Due to technical difficulties, illness, and leading a workshop at the Parliament of the World's Religions, it has been a few weeks since I last posted our worship service. We hope you have a blessed day!
Worship
Service for September 3, 2023
Prelude
Announcements:
Call to Worship
L: We come, like Abraham, Sarah, and John,
people with a vision.
P: We come, like Job, Thomas, and the
Samaritan woman, people with questions.
L: We come, like Moses, Jeremiah, and Mary,
people with self-doubts.
P: We come, like Joshua, Deborah, and
Stephen, people with courage.
L: We come, like David, Mary Magdalene, and
Paul, people with sadness and sin in our memories.
P: We come, like Hosea, Esther, Nathaniel,
Martha, and so many others with a part to play in the story of faith.
L: With so great a cloud of witnesses, let us
gather together this day and worship God.
P: Yes!
Let us worship God together.
Opening Hymn – All People That On Earth Do Dwell #220 Blue
Prayer of Confession
Merciful God, whose care never
ceases, we come to You as we are. We are
tired from trying to do more than we can manage. We are anxious about problems which go
unresolved. We are worried about events
beyond our control. We do not easily let
go. For mistakes we cannot redeem, for
tasks left undone, for uncertain goals, we need Your forgiveness and ask for
Your understanding. For recovery of
strength and enthusiasm, we pray for Your Spirit. For fullness of life, generous hearts, and
contented souls, we pray to be followers of Christ. In Your mercy, restore us and lead us. (Silent prayers are offered) AMEN.
Assurance of Pardon
L: There is no chasm that cannot be bridged,
no loss that cannot be recovered, no mistake that cannot be forgiven, no life
that cannot be redeemed – by the grace of God in Christ Jesus! In the eyes and heart of God, you are
forgiven.
P: Glory be to the Holy One who can make all
things new. Alleluia!
Gloria Patri
Affirmation of Faith/Apostles’
Creed
I believe in God the Father
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under
Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the
third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on
the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge
the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the
resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN
Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s
Prayer
God
of Creation, we give You thanks today for calling us into community, for
shaping us to be Your people of love, mercy, compassion, and kindness. We ask that You would hold this church firmly
in Your hand, strengthening and guiding it to proclaim Your good news to one
another and to our community. Allow us
to proclaim Your Good News wherever we go in both word and deed. As the children head back to school, we ask
that You protect them. We ask that You
watch over their safety, watch over their studies, watch over their friendships
and activities. Be both comforter and
guide to them in their daily walk with You.
As the long days of summer come to a close, allow us time to reflect on
the eternal light that You offered us in Your Son, Jesus Christ who came to
teach us how to live better, more complete and whole lives. Allow us time to reflect on the meaning of
that light and life, the one You offered so freely to us, but at great cost to Yourself. Humble us Lord, when we think too highly of
ourselves while we think too lowly of others.
Instill a spirit of compassion in us to help those around us, to be Your
son’s hands and feet in our world today.
And as we pray this morning for our communities and for the world around
us, we are reminded of those whom we love who need to know of Your presence and
Your power, Your strength and Your will.
We
especially pray for …
Hear
and comfort us as we pray to You in silence…
Mold
us and shape us Lord to be Your Holly vessels of good will and good news as we
pray together saying…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 – I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord #441/405
Scripture Reading(s):
Exodus
3:1-15
Romans
12:9-21
Sermon
– God’s
Calling
There are Sundays when
I read all four of the lectionary readings as suggested for that particular
Sunday and wonder, for days and sometimes even for weeks, what in the world am
I going to preach about from these passages.
And then there are Sundays when all 4 lectionary readings are so filled
with possible content, that I’d prefer to stay on all of those passages for
weeks on end.
Today, is such a
Sunday – the Old Testament Reading from Exodus where Moses encounters God for
the first time, the Psalm reading for today is Psalm 105, one of my favorites,
the Gospel reading is from Matthew and is full of great quotes from Christ as
he explains discipleship, and today’s Epistle Reading from Romans is one of the
most eloquently written list of what we are to do as followers of Christ. For today’s readings I chose the Exodus and
the Romans passage.
Three weeks ago, I
went to Chicago to be part of the Parliament of the World’s Religions as a
workshop speaker. Up until last year I
had never even heard of the Parliament.
But my friend and colleague Becky Cartus suggested that we submit a
proposal for a workshop based on my Sabbatical study. We worked on it together and sent in a
proposal. When it was accepted, I began
finding out a little bit more about this conference. I still wasn’t prepared for what I
encountered.
The Parliament of the
World’s Religions was first organized in Chicago in 1893; 130 years ago, as a
means for the Western Christian Church to meet and explore together what Christianity
and other world religions had in common.
One of the big surprises to those who attended was that all of the world
religions held the same values as important; love, honor, respect, compassion,
care, justice, joy, peace, and hope. One
hundred years later, it met again in Chicago, but this time with a mandate, to
seek ways that the World Religions could work together for a just, peaceful,
and sustainable world. Since then, it
has gathered 9 times all over the world.
The Parliament’s
vision is for a just, peaceful, and sustainable world in which religious and
spiritual communities live in harmony and contribute to a better world from
their riches of wisdom and compassion.
