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Sunday, July 4, 2021

Worship Service for Sunday, July 4, 2021

Worship Service for July 4, 2021

Here is today’s worship service in its written form. Click here (when highlighted) for the YouTube link for today’s worship service at Bethesda which will be posted after the service has been recorded and uploaded to YouTube.

You can join us for corporate, in-person worship at Olivet (9:45am) and Bethesda (11:15am).

Prelude

Announcements

Sounding of the Hour (at Bethesda only)

Call to Worship

L: Come! Listen to the Word of the Lord!

P: Help us receive God’s word and direction for our lives.

L: Proclaim the goodness of God’s love!

P: Let our voices and our actions be filled with love.

L: Come! Now is the time to worship.

P: Open our eyes, our hearts, and our spirits this day, O Lord.

Opening Hymn – Come, Thou Almighty King

Prayer of Confession

Merciful God, we hear the Gospel Message of love for all people, but sometimes we lack the conviction of caring for people who are different from us. Help us, Lord, to pay attention to the words and actions of Christ as He sent His disciples out into the world for healing and compassion. Forgive us when we turn our backs from those in need or respond with indifference. Remind us that success is not measured in the cures, but in the striving. Forgive us when we don’t strive strongly enough. Let us trust in Your power and presence with us. Guide our lives and our journeys all our days. (Silent prayers are offered) AMEN.

Assurance of Pardon

L: Do not be afraid of the derision of others. Place your trust in God’s call and guidance. Know that the Lord is with you always, even to the ends of the earth.

P: Thanks be to God. AMEN

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

God of wondrous love, you have touched us and never left us in despair. You have held us in our grief and chaos. You have never deserted us. You paid us a visit and your visit has never ended. You clung to us when we were given up for dead. In life and in death – you raise us anew; healing our diseases, calming our souls, binding up our hurting hearts, and restoring us each and every day. This we know! This we experience! This is your word of assurance to us!

God of wondrous love, God also of the thunderstorm and of the sun, we come before you grateful for your love – not understanding it but holding fast to it. We are in complete awe that you love us so much when we do not love either ourselves or one another; that you love us not only in our pain, not only in our rejoicing, but even in our confusion about love itself, about life and all of its trials.

God of wondrous love – your whisper heals our wounded knees and your song heals our frightened hearts, your love reaches deep within us and heals our very souls. We come before you and ask for healing. We ask that your healing, wondrous love come into our world which is in great need. We pray that it reach the victims of floods and fires, homelessness and joblessness, the victims of loneliness and pain. We pray, O God, that your wondrous love touch people in all corners of the earth, people whose names we do not even know, but whose very lives are as precious to you as our own.

God of wondrous love, we also pray for those whose names and lives we know so well. We pray for…

God of wondrous love, touch us again in this time, as we seek to listen as much as we want to be heard. In this time of silence reveal your truth and love to us.

God of wondrous love, we celebrate your blessings and proclaim your everlasting hope as we pray together …

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 – America, the Beautiful

Scripture Reading(s):

OT – Psalm 48

NT – Mark 6:1-13

Sermon –

Mt. Zion

(based on Psalm 48)

I’ve been a part of internet discussion groups nearly as long ago as the internet itself. Shortly after graduating from seminary, I joined the online service of PresbyNet and EcuNet – these were established a few years even before AOL existed. You dialed a number on your computer and received all the messages that others had left and were able to respond. I’ve loved that part of the internet and even social media, since the beginning, being able to discuss interesting topics with other people all over the world.

Well, one of the major discussions/debates among my colleagues on the internet this week was what to talk about this Sunday in regard to the lectionary passages and for our sermons. Of course, the biggest discussion starter was about whether or not to acknowledge the national holiday of July 4th/Independence Day or to steer clear of it. What message we’d send, what hymns we’d choice, what responsive readings we’d have, or what prayers we’d offer, etc…

There were some valuable and very interesting discussions. Some of my colleagues were leaning completely to the whole God Bless America, I pledge allegiance type of a worship service with Red, White and Blue banners, and Flag waving, etc… to the totally opposite extreme of not mentioning it at all, as if it was just another Sunday for us to be here in church worshiping God; and then there was everything in between those two polar opposite approaches. If you’ve known me long enough you might know where I fall on that spectrum, and today’s worship service might give you a clue, if you don’t. (If you need a hint; I fit securely in the center of that debate.) While I acknowledge nearly all national holidays in some way during worship – such as Thanksgiving, New Year’s, Memorial Day, Mother’s and Father’s Day, etc… I don’t generally center the worship service or sermon on them.

Thankfully, Independence Day or July 4th has fallen on a Sunday only 32 times in the last 245 years (I actually looked that up!) and only 5 times, including this Sunday, since I became a pastor 35 years ago.

Why do some ministers and congregational members steer clear of making any references to Independence Day on a Sunday morning, even if it falls on July 4th? Although there are probably multi-level answers to that question, probably the number one answer is the whole concept that we are here to worship God. We’re not here to worship country.

