Word & Worship for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

 

Service of Word and Prayer for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And also with you.

Psalm 111    (today’s Responsorial Psalm) 1 Praise the Lord!     I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,     in the company of the upright, in the congregation. 2 Great are the works of the Lord,     studied by all who delight in them. 3 Full of honor and majesty is his work,     and his righteousness endures forever. 4 He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds;     the Lord is gracious and merciful. 5 He provides food for those who fear him;     he is ever mindful of his covenant. 6 He has shown his people the power of his works,     in giving them the heritage of the nations. 7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;     all his precepts are trustworthy. 8 They are established forever and ever,     to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. 9 He sent redemption to his people;     he has commanded his covenant forever.     Holy and awesome is his name. 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;     all those who practice it have a good understanding.     His praise endures forever.

Oration for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Compassionate God, you gather the whole universe into your radiant presence and continually reveal your Son as our Savior. Bring wholeness to all that is broken and speak truth to us in our confusion, that all creation will see and know your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

Gospel Reading: Mark 1:21-28

^21 [Jesus and his disciples] went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. ²² They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. ²³ Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, ²⁴ and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” ²⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” ²⁶ And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. ²⁷ They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” ²⁸ At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

Sermon (added at the end of the document)

Thanks and Offertory

The Prayers of Church: (from the Celebrate)

·         For continued progress for the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine and treatments, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

·         For our bishops, Susan and Michael and all in authority in the church, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

·         For the entire Thames Ministry Area, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

·         For all the needs and prayers we hold in our hearts… (a time of silent prayer)… let us pray. Have mercy, O God

The Lord’s Prayer

Let us pray as Jesus taught us:

Our Father, who art in heaven,

    hallowed be thy name,

    thy kingdom come,

    thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

    and forgive us our trespasses,

      as we forgive those who trespass against us;

    and lead us not into temptation,

       but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power,

         and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

First Reading: Deuteronomy 18:15-20

¹⁵ The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. ¹⁶ This is what you requested of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: “If I hear the voice of the Lord my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.” ¹⁷ Then the Lord replied to me: “They are right in what they have said. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. ¹⁹ Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. ²⁰ But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.”

Benediction and Sending

The Lord bless us and keep us.

The Lord make his face shine on us and be gracious to us.

The Lord look upon us with favor and give us peace.

                            Amen.

Go in peace. Share the Good News.    Thanks be to God

  -----------------------------------------------------------------

 (The second reading is included for the sake of being complete.)

1 Corinthians 8

8 Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. ² Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; ³ but anyone who loves God is known by him.

⁴ Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.” ⁵ Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— ⁶ yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

⁷ It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ⁸ “Food will not bring us close to God.” We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. ⁹ But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. ¹⁰ For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? ¹¹ So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. ¹² But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

 

What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.

·         Have you ever attended a worship service where something unexpected happened? I’ve heard some horror stories, which I will not share. I’ve also seen people collapse and even die during worship. I’ve watched a bird dive bomb the altar during the service, then hide somewhere in the organ pipes and sing for the rest of the service. I’ve watched ushers chase dogs who came in to see what was going on. I even saw ball lightening roll down the outside of the church during an electrical storm and then explode when it hit the ground. That was one memorable moment! One Christmas eve, the nearest hydro substation blew out 10 minutes before the service, leaving us to scramble for every candle we could find and taking a few moments to drag a piano into the sanctuary.

·         What I’ve never seen is a person possessed by a demon causing a scene in the middle of the worship service. That is what we hear of today. Jesus drives out that spirit and the congregation responds: They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 

·         This is not what was expected that Sabbath morning. The assembly expected neither the disruption from the unclean spirit nor the new teaching – with authority. I suppose they expected what could have been considered a normal Sabbath.

·         It did not end up that way. First of all, Jesus was teaching. This might not have been unusual, but it was something that Mark noted. Those who were listening equated Jesus’ teaching with his liberating action with regard to the unclean spirit. Somehow they were alike. The scribes taught as they had been taught and repeated back what they had learned. In contrast, Jesus’ teaching was fresh and powerful. The unclean spirits recognized Jesus since they were spirits and were not hindered by the preconceived notions of the people who were familiar with Jesus.

·         Have you ever wondered about our own experiences at worship? How we feel that day can colour our experience as can the skill and style of the preacher, the music, and the place. We might not expect either the intrusion or the expelling of unclean spirits every Sunday. If we did, our congregation’s worship might be more like a circus than worship.

