomorrow
despite what he said.
He would not say it again,
so why bother to beleive him on that score?
And the flowers,
they too were silent witnesses to disbelief.
Like the grass,
they were cut to be dried to death,
cut off from their roots,
their bulb, their source of life.
He was the flower they cherished,
the flower now perished
whose fate the lilies of the field,
now tight in hand
would re-enact.
So when they passed the crouched figure
at the edge of the road,
they thought little of him,
scarcely seeing his form through their tears.
Had they looked even a little,
they would have seen a man
letting grain fall through his fingers,
dropping to the earth
to die and yet to rise again.
It was on the Sunday
that he pulled the corn ...
PRAYER:
One: Jesus Christ, we greet you!
Your hands still have holes in them,
your feet are wet from the dew;
and with the memory of our names
undimmed by three days of death
you meet us,
risen from the grave.
All: We fail to understand how;
we puzzle at the reason why.
One: But you have come:
not to answer our questions,
but to show us your face.
All: You are alive
and the world can rejoice again.
Hallelujah !!
Amen.
HYMN # 175 This Is the Day That God Has Made
PRAYER:
One: Today and tomorrow,
All: Today and tomorrow,
One: Lo, I am with you always,
All: when we try to do your will,
One: I am with you always,
All: when we go where we do not know,
One: I am with you always,
All: when we meet one we do not recognize,
One: I am with you always,
All: where faith ends and doubt begins,
One: I am with you always.
All: and should we forget you…
One: I am with you always.
All: Today and tomorrow,
Today and tomorrow,
You are with us always
to the end of the world.
Amen.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Order of Service for Good Friday:
SCRIPTURE READINGS:
Isaiah 52: 13 – 53: 12 & John 13: 33 – 38
CALL TO WORSHIP
One: Blessed be the name of the Lord our God,
All: who redeems us from sin and death.
One: For us, and for the salvation of all,
Christ became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
All: Blessed be the name of the Lord our God!
HYMN # 494 Those Hearts That We Have Treasured
PRAYER:
Good Friday God:
Look graciously, we pray, on us your people
for whom your Beloved Jesus, was willing to be betrayed,
to be laid open to the powers of this world,
to suffer death on a cross.
Grant us your presence on this day of his passion,
that we might be with him, through death to resurrection.
We pray in the name of our crucified Savior. Amen
SCRIPTURE READING: John 18: 1 – 14
CHOIR ANTHEM: All in the April Evening
SCRIPTURE READING: John 18: 15 – 27
HYMN # 132 Bitter Was the Night
SCRIPTURE READING: John 18: 28 – 19: 16a
READING: “It Was on the Friday”
It was on the Friday
that they ended it all.
Of course
they didn't do it one by one.
They weren't brave enough.
All the stones at the one time
or no stones thrown at all.
They did it in crowds ...
in crowds where you can feel safe
and lose yourself
and shout things
you would never shout on your own,
and do things
you would never do
if you felt the camera was watching you.
It was a crowd in the church that did it,
and a crowd in the civil service that did it,
and a crowd in the street that did it,
and a crowd on the hill that did it.
And he said nothing ...
He took the insults,
the bruises,
the spit on his face,
the thongs on his back,
the curses in his ears.
He took the sight of his friends turning away,
running away.
And he said nothing ...
He let them do their worst,
until their worst was done,
as on Friday they ended it all ...
and would have finished themselves
had he not cried,
"Father, forgive them ..."
And there began the revolution ...
SCRIPTURE READING: John 19: 16 – 24
READING: “Savior of the World”
Savior of the world,
what have you done to deserve this?
And what have we done to deserve YOU?
Strung up between criminals,
cursed and spat upon,
you wait for death,
and look for us,
for us, whose sin has crucified you.
To the mystery of undeserving suffering,
you bring the deeper mystery of unmerited love.
Forgive us for not knowing what we have done;
open our eyes to what we are doing now,
as, though wood and nails,
you disempower our depravity
and transform us by your Grace. Amen.
HYMN # 152 There is a Green Hill Far Away
SCRIPTURE READING:
John 19: 25 – 30 & Psalm 22 (Part One) (VU pg 744)
CHOIR ANTHEM: Were We There
(Quartet: Lorrie Laming, Marion McNabb, Barry McNabb, Sam Stewart)
LITURGY: Seven Words From the Cross
All: Father, forgive them.
They do not know
what they are doing.
(pause)
One: Before you die, Jesus Christ,
and the world goes into deep darkness, take from our lives,
from our souls,
from our consciences
all that has offended you, all that has hurt others,
and the intransigence which has made us numb to the plight
of those whom we could help or heal.
Lamb of God,
All: you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
One: Lamb of God,
All: you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
One: Lamb of God,
All: you take away the sin of the world, grant us your peace.
One: On this day, at this time, irrespective of our faith or lack of it,
we accept deeply in our hearts the only words that can set us free:
your sins are forgiven,
your sins are forgiven. Amen.
All: Today you will be with me in paradise.
(pause)
One: Lord Jesus, remember us when you come into your kingdom.
Remember us,
not for our impressive accomplishments,
not for the things which we hope will appear in our obituaries.
Remember us,
not for the virtues we occasionally display
or for any credit we think we have in our moral account.
Remember us,
as one of the criminal community who hung at your side,
and if life will not let us be in paradise with you today,
keep a place for us tomorrow. Amen.
All: Mother, there is your son …
(pause)
One: For our families,
where they are open, loving, supportive,
that their joy might be kept safe,
Lord, hear us,
All: Lord, graciously hear us.
One: For our families,
where they are tense, troubled, fragmented,
seething with suspicion, that they may find a way through pain,
not a path away from it.
Lord, hear us,
All: Lord, graciously hear us.
One: For our churches,
where they risk welcoming the stranger,
where, in language, hospitality, evangelism and service,
they employ the imagination rather than the rule book,
that they might be encouraged and surprised by joy,
Lord, hear us.
All: Lord, graciously hear us.
One: For our churches,
where they have become introverted, suspicious of the stranger, obsessed with dead rather than living stones,
suffocated by tradition,
that they might be redeemed from the pawnshop of past glory
and renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit,
Lord, hear us.
All: Lord, graciously hear us.
One: For ourselves,
In this place of worship,
surrounded by people whose journey we have not traveled,
whose depth of faith we do not know,
whose potentials we cannot imagine,
that we might somehow know we belong to each other,
Lord, hear us.
All: Lord, graciously hear us.
One: And before you leave the cross and we vacate this building,
if there is one of your family for whom we should care more fondly, direct our gaze to them, as you turned Mary towards John. Amen.
All: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
(pause)
One: Lord Jesus,
by your cry of desperate honesty,
rid us of superficial faith which is afraid of the dark.
Not so that we might be justified pessimists,
but so that we might discover profound joy,
give us, when we need it, the courage to doubt,
to rage,
to question,
to rail against heaven until we know we are heard.
We do not ask for easy answers to hard times;
there are many who can offer these.
We ask for a sense of your solidarity,
that will be enough to let us know that we do not walk or cry alone; that will enable us to go through the dark
and find light again in the morning. Amen.