And we could ask the opposite question, as well; why do some ministers and congregational members expect national recognition in church on Sunday, especially if Independence Day falls on a Sunday? Again, there are probably multi-level answers to that question as well, but I think it boils down to a rather simplistic answer that many people truly believe that the United States has been divinely blessed as a beacon of Christianity to the rest of the world.

Here’s what I find fascinating and why I’m squarely in the middle of it all; it comes directly from our Psalm text today, Psalm 48, first verse:

“Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion in the far north, the city of the great King.”

Mount Zion was a physical place in Israel. Over the years, however, the name was used for three different locations – first the name was given to the Jebusite city on the lower part of ancient Jerusalem’s Eastern hill, also known at that time, as the City of David. As the newly conquered Jebusite city expanded to become Jerusalem, the highest part of the hill became the site of Solomon’s Temple and the name migrated to that section of the hill, generally referred to as the Temple Mount. However, there was a higher and more prominent hill in the area on the Western side of the city which by now had expanded and had included this hill, as well. It seemed to first century Jerusalemites that this was a worthier location for the lost palace of King David and so today, the Western Hill is now called Mount Zion.

There are references throughout 1 and 2 Samuel, Isaiah, and the Psalms to these physical locations, including a reference in our Psalm this morning that this hill was to the far north, which is true geographically, for the conquered lands of all Judea. But, these books also mention Mount Zion in a more metaphorical way to refer to the heavenly Kingdom of God or New Jerusalem, which is how Mount Zion is referenced in nearly all of the New Testament.

Why is this important? This psalm is a hymn to be sung and used during communal worship and Mount Zion. For the Hebrew people, it was a physical location of special importance which included a metaphorical reference to the more highly sought after Kingdom of God, where God would one day dwell, mentioned as early as Deuteronomy, with God’s people who would come from every town and nation.

Throughout history hymns have been written about holy cities. From the earliest records of Mesopotamia, cities were associated with various deities and hymns were written to honor them. The same is true of ancient Egypt where hymns emerged extolling the virtues of different gods that were associated with different cities. In this practice, the psalmist in Psalm 48 is doing the very same thing as the hymn writers throughout the ancient world.

It is no great stretch to see the very same practice take place for America. For hymns to be written and created to extol the virtues of a land and a people who believe themselves to be blessed by God as a beacon of Christianity to the world. It is simply history repeating itself. So, for the same reason that I have no problem with reading Psalm 48 during worship as part of our Scripture reading, I have no serious problem extolling the beauty and wonder of our own land and nation making the connection to God’s blessing upon it.

However, the danger in doing this comes from crossing a line. And it is a very fine line. The purpose of Psalm 48 was not to uplift Mount Zion as the purpose of our praise, but rather to use Zion as a pointing mechanism for where the true adoration lies. In other words, it is the indirect object that points to the subject. If you notice, the Psalm begins with “Great is the Lord and greatly to the praised” and ends with, “Walk about Zion, go all around it, count its towers, consider well its ramparts; go through its citadels, that you may tell the next generation that THIS is God, our God forever and ever...”

We do cross that fine line when we flip the narrative and make the Mount the object of our praise or if we make America our praise and many, unfortunately, have done just that. When we put country before God, when we flip that narrative (and it is so easy to do, when you’ve linked them that closely) we end up using God to justify the purpose of the nation, rather than using our nation and its resources for the purpose of God. It is one of the reasons why I prefer to not CENTER worship on this national holiday, (even though I have done exactly that this morning, in a way) but would prefer to simply make mention of it within the context of worship as I do with most other national holidays.

It is also one of the reasons why I prefer to use a different hymn on the Sunday closest to July 4th. We’ve used it in the past, but I want you to pay close attention to its words.

This is My Song

This is my song, O God of all the nations

A song of peace for lands afar and mine

This is my home, the country where my heart is

Here are my hopes and dreams, my holy shrine

But other hearts in other lands are beating

With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean

And sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine

But other lands have sunlight, too, and clover

And skies are everywhere as blue as mine

O hear my song, thou God of all the nations

A song of peace for their land and for mine

I like the words to this hymn, particularly because it doesn’t deny the wonder and virtual of a homeland, the blessing that God has for it, in fact, it praises them, but it acknowledges the truth that God is the God of all nations, that there is blessing and wonder in all of them and that God cares deeply for the hopes and dreams of others, too.

We are greatest when we look to God first, making sure that the narrative we offer does exactly that and not the other way around, using the resources and blessings that we’ve received in order to bless others, whether that is as an individual or whether that is as a group, a church, an organization, a community, a town, a city, a state, or a nation.

Offertory

Doxology

Prayer of Dedication

Gracious God, we have nothing to give You that You have not first given to us. Help us use Your gifts according to Your will in the service of Your children and in the name of Your Son. AMEN.

