Give thanks to God and tell of all his blessings. We will sing praises for all that God has done.
Let your hearts be full of joy! We will seek God’s presence continually.
Call to mind God’s wonderful works. We will always remember the blessings of God and glorify God forever!
The Collect for today
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase within us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.
Prayer of Adoration and Confession
Eternal and ever-loving God,
Deep is our desire for what is true and enduring.
Deep is our need to see clearly.
Deep is our longing for you, O God.
In you we live and move and have our being.
You are the root of love,
the fountain of knowledge,
the source of wisdom,
the path of right living.
You are the beginning and end of all things.
Our thoughts cannot comprehend your mystery
We rightly worship you in humble praise,
Holy God, ever three and ever one.
Although you satisfy our deepest desires, O God,
we confess together that we have often turned away from you:
We have sought meaning in dry and empty places.
We have clung to old hurts and familiar habits.
We have nursed anger and envy.
We have been self-absorbed and lacked compassion.
We have turned our backs on those in need.
Forgive what we have been, help us to change who we are,
and lead us by your grace that we may become more like Jesus Christ our Lord
Assurance of Pardon
With humility and gratitude, we receive and take to ourselves your forgiveness as we also release each other with the same grace. Save us from holding grudges and make us more compassionate in all our dealings.
Prayer for Understanding
God of wisdom, you teach us with your love, you touch us with your mercy, and you challenge us with your truth. Send us your Holy Spirit to help us understand the scriptures that we may encounter you as we hear your living Word.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
(in the words most familiar to you)
The Readings
Exodus 3:1-15
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, ‘I will go over and see this strange sight – why the bush does not burn up.’
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’
And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’
5 ‘Do not come any closer,’ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ 6 Then he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey – the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.’
11 But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’
12 And God said, ‘I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.’
13 Moses said to God, ‘Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” Then what shall I tell them?’
14 God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: “I am has sent me to you.”’
15 God also said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites, “The Lord, the God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob – has sent me to you.”
‘This is my name for ever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.
Matthew 16: 21-28
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
28 ‘Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.’
This is the Word of the Lord, to Him be all praise and glory.
Sermon
“Take off your shoes, for you are on holy ground”.
Have you ever wondered why in the story of the burning bush God does not tell Moses his name? No, really, what we know as the name of God, Yahweh, or Jehovah is not actually a name. It is a reply which translates, “I am,” and that’s all you need to know!
Names are important because they give us and other people power. I found this quotation from a magazine on business psychology which made me think:
Very often the first piece of information we have about a person is their name. It’s often the first thing you learn about someone and we form judgments about people very rapidly. And those judgments accumulate, so the first piece of information is especially important. It can lean you in a positive direction or a negative direction. And those first impressions can set the stage for future interactions.
Imagine that two people are starting work at a law firm on the same day. The one person has a very simple name. The other person has a very complex name. We’ve got pretty good evidence that over the course of their next 16 plus years of their career, the person with the simpler name will rise up the legal hierarchy more quickly. They will attain partnership more quickly in the middle parts of their career. And by about the eighth or ninth year after graduating from law school the people with simpler names are about seven to ten percent more likely to be partners – which is a striking effect. From What’s in a Name? Everything. Adam Alter. This shows how names can cause us to be biased or worse, prejudiced. They can create a false or limiting perception of a person.
For thousands of years believers from many religions have tried to get a handle on God. Especially they like to obtain the name of God.
For ancient cultures, to have another’s name was thought to give power over that person. To know the name of God, or the names of many gods, was the key to using the power of the gods for themselves. The name was a handle.
A lot of religion comes down to this attempt to have power over God. Sacrifices, incense, burnt offerings, vows, fasting, pilgrimages, reciting prayers, waving prayer flags, wearing holy medals, can all become little more than trying to manipulate God to serve our own purposes.
Some cults specialise in reciting the name of God in a hundred different languages. In Islam there are ninety-nine names for God which are often inscribed on the walls of mosques. Some think they have God in their definitions and creeds. Others imagine they have a handle on God when they try to domesticate him into showing favours to their cults and chapels and families.
When Jacob left his father-in- law Laban, his wife Rachel; stole some of the family gods and hid them in her saddle bags. Numerous people would like a god they could carry in their baggage.