All: I am thirsty.
(pause)
One: You have made us for yourself.
We know it, even if we cannot name it.
We have had these bodies and these minds
long enough to learn to live with our limitations.
Yet despite this,
something is us longs, yearns, thirsts
for something better,
something greater which we know is there.
Beautiful music ends
and we wish it could continue.
We embrace,
then refrain from embracing
and wish that we could be held forever.
We think deeply or feel deeply
and wish that this sense
of being caught up in living
would not be interrupted
by the mundane things of life.
We sense the disappointment in dashed hopes
that deserve to be fulfilled,
in missed opportunities
which should have led to joy not frustration,
in people whose potential
has been buried or denied and deserves to flourish.
So much of life demands a resolution.
So thank you for this incompleteness,
thank you for this yearning,
thank you for this thirst.
Thank you for giving us enough of you to want more,
and so to sense the fullness of eternity
within the limits of time. Amen.
All: It is finished.
(pause)
One: Now, Lord Jesus,
you can let go of us.
You have convinced us of our sin
and you have forgiven it.
You have convinced us of your way
and have engaged us on it.
You have shown us a foretaste of heaven
and have made us members of its commonwealth.
You can let go of us now.
Having overcome the sin of the world,
death will be a small obstacle.
Just as you foretold
that you would be handed over to be crucified
and this has come true;
also as you foretold,
on the third day, you will rise again.
And we will be your witnesses. Amen.
All: Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.
(pause)
One: Go, silent friend,
your life has found its ending.
To dust returns your weary mortal frame.
God, who before birth,
called you into being,
now calls you back, his accent still the same.
Lord Jesus, we let you go.
You cannot cling to life forever,
nor can we cling to a dying frame,
nor do we begrudge you
that peace which passes understanding
which you have promised us.
So go to heaven,
where you will welcome those who die in your faith,
whose death, with your death, we remember.
Tell them that we love them,
that we miss them,
that they are not forgotten.
And cheered by the prospect of a day
when there will be no more death or parting,
and all shall be well and all shall be one,
may they who have died before us be among the first
to welcome us to heaven where with you enthroned in glory,
and in the company of the blessed virgin Mary
and all the saints,
we will share the everlasting feast of your family.
‘Til then, keep us in faith,
fill us with hope,
deepen us through love,
to the glory of your holy name. Amen.
HYMN # 436 (vs 1,2,3,4) Abide With Me
READING: “They Went Out and Followed…”
They went out and followed him,
those who had sat with him at the table.
He led them to a garden
where he prayed while they slept,
prayed while they slept,
prayed while they slept.
He was kissed,
and because he was kissed he was arrested,
and when he was arrested, his freinds fled,
some to go into hiding,
one to stand beside a bonfire
and say I never knew him,
I never knew him,
I never knew him ... until a cock crowed.
He was brought before the religious authorities
and accused of the sin of blasphemy
and of thretening insurrection.
Having no power to deal with him,
they handed him over to the state governor,
who listened to the accustations,
then asked the accused:
what have you to say?
what have you to say?
what have you to say?
... to which the response was silence ... utter silence ...
He had said it all.
He was not found to be guilty of any criminal charges,
but because he was an embarassment it was decided
that his own people should determine his fate.
This they did by shouting,
crucify him!!
crucify him !!!
crucifiy him !!!!
He was cursed and spat on,
whipped and humiliated,
and on his shoulders a gift was placed,
whcih he accepted with grace.
Under the weight of this gift,
he stumbled and fell
stumbled and fell,
stumbled and fell ...
all the way to Calvary.
On top of a garbage dump,
he was nailed to a cross of wood,
and left to die,
while soldiers gambled,
critics joked,
religous leaders smiled with satisfaction
and his mother watched and waited,
watched and waited,
watched and waited ...
until in the end she saw a sing of the beginning ...
PRAYER:
One: So there it is,
the ugly shape of beautiful wood,
rough hewn by human hands.
All: Lord, where are you now?
One: And there it is,
a tight-shut tomb,
a borrowed grave,
sealed with stone and silence.
All: Lord, where are you now?
One: And there it is,
your broken body,
shrouded in linen,
clothed in darkness.
All: Lord, where are you now?
One: And somewhere stand your people,
crying though tired of crying,
their eyes sore and bloodshot.
They will not sleep tonight.
All: Lord, where are you now?
One: And out in the streets,
the children have stopped their playing,
the sound of music has gone sour,
even the unlikely people fidget and wonder.
All: Lord, where are you now?
One: And here are we,
saying “If only,”
murmuring, “Surely not,”
counting the cost for once of our carelessness
and our lovelessness and our sin.
All: Lord, where are you now?
One: Trying so vainly to gain all,
we’ve bartered you away in the transaction.
We have lost the one who found us.
With the Peters and Marys of all time, we wait,
for only you can tell whether we are worth rising for.
All: Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING: John 19: 31 – 42
HYMN # 182 Stay with Us through the Night
READING: “It was a Saturday…”
It was on a Saturday
that he was not there.
Those who don't like corpses
can't stay away from graveyards,
unless there's some prohibition to stop them
revisiting the dead end
of their hopes and their dreams.
It's as if they think
that should the voice speak again,
it will speak there
or a sunbeam will dance
or a floor will shoot
and give a sign of misinterpreted life.
But close the cemetery,
or confine, through custom or constraint,
the wailing ones to the house
and it looms larger ...
the loss,
the lostness,
the losers ...
Men shiver in an upstairs room,
warm though the day is.
Women weep in an uncharmed circle.
Memory is forced on memory.
The mind's eye tries to trace
the profile, the face,
the smile,
the gentle twitching of the nose ...
and it fails ...
And panic sets in,
because it seems he can't be remembered ...
Was he ever known???
It was on a Saturday
that he was not there ...
HYMN # 182 Stay with Us through the Night
COMMENDATION:
The shadows shift and fly ...
the ... whole ... long ... day ...
the air trembles,
thick with silence,
until finally,
the footsteps are heard,
and the noise
of the voice of God
is upon us ...
The Holy One
is not afraid
to walk
on unholy ground.
The Holy Work is done,
and the world awaits
the dawn of life ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the darkness, we await the dawn…
Isaiah 52: 13 – 53: 12 & John 13: 33 – 38
CALL TO WORSHIP
One: Blessed be the name of the Lord our God,
All: who redeems us from sin and death.
One: For us, and for the salvation of all,
Christ became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
All: Blessed be the name of the Lord our God!
HYMN # 494 Those Hearts That We Have Treasured
PRAYER:
Good Friday God:
Look graciously, we pray, on us your people
for whom your Beloved Jesus, was willing to be betrayed,
to be laid open to the powers of this world,
to suffer death on a cross.
Grant us your presence on this day of his passion,
that we might be with him, through death to resurrection.
We pray in the name of our crucified Savior. Amen
SCRIPTURE READING: John 18: 1 – 14
CHOIR ANTHEM: All in the April Evening
SCRIPTURE READING: John 18: 15 – 27
HYMN # 132 Bitter Was the Night
SCRIPTURE READING: John 18: 28 – 19: 16a
READING: “It Was on the Friday”
It was on the Friday
that they ended it all.
