12th. September. 2021. Service.
Service of Worship 12th September 2021
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Prelude: Holy, holy, holy Lord God almighty
Introit: 770 I love you Lord, and I lift my voice
Collect
O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Hymn 165 “Praise to the Lord for the joys of the earth”
(Please note that hymns in this online service may be different from those in the church service as many in the 4th Edition of the Hymnary are not available in YouTube.)
For the beauty of the earth
Call to Prayer
Wisdom cries out in the streets.
We hear and try to understand.
Come and listen to the words of life and love.
We hear and proclaim our faith in the one who brings life.
Let us worship the God of life and wisdom
whose words guide our life in the right paths.
Living God, artist of the changing skies, builder of the steadfast earth,
Lively Christ, born to walk life’s journey with us,
Spirit of life, always moving in us and among us,
Your presence surrounds us here and everywhere we go.
Your purpose holds the world in its place by the word of your power.
Your imagination engages us each step of the way.
In our time of worship, show us how we can serve you,
and open our imaginations to the future you create,
for we seek your guidance and your grace now and always. Amen.
God of time and eternity,
we confess that we have long memories, especially for things that hurt us, for moments we resent or regret.
Week by week we seek your forgiveness for our mistakes,
but we confess we do not forgive others so faithfully.
Sometimes we seek opportunity to even the score.
Confront us with your mercy, O God,
and open our hearts to its cleansing power.
Assurance of Pardon
Those who listen to the words of wisdom will be secure and live in ease. Know that our God never ceases to reach out in love and forgiveness, guiding us on the path of life and righteousness, calling us to claim our heavenly identity as disciples and beloved sons and daughters of the living God.
Prayer for Understanding
Loving and caring God, we come this morning seeking wisdom and guidance for our lives. Open us to your words of life and love and truth. May we proclaim with our tongues what we know in our hearts. In this time of worship, help us more fully understand what it means to truly be a disciple, a follower of the way of Jesus, a follower of the path of wisdom. May the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you, our rock, and our redeemer. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer in the version most familiar to you.
North Queensferry
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in 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.
Intimations
The coffee mornings will recommence in North Queensferry on Wednesday 15th September at 10:30 am. In Inverkeithing the first coffee morning will be on Tuesday 28th September. Social distancing, track and trace and masks when moving in the sanctuary will be required.
The Kirk Sessions of both congregations will meet in Inverkeithing at 7 pm in Inverkeithing Parish Church.
Invitation to the Offering
Jesus asked his disciples what could anyone give in return for the gift of life? He challenged us to take up our cross and follow him. Whatever we offer him speaks of how we take up his challenge. So, give with grateful, loyal hearts.
Prayer of Dedication
Generous God, you poured out your love for us through Jesus Christ, who gave up everything on the cross. We bring what we have to offer you in love and loyalty. Receive our gratitude and bless all that our gifts can do to share your love for Christ’s sake. Amen.
All Age Talk
Have you ever seen so many kinds of cross before? Every day we see crosses all around us. People wear them as jewellery, hang them on the wall, use them as key chains, and sometimes even tattoo them on their bodies. When you pass by a church, you might see a cross on the tower.
One day, as Jesus and His disciples were walking along a road, Jesus asked them, “Who do people say that I am?”
The disciples answered, “Some say John the Baptist or one of the prophets.”
“And who do you say that I am?” Jesus asked.
Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Messiah.”
Peter was right, but Jesus told him to keep it quiet for the time being. Jesus said, “It is necessary for me to suffer many terrible things. I will be arrested, tried, and killed. But after three days I will rise again.”
Peter didn’t like that! He took Jesus aside and told Him to stop talking like that.
But Jesus reprimanded Peter. He said, “You’re looking at things from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
Then Jesus called the crowd of people who had gathered around to come and join Him and His disciples. “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang onto your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.”
So, what does this mean for us? It means that we have a Saviour, Jesus Christ, who was willing to give up everything so we can have everlasting life. It also means that those of us who want to be His followers must also be willing to take up our own crosses, give up everything, and follow Him.
The cross is so much more than a piece of jewellery, a work of art, or a decoration on a steeple. It’s a reminder of our Saviour’s great love for us and our call to follow Him!
God, thank You for loving us so much that You sent Your Son to die on a cross. As His disciples, help us to take up our crosses and follow Him. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Hymn 771 “If you believe and I believe”
Reading: Proverbs 1:20-33
20 Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,
she raises her voice in the public square,
21 on top of the wall she cries out,
at the city gate she makes her speech:
22 ‘How long will you who are simple love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
and fools hate knowledge?
