22nd. August. 2021. Service.
Service of Worship 22nd August 2021
Thirteen Sunday after Pentecost
Prelude: Taste and See
Introit: Hymn 19 Ye gates lift up your heads
Collect
Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Hymn 169 “Praise the Lord with the sound of trumpet”
Call to Prayer
Come, be nourished by Jesus, the Bread of Life.
He came to reveal God’s steadfast love for us.
Receive Him and hunger no more.
We praise to Him who has given us this magnificent gift.
Come, let us worship and rejoice!
Let us sing our praises to God.
Lord of life and hope, hear us as we are assembled in your presence seeking nourishment for our souls and healing for our spirits. Give to us your living bread, that having been nourished in soul and spirit, we may be witnesses to your transforming love. Through the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life, we offer this prayer.
Gracious and Merciful Lord, you have proffered food for the journey. You remind us that your eternal life will sustain us as we journey through this life and witness to your love.
Lord, we have lived as unwise people.
God, forgive us for wasting time.
We have been foolish.
Jesus, forgive us for not understanding your will.
We have filled ourselves with the wine of worldliness.
Holy Spirit, forgive us for not being filled with you.
We have forsaken your spiritual food.
Great Triune God of grace, forgive us for not drawing
our strength from your bread of heaven.
Almighty God, please add to your mighty deeds
by forgiving our transgressions. Amen.
Words of Assurance (Psalm 111)
The Lord is gracious to us and gentle.
The Lord heals our souls with love.
The Lord is merciful,
providing spiritual food for the hungry.
Be healed in your hearts and be fed in your souls
by the forgiveness found in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer for Understanding
Lord, to whom shall we go, for you have the words of eternal life?
Guide us by your Word and Spirit this day,
so that in hearing the Scriptures read and interpreted,
our hearts may be converted to your ways,
and our lives become a greater reflection of Jesus Christ, your Living Word.
The Lord’s Prayer in the version most familiar to you.
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
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.
The Children’s Church will resume during worship on Sunday 5h September. You are invited to contribute to an honorarium for Angela Grant in acknowledgment of her years of dedicated service to the Children’s Church in Inverkeithing. Please add with your offering during the coming two Sundays.
Invitation to the Offering
With love and faith let us bring our offerings before God.
Prayer of Dedication
God of all good gifts, you have provided all that we need for full lives, and yet we don’t stop there – we continue to fill our lives with things in an elusive search for security. As we bring our offerings to you today, remind us that only deeper faith will bring peace, and good works—caring for others through generous giving—will help us know the joy of full lives. We pray this in the name of Christ, who gave all out of love for all your children. Amen
Psalm 111
1 Praise the Lord.
I will extol the Lord with all my heart
in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
2 Great are the works of the Lord;
they are pondered by all who delight in them.
3 Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
giving them the lands of other nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.
8 They are established for ever and ever,
enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He provided redemption for his people;
he ordained his covenant forever—
holy and awesome is his name.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise. Amen.
Hymn 133 Source and Sovereign, Rock and Cloud”
1 Source and Sovereign, Rock and Cloud,
Fortress, Fountain, Shelter, Light,
Judge, Defender, Mercy, Might,
Life whose life all life all endowed:
May the church at prayer recall
that no single holy name
but the truth and feeds
them all is the God whom we proclaim.
2 Word and Wisdom, Root and Vine,
Shepherd, Saviour, Servant,
Lamb, Well and Water, Bread and Wine,
Way who leads us to the I AM:
3 Storm and Stillness, Breath
and Dove, Thunder, Tempest,
Whirlwind, Fire, Comfort, Counsellor,
Presence Love, Energies that never Tire:
Reading
John 6: 51-58
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Amen.
Hymn 448 “Lord, the light of your love is shining”
Sermon
John 6: 51-58
Here is a saying worth consideration: “When truth takes precedence over love, the angels of God stop their singing. “We will return to that thought later in this sermon.
There was an unfortunate rumour circulating around the Roman Empire in the 1stCentury. It was a rumour which led people to despise Christians and made it much easier for authorities to launch vicious persecutions against them. This rumour had it that Christians were cannibals. It was reported that when they met early in the morning of the first day of the week for their religious observances, they ate human bodies and drank human blood.
It is not difficult to see how this rumour started and took off. Anyone who listened in to a Christian service, even standing outside the door, might well draw that conclusion. They might hear a person reading the words from a letter of Paul about the Lord’s Supper: “This is my body……eat this remembrance of me. This is my blood….do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” Or later on they may have listened to them reading from John’s Gospel: “I tell you plainly: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” You can understand how such words may have shocked outsiders. I have read several sermons this week and almost all of them have struggled to explain this concept
Also there is no wonder that Jesus shocked his listeners when he first used similar words. “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” It sounded like cannibalism to the critics who were present that day.