Closing Hymn – God of Our Fathers

Benediction

Go in confidence. Know that God goes with you to give you words of hope, comfort, and peace. May God’s love flow through you to all those whom you meet. AMEN.

Postlude

Sunday, June 27, 2021

Today's Worship Service - June 27, 2021

Worship Service for June 27, 2021

Here is today’s worship service in its written form. Click here (when highlighted) for the YouTube link for today’s worship service at Bethesda. Today’s sermon is a cross between a eulogy for my sister, Joy, and an attempt to be faithful to the meaning behind today’s scripture passage on generosity found in 2 Corinthians 8:7-15.

You can join us for corporate, in-person worship at Olivet (9:45am) and Bethesda (11:15am).

Prelude

Announcements

Sounding of the Hour (at Bethesda only)

Call to Worship

L: With the cross before us and the world behind us, let us follow the crucified and risen Lord.

P: AMEN. Lord, have mercy.

L: Those who would save their lives will lose them, and those who lose their lives for the sake of Christ will save them.

P: AMEN. Christ, have mercy.

L: We worship You, O Christ and adore You, because by Your cross You have redeemed the world.

P: AMEN. Lord, have mercy.

Opening Hymn – For the Beauty of the Earth

Prayer of Confession

We confess, merciful God, that we speak words of peace, but our deeds bring division. Our lips honor You, but our hearts are far from You. We are ready to trust You when life is peaceful and prosperous, but when the storms of life come upon us, we seek our security in the gods of power, money, and prestige. Forgive us and restore us, good Lord, that we may be Your faithful people and proclaim once again that You are a God full of mercy and compassion, for the sake of Christ. (Silent prayers are offered) AMEN.

Assurance of Pardon

L: There is healing in God’s forgiveness. God’s steadfast love has the power to redeem and make us whole.

P: Thanks be to God. AMEN

Gloria Patri

Affirmation of Faith/Apostles’ Creed

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

Healing Lord, there are so many situations we have encountered which require healing and restoration. We try to do the best we can, but we cannot rely on our own strength and skills to bring about the complete healing that is so desperately needed. Help us to place our trust in you. Help us to work effectively to promote situations of healing and hope. We have come before you with so many concerns on our hearts. There seems to be no end to the desperate needs of your people, O Lord. Yet you love and hear all of us as we pray. You surround us with your love and healing mercies. You lift us gently and give us courage to work for you in ministries of peace and love. We praise and thank you for all of this as we offer this prayer in Jesus’ Name.

In God’s amazing grace, God hears our every prayer. Now, with one voice, we pray together saying…

Hymn – Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

Scripture Reading(s):

OT – Psalm 130

NT – 2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Sermon –

Ode to Joy

(based on 2 Corinthians 8:7-15)

This past Christmas my sister gave me a book called, The Beauty of What Remains by Rabbi Steve Leder. I have a zillion of books on my “to read” list and was embarrassed in late February when my sister asked me if I had read it and thought whether it would be something she should read. A month later, after the shocking diagnosis that my sister’s cancer had returned and had metastasized, I finally picked up the book. In the prologue, Leder said that during his three decades of tending to more than a thousand grieving families, he had learned a lot about death, which in turn had taught him a lot about life. So, he decided to share his insights about the ways death gives meaning to life with his congregation. He said, “that sermon on death turned out to be the most popular sermon I have ever delivered from the pulpit”. Requests for copies poured in from all over the world which planted the seed to write a book. One year later, to the day when he delivered that sermon, his father died.

He remembered that his father would often say to him when trying to teach a life lesson, “Steven, where you are, I’ve been. You don’t know shit.” Leder says, “My father’s death forced me to realize that what I know about death and how it informs life was the result of seeing other families’ loved ones die – other families’ grief, not mine. Sure, I had seen a lot of loss, but vicariously, one degree removed from the truth. I was an experienced rabbi well-schooled in the craft of death. But my dad was right – you don’t know shit.”

Although I have officiated at hundreds of funerals myself over the course of my 30 plus years in ministry, before my sister passed away just over a month ago, the most recent and closest relative I had (my grandmother on my mother’s side) died 26 years ago. I realized as I prepared to watch my own sister die, Steven’s father was right in this life lesson; until it happens to you, “you don’t know shit.”

A few months after my grandmother died, I wrote a sermon called In My Grandma’s Garden about life lessons that she shared with me as we worked together in her garden. This morning, I’d like to share with you a little bit about what I’ve learned about life from my sister. Because I can say that I’ve learned a lot over the past two months; primarily about experiencing the death of someone you’ve known since birth, about someone you’ve been attached to your entire life, but also about someone I thought I knew, but didn’t actually know at all.

Let me tell you a little bit about my sister, Joy. She was two years younger than me, but we were always very close. As you can see in some of the pictures on display, our mom often dressed us in similar outfits and as we got older many people thought we were twins. Of course, we had our sibling rivalry and day to day squabbles as most brothers and sisters do when they are young; that completely disappeared when we became adults. But growing up and into adulthood we were always there for each other and were one another’s closest allies. We had similar interests and were involved in most of the same clubs and school activities. After high school, Joy attended the same college I did and lived just a couple of dorm rooms down the hall from me. From there our journeys diverged and we took different roads.

