31st. January. 2021. Service.

January 31^st 2021

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

 Prelude: “I want to walk as a child of the light”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QISk0oYYpuk

Let us Worship God

Hymn “The Lord’s my Shepherd”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eIQQayhpak

The Collect for today
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 “Praise to the Lord the Almighty”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APVxKnENCjo

 By this we have known the presence of the Lord:
in the rising of the sun,
in the smile of another’s face,
in the touch of a hand
or the sound of a laugh,
in the scent of a flower
holding the promise of spring.
By this we have known the power of the Lord:
in the healing of hurts,
in the forgiveness of sin,
in the giving of gifts beyond all expectation,
in the shower of love
that comes from God’s Son.
Let us give thanks to the Lord with all of our heart!
Let us worship our God, whose presence and power endures forever!

 Prayer of Adoration and Confession
Loving God, you are the wisdom behind all mystery,
the glory hidden in all that makes us wonder,
the strength in all that nourishes.
When our eyes are open and our spirits alert,
we experience your glory around us.
Scattered throughout the earth,
smouldering deep inside us,
radiating in acts of love,
sparks of your glory reside.
Deep is our joy each time we encounter you.
We gather in worship to express our reverence and praise.
Together we celebrate the good we have experienced,
knowing it all comes from your hand, Gracious God.

And yet, we are strangely resistant to your grace.
There are so many times we turn from you, O God.
We forget that food for body and soul comes from your goodness.
We focus on what troubles us and ignore the help and healing you offer.
We seek wisdom and meaning in the wrong places.
We confess we can be cruel,
harming the earth, other living beings, and one another.
Forgive us.
Open our eyes to your wonder and wisdom.
Give us the courage to live lives that overflow with your love
for the sake of Christ who loves us. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon
Hear the good news: Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old life has gone away. A new life has begun. Thanks be to God that we can make a new start, forgiven and set free.

Prayer for Understanding
Source of Wisdom, still our minds in these moments of listening, so that we may be fully present and attuned to your life-giving Word this day. Amen.

 The Lords Prayer (in the words familiar to you)

 Hymn: “Lord of all being throned afar”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkTjRtTOX-A

 Invitation to the Offering
Jesus’ ministry was often filled with challenge and choice. We face challenge and choice as we follow him in a new day and age. The invitation to give an offering week by week is a challenge. The gifts we choose to offer continue his ministry of healing and hope. Take the challenge and give as God has blessed you.

Prayer of Dedication
Lord Jesus, we bring our gifts to you, asking that you bless them so that they may accomplish more than we can ask or imagine in your name. Bless us, too, so that our lives speak of our choice to follow you, and our ministries offer the healing and hope you have offered us. Amen.

The Readings

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 for ever.
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 for ever.

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 for ever –
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.

Mark 1:21-28  

²¹ They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. ²² The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. ²³ Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, ²⁴ ‘What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!’

²⁵ ‘Be quiet!’ said Jesus sternly. ‘Come out of him!’ ²⁶ The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

²⁷ The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, ‘What is this? A new teaching – and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.’ ²⁸ News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee. Amen.

1 Corinthians 8: 1-13

Now about food sacrificed to idols: we know that ‘We all possess knowledge.’ But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. ² Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. ³ But whoever loves God is known by God.

⁴ So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: we know that ‘An idol is nothing at all in the world’ and that ‘There is no God but one.’ ⁵ For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’), ⁶ yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

⁷ But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. ⁸ But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

⁹ Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling-block to the weak. ¹⁰ For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? ¹¹ So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. ¹² When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall. Amen.

 Hymn: “Lord speak to me that I may speak”
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvYSoGP7pwM

 Sermon

 They were astonished at his teaching, for unlike the scribes he taught them with a note of authority.

It has been both interesting and at times very disturbing to observe the recent back and forth between scientists and politicians over the best way in which to tackle the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

In the Twentieth Century the knowledge of “scientists” was highly regarded as advances were made in many different areas of physics, chemistry, biology, technology and medicine, advances that were rapidly adopted and adapted by those in power. Many of these advances were driven by the military during times of conflict and later adapted for peacetime use.

