30th. January. 2022. Service.
Inverkeithing Parish Church linked with North Queensferry Church
Worship 30th January 2o22
Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Prelude “Joyful, joyful we adore Thee”
Bible Introit 713 “Come all who look to God today”
Opening Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Hymn 192 “All my hope on God is founded”
Call to Prayer
O Lord, in you we find refuge.
May we never be put to shame.
Turn your ear to us, O God, and save us.
For you are our rock and our fortress.
God has always been our hope and trust.
He has been with us from the day of our birth.
Let us sing in praise of God’s steadfast love.
We will honour and glorify God now and always.
Prayer
God our Father you are the almighty and everlasting One, who reigns in infinite majesty with incomparable power. You are hidden in mystery, living in unapproachable light but with a love that is greater and deeper than we can imagine
Our lives in this world are frantic and busy but in you we find peace and rest. Our world at times can be cruel and harsh, but in you we meet tenderness and mercy. In the cold dark days of winter, you are our light and comfort.
Because you created us for yourself, gave us the precious gift of life, redeemed us in Jesus Christ and gave us new birth by your Holy Spirit you, the only true God are worthy of our worship, love and devotion today and always. Receive our praises and prayers as we bring them in the Name of Jesus Christ.
God our Father whose name is love, we confess our faults and failings without fear because we know that you know us through and through. You have taught us that love is patient and kind, and you know when our patience and kindness fell short. You remind us that love is never rude or selfish, and you see the times we insisted on our own way. Forgive us for our failings and for the excuses we make to ourselves when our love falters. Let your Spirit inspire us with the virtues of faith which Jesus has taught us and strengthen within us the hope and love you have also given us in Him.
Assurance of Pardon
You our God are compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is your love; And as far as the east is from the west, so far have you removed our sins from us. We thank you for the constancy of your love and forgiveness and ask that we may be as constant in our forgiveness of one another.
Prayer for Understanding
God of wisdom, you have spoken to your people in every age through prophets and teachers and supremely in Jesus Christ. Today we long to hear your holy Word in new and fresh ways. Help us to understand your truth and to hear again the word which has called us to you from the beginning of the creation. Give us all we need to serve you in your kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord in whom we pray,
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.
The Intimations
Christian Aid
A big thank you to everyone who donated to the recent collection for the Christian Aid Afghanistan Appeal which raised £167.00.
Coffee mornings
The Inverkeithing Tuesday Morning Coffee mornings will resume on February 8th. The heating in the church is working, but s0me work still has to be completed this week.
The minister will be away from Monday through Friday. Please contact the Session Clerks if you require pastoral assistance.
Kirk Session Meetings
The Inverkeithing Kirk Session will meet on Wednesday 9th February at 7 pm and the North Queensferry Kirk Session on Thursday 10th at 7pm.
Invitation to the Offering
The Apostle Paul reminds us that the greatest of gifts is love. The blessings we enjoy in life speak of God’s love for us. What we offer to God speaks of our love for the One who has reached out to us in Jesus. May our gifts share that love with God’s world.
Prayer of Dedication
God of life and love, we are grateful for all you have given us in Christ and in creation, in community and in the Church that bears Jesus’ name. We offer our gifts to you in love, trusting you will bless them and that they may become tangible expressions of your love at work in the world for Christ’s sake. Amen.
All Age Talk
Do you ever feel like you’re just too young or too small to do something? Can anyone think of a time when you might have said, “I just can’t do it!” We have all said that at one time or another. Maybe you said it when a teacher asked you do something for the first time, or while you were trying to do your homework. We’ve all found ourselves feeling defeated, saying, “I just can’t do it.”
Our Bible lesson today is about a man named Jeremiah. One day, God spoke to Jeremiah and said, “Before you were even born, I chose you to be My prophet to all the nations.”
Wow, that’s a tall order! Can you imagine being chosen by God to speak His words to all the nations of the world?
Jeremiah answered, “I can’t! I’m not a good speaker, and besides, I’m too young.”
“Don’t say ‘I can’t,’ ” the LORD answered Jeremiah. “If I tell you to go and speak to someone, then go! And when I tell you what to say, don’t leave out a word!” Then the LORD reached out His hand, and touched Jeremiah’s mouth and said, “I am giving you the words to say, and I am sending you with authority to speak to the nations for Me.”
God called Jeremiah to a monumental task before he was even born. But He wasn’t going to leave Jeremiah to do it all on his own. God also promised to give Jeremiah all the words he would need to speak.
Just like God had some great plans for Jeremiah, He also has some pretty big plans for you too. He knows your name. He knew you before you were even born, and He has a plan for your life.