Of course
they didn't do it one by one.
They weren't brave enough.
All the stones at the one time
or no stones thrown at all.
They did it in crowds ...
in crowds where you can feel safe
and lose yourself
and shout things
you would never shout on your own,
and do things
you would never do
if you felt the camera was watching you.
It was a crowd in the church that did it,
and a crowd in the civil service that did it,
and a crowd in the street that did it,
and a crowd on the hill that did it.
And he said nothing ...
He took the insults,
the bruises,
the spit on his face,
the thongs on his back,
the curses in his ears.
He took the sight of his friends turning away,
running away.
And he said nothing ...
He let them do their worst,
until their worst was done,
as on Friday they ended it all ...
and would have finished themselves
had he not cried,
"Father, forgive them ..."
And there began the revolution ...
SCRIPTURE READING: John 19: 16 – 24
READING: “Savior of the World”
Savior of the world,
what have you done to deserve this?
And what have we done to deserve YOU?
Strung up between criminals,
cursed and spat upon,
you wait for death,
and look for us,
for us, whose sin has crucified you.
To the mystery of undeserving suffering,
you bring the deeper mystery of unmerited love.
Forgive us for not knowing what we have done;
open our eyes to what we are doing now,
as, though wood and nails,
you disempower our depravity
and transform us by your Grace. Amen.
HYMN # 152 There is a Green Hill Far Away
SCRIPTURE READING:
John 19: 25 – 30 & Psalm 22 (Part One) (VU pg 744)
CHOIR ANTHEM: Were We There
(Quartet: Lorrie Laming, Marion McNabb, Barry McNabb, Sam Stewart)
LITURGY: Seven Words From the Cross
All: Father, forgive them.
They do not know
what they are doing.
(pause)
One: Before you die, Jesus Christ,
and the world goes into deep darkness, take from our lives,
from our souls,
from our consciences
all that has offended you, all that has hurt others,
and the intransigence which has made us numb to the plight
of those whom we could help or heal.
Lamb of God,
All: you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
One: Lamb of God,
All: you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
One: Lamb of God,
All: you take away the sin of the world, grant us your peace.
One: On this day, at this time, irrespective of our faith or lack of it,
we accept deeply in our hearts the only words that can set us free:
your sins are forgiven,
your sins are forgiven. Amen.
All: Today you will be with me in paradise.
(pause)
One: Lord Jesus, remember us when you come into your kingdom.
Remember us,
not for our impressive accomplishments,
not for the things which we hope will appear in our obituaries.
Remember us,
not for the virtues we occasionally display
or for any credit we think we have in our moral account.
Remember us,
as one of the criminal community who hung at your side,
and if life will not let us be in paradise with you today,
keep a place for us tomorrow. Amen.
All: Mother, there is your son …
(pause)
One: For our families,
where they are open, loving, supportive,
that their joy might be kept safe,
Lord, hear us,
All: Lord, graciously hear us.
One: For our families,
where they are tense, troubled, fragmented,
seething with suspicion, that they may find a way through pain,
not a path away from it.
Lord, hear us,
All: Lord, graciously hear us.
One: For our churches,
where they risk welcoming the stranger,
where, in language, hospitality, evangelism and service,
they employ the imagination rather than the rule book,
that they might be encouraged and surprised by joy,
Lord, hear us.
All: Lord, graciously hear us.
One: For our churches,
where they have become introverted, suspicious of the stranger, obsessed with dead rather than living stones,
suffocated by tradition,
that they might be redeemed from the pawnshop of past glory
and renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit,
Lord, hear us.
All: Lord, graciously hear us.
One: For ourselves,
In this place of worship,
surrounded by people whose journey we have not traveled,
whose depth of faith we do not know,
whose potentials we cannot imagine,
that we might somehow know we belong to each other,
Lord, hear us.
All: Lord, graciously hear us.
One: And before you leave the cross and we vacate this building,
if there is one of your family for whom we should care more fondly, direct our gaze to them, as you turned Mary towards John. Amen.
All: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
(pause)
One: Lord Jesus,
by your cry of desperate honesty,
rid us of superficial faith which is afraid of the dark.
Not so that we might be justified pessimists,
but so that we might discover profound joy,
give us, when we need it, the courage to doubt,
to rage,
to question,
to rail against heaven until we know we are heard.
We do not ask for easy answers to hard times;
there are many who can offer these.
We ask for a sense of your solidarity,
that will be enough to let us know that we do not walk or cry alone; that will enable us to go through the dark
and find light again in the morning. Amen.
All: I am thirsty.
(pause)
One: You have made us for yourself.
We know it, even if we cannot name it.
We have had these bodies and these minds
long enough to learn to live with our limitations.
Yet despite this,
something is us longs, yearns, thirsts
for something better,
something greater which we know is there.
Beautiful music ends
and we wish it could continue.
We embrace,
then refrain from embracing
and wish that we could be held forever.
We think deeply or feel deeply
and wish that this sense
of being caught up in living
would not be interrupted
by the mundane things of life.
We sense the disappointment in dashed hopes
that deserve to be fulfilled,
in missed opportunities
which should have led to joy not frustration,
in people whose potential
has been buried or denied and deserves to flourish.
So much of life demands a resolution.
So thank you for this incompleteness,
thank you for this yearning,
thank you for this thirst.
Thank you for giving us enough of you to want more,
and so to sense the fullness of eternity
within the limits of time. Amen.
All: It is finished.
(pause)
One: Now, Lord Jesus,
you can let go of us.
You have convinced us of our sin
and you have forgiven it.
You have convinced us of your way
and have engaged us on it.
You have shown us a foretaste of heaven
and have made us members of its commonwealth.
You can let go of us now.
Having overcome the sin of the world,
death will be a small obstacle.
Just as you foretold
that you would be handed over to be crucified
and this has come true;
also as you foretold,
on the third day, you will rise again.
And we will be your witnesses. Amen.
All: Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.
(pause)
One: Go, silent friend,
your life has found its ending.
To dust returns your weary mortal frame.
God, who before birth,
called you into being,
now calls you back, his accent still the same.
Lord Jesus, we let you go.
You cannot cling to life forever,
nor can we cling to a dying frame,
nor do we begrudge you
that peace which passes understanding
which you have promised us.
So go to heaven,
where you will welcome those who die in your faith,
whose death, with your death, we remember.
Tell them that we love them,
that we miss them,
that they are not forgotten.
And cheered by the prospect of a day
when there will be no more death or parting,
and all shall be well and all shall be one,
may they who have died before us be among the first
to welcome us to heaven where with you enthroned in glory,
and in the company of the blessed virgin Mary
and all the saints,
we will share the everlasting feast of your family.
‘Til then, keep us in faith,
fill us with hope,
deepen us through love,
to the glory of your holy name. Amen.
HYMN # 436 (vs 1,2,3,4) Abide With Me
READING: “They Went Out and Followed…”
They went out and followed him,
those who had sat with him at the table.