The authority of scientists was highly regarded. Remember the tv ads of and sixties which contained with the words, “Scientifically proven” or “Scientists have shown,” and people rushed to buy these products with confidence in the claims of scientists.

Nowadays we live in a world in which many doubt the authority of science and scientists, and politicians dispute scientific advice when does not support their agenda.

Human authority is difficult to maintain when its foundations are questioned. Intelligent and independently minded people often very rightly question the source of authority.

A common theme in the Bible has to do with Wisdom and authority, and today’s Gospel is about Jesus’ authority and his evident wisdom. The supporting readings from the Old Testament and the Epistles highlight the connection between Divine authority and Divine Wisdom which are united in Jesus Christ.

To speak with authority was evidently something rare in religious circles at the time of Jesus. He surprised people with his note of authority. When he spoke, people found something powerful happening in their souls.

Scientists apart, these days the world is full of so-called authorities. They come at us from every side. They fill the magazines, TV channels, internet, radio and newspapers with their most confident opinions. Here’s list

Health–both orthodox and alternative medicine. Dieticians.  Sports experts, Music and Culture Buffs. Gardening Experts Psychologists, Criminologists Astronomers, Astrologers Ethicists Political Analysts Art and Literature critics, Education experts Motoring experts and Preachers of the only true gospel. It doesn’t matter what you are interested in, there will always be someone who claims authoritative expertise.

The problem is that little of their wisdom really endures. For laughable or even tragic examples, think of “experts” who advertised Horlicks for “night starvation” or “Revigator, the Perpetual Health Spring Radium Water.”

Authorities are everywhere, like locusts. The media delights in trotting them out to answer every question. They all claim to really know what they are talking about, and they seek to impress us, influence us, and in some cases manipulate and use us for their purposes.

The trouble is we have rightly become sceptical. Many of these authorities do not deliver what they promise. The stock market expert accepts no responsibility when his opinion proves grossly at odds with ensuing trends. The motoring authority is not really concerned if you follow his opinion and end up buying an automobile “lemon.”

And of course, authorities disagree among themselves, often don’t practise what they preach, rarely admit mistakes, and seem to have forgotten the grace of humility. People become sceptical and make jokes about authorities. Like the definition of expert opinion as coming from a drip under pressure.” (ex= out of, spurt=drip under pressure). But sadly, people are so desperate for the advice of experts that they listen anyway.

Jesus’ Authority

Now take a look at a different kind expert who has been around for a long time. An authority who is one of a kind: Jesus whom we call the Christ.

On the Sabbath in the town of Capernaum, he taught in the synagogue

They were astonished at his teaching, for unlike the scribes he taught them with a note of authority.  Mark 1:22

Then Jesus healed a deranged man, and they were all the more amazed.

“With authority he commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” Mark 1:27

Have you ever paused to think what it would have been like to meet the human Jesus? Would it have been a delightful experience or a discomforting one? Most likely (provided you were not a closed-minded bigot) in comfort or discomfort you would have sensed a special kind of charisma in Jesus.

Many quite different people came under his sway: women, men, lepers, children, the mentally ill, the physically handicapped, tax agents, fisherman, prostitutes, the Roman soldier, village people, city people, devout scholars like Nicodemus, divorcees like the woman of Samaria, educated Judeans like Judas.

How do we explain the breadth of his authority?  There may have been many strands that made up the note of authority which set Jesus apart and made people gasp in wonder.  Here are three of these strands

Jesus’ actions matched what he taught; what he said and what he did were in harmony and there was no credibility gap. He taught what he lived and lived what he taught. To use contemporary jargon, “he had it all together.” There was a humble confidence about Jesus which arose from his complete integrity.