23 Repent at my rebuke!
Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
I will make known to you my teachings.
24 But since you refuse to listen when I call
and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,
25 since you disregard all my advice
and do not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you.
I will mock when calamity overtakes you –
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
28 ‘Then they will call to me, but I will not answer,
they will look for me but will not find me,
29 since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the Lord.
30 Since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them,
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm.’ Amen.
Hymn 180 “Give thanks with a grateful heart”
Mark 7:24-37
27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, ‘Who do people say I am?’ 28 They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ 29 ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah.’ 30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.’ Amen, this is the Word of the Lord to Him be all glory and praise.
Hymn 402 “‘Take up your cross,’ the Saviour said”
(10) Through All the Changing Scenes of Life (Tune: Wiltshire – 4vv) [with lyrics for congregation] – YouTube
Sermon
A fourteen year old boy was asked to frame questions about his faith and experience as he prepared for a profession of faith by which he would affirm his baptism, as we would say when he was a first communicant. Here is one of his questions:
Do you think God knows the future and so then gives you experiences to prepare you for it?
This young man is in remission from childhood leukaemia, and there is no doubt that his question is deeply rooted in his own experiences of suffering and pain, illness and healing, fear and renewed hope. He is someone who has already come up against more challenges than many of us do when we are still so young. For each of us there is a time when expereiencecauses us to wonder at life’s meaning and the place of God in all of it. It is questions like this which underlie the exchange between Jesus and Peter today and the teaching Jesus shares in the following verses.
Do not all of us come into this life with the expectation that goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days that we live? But how do our days turn out? What deviations from the path we envision for ourselves cause us to question the goodness and mercy we expect that may indeed tempt us to wonder about God’s intention for us? It may be as in this case the discovery of a serious illness, the death of a parent, a terrible accident, a failure to achieve a cherished hope or goal. The possibilities are infinite. We ask, Who is God and what his He to me? How do we see him at work in the world, and Aidan’s question Do you think God knows the future and so then gives you experiences to prepare you for it?
Peter was a man who encountered God in the person of Jesus Christ and today we are privy to both a high and a low moment in Peter’s life. He got it gloriously right in one insightful moment when he answered Jesus’ question in response to reports of what people were saying about him, He was Elijah, John the Baptist, one of the prophets. Ok, but “Who would you say I really am?” Peter answered him: “You are the Christ.”
But then Peter got it terribly wrong a few minutes later, when he dared rebuke Jesus for talking about suffering and death.
Jesus turned on Peter, looked at his disciples, and said “Get lost Satan! You are not for speaking for God but for men.
We might be tempted to think Peter being a fool when he became confused about Jesus the Messiah. We may ask, were the orthodox Jews foolish when they rejected Jesus as Messiah? How would we have responded if we had witnessed Jesus ministry on earth? Would we have been convinced that this man was God’s Messiah?
It would probably have depended on how we stood with respect to the idea of the coming of a national saviour. I know that I would be sceptical of the notion of a national saviour for Scotland or the UK. Yet many around the world are ready to believe that this politician, soldier, leader is the one who will make their nation great again.
Jesus almost certainly would not qualify as such a saviour today. When measured against the worldly standards of national strongman he would be considered a joke.
In his day, he took over the popular notion of a Messiah King, who would crush enemies and liberate Israel, and he messed about with the idea. Jesus talked about the Messiah being a servant King, who would get himself rejected, arrested, abused, and crucified. All this weighed against people’s experience of Jesus as a healer, a supporter, a comforter of people, a gentle compassionate servant of God.
That suffering stuff, and especially that talk about dying on a cross. just did not fit. It was incompatible with the meaning of the word Messiah. Half of the story did not fit, so it is no wonder that Peter and the Jews were confused.
As Mark tells us:
Jesus began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and on the third day rise again. He said this bluntly.
Every Jew knew that the Messiah they longed for would be forceful and unconquerable, not gentle and vulnerable. How else could this wicked world be brought to heel? How else could God’s rule, God’s values, be established on earth? The Messiah would be a strong man, a powerful somebody, not a crucified nobody.