We can appreciate the honesty of the prayer of the gipsy boy who carried his little yellow god in his jacket pocket:
“Sweet little god, please give me everything I ask. If you let me steal a loaf and brandy, I will light a candle for you.
If the strangers enter my tent but cannot find any of their stolen property, I will light two candles for you.
If police search me and find nothing stolen on me, I will offer you three big candles. For you are my sweet, little yellow god.”
The Jews were no exception to the desire to get a handle on God. Do you remember Jacob wrestling with the stranger in the night at Peniel? “Tell me your name” Jacob asked. He wanted to have power over God; to get a handle on the power he knew to be Divine.
The Israelites used a number of different names to describe Go. El was a basic word and appears in place names such as Bethel. Elohim, a plural word, was a general word for God or the gods.
So, we find Moses in the desert of the Sinai Peninsula, standing in front of a burning bush; one that although it was in flames was not consumed.
God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush and asked him to go back to Egypt and rescue the people of Israel from their slavery. Moses was not keen on the idea, but God insisted. The reluctant Moses asks for one favour; he says to God, “Tell me your name.” It’s another case of “let me get a handle on you.”
God answers in a wonderful way: “I am what I am”. That’s the nearest thing Moses would get to a name from God. It is more a verb, not a noun. It is the Hebrew verb “to be”. God does not give Moses anything to hold on to other than an eternal living Mystery.
This mystery deepens because there is a problem with Hebrew writing. Because no written vowels were created until well after Jesus, we don’t know what the sounds were. And the truth is that no pious Jew would even attempt to speak the name of God because it is so sacred. The consonants without the vowels that we have in the Scriptures could mean a number of things. Maybe it was “I am what I am” as it is commonly translated. It could be “I am whatever I will be.” Or “I will be what I am.” Or “I will be what I have been”. Or “I am what I have been.” Maybe some of you had their ideas shaped by the twentieth century philosopher A. N. Whitehead, believing it might have been “I will be what I am becoming!”
Traditionally we have stayed with “I am what I am.” It is a name that is not a name. Holy agnosticism, a sense of awe and wonder, is the right way to go for we will never know, maybe not even in eternity.
God in that sense is nothing; that is, “no thing”. Things can be named and handled. We can name a child and a mountain. We can name an idol or a poodle. We can name a fruit or an insect. We can name a planet Mars and we can name the constellation Orion. We can name the Milky Way and we can name the remains of dinosaurs and name subatomic particles. We can name anomalies in the heavens and call them black holes, and we can try to calculate the beginning of all creation and call it the Big Bang.
But we can never, ever name God! God is not a thing in the universe to be named. God is not even the sum total of the universe that we can name. God is the ultimate Mystery, the awesome Identity that precedes all things; the glory that cannot be imagined, and before whom humble worship is the only wise response we can make.
Does this mean that we know nothing and should stay silent? Get together and recite nothing but Om-m-m-m-m? Not at all, for as Moses was to find out, this God will be known by what He does.
God revealed himself by rescuing and reshaping the descendants of Sarah and Abraham as the chosen people; by recommissioning them to be a blessing to the whole world. God chose to be self-revealed as a Saviour, as a Shepherd, as full of mercy, as a Being of exalted moral practice, as a reliable God who keeps the covenant as a lover of the oppressed and the hungry, the widow and the orphan. And much more.
God is Holy Activity, known from his work in creation and redemption. God’s “essence” cannot be measured or calculated. God is a verb not a noun.
That mysterious answer “I am” which we don’t know how to pronounce and which many speculate about, is the nearest thing to a name that we will get. Not a handle but an Awesome Activity to whom we can respond and find blessing, or on whom we can turn our backs and reap the tares.
The sovereign freedom of God, to be what God will be, is not in any way defined or manipulated by human beings. We are denied the opportunity to fix a handle on God for handles become idols.
We are in the presence of Mystery, Holy Mystery, “Take off your shoes you are on holy ground….”
Many people are not satisfied with this. They demand certainty. They want to get a handle on God. Therefore, we meet those who try to make handles of the great Creeds and Confessions: Apostle Creed, Nicene Creed, and that of Chalcedon, or Westminster Confession and the Thirty-Nine Articles. They try to get a firm grip on God, a convenient handle. Many of these statements can become idols in themselves and that is dangerous because they often reflect the world view of those who composed and agreed to them down the centuries.
