15th. August. 2021. Service.
Service of Worship 15th August 2021
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Prelude: “How lovely is thy dwelling place” Brahms arr. Rutter
Collect for today
Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Hymn 130 “Ye servants of God your master proclaim”
Call to Prayer
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
And also with you.
Come to Christ whose words are words of eternal life.
We have faith knowing that Jesus is the Holy One of God.
Prayers of Adoration and Worship
God our Father, these words remind us of who we are before you today. People who have already come to you in Jesus Christ, drawn by grace, endowed with eternal life, blessed with the gift of faith in the knowledge that Jesus is the Holy One of God, and made one with you and with each other in that faith. In the beauty of this time and place, we have come to pray, to worship, to receive healing and hope.
We come from the struggles and triumphs of the week, needing to feel the soothing presence of our God and Father. Lord, be with us this day. Calm and soothe our souls. Cause us to rejoice that you have provided a special place where we may gather to speak of your presence and love; to sing your praises; and to be empowered to go out in our lives to serve you.
Patient Lord, we live in a culture that always looks for quick and easy answers to all of life’s problems. We want to be able to open the Bible and place our fingers on the passage that will answer all our questions and heal all our hurts. It is difficult for us to deal with the knowledge that discipleship requires patience and perseverance. Jesus’ own disciples struggled with his teachings. It took a long time for them to understand fully what Jesus was saying and how they were to respond. We are no different. The words of Jesus take time for us to comprehend. Forgive us, Lord, when we are so impatient; when we only want to “get on with it” and be where the action is. Help us to understand the commitment we make in discipleship, through the rocky times and the gentle days alike. Push us in our ministry of help and compassion to go above and beyond anything we can imagine doing to in our ministry to one another. Give to us an extra measure of faith and commitment that we may truly serve you in our church and community. In Jesus’ Name, we pray.
Even though we doubt and question, God’s love is poured on us, in us, and through us to others. May we rest with assurance in God’s presence and love for us, a love that will never fail or abandon us. Let the message of Christ dwell among us richly as we teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in our hearts. In the name of Jesus Christ, we are healed, restored, and forgiven. Amen
The Lord’s Prayer (in the words most familiar to you).
Intimations
The North Queensferry Board followed by the Kirk Session will meet on Tuesday 17th August at 7 pm in the Sanctuary observing social distancing.
The Inverkeithing Kirk Session will meet on Wednesday August 18th at 7:00pm in the sanctuary with social distancing.
Communion Service
We will celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper during worship next Sunday 22nd August 2021. Please be sure to notify Chris Duguid 413372 or Joan More 414515 if you intend to be present.
We are delighted to be welcoming back Singer Songwriter Bruce Davies on Saturday 28th August at 2.30 pm in Inverkeithing Parish Church.
Please phone Moira Lamont on 415859 to book your place as Track and Trace is still required and masks need to be worn whilst in the building.
Invitation to the Offering
As summer progresses, we begin to see the fruit of our labours in field and garden, the produce of God’s good creation. This year, we also recognize that many fields and gardens are under great stress. We bring what we have, to share praying that God’s generosity will multiply the fruit we have gathered to support those whose summer had been less productive.
Prayer of Dedication
God of growth and goodness, we offer what we have to share, knowing that many around us in our own communities, and around the world, have seen crops wither and soil turn to dust. So, bless what we bring this day, and use it to spread seeds of hope and wellbeing among those who face an uncertain future. Make us generous neighbours to all in need, for the sake of Christ, the Bread of Life.
Hymn 189 “Be still for the presence of the Lord”
1 Kings 8:22-30
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands towards heaven 23 and said:
‘Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below – you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it – as it is today.
25 ‘Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, “You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.” 26 And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true.27 ‘But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open towards this temple night and day, this place of which you said, “My Name shall be there,” so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays towards this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray towards this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.
Hymn 268 “O God of Bethel”
Reading: Ephesians 6:10-20
35 Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ 42 They said, ‘Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I came down from heaven”?’
43 ‘Stop grumbling among yourselves,’ Jesus answered. 44 ‘No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: “They will all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live for ever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’
Hymn 517 “Fight the good fight”
A Sermon I preached three years ago on Ephesians 6:10-20- modified.
Many years ago, I spent a summer in Alberta where in a Christian bookshop I came across a book called “I never promised you a rose garden,” by Hannah Green, a pseudonym for Joanne Greenberg. It was a first-hand account of Greenberg’s journey through mental illness, then called schizophrenia, though the diagnosis today would more likely be extreme depression with somatisation disorder. Her illness manifested in physical symptoms and pain. It opened to me the reality that the human mind is for all of us to some degree a battlefield. Our wellbeing is largely tied up with what is going on in our minds.
