10th. July. 2022. Service.
Inverkeithing Parish Church linked with North Queensferry Church
Worship 10th July 2022
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Prelude
“When morning gilds the skies”
Bible Introit Hymn 802 “We are here to praise you”
Collect:
O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Hymn 124 “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”
Come to God with confidence and expectation.
In you, O Lord, we place our trust.
Ask God to show us the road to follow.
Lead us, O Lord, into your truth and teach us your way.
Place your hope in the Lord who is our salvation.
We worship our God with faith, hope and trust.
Prayer
God our Father, it is our joy and privilege to come together in your holy presence this Lord’s day to offer our worship and to connect in fellowship with your people in heaven and here in this sanctuary. May the presence of your diving Spirit refresh our souls and inspire and elevate our worship into a loving sacrifice worthy of your goodness and glory.
Our hope is in you, Lord, our hearts belong to heaven. Our hope comes from the gospel,
the word of the truth that you have revealed to us in Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.
May that word bear rich fruit in our lives. Let the whole world be filled with your hope and let the darkness of these days be lightened by the experience of your love and grace.
As we grow in faith, help us to understand the breadth of that love and comprehend your grace, O Lord that its transforming power may shape us into the likeness of Jesus and prepare us to serve you as we reach out in love to our neighbours whoever they may be.
Prayer of Confession:
Lord, sometimes we are confused. We hear the bad news continually on television, radio, in the newspapers and magazines. The whole world seems to be shrieking in pain. Innocent people are being hurt and destroyed by the whims of the wicked. Disease and pestilence are raging in too many parts of the world. We turn an indifferent ear to the cries of others, often because we are so overwhelmed by the needs and feel helpless in the face of such chaos. We close our eyes. We walk away, often crossing over to the side of self-importance and indifference because we are afraid to become involved. Our society is quick to sue and slow to heal. We succumb to these pressures in our fear. Help us, O Lord. Heal our spirits as well as our bodies. Open our hearts and our eyes to see you, O Christ, that we may be empowered to serve rather than remaining in apathy. Forgive us, Lord, forgive us. Make us truly ready to become your disciples and bring our prayers where we cannot be actively involved.
Words of Assurance:
Do not be afraid. God’s love is reaching out to you, to touch your hurt and wounds and to provide healing. Receive God’s blessing and be assured of God’s eternal love for you.
Lord of justice and mercy, we come to you this day seeking your healing and reconciling love. Help us to be open to your word, your presence, your compassion. Clear our hearts of those things which block your will. Keep us focused on your enabling power so that we, having been healed, may more fully serve you. In Jesus’ Name, we pray in the words he taught us:
North Queensferry
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 debts, as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever Amen.
Inverkeithing
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen
The Intimations
Highland Games
This year the highland games are taking place on Saturday 6th August. We are having a tent at the games park for the sale of rolls/ cakes/ teas & coffee & the Church will also be open from 10am to 2 pm for the sale of rolls/ hot pies/ cakes/ teas/coffee. We are looking for donations of cakes (which should be wrapped if possible), tablet, fillings for the rolls (there will be a list of suggestions in the Church), monetary donations towards the cost of the rolls & pies.
We are also looking for help on the Friday to fill the rolls, at the games park & in the Church on the Saturday & lists will be in the Church to add names, alternatively you can give your name or donation to Moira or Joan.
The Offering
God sent us Jesus Christ so that we would know God’s great generosity and compassion for us.
May the gifts we offer God bear witness to the saving power of this extravagant love in our lives.
Prayer of Dedication
God of the Samaritan’s kindness, we offer our gifts in hope, trusting that you will bless them to bring such kindness to others in Jesus’ name. Make of us ‘good Samaritans’ with the courage to be generous to neighbours and strangers for Christ’s sake. Amen
Reading
Amos 7: 7-17
7 This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 And the Lord asked me, ‘What do you see, Amos?’ ‘A plumb-line,’ I replied.