Others look for security in the works of great Christian thinkers: They let their heroes do their thinking for them. As in Augustine’s Confessions, The Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, the Institutes of John Calvin, John Wesley’s Sermons, or in the last century the Church Dogmatics of Karl Barth. It is good that we have these, but they are never the last word, for the mystery of God remains.
Yet others believe they get a handle on God when they repeat certain religious phrases like “born again,” “the second blessing” or “the precious blood of Jesus.” Again, these are fair enough, but they sometimes become more important than the mystery of God and they limit him to a certain theology and set of beliefs.
More extreme are those who insist their handles are right but everyone else is wrong.
Such as this fictional example, “the truth as proclaimed by Jesse Washington Smith Junior, pastor of the first true Bible Baptist Church, Cincinnati.” Many preachers believe only their understanding of God and the Word is correct and set up their own churches. We are all entitled to understand the faith in our own way, but we must be careful, because in our sinfulness or ignorance we might be wrong.
But God remains utterly free and sovereign. God stays divinely slippery: “I am what I am,” “I will be what I will be,” “I am what I will be”. God refuses to accept our handles! Always the Spirit of God flows when and where He and She will and always points to his fullest revelation, Jesus Christ, the Saviour
God in Christ does not give us a handle but a hand and in this we have a massive advantage over Moses. We have the deeds and parables and the very character of Christ to point us to the saving activity of the God whom we worship. God who is a verb, an activity, came close enough for men and women to see, hear, touch and hug and follow.
“I am that I am” does the most remarkable thing of all in the wonderful Son of God. At the sight of a burning bush that was not consumed, Moses found it was right to take of his shoes because he was on holy ground. In the presence of Christ, we do well to take off our shoes. If not physically, certainly mentally we should humble ourselves. Jesus does not make God less awesome, but more so. Such beauty! Such love! Such costly, saving love! Think then today about the holiness, the deep inexpressible mystery of God and lay aside your definitions, for like any graven image they are and will be inadequate. Take off your shoes, you are on holy ground.
Through Christ we do not get a handle on God. Sometimes better happens; God in Christ stretches out a hand to us. It is a scarred hand. If we take that hand, we will find that it is more than sufficient for our needs.
Amen.
Invitation to the offering
As Jesus’ followers, we have the privilege of taking part in the redeeming work God has begun in the world. Today we offer our gifts in anticipation that God will use them—and us—n that work! The offering will now be received.
Prayer of Dedication
O God, we offer these gifts to you in hope and thanksgiving. Use them to transform the world you love with the good news we celebrate in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
O God in whom we live and move and have our being
We come to you in prayer as the summer season draws nearer to its close
And we prepare for autumn that will be filled with many changes:
We thank you for the days that we have enjoyed this summer.
Savouring the beauty of your creation right outside our doors,
Thank you for the chance to catch up with family and friends after the months of lockdown in recent days and for whatever opportunities for travel, recreation and restoration that have been possible. We recognize how blessed we are to live in this land with its stability and safety and thus we are grateful for each moment in which we found rest and relaxation in the summer season.
Now we remember those for whom this summer has been difficult:
Those still isolated by the restrictions because of COVID-19.
Those who go hungry or face violence in forgotten corners of our own community and around the world.
Those whose businesses are struggling, who have to figure out how to be inviting and safe at the same time.
And those who are uncertain how to engage with friends and neighbours and still be wise and careful as the pandemic continues. We pray for our children and grandchildren as schools have resumed, for safety for them and their teachers. We pray for those who hope to go to college or university but are still uncertain about where or when.
(Keep silence for 10 seconds)
Help them to find courage to face whatever tomorrow will bring.
O God, Jesus walked the road of suffering with so many in pain and grief
We think about people whose lives have faced crises this summer—
Through tragic death and unexpected loss,
Through critical illness or injury,
Through pain or problems that seem to have no end…
(Keep silence for 10 seconds)
Surround them with your comfort and compassion
O God, because Jesus often faced many demands and the pressure from his critics,
we pray for all those who have not found rest this summer:
Leaders trying to find ways forward to care for their communities when there are no examples to follow.