To this day, this fixed notion of the Messiah remains an obstacle to most Jews. Even those who regard Jesus as perhaps the most brilliant of their prophets, and the greatest Jew of all,
You may not be aware of it, but today there are some contemporary Jewish scholars who are sympathetic to Jesus and his cause. But not to the Christian claim that he is God’s promised Messiah. For these sympathetic scholars it is unthinkable that the Messiah should be defeated, implausible that God would allow the Christ to suffer at the hands of men. And finally, it was absolutely impossible that the Messiah die on a cross; a mode of death which the Old Testament said was cursed by God; “cursed is any man who dies on a tree.”
One scholar, Fritz Rosenthal known as Schalom Ben-Chorim, (Peace, Son of Freedom) a convert to Judaism, wrote: “I feel his brotherly hand which grasps mine, so that I can follow him… but… it is not the hand of the Messiah, this hand marked with scars.” That is the heart of the scandal: those scars. Jesus’ suffering and death at the hands of religious and secular authority.
The Messiah would never have scars. He would be without spot or blemish. Nothing will be able to harm him, nothing be permitted to humiliate him. He will rule the world from Jerusalem and bring in the new order of justice and peace. Every other political power shall be under his authority. The Messiah’s strong hand will grasp a sceptre, not a cross.
Peter was not being as fool when he rejected, out of hand, Jesus’ talk of ignoble suffering and death. All this wisdom and hope of his people were present in Peter’s voice when he rebuked Jesus for such negativity.
The fisherman it appears had every right to speak up. “Haven’t I said, You are the Christ? How then can you talk about defeat and suffering and shameful death?.”
Peter and the others had more than once been rebuked by Jesus for their lack of faith. Now Peter seems justified in rebuking Jesus. Peter was being as wise as his Jewish faith could ever be. There could be no scars on the hands the Messiah.
As I said earlier, we think we know the path we are on, we have been taught what to expect of life. God will surely smooth our path with goodness and mercy. But life teaches us otherwise.
Are we any wiser than Peter?. Do we really believe in Jesus’ style of Messiah any more than did the Jews?
Can we truthfully say, with our own health and happiness committed up to the very hilt, that Christ’s way of pure love, which can lead to rejection, suffering and death, is the right way for a godly person to live?
When we come up against life as Aidan did, in whatever form it may take, do we realise as he clearly does that the challenge of life means that there will be suffering?
Does this fit with our idea of successful religion? Does it for even a moment, get past our addiction to physical prosperity, good health, respectable status in the community and the welcome sound of “all people speaking well of you?”
One man wrote:
In my moments of clarity I see the truth. I fear the church as a whole is only paying lip service to the crucified Messiah, as the legitimate “way, the truth and the life.” We honour him with a plethora of beautiful words and songs, yet when push comes to shove, we rarely believe in this suffering Messiah enough to unreservedly adhere to either his method or his values.
In the long, story of the church, repeatedly we have allied ourselves this with world’s values: respectable status, financial success, worldly influence, political power, racist attitudes, hatred of enemies, and unquestioning loyalty to our particular nation.
Many congregations fear being labelled as unpatriotic much more than they fear becoming un-Christlike.
When our home congregation teems with busy members or our parish budget is impressive, we hum with the same excitement as when a new shopping centre is opened, or a record crowd turns out for a Mardi gras.
We pure like a choir of contented kittens should a Governor, Prime Minister or President or Prince deign to worship with us in our local church.
When some among us becomes very wealthy, they dare to attribute their material riches to the direct blessing of God on their righteous faith. As a pastor I have suffered a few parishioners who have blatantly told me to my face: “I am wealthy because God has seen my faithfulness and rewarded me.”
Be honest, in the church we don’t fully believe in a misunderstood and suffering Messiah, do we?
We believe that somehow we must be successful, thriving financially sound, with our fellowship having the best praise, preaching and attendance otherwise we are failing Jesus. But aren’t these the very things Jesus renounced? Jesus was unconditionally loving; he made himself vulnerable. Jesus was intent on freely spending his life for others, we hedge and hoard our lives. He calls us to lose our lives, not to save them and to take up our cross and follow him.
If anyone would be my disciple, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever tries to save their life will lose it, but any who lose his life for my sake will save it. For what can a person give in exchange for their life?”
Young Aidan wondered if his leukaemia was God’s preparation for challenges to come in later life. I think that is a good question, but before we go any further we need to make plain what the cross we are called to carry actually is.