Joy began her career at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, working as an interpreter for the National Park Service for over 10 years. She was one of the few people in the world who learned to play Benjamin Franklin’s musical invention called the Armonica. I showed a picture of it in the first slide for today’s worship service. Glass bowls are arranged in descending size that spin by working a foot pedal. You then touch the spinning bowls with your fingertips like a piano to create a wonderfully haunting sound.

From her work at Independence Hall, she then became the System-wide volunteer coordinator for the National Park Service in Washington, DC, aiding every National Park in the United States to better utilize and increase their volunteer programs for over 16 years. And for the last few years had been working on Special Projects for the National Parks such as the newest national park called First Park in Delaware and the Harriet Tubman Museum/exhibit.

Some things that I didn’t completely know about my sister, as I’ve been going through her files and archives that she kept, was how extensively well-known she was throughout the United States. How many of the National Parks she had traveled to and how she even helped some European Countries like Germany begin similar volunteer programs. I found a file of national magazines with tabs in them, thinking that perhaps she had bookmarked an article or two that she wanted to read. Opening them up, I found articles written in Times and Newsweek not about articles she wanted to read by instead about my sister for helping create a national volunteer movement called volunteer.gov. I knew that she had earned her CVA in 2012, which is a Certificate in Volunteer Administration which just sounds like a nice certificate of achievement. But again going through her files, I realized that this was more like a full-blown master’s degree program regardless of what it was called. She was often sought out to sit on various boards and especially enjoyed her time sitting on the board of the Audubon Society where she helped conceptualize many of the exhibits on display. Two years ago, one of the last things Mom, Joy, Walter and I had done together was to have a behind the scenes tour at the Audubon from the director. The last amazing thing I learned about my sister as I went through her bank statements and checkbook was about her generosity. She gave so much of herself to so many organizations and she did it with both her heart and her resources.

And that’s where today’s scripture reading and my sister’s life converged for me. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in his second letter to them stating how eager they had been to help in giving to the various ministries that they had learned about. How Paul had introduced them to needs in other parts of the world and how important it was for them to give and how eager they had been to do so. The problem was that they seemed to be all heart, but no resources had been forthcoming, that their generosity stopped after they showed interest and concern for the welfare of the ministries elsewhere. Paul was urging them in verse 11, “now finish what you had begun.” In other words, don’t just be eager to do it, or be generous in spirit alone, but let your physical or financial resources follow your heart’s desire and eagerness to help.

My sister, Joy, a name that she truly lived into, led a life of generosity in heart but also in resources. She gave of herself from the core of who she was. Her smile and infectious laugh would light up a room, an event, an occasion. When you were in her company, she always made you feel like you were the center of her world, the most important person in her life. But it was never just skin deep or for the moment, it was heart deep and genuine. She would always follow up with someone if she heard about a person’s worry or concern, illness or struggle. And she followed through financially, too, helping many organizations with her resources. One of my sister’s passions was bicycle riding and she found a way to turn that into a way to help charities. When she was healthy, she rode every day that she could for charity, logging thousands of miles to help organizations in need. What is truly fascinating about this, is that I never fully knew the extent of her gracious and generous heart that she gave to the world. What I learned about my sister was that she was humble in spirit about it all. She never expected earthly accolades for all that she did. Partially because I think she already knew that her reward was waiting for her in heaven. However, I do want to mention that we devalue or overlook the gifts of so many people because of their gender, race, disability, age, orientation, or heritage or for so many other reasons.

The point of today’s lesson about my sister and Paul’s letter to the Corinthian Church is that I urge you to look around and see the gifts that others offer the world. How they have let their passions become a catalyst for good work to be done in helping others. The bounty of gifts they bring to the table, the resources they offer in spades to the needs around them. The world is rich with generous, creative, talented and awesome people like my sister and let them be your model for living a life full of heart and soul, but also full of giving as well, for they have indeed done what Paul urged the people of Corinth to do, “They have finished what they had begun.”

Offertory

Doxology

Prayer of Dedication

Gracious God, we thank You for our present abundance and for the generosity You have bestowed upon us. Keep us faithful in caring for one another with the blessings You offer us on a daily basis. We thank You for the assurance of Your love. May all these gifts be a blessing to those in need. AMEN.

Closing Hymn – How Great Thou Art

Benediction

Christ’s touch has healed you. God’s love has restored you. God’s generosity continues to be a blessing to you. Go in peace to share the joy of God’s love. AMEN.

Postlude

Sunday, June 20, 2021

Worship Service for June 20, 2021 - Happy Father's Day!

Worship Service for June 20, 2021

Happy Father's Day

Here is today’s worship service in its written form. Click here (when highlighted) for the YouTube link for today’s worship service at Bethesda.

