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

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 (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…