The Link to today's video: Word & Prayer on YouTube
The Second Sunday after Pentecost
11 June 2023
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Prelude, Welcome, and Information Hymn #556 Morning Has Broken |
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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: Psalm 50: 7-15 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house, or goats from your folds. For every wild animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine. “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and all that is in it is mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” |
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The Lord be with you. And also with you. Let us pray. O God, you are the source of life and the ground of our being. By the power of your Spirit bring healing to this wounded world, and raise us to the new life of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. |
Reading: Hosea 5:15-6:6
A reading from the prophet Hosea
I will return again to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. In their distress they will beg my favor:
“Come, let us return to the Lord; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord; his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
The Word of the Lord
Reading: Romans 4:13-25
A reading from the letter to the Romans
For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) —in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.”
Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
The Word of the Lord.
Gospel Verse:
Alleluia! The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. Alleluia! (Luke 4:18)
Gospel Reading: Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
A reading from the Gospel of Matthew
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that district.
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
Sermon (added at the end of the document)
Hymn #612 Healer of Our Every Ill
Thanks and Offertory
Prayers of the Church:
God of all people, you have created us and called us to be your own. Hear our prayers this day and fill us with your grace and peace.
God of Abraham, Moses, and the prophets, teach us again the value of mercy and the gift of steadfast love. Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of the apostles and martyrs, strengthen our faith and let us all support one another in that gift of faith. Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
God who calls sinners to forgiveness, remind us daily of your desire to have us close and let us proclaim to all that grace-filled desire to all in our words and our actions. Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of all creation, be with all who suffer from the wild fires throughout Canada. Give strength and success to all who are working to end those fires and begin recovery. Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of peace, grant your gift of peace to Ukraine, Russia, and Sudan, as well as all those throughout the world who suffer the terrors and dangers of violent struggle. Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of healing, hear the prayers for healing and health prayed by all who struggle with the COVID-19 virus, the RSV virus, and any other sickness of body, mind, or spirit. Continue to strengthen all who work for healing in any way. Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of grace, today we remember and pray for your people of St. Paul, Leamington and their pastor, Pastor Sylvia Swiatoschik. May we always be one with them in you. Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of love and compassion, hear our prayers made in Jesus’ name and spirit for those we care for and for those who have asked for our prayers … * Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer. {*Gail Mauer, Deb Kirschner, Rose Gotzmeister, Rick Cerna, Rose Ungar, Marjorie Weber}
Holy God, we call on you today and in the day of trouble, trusting that you will deliver us, and we shall glorify you. Hear our prayers this day and grant what is best for us in all things as we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Hymn WOV#783 Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God
The Lord’s Prayer
Finally let us pray for all things as our Lord would have us ask:
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.
Closing prayer
Glory to you, God, for yours is the earth;
yours is the promise, the blessing, the birth.
Ours the rejoicing for Word given frame;
ours the thanksgiving to your holy name.
Ours be the telling of deeds greatly done;
yours be the glory, O God, yours alone. Amen.
Benediction & Sending
May the Lord bless us and keep us.
May the Lord’s face shine upon us with grace and mercy.
May the Lord look upon us with favor and X give us peace.
Amen.
Hymn #798 Will You Come and Follow Me
Go in peace. Serve the Lord. Thanks be to God.
W
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Upcoming Services for June & July: (All services begin at 11:00am) June 18 YouTube (Pentecost III) June 25 Holy Communion at St. John’s (Pentecost IV) July 2 YouTube (Pentecost V) July 9 Holy Communion at St. John’s (Pentecost VI) July 16 YouTube (Pentecost VII) July 23 Holy Communion at St. John’s (Pentecost VII) July 30 YouTube (Pentecost IX) |
Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
· First off, let’s remember that “Gospel” means “good news” in the original language. That’s always a good place to start.
· We hear that Jesus gets in trouble with those who consider themselves “righteous” because he eats with “tax collectors and sinners.” Maybe the food was better there or the table conversation was more interesting. I’d like to think that the conversation was, at the very least, more honest. For sure, he would be going against the norms of his society by hanging out with the “outsiders.”
· Those who were considered sinful knew that many around them believed them to be sinful and probably said so in powerful, nasty ways, maybe shaming the “sinners.”
· We need to know this: some of those so-called “sinners” were people who did not keep every little point of the Mosaic Law. Some could not read it and were not aware of all the points. Some could not afford to keep the Law perfectly. There were even some whose health did not permit them to hold to the Law’s points and their ‘unclean’ status was considered their own fault, since illnesses were considered punishment for sins. No matter what their situation was, they were considered sinful and were often pushed out of “proper” society.
· So Jesus sharing their table and their fellowship was a scandal! In the frowning face of that scandal, he told all the pearl-clutching ‘righteous’ that he came to call sinners and not the righteous. This was not entirely new. The Hebrew Bible abounds with this idea. Even today we’ve heard both the prophet Hosea and the Psalmist acknowledge in a powerful way that God desires mercy and not sacrifice.
· Outrageous, isn’t it? And that’s good news for us, too. If we are honest with ourselves and with God, we know what group we belong to. How many of us have been pushed away from “proper” society because of our age, our place of birth, our finances, our lifestyles, our health, our ideas, or our personal choices.
· Going a step farther, the truth is this: had the ‘righteous’ been honest with themselves and with God, they’d have realized their own sinfulness, possibly in their attitude of judgement, and then counted themselves as sinners. With that in mind, they might have realized that they too were called to the mercy of God rather than thinking as the righteous and the pure, they had no need of that mercy.
· So, do we want Jesus to sit down to dinner with us… even if it means acknowledging ourselves as sinners? Really, who wouldn’t want to hear words of forgiveness and divine love along with “Please pass the hummus.”
· Jesus himself told the people of his time, and tells us today, whom he came to call. There is no mistake here: I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners. It’s truly good news to know it’s us he calls and us he’d have a meal with.
Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
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