10th May 2020 Service.

Call to Worship

Do not let your hearts be troubled.
We are not troubled. We believe in God!

God’s house has many dwelling places.
Christ himself has gone to prepare a place for us.

We will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
For us, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

Let us worship God, made known to us in Christ Jesus.

The Collect for today

Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer of Adoration and Confession

Steadfast and loving God,
you are our refuge in times of trouble and our shelter when we are afraid.
We trust you before everything, the God in whom our lives are hidden.
In you we see our way forward and discover what is good and true.
In you we find abundant life.
Here we offer you our worship and love
the God who creates and gives life to the world,
the Son who preached the truth of the good news,
and the Holy Spirit who guides us, today and always. Amen.

Steadfast and loving God, we confess that while we know Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, we have often failed to follow him. We sometimes doubt his wisdom and truth. Rather than live the life he offers we carve out our own paths and pursue our own desires. In doing so we hurt others and ourselves. Give us grace and courage as we look at how we have lived our lives in the past week Forgive us for the many ways we have fallen short of your purpose for our lives. Give us a new resolve to follow Jesus, who continues to show us the way.

Assurance of Pardon

Friends do not let your hearts be troubled; know that, in Christ, you are forgiven. Accept God’s grace and forgiveness this day and extend it to others for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Prayer for Understanding

Gracious God, as we read the words of Scripture, open our hearts and minds with the gift of your Holy Spirit. By the Spirit’s power, move in us so that we follow your way more closely, know your truth more fully, and share in your gift of life more abundantly, through Christ, your Living Word. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer (in the words most familiar to you)

The Readings

Psalm 31:1-5; 15-16

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear to me,
come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
3 Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
4 Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.

15 My times are in your hands;
deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
from those who pursue me.
16 Let your face shine on your servant;
save me in your unfailing love.

John 14:1-14

14 ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.’

Jesus the way to the Father

5 Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’

6 Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.’

8 Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’

9 Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

1 Peter 2:2-10

2 Like new-born babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

4 As you come to him, the living Stone – rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him – 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:

‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’ 7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ 8 and, ‘A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’ They stumble because they disobey the message – which is also what they were destined for.

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Amen, this is the Word of the Lord, to Him be all praise and glory.

Sermon

I am going there to prepare a place for you.

I have had a book on my shelf now for almost fifty years. It is called, “A Place for You” by the Swiss physician and notable Christian counsellor, Paul Tournier. I have read most of his books and was impressed by one called “The Strong and the Weak,” and another which I still consult occasionally, “Learning to Grow Old.”!

In “A Place for You”, named for Jesus’ words in our gospel passage today, Tournier writes,

“The ideal place for the child is the family. The child who has been able to grow up harmoniously in a healthy home finds a welcome everywhere. In infancy all he needs is a stick placed across two chairs to make himself a house, and in which he feels quite at home. Later on, wherever he goes, he will be able to make any place his own, without any effort on his part. For him it will not be a matter of seeking, but of choosing.

There is, then a kind of law which recalls Christ’s thoroughly realistic words: ‘to him who has will more be given and he will have abundance but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away’ Matthew 13:12. He who has once had the experience of belonging in a place, always finds a place for himself afterwards.”

There are many, many people who have not had the experience of the foundation of a happy childhood home. Tournier illustrates this with the case of a young man who claimed to have a happy childhood, but on listening to him noticed that all his happy childhood memories were of events which took place outside his home. He came to the counsellor, because he had no sense of belonging and was constantly looking for a place for himself.

In another article I was reading about a minister who finds using the word “Father” in prayers difficult:

As I think about calling God “Father”, I am conscious of at least three groups of people in the worldwide church and also here in this congregation.

— There are some for whom the word “Father” is a most precious way of speaking with God.

— There are some for whom the word “Father” is more of a barrier, a real “turn off.”

— There are many who do not mind, either way, as long as we address God with a sense of holy intimacy, appropriate for those who have glimpsed God’s glory in Christ Jesus.

How can a pastor do justice to these three groups of people? How can one take seriously the pleas of one group without alienating the other groups?

He goes on to explain:

When I call God Father, I try not to think of my father but of the Father of Christ. That is the sole ground for understanding the Fatherhood of God. The lovely personality nature of Christ gives unique content to the word Father when used Biblically and in worship.

