3rd May 2020 Service.

Call to Worship

Let us worship God in the name of Jesus Christ, the good shepherd
who offers us abundant life.
Let us worship God in the name of the One who leads us by still waters,
and restores our souls.
Let us worship God in the name of the One who prepares a banquet for us and fills our cups to overflowing.

Collect for today:
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer of Adoration and Confession

Generous and loving God,
The constancy of your love has lasted throughout the ages. From generation to generation, you have offered renewal and rest to all who are lost or carry heavy burdens.

However far we may have strayed, you have sought us out and guided us beside still waters.

You have led us in path of righteousness, ways that are right and true for us
and you have walked with us even through the darkest experiences of our lives.
You are always and forever our hope and the source of our life.
Today we worship and bless for your endless love, as you embrace us once again,
our Creator, Redeemer and Guide.

In our approach to worship we are very conscious of the sins we have committed against you and one another:
Ever-patient God, endless in love and full of mercy, we confess that too often we are inclined to forget your love and withhold forgiveness, kindness and friendship from one another. We allow unworthy, graceless thoughts to dominate our minds and instead of remembering that you have called us to be compassionate,
we are cold and full of judgment towards each other.
You have called us to follow Christ, but too often we are distracted by our own desires and plans. For these and other ways in which we fall short of your calling to be like Jesus Christ our brother and Saviour, forgive us and heal us,and renew a right spirit within us.

Assurance of Pardon

Dear friends in Christ, while it is true that we have all sinned,
it is a greater truth that we are forgiven through God’s love in Jesus Christ.
To all who humbly seek the mercy of God, I say, In Jesus Christ our sin is forgiven!
Be at peace with God, with yourself and with one another.

Prayer for Understanding

God of rest and renewal, still our hearts and minds with your Spirit. Reveal new truths to us as we open our minds to receive your Word. Give us a deeper understanding of ourselves and each other that we may serve you and each other with greater devotion and faithfulness, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord in whom we pray that we may come to know you more fully and follow you more faithfully. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer (in the words most familiar to you)

The Readings

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
for ever. Amen.

John 10:1-10

10 ‘Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice.’ 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

7 Therefore Jesus said again, ‘Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.

Acts 2:42-47

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

1 Peter 2:19-25

19 For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. 20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

22 ‘He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.’

23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 ‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’ 25 For ‘you were like sheep going astray,’ but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Amen, this is the Word of the Lord, to him be all praise and glory.

Sermon

Acts 2:44

Today I am indebted to an Australian colleague for the seed thought in today’s sermon

The common theme which runs through our scripture lessons is the loving care of God for his people. I have chosen to focus on a brave attempt by the early church to honour by their service the providential love of God as expressed in the Psalm, the Gospel reading and Jesus’ teaching about love.

We could describe this as the world’s first attempt at communism; a brief, vibrant communism as it was practised in the young Christian church; in that dynamic church which expanded rapidly after the day of Pentecost. It was a communism that was high on idealism and for a time was faithful in practice. It put the “love one another commandment” into a new way of living together as the first Christians practised a thoroughly commune- like lifestyle.

There is no avoiding the plain evidence as given in the Acts of the Apostles. “All who believed [in Jesus] stayed close together and owned everything in common. They sold their property and possessions, and distributed them around, according to individual need.” Acts 2:44

What a change there would be if such a thing still happened.

Can we doubt that such a way of life is the ideal to which Christ Jesus calls us? It would be wonderful if Christians today could live that way. No private wealth, investments, or possessions. Everything held in common. No highfliers over against those who struggle. Neither rich nor poor. Just one warm fellowship of mutual sharing and caring.

Such an idealistic communism would be truly a bit of heaven on earth. Those first Christians bravely and lovingly practised it in Jerusalem. Think of the witness that such a caring and sharing way of life must have had on the community around them. Folk would really sit up and take notice. It is little wonder that new converts were being baptized every day.

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche the German philosopher once said, “I might believe in the Redeemer if his followers looked more redeemed.”

Sadly today, that wonderful witness of complete caring and sharing, is rarely seen by the world around us. Surprised bystanders do not look on and say of us “Just see how much these Christians love one another.”

What went wrong?

We know from recent history that communism as a political movement, as much as fascism has failed to create a just and fair society.

In the beginning, political communism was idealistic: it aimed at the common sharing of abilities and possessions. It may have been atheistic and materialistic, but at the beginning it possessed the highest ideals. Its leaders started out as men of great dreams, seeking to improve the lives of poor and exploited workers.