What a shock that must have been, and still can be. In a world teeming with pretentious authorities, in Jesus they met a genuine one. Like us, Jesus’ folks had wide gaps between their faith and practice.  Like today, even their most loving preachers should have advised: “Don’t judge my message by me.”

Jesus’ integrity stood out His words and actions perfectly matched. There was no disjunction within his person. He was the epitome of what he taught – The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. Matthew 6:22.

That fact carried a powerful authority.  They were astonished at his teaching, for unlike the scribes he taught them with a note of authority.  Mark 1:22.

I would also suggest that in his holiness, Jesus unconsciously exuded divine authority. A very few people have true charisma. I have only ever met one person who impressed me thus. He was a Liberal politician whom I met many years ago who exuded charisma and authority in himself, though not in a spiritual way. I believe that Jesus’ presence was like, but that magnified many times.

When Jesus taught. befriended and healed people, something hidden, and maybe long forgotten, from deep within the human soul cried, “Yes!  Yes! This is it! This is the real thing.”

Jesus is heard and seen as the person of authority because he awakens an echo of God that lies deep inside us. We come face to face with him and something sacred, no matter how far buried under sin or scepticism, resonates in his presence. A forgotten or neglected or wounded part of us gasps with new hope. Layers of pessimism, fed by numerous disappointments, cannot hold down that hope which wakens when Jesus is around.

It is like parts of the wide, semi deserts of the world, where year after year, the sun has scorched barren sand hills and plains. Places where there may have been no rain for twenty years.

In the red sands lie tiny seeds whose future seems hopeless. Then one day a tongue of a monsoon sweeps inland, and thunderstorms soak the land. Those little grey seeds leap into life. Within a few days the desert is ready to blossom as the rose.

That is another clue to the authority of Jesus. He awakens life that seems buried and hopeless. What he says and does calls to the seed-core of our being, and that core stirs and starts to come to life. They were astonished at his teaching, for unlike the scribes he taught them with a note of authority.  Mark 1:22.

The Spirit of God agrees with Jesus.

When Jesus taught, or embraced, or ate with outcasts, or healed the maimed, the Spirit of God said “Yes!” to those who were willing to listen. This is often called the witness of the Spirit. God thereby endorses the Word of Jesus.

Without it, preachers are wasting their breath. In spite of all our shortcomings, whenever we witness to Jesus the Spirit of God can take our inadequate words and say to some listening soul: “Yes! This is the truth! This is hope. This is where you should be going.” The Spirit of God may give our words an authority far beyond what the speaker deserves.

If the Holy Spirit can add authority to the words of very human preachers like us, think of what authority the Spirit could bring to bear on the words and way of Jesus himself. With a person who supremely, and with awesome simplicity, not only declared the way of God, but walked in it flawlessly,’ the Spirit can affirm with a resounding ‘yes!’ that shakes the foundations of the observer or listener. They were astonished at his teaching, for unlike the scribes he taught them with a note of authority.

We claimed earlier that our many modern experts are supposed to know what they are talking about. Sadly, they frequently don’t know half as much as they think they do and that is why so many may be sceptical and there are always others who are ready to exploit that scepticism for their own ends.

We do not need to cynical, sceptical, or even just a trifle suspicious, of Jesus. Jesus knows. He knows what he is talking about. It comes from his heart, from the deep well of his own unique spiritual experience.

Christ’s subject is the human heart and God. He has a hold on the Truth and our hungry soul recognises it and leaps with hope. This Jesus knows God like no one else. He shares God’s love like no other. Whenever he speaks, whenever he acts, his authority comes from Absolute Reality.

And at his voice the lost rejoice and the demons flee away! “With authority he commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” Amen.

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Gracious God, Lord of heaven and earth, in you we live and move and have our being. Your energy floods the cosmos and enlivens every cell of our bodies. You are around us, within us and beyond us.

Thank you for the simple pleasures of each day,
and for strength to meet the challenges that we experience.
When it feels like we have come to the end of our own resources,
replenish us with the energy of your Spirit that we may know that you are there for us and with us.