John’s Gospel does not have an account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper (such as we find in Matthew Mark, Luke and Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth). John does not describe the Lord’s Supper in that way.
Instead he gives us a long section which begins with the feeding of 5 thousand people from a generous boy’s offering of five barley rolls and two fish, goes on with a lengthy discourse that reiterates that he is the bread of life, far better than the manna that came to Moses in the wilderness. He then underlines it all by telling them they must eat his flesh (flesh, meat, for emphasis, not body) and drink his blood. Without actually mentioning the Lord’s Supper, this is arguably the most profound exposition of the Lord’s Supper in the New Testament.
John then proceeds to recount that those words of Jesus proved more than his enemies could stomach. And more than even some of his friends would tolerate. They found it scandalous.
There would have been a double edged scandal here. First the apparent sound of cannibalism. Secondly there was the complication of how most meat was procured in the first century.
People regularly ate the meat that had been first offered to a god. In the Roman world, most of the meat available at the butcher shops had been first offered in a sacrifice. Often it was the only meat available. What is more, if there was a choice between sacrificial meat and unblessed meat, most people (apart from the Jews) would choose the sacrificial meat every time. It was the preferred meat. The superior product.
The widely held view was that when meat had been offered to a god, something of that god’s power was added to the meat. It would nourish your body better than secular meat. It would also nourish your soul as well as your body. Your life would be linked in fellowship with the god to whom this meat had been offered.
When John tells the people in the wider Roman world about Jesus, he is not writing to Jews but to other citizens of the empire. He deliberately chooses material from Jesus that picks up some of the local sacrificial understanding. “Eat my flesh” suggests that this is the sacred product of a costly sacrifice to a mighty God. The blessing of the one God of heaven and earth rests on this Jesus. Eat this holy Bread and you are in fellowship with Christ and with God. You “consume” your God. Eat this flesh and you will have the limitless life of the one mighty God within your small life. John risks the tag of cannibalism to make the point about the unique quality of the sanctified, sacrificial body of Jesus given for us. It is the holiest of Mysteries.
By using the word “Mystery” we do not mean a problem to be solved, or a plot to be unravelled, or a hidden meaning to be uncovered. Here we have one of those special happenings when the boundary between heaven and earth dissolves. Sacred and secular blend into one unity. This is the original meaning of mystery.
Today we still celebrate this Lord’s Supper, the Mystery. As we Christians come together to eat the bread from the Lord’s Table, the fullness of Body of Christ is present and enters into the recipient. We feed ourselves on Christ. The recipient becomes the communicant, a person actually in communion with the fullness of the Lord. It is not cannibalism but a divinisation of humanity that is taking place. This then is the symbolism of the flesh of Christ
This sense of Mystery is reinforced by the use of the words “drink my blood.” Both for Jews and many non-Jews, it was forbidden to use of the blood from any sacrifice. The blood was regarded as belonging exclusively to God. Indeed, the blood was thought to contain the life-force of God. To drink it, or to make black pudding, or to use it in meat pies would be seen as utter sacrilege.
Black pudding is not my favourite savoury. I don’t dislike it, but I wouldn’t choose it. I once saw it being made in a farmhouse in Quebec. Boudin, Canadian blood pudding, has no filler. It is mainly a set custard of pig’s blood, milk, lard, eggs, onions and spices. The farmer’s wife had cleaned the skins and was filling one when it sprang a leak. In great frustration she flung it towards her screen door which promptly catapulted it back, spraying the contents all over her. That is a fixed image in my mind about blood pudding.
Life is directly from God. To the Jews, blood and life are closely associated in their thinking. When the blood of an animal, or a human being, ran away, then the life force departed. Together with the breath, they saw the blood as integral to life. Drinking blood was therefore taboo.
When John speaks of Jesus saying: “Drink my blood” the audience would have been shocked. Far more than just by the offence of cannibalism. It seemed like stealing that which belonged exclusively to God. But John obviously thought the offence was worth it. Through this Christ whose blood most truly belongs to God, we receive the very life of God. Through Christ God gives us himself. Through his blood our mortal lives, which are subject to decay and death, are gathered up into the eternal flow of the life of God. This is the symbolism of the blood Christ.
In Holy Communion, it is not something secondary we receive. Not something second-rate that God offers us. It is “very God of very God”. It is God’s own life-force that succours us, flows in our veins, nourishes our nerve cells and brains, fruits in our thoughts and feelings, our worshipping and working, playing or sleeping. Christ gives us nothing less than his total being.
You know the common saying: “We are what we eat.” Never is that so true as when we eat and drink from Christ’s table. This is the ultimate food and drink. The glorious Mystery that reshapes our lives. The holiest thing imaginable is taking place in common creatures like us.
