Worship Service and Sermon for the Lord's Day - March 29, 2020

Worship for the Lord’s Day

March 29, 2020

A Note before we begin this day’s worship:

          It looks like we might be in this “new space” for a while.  Not sure how long, but certainly longer than just a couple of weeks.  So, settle in.  Find a place to relax and really concentrate on the words, the thoughts, the prayers, the readings, and the music.

          When I was going through confirmation class (umpteen million years ago, it seems) we took a thorough tour of our church facility and even made a 3-D model replica of the building in our class as we also studied the ancient temple in Jerusalem as a contrast.  A fellow member of the class asked Mr. Matthews, one of our teachers, “Why are the pews so uncomfortable?  Wouldn’t it be better if they were more like lounge chairs at home?”  His response was, “Well, we don’t want anyone to fall asleep.”  I’ve often thought about that, especially when almost every church I’ve ever pastored has, at some point, had a discussion about pads or no pads.  I don’t necessarily think that pews are the issue at any church.  Most of us can sit for an hour nearly anywhere.  We might squirm a bit or shift weight between butt cheeks (lol), but what is more important is the surroundings.  So, find a space in your home that you could make sacred or create one.  For example, a folding table or a small existing one that you set up near you with a plate of items that you find soothing, pictures of loved ones, a lit candle, a cross, a bell.  Anything that helps you create a Sacred Space.  If you need to take a moment to do that…do it now.

Let’s begin:

Opening Prayer

God of all creation, past, present, and promised, You are the One to whom we call: for You are the One who hears, and You are the One who acts, bringing us new life with Your grace, love, and power.  Lead us in our time of worship even when we are apart from one another, that we may be prepared to follow Your lead in places where hope seems far away and places where dreams die during sleep.  Help us live into the teachings we proclaim through Jesus Christ our Lord.  AMEN.

Hymn Near the Cross

Prayer of Confession

Forgive us, O God. 

You call us to be Your voices in this world and we stay silent; particularly when we meet those who are doubting and we say nothing.

Forgive us, O God. 

You call us to be Your hands in this world and we keep them hidden; especially when we meet those who need Your touch and we do nothing.

Forgive us, O God. 

You call us to be Your feet in this world and we go our own way; even when we are called to take up Your cross and we refuse to carry anything.

Forgive us, O God.

Words of Assurance

God knows we make mistakes.  We are, after all, still children of God but not yet fully mature in our faith.  We see in a glass darkly.  We cannot see the full picture of who we will become.  However, God knows us, God knows our potential, and God forgives us.  God will lead us into the right paths.  Trust in God, know that you are forgiven.  Live into God’s ways.  AMEN.

Pastoral Prayer

          Holy God, this day I join my own voice with all those whose prayers reach up to You.  You are a resurrecting God, who brings forth light out of darkness, hope out of despair, and new life out of what was once dead.  We can be consoled this day by knowing that, although this moment in time may seem new, strange, and difficult to us, You are everywhere and right here with me; with us.  Surround us with Your grace, peace, and love.  Be with those this day who are on the front lines in this war called the Coronavirus.  But also be with those who feel lonely, too far away from their loved ones, shut off from human touch.

          Gracious Lord, help us learn how to be kinder to one another and see You in each other’s eyes.  As in days of old, we pray that You protect the widow and the widower, the homeless, the sick, the orphan and the outcast.  These are troubling times for them as they are for us.  Hold Your creation in the bosom of Your protection and grant us the willingness, boldness and courage to do all that we can to bring about peace and love in this world.

          I lift my own prayers up to You now….

          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.  Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.  AMEN.

Hymn  What Wondrous Love Is This?

Scripture Readings

Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 34:1-14

The word of the Lord came to me: ²Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to them—to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord God: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? ³You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. ⁴You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. ⁵So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. ⁶My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.

⁷Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸As I live, says the Lord God, because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild animals, since there was no shepherd; and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep; ⁹therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰Thus says the Lord God, I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them. ¹¹For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. ¹²As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. ¹³I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. ¹⁴I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.

New Testament Reading: John 11:1-45

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ²Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. ³So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” ⁵Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, ⁶after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. ¹⁰But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” ¹¹After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” ¹²The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” ¹³Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. ¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

¹⁷When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, ¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. ²⁰When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. ²¹Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” ²³Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” ²⁸When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³²When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. ³⁴He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵Jesus began to weep. ³⁶So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” ³⁸Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. ⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

⁴⁵Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

Sermon

Originally, I had a completely different sermon in mind for this Sunday…but I guess we all had something different in mind for this Sunday if we had made plans a month ago. 

