11th. October. 2020 Service.
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Let us worship God and listen to the Hymn:
“My life flows on in endless song”
The Collect for today
Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Hymn: “Love Divine, all loves excelling”
Praise the Lord.
Give thanks for God’s goodness.
God’s steadfast love endures forever.
Happy are those who observe justice,
who do righteousness at all times.
Save us, O Lord,
and gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name,
and glory in your praise.
Come and worship God!
Prayers of Adoration and confession
Generous and forgiving God,
you are the alpha and omega, the first and the last, the giver of all good things.
Your glory is without end, your power, incomparable.
Your love encompasses our vast universe and everything within it, as your mercy reaches beyond the heights of heaven.
We are assembled in your presence with thankful hearts for the beauty of your creation and the wonder of the salvation that is ours in Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord.
We are here to worship and adore you.
Inspired by this time of worship,
may our hearts overflow with praise today and every day, and may our lives reflect our gratitude to you
in the ways we share your love and show your grace
in Jesus’ name.
Generous and loving God, as we look over our lives, we admit everything that makes us ashamed. Hastily spoken words, harsh reactions, selfishness in our thoughts and doings, hurts great or small that we have inflicted on others and neglect of good.
We confess that in a world where many do not have enough, we enjoy more than we need.
In a world where many live with fear, we take peace for granted.
In a world where many have lost hope, we are often indifferent to despair and grumble about trivialities.
Forgive us, merciful God, and give us courage to examine our lives in the light of your word, and to accept the help of your Holy Spirit to transform our lives that we may shine with the generosity, peace and hope that you give us in Christ Jesus.
Assurance of Pardon
Father your word declares that while it is true that we have all sinned and fallen short of your glory, it is a greater truth that we are forgiven through God’s love in Jesus Christ. To all who humbly seek the mercy of God I say, in Jesus Christ our sin is forgiven. My we be at peace with you, with ourselves and with one another.
Prayer for Understanding
God of prophets and parables, as we gather to listen to the scriptures read and proclaimed, may we hear your voice, and in hearing, be changed into the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ in Whom we pray,
The Lord’s Prayer (in the words most familiar to you)
The Readings
Exodus 32:1-14
32 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered round Aaron and said, ‘Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’
2 Aaron answered them, ‘Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.’ 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’
5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, ‘Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.’ 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterwards they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
7 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
9 ‘I have seen these people,’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.’
11 But Moses sought the favour of the Lord his God. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, “It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth”? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance for ever.”’ 14 Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
Matthew 22: 1-14
22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 ‘Then he sent some more servants and said, “Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”
5 ‘But they paid no attention and went off – one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, ill-treated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 ‘Then he said to his servants, “The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.” 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 ‘But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, “How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?” The man was speechless.
13 ‘Then the king told the attendants, “Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
14 ‘For many are invited, but few are chosen.’
Amen. This is the Word of the Lord, to Him be all glory and praise.
Invitation to the Offering
Some in our community have lost so much through the pandemic; others are grateful for sustaining gifts like friendship more than ever now. Today we bring what we can share, offered so that the ministry and mission of Christ’s church can thrive in the challenging days ahead, grateful that God goes with us, whatever we face.
Prayer of Dedication
Gracious God, we present our gifts to you as tokens of our thanksgiving for all we have received from your hand. Bless these gifts and multiply them, just as Jesus multiplied a few loaves and fishes to bless others. Use our gifts and our energy to share your love in our community and around your world, for the sake of Christ our Lord. Amen.
Sermon
Is the Church of Scotland too permissive?
When Anne Low and I were in Ghana in 2017 we were invited to attend a Presbytery meeting in Anum which overlooks Lake Volta. We had received a very warm and hospitable welcome in Hohoe, but at the Presbytery I had a sense that we were not so welcome. The reason became clear when the Moderator preached a sermon during the main worship. In it he attacked those churches which had been more permissive about the issue of “gay” ministers which at the time was still exercising the Church of Scotland. We were being judged as being permissive just because we belong to the Church of Scotland.
Do you long for the “good old days” when you knew exactly what our denomination stood for? For those times when certain kinds of behaviour were not tolerated? Members could be rebuked and disciplined, and ministers could be “unfrocked.” Has the Church of Scotland become so broad minded that it has lost the plot? Are we now indistinguishable from the values of the worldly society around us? Some feel so, others may not, but perhaps one of our strengths is that we embrace a broad theological spectrum.
That kind of question is not new. Repeatedly in the long history of the church, the leaders and congregations have faced the same dilemma. How restrictive should they be? How open should the community of faith become?
Early on, St Paul was keenly aware of the tension between inclusiveness and exclusiveness. It is also reflected in the reading we heard today from the Gospel According to St Matthew- the story of a wedding feast in honour of a prince.