One of the saddest aspects of Christian behaviour that the Lord’s Table, where we are meant to be one, is the very place where different streams of Christianity separate? And the thing that separates us is doctrine. There are differing understandings of the Lord’s Supper which have been formulated into doctrine and fixed like cement. The greatest divisions in Christendom have been over the meaning of this sacrament.
Recall the words with which I commenced: “When truth takes precedence over love, the angels of God stop their singing.”
Perhaps I should have been more precise: “When any of our human ideas of truth takes precedence over love, then the angels of God stop their singing.”
The early Christians did not have this problem. Not because they were so loving that it did not arise. They were no more loving than we are. In fact, they were difficult lot, who brought some stern rebukes from the Apostle Paul. Yet they did not have this problem of separation at the Lord’s Table because doctrine had not yet been carefully formulated and approved by church councils as being “the only truth.”
They believed that Jesus had told his disciples: Do this in remembrance of me. They believed that he said, “This is my body, this is my blood.” They did what he had asked. They shared the bread and wine without having to give assent to a particular and precise explanation in words of what was happening. There was no authorised interpretation which either admitted you to the holy meal or kept you out.
As the centuries have rolled on, we have tried to reduce the holiest of Mysteries to words. As a result some churches ban certain other Christians from the Table, not because they don’t love the Lord, but because they cannot embrace a particular “true” doctrine concerning the Holy Table. The Roman Catholics use one set of approved words, the Anglicans another, the Lutherans another, and the many “free churches” have their own special phrases. Words are never greater than the body and blood of Christ given for us. Words become pathetic little sounds in the Presence of the Mystery.
Doctrine is important, but we will not be judged on our doctrine, but on our faithfulness and our love towards God and each other. We should respect that there are differences of spiritual culture, accept and allow such differences treasure the historic creeds and understand the problems that led to their formulation. We can be enriched when we understand what different denominations are trying to say.
Those who love the Lord should be able to come together as one family to his Holy Table. The love test is the only one. Not some woolly notion of love, but love as revealed in all its passionate, costly beauty of the word and way of Jesus.
We know that some people plead their right to an “exclusive” Table on the grounds of integrity and truth. But is there any truth greater than Christ’s love? The Mystery exceeds all our formulations.
“When truth takes precedence over love, the angels of God stop their singing.”
We affirm the fullness of Christ, his body and blood, here with us today. Any explanations are always secondary. Any doctrines to which our denomination or any other holds, are also secondary. Here Christ is all in all. We are caught up in the Mystery, Doctrinally, as well as morally and spiritually, we sing: “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to your cross I cling.” We celebrate taking into ourselves the life of God in its fulness in the symbols of his flesh and blood, the bread and the wine. Amen.
Prayer of Intercession
God our heavenly Friend, you allow us to share your love for the world, while we are here praying for the world’s healing, others are busy implementing that healing. Later, when we are out there trying to give of our best, may others remember to pray for us.
Give your grace to all peacemakers; those who endeavour to resolve with justice all conflicts between nations, and within communities, commerce and industry, parliaments, families, marriage partners, colleagues, and friends.
Let your grace support those who fight with and for neglected people; those small ethnic groups with no political clout, the little people who are exploited off by the rich and unscrupulous, and the deserted wives or husbands who are raising a family alone.
Endow all merciful folk with your sustaining grace; those who treat diseases, bind up wounds, feed the hungry, re-settle the homeless, care for the orphan, visit the prisoner, encourage the handicapped, watch with the dying and grieve with the sorrowful.
Endorse the work of this church with your enabling grace. Keep it close to the agenda of Christ. Let us be joyful in worship, warm in fellowship, inclusive in outreach, open in decision making, humble and sensitive in evangelism, and gracious in our ecumenical endeavours.
Bless any servant of yours who is keeping the faith against the odds: those without the encouragement of other Christians at hand, or without even a distant congregation that can pray their names with affection. Please let your grace renew them daily, and may they know your Spirit as Friend and Counsellor.
Visit each of us with your grace, loving God. Dismantle our fears, build up our faith, deepen our love, clarify our goals, sharpen our insight, widen our compassion, and open our minds to the new words you wish to speak to our situation.
In the name of the patient, insightful, and healing Christ we offer these prayers.
Amen!
Hymn 664: 1-4 “Here O my Lord, I see thee face to face”
The Apostles Creed.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Communion
The Great Thanksgiving
Invitation to the Lord’s table.
This is the joyful feast of the people of God!
They will come from east and west,
and from north and south,
and sit at table in the kingdom of God. Luke 13:29.
According to Luke,
when our risen Lord was at table with his disciples,
he took bread, blessed,
broke it and gave it to them.
Then their eyes were opened
and they recognized him. Luke 24:30, 31.
This is the Lord’s table.
Our Saviour invites all those who trust him
to share the feast which he has prepared.