You can join us for corporate, in-person worship at Olivet (9:45am) and Bethesda (11:15am).

Prelude

Sounding of the Hour (at Bethesda only)

Call to Worship

L: In the midst of life’s storms, God is there.

P: What have we to fear?

L: In the darkness and terror, God is with us.

P: Of whom shall we be afraid?

L: Rise up, people of God for you are loved and saved.

P: Thanks be to God who cares deeply for us. AMEN

Opening Hymn – This is My Father’s World

Prayer of Confession

God of love and power, we listen to the stories of miracles and doubt that these things can happen today. We look at the waves of misfortune, distress, misery, distrust, and anger and wonder how we can still those waves. We feel the pressures of power and fear flooding into our lives, threatening to drown us and wonder where You are. Forgive us for the smallness of our faith. Forgive us for our doubts. Help us place our trust in You, Lord. Help us fix our eyes on You and on the ministries to which You have called us. For we ask these things in Jesus’ name. (silent prayers are offered) AMEN.

Assurance of Pardon

L: Fear not! God is with us, stilling the storms and raging fears in our lives. Place your trust in God always.

P: We trust our faithful God and believe. AMEN.

Gloria Patri

Affirmation of Faith/Apostles’ Creed

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

Lord of wind and water, of calmness and peace, be with us this day. Calm our fears as we face uncertain futures. Help us relinquish control and place our trust totally in You. Remind us to continue to faithfully work for good, with gratitude for the many blessings You have poured upon us. When the waves and torrents threaten us, let us again turn to You, remembering Your saving mercies and love. Give us courage to become disciples who can calm the seas of doubt and anger, bringing hope and peace. Gracious God, plant a mustard seed of faith in us so that we can flourish in the midst of difficult times. Allow that seed of faith to grow continually in our lives.

Lord, we give You thanks for Fathers and Father figures in our lives this day as we celebrate their work and example among us, as they planted the seeds of wisdom, courage, faithfulness, care, compassion, and strength in our own lives. Allow them to celebrate this day in honor and gratitude for Your work in their lives.

As we have brought before You situations that require help and healing mercies, remind us again that You are with each person and situation, offering Your love and mercy. We thank You for the many ways in which You have healed us. For all the goodness You have poured on us, we offer prayers of gratitude and love, as we pray for….

In God’s amazing grace, God hears our every prayer. Now, with one voice, we pray together saying…

Scripture Reading(s):

OT – 1 Samuel 17:4-11, 32-49

NT – Mark 4:30-41

Sermon –

A Storm and a Seed

Mark 4:30-41

I’m deeply indebted to Rev. Kerra English for the idea of today’s sermon, which in large measure she offered to her own Presbytery as source material. In the book, Imagining the Small Church: Celebrating a Simpler Path by Steve Willis, he writes in the introduction that this “book boasts no ten or fifteen steps to a successful small church. Instead, I hope to encourage you to give up on steps altogether and even to give up on success, at least how success is usually measured. I also hope to help the reader imagine the small church differently; to see with new eyes the joys and pleasures of living small and sustainably.”

I keep reading over and over how the church was in trouble long before the pandemic hit and now how we are seriously in trouble – as if we are, right now, out on the lake with Christ, in the midst of the storm.

So, with what do we measure a church’s success? What metrics do we use to describe it? As Presbyterians, we tend to be less chatty than some other denominations about the number of souls we’ve saved, but we still measure our vital statistics in the number of people in the pews and the number of dollars in our banks. At the end of the year the Presbytery wants to know and the Office of General Assembly Statistics wants to know, and even in casual conversations at gatherings, that is the question I’m always asked, how many members do you have or how many people attend your services. Larger numbers must mean better success, and dwindling numbers must mean failure, or maybe even death. How in the world will we keep people coming to church?

The notion that Christianity is dying, that if we don’t start growing soon, we will pass from simply being irrelevant to being non-existent sounds scary, but I need to tell you that it has been selling books and workshops to anxious pastors for all of the 35 years I’ve been in ministry.

Will we grow or will we die is the question that gets posed as if the numbers are the ONLY story of the church’s relevance. And the next move is then to ask already stressed-out pastors, “What steps are YOU going to take to save the church? I have seriously read every, five step, nine step, twelve step book to a successful church. The truth is, there are no steps – other than one foot in front of the other. There is no solution – only a deeper dive into the vulnerability of BEING the church wherever it is that we happen to be planted. Jesus isn’t the one calling us to save the church. Let me propose instead that Jesus calls us to simply BE the church, over and over and over again. To plant seeds, to share story, to try and live just a bit more ethically, morally, and thoughtfully for the welfare of other human beings.

“With what shall we compare the kingdom of God? What parable shall we use for it?”

The answer wasn’t “the kingdom of God is like a profitable corporation.”

The answer wasn’t “the kingdom of God is like a sold-out auditorium.”