There will be times in your life when God will come to you, as He did to Jeremiah, and ask you to do something important for Him. He may call you to do something that feels difficult, or maybe even impossible. You may feel like you’re too young, and you might even want to say, “I just can’t do it.” But when that happens, remember what God said to Jeremiah, “Don’t say, ‘I can’t!’ ” If God calls you to do something, He will reach out His hand and touch your life to give you the ability to do it.
Dear Father, there may be some things in this life that we cannot do on our own. But we know that if You ask us to do something, You will give us the ability to do it if we just trust in You. Amen.
Hymn 142 “A small thing like a hazelnut”
Reading: Jeremiah 1:1-10
1 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. 2 The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, 3 and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.
4 The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5 ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew[a] you,
before you were born I set you apart.
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.’
6 ‘Alas, Sovereign Lord,’ I said, ‘I do not know how to speak; I am too young.’
7 But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am too young.” You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,’ declares the Lord.
9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.’ Amen.
Hymn 489 “Come down, O Love Divine
Reading: Luke 4:21-30
21 He began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’
22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. ‘Isn’t this Joseph’s son?’ they asked.
23 Jesus said to them, ‘Surely you will quote this proverb to me: “Physician, heal yourself!” And you will tell me, “Do here in your home town what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.”’
24 ‘Truly I tell you,’ he continued, ‘no prophet is accepted in his home town. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy[a] in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed – only Naaman the Syrian.’
28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. Amen, this is the Word of the Lord, to him be all glory and praise.
Hymn 718 “We cannot measure how you heal”
Sermon
Last week we eavesdropped on Jesus’ first recorded sermon in his home town of Nazareth. First sermons can also be fraught. My very first took place in a village where some of my forbears came from Applegarth, near Lockerbie. Looking down from the pulpit the first person I saw was an English teacher from school. Rather daunting as the head of his department once told me I would never be a public speaker! A Baptist minister records that her first sermon was in her home church, and she was mortified to find a baby picture printed into the icing of a celebratory cake at the reception. Everybody in the congregation knew all about her.
Preaching can be perilous, and preaching to your own people is especially hazardous, something which the first disciples learned to their cost in the early years of the church.
Stephen, a deacon in the church in Jerusalem, was a loved and respected preacher and debater who was noted for his many signs and wonders who angered members of various synagogues by his teachings. They accused him of blasphemy and at his trial, he made a speech denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgment on him and was then stoned to death. He thus became the first Christian martyr. He was following in a long tradition of prophets and teachers in Israel including Jesus himself who was ultimately killed for declaring the Word of God.
Jesus seemed to get off to a good start as we saw last week. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” This is a good text for a first sermon because, if a preacher’s call is real, then the is a validation of the call.
The people smile. They know this Scripture. It is one of their favourites. It is always good to remember how God was faithful to those who were living in exile. How God brought them home. Some have heard it said that this Scripture is a description of the Messiah who is to come. And they have been praying that one day they might see God’s Anointed bring this message of good news to them as well.
But they never could have expected what happened next. For after he stops reading,
Jesus rolls the scroll back up, returns it to the scroll bearer, and sits down, assuming the position of one who is about to preach. Everyone sits at the edges of their pews, completely spellbound.
They’ve heard from their neighbours that little Jesus has grown into quite the preacher. And they can’t wait to hear him for themselves. “Today,” Jesus says, “this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
The congregation sits in stunned silence. Is Jesus saying that he is the one they have been waiting for? Jesus, who they used to pass honeycomb to keep him quiet during the prayers? Jesus, who they watched grow up from a spindly legged boy into a strapping young man? Jesus is the Messiah?
They aren’t sure what to make of it. But they know they are excited. If he will be the one to release the captives of Rome. If he will be the one who heals the blind and offer forgiveness of sins. Well…that is good news! Especially for them, the ones closest to him! They all begin to smile and shuffle in their seats. Jesus’ mother nods at her son and gives him a wink as if to say, “Well done!” The good news has been proclaimed and everyone is surprised and pleased! Last week we focussed upon the word “Today.” Today we consider the implications of the rest of his sermon.
With this opening, all should have been fine. It all would have been great, even. If Jesus had just stopped there. But he kept preaching. And it is hard to be a prophet in your own hometown. It is hard to say difficult things to people you love. It is hard to tell your elders that they may have gotten something wrong. It is hard to teach people who used to change your nappies or taught you English!. But Jesus tries.
“This is indeed good news,” Jesus says. “But it isn’t good news just for us. The good news I am bringing isn’t going to stop here in Nazareth. After all, God is bigger than that.