However, in my personal prayer and meditation, I rarely use the word “Father” for God.

Why? I find too much cross contamination in my psyche. My own role as a father is so flawed, my own dear dad was so patchy, that I do not find the word so helpful. No matter how hard we try to focus on the Father as revealed by Christ, feelings associated with my poor fathering, and that of my Dad, get in the way.

In public prayers and liturgies, I rarely use the word “Father”. Why? Because for some folk in the fellowship (like the man in one parish who in his childhood was terrorised by a brutal father, and like the woman who was sexually abused by her father) that word ‘Father” applied to God rakes up feelings which become a monumental barrier to prayer and devotion.

Yet, he goes on to write:

However, when it comes to Jesus and his use of “Father”, it is most important that we hear him. Jesus was revolutionary. He shocked the religious establishment with his use of the Aramaic “Abba”. This was the child’s word for a loving father; our nearest equivalent is “dad” or “daddy”. Abba carried the sense of tenderness, intimacy, joy and freedom in the presence of a most loving parent.

It contrasted with the blinding glory of the terrifying power and authority of Yahweh, which was held by many of his Jewish contemporaries. It also contrasted with the philosophical abstractions of his Greek contemporaries.

When we keep in mind that in the story of Zacchaeus, the tax-collector, Jesus says at the end: ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’ Luke 19:9-10.

A person who is lost cannot find his way home. Zacchaeus had lost touch with his family, his people, his heritage, when he sold them out to his love of money and his collaboration with the Roman invaders. In meeting Jesus, he was found and restored to his rightful people and family. The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost and take them home to their Father.

Whilst we must sympathise with all who find the language of the Fatherhood of God, and of a happy home, difficult to relate to, nonetheless the need for a place to belong is deeply embedded in our souls.

One of the things I have found most difficult about the experience of remembering the end of World War Two is the thought that so many people never came home, and so many others were displaced from their homes. This is still the experience of many refugees today, the hundreds of thousands who have left Syria or homes in Africa with no security, no refuge, no home to return to. What must that be like? Those who cope best are those who have a sense of belonging that they take with them, those who sense that they have an inner home that allows them to feel safe wherever they are.

Jesus disciples without exception had left their earthly homes. Indeed when he called them, he made it plain that he expected them to leave family and home in order to follow him 26 ‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even their own life – such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26-27. But that does not mean that they had no home.

When he was about to leave them, with great wisdom and foresight, Jesus spoke the most precious words in the Upper Room.

In my Father’s house are many rooms, if there were not, I would have told you … I go to prepare a place for you.

Jesus is assuring the disciples that they have a home that is assured, and that, though it may seem via a strange portal, he is going via the cross, the tomb and the resurrection to prepare that place for each of them.

One of the things Tournier emphasises in a chapter on the Biblical basis for “A Place for You,” is that in this life, the spiritual aspect of our stay here is a journey. From Abraham leaving Ur to go to the land of his promise, through the return to the land of promise by the exiles in Egypt, and again to the exiles in Babylon, and now the world-wide dispersion of the Jews, the message is the same. This is a journey a pilgrimage, not a permanent home.

There is a tension in the history of salvation between the God who is in Temple or Church, my temple, my church, and the God who is the God of the entire creation. We occasionally need to be disturbed in the comfort of our earthly homes and reminded that God is with us wherever, because as we are acutely aware today, there is no security in this life.

The disciples were about to be dispersed after that night. They needed a link to their true home, as we do. They were not only dispersed, they faced many challenging and life-threatening circumstances in the ministries they exercised, but they went willingly to seed the world with the Gospel which has come down to us, two millennia later.

Perhaps one of the most daunting aspects of facing death, especially in this season when saying good-bye is sometimes impossible, (and remember that Jesus was here saying good-bye in his earthly life), is the fact that we will leave our home, our family and all that is familiar: The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;16 the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. Psalm 103:15-16.

But we will go to our long home, where there is a place prepared for us, a place of ultimate belonging with those whom we love eternally. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Hebrews 13:14

This may seem very troubling, as Jesus words must have done to his disciples. But isn’t it true that many aspects of our life now are very troubling?

In my favourite Christian blog, Dancing with the Word, pastor Janet Hunt writes:

“My heart is troubled that on Monday morning I will gather at a cemetery (wearing my mask) with a handful of loved ones to commend into God’s tender care one who lived 100 years. The service will be outdoors and abbreviated. Family will not be able to gather close together around the casket. Chairs will be kept at a minimum. Many will not be allowed to come at all.