In the little red book by China’s Chairman Mao, we find this: “Each citizen is to serve the whole, and the whole is to serve each citizen.” That is a noble concept and it is remarkably close to what happened in the early Christian community.

What went wrong with it?

Human nature is what went wrong. The idealism did not allow for the bias human beings have towards evil. It did not allow for the corruptibility of the human soul. It did not allow for the pride of individual egos, or for the fundamental selfishness that exists in humanity.

Before long idealism was compromised to the demands of political dogma. Bloodshed and mayhem spread as the perverse doctrine of “the end justifies the means” was employed. Before long, freedom of speech was regarded as subversive. On top of that the lust for power and wealth quickly surfaced. A new oligarchy replaced the old oligarchy. Palaces once inhabited by princes were enthusiastically occupied by the new power brokers. New classes of privilege and wealth replaced the old ones.

The biting satire of George Orwell in his novel/parable “Animal Farm,” where the animals take over and attempt to build their new world, was spot on. “All pigs are equal, but some are more equal than others.”

It seems we cannot build an idealistic society of corrupted and corrupting human beings. Even the noblest idealist cannot be trusted when power is place in human hands

We can then leave political communism, which was almost immediately corrupted and plunged humanity into hostile camps during the last century

What about the early Christian communism? What went wrong there?

The answer is uncomfortable. The same thing went wrong. Human nature. Egocentric human nature did the damage.

In the joy of the resurrection of their Lord, that early Christian community tried to live as if they had fully arrived; as if they were already completely redeemed creatures, perfect in body, mind, and soul.

“All who believed [in Jesus] stayed close together and owned everything in common. They sold their property and possessions, and distributed them around, according to individual need.” Acts 2:44-44

It was a noble mistake… Understandable in all the excitement of those post-Easter weeks, but a mistake, nonetheless.

The first believers, who practised Christian communal life , did not allow for this hard fact of life; human nature is not only twisted, but remains twisted even after a spiritual conversion. They thought they had fully arrived spiritually and so they ran into difficulties with their brand of communism.

The story of Ananias and Saphira from the Acts of the Apostles illustrates this. They wanted to be a part of the caring and sharing Christian fellowship. So, they followed the current Christian practice in Jerusalem and sold their piece of land. Then, sneakily holding back some of the proceeds, they brought the rest of the money to the apostles and handed it over for the common good, claiming it to be the full amount. But Peter saw through their deceit and publicly exposed them. Shocked by their public shame, in turn they each had a heart attack and died. Acts 5:1-11

Some of the same evil which undermined the early idealism of atheistic communism, also infected those early attempts at Christian communism. Even they put their faith in Christ Jesus, the old nature was slow to give up its selfish ways.

We get another glimpse of a later and modified attempt at sharing and caring in Paul’s first letter to the Christian in large, pagan city of Corinth. The faithful still brought food along for the common meal, presumably early on Sunday mornings, or maybe in the evenings of the Lord’s Day. This was not a great success either. It seems that some of the wealthy members shared their ample food with each other, while the poor were left to share their sparse rations. (Mind you this tends not to be a problem in today’s church. I have memories of heavily laden tables in the Samoan Churches in Sydney kept replenished all day on Sunday for anyone who wished to come in and eat.)

Unconditional sharing proved extremely hard for those who were still sinners; sinners who were being saved by grace. Paul had to rebuke them for this scandalous behaviour in the community of Christ. They had modified those earlier attempts at communism yet had still fallen too far below their amended and more realistic goal.

What about the church today?

We must face the ugly truth about ourselves: For a Christian, the ego remains a powerful force. Even for those who trust Christ Jesus, some of the old motivations and selfish ways linger and can corrupt our better intentions. We are indeed saved, delivered from fear and shame, but we are yet a long way from being perfect children of God.

To put it another way: In Christ we are eternally saved, but in this life it is an ongoing salvation. By the grace of Christ, and through the ceaseless work of the Spirit, we are moving inexorably towards fulfilment, towards our place within that community of love we call heaven; toward utter caring and sharing.

This is God’s doing. But in the here and now we are far from that attainment. We experience much grace and many successes, but persistent self and sin still get in the way.

If we look at any church congregation and this is painfully obvious. We fall short of that loving perfection where we can trust each other completely with all we have and are. A church is more like a rehabilitation centre for the poor in spirit than an exclusive health centre for elite spiritual athletes. Churches are staging posts on the way to the city of God, never the city of God itself.