The answer wasn’t “the kingdom of God is like receiving a huge financial windfall.”

The answer was, “the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.” A What???

A MUSTARD SEED.

The kingdom of God is like a tiny seed that is planted so it can grow. Then when it does grow – it becomes a home, a nest, a habitat for a variety of birds who will come and go as they please.

If we want to grow like the kingdom of God, like the community of the faithful that Jesus was talking about, we cannot let those articles or event statistics about being a dying church scare us. Fear not, my friends. We have to embrace that the church will hold a thousand funerals, bury what “used to be,” and do so willingly. If Christians can’t talk about, let alone, embrace the power of endings to give rise to something new – what’s the point of the Passion narrative exactly? This is our story. This is where we shine. They thought Christ was dead. They buried him. Jesus told his followers over and over again that the ending was necessary, that it had a purpose, that it was indeed essential to the story, but they didn’t really know, couldn’t actually imagine that he would have to be buried, planted in the earth to die, but then rise again.

I remember when I first started at Olivet in 2007 when we had our first conversation about being a dying church. Everyone was looking at the numbers, and as is the case in most small congregations, the numbers painted a grim story of limitations. There could only be a few more years of paying a full-time pastor and Olivet would face immediate financial struggles. There were no children actively involved in the church. Congregational members were discouraged. Fears that we might die were at the forefront of everyone’s thoughts. In the midst of those fears, Olivet went to part-time ministry which is now a partnership with another congregation, Bethesda. Bethesda went through the same anxiety at about the same time period, as well. And yet fourteen years later, fourteen years later, we are all still here – you, me, and them. We are still living the very same reality we were living fourteen years ago. The fearfulness of being caught up in the storms of life and being capsized by the waves of death remains a fact, a truth, a reality, but you know what? So does living, so does the resurrection to something new remain a fact of the gospel message. We are here only by the grace of God. It’s time for us to embrace that and truly live into it.

There are lots of assumptions we have to bury about success, but as we bury them, what we’re really doing is planting seeds of faithfulness, of trust in the living God to do something with our resources. Ok, so we can’t be the church we were in 1950 or 1970 or even in 2019. From this day forward it’s more important to be what we can be. To simply BE the church. By letting go of past expectations, we’ll find Christ stilling the waters of anxiety and we will start to fling mustard seeds everywhere.

As we continue to face new challenges (and believe me, there will be more) we will need to start to think about success in new ways. It won’t be the same old metrics or the same old script. To boost our numbers or fail as a church. The growth will be in spirit of those who are here, who have been in the boat with Christ, who have planted the mustard seeds in the neighborhood, in authentically embracing what we can be, not fuss about what we can’t be.

Valuing productivity and proliferation as what it means to be “successful” amplifies a cultural message, not a spiritual one. For our small church to not just exist but to thrive – we have to quit believing in the message that our numbers are what tell the story of our ministry. That message becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. If God has truly planted us where they are – than let us celebrate the mustard growing right here where the local birds can make their nests and learn to fly. Let us be like the mustard seed. Bury the church as it “used to be” and watch what might grow up in that place. I know that is a scary proposition. I know that the storms of doubt will inevitably come when we embrace that idea. But we are not in the boat alone. Christ is there beside us to calm our fears, to quiet the waves of doubt.

We need to give the church, at large, with the capital “C”, a new message – a lesson in actually BEING the church. The size and impact of a congregation will not be measured by butts and bucks, but by the size of our hearts and our love of Christ for others. It will be measured by the Spirit of a people who sat terrified in the boat of doubt, but watched as the Lord calmed our fears, while we then planted a mustard seed of faith and embraced the resurrection of new life.

Thanks be to God. AMEN.

Offertory –

Doxology

Prayer of Dedication

Almighty God, from whom comes every good and perfect gift; we give You praise and thanks for all Your tender mercies, for Your creative spirit that breathed our very lives into us, for Your earthly bounty that springs forth and sustains us, even for Your discipline that corrects us, for Your patience that holds us, and for Your love that redeems us. Give us the boldness to share Your love with others and the joy of thankfulness in all these gifts. We offer them to You in service. AMEN.

Closing Hymn – The God of Abraham Praise

Benediction

As the Lord has given to you such peace and healing, now go into the world offering God’s love and hope to others. Go in peace and remember that God goes with you. AMEN.

Postlude

Sunday, June 13, 2021

Worship Service for June 13, 2021

Worship Service for June 13, 2021

Prelude

Announcements –

Now that we are back in our sanctuaries for worship, we are going to try something new and stream the entire service onto my YouTube Channel. As this is a test run, I’m not sure how successful it will be. And it won’t be done until later today (after the service has completed).

So, in case it doesn’t work, I’ve copied the entire service in its written form and you can read it, or come back later today and clickhere (when/if this highlighted) to open the YouTube clip of the entire service.

Sounding of the Hour

Call to Worship

L: Friends, let us rejoice! Proclaim God’s presence!