People whose jobs and responsibilities have changed, for whom every day brings new challenges. We also remember all who are looking for work in these uncertain economic times
(Keep silence for 10 seconds)
May they know your strength and assurance day by day
O God, in our own way we all need the embrace of your presence,
Bring healing and peace to our lives and to this world which you love.
Help us to be aware of the needs of others so that we may bring loving encouragement, comfort, healing, and peace when we see them in pain or distress
Hear these and our many other prayers in the name of Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour.
Amen
Benediction
The world is waiting for the love and grace which you have to offer through your faith in Jesus Christ. Go home with joy and peace to be God’s witnesses today and every day. The blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be with you and all whom you love today and evermore.
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:
Lord of Life we come to you
1 Lord of life, we come to you,
Lord of all, our Saviour be,
Come to bless and to heal
With the light of your love.
2 Through the days of doubt and toil.
In our joys and in our pain,
Guide our steps in your way,
Make us one in your love.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God almighty
Today I awake and God is before me
1 Today I awake, and God is before me.
At night, as I dreamt, God summoned the day;
For God never sleeps but patterns the morning
with slithers of gold or glory in grey.
2 Today I arise, and Christ is beside me.
He walked through the dark to scatter new light,
Yes, Christ is alive, and beckons his people
to hope and to heal, resist and invite.
3 Today I affirm the Spirit within me
at worship and work, in struggle and rest.
The Spirit inspires all life which is changing
from fearing to faith, from broken to blest.
4 Today I enjoy the Trinity round me,
above and beneath, before and behind;
The Maker, the Son, the Spirit together
they called me to life and call me their friend.
John L. Bell
Will you come and follow me?
1. Will you come and follow me
If I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know
And never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown,
Will you let my name be known,
Will you let my life be grown
In you and you in me?
2. Will you leave yourself behind
If I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind
And never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare
Should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer
In you and you in me?
3. Will you let the blinded see
If I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free
And never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean,
And do such as this unseen,
And admit to what I mean
In you and you in me?
4. Will you love the you inside
If I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside
And never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found
To reshape the world around,
Through my sight and touch and sound
In you and you in me?
5. Lord, your summons echoes true
When you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you
And never be the same.
In your company I’ll go
Where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow
In you and you in me.
I the Lord of sea and sky
I want to walk with Jesus Christ
For Children
Shoes come in all types and sizes. There are dress shoes like we might wear to church. There are athletic shoes like we wear when we play sports. There are sandals or flip-flops for summer. What kind of shoes are you wearing just now? We have all kinds of shoes!
But why are we talking about shoes? – You might be wondering. Well, shoes protect our feet, but they can also serve another purpose Do you wear your shoes inside most of the time. Or do you take your shoes off when you’re at home?
People might take off their shoes to keep from tracking dirt inside. And in some places, people always take off their shoes and leave them at the door when they enter a house as a sign of respect. In Canada and America most people politely take their shoes off when entering a home, and there is often a rubber tray inside the door to catch melting snow from boots and shoes in winter.
Respect means to show someone you think that person is important. And that reminds us of today’s Bible lesson.
God told a man named Moses to take off his shoes. To get ready to hear about what happened to Moses, let’s take off our shoes now. I think that’ll help us understand why God told Moses to take off his shoes. I’m going to do that. If you wish, join me.
God called Moses from a burning bush to get his attention and talk to him. God had an important job for Moses. He told Moses to take off his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. Here is a video about Moses and the burning bush:
At first, Moses was confused and wasn’t sure God was really be speaking to him. God asked Moses to lead His people, but Moses wasn’t sure he was the right person for the job. In the end Moses was quiet and listened to God and did what God asked of him.
Why did the burning bush get Moses to pay attention to God? God wished to give Moses important instructions. Just as God spoke to Moses, God speaks to us, too when we worship or read our Bibles. We too should be respectful and listen whenever we come into God’s presence in worship. We don’t need to take off our shoes to do so, but by coming quietly and listening carefully, we respect and offer worship to God,
God our Father, thank You for giving us instructions. Thank You for speaking to Moses and for speaking to us. Help us remember to listen to You.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Intimations
Worship Services will resume in Inverkeithing Parish Church on Sunday 6th September at 11:30 am.
Please remember to indicate to Moira Lamont if you wish to attend.
Numbers will be restricted to fifty persons and will be allocated on a first come first reserved basis.