O taste and see that the Lord is good. Ps. 34:8a.
The presentation of gifts
Let us return to God
the offerings of our life
and the gifts of the earth.
Our opening responses are on the screen.
Let us pray
The Lord be with you.
And also, with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
it is right to give God thanks and praise.
Holy God, Creator of heaven and earth,
with joy we give you thanks and praise.
You commanded light to shine out of darkness,
divided the sea and dry land,
created the vast universe and called it good.
You made us in your image
to live with one another in love.
You gave us the breath of life
and freedom to choose your way.
You set forth your purpose
in commandments through Moses,
and called for justice in the cry of prophets.
Through long generations
you have been patient and kind to all your children.
The preface concludes:
How wonderful are your ways, almighty God!
How marvelous is your name, O Holy One!
You alone are God.
Therefore, with apostles and prophets,
and that great cloud of witnesses
who live for you beyond all time and space,
we lift our hearts in joyful praise in the Sanctus:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
We praise you, most holy God,
for sending your only Son Jesus to live among us,
full of grace and truth.
Sharing our joy and sorrow,
he healed the sick and was a friend of sinners.
Obeying you,
he took up his cross and died that we might live.
We praise you that he overcame death
and is risen to rule the world.
He is still the friend of sinners.
We trust him to overcome every power that can hurt or divide us,
and believe that when he comes in glory
we will celebrate victory with him.
The words of institution may be said here or in relation to the breaking of the bread.
We thank you that on the night before he died,
Jesus took bread, gave thanks to you,
broke the bread and said,
“Take, eat.
This is my body, given for you.
Do this for the remembrance of me.”
In the same way he took the cup, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood.
Do this for the remembrance of me.”
Therefore, in remembrance of your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we take this bread and this cup
and give you praise and thanksgiving
as we proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.
Gracious God,
pour out your Holy Spirit upon us,
and upon this bread and wine,
that we, and all who share this feast,
may be one with Christ and he with us.
Here we offer ourselves to be a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to you.
In your mercy,
accept our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.
Fill us with the joy of eternal life,
that we may be your faithful people
until we feast with you in glory.
Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honour are yours, almighty God,
for ever and ever. Amen.
The breaking of bread
We thank you that on the night before he died,
Jesus took bread, gave thanks to you,
broke the bread and said,
“Take, eat.
This is my body, given for you.
Do this for the remembrance of me.”
In the same way he took the cup, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood.
Do this for the remembrance of me.”
Because there is one bread,
we who are many are one body,
for we all partake of the one bread. I Cor. 10:17.
When we break the bread,
it is a sharing in the body of Christ. I Cor. 10:16.
Here the minister pours the wine and lifts the cup, saying:
When we bless the cup,
it is a sharing in the blood of Christ. I Cor. 10:16.
The minister then holds out both the bread and the cup to the people.
The communion
The gifts of God for the people of God.
“Take, eat. This is the body of Christ which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of him” This cup is the new covenant sealed in the blood of Christ. Do this in remembrance of him
Prayer after communion
Eternal God, we thank and praise you for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us.
Give us grace to go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others with courage and compassion in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hymn 664 5-7 “Too soon we rise the symbols disappear”
Sending out and Benediction
Go out into the world in peace. Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God through him. Col. 3:17.
And the blessing of God Almighty the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be with you and all whom you love this day and evermore
May God’s blessing surround you each day
Postlude: Behold the Lamb
For Children
Here is a picture of a modern soldier in his armour
Everything he has is meant to protect him from hurt and to help him to fight when he has to. It looks very awkward and heavy.
The Bible teaches us that you and I need protection in our lives, too. The Bible calls it the Armour of God, which protects us from Satan’s evil plans to hurt us. What kind of protection does the Bible say that we need? Let’s go through each piece together:
The belt of truth: The Bible tells us that God’s enemy, Satan, is the “father of lies,” but Satan can never win if we will hold onto the truth that Jesus is Lord.
The breastplate of righteousness: Satan can never harm us when we choose to do what God says is right.
Feet fitted with the gospel of peace: Satan tries to create worry and confusion in our lives, but knowing Jesus brings peace.
The shield of faith: Satan will try to plant seeds of doubt in our hearts and minds, but those seeds of doubt can never take root if we have faith in Jesus.
The helmet of salvation: Jesus came from heaven to earth to save us from the evil one. If we choose to follow Jesus, we will win the battle against Satan.
The sword of the Spirit: the Bible, God’s holy Word, is a powerful weapon against Satan.
Just as a soldier needs protective equipment, Christians need all the protection God has given us. Remember, Satan cannot harm us when we put on the “full armour of God.”
Dear God, thank You for the protection that You have given us against the evils of this world and Satan’s plans to harm us. Help us to always remember to put on every piece of your armour. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Here is a song about the Armour of God