This is something the ancients including Jesus and St Paul understood, though they may have expressed it in different terms.
The Christian life is not a rose garden. God never promised us a rose garden. Go right back to the Garden of Eden. ‘Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken;for dust you are and to dust you will return.’
Even with the coming of the Saviour that did not change. John reveals that Jesus told his disciples “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” The more like Christ we become, the readier we should be to be confronted by evil. Christ sets us an agenda which is diametrically opposed to the ambitions of the world. That means some level of conflict. And that conflict is almost always resolved first of all in our minds.
There is an ongoing battle between belief and cynicism, light and darkness, greed and generosity, lust and contentment, love and indifference. If we are smart Christians, we will fortify our hearts and minds and be prepared defend our Christian integrity if things get rough. We should arm ourselves, metaphorically speaking, like riot police with those protective shields, and safety helmets, and with appropriate weapons.
St Paul had no illusions about the world being a friendly place for those who love God. He knew that we need to be ready to protect the Gospel that had been entrusted to us. He used military metaphors to make his point. Military metaphors are not pc in the Church nowadays. I was looking for “Stand up stand up for Jesus” and noticed that the whole conflict and victory section of the Hymnary has been dropped, though some hymns based on the idea are retained.
However in Ephesians 6 we have this passage on the spiritual struggle or spiritual warfare as it is called which uses a military metaphor to enable us to cope with what goes on in our minds with regard to our faith and our salvation.
Let’s try a contemporary rendering of his words in Ephesians 6: 13-16:
Put on the whole protective equipment God provides. Stand strong, having buckled on truth like your armoured belt, and protect yourself with the bullet proof vest of righteousness. Wear the sturdy boots of Gospel peace and carry the anti-riot shield of faith to ward off dangerous missiles. Don’t forget to protect your head with the safety helmet of salvation. And always have available your best weapon– the word of God supplied by the Spirit.
St Paul told his readers to be constantly alert. That we need to buckle up each morning, and even when we prepare for bed, we should keep our shield and weapons nearby – faith and the word of God.
We use these things without often realising that we are engaged in a struggle. Every time we are tempted to do or say or even think something that is at odds with the gospel we are engaging in a struggle, and this is not paranoia or irrational fear, it is simply a reality of Christian life
When a cat stretches out in the sunshine, or on a rug in front of a fire you will not find anything more relaxed. Yet if a danger suddenly threatens, you will not find any creature more alert and readier to deal with threat. A cat appears to be ever ready for either relaxation or defence.
Paul was like that. He had plenty to say about the peace which came to him through Christ. He found a solid core of calm in whatever awkward situation he found himself. In fact, he was someone who led a hazardous life; constantly hounded by critics, hauled in for questioning by local police, banned from some cities, at times arrested and flogged, mugged by robbers, beaten up or stoned by mobs, shipwrecked, adrift and hanging on to flotsam, marooned on an island, imprisoned, and hauled before hostile governors and kings. Yet he did not get rattled, as we might.
To use one of his own phrases, the peace of Christ actively garrisoned his heart.
Paul who urges us to be vigilant, with imagery about wearing our armour, was also the cool apostle who could say:
“I have learned in whatever circumstance, to be content.” “Nothing on earth or in the heavens can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
He wrote today’s words in a letter from prison to Christians in Ephesus, calling himself an “ambassador in chains and prisoner for Christ Jesus.”
As he wrote this letter to the little Christian flock, his feet own were perhaps in shackles. The battle was real. But there is no sense of panic in his letter.
He knew what he was talking about, both the peace and the dangers. When Paul warns us about the constant spiritual dangers we face, , he is not being paranoid. He knows the hazards of being loyal to our Lord. He knows that as long as we draw breath in this world we are never safe from an assault on our faith.
This can take the form of criticism and abuse, or constant sniping from unbelievers. Or we can be attacked by a whole mob of temptations. Pressures and temptations are all around us, and some rise from within us.
There is another point where Paul might be called paranoid, – when he speaks about the invisible powers of evil.
For we are not in a contest with flesh and blood. But against the principalities and powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
The apostle is open about these hidden dangers. He claims that threats to our spiritual integrity do not come solely from threats that are seen by our eyes. Evil is like an underworld; most of it is hidden. It has an invisible face and a bulk much larger than a superficial assessment could estimate. There is hidden kingdom to evil, and people and situations around us are being contaminated and manipulated by dark forces.
In a book called The Lucifer Principle about how ordinary people can get caught up in evil, as say when the Hutus of the Congo murdered their Tutsi friends and neighbours a few years back because they had been convinced by propaganda to dehumanise people they feared or personal enemies, making it easier to hate and kill them. It takes a lot of courage to stand up to evil when it becomes so pervasive and takes over whole populations of people and it is on the rise again within our human experience.