Then the Lord said, ‘Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
9 ‘The high places of Isaac will be destroyed, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined; with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.’
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: ‘Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. 11 For this is what Amos is saying:
‘“Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.”’
12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, ‘Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. 13 Don’t prophesy any more at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.’
14 Amos answered Amaziah, ‘I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.” 16 Now then, hear the word of the Lord. You say,
‘“Do not prophesy against Israel and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.” 17 ‘Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘“Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be measured and divided up, and you yourself will die in a pagan country. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.”’ Amen.
Hymn 21 “Lord teach me all your ways”
Here is a version of Psalm 45 which is like Psalm 25:
Luke 10:25-37
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 26 ‘What is written in the Law?’ he replied. ‘How do you read it?’ 27 He answered, ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind;” and, “Love your neighbour as yourself.”’28 ‘You have answered correctly,’ Jesus replied. ‘Do this and you will live.’
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’
30 In reply Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half-dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. “Look after him,” he said, “and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.”
36 ‘Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’ 37 The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’
Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise.’ Amen, this is the Word of the Lord, to Him be all glory and praise.
Hymn 250 “Sent by the Lord am I ”
Sermon
You have probably lost count of the times when you have heard a sermon on the Good Samaritan. And I have lost count of the times when I have preached on it! Familiar it is, but it’s core message is one that in these days of racism, sexism, political differences, resurgent hate, and anger is sorely needed.
Ministers tend to focus on the significance of the characters in the story whom Jesus deliberately made provocative to his audience as they embody a type of human behaviour that is sadly too common. We need to highlight these again, if only to remind ourselves of our own tendency to view others who are different from us from our own worldview filtered through our biases, prejudices, and fears. As we consider this, it is important that we keep in mind the essential point of the parable and that is Jesus expects us to be like the Samaritan, not in his belief systems or any of the things that set his people at odds with his Jewish neighbours who after all are Semitic kinsmen, descended from the same Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob but it what he did. The punchline of this story is strong: “Go and do likewise.”
To illustrate this commandment, I found a true story that illustrates this parable in the form of a sermon which is the bulk of what I have to say today. It does contain an exposition of the meaning of the characters
The late 1960s were a time of turmoil. The Vietnam War was raging. So were the angry protests on college campuses. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated, setting off a string of race riots in American cities. The land of the free was deeply polarized: and at the heart of the division was the vexed question of racial equality.
One of the places where racial discrimination was the most insidious was at public swimming pools. Since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it was illegal to bar African American people from public pools — but that didn’t stop some white Americans from trying. There were angry confrontations, beatings, even riots.
In 1969, a popular television personality took a stand — in his own characteristic way. Fred Rogers — a Presbyterian minister from Pittsburgh — had a huge national audience. Most of them were under the age of 5, although their parents were known to watch Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood, too, from time to time.
One of the regular characters on the show was Officer Clemmons, a kindly police officer who was African American. He was played by the actor François Clemmons. One day, Mister Rogers had a children’s wading pool brought into the part of the set that was the backyard of his house. He asked Officer Clemmons if he’d like to join him in cooling his feet in the wading pool.
The officer declined the invitation. He didn’t have a towel, he said.
No problem said Mister Rogers: he could share his.
So, Officer Clemmons sat on a chair, took off his boots and socks, rolled up his pant legs, and stuck his bare feet into the pool. The two men talked for a few minutes, swishing their feet around in the cool water. When it was time for Officer Clemmons to go, Mister Rogers handed him his own towel. After Clemmons had used it, Mister Rogers took the towel back and dried his own feet.
There were no political speeches, no denunciations of racism — just a simple demonstration for the preschool set (and their parents) that a black man and a white man sharing the same pool was perfectly ordinary.
It’s likely that Rogers had a Bible passage in mind as he wrote that episode: the story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. Remember how, in that story, Peter objects at first, just as Officer Clemmons did? He doesn’t want Jesus to wash his feet. But Jesus insists, and Peter, in the end, goes along with it.