My heart is troubled that too many are not taking this virus seriously and are putting others at risk…

My heart is troubled at the countless inequities this pandemic has uncovered in our society — inequities which have always been there, but which my own hardened heart had been unable or unwilling to see — or at least to think about for very long.

Indeed, my heart is troubled that too, too many are forced to choose between earning a paycheck and endangering their own health or that of loved ones.

And yes, so very close to home, my heart is troubled as I start to consider what gathering in worship may look like when and if it is even possible.”

Janet comes through when she concludes: I came to a deeper understanding that the ‘dwelling places’ (or as some of us learned it first, ‘the mansions’) which Jesus promises now are not about physical structures, but about the relationship we share with God — even now. (Might, I daresay, not even about the church buildings we so love and cherish, but about the relationships which have been nurtured there: With God, yes. With one another, to be sure. And all for the sake of the world.”

And, speaking about ministering in the time of Covid-19:

I am comforted in the promise that the way of Jesus is also so very much more than just walking towards suffering down a hospital corridor. The Way of Jesus is and always has been one of kindness and generosity, of looking out for the weakest and the lowest, of raising up the poor and the suffering. And is there a more pertinent time than now to be and do all of this? Even if we have to do it in new ways, is there a better time than now?

We are all pilgrims on the way, but our lives are, as St Paul tells us, hidden with Christ in God, Colossians 3:3. When we go with Him on the Way, we will never be far from home, we will never be lost, for our Place is in Him.

After all, He promised that He Himself is the Way we must walk, relying on Him, believing His Truth and living His Life, and that when we have done so, He Himself will come again and take us to Himself, that where He is we may be eternally, in God’s place for us. Amen.

Invitation to the Offering

While the season of Easter continues to unfold, the gifts of spring also remind us of God’s generosity in Christ and in creation. As we present our gifts this morning, may our generosity reflect God’s goodness to us and the hope for abundant life in Christ Jesus.

Prayer of Dedication

Generous God, we bless you for your gift of life renewed through Christ’s love and through springtime growth in fields and gardens. Bless the gifts we bring to you. May they offer hope and renewal in the world you love as we serve in the name of your greatest gift, Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord. Amen.

Prayers of thanksgiving and intercession

God of power and might, who raised Jesus from the dead,
you free our hearts from trouble
and prepare a place of joyful belonging for all your children.
And thus, we thank you for your promise and your peace which we need so desperately these days.

In Christ, we know you as the way.
You deliver all who turn to you in moments of challenge or uncertainty.
We pray for those who feel lost or alone,
those who live with great anxiety and doubt
and any who are fearful of what tomorrow might bring.
(Silence for 5-10 seconds)
God of the Way, open the eyes of those who are struggling
so that they can see that there is a new way filled with hope for them,
with the promise of rest and renewal.

In Christ, we know you as the truth.
You reveal the falsehood and lies that ensnare us in these confusing times.
We pray for those who have put their faith in false hope and facile promises,
those who are deceived by the fabrications of the power hungry
and any who are misled by the distortions and twisted claims which circulate each day:
(Silence for 5-10 seconds)
God of the Truth, reveal the shallowness of all the things that distract or mislead us
And enable us to see what is true.

In Christ, we know you as the life.
You promise to overcome everything that is rooted in death and decay
by your resurrecting power.
We pray for people who struggle with illness or grief
and all who live with deep sadness, depression, or hopelessness.
We pray for those for whom each day seems like a chore,
and those for whom opportunities for a fulfilling life are cut down by acts of discrimination or the loss of all that seemed secure only a few weeks ago.
(Silence for 5-10 seconds)

God of all Life and each life heal those who are suffering and make your justice known in our land.

Prayer for VE Day

Lord God our Father,
we pledge ourselves to serve you and all humankind, in the cause of peace,
for the relief of want and suffering,
and for the praise of your name.
Guide us by your Spirit;
give us wisdom;
give us courage;
give us hope;
and keep us faithful now and always.
Amen.