To pretend that Christ has completed his work is us is thus an illusion. It can and does lead to self-righteousness. It encourages a Christian Pharisaism which masks spiritual egotism. It hides the kind of self-deceit to which we may become spiritually blind, yet which outsiders recognise at first glance as hypocrisy.

The saving work of Christ, applied to each of us, must be ongoing. We have been saved, we are being saved, we will be saved. “Not that I have arrived, but I press on” writes St Paul.

The post-resurrection attempts at communism, which we read about in Acts, were a grand failure. Their desire for a complete community of caring and sharing by fellow believers, was brave and beautiful, but mistaken. We need many checks and balances, to help us to implement many aspects of the ideal at this stage of our salvation.

Does that mean that the church should give up on caring and sharing? No, we must continue to seek to be and become more of a sharing community.

We have a long way to go before we have any right to criticise the valiant attempt by the early church to implement a Christlike communism. They failed because they thought themselves more advanced than they were. They failed boldly.

We fail through individualism which denies fellowship in the Holy Spirit. We may recite noble creeds and sing our hymns yet stay dominated by the sub-creeds that extol possessions as the way to happiness. We must guard against ego in all our interactions in the church community.

Perhaps we have a long way to go before we have the right to criticise the first idealism of the political communism in the twentieth century. They failed through over confidence in their political processes and programmes; they failed through putting too much faith in the goodwill of human beings; they failed through putting too much trust in themselves.

We fail because we may not have the courage to challenge the dominant culture of individualistic materialism which has corrupted Christian attitudes and values. We fail by copying the selfishness of the world around us.

An encouraging sign in our pandemic situation is the extent to which people throughout our society are reaching out and helping others and reassessing the meaning of community, not just in the church. Conversely, we are seeing those who are exploiting the situation for monetary or political gain, and who are consolidating power for themselves whilst there are clearly many who are being left behind, and further disadvantaged by it all. We Christians are called to think in Christ like ways about how we will be in and through this experience.

As we look back at those first followers of the risen Christ Jesus, we can see and marvel at their breath-taking joy and daring love.

These believers saw the truth of Christ and had a go at implementing it! They did not fail through lack of trying. And even with their failures they still succeeded in creating a level of communal love such as the world had not seen before.

They saw themselves as a new people without class distinctions, re-created out of the diversity and alienation of the old races and classes; a new community where all was for the common good. “All who believed [in Jesus] stayed close together and owned everything in common. They sold their property and possessions, and distributed them around, according to individual need.”

They went for it and partially succeeded. Today we must look forward hopefully and allow the Spirit of God to inspire in us ways to transform the Church of Jesus Christ into a loving community for the future. And God have mercy on us should we try without taking account of our own sinful natures, and of our daily need of Christ’s constant saving and reforming grace which he freely gives us. Amen

Our Offering

In this season of Easter, we celebrate God’s most precious gift to us in Christ’s dying and his rising. As we present our offering this morning, may our generosity reflect God’s goodness to us and the hope we have In Christ Jesus.

Prayer of Dedication

Generous God, we thank you for all we have received from you which brings us hope and joy. Bless the gifts we bring. May they help to establish your reign in the world you love. In the name of your greatest gift, Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen.

Prayers of thanksgiving and intercession

Holy and gracious God, shepherd of our lives, you have committed yourself eternally to be our life our providence, and our sustenance.
You refresh weary souls with your grace, wisdom and love.
You bless us each day with intimations of resurrection and with the promise of new life, in signs of spring, in stories of kindness and perseverance during crisis.
Touch our hearts with gratitude for all that is ours in Jesus Christ, the Risen One.

Listening God, shepherd of the world, we bring you now our prayers for others. Hear them in your tender mercy:
We pray for people who are struggling with illness, loneliness, grief or sadness,
thinking especially of those whose lives have been affected by COVID-19.
We know many whose working lives have been changed drastically by this pandemic. We think of health care workers, those who work in the food supply chain, and yet others who keep essential service running day by and we remember all those whose jobs have disappeared and who wonder what the future will bring. Heal the sick, comfort the fearful, the dying and the grieving, and bring hope of the restoration of the life of our and every nation in this world.
Reflect in silence for a few moments.
May each life be touched by the power of resurrection and new hope in Jesus Christ.

We pray for countries and communities where it is not safe for people to live out their faith openly.
(Silence)
May all people of faith be granted the freedom to worship without fear.