Most of all, that TV episode was a living example of the Mister Rogers theme song: “Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won’t you be my neighbour?”
The good neighbour parable
Maybe Rogers was thinking, too, of the parable of the Good Samaritan. It’s a story we all know; it’s about the unlucky traveller who’s beaten up on the road, robbed and left for dead — and a priest and a Levite who pass by on the other side without helping him. Then, a Samaritan comes along. He tends to the man’s wounds, hoists him up on his donkey, takes him to an inn and cares for him there.
This parable’s often taught as a simple morality fable — with the last line, “Go and do likewise,” as the moral — but it’s a lot more than that. Consider the circumstances that caused Jesus to tell it.
Luke says, “A lawyer stood up to test him.” This lawyer is nothing like a lawyer of today. He’s got more in common with a seminary professor than an attorney. The man really is a religious law scholar. He’s a true believer who knows the law of Moses inside and out.
This man is certain this country-bumpkin rabbi from Galilee is no match for his towering intellect. So, he asks Jesus a condescending question, one any Jewish schoolboy could answer: “Teacher,” he asks, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus turns the question back upon him: “What do you read in the law?”
The lawyer’s in his own territory now. Jesus’ question is easy — an opportunity to demonstrate his learning.
He recites the familiar words of Deuteronomy: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind.”
Then the lawyer goes on to add a further thought: “And you shall love your neighbour as yourself.” It’s a brilliant theological move: to pair the words of the commandment to love God always — with the commandment to love one’s neighbour as oneself. (That one is found in Leviticus 19:18.) The lawyer’s just starting to pat himself on the back when this Galilean rabbi congratulates him on answering rightly. “Do this,” he tells the lawyer, “and you will live.”
“What nerve” — the lawyer thinks to himself — “this man presuming to inform me whether I am right or wrong! But, no matter, because, with this answer, I’ve got him right where I want him.”
The lawyer turns to Jesus and asks, “And who is my neighbour?”
They jump, in that moment, from Theology 101 to a graduate seminar. It’s an abstract theological question the most learned scholars of the law have been debating for centuries: “Is the love of neighbour limited only to the people of Israel?”
Some rabbis would say yes. Others would go a little further, declaring that the sojourners — those green-card holders from other lands, officially permitted to live and work in Judea — may also be classified as neighbours.
No one — but no one — among the learned elite of that time would dream of suggesting that the word “neighbour” also includes non-Jews who refuse to place themselves under the teachings of the religious authorities. But that’s exactly who the Samaritan in the parable is!
Jesus’ shocking definition of “neighbour”
It’s at this point — the point of the lawyer asking, “Who is my neighbour?” — that Jesus launches into the parable. It’s hard for us to realize, today, what a truly shocking tale it is. All his listeners take it for granted that God has established rigid boundaries that separate one people from another. For Jesus to make the Jewish man’s rescuer a Samaritan is more than just radical. It’s provocative, paradigm-busting — and possibly even insulting to the lawyer, who seems as shocked as anyone else.
The people of Jesus’ day would have heard the parable very differently. First, the traveller who’s stripped and beaten and left for dead — presumably a Jew — has lost a lot more in the robbery than merely his purse and robe. The man has lost his identity.
In a society as ethnically conscious as first-century Judea, this is a crisis of the first order. There this man is, lying unconscious by the roadside. The robbers have stripped him of his outer garments. This means he could be Jew, Samaritan, Roman — anyone. He’s “half-dead” — unconscious — so he can’t simply tell who he is. To anyone who happens by, the man is simply a generic human being.
Some commentators have tried to make the point that the priest and the Levite don’t stop to help him because, if he’s not dead, he very soon could be — which means they’d become ritually unclean by handling a corpse. This point is completely bogus because any rabbi would have taught that stopping to help an injured man is a higher moral priority than fulfilling a minor point of the purity laws.