That religious and cultural fears and hatreds are replaced with
understanding and respect. That people
everywhere come to know and care for their neighbors. That the richness of human and religious
diversity is woven into the fabric of communal, civil, societal and global
life. That the world’s most powerful and
influential institutions move beyond narrow self-interest to realize common
good. That the earth and all life are
cherished, protected, healed and restored.
And that all people commit to living out their highest values and
aspirations.
The purpose of the
Parliament is to promote interreligious harmony, rather than unity. The problem with unity among religions is the
risk of loss of the unique and precious character of each individual religious
and spiritual tradition. Harmony, on the
other hand, is an attainable and highly desirable goal. Such an approach respects, and is enriched by
the particularities of each tradition.
Moreover, within each tradition are the resources that enable each to
enter into respectful, appreciative, and cooperative relationships with persons
and communities of other traditions.
And yet, understanding
this, I wasn’t prepared for what I encountered.
On the first day, there was a parade of the Parliament of the World’s
Religions. For the parade and for most
of the days of the Parliament, people in attendance dressed in their typical
attire as adherents to their faith. So,
it was easy to pick out the Hassidic Jews from the Roman Catholics, and from
the Buddhist monks. Those were religious
communities that I expected to be there.
But I was unprepared to also see standing next to or across from one
another; Mormon missionaries, Baptist preachers, Women Priests, Celtic Druids, Hare
Krishnas, Pagan Wizards, Scottish Highlanders, Japanese Taoists, and Moslem
Sikhs. It truly was a gathering of the
World’s Religions.
From day one I
wondered how it was possible for Mormon Missionaries or Baptist Preachers to find
common ground with Pagan Wizards or Moslem Sikhs. And yet, here they were engaging respectfully
with one another; shaking hands, hugging and kissing, laughing and joyously
celebrating their lives.
It was a week when
people set aside their differences to celebrate the core of their faiths that
drove them to engage one another with honor and glory in the hopes of bringing
about a better world.
Every religious
tradition and spiritual community that attended had the same heart, soul, and
spirit in mind, had the same core beliefs that governed their faith which we
read and listed from Romans chapter 12 in our Christian tradition.
“Let your love be
genuine. Love one another with mutual
affection.” No fakery here. Your love for one another has to come from a
genuine place in your soul. It has to be
filled with the same kind of love that God has poured out on us, knowing that
the other person is just as important, just as loved, just has cared for by
same the same creator that brought you into existence.
“Outdo one another in
showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be
ardent in spirit.” As the week
progressed, I became more and more enthralled with how people greeted one
another at the Parliament. Each person
sought to show honor to the other, to fully listen to their stories, to engage
with them on a level deeper than how windy it was in Chicago, or how nice the
opening ceremony had been. Each
conversation was deep and meaningful sharing stories of various faith
traditions or how to work together to resolve a problem. And it was all done with joy and zeal, with
spirit and compassion.
Paul then says in
Romans 12:12, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer,
extend hospitality to strangers.” One of
my most memorable experiences was attending a luncheon held each day by the Sikhs,
called Langar. Langar, short for Guru Ka
Langar, is a community meal that is served free to all – regardless of an
individual’s gender, caste, creed, social status, religion, or race. Langar is based on the principles of equality
and service to humanity.
Vegetarian food is
prepared and served by volunteers cheerfully and enthusiastically with no
expectation of a reward in return. Sikhs
believe that serving the hungry is to serve their Guru and, thus, their
Creator. The institution of Langar
started about 500 years ago with a simple, but gigantic act by Guru Nanak – the
founder of the Sikh faith. He was given
funds to start his business. Instead, he
bought food and served the hungry. He
referred to this noble act as “a true bargain.”
The tradition of serving Langar is followed by all Gurdwaras around the
world.
In 2004, when Langar
was served on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in Barcelona, Spain, it
became the talk of the town and was headline news in all of Barcelona. For several days many thousands of people
were served a delicious lunch by the Sikhs at that year’s Parliament.
Langar addresses many
social issues such as inequality, caste and class system, hunger, hatred,
discrimination, fear of strangers, ignorance, and helplessness etc… Anyone who wishes to partake in Langar is
asked no questions. Instead, they are
merely welcomed as they arrive and thanked when they leave. What happens between those two events can
sometimes be life-changing.
Having read the
scriptures two years ago with thoughts of my Sabbatical leave, I was drawn to
the passages in Scripture that talk about the sharing of food with one
another. I broke the passages down into
categories and I am more convinced than ever that Breaking Bread, Table
Fellowship, and the conversations that happen around a meal are life changing,
if we can approach one another in the manner that Paul calls on us as
Christians in this passage from Romans.
Evidently, that is the call of all faiths as witnessed at the Parliament
of the World’s Religions.
Let us all work
together to form a more just, compassionate, and peaceable world.
Thanks be to God.
AMEN.
Offertory –
Doxology –
Prayer of Dedication –
Lord, we ask that in the giving of these gifts,
we are shaped into a generous people. And
in the receiving, You will bless and multiply them. We ask this in the name that is above every
name, Your Son Jesus the Christ. AMEN
Closing Hymn – I Have Decided to Follow Jesus #602 Brown
Benediction –
Jesus has
called you and placed His trust in you.
Go into this world, bearing the words of hope and healing. Reach out to others in compassion. For it is in Christ’s name, that you are sent
out to serve. AMEN.
Postlude
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