·         There are things we can rightfully expect when we gather for worship. The first is the presence of Jesus in our midst. Matthew’s Gospel tells us that Jesus said For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them. (Mt. 18:20) Jesus has promised this and he will do as he has promised.

·         It can also be expected that the power of the Word of God will be with us. It may take the eyes of faith to see that, for often any preacher’s words fall short since they are human words. Still God’s Word is with us.

·         With this in mind, God’s Word is a liberating word. This may be why Mark puts Jesus’ teaching and his driving of the unclean spirit in the same event. He also says that the less inspired teaching of the scribes did not liberate, but oppressed and enslaved.

·         As always, the Good News of the Gospel is wonderful to hear and that proclamation is what we need to hear and have renewed in our lives regularly. More than that, when Jesus is present (as he promised), something will happen. That “something” may not be easily seen or known to each person and that ‘something’ might be a small movement, but something will happen. Such is the authority of Jesus’ teaching.

·         Some have said that teaching with authority and liberation from the unclean are what could be expected when the Son of God is near, as he was in the synagogue at Capernaum that Sabbath and as he is in our gatherings – even if we gather separately because of the present pandemic. Jesus is among us… and that is always Good News.

A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits…

Invitation to Word & Worship for January 31, 2021

 

Here is your invitation to this Sunday's Service of Word & Prayer On YouTube at 11:00am, Sunday, January 31, 2021

Here is the link:   Word & Worship for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

I hope you'll join us.

Pr. John

A Moment Aside for January 28, 2021

 

A Moment Aside --- 28 January 2021

                                                                  

     Canadian poet Leonard Cohen’s works are well known. His religious tradition is Jewish with a lively interest in other religions including Zen Buddhism. I’m sure a conversation with him would have been interesting.

     The quote in the picture above may seem odd, but it really does make sense. “There’s a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in.” makes a reference to the brokenness of the world and actually the brokenness of every person. None of us can claim to be perfect. (Oh, we can claim it… and we’d be mistaken.) We live in a broken world. This is actually a part of the Lutheran understanding of the world. As broken people in a broken world, we do the best we can. We have to look for a source of light and strength outside ourselves. Sometimes it’s our very brokenness that impels us to look for something beyond what we can see. The pains of the world and the pains of people (including our own) drive some to deny a benevolent God or even the existence of a God at all. It might be the pains we feel for ourselves and see around us and the cry for healing or for justice that we make is the beginning of the entrance of that light that shines through the “cracks” in our reality.

     “Forget your perfect offering…” is what the poem says. I don’t know of any such thing as a perfect offering we could make. (As a Christian, I leave aside Jesus’ offering. That’s for another time.) Our best thoughts and our most esteemed actions might seem like a toddler’s gift of a mud-pie to mother. Perfect – no; offering – yes. And our loving God accepts them as such.

                        Ring the bells that still can ring

                        Forget your perfect offering

                        There is a crack in everything

                        That’s how the light gets in.

A Moment Aside for January 26, 2021

 

A Moment Aside --- 26 January 2021

                                                                  

     There are a few so-called quotes that illustrate this idea to some extent. I say “so-called” because I cannot find solid references to the person they’re attached to.

“Preach the Gospel. If necessary, use words.” – St. Francis of Assisi

“Who has ever seen people persuaded to love God by harshness?” – St. John of the Cross

     I have not been able to track down proof that those words were said by the men they are attributed to. The quote from the author, Madeleine L’Engle, is different. Still all say the same thing. Ms. L’Engle (1918-2007) was an American writer of fiction and poetry. She was known for her interest in modern science and for her Christian faith.

     People are attracted to Christ by seeing his light shine through us. We will fail at that naturally. When we realize our own failures at this, it is worth remembering that we are not the only Christian a person might meet in their life. There are other things that might cause a person to not see Christ in us. Maybe we like bologna and they don’t. Maybe we enjoy the cold of winter and they don’t. Who knows? One thing we can be sure of is that grace abounds and God reaches out to people in so many ways. There are others who may fit better with that person.

     Our “ministry” here in our lives might not be to make converts or “win souls for Christ.” Our personal character and style might not aid us in doing that. Our true ministry is to sew the seeds of faith by our lives, our prayers, and our own living faith. God gives the grace and maybe we just smear it on everything. Live the Gospel according to God’s grace and his light will shine through us.

A Service of Word & Worship for the Third Sunday after Epiphany

 

Service of Word and Prayer for the Third Sunday after Epiphany

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And also with you.