When the king came in to see the guests [those straight from off the streets] he saw a man there who was not wearing an appropriate wedding garment. So he said to this man: “Friend, how did you come in here without the proper clothes?” The fellow was speechless. The king said to his servants: “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth”.
The end of the parable appears to contradict the beginning of it and feels very harsh to us today.
What is the king on about? He had at the last moment invited the riff raff in from the streets. What did he expect? A new outfit for the women and a freshly cleaned and pressed suit on the men?
Remember the early part of the parable. When the privileged invitees did not turn up to the wedding feast for the prince, the king sent his servants out into the streets and the lanes and the highways, into the squares and the back alleys. They were to invite the poor and the disreputable to come and be his guests at the marriage festivities. There was no shortage of takers. A free feed at the palace? Lead me to it! The wedding hall was packed with grateful, happy guests.
So far so good. Then king made his grand entry and looked around at the crowd. His eagle eye spotted the man without a proper wedding garment. He had his guards seize the man and pitch him into the deep darkness.
How could the king expect people invited in off the street for a feast to be suitably well dressed? That is neither a reasonable expectation nor a just one, is it? It sounds appalling.
This parable may not make sense to us but is must have made sense to the Jewish people to whom Matthew directed his Gospel.
I agree with those scholars who believe there are two parables of Jesus here which were originally unattached. Matthew brought them together for his evangelical and pastoral purposes.
The Gospels are not miraculous books penned by the finger of God. They are collections of the treasured sayings and deeds of Jesus that had been passed on by those first brave Christians. The way they were fitted together suited the preaching and teaching of the church at that time. Each of the four Gospel writers arrange sources in their own way. They are not biographies but theologies. There is broad consistency among them, but they are not identical.
Matthew was most likely working among the Christians in Syria, some of whom came from a Jewish background and some from a Gentile background. He fits together the material at his disposal in ways that address the needs of the people in his fellowship so that the good news of Jesus Christ could be best heard and applied to their daily life.
Here Matthew brings together of two parables about wedding feasts, arranging them to address an awkward question confronting the church of that time and place. That question was “How inclusive or exclusive should the church be? Is any lifestyle permissible to Christians as long as they profess faith? How strict or lenient should those leaders who have oversight of a congregation be?”
The young church experienced very rapid growth. The numbers were not large, compared with the millions of Christians in the world today, but they were growing quickly enough to cause difficulties. Whole families, and the household servants with them, would be baptised on mass. In some places, hundreds were initiated at the same time.
Many of those converts were not Jews. They came from a variety of pagan religious and moral practices. Many may have been living by codes not as strict in their ethical content as that of the Jewish converts. Some were a rough mob indeed. The differences caused discord in the church.
When these “disreputable” characters came flooding into the church, some Jews were deeply offended by their attitudes and mortals. Like many Christians Jewish people could be quite judgmental about those “beyond the pale” Some thought they should not be admitted to the church at all. Others were willing to accept them as long as they agreed to subscribe to the laws and rituals of the Jewish religion.
What should be the rule? Those early pastors found the question just as difficult as we find it today. Some congregation lapsed in an “everything goes” mentality. Others demanded the strictest observance “of the law and the prophets.” Paul’s letters are full of the battles in the early church over such issues.
Now we can return to the two parables of Jesus which Matthew places together. as if they were one.
The first parable is set against the rejection of Jesus by the religious authorities in Jerusalem and many of the Pharisees. They are represented by the invited guests who fail to come to the party. They rejected the generous offer of God through his son Jesus. Some argued, some made excuses, others stood aloof or openly spurned the invitation.
If they did not welcome Jesus, then the ordinary people would. There was a place for them. “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” So, in this parable the banquet hall in the palace is crowded with the “great unwashed”, Jew and Gentile, slave or freeman, male or female, clean and unclean. Matthew was loyal to Jesus in telling this story about the inclusiveness of God’s love. He happily affirms the message of inclusiveness, while at the same time as he laments the refusal of many Pharisees and Priests to be included in Jesus’ wedding reception.
Matthew clearly stands for an open church. An open community. Anyone is welcome to come in response to the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. That open-hearted, open-armed Gospel it not tinkered with by Matthew. Like Paul, he knew the mind of Christ did not include prejudice or snobbery or nit-picking legalism.
The message was: The doors are open. The table is spread. Come to the wedding feast. No one is barred.
But. (once we have accepted the invitation of Christ to join him at the feast, then a change in both our attitudes and our actions is expected. A new lifestyle must follow.