Paul cautions us by using the language from the mythology and the cosmology of his time. That included the contemporary belief that the heavens consisted of various layers. In these heavenly planes were demonic forces, kingdoms of evil like the dark “principalities and powers” on earth. These stalked human lives, seeking to corrupt and destroy. We should fear, he says, these “spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Just as angels of light can guide us to turn the right corner, so angels of darkness can play us for fools.
We may not share Paul’s mythology, and certainly do not follow his cosmology. We know the heavens are not stretched out above us in horizontal layers. Our view of the physical universe is larger, and our contemporary understanding is more accurate.
Yet we do have our own “mythology” which is equivalent to Paul’s “principalities and powers.”
We speak of a “social climate” or the “age of permissiveness,” “winds of change” and “social mores,” “genetic predispositions” and “peer pressures,” “a cultural cringe” or “the acids of secularism,” “mood of modernity” and “racist chauvinism,” “survival of the fittest or “market forces,” the “march of progress” and “political imperatives.” We could go on a list many more of these contemporary clichés which refer to “influences” principalities and powers that we believe do impact on our daily lives
This is our mythology. These are our equivalent of the invisible influences, those unseen “principalities and powers” which bear heavily on our lives.
However, for some reason, there are some Christians today who do not take such unseen forces seriously and do not bother confront them as possible threats to their peace and joy in the Gospel of Christ Jesus. They sit comfortably with the modern terminology but fail to be on the watch for the evil it may hide.
Paul’s mythology is now outdated. But his core message is not. He was a realist about the dark powers that lurked behind the surface of things. He knew for certain that the biggest threats did not come from visible enemies who got “into his face.” The real dangers were the hidden ones.
Of course, he had to meet the open attacks; those very visible powers of evil did hound Paul, get him arrested and imprisoned. But the larger threat came from the unseen legions of evil, everywhere present, everywhere on the attack against people of faith and love.
The hidden forces are widespread, and more persistent dangerous, are Open attack is not common. However, subversion is. Many pervasive influences operate from within our own culture. If we ignore these, we are at risk. If we throw aside our spiritual armour as “old fashioned religion,” if we sit easily with them as harmless social foibles, then we have already surrendered. We have opted for the silent invasion and occupation of our own souls by the alien forces opposed to Christ Jesus and his values.
Know then that spiritual armour is essential. Staying vigilant, even while we find our security and peace in Christ Jesus means we should know:.
The belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, boots the Gospel of peace, for shield faith, for helmet salvation, and for your sword the Holy Spirit.
Take a closer look:
Truth:
Put a strong belt of truth around your waist. Protect your most vulnerable parts. One of the most insidious things about today is the fact that there are those for whom truth is not absolute, but relative. Alternative facts, or “truth isn’t truth.” Proverbs 17:7 Eloquent lips are unsuited to a godless fool – how much lying lips to a ruler, condemn every liar. Keep truth as a precious commodity in all your dealings and be ruthlessly truthful when dealing with your own thoughts and moods. And be very careful what you hear and pass on as truth from other people. Hiding, denying, distorting and misusing truth will all be accounted for one day.
Righteousness:
This means right living. Living your life by the values that God has given you through Jesus of Nazareth. So, says Paul, put on a breastplate of righteousness. Cover your heart with it. Also, when you are accused or condemned, especially if rightly, claim the forgiveness which restores your righteousness in Jesus Christ. The knowledge that God gives you real righteousness will restore your self-respect and dignity.
The Gospel of peace.
Your boots. It is a military axiom that soldiers must look after their feet. Quality, strong, well-fitting footwear is essential. The Gospel of peace is custom made for our needs. This peace, which comes from utter security, is God’s bonus gift: “By grace we are saved, through faith.” That is our only security. Stand firm in the peace of the Gospel and our feet will never slip. Claim the peace of God in your mind when you are struggling with anything. The gospel of peace always tells of God’s goodwill towards you. In your mind go back and remind yourself that God’s wills to give you peace.
Faith:
The shield of faith. Faith is a precious gift. We cannot create it by our efforts. Mental gymnastics will not establish it. It is either welcomed and used or rejected. Like a muscle the more we use it, the more faith we have. When fears come, anxieties press in, remind yourself that God has invited you to trust him completely and to wait with faith however long it takes.
Salvation:
Our helmet. Encase your head, with all its thoughts and hopes, in the helmet of salvation. The word ‘salvation’ embraces everything that God has done in Christ for our rescue and our healing. Truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace and faith are all elements of salvation and that is what needs to be both on and in your head. We can put this safety helmet on and wear it with confidence. It will enable you to keep your head when things get tough. It will never break.