Psalm 62: 5-12    (today’s Responsorial Psalm) 5 For God alone my soul waits in silence,     for my hope is from him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,     my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God rests my deliverance and my honor;     my mighty rock, my refuge is in God. 8 Trust in him at all times, O people;     pour out your heart before him;     God is a refuge for us.          Selah 9 Those of low estate are but a breath,     those of high estate are a delusion;     in the balances they go up;     they are together lighter than a breath. 10 Put no confidence in extortion,     and set no vain hopes on robbery;     if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. 11 Once God has spoken;     twice have I heard this:     that power belongs to God, 12  and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.      For you repay to all     according to their work.

Oration for the Third Sunday after Pentecost

Almighty God, by grace alone you call us and accept us in your service. Strengthen us with your Spirit, and make us worthy of your call, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

Gospel Reading: Mark 1:14-20

¹⁴ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

¹⁶ As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” ¹⁸ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. ¹⁹ As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. ²⁰ Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Sermon (added at the end of the document)

Thanks and Offertory

The Prayers of Church: (from the Celebrate)

·         For continued progress for the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine and treatments, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

·         For our bishop, Michael and all in authority in the church, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

·         For Bishop Susan Johnson and the staff of the ELCIC national headquarters, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

·         For all the needs and prayers we hold in our hearts… (a time of silent prayer)… let us pray. Hear us, O God.

The Lord’s Prayer

Let us pray as Jesus taught us:

Our Father, who art in heaven,

    hallowed be thy name,

    thy kingdom come,

    thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

    and forgive us our trespasses,

      as we forgive those who trespass against us;

    and lead us not into temptation,

       but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power,

         and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

First Reading: Jonah 3:1-5, 10

3 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, ² “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” ³ So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. ⁴ Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” ⁵ And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

¹⁰ When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

Benediction and Sending

The Lord bless us and keep us.

The Lord make his face shine on us and be gracious to us.

The Lord look upon us with favor and give us peace.

                            Amen.

Go in peace. Share the Good News.    Thanks be to God

 

 -----------------------------------------------------------------

(The second reading is included for the sake of being complete.)

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

²⁹ I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, ³⁰ and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, ³¹ and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

·         If there ever was a prophetic call or direction of what to do, “repent” might be the least popular. None of us like to be called on the carpet and told we are wrong. It doesn’t feel good and it often hurts in one way or another. We can say that the one calling us to repent is being judgemental. We could plead that they really don’t know us, because if they did, they’d know how wonderful we really are.

·         Or so we think. Yet, the first thing we hear from Jesus in Mark’s Gospel is The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” It could be said that he is echoing John with this message. It might also be said that this message is for times past and not for us now.

·         This message is very much for our own time. Just because we don’t want to hear it is beside the point. The Kingdom of God has come near. Since we believe that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God, we know that Kingdom has come near. Its nearness leads to changes and the first change is a change of heart… also known as repentance.

·         The first of Luther’s 95 Theses is this; When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent” (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.  (Thesis #1, the 95 Theses) Some might find that rather harsh, evoking images in the mind of sack-cloth, ashes, fasting, and bodily pain. (For some more on this, look at the reading from Jonah.) In our own time, it usually doesn’t mean those things. Fasting has value for clearing the mind, for solidarity with the world’s hungry, and for remembering what we are about by giving us time for other things. Itchy clothes and other such discomforts don’t do much for me. Even fasting can only go on for so long without damaging one’s health.

·         Repentance in the Biblical sense is based on change. The word used in Mark’s Gospel which we translate as “repent” means “turn around.” The idea is to turn from one thing to other things or to change the way one is facing. We all know how that can work. A change in how we face changes what we can see; for example, if you face the sun, you cannot see your own shadow.

·         The turning means more than a simple change in our view. The way the word is used it also means a change in a person’s behavior and ultimately a change in that person’s values, direction, and even place in the world. If you are in a hole, the world looks different when you get out of that hole and what you need and what you can do changes as well.

·         This call to repentance and belief in the Good News does not remove any of us out of the often-hostile world we live in. It continues to place us in this world and it directs us to our own way of living as a way of affecting the world around us. Any machine - or any system for that matter - changes if any part of it changes. A stubbed toe changes how any of us walk and that changes our posture and even our level of energy.