After rereading this Sunday’s lectionary passages, I thought, “I can’t possibly use these…they are too dark, too scary, too…real.”  But, then again, these stories are the very stories that have given people hope in the past, have given hope to the people who first heard them or witnessed them.  So, perhaps, these are the very stories we need to hear today.

Let’s first deal with the story from Ezekiel.  Some historical background information might be helpful.  Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel served as priests and prophets to the people of Israel during the exile in Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar.  When we read from Jeremiah, the prophet comes across as a concerned and doting grandfather, ashamed of his children and grandchildren’s behavior, praying night and day with God so that they might finally learn their lessons, find their way in the world, and flourish righteously.  Ezekiel, on the other hand, comes across as the crazy uncle who rants and raves, has dreams and sees scary visions of destruction.  Shortly after Ezekiel receives his call to prophesy to the people, he is made paralyzed, bound, and mute, then put on public display for the purpose of repenting for the sins of the people.  He eats scrolls and excrement.  He has his hair and beard cut off by a sword which is then separated into three parts and burned in three different places.  He writes of tasting his own visions and of gruesome and bloody events. 

Honestly, I’d much rather have a passage this morning from Jeremiah and talk like a concerned grandpa than to have a passage from Ezekiel – full of crazy visions on the level of raving madman.  However, in the end, whether speaking comforting words of compassion or of scary words of strange visions, both Jeremiah and Ezekiel come to the same conclusion…the people must move from where they are now to a new heart of concern for one another and for their God.

Within the scary vision of dried up bones, Ezekiel provides hope to the people.  The people who have experienced utter despair in the exile, the end of all hope, will experience God’s restoration. There is nothing God cannot do, and even when they are all dried up and feeling there is no hope left, God will bring them up out of the death of exile into new life with God. Ezekiel tries to explain to the people of Israel that God’s omnipotence is not limited by the people’s failure.  God provides restoration to Israel regardless of any prior repentance or obedience of the people.  It is simply by God’s grace which then leads to repentance of the people.

I think this is the word that we need to hear today.  God will bring us through this time of difficulty.  There is a difference however between the vision of dried bones for Ezekiel and the Israelites and what is happening now with us.  Ezekiel’s vision was for the Israelites to rise up after the exile and become new again.  Covid-19 is showing us that everyone will rise again.  It’s not about one nation against another.  It is back to the whole idea of us being connected.  We all must rise up together and be better people.  We all must hear the stirring of the bones of our ancestors clattering together, putting on flesh, for the sake of the future.  We all must feel the God’s ruah. This word has multiple meanings and is used in all three senses of the word in Ezekiel  It can mean breath of God or Spirit of God or the wind of God, which is even now – in the midst of this pandemic -  breathing new life into us.  This vision might have been for the ancients coming from a crazy old uncle, but it is also for us.

And then we have the story from John when Jesus gets word that his friend has fallen ill, gravely ill.  I often wonder how difficult it must have been for Jesus to purposely wait until Lazarus had died before going to Bethany.  Why did he do that?  It is revealed later on in the passage that Lazarus’ death wasn’t actually just about death, but also about Mary and Martha and all the people who followed Jesus to fully grasp the Glory of God. 

In John we have the shortest and most profound passage in all of scripture – Jesus wept.  Knowing that Jesus went to the tomb and cried, we know how deeply Jesus loved Lazarus.  He loved him as a human being who grieves his death.  But, Jesus also loved him as God, who weeps for all of our losses and struggles.  A God who desires something more wonderful for us than pain and anguish, who weeps when we miss out on blessings because we’ve been too distracted by the baubles and glitter that deflect from our best selves – God wants us to fully trust him, to fully lean on him in all circumstances and to know that God is breathing new life into us every moment.  It is, quite honestly, a perfect pairing with Ezekiel.   

As the saying goes, “I don’t know what tomorrow holds for us, but I do know who holds tomorrow.”  Allow the ruah of God to breathe deeply over and in you, shake off your dried up bones, weep for all the losses you might feel today.  But ultimately, when all of this is over, allow us as One Body to rise, shine, take a deep breath of God’s new life in you, in me, in us, and LIVE!

Hymn O Sacred Head Now Wounded 

Benediction

          We are a people, loved by God.  We will live as signs of this great love.  We are a people, blessed with hope.  We will live in light of this hope.  May the love of God, the grace of Christ, and the courage of the Holy Spirit, strengthen our faith and set us loose to share God’s love with all.

AMEN.