He led them to a garden
where he prayed while they slept,
prayed while they slept,
prayed while they slept.
He was kissed,
and because he was kissed he was arrested,
and when he was arrested, his freinds fled,
some to go into hiding,
one to stand beside a bonfire
and say I never knew him,
I never knew him,
I never knew him ... until a cock crowed.
He was brought before the religious authorities
and accused of the sin of blasphemy
and of thretening insurrection.
Having no power to deal with him,
they handed him over to the state governor,
who listened to the accustations,
then asked the accused:
what have you to say?
what have you to say?
what have you to say?
... to which the response was silence ... utter silence ...
He had said it all.
He was not found to be guilty of any criminal charges,
but because he was an embarassment it was decided
that his own people should determine his fate.
This they did by shouting,
crucify him!!
crucify him !!!
crucifiy him !!!!
He was cursed and spat on,
whipped and humiliated,
and on his shoulders a gift was placed,
whcih he accepted with grace.
Under the weight of this gift,
he stumbled and fell
stumbled and fell,
stumbled and fell ...
all the way to Calvary.
On top of a garbage dump,
he was nailed to a cross of wood,
and left to die,
while soldiers gambled,
critics joked,
religous leaders smiled with satisfaction
and his mother watched and waited,
watched and waited,
watched and waited ...
until in the end she saw a sing of the beginning ...
PRAYER:
One: So there it is,
the ugly shape of beautiful wood,
rough hewn by human hands.
All: Lord, where are you now?
One: And there it is,
a tight-shut tomb,
a borrowed grave,
sealed with stone and silence.
All: Lord, where are you now?
One: And there it is,
your broken body,
shrouded in linen,
clothed in darkness.
All: Lord, where are you now?
One: And somewhere stand your people,
crying though tired of crying,
their eyes sore and bloodshot.
They will not sleep tonight.
All: Lord, where are you now?
One: And out in the streets,
the children have stopped their playing,
the sound of music has gone sour,
even the unlikely people fidget and wonder.
All: Lord, where are you now?
One: And here are we,
saying “If only,”
murmuring, “Surely not,”
counting the cost for once of our carelessness
and our lovelessness and our sin.
All: Lord, where are you now?
One: Trying so vainly to gain all,
we’ve bartered you away in the transaction.
We have lost the one who found us.
With the Peters and Marys of all time, we wait,
for only you can tell whether we are worth rising for.
All: Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING: John 19: 31 – 42
HYMN # 182 Stay with Us through the Night
READING: “It was a Saturday…”
It was on a Saturday
that he was not there.
Those who don't like corpses
can't stay away from graveyards,
unless there's some prohibition to stop them
revisiting the dead end
of their hopes and their dreams.
It's as if they think
that should the voice speak again,
it will speak there
or a sunbeam will dance
or a floor will shoot
and give a sign of misinterpreted life.
But close the cemetery,
or confine, through custom or constraint,
the wailing ones to the house
and it looms larger ...
the loss,
the lostness,
the losers ...
Men shiver in an upstairs room,
warm though the day is.
Women weep in an uncharmed circle.
Memory is forced on memory.
The mind's eye tries to trace
the profile, the face,
the smile,
the gentle twitching of the nose ...
and it fails ...
And panic sets in,
because it seems he can't be remembered ...
Was he ever known???
It was on a Saturday
that he was not there ...
HYMN # 182 Stay with Us through the Night
COMMENDATION:
The shadows shift and fly ...
the ... whole ... long ... day ...
the air trembles,
thick with silence,
until finally,
the footsteps are heard,
and the noise
of the voice of God
is upon us ...
The Holy One
is not afraid
to walk
on unholy ground.
The Holy Work is done,
and the world awaits
the dawn of life ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the darkness, we await the dawn…
Friday, April 06, 2007
Order of Service for Maundy Thursday:
CALL TO WORSHIP
One: We enter the place of God Quietly.
All: Our hearts are Quiet.
One: We seek the presence of God.
All: Our hearts are searching.
One: We open our lives to God.
All: Our hearts are open.
One: We find the love of God.
All: Our hearts are full.
One: We have come to worship God.
All: All glory, praise and honor be to God. Amen.
READING: “Holy Week” by Ann Weems
HYMN # 438 The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended
READING: Exodus 12 1 – 14 (The First Passover)
PRAYER:
One: Examine me, O God, and know my heart;
test and judge my thoughts.
All: Find any deceit in me and guide me in the way of life.
(silence)
One: Create in me a new heart, O God,
All: and strengthen me with a constant spirit!
(silence)
One: All God asks of us is a humble spirit;
All: God accepts a contrite heart.
One: God has delivered us from death,
our eyes from tears, our feet from stumbling.
All: We walk with God in the land of the living.
READING: John 13: 1 – 17, 31B – 35
HYMN # 433 Day is Done
THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD
All: The Lord is my Shepherd …
One: I am the good shepherd,
and I know my sheep and my sheep know me;
and I am willing to lay down my life for them.
All: He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me to water where I may rest; he revives my spirit.
Men: Jesus, never at any time are you going to wash my feet!
One: Peter, if I don’t wash your feet, you will no longer be my disciple.
Men: Then don’t just wash my feet, Lord;
wash my head and hands as well.
All: For his name’s sake, he guides me in the right paths.
One: I am the way and the truth and the life:
no one comes to the Father except by me.
All: Even if I were to walk through a valley of deepest darkness …
One: Golgotha.
All: Even if I were to walk through a valley …
One: Gethsemane.
All: Even if I were to walk …
One: They stripped him and whipped him and spat upon him
and hit him over the heard and led him out …
(pause)
I will fear no harm, for you are with me;
your staff and crook strengthen me.
All: You spread a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
One: One of you sitting here is going to betray me.
Men: Lord, is it me?
Women: Lord, is it me?
One: Do what you have to do, but do it quickly.
(pause)
You have richly bathed my head with oil.
Women: It’s a waste!
It could have been sold for a fortune,
and the money given to the poor.
One: You’ll always have the poor with you but you won’t always have me.
What this woman has done was to prepare me for my burial,
ahead of time. She has done something fine and beautiful.
All: You have richly bathed my head with oil
and my cup runs over.
One: Father, take away this cup of suffering from me.
It is possible for you to do that.
Nevertheless, let it be not what I want, but what you want.
All: Goodness and love unfailing …
these will follow me all the days of my life.
Men: Lord, where are you going?
One: Where I am going, you cannot, for now, come.
But one day you will.
All: And I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
One: In my Father’s house are many rooms.
I am going there to prepare a place for you.
And if I go, I will come back and take you to myself,
so that where I am, you may be also.
BREAKING OF THE BREAD, POURING OF THE CUP
When Jesus knew that his hour had come,
he gathered with his friends for a meal.
Getting up from the table,
he tied a towel around himself and washed their feet.
And after he had finished, he said,
“I have set an example for you; do as I have done to you.”
Then he took bread, blessed it, and gave it, even to Judas, saying,
“I am the Bread of Life. Do this to remember me.”