·         If we hold to Luther’s words, the whole of our lives is to be a turning around. If we hold to the words of Scripture, the Kingdom is near and that Good News urges us to change what we are doing and often why we do it. It urges us to lay some things aside and pick up some new things. It places all that we are and all that we do in a new light, the light of the Good News of God’s Kingdom. It urges us to be disciples, to follow Jesus, and to turn ourselves around again and again to be made over in the image of Jesus and the Good News that he is.

·         Did I say “again and again”? Isn’t once enough? If we know ourselves we might not be able to ask that question with a straight face. Every morning, we start anew. The struggle with the arrogant self begins again… and the renewal that comes with God’s grace begins again.

·         The call to repentance is actually Good News. Our God covers us with second chances and the Kingdom always remains near.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

 

A Moment Aside for January 22, 2021

 

A Moment Aside --- 22 January 2021

     Jonah is one of my favourite books of the Bible. I think it should have been a comic book. We all know the story of Jonah being swallowed by a “big fish.” It’s sad if that’s all we know.

    Jonah was called to preach to Israel’s great enemy at Nineveh. Jonah refuses and runs off, taking a boat to Spain. He’s thrown overboard when a storm hits and he’s swallowed by that “big fish” which eventually vomits him up on the shore. THEN he goes to Nineveh with the message that Nineveh will be destroyed in 30 days. Jonah is disgusted when the king of Nineveh and all the people (and the animals!) repented of their ways, put on sack-cloth (what we call burlap) and turn to fasting and prayer. Jonah is further disgusted when God relents and does not destroy Nineveh. You can imagine Jonah sitting in his little hut, arms folded and head turned away from God. He feels God has failed him by forgiving the Ninevites and has betrayed the people of Israel by permitting their enemies to live. When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry.  He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. (Jonah 3:10-4:2)

     Jonah took shade under a bush in the heat of the day. A worm came and chewed up the bush and killed it. Jonah did not take it well and asked God to let him die. God replied Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night.  And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?” (Jonah 4: 10-11)

     Jonah is a story of God’s care and concern – and, yes, love – for all people and in fact, all creation. It was written to counter ideas that God’s love and care and concern were limited to a certain people only. It was written to counter that idea that those people deserved it… and the enemy didn’t. God’s mercy was for some, but not for all. Jonah tells us good news.

     Is Jonah a prophecy and a parable for our own day? You bet!

Invitation to the Virtual Service on Sunday, January 24, 2021

Here is your invitation to Sunday's virtual Worship Service on YouTube on Sunday, January 24,2021 at 11:00am.

Word & Worship for the Third Sunday after Epiphany 

I hope you'll join me then.

Pastor John

A Moment Aside for 19 January 2021

 

A Moment Aside --- 19 January 2021

                                                                  

     A dangerous quote without a doubt, although the danger might not be what we think.

     Some would take this as a most permissive saying, allowing any sort of behavior and even exploitation, all in the name of “love.”

     Such an interpretation would be quite self-serving and very much off the mark. Augustine was not talking about a situation where a person could fulfill every wish they’d ever had, even to the point of hurting, using, or manipulating others.

     The issue here is the meaning of “love.” In a very narrow sense, love could be taken as an interest in another in order to satisfy oneself or as a desire of a far more bodily type. In the best light, however, love is a concern for another that might leave the self behind.

     It is in that sense that Augustine speaks of love. To reinforce this, we can call upon the Gospels:

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. (John 13:34)

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:31)

     If a person is motivated by love, all they do will be done out of love in the best sense. So when Augusting says “Love and do what you will.”, no evil or selfish action can come of it for such a thing would not be a loving action. Love in the best, unselfish sense is to be the basis of all action. No matter what might be done, it will be done with the best of motives - love.

     This will not be easy and mistakes will be made. We were not promised an easy time of it. However, we were promised this: God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. ( 1 John 4: 17b) Now that is dangerous!

 

Word & Worship for the Second Sunday after Epiphany

 

Service of Word and Prayer for the Second Sunday after Epiphany

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And also with you.

Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-18    (today’s Responsorial Psalm) 1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;     you discern my thoughts from far away. 3 You search out my path and my lying down,     and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue,     O Lord, you know it completely. 5 You hem me in, behind and before,     and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;     it is so high that I cannot attain it. 13 For it was you who formed my inward parts;     you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully       made.     Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you,      when I was being made in secret,     intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.     In your book were written     all the days that were formed for me,     when none of them as yet existed. 17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!     How vast is the sum of them! 18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand;       I come to the end—I am still with you.