Perhaps we say it easily of a woman who suffers an alcoholic abusive husband, or person who has a chronic incurable ailment “Oh she has such a cross to bear.” Well yes, that kind of suffering is hard to bear, and faith will definitely help, but it is not what Jesus meant. He meant that we are to bear the cross of being a disciple of his. It is when we embrace his teaching and put it into practice that we discover the meaning of the cross. It is the beam on which our ego is crucified, the cost of overcoming our sinful tendencies, the pain of letting an offence go and forgive another the rejection we may experience when we stand for Jesus, when our faithfulness is not rewarded, when our love or giving are not thanked. Many blessed Jesus for his healing ministry, but the same crowds called for his crucifixion.
Our cross is the same as Jesus cross, it is the cost of self-giving love.
In a wa,y Aidan’s experience is a preparation for his future in that it has perhaps made him compassionate and fitted for a work of healing, comfort or encouragement. Our life experience, especially our struggles should soften us, but the cross that Jesus lays on us is to crucify self, and pride, and sin and when we look to his cross it should speak of his love, not just for us, but for the whole of humanity.
If we all crucified self and pride, sin, and greed it would indeed be heaven on earth.
Whenever we are seduced by the lie that God always rewards true faith with good things like perfect health, lots of money, and successful families, we risk running our egos into a cul-de-sac. Jesus’ faithfulness took him to the cross, but only through it did he bring eternal life.
Jesus is the sole guide for the church. The foolish Christ of the Gospels is the only authentic Messiah we can ever confess; the only true Lord who leads us to the very heart of God’s love. He is the only one worth following to our lives end. With his blessing a little become more, simplicity produces rich characters, losers become winners, the meek inherit the earth and dead are raised to unlimited life. The rewards are indeed out of this world. Amen.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Blessed are you, loving God, joy of the universe! We thank you for the blessings, both seen and unseen, that pour from the storehouse of your love, hour after hour, age after age.
We thank you for light; the kindly light that greets our faces at the window at morning, and the light that greets our souls when we turn to prayer.
We thank you for truth; the knowledge we uncover and accumulate about the universe around us, and the wisdom which we can gain from the experiences of each another.
We thank you for beauty; for the beauty we see in blossoming trees and children’s faces, and the loveliness of the human spirit revealed through times of hardship.
We thank you for peace; the peace that comes when opponents are reconciled and the peace that enfolds us when we trust our restless lives into your care.
We thank you for grace; the grace of swooping rainbow birds, dancing brolgas, and the saving grace that flows from the cross to embrace fools and rebels.
We thank you for rest; the sleep-rest that comes at the end of an exacting day and the sweet rest that permeates our being in response to Christ’s call.
We thank you for laughter; the merriment we share over comic and ironic situations, and the merriment that gathers us up like the wings of eagles on Easter Day.
Blessed are you, loving God, joy of the universe! We thank you for blessings both seen and unseen, and for the promise that the best is yet to come. Through Jesus Christ our light and salvation.
Amen!
Holy Friend, we your people who have received your joy through the bright and happy times and known your enabling strength in times of pain and tears, now seek your blessing on our fellow human beings everywhere.
Bless the strong that they may be compassionate, the very capable that they may be patient with the inept, and the attractive people that they may be walk humbly.
Bless the weak that they may find courage, the battlers that they may receive encouragement, and the disfigured that they may find respect and affirmation.
Bless the healthy that they may be gentle, the successful that they may keep the common touch, and the elderly that they may cherish each day as a bonus.
Bless the diseased that they may be given the best treatments, the dying that they may be loved until the end, and the grieving that loss may be tempered with comfort and hope.
Bless the rich that they may be more than generous, the famous that they may use their fame for good, and rulers that they may be seek justice and love mercy.
Bless the poor that they may break free from poverty, the unthanked and ignored folk that they may retain self-respect, and the losers that they may become your winners.
Bless Christians of strong belief that they may be gracious, those of many gifts that they may use them gratefully, and large congregations that they may help the weak ones.
Bless the waverers that their faith may consolidate those of small gifts that they may employ them well, and struggling churches that they may encourage one another in love.
Most loving God, keep our hearts always open to the inflow of your compassion, that we may receive it gladly and spend it freely for the welfare of those whom others forget. In the name of our Lord Jesus and to the glory of your new world.
Amen!
Hymn 237 “Look forward in faith”
Sending out and Benediction
Go to your homes quietly and confidently, praying that our ordinary lives will reflect the extraordinary glory of God.
Our joy is in the God who cherishes each of us, and our resilience flows from the Spirit whose gifts come as freely as the wind.
The blessing of God, most wonderful beyond our comprehension, be yours today and always. Amen!
“May God’s blessing surround you each day”
Postlude: “Because He lives”