And he blessed the cup, and gave it to them saying,
“I am the True Vine. Drink of this cup to remember me.”
Then he gave them a new commandment, saying,
“Love one another as I have loved you.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.”
HYMN # 471 Eat This Bread and Never Hunger
READING: Sit Here While I Pray …
SCRIPTURE READING: John 18: 1 – 13
HYMN # 182 Stay with Us through the Night
READING: It Was on a Thursday
CLOSING PRAYER:
One: We will remember the soothing,
All: and not forget the jarring.
One: we will remember the sweetness,
All: and not forget the sour.
One: We will remember the jagged desperateness of Judas,
All: and own it; it is our story too.
One: We will remember
Women: the passion of love,
Men: the smell of perfume,
Women: the pain of rejection,
Men: the stench of blood money.
One: And to help us on the journey, to help us hold the tension,
to help us face both the delight and the difficulty,
All: We will say yes to God’s generosity in creation,
We will say yes to God’s justice in Jesus.
DEPART IN PEACE:
There are no dances for dark days.
There is no music to bellow the pain.
The best we can do is remain still and silent
and try to remember the face of God …
and how to kneel and how to pray …
A time of fellowship shall follow,
Please feel free to stay….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the darkness, we await the dawn…
One: We enter the place of God Quietly.
All: Our hearts are Quiet.
One: We seek the presence of God.
All: Our hearts are searching.
One: We open our lives to God.
All: Our hearts are open.
One: We find the love of God.
All: Our hearts are full.
One: We have come to worship God.
All: All glory, praise and honor be to God. Amen.
READING: “Holy Week” by Ann Weems
HYMN # 438 The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended
READING: Exodus 12 1 – 14 (The First Passover)
PRAYER:
One: Examine me, O God, and know my heart;
test and judge my thoughts.
All: Find any deceit in me and guide me in the way of life.
(silence)
One: Create in me a new heart, O God,
All: and strengthen me with a constant spirit!
(silence)
One: All God asks of us is a humble spirit;
All: God accepts a contrite heart.
One: God has delivered us from death,
our eyes from tears, our feet from stumbling.
All: We walk with God in the land of the living.
READING: John 13: 1 – 17, 31B – 35
HYMN # 433 Day is Done
THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD
All: The Lord is my Shepherd …
One: I am the good shepherd,
and I know my sheep and my sheep know me;
and I am willing to lay down my life for them.
All: He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me to water where I may rest; he revives my spirit.
Men: Jesus, never at any time are you going to wash my feet!
One: Peter, if I don’t wash your feet, you will no longer be my disciple.
Men: Then don’t just wash my feet, Lord;
wash my head and hands as well.
All: For his name’s sake, he guides me in the right paths.
One: I am the way and the truth and the life:
no one comes to the Father except by me.
All: Even if I were to walk through a valley of deepest darkness …
One: Golgotha.
All: Even if I were to walk through a valley …
One: Gethsemane.
All: Even if I were to walk …
One: They stripped him and whipped him and spat upon him
and hit him over the heard and led him out …
(pause)
I will fear no harm, for you are with me;
your staff and crook strengthen me.
All: You spread a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
One: One of you sitting here is going to betray me.
Men: Lord, is it me?
Women: Lord, is it me?
One: Do what you have to do, but do it quickly.
(pause)
You have richly bathed my head with oil.
Women: It’s a waste!
It could have been sold for a fortune,
and the money given to the poor.
One: You’ll always have the poor with you but you won’t always have me.
What this woman has done was to prepare me for my burial,
ahead of time. She has done something fine and beautiful.
All: You have richly bathed my head with oil
and my cup runs over.
One: Father, take away this cup of suffering from me.
It is possible for you to do that.
Nevertheless, let it be not what I want, but what you want.
All: Goodness and love unfailing …
these will follow me all the days of my life.
Men: Lord, where are you going?
One: Where I am going, you cannot, for now, come.
But one day you will.
All: And I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
One: In my Father’s house are many rooms.
I am going there to prepare a place for you.
And if I go, I will come back and take you to myself,
so that where I am, you may be also.
BREAKING OF THE BREAD, POURING OF THE CUP
When Jesus knew that his hour had come,
he gathered with his friends for a meal.
Getting up from the table,
he tied a towel around himself and washed their feet.
And after he had finished, he said,
“I have set an example for you; do as I have done to you.”
Then he took bread, blessed it, and gave it, even to Judas, saying,
“I am the Bread of Life. Do this to remember me.”
And he blessed the cup, and gave it to them saying,
“I am the True Vine. Drink of this cup to remember me.”
Then he gave them a new commandment, saying,
“Love one another as I have loved you.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.”
HYMN # 471 Eat This Bread and Never Hunger
READING: Sit Here While I Pray …
SCRIPTURE READING: John 18: 1 – 13
HYMN # 182 Stay with Us through the Night
READING: It Was on a Thursday
CLOSING PRAYER:
One: We will remember the soothing,
All: and not forget the jarring.
One: we will remember the sweetness,
All: and not forget the sour.
One: We will remember the jagged desperateness of Judas,
All: and own it; it is our story too.
One: We will remember
Women: the passion of love,
Men: the smell of perfume,
Women: the pain of rejection,
Men: the stench of blood money.
One: And to help us on the journey, to help us hold the tension,
to help us face both the delight and the difficulty,
All: We will say yes to God’s generosity in creation,
We will say yes to God’s justice in Jesus.
DEPART IN PEACE:
There are no dances for dark days.
There is no music to bellow the pain.
The best we can do is remain still and silent
and try to remember the face of God …
and how to kneel and how to pray …
A time of fellowship shall follow,
Please feel free to stay….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the darkness, we await the dawn…
The majority of the Liturgy used was taken from
Stages on the Way
Worship Resources for Lent, Holy Week & Easter
a publication of
the Iona Community
&
The Wild Goose Worship Group
Good Friday ... affirming life in the face of death ...
Today as a community of faith, we gathered in the South Chapel of Minnedosa Funeral Services to commemerate the events of Good Friday.Perry helped us set up, and Rick stayed to help a we remembered the events from the streets of Jerusalem that helped to direct and define our faith as a Resurrection people ...
The music was beautiful (thanks to Eleanor, the Choir and the four who shared a powerful quartet piece), the words were intense (thanks to the folks at Iona Community and Wild Goose Publications for that), and the service was meaningful ...
Next year we WILL be in our own home ... but this year, our second as a pilgrim people, we, like Jesus and his disciples, relied on things borrowed to share the journey of Holy Week ... It helps to remind us of what this Season of the Church calendar means ...
Gathering to Worship and to Remember ...
In the months since our fire, we've had to hold services in a variety of places ... tonight for Maundy Thursday we returned to the North Chapel of Minnedosa Funeral Services ... Nathan, Rick and Perry rolled out the red carpet and made us welcome ...
We gathered in the small chapel, as we had last year on Maundy Thursday. Eleanor lead us in our hymns and we broke bread and poured out the cup, remembering the night long ago when Jesus and his disciples entered the events that bring Holy Week to its culmination ...