Oration for the Second Sunday after Pentecost

Thanks be to you, Lord Jesus Christ, most merciful redeemer, for the countless blessings and benefits you give. May we know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day praising you, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Gospel Reading: John 1:43-51

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”  ⁴⁸ Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Sermon (added at the end of the document)

Thanks and Offertory

The Prayers of Church: (from the Celebrate)

·         For continued progress for the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine and treatments, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

·         For our bishops, Susan and Michael and all in authority in the church, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

·         For the congregation of Peace Christian Fellowship in Chatham and their interim pastor, Pr. Paul Sodtke, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

·         For all the needs and prayers we hold in our hearts… (a time of silent prayer)… let us pray. Hear us, O God.

The Lord’s Prayer

Let us pray as Jesus taught us:

Our Father, who art in heaven,

    hallowed be thy name,

    thy kingdom come,

    thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

    and forgive us our trespasses,

      as we forgive those who trespass against us;

    and lead us not into temptation,

       but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power,

         and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

First Reading: 1 Samuel 3:1-10

3 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.

² At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; ³ the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. ⁴ Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” ⁵ and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. ⁶ The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” ⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸ The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Benediction and Sending

The Lord bless us and keep us.

The Lord make his face shine on us and be gracious to us.

The Lord look upon us with favor and give us peace.

                            Amen.

Go in peace. Share the Good News.    Thanks be to God

 

 

 -----------------------------------------------------------------

 (The second reading is included for the sake of being complete.)

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

¹² “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. ¹³ “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. ¹⁵ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶ Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.” ¹⁷ But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. ¹⁸ Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

·         There’s a lot going on today’s Gospel reading. Jesus tells his first disciples to follow him, although he hasn’t preached any messages or performed any miracles as yet. There must have been something about Jesus himself that led those men –Philip and Nathanael- to follow him.

·         All Philip said was Come and see. With a little back-and-forth, that became enough for Nathanael.

·         What was it that drew us to Jesus in our own lives? We may have had an experience of the presence of God. Maybe the Gospels seemed to make sense to us or gave us direction. Maybe we were baptized as infants or as young children and we simply stayed around because it was expected. Still the question continues as it changes to “what continues to draw us to Jesus?”

·         That is surely one question that can only be answered by each person speaking for themselves. No one can answer that question for another. At the baptism of an infant, the parents and sponsors speak for the child who cannot speak for themselves. That child will have to discover their own answer as they grow. That answer may be simple or it may be complicated. No one can say but only the one who answers.

·         If we “come and see”, if we follow Jesus, the path may be rocky and wind-y. It will not always be easy. Some have likened it to a pilgrimage and pilgrimages often go over some rough country. It could be similar to the wandering of the Hebrew people after their escape from Egypt and before entering the Promised Land, where the people depended on the Lord for directions and for food.

·         There are even those who liken it to a spiral staircase, the kind you’d see in a tower or in a lighthouse. You go over the same place again and again and again, yet rising higher with each step.

·         I cannot say what the reality of discipleship and following Jesus is. It might depend on the person. It does seem to move along at times by “fits and starts” as the old saying goes. We try and we fail. We advance and we fall back. On this we’re in good company, with the likes of Peter, Paul, Thomas, and the other disciples all through-out the Scripture and history as examples. I’m don’t think that any disciple has had an easy time of it. The following of Jesus requires change, movement, and often some struggle, especially since the struggle is often against ourselves.

·         This is something we need to remember and accept. We are both justified and sinful at the same time. Forgiveness permits us to start again and that often means that there are lessons that need to be relearned.

·         The 14^th-century German theologian and teacher, Meister Eckhart said this: Be willing to be a beginner every single morning. Every day, each of us follow Jesus as a disciple and in a way, we start over. Problems, emotions, temptations, and distractions all get in the way and make it a necessity to start again. This is the way humans are and Jesus would understand since he endured all those things.

·         Failure is not taking a wrong turn, making a mistake, or even falling into sin. The real failure would not be to fall down, but to refuse to get up again.

·         Each day there is something new to learn about the love of God. Each day there is something to be experienced in that love that we have not experienced before, as hard as it might be to perceive.

·         Each day we are called to “come and see” once again. That call is both perpetual and patient. We can hear it every day, no matter how many times we’ve answered that call before. Philip may have said it to Nathanael in response to Jesus’ call to Follow me. That call to us is as real and as surprising to us as it was to those two original disciples.

Philip said to him, “Come and see.”