The Spirit: Paul calls the Spirit our best weapon; our sword. If you are called upon to defend yourself from evil in any form, put your trust in the word of God. By the Spirit God still speaks to us. God did not stop speaking long ago. The word continues to comfort and challenge, protect and guide. When the Spirit says “yes,” no enemy can pin us down. When Spirit warns us “no”, only a fool would rush into trouble. Know your Bible, know the gospel, learn all you can about Jesus and about faith and the word will come to you when you need it.
Summary
Be secure in Christ but also relaxed, be vigilant and armoured up, but also at peace always.
There is nothing paranoid about Paul’s warnings. Sound tactics from one front line soldier who lived the Christian life to the full; even when he was a prisoner for Christ, an ambassador in chains.
Some commentators have argued that Paul is too entrenched in a defensive position. It might sound that way if the only thing you ever read from Ephesians is this brief passage. But when you take the whole letter of the Ephesians together, you find an apostle who is daringly on the front foot.
“Pray for me. that I may be enabled to have the courage to open my mouth to proclaim mystery of the Gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may preach daringly, which is the only way I should do it.”
We were never promised a rose garden, but we have been promised in Jesus Christ a full and complete salvation. Amen.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
God of all creation, the world is filled with your goodness and all nature reflects your glory and sings your praise
We thank you for the stillness of night and the rest it brings, followed by day filled with energy and creativity.
We thank you for the summer season in which find time to relax and take a break to reflect after the seasons of hard work.
Thank you for life blessings which unfold in our lives and remind us of your love, even during the dark days of the pandemic
We thank you, too, O God, for new lives born among us, for new opportunities emerging in our lives, for new insights and discoveries which enhance our lives and help us to understand more of the mysteries of our experience We thank you and for new relationships and friendships which enrich us. Help us embrace this newness after these difficult months of isolating,
worrying and wondering what comes next.
You hold the future in your hands, O God, and we are grateful we can trust that you will walk with us in the days ahead.
We pray for those who work on the seas and in the fields, providing for so many others.
We know their work is uncertain in these times and ask you to give them courage and strength to meet the challenges they encounter.
We pray those who work in essential services, often at night or while others enjoy leisure.
We know that their work keeps us safe and healthy, maintaining services and resources we depend upon. Encourage them, O God, and give them all perseverance as they serve us,
We pray for those who lead and those who form policy and keep order in our and around the world. Make them aware of the temptations of their offices and keep them from abusing their power. Establish justice and peace for all people and give relief to all whose daily lives are fraught with pain, poverty and limitation. Minister to all who grieve, all who endure pain, loneliness, frustration, or fear that they may find comfort and strength and a way forward.
Gracious God, as we have received, free us to give.
As we have been loved, open us to love others.
As we have known peace, let us serve as peacemakers.
As we have been freed, use us to work for freedom with justice for all.
These are gifts of your reign over us, the blessings of heaven in our midst
Hymn 515 “Soldiers of Christ arise”
Sending out and Benediction
May the mind that is in Christ possess you,
the love that is always at the heart of God enlarge you,
and the joy of the Spirit give you kindly eyes and a thankful soul. Amen!
May God’s blessing surround you each day
Postlude: Cantique de Jean Racine – Gabriel Fauré
Word equal to the Very High one, our sole hope
Eternal of both the Earth and the Heavens
Of this peaceful night, we break the silence
Divine Saviour, cast your gaze down on us!
Spread on us the fire of your mighty grace
So all of Hell flees upon hearing your voice
Dissipate the sleep of a yearning soul
Which leads us to forget your laws!
Oh Christ, be favourable to this faithful people
Now gathered to bless you
Welcome the hymns they offer to your immortal glory
And may they come back fulfilled!
For Children
There’s an old, favourite Sunday school that lots of people like to sing. It’s called “O Be Careful Little Eyes.” If you don’t know it, you can learn it easily. It goes like this:
O be careful little eyes (make circles with fingers around eyes), what you see,
O be careful little eyes (make circles around eyes), what you see,
For the Father up above is looking down in love,
So be careful little eyes (make circles around eyes) what you see.
There are several other verses too:
O be careful little ears, what you hear.
O be careful little mouth, what you say.
O be careful little hands, what you do.
O be careful little feet, where you go.
That song reminds me of a letter the apostle Paul wrote to the church in a city called Ephesus. In his letter, Paul wrote, “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Understand what the Lord wants you to do. Be filled with the Spirit, singing Psalms and spiritual songs, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. Give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
That is good advice, isn’t it? It was good advice to the Ephesians almost 2,000 years ago, and it is still good advice for us today.
God, we’re thankful for Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Help us live out those teachings to our daily life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
A picture of Ephesus today:
O be careful little eyes, what you see