In these strange times of isolation and distancing from one another
we are grateful for prayer in its many forms.
For the intimate ways we can find communion with you:
in word and in silence, in music and movement,
in the Spirit’s breath within us.
Draw near to us when we are feeling frustration or fear about the days ahead of us,
and refresh our spirits as we seek to serve you day by day.

Hear us now while we pray for the earth,
this precious and fragile home to all living things:

For declining species of plant and animal life.
(Hold a silence)
For the earth’s climate.
(Hold a silence)
For the oceans and the rainforests.
(Hold a silence)
Teach us how to be more faithful stewards of your earth
and live more respectfully in your creation.

Hear us as we pray for the economy:
For those whose decisions shape it
(Hold a silence)
For employers and business owners.
(Hold a silence)
For workers and those who cannot find work.
(Hold a silence)
For those who have lost their jobs and those whose businesses are at risk.
(Hold a silence)
For all who seek economic justice, fairness and the common good,
And for those who struggle to discern what this means in our complex world.
(Hold a silence)
Teach us how to care for our neighbours in these days of economic uncertainty.

We pray for our own circle of family and friends.
Heal, bless, l and encourage them.
Give to each one the gifts that are needed today
and lead them into a healthy, productive future.
(Hold a silence)
We pray for neighbours and strangers in our community
who face struggles and sorrows as the pandemic continues its course.
(Hold a silence)
Remind us that we belong to each other and to you
and help us respond to one another with compassion and kindness.

Finally, in silence, we bring to you the cares and hopes on our minds today.
(Hold a silence)
Thank you for hearing the prayers of every heart as we offer them to our great High Priest who offers them in perfection to our Father. Amen.

And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Saviour’s blood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQeIGbKqiw8

 Benediction
Jesus comes to us, offering healing and hope, speaking and acting with authority. Listen to him. Go into this world, confident in God’s love and healing power. Go in peace and may God’s love and peace always be with you. Amen.

 May God’s blessing surround you each day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_3O_N49GiU

 Postlude: “Calon lan”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDj1czgg5F0 or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyUYSCzkcec

 For Children

Do you know what this is? Sure, you do. It is a remote control. Some of you may have a TV that has a remote control. When you are watching TV, you can turn the TV off or on, change channels, and adjust the volume.

• Here are some of the things a remote control does:
• Power On
• Play
• Changing channels
• Volume up
• Mute
• Fast forward
• Rewind
• Slow motion
• Pause
• Power off

Do you know what? There are some remote controls that can do much more than that. I have seen some remote controls that can control up to fifteen different things — they are called universal remote controls. If you have a DVD player, it can control that too. You can go fast forward, slow motion, reverse, or pause a movie while you go and get a snack. When you have a universal remote control, you are in complete control. That’s amazing, isn’t it?

In our Bible lesson today, Jesus showed people His amazing control of everything around Him. It was on the Sabbath day and Jesus went to the synagogue and began to teach. There was a man there who was possessed by an evil spirit. When Jesus went near him, the man cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are; you are the holy one of God.”

“Be quiet!” Jesus said. Then He spoke to the evil spirit, “Come out!” Do you know what happened? The evil spirit did exactly what Jesus commanded. It came out of the man.

The Bible tells us that the people were amazed. They looked at one another and asked, “What’s going on here? Even evil spirits obey his orders.” There was power in the words that Jesus spoke that day. On that day, Jesus came in and took control of the life of that man. His life would never be the same!

Jesus wants to be in control of your life, too. He wants to be in control of the plans you make, the words you say, the things you do, and the places you go. Why? Is He a control freak? No! He wants to be in control because He wants what is best for you. The Bible tells us that God has a plan for us. It is a good plan that will give us hope and a bright future, but we will never see that plan work unless we allow Jesus to be in control.

Intimations

The Bible Discussion Group meets via Zoom on Tuesday evening at 7:30 pm. If you are joining for the first time, please email the minister at calston@churchofscotland.org.uk