In the coming days, I will post the bulletin from tonight, and the bulletins from the other Holy Week services ... For now though - a hearty thanks to the staff and management of Minnedosa Funeral Service for the gracious use of their facilities, a thanks to the Worship committee members for helping make the service happen and a thanks to Eleanor for her worship leadership ...
With the setting of the sun comes the darkness that will linger in the coming days as we walk through the streets of Jerusalem once again and confront the long shadows of the season ...
We gathered in the small chapel, as we had last year on Maundy Thursday. Eleanor lead us in our hymns and we broke bread and poured out the cup, remembering the night long ago when Jesus and his disciples entered the events that bring Holy Week to its culmination ...
In the coming days, I will post the bulletin from tonight, and the bulletins from the other Holy Week services ... For now though - a hearty thanks to the staff and management of Minnedosa Funeral Service for the gracious use of their facilities, a thanks to the Worship committee members for helping make the service happen and a thanks to Eleanor for her worship leadership ...With the setting of the sun comes the darkness that will linger in the coming days as we walk through the streets of Jerusalem once again and confront the long shadows of the season ...
Monday, April 02, 2007
Order of Service - April 1st 2007 - Palm Sunday:
WELCOME, MINUTE FOR MISSION & ANNOUNCEMENTS
HYMN # 175 This Is the Day That God Has Made
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 19: 28 – 38
CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: Rejoice, rejoice, you sons of Zion!
Shout for joy, you daughters of Jerusalem!
Look and see,
your king is coming to you.
All: He comes triumphant and victorious,
yet humble and riding on a donkey.
One: The Lord now will save his people
as a shepherd saves his flock from danger.
All: Like precious stones in a crown,
we will shine in God’s own land.
One: Humble and riding on a donkey,
All: We greet you.
One: Acclaimed by crowds and caroled by children,
All: We cheer you.
One: Moving from the peace of the countryside
to the corridors of power,
All: We salute you, Christ our Lord.
One: You are giving the beasts of burden a new dignity;
You are giving majesty a new face;
You are giving those who long for redemption
a new song to sing.
All: With them, with heart and voice,
we shout “Hosanna!”
HYMN # 124 He Came Riding on a Donkey
PRAYER OF APPROACH:
One: I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
All: And look, now we stand in that place,
in the city beloved of God.
One: Jerusalem proudly is built,
to gather the people together.
All: She welcomes the children of God
who worship their maker in unity.
One: Here they give thanks to the Lord
according to God’s deep desire;
All: Here is our monarch’s own court
and the thrones of the household of faith.
One: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
may they prosper whose love is for you.
All: Peace be within your walls and prosperity be in your palaces.
One: For the sake of my family and friends,
I will say, “May God’s peace be in you.”
All: Out of love for the house of the Lord,
I will pray for its well-being forever.
HYMN # 127 Ride On! Ride On in Majesty!
PRAYER OF CONFESSION:
One: Merciful God,
as we enter Holy Week and gather in your house of prayer,
turn our hearts again to Jerusalem,
to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
All: Bring us at last with him and all the faithful to your new Jerusalem, your kingdom of peace and justice for all.
We ask it in the name of Jesus.
One: O God, in Jesus Christ you triumphantly entered Jerusalem,
All: thus beginning a week of pain and sorrow.
One: In these days of defeat and victory,
you have brought together humiliation and exaltation,
death and resurrection.
All: Be with us now,
as we follow in joy and in sorrow the way of the cross,
in the footsteps of Jesus our Saviour. Amen.
THE STORY STOOL
HYMN # 365 Jesus Loves Me
SCRIPTURE READING: Isaiah 50: 4 – 9 & Psalm 31 (Part Two) (VU 758)
CHOIR ANTHEM: Sing Hosanna!
SCRIPTURE READING: Philippians 2: 5 – 11 & Luke 22: 14 – 38
HYMN # 501 Break Now the Bread of Life
SERMON:
April 1st 2007 – Palm Sunday …
Today is a day for stories – I want to begin and end with a story …
The first story is of a chess game with a Russian master. It was one of those chess matches where an audience was watching every move – each move of each piece on the board was analyzed and potential moves were studied and outcomes were proposed … the player facing the Russian Master was good – but it looked like he was about to lose.
The obvious move for him was to pull his Queen back and head into a safe position that would protect the powerful piece … With the little timer by his elbow clicking away, the player analyzed the board and considered carefully each possible move – then just as the time was running out for his move, he slid the Queen forward and placed her in a place where she was vulnerable to the attack of no less than three of his pieces … Against ALL logic, against all analysis, against everything everyone assumed – the player sacrificed his Queen.
He pushed her out into a place where the Russian Master pounced and took her off the board … BUT just as quickly – two or three moves later, the Russian Master realized he was in serious trouble, and he was NOT in control of the board, he pounced on the Queen having failed to see the trap that was set for him … before he lost the match he pushed over the King and conceded the game …
The crowd, the analysts and the Russian Master were all shocked – in sacrificing the Queen – the most powerful piece on a chess board – the other player had prevailed and won the game … His move was counter-intuitive – but it paid off …
As I read this story this past week, I couldn’t help but think that the experience of this chess player matched against the Russian Master is the entire theology of the Christian Church in one short story …
We are a Church of the Resurrection – but we can not get to the Resurrection without the brutal and pain filled events of the Easter Week … The arrest, the beatings, the trial, the mocking, and the violent, painful death by crucifixion are all necessary if we are to stand in the early morning sunshine before the empty tomb … We can not have Easter Morning without the moments of darkness that precede it …
In the resurrection is power and transformation and new life … but to get their requires – or even demands – the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ. To realize and experience the power of the resurrection you need to know and experience the pain of the sacrifice that lead to it …
Like the chess player sacrificing his queen – he was seeking something bigger … the momentary sacrifice of losing one piece was transcended by the winning of the match … This is equally true of the church: too often we protect what we deem valuable, only to lose the entire match and gain nothing, when what we NEED to do is sacrifice something valuable in order to prevail …
It’s not always easy to see these moments. They are hard moments to stand in – and even harder moments to live out … But they are not unique, and we all find ourselves in them throughout our life …
The important piece for those of us who operate from a faith perspective is to remember that in that moment – no matter the choice – no matter the outcome – no matter the circumstances – God is with us.
Our readings this morning that anticipate and prepare us for the Easter Journey through the events in Jerusalem also offer us one of the most powerful statements of faith we can find and utter and share … On Friday morning when in Bible Study we read through the Psalm reading I found myself pausing and saying – “wow” as I read the words: “but I trust in you, O Lord – I say – ‘You are my God.’ Every moment of my life is in your hands, rescue and deliver me from the clutches of my foes who would persue me; Let your face shine upon your servant, and in your faithful love- save me.”