P: Let our voices raise together in everlasting hope and joy! God is with us!

L: Our savior, Jesus Christ, offers us lessons in living and serving.

P: All our days we will praise and thank God for God’s love and mercy.

Opening Hymn – O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing

Prayer of Confession

Patient Lord, You know how we are. We let frustrations and worries of our lives overcome us. Our hearts seem to buckle under the weight of anger and confusion. And we turn away from You, sure that You can do nothing to alleviate our strife. How foolish we are! How faithless we are! Please forgive us. Help us learn that You are actively involved in our lives, not as a “puppet master” but as a creative co-worker, seeking healing and hope not only for each of us, but for the whole world. Make us into disciples of peace and compassion; for we ask this in Jesus’ name. (silent prayers are offered) AMEN.

Assurance of Pardon

L: Let go of your fears and doubts. God pours God’s love on you, in you and through you to others. Be at peace this day.

P: We give thanks to God for God’s steadfast love. AMEN.

Gloria Patri

Affirmation of Faith/Apostles’ Creed

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

Mighty and Holy God, we are thankful for the life you have given to us and for your renewing Holy Spirit that meets us with challenge and comfort. Thank you for gathering us here with others who share faith with us. We pray for the community of faith, that we may be instruments of peace on earth. Guide our church and all believers around the world to extend the grace of Jesus Christ through service and commitment to faith and understanding.

Make us mindful of those from whom the goodness and abundance of your creation are hidden; of those who have been dispossessed from their homes and lands; of those unable to find food and bread. Strengthen our hands to reach out to those living in fear and in the shadows of violence. Give us your Holy Spirit to turn our wishes for justice into expressions of concern. Make our prayers into efforts on our own part towards justice and grace.

We lift up to you our requests for healing, comfort, compassion and understanding for our neighbors and loved ones. We especially prayer for….

And in silence we offer up to you our deepest prayers that we cannot find words to express. Enter, O Lord, into our hearts and hear us…

In God’s amazing grace, God hears our every prayer. Now, with one voice, we pray together saying…

The Lord’s Prayer

Scripture Reading(s):

OT – Psalm 20

NT – 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17

Sermon – “Walking By Faith, Not By Sight”

Walking By Faith, Not By Sight

(based on 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17)

The author of the this second letter to the Corinthian church makes an analogy early on in the passage we read today. We walk by faith, not by sight. Most people walk by sight; with our eyes, so that we are able to see what is before us. Our eyes keep us from stumbling and falling. It is our eyes which keeps us from walking off a cliff. Most of us can be thankful that we live, day by day, by sight.

Many will then conclude that only what we see and what we touch is real. In fact, this reminds us of the disciple Thomas who was not among the rest of the disciples when Jesus first appeared to his friends after the resurrection, doesn’t it? For Thomas said, “I will not believe unless I put my hands in his wounds and touch them.” A week later Jesus appears again and says, “Go ahead, Thomas, put your fingers in the marks of the nails, put your hand into my side. Touch my wounds; see that I am real.” When Thomas does so and exclaims that Jesus is the Lord. Jesus says to him, “You believe because you have seen, but blessed are those who believe who have not seen.” So, in the church, we suggest that there is more to this world than what meets the eyes.

In philosophy, the matter of the senses leads to very interesting conclusions. Philosophers from the days of Descartes have questioned what we see and what we touch. In his famous illustration, Descartes saw a stick in a pond stuck down into the mud. Where the stick touched the water, it appeared to be bent. His eyes told him the stick was bent. But when he pulled the stick out of the water, the stick was not bent at all, it was straight. If our eyes can tell us that the stick is bent when indeed it is actually straight, how can we really trust our eyes? Because of that, Descartes concluded that we cannot trust our senses.

A similar experience comes when we view optical illusions. Recently, I looked at a set of illusions that a friend sent to me by email. The first set contained a series of geometric patterns that appeared to be swirling and moving. But when I focused on an individual set of dots, they clearly were not moving at all. The eyes deceive us when we look at optical illusions.

This kind of philosophy leads to the point of view of the box office hit movie, The Matrix, starring Keanu Reeves in which humans were connected by electrodes to a computer. An entire alternate world was created by electrical impulses to the brain. It’s actually an idea straight from Greek philosophy and many science fiction movies and stories are based on that premise. Philosophers and science fiction writers alike conclude that we cannot prove by the senses that we are not just a brain in a vat.

Well, Philosophy can take us only so far with logical conclusions. In the church, we believe in something more than that, for in religion we say, “We don’t live by sight alone, but by faith.” We believe there is more to life than just what we see. Some people insist that they don’t believe in anything that they can’t see and touch. It’s a point of view which leads ultimately to atheism. That seems to make sense until we realize that walking only by sight means we will never believe in faith, hope, love. There is no tangible way to touch or see those things. There is evidence of them, but you cannot physically touch hope. You can visibly see faith. There is more to life than what we see and what we touch.