Jesus gives no explanation why the priest and the Levite don’t stop. They just don’t; and, by failing to do so, they fail to fulfill the most cherished teachings of their faith, those having to do with compassion. This is not an anti-Jewish tale. The priest and the Levite, as individuals, fail to live up to the highest ideals of their own faith.
Springing the trap
Jesus does have another reason for casting a priest and a Levite into the parable. It’s to set his listeners up for a surprise.
It looks, at first, like he’s following a natural progression. First comes the priest — a senior religious official. Next comes the Levite — a slightly lower-ranking religious official. When it comes time to introduce a third passer-by, everyone would have anticipated the progression to be priest, Levite, Israelite. Like full professor, associate professor, assistant professor. Or captain, first lieutenant, second lieutenant.
Instead, Jesus throws them a ringer. It’s like a knight’s move in chess: two steps forward, one to the side. Rather than saying, priest, Levite, Israelite, he says priest, Levite, Samaritan.
It’s a hypothetical situation — and a brilliant one — and Jesus asks, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
The lawyer discovers he’s painted himself into a corner. Jesus has forced him to admit that the true neighbour of the injured traveller is none other than a hated Samaritan. (Only he can’t bring himself to utter the word “Samaritan.” The best he can do is mumble, “The one who showed him mercy.”)
Jesus has just exposed and overturned the exclusive, racist character of the lawyer’s fundamental beliefs. This lawyer has always viewed humankind as sorted into in-groups and out-groups: those who think and talk and act like him and those who don’t; those — he would be quick to add — who enjoy the Lord’s blessing and those who do not. What Jesus has done is to melt those religious class divisions before the man’s eyes — displaying humanity as one family, created in God’s image.
Mister Rogers’ enacted parable
Mister Rogers’ action, in pulling out that kiddie pool and sticking his own bare feet into it, alongside those of his friend, François Clemmons — then using the same towel to dry them off — is an enacted parable, in the fine tradition of Jesus. Rogers doesn’t end it by looking into the camera and saying, “Go and do likewise” — but he doesn’t have to. Because anyone watching a recording of that program — whether 4 or 40 — can easily connect the dots.
This week I heard a shocking story of the picketing of a local business because one of the employees was convicted of an assault. People objecting to this person being employed in a job serving the public. In their own way they are being like the lawyer and priest, judging another for their own reasons and their own outraged morality. Like the story of the woman taken in adultery, I wonder how many of them might be entirely innocent themselves. If justice was done in this case, why should others have anything to say? And it might take people with the courage to step out from behind self-righteousness, judgmentalism, and prejudice to reach out to people who have been convicted. I know that serious criminals need to be contained, but those who have served their penalty require not more judgment but compassion and mercy. These are more likely to prevent the repeat of an offence better than persecution.
All of us are called to look beyond our prejudices and preconceptions and be willing to recognise the image of God, the needy humanity of all of our neighbours, not just the ones like ourselves.
As Mister Rogers said,
Would you be mine, could you be mine: won’t you be my neighbour?
Amen.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Almighty and Everlasting God, you promised through your Son Jesus Christ, to hear us when we pray in faith and so we bring our prayers and concerns to you now: for the Church, the world and ourselves.
Father of All, we pray for the peace of your Church across the world, for our brothers and sisters in Christ who face the instability of persecution and religious oppression. We pray that they may one day enjoy the freedom we enjoy, to worship and praise you week by week. Give them the hope and strength they need to keep them firm in their faith. Lord in your mercy – Hear our prayer
Heavenly Father, hear our prayer for all your faithful people in their vocation and ministry. May they serve you in holiness and truth to the glory of your name. Bless all who serve you in ministry and eldership in our Presbytery and throughout Scotland may their service always be rooted in prayer, with the enabling power of your Holy Spirit. We thank you for the gifts you have given us both individually and collectively, praying that we may show love, by going the extra mile for those in need in our community. Help us to see others as you see them, so that your love and Kingdom can be revealed. Lord in your mercy – Hear our prayer
God of Compassion, we pray for all who are weighed down by the complexities of war, oppression, and violence, for those who live and die in poverty and hunger and those affected by extreme weather conditions. Guide the peacemakers and the decision makers, that they may make wise choices in accordance with your will.