Let your face shine upon your servant, save me in your steadfast love … these are words of certainty that do not doubt even for an instant that no matter what is happening in our life – our community – our world … no matter how dark things may seem – God’s face WILL shine on us – on you – on me – on each one of us. That simple truth – uttered centuries ago – half a world away summarizes the core of our faith – We are not alone. We are never alone. When we feel overwhelmed, we WILL be guided forward to the resurrection …
That is OUR faith … we are people of the resurrection …
The challenge we face is having the vision and the faith to see the resurrection. We know what we want the resurrection to look like. We want it to come and set things straight, keep us comfortable, keep us in a place of warm pink fuzzies … But the resurrection seldom works that way …
In the face of illness, the resurrection may be acceptance and wholeness rather than a miraculous recovery …
In the face of poverty and suffering, the resurrection is often opportunities and chances to bring
incremental change, not a wholesale altering of circumstances …
In the face of addiction and other such burdens, the resurrection may be the freedom that comes when life draws to a close, but with help and assistance offered to others on the same journey the resurrection is also lived out with each tentative step forward …
The examples are as numerous as we care to consider. Too often though what we want is the soft and easy way – a resurrection with no fuss and no muss – and definitely no suffering or struggles leading into it … we want to jump from the Hosannas of Palm Sunday to the Hallelujahs of Easter Sunday …
But our ways are NOT God’s ways … the resurrection we WILL experience is often simply breath taking … it arises out of the darkness and the struggle and brings new life, new possibilities, new opportunities to us …
A closing story about resurrection in action … a story that affirms that even in the face of suffering and death, beauty and hope will be found and God’s gift of resurrection will prevail.
In the 1990’s the Yugoslavian city of Sarajevo was torn apart by the ethnic violence and civil war that gripped the Balkan states. Bombings, snipers, military attacks and violence were an every day happening on the streets of the city and throughout the countryside around it … In May of 1992 a mortar shell plunged into the city and exploded in the street outside a bakery where people were lined up waiting for bread …
Twenty two people died … In June for 22 days – one for each victim Cellist Vedran Smailovic sat in the street in front of the bakery and played Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor …
For 22 days he braved snipers, more bombs and whatever violence the factions of Sarajevo could muster and played his cello … playing a piece of music that survived the firebombing of Dresden 50 years earlier … playing a piece of music that survived the ethnic violence of a city at war …
For 22 days dressed in his concert best, he sat and played … and today, Croats, Serbians, Muslims, Christians – former enemies all come and place flowers where he played because they not only know him and his story – they know the beauty and the hope that this lone cellist whispered into being by being daring or crazy enough to sit in the middle of a war zone and simply play …
That is the resurrection writ large …
That is the resurrection we long for and that we will one day experience … one simple musical note at a time, Smailovic reminded us that in the darkness the light of God WILL shine and the darkness will not prevail … God’s salvation will come …
The journey into the darkness awaits us … we know the outcome … but like so much of the world, we need to pause and carefully consider each step, knowing that we are NOT alone …
We are not alone,
we live in God's world.
We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus,
the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God's presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.
May it be so – thanks be to God – Let us pray …
OFFERING, OFFERTORY AND PRAYER OF DEDICATION
HYMN # 600 When I Needed a Neighbour
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & THE LORD’S PRAYER (# 959 VU)
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 22: 39 – 23: 62
HYMN # 132 Bitter Was the Night
PRAYER:
One: Lord Jesus Christ,
… over the broken glass of our world,
the rumours meant to hurt,
the prejudice meant to wound,
the weapons meant to kill,
ride on …
trampling our attempts at disaster into dust.
ride on,
All: Ride on in majesty.
One: … over the distance
which separates us from you,
and it is such a distance,
measurable in half truths,
in unkept promises,
in second-best obedience,
ride on …
until you touch and heal us,
who feel for no one but ourselves,
ride on,
All: Ride on in majesty.
One: … through the back streets and the sin bins
and the sniggered-at corners of the city,
where human life festers and love runs cold,
ride on …
bringing hope and dignity
where most send scorn and silence.
ride on,
All: Ride on in majesty.
One: For you, O Christ, do care
and must show us how.
On our own,
our ambitions rival your summons
and thus threaten good faith
and neglect God’s people.
In your company and at your side,
we might yet help to bandage and heal
the wounds of the world. ride on,
All: Ride on in majesty and take us with you. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 23: 13 – 34
HYMN # 136 O Come and Mourn with Me Awhile
The worship has ended….
…the work of God’s people has just begun.
Go in peace.
HYMN # 175 This Is the Day That God Has Made
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 19: 28 – 38
CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: Rejoice, rejoice, you sons of Zion!
Shout for joy, you daughters of Jerusalem!
Look and see,
your king is coming to you.
All: He comes triumphant and victorious,
yet humble and riding on a donkey.
One: The Lord now will save his people
as a shepherd saves his flock from danger.
All: Like precious stones in a crown,
we will shine in God’s own land.
One: Humble and riding on a donkey,
All: We greet you.
One: Acclaimed by crowds and caroled by children,
All: We cheer you.
One: Moving from the peace of the countryside
to the corridors of power,
All: We salute you, Christ our Lord.
One: You are giving the beasts of burden a new dignity;
You are giving majesty a new face;
You are giving those who long for redemption
a new song to sing.
All: With them, with heart and voice,
we shout “Hosanna!”
HYMN # 124 He Came Riding on a Donkey
PRAYER OF APPROACH:
One: I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
All: And look, now we stand in that place,
in the city beloved of God.
One: Jerusalem proudly is built,
to gather the people together.
All: She welcomes the children of God
who worship their maker in unity.
One: Here they give thanks to the Lord
according to God’s deep desire;
All: Here is our monarch’s own court
and the thrones of the household of faith.
One: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
may they prosper whose love is for you.
All: Peace be within your walls and prosperity be in your palaces.
One: For the sake of my family and friends,
I will say, “May God’s peace be in you.”
All: Out of love for the house of the Lord,
I will pray for its well-being forever.
HYMN # 127 Ride On! Ride On in Majesty!
PRAYER OF CONFESSION:
One: Merciful God,
as we enter Holy Week and gather in your house of prayer,
turn our hearts again to Jerusalem,
to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
All: Bring us at last with him and all the faithful to your new Jerusalem, your kingdom of peace and justice for all.
We ask it in the name of Jesus.
One: O God, in Jesus Christ you triumphantly entered Jerusalem,
All: thus beginning a week of pain and sorrow.
One: In these days of defeat and victory,
you have brought together humiliation and exaltation,
death and resurrection.
All: Be with us now,
as we follow in joy and in sorrow the way of the cross,
in the footsteps of Jesus our Saviour. Amen.
THE STORY STOOL
HYMN # 365 Jesus Loves Me
SCRIPTURE READING: Isaiah 50: 4 – 9 & Psalm 31 (Part Two) (VU 758)
CHOIR ANTHEM: Sing Hosanna!
SCRIPTURE READING: Philippians 2: 5 – 11 & Luke 22: 14 – 38
HYMN # 501 Break Now the Bread of Life
SERMON:
April 1st 2007 – Palm Sunday …
Today is a day for stories – I want to begin and end with a story …
The first story is of a chess game with a Russian master. It was one of those chess matches where an audience was watching every move – each move of each piece on the board was analyzed and potential moves were studied and outcomes were proposed … the player facing the Russian Master was good – but it looked like he was about to lose.