Help each of us and your entire church to follow in the footsteps of Christ that in our living and loving, your kingdom of justice and love is revealed. In Jesus’ Name hear our prayer. Amen

Sending out and Benediction

Go forth in peace, dear ones. Bring hope to this world. Go out in love; bring joy to this world. Go out in the knowledge that God is with you, loving and guiding your steps until you come to the place prepared for you, and the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be with you always. Amen.

Hymns

Here are some hymn suggestions to check on YouTube if you wish to sing along. Some may not be as familiar as their titles suggest:
Praise, I will praise you, Lord

Christ is made the sure foundation

How Great Thou Art
How Great Thou Art.

Jesus, lover of my soul (Townend)

Jesus, lover of my soul (traditional)
Jesus Lover of My Soul. (Traditional.)

Longing for light, we wait in darkness

“I have a dream,” a man once said

 

For Children

Here are some directional signs, each with different arrows. How good are you at following signs and directions? There is a part of the road from Glasgow to Edinburgh near Europarc, at which I always get confused. I often end up in the wrong lane and have to find a way back to the M8. Now as I share about today’s Bible lesson, see if you can follow instructions and look the right way when you see a sign.

Stop and imagine how Jesus’ disciples felt in our Bible lesson today. Jesus knew that the day of his crucifixion was coming and that He would soon return to His Father in heaven. He was trying to prepare His disciples for the time when He would no longer be with them. Follow the signs as you read or hear this.

“Don’t worry,” Jesus said, “I am going to prepare a place for you. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will be with Me. You know the way to where I am going.”

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“No, we don’t,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

🤷‍

Jesus answered him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

→

Philip, another of the disciples spoke up, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” Jesus wanted his disciples to know He and the Father were one, and that if they put their trust in God and in Him, they would one day join Him in Heaven.

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Sometimes life can be very confusing, and we don’t know where to turn or what path to take. It seems that every path we take leads to a dead end.

↓

When that happens, we just need to remember that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” If we will keep our eyes on Jesus and follow his teaching, we will find the path to our goal — eternal life in Heaven with him. We can only come to God through Jesus.

↑

Dear God, help us keep our eyes on Jesus because we know that He is the way — the only way to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Praise ye the Lord (new version)

A Prayer in a Time of Distress

Almighty and everlasting God, you are strength to those who suffer and comfort to those who grieve. Let the prayers of your children who are in trouble rise to you. Hear our prayer. We claim your promises of wholeness as we pray for those who are ill or are suffering loss and long for your healing touch. Hear our prayer. Make the weak strong, the sick healthy, the broken whole, and confirm those who serve them as agents of your love. Hear our prayer. To everyone in distress, grant mercy, grant relief, grant refreshment. Hear our prayer. When we begin to rebuild, we commend our neighbourhoods to your care. Give us strength of purpose and concern for others, that we may create a community where your will may be done. Hear our prayer. God of compassion, you watch our ways, and weave out of terrible happenings wonders of goodness and grace. Hear our prayer. Surround those who have been shaken by tragedy with a sense of your present love and hold them in faith. Though they are lost in grief, may they find you and be comforted; Through Jesus Christ who was dead, but lives and rules this world with you. Amen

Intimations

The funeral of Mr Charles Watt, of 44 Niven Road Inverkeithing. will take place at Dunfermline Crematorium on Wednesday 13th May 2020 at 2:00pm (Family only). Please remember Moyra and all of Charles’s family in prayer.

Heart and Soul 2020 – Sunday, 17th May – 2:00pm – 4:20pm

I am certain that by now you will have heard of the very special service to install Rev Dr Martin Fair as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on Saturday, 16th May at 11am. This will be a very special moment in the history of our Church and will also be an event where we can be assured of hope and inspiration in these challenging times.

We’re delighted to announce, as part of that ‘Big Weekend’ for the Church of Scotland, a special ‘Heart and Soul 2020’ event will take place (online) on 17th May 2020. The current crisis has meant that the original event, scheduled to have taken place in Princes Street Gardens on that day, has had to be cancelled.

However, a number of features from the event in Princes Street Gardens can be transferred into an online format, and we’re going to screen an abridged ‘Heart and Soul’ at 2.00pm on 17th May – when the original event would have taken place. The programme will run until about 4.20pm. A recording of the event will be available soon afterwards. You will be able to watch the event live on the Church of Scotland website (www.churchofscotland.org.uk) and live on the Facebook page (fb.me/churchofscotland).