We pray for your guidance to show us how to offer love and compassion to those in faraway places and ask for your blessing on all who risk their lives daily as they give practical and lifesaving help. We ask that your voice of calm and healing may be heard above all the suffering. Lord in your mercy – Hear our prayer
God of Mercy, we pray for those who are troubled by worries about employment, who struggle to put food on the table and those who have no permanent place to call home. Raise up people of vision to drive forward creative and new ways to offer practical and loving support and may those who receive their help, be aware of your love for them. Lord in your mercy – Hear our prayer
God of Healing, we bring before you all those who are suffering in body, mind, or spirit. We pray especially for people hospital, for those waiting for a doctor’s diagnosis, or on a waiting list for tests or surgery, for those recovering from surgery, for those in mental anguish and people who are searching for a purpose in their lives. Give strength to those whom you have blessed with the gift of healing and in a moment of silence, we bring before you now, everyone on our minds who are suffering today. Lord in your mercy – Hear our prayer
Holy God, we pray that you will be especially close to all who are nearing death and we give thanks that those who are now at rest in you, have found new peace and new life. Bless and comfort all who mourn the loss of a loved one, whether recently or whose anniversary approaches. In their time of grieving may they be aware of your constant loving presence. Lord in your mercy – Hear our prayer
Father, as we go out into this coming week, may we be filled once again with your Holy Spirit, loving our neighbour as ourselves, reaching out to those in need and so furthering your Kingdom here on earth.
Merciful Father accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
All Age Talk
Today our lesson is called, “Won’t you be my neighbour?”
An American minister had TV show that was very popular, “Mr. Rogers’ Neighbourhood.” He always started the TV show singing this song:
It’s a beautiful day in my neighbourhood
Maybe you’ve heard it. Who are some of your neighbours? Mr. Rogers called all the children and adults who watched him his neighbours. Really, Mr. Rogers saw all people as his neighbours. Do you like your neighbours? I hope so!
The Bible tells us that one time a lawyer came to Jesus and asked how he could have eternal life. Jesus answered him with a question: “What does the Bible say?” Jesus asked.
The man answered, repeating exactly what the Bible says: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbour as yourself.”
Jesus told the man, “You’re right. Do this and you’ll live.” But then the man asked, “Who is my neighbour?”
Jesus answered the man by telling a story about a Jewish man who was traveling from Jerusalem and was attacked by robbers and left to die. A Jewish leader saw him but walked right on by. Another Jewish man walked right on by, too. But a Samaritan man—someone who might’ve seemed like an enemy—had compassion when he saw the hurt man. He stopped, helped take care of the man’s wounds, and took him to a hotel. He even paid those who helped the man get better.
After the story, Jesus asked, “Which of these three men was a neighbour to the man who was attacked by the robbers?” What do you think?
The lawyer knew the neighbour was the Samaritan, even though Jewish people and Samaritans were kind of enemies. Jesus told the lawyer, “Now go and love your neighbour.”
Jesus wants us to know that all people in this world, kids and people we’ve never met, and ones we do know, are all our neighbours who we’re called to love.
God, Jesus taught us to love our neighbour. Help us to be a good neighbour to everyone we meet. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Hymn 544 “When I needed a neighbour, were you there?”
The Benediction
Place your hand in the hand of God. Go back into this world with complete assurance of God’s presence and love. Bring hope, healing, and peace to all whom you meet. Go in peace and may God’s peace be with you. Amen.
May God’s blessing surround you each day
Postlude: “O praise the Lord of heaven”