Remember Elijah and Elisha, those good old prophets in the old days? Let’s not forget our Holy Scriptures and the stories they tell. It’s easy to skip over the parts we don’t like. But we have to remember. Remember how Elijah went to that poor widow in Zarephath? How he went he crossed the borders of Israel into enemy territory and found that starving woman? Taking what she offered, Elijah made sure that they both were fed. Or what about Elisha? Remember how Naaman, a leader in the Syrian army—those enemies of Israel—remember how he suffered from leprosy, but Elisha healed him? Friends, there were hungry and hurting people in Israel in those days. But Elijah and Elisha didn’t help them. They helped the others. The people that the Israelites actually hated. And what I am trying to say to you today is that the kingdom of God is going to be bigger than you think. The healing, the forgiveness, the release and the favour is not just for you.”
With this, the mood in the synagogue shifts. Jesus can feel it. The people who were nodding before are now shooting him the evil eye. Finally, someone stands up, having heard enough and marches out of the back doors. Others begins to follow. It is very disconcerting for a preacher when that happens. It can immediately inspire doubt and fear about
Maybe Jesus heard one man grumble as he pushed his way past him. “Who does he think he is?” Frederick Coombs, my associate in Port of Spain used to say, preachers can often “mash someone’s corns.” But it doesn’t end there. Instead, the angriest people make their way to the front, grab Jesus under the arms and drag him down the aisle and out the door. “How dare you talk about God like that in our place of worship!” they demand. And they pull and push him down the streets. Through his old neighbourhood. past the streets where he used to play. Past the place he used to eat sweet dates with his friends. Out to the city limits, ready to push him off the cliff.
We may wonder what it would be like to have Jesus preach in our churches today.
What would his sermon be about? If Luke is right, this first sermon Jesus preached in his hometown was his mission statement. It was the sermon that would shape the rest of his life. It was his vision of what it looked like to live and work in and for the kingdom of God. So I imagine that if he preached today he would say many of the same things. He would certainly remind us that God is still working to bring good news to the poor. To remind us that our worth and the worth of others lies outside our bank accounts. To remind us that those to whom much is given, much is required.
As we saw last time, Jesus would still proclaim release to all those being held captive, whether it is addicts who are captive to a bottle or a needle or a laptop, those who have been thrown into prison and then forgotten, or those who are held captive by the mistakes of their past.
Jesus would remind us that God is still working to bring sight to the blind so that we can see each other clearly again, free of the labels and the boxes we like to put one another in. To allow us to see ourselves as God truly sees us.
Jesus would certainly still say, as Nadia Bolz Weber paraphrases, “The Spirit of the Lord has sent him to bring freedom to the oppressed, the over worked, the under-appreciated, the last chosen, the unlovely, the despised and unseen, the overly-proud, the parts of ourselves that are so small.” That sounds like good news.
But Jesus probably wouldn’t stop there. Because Jesus didn’t stop there before. So I wonder if, when Jesus preached to us, some of what he would say would make us mad? We like to think that we would behave better than his friends and neighbours in Nazareth. But I’m not so sure. Because we, like them, really hate when we are reminded that God is God and that we are not. That God can act in ways that we might not approve of. That God’s love and God’s mercy might actually extend beyond our own. We don’t always want to hear that God might just care about the people that we hate as much as God cares about us.
One Australian preacher provocatively claimed that Jesus was Catholic:
“Hold a moment. Jesus’ mission was to the Jews, wasn’t it? He did not go to the pagans, the Gentiles?” He did not go to Greece and preach, or to Egypt or Rome. He stayed in his own familiar territory not much bigger than Fife.
Yet his mission remained a universal, inclusive one, and he proved this by including in his outreach the hated Romans and Samaritans, the Greek and Phoenicians He made sure he included disgraced Jews, the outsiders who wereno longer welcome at the synagogue.
If the word catholic means “universal,” or “for all people” then then Jesus was catholic in belief, attitude, word and deed. His love was inclusive.
This inclusiveness even shaped the selection of the disciples. He some disciples with Greek names like Philip and Andrew? What good, pious Jew would give his sons Greek names? And what was Matthew, a tax pimp for the Roman occupation force, doing among the Christ’s disciples?
Also within the land, especially in the Galilean region, some cities had become so influenced by Greek and Roman culture that orthodox Jews black-listed them as Gentile territory. The towns of Tiberias and Tarichaea on the shores of lake Galilee, Scythopolis south of the lake, Sepphoros close to and just north of Nazareth were among those black-listed by the pious. (Nazareth itself was an orthodox town.) Yet Jesus moved freely among those black-listed towns of Galilee.