The New Testament makes it clear that the thief turned Christian does not continue stealing. The converted solider gives up bullying civilians, the money-grabber changes his goals, the sexually promiscuous must turn to fidelity, the powerful must use their power justly and mercifully, the affluent will share their wealth with the poor, those addicted to gossip must zip their lips or speak only good things of their neighbours. Becoming a citizen of the realm of God, and sharing the feast of Christ, must signal a radical change in one’s whole way of living.
That seems to be why Matthew links the second parable to the first. He may not do it as skilfully as he could have. However, that man who wears no clean wedding garment stands for those who think they can have both Christianity and their own worldly values. Which was not on! Matthew is making it clear that once we become Christ’s disciples, then a new lifestyle is required. The man without suitable wedding clothes is ejected into the darkness.
Incidentally, some Bible commentators claim that in that context “a wedding garment” did not mean new, expensive clothing. Nobody expected the poor to have two outfits. But it did mean clean clothes. Any guest at a wedding was expected to have least washed his garments clean for the event. Some change was expected from those who were baptised.
What does this mean for our church?
The first part of the parable says to us: Be an inclusive community.
Any person, of any race, class or tongue is welcome. Church is not just for “decent” people, or smart folk, or well-educated middle-class citizens. It is not a private club for those who publicly display no bad habits, and live-in well-kept homes in respectable suburbs, and can return hospitality with generous aplomb.
Prostitutes and pimps, gamblers and divorcees, those with a gambling habit and those with aids, the down and out and the unemployed, drunkards and other drug addicts, misfits and the hard-to-love characters, sinners and those who have been grievously sinned against , are all welcome to come and share the feast with the Prince of Glory. I recall in my first year a Trinity College an elder in a Glasgow Church asking with a sneer “Who let him in?” when a drunk vagrant came into the evening service and fell asleep on a pew.
The Lord Jesus requires that we should go out into the world around us and look past the “nice” people to the common mob. That is a part of what that first parable is telling us. It is not just a matter of keeping church doors open for any brave outsider who might one day pluck up courage to take a look inside. It is an active outreach that Jesus is speaking about. The love feast of the king’s son is for any who hear the invitation and respond to it. But first they must have the opportunity to hear that invitation.
“Go out into the streets, and as many people as you find there, invite them to the wedding.”
Telling the good news, evangelism, is not an optional extra for hyperactive Christians. Our church must be an inclusive community, or it becomes a grave anomaly, an heretical community.
The difficult question with which each of us in the church must wrestle, in love and respect for those who have contrary opinions, is how can we best undertake our evangelism? Openness to others and a willingness to share our faith.
The second part of the parable tells us to expect changed lives.
That is what the brief second parable, about the man who is tossed out, tells us. If claiming to know the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, does not produce a change in values and actions, then something phoney is going on. Those in the church community are called to display in their deeds a different set of values and goals than those of the greedy, self-indulgent world. Some discipline is required.
Yet we should not expect too much change too quickly. The plunge of faith may happen in a moment, but the changes that the Spirit brings in our lives may be slow and painful. No two people start from the same advantage point. Those who have received the head start of a loving Christian upbringing, putting them out in front, should not become judgmental of those who started from much further back; those who were severely handicapped in the race of life. We who possess what is regarded as “normal” personalities, at home with ourselves and with very few quirks or idiosyncrasies, should be compassionate and patient towards those who have great difficulty in getting their house on order. We also need to remember that it is the King who alone has the power of judgment. This parable calls us not to look at other people, but at ourselves. Are we wearing the wedding garment, because for us that is the more important question!
So, when Christ calls a man or a woman, repentance, change, is a necessary consequence. Inclusiveness does not justify a wilful or careless permissiveness.
The second challenging question with which each of us in our church must wrestle, in love and respect for those who have contrary opinions, is what ethical and social behaviour is Biblically acceptable and what is not. What is essential to the core faith and what are non-core matters?
We need to tread very carefully before we dare to order a guest (one who, to us, seems to have no wedding garment) to be thrown out. It is okay for the King to judge and cast out, but the other guests should be wary of taking matters into their own hands.
Those who might presume to see themselves as God’s “bouncers” should take a step backwards.
Any action we take, or word we utter, which is not done with a love which mirrors the costly love of Jesus, will certainly be overstepping our authority. Amen.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
It is a good and necessary that we turn the eyes outwards to the world around us, with its teeming billions of people created in God’s image.
Let us pray for some of those people.
Holy God, we ask that you will give us a measure of the Spirit of Christ, that we may exhibit more of his courage and compassion for all who share this small planet with us, especially in this time of pandemic and climate change. Give us a caring heart for all that you have created upon this planet that we may love it all as you love.