The obvious move for him was to pull his Queen back and head into a safe position that would protect the powerful piece … With the little timer by his elbow clicking away, the player analyzed the board and considered carefully each possible move – then just as the time was running out for his move, he slid the Queen forward and placed her in a place where she was vulnerable to the attack of no less than three of his pieces … Against ALL logic, against all analysis, against everything everyone assumed – the player sacrificed his Queen.
He pushed her out into a place where the Russian Master pounced and took her off the board … BUT just as quickly – two or three moves later, the Russian Master realized he was in serious trouble, and he was NOT in control of the board, he pounced on the Queen having failed to see the trap that was set for him … before he lost the match he pushed over the King and conceded the game …
The crowd, the analysts and the Russian Master were all shocked – in sacrificing the Queen – the most powerful piece on a chess board – the other player had prevailed and won the game … His move was counter-intuitive – but it paid off …
As I read this story this past week, I couldn’t help but think that the experience of this chess player matched against the Russian Master is the entire theology of the Christian Church in one short story …
We are a Church of the Resurrection – but we can not get to the Resurrection without the brutal and pain filled events of the Easter Week … The arrest, the beatings, the trial, the mocking, and the violent, painful death by crucifixion are all necessary if we are to stand in the early morning sunshine before the empty tomb … We can not have Easter Morning without the moments of darkness that precede it …
In the resurrection is power and transformation and new life … but to get their requires – or even demands – the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ. To realize and experience the power of the resurrection you need to know and experience the pain of the sacrifice that lead to it …
Like the chess player sacrificing his queen – he was seeking something bigger … the momentary sacrifice of losing one piece was transcended by the winning of the match … This is equally true of the church: too often we protect what we deem valuable, only to lose the entire match and gain nothing, when what we NEED to do is sacrifice something valuable in order to prevail …
It’s not always easy to see these moments. They are hard moments to stand in – and even harder moments to live out … But they are not unique, and we all find ourselves in them throughout our life …
The important piece for those of us who operate from a faith perspective is to remember that in that moment – no matter the choice – no matter the outcome – no matter the circumstances – God is with us.
Our readings this morning that anticipate and prepare us for the Easter Journey through the events in Jerusalem also offer us one of the most powerful statements of faith we can find and utter and share … On Friday morning when in Bible Study we read through the Psalm reading I found myself pausing and saying – “wow” as I read the words: “but I trust in you, O Lord – I say – ‘You are my God.’ Every moment of my life is in your hands, rescue and deliver me from the clutches of my foes who would persue me; Let your face shine upon your servant, and in your faithful love- save me.”
Let your face shine upon your servant, save me in your steadfast love … these are words of certainty that do not doubt even for an instant that no matter what is happening in our life – our community – our world … no matter how dark things may seem – God’s face WILL shine on us – on you – on me – on each one of us. That simple truth – uttered centuries ago – half a world away summarizes the core of our faith – We are not alone. We are never alone. When we feel overwhelmed, we WILL be guided forward to the resurrection …
That is OUR faith … we are people of the resurrection …
The challenge we face is having the vision and the faith to see the resurrection. We know what we want the resurrection to look like. We want it to come and set things straight, keep us comfortable, keep us in a place of warm pink fuzzies … But the resurrection seldom works that way …
In the face of illness, the resurrection may be acceptance and wholeness rather than a miraculous recovery …
In the face of poverty and suffering, the resurrection is often opportunities and chances to bring
incremental change, not a wholesale altering of circumstances …
In the face of addiction and other such burdens, the resurrection may be the freedom that comes when life draws to a close, but with help and assistance offered to others on the same journey the resurrection is also lived out with each tentative step forward …
The examples are as numerous as we care to consider. Too often though what we want is the soft and easy way – a resurrection with no fuss and no muss – and definitely no suffering or struggles leading into it … we want to jump from the Hosannas of Palm Sunday to the Hallelujahs of Easter Sunday …
But our ways are NOT God’s ways … the resurrection we WILL experience is often simply breath taking … it arises out of the darkness and the struggle and brings new life, new possibilities, new opportunities to us …
A closing story about resurrection in action … a story that affirms that even in the face of suffering and death, beauty and hope will be found and God’s gift of resurrection will prevail.
In the 1990’s the Yugoslavian city of Sarajevo was torn apart by the ethnic violence and civil war that gripped the Balkan states. Bombings, snipers, military attacks and violence were an every day happening on the streets of the city and throughout the countryside around it … In May of 1992 a mortar shell plunged into the city and exploded in the street outside a bakery where people were lined up waiting for bread …
Twenty two people died … In June for 22 days – one for each victim Cellist Vedran Smailovic sat in the street in front of the bakery and played Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor …
For 22 days he braved snipers, more bombs and whatever violence the factions of Sarajevo could muster and played his cello … playing a piece of music that survived the firebombing of Dresden 50 years earlier … playing a piece of music that survived the ethnic violence of a city at war …
For 22 days dressed in his concert best, he sat and played … and today, Croats, Serbians, Muslims, Christians – former enemies all come and place flowers where he played because they not only know him and his story – they know the beauty and the hope that this lone cellist whispered into being by being daring or crazy enough to sit in the middle of a war zone and simply play …
That is the resurrection writ large …
That is the resurrection we long for and that we will one day experience … one simple musical note at a time, Smailovic reminded us that in the darkness the light of God WILL shine and the darkness will not prevail … God’s salvation will come …
The journey into the darkness awaits us … we know the outcome … but like so much of the world, we need to pause and carefully consider each step, knowing that we are NOT alone …
We are not alone,
we live in God's world.
We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus,
the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God's presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.
May it be so – thanks be to God – Let us pray …
OFFERING, OFFERTORY AND PRAYER OF DEDICATION
HYMN # 600 When I Needed a Neighbour
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & THE LORD’S PRAYER (# 959 VU)
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 22: 39 – 23: 62
HYMN # 132 Bitter Was the Night
PRAYER:
One: Lord Jesus Christ,
… over the broken glass of our world,
the rumours meant to hurt,
the prejudice meant to wound,
the weapons meant to kill,
ride on …
trampling our attempts at disaster into dust.
ride on,
All: Ride on in majesty.
One: … over the distance
which separates us from you,
and it is such a distance,
measurable in half truths,
in unkept promises,
in second-best obedience,
ride on …
until you touch and heal us,
who feel for no one but ourselves,
ride on,
All: Ride on in majesty.
One: … through the back streets and the sin bins
and the sniggered-at corners of the city,
where human life festers and love runs cold,
ride on …
bringing hope and dignity
where most send scorn and silence.
ride on,
All: Ride on in majesty.
One: For you, O Christ, do care
and must show us how.
On our own,
our ambitions rival your summons
and thus threaten good faith
and neglect God’s people.
In your company and at your side,
we might yet help to bandage and heal
the wounds of the world. ride on,
All: Ride on in majesty and take us with you. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 23: 13 – 34
HYMN # 136 O Come and Mourn with Me Awhile
The worship has ended….
…the work of God’s people has just begun.
Go in peace.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