We pray for people in the world who are victims of discrimination and acts of hatred and remember those unjustly blamed or scapegoated for the outbreak of the pandemic.
(Silence)
May your desire for justice be made known and lived out.

We pray for our congregation and all people who make up your Church, forced now to consider how to be faithful in difficult times. Give us a renewed sense of community and inspire us to find new ways to serve one another.
(Silence)
May we discover new ways to be your Easter people in the world.

We pray for our families, our friends and for ourselves. We ask your blessing on the bereaved among us, praying today for the families of Charles Watt, and Greta Dyce, along with Helen and Steve Lewis in New Zealand mourning the passing of Helen’s brother, David.

(Silence)

May each of us know the power of your compassion and promise.
We ask these prayers in the name of our Risen Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sending out and Benediction

May God lead you to places of rest and renewal.
May Christ accompany you on the journey.
May the Holy Spirit fill your hearts with joy and generosity.
And may the blessing of God Almighty, Creator, Christ, and Spirit, come down upon you and live in your hearts today and always.

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:

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the king of creation

Here I am to worship

The Lord’s my Shepherd (Townend)

O God of Bethel,

The Lord’s my Shepherd – Crimond

The Lord’s my Shepherd – Brother James’ Air

Rejoice, rejoice, Christ is in you

In heavenly love abiding

Be thou my vision

For Children

Today I am going to quote some popular phrases from some famous characters and one real person. After I say the phrase, you must do one thing to show me you know the answer. No, do not raise your hand. When you think you know the answer, I need you to “Baa” like a sheep. Are you ready?

Go through each of the five phrases and allow kids chances to “Baa” and guess the answer. After they guess, show them the picture that goes with each phrase.

• “To infinity and beyond.” – Buzz Lightyear
• “Some people are worth melting for.” – Olaf
• “Just keep swimming.” – Dory
• “Me want cookie.” – Cookie Monster
• “In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.” – Mary Poppins

Was it easy or hard to guess who said each of these things? How could you be certain of who said each phrase?

You had to be familiar with the movie and character to match their saying with the person saying it. If you had never seen the movie “Finding Nemo” you may not know that Dory says, “Just keep swimming.” But if you have seen Frozen like 100 times, you could guess Olaf easily. The more you know the movie and character, the better you know their voice. I have one more voice for you to guess.

“Love each other as I have loved you.” Who do you think said that? “Baa” when you want to guess.
Show children the picture of Jesus after they have guessed.

Jesus is not a cartoon character; He is the Good Shepherd who takes care of us. Jesus says that His sheep know His voice and follow Him.

Dear God, thank You that You help us hear and know Jesus’ voice. We want to follow You today and always. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Jesus is a friend of mine

A Prayer in a Time of Distress

Almighty and everlasting God, you are strength to those who suffer and comfort to those who grieve. Let the prayers of your children who are in trouble rise to you. Hear our prayer. We claim your promises of wholeness as we pray for those who are ill or are suffering loss and long for your healing touch. Hear our prayer. Make the weak strong, the sick healthy, the broken whole, and confirm those who serve them as agents of your love. Hear our prayer. To everyone in distress, grant mercy, grant relief, grant refreshment. Hear our prayer. When we begin to rebuild, we commend our neighbourhoods to your care. Give us strength of purpose and concern for others, that we may create a community where your will may be done. Hear our prayer. God of compassion, you watch our ways, and weave out of terrible happenings wonders of goodness and grace. Hear our prayer. Surround those who have been shaken by tragedy with a sense of your present love and hold them in faith. Though they are lost in grief, may they find you and be comforted; Through Jesus Christ who was dead, but lives and rules this world with you. Amen

Intimations

I am sorry to intimate the passing of our member, Mr Charles Watt, of 44 Niven Road Inverkeithing. His funeral will take place at Dunfermline Crematorium on Wednesday 13th May 2020. Please remember Moyra and all of Charles’s family in prayer.

Mrs Greta Dyce’s private funeral will take place on Monday 4th May at 11:30 am in Dunfermline Crematorium Please pray for her sons and their families.

Helen Lewis has been in touch to intimate the sudden passing of her brother, David who has been unwell for some time and in hospital in Ayr. Please remember Helen and Steve in New Zealand and their family at this time.

Life and work

During this challenging period, Life and Work is committed to helping keep our Christian community connected and so we have made the May 2020 issue freely available on our website. This can be accessed by clicking here or visiting

https://www.lifeandwork.org/resources/free-download-may-2020