May your new world come, and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
We pray for the church: our own denomination, and the many others spread across the world. Strengthen those that are tested by persecution, embolden those who are tolerated but ignored, humble those who wield considerable power, shake up those that have become apathetic, and encourage those whom maintain the optimism of the Spirit even though their numbers are few.
May your new world come; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
We pray for our nation, for its internal wellbeing and its international relations. Bless our parliaments, first ministers and Prime Minister. Give them insight, wisdom, courage and compassion, that is much larger than their natural capacity, so that guided and overruled by your Spirit, this land may become a place of justice, mercy and peace. Heal the divisions which have developed here and around the world.
May your new world come; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
We pray for the many places and people around the world where there is disaster and suffering. We long for the end of injustice and false imprisonment, terrorism and torture, hatred and warfare, hunger and homelessness, disease and despair. Strengthen and revitalise every agency of aid and change and all who seek to improve the welfare of our poorest and neediest neighbours throughout the world.
May your new world come; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
We pray for friends, neighbours and fellow church members who are going through hard times. For the unemployed and their families, the sick and their carers, the handicapped and their helpers, the bereaved and their comforters, the terminally ill and their loved ones, the estranged and the parents or friends who pray each day for their recovery.
May your new world come; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
God our merciful Friend, encircle us all with your saving love, that no person may be despised or rejected and no situation irredeemable. Fill us with the quiet optimism of Christ Jesus, that in all things and at all times we may trust your providence and play our small part in bringing the signs of your love to those whose fears outweigh their hopes.
May your new world come; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Hymn “All hail the power of Jesus’ name”
Benediction
Do what you have learned and received
and seen and heard in Christ,
and the peace of God will be with you.
And may that peace,
which passes all understanding,
guard our hearts and our minds
in Christ Jesus. 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 and the ones marked “listen” do not have the lyrics on the screen:
Amazing grace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdQs-x8H6Hg
My life flows on in endless son
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BifkC92nT8
Love divine all loves excelling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGGcqhKShQ8
My song is love unknown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHHj9-yZm5c
For those tears I died
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIrizhT_ckU
All hail the power of Jesus’ name
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3-SwidavfU
May God’s blessing surround you each day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_3O_N49GiU
This is the day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UGxzEyop14
For the Children.
Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. Matthew 22:9-10 (NIV)
Have any of you have ever given a party? Of course, you have! We have all given a party at some time. Perhaps it was a birthday party, or a slumber party. Maybe you had a picnic or a costume party. No matter what kind of party you give, it is a lot of work to get ready for a party, isn’t it? First, you have to decide what kind of a party you are going to have. Then you have to go out and buy the decorations or make them yourself. You have to plan what games you are going to play and make sure that you have all of the proper equipment for the games. Next you have to decide what you are going to serve and go to the store to buy refreshments. After you have made all the plans, you make a list of who you are going to invite and send out the invitations.
Have you ever planned a party and sent out the invitations, but no one showed up? Oh, I hope not! If that happened, how do you think it would make you feel? Would you be angry? Would your feelings be hurt? What do you think you might do?
Jesus once told about a king who threw a party, but none of the people he invited showed up for his party. In Jesus’ story, the king was going to have a party for his Son who was getting married. Since he was a king, and this was his only son, you can imagine that it was going to be quite a celebration and it was a tremendous honour to be invited!
All of the plans had been made, the food was prepared, the invitations had been sent. The day of the celebration came, but no one showed up! The king sent his servants to see where the people were and why they had not come to his celebration. The people all began to make excuses about how busy they were.
The king was very upset, so he told his servants to go out into the streets and invite everyone they saw to come to his son’s wedding celebration. They did exactly what the king told them to do and the Bible tells us that the wedding hall was filled with guests.
In this story, the King is God and, of course, Jesus is His Son. God is going to have a great celebration for His Son in Heaven, and we have all been invited. I can’t imagine why, but some people will turn down God’s invitation. You’ve been invited — I hope you will accept God’s invitation.
Dear Father, thank you for inviting us to join you in your heavenly celebration. If there are any here today who have not accepted your invitation, we pray that today will be the day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Here is a chorus for today “I’ve got the joy”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTW5WCY37zU
Intimations
Please remember to indicate to Joan More if you wish to attend worship in Inverkeithing. Owing to Government regulations, numbers will be restricted to fewer than fifty persons and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis each week. Please call Joan 01383 414515 on Friday to indicate that you wish to attend. Please do not come without first ensuring your place each week as we do not wish to turn anyone away on the day.
Our Communion Service will be celebrated on Sunday 18th October during worship. Strict Covid 19 hygiene precautions will be observed. Again, please be sure to indicate in advance to Joan More in Inverkeithing or Chris Duguid 01383 413372 if you intend to be present at Communion to ensure a place.