Jesus refused to classify people or racist, cultural, or any other lines. He did not categorise folk as either pure or impure, righteous or unrighteous, good churchgoers or the unworthy outsiders, Israelites and pagan Gentiles, God’s people or the unwashed mob. His love was radically inclusive.
That is what appears to be what “got up the noses” of his fellow citizens in Nazareth. He arrived at orthodox Nazareth from among the black-listed towns.
If Jesus came to our church today and preached a sermon from this pulpit, he probably wouldn’t talk about widows in Sidon or Syrian soldiers. Maybe instead he would talk about immigrants. Or people whose relationships or experiences are different from our own. Maybe he would talk about people who speak different languages and live in different countries or people who worship differently from us.
Jesus would probably tell us that God reaches out to those we have decided to hate just as much as he reaches out to us. That God seeks to heal and help them just as much as he seeks to heal and help us. That the good news is often found, not where we are, but with the people who make us the most uncomfortable.
Oh my. That is not an easy sermon to hear. It wasn’t then and it isn’t now. Saying things like that is enough to get you fired. Or… maybe…if you say in the wrong place at the wrong time, saying things like that is enough to get you killed.
A Christians we believe that the message of Jesus is just as important and real for us today as it was for those who heard his first sermon in person. And the call of Jesus is just as real for us today as it was for them, even when we don’t want to hear it. We can rage about the message all we want. And we can shake our fists at the sky.
But right when our anger and outrage at the scandal of the gospel pushes us to the very edge of the cliff, Jesus passes right through us. As if to say that even now the boundaries and the barriers we are trying to erect are like smoke and air to him. Powerless in the face of the great and terrible mercy of our God. Today, Jesus says. Today these words are fulfilled in your hearing. And then he looks at us and raises his eyebrows…as if to say: “Now what will you do about it?”
Yes, preaching can be a perilous thing. Saul of Tarsus was among those who condemned Stephen. God’s love and mercy changed him into a preacher who suffered hostility, beatings, imprisonments and ultimately joined Stephen as a martyr years later in Rome. His calling like’ Stephen’s and Jeremiah’s was to experience the love and protection of God as he fulfilled a dangerous mission. We didn’t read it today’s epistle, 1 Corinthians 13 which Paul wrote about love, the greatest attribute of a mature Christian. That maturity only comes through heeding even the most difficult and challenging preaching of the word. Amen.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Father, your word calls into the maturity of Christ as we work to make faith hope and love central to our lives. We thank you for every expression of patience and kindness that we have known. For all who have been patient and gracious, teaching us and caring for us in so many ways. We pray for patience to love others as you have loved us. God of love, hear our prayer.
Thank you for every unexpected gesture of kindness we have received. Give us grace and courage to be kind to one another,
Serving those who seem unkind, rude, or difficult to love. We are ready to excuse the pressures we live with, help us to be generous.
Remind us that each one we meet is your child, a sister or brother made in your image. God of love, hear our prayer.
Lord, your love is not arrogant, neither does it seek its own interests. Thank you for all who work to serve people who cannot fend for themselves. Restore all who have lost hope and confidence in their own value.
Give us insight into the needs of other people what we may to
work for change and create opportunities for people on the margins of our community and show and respect for any who face discrimination. We ask for the gift of knowing when to speak the truth in love and when to be silent. God of love, hear our prayer.
O God, your love is not quick-tempered.
Thank you for every occasion when someone spared us from their anger. We pray for people who are filled with anger
and for all around them who face or fear violence.
Provide advocates for children and elders who are abused,
and rescue everyone who is trapped in abusive or harmful relationships. Give them courage to move on or to find help.
God of love, hear our prayer.
O God, your love bears all things; it never fails.
We thank you for those whom we have loved in this life
and who now live in the peace and joy of your presence.
Settle your comfort on people who are bereaved or lonely today, for whom painful anniversaries are coming round, Provide encouragement and comfort wherever they are needed
We remember before you those with heavy burdens, many cares, much stress, and those who find too little comfort or help.
Show us or lead us to people to whom we can offer support and companionship, for the sake of Christ, our friend and Saviour, Amen.
Hymn 519 “Love Divine, all loves excelling”
Benediction
Go now, and heed God’s message.
Never forget God’s wonderful mercy and kindness.
Welcome the freedom that is won in truth,
but never use your freedom to undermine others.
See that your words and actions are worthy of praise.
And may God uphold you in a lasting covenant.
May Christ Jesus free you from all that would harm you.
And may the Holy Spirit nourish you in wisdom and faithfulness.
“May God’s blessing surround you each day”
Postlude: “Love one another”