Paul says, “Walk by faith and not by sight.”

Similarly he says that “our home is with the Lord, and not just the body.”

When someone asks me, “Where is your home,” I would normally respond, “645 Maple Lane,” because that’s where my house is. That’s where I go after work each day. But is that really where my home is? I like the saying often put on refrigerator doors, “Home is where the heart is.”

Paul says, “My home is now in the body, but my real home is with the Lord.” In Philippians 1:23-24 he says, “I don’t know what I will choose. But I am in a dilemma between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Yet, to remain in the flesh is more needful right now for your sake.” However for Paul, his home, his heart was really with God.

In our passage for today, we find both of those phrases––”at home in the body” (v. 6) and “at home in the Lord” (v. 8). But where is our home?

Paul was in prison for a time in the colony of Philippi. After the area was conquered by Rome, the town was made into an outpost of the empire. They imported Roman government and Roman culture to transform the town of Philippi into being just like Rome.

Paul takes that same idea and suggests that we are to make our place on earth as much like heaven as we can. Our real citizenship lies in the Kingdom of God, but we are here on earth as resident aliens. We are not really citizens of the United States, but citizens of heaven. Our home is with the Lord. Our calling is to make the area around us like the Kingdom of God. Our home is with the Lord; not in the body.

Although verse 12 was not part of today’s lectionary reading, the end of verse twelve reads, “So that you may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance and not in the heart.” In the literal meaning of the phrase, “outward appearance” means “the face.” Do we judge people by the face or by the heart? Do we live by outward appearance or by the heart? Perhaps, it is just another way of asking do we live by faith or by sight?

The Bible tells us in many places that God judges by the heart. In our afterschool program at Olivet we used to use some rather revealing plays written by Stephen James that brought the biblical story to life for our grade school kids. One week we were learning about the shepherd David who was to become king of Israel. Samuel came to the house of Jesse and said that one of his eight sons would be the new king. One by one, Jesse paraded his older sons before Samuel, only to be rejected.

In Stephen James’ play, we acted out this story with a little humor. He suggested in the dialogue that the youngest son, David, was out caring for the sheep and may not have looked like much or smelled like much on the outside. One by one, the children pretended to be the older sons. Jesse, the father, bragged about each one and exclaimed what a fine specimen his son was. The child playing Samuel asked if this son had a bath last night, and each said, “Yes.” Samuel asked if they had brushed their teeth this morning, and they each said, “Yes.” But God rejected each one.

Then the volunteer who was David came forward and admitted he hadn’t had a bath in a month, and hadn’t even brushed his teeth. But God looks on the heart and not the outside and David was selected as the next king. 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “But Yahweh said to Samuel, ‘Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for I see not as human beings see; for humans look at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.'”

Ours is a faith of the heart. We are called to look at the heart of other people. And we are called to live by the heart. “Walk by faith, not by sight” (v. 7). That means we live by God’s guidance day by day. So, today, I want to recommend living by the heart. There is a value in living and making decisions by the heart. This heart-talk speaks of the Holy Spirit that communicates to us. Sometimes God leads us in ways beyond reason. Sometimes we just know something by our hearts.

But I offer a caution about the heart as well, because there are those who might commit horrible acts of violence and destruction against others and suggest that God spoke to their heart and told them to do that! Sometimes we simply use it as an excuse, do what we want, and then blame it on God. We mix up our desires and God’s desires. Living by the heart, if not carefully mentored in faith, can lead to a mash-up of wants and desires that stampede our lives toward base instincts rather than a higher form of living.

Paul offers a balance for this in verse 14-15, “For the love of Christ constrains us; because we judge thus, that one died for all, therefore all died. He died for all, that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who for their sakes died and rose again.” Our heart can be trusted as long as our hearts are anchored in Jesus Christ. There has to be some standard to guide our emotions. An abandoned ship on the water may wind up anywhere at the whims of the winds that blow. But if the anchor is thrown out, the ship may be blown in a circle, but it will never be far from the place where the anchor holds.

So, Paul would say for us to anchor our hearts in Jesus through our understanding of his life, death, and resurrection. When that happens we “no longer live to (ourselves), but to him who… died and rose again…” (v. 15). Then we desire to please God instead of ourselves. Because our hearts are not free to go with our desires, our wants. Our hearts are controlled by the love of Christ. Therefore, we lead lives of sacrifice and service to others. We live for God – by faith, not by sight, embodying our true home, not in the flesh, but rather making the world around us part of the Kingdom of God.

Offertory –

Doxology

Prayer of Dedication

Holy God, receive these gifts, we pray. Through our offering help us know in some surprising way that You are bringing into being something wonderful and new. AMEN.

Closing Hymn – Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee

Benediction

Life is a mystery. We walk entirely by faith. God calls us when we least expect it, inviting us to be in Christ. Walk out into the world, knowing that you are part of God’s life-giving new creation. Go in peace. AMEN.

Postlude