21st. February. 2021. Service.

February 21^st 2021

First Sunday in Lent, the Temptation of Jesus

Prelude: “Walk with me, for the journey is long”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCB6uGFYYzk

Let us Worship God

Hymn “Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjqlkWhz-aA

 The Collect for today
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Hymn “The spacious firmament on high”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8cARtRBFco

 Call to Prayer
We begin our journey through Lent.
We will seek awareness of God’s presence with us on the way.

We come to find light in the shadows and strength in our weakness.
We will join in praise as we remember God’s faithfulness.

We seek God’s mercy and truth step by step, day by day.
We will trust in God’s steadfast love.  Let us worship God with grateful hearts!

Prayer of Adoration and Confession

Good and gracious God,
Creator of storms and sunshine,
of the sun and moon and stars,
Maker of rainbows and raindrops,
of all that is in the heavens and the earth,
we praise you for the beauty of the created world,
and for the hope of life with you now and always.
We praise you for your faithfulness and loving kindness
throughout all generations,
for your promise of grace,
for your compassion and redemption revealed to us in Christ Jesus.
Receive our prayer and praise this day
and teach us how to live by your love.

Source of mercy and wisdom,
We are thankful for your steady presence and steadfast love,
we make our confession to you, with truth and humility.

O God, you made a covenant with us in faithfulness,
but we confess we are not always so faithful to you.
We grow tired and restless when things don’t go our way.
We lose patience with others.
We lack compassion for our neighbours in need,
and even forget to express our love for those closest to us.
Forgive us, gracious God.
Lead us in the way we should go.
Make us prisms of your love,
making rainbows of your light,
creating beauty and deepening hope wherever we go,
for the sake of Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon
Believe the good news. Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom of God has come near.
Trust in his forgiving love for you and forgive one another in his name.

Prayer for Understanding
Holy God send us your Spirit to calm our thoughts and prepare our hearts and minds to hear your Word. Through your Word, teach us to see you more clearly and love you more deeply day by day. Amen.

 The Lords Prayer (in the words familiar to you)

 Hymn: “God of the Sparrow”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayk3vPfbhu8

Invitation to the Offering
The season of Lent takes us on a journey with Jesus to prepare us for the day he gave his life for our sake on the Cross. Consider what he has given as you offer your gifts to God in his name.

Prayer of Dedication
God of courage and compassion, we bring our gifts to you in Jesus’ name. This year we need both his courage and compassion for ourselves. Receive our thanks with these gifts and bless them so that they may bring hope to others in these challenging times. Amen.

The Readings

Genesis 9: 8-17    

⁸ Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: ⁹ ‘I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you ¹⁰ and with every living creature that was with you – the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you – every living creature on earth. ¹¹ I establish my covenant with you: never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.’

¹² And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: ¹³ I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵ I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. ¹⁶ Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.’

¹⁷ So God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.’ Amen.

Mark 1: 9-15

⁹ At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’

¹² At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, ¹³ and he was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

¹⁴ After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ¹⁵ ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’ Amen

Psalm 25:1-10

      Of David.

¹ In you, Lord my God,
I put my trust.

² I trust in you;
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
³ No one who hopes in you
will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
who are treacherous without cause.

⁴ Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
⁵ Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Saviour,
and my hope is in you all day long.
⁶ Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
⁷ Do not remember the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you, Lord, are good.

⁸ Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
⁹ He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.
¹⁰ All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful Amen.

1 Peter 3:18-22

¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. ¹⁹ After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits – ²⁰ to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, ²¹ and this water symbolises baptism that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience towards God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand – with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. Amen.

 Hymn: “Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2rO0LhSWJ0

 Sermon

The Spirit immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan among the wild beasts. And the angels ministered to him. Mark 1:12-13.

During the week I read an article called, “Finding the Middle of Nowhere,” about a young couple who took themselves into the wintry wilds of Fisherfield, in Wester Ross. Also called “The Great Wilderness,” it is reputed to be the most remote place in Western Europe and one of the most difficult to explore. I found myself asking what kind of person relishes exploring there in the middle of winter?

One often hears of people who like to get away from it all, often they are restless, or sometimes neurotic in ordinary situations of life. Ordinary, “well-adjusted” people are usually quite content to avoid extreme places.

Jesus was someone who was not at ease with many things. You could say he was not what this world likes to call “a well-adjusted person.”

In this Gospel reading for the first Sunday in Lent, we heard how Jesus (immediately after the exciting experience of baptism and the voice of God proclaiming him as the ‘beloved Son”) set off into the wilderness, propelled there by the Spirit of God.  Mark’s account of the temptations is extremely brief. Just two verses. Yet it says much. The Spirit immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan among the wild beasts. And the angels ministered to him.

The Judean wilderness is a barren, mountainous expanse of limestone ridges and valleys which stretch from just East of Jerusalem down to the Jordan valley and the Dead Sea. It is a notoriously inhospitable place, every bit as much as Fisherfield, with the reflected and radiated sunlight fiercely shimmering off the rocks by day, and the temperatures plunging down by night. Definitely not the place to go for a day trip.

Apart from a few Bedouin, who eked out an existence in a few small valleys where there was a tiny bit of topsoil in which little grew, and some scrub on the hills where goats could feed, the wilderness was a place inhabited mainly by religious extremists, those who believed in punishing the body and existing on very little. Some of these extremist lived alone, in caves, but more banded together in small communities under a strict rule. Long after Jesus’ death and resurrection this tradition continued as people, usually men, headed for the desert ‘eremos in Greek and became religious “eremites,” hermits.

Jesus felt driven by the Spirit to go out into this inhospitable terrain, the territory used by those who took religion to excess, to test his faith and calling as the Son of God. Was that the action of a well-adjusted human being?

Jesus, in many ways contrasts with the urbane citizens of Western culture. Our society is full of the notion that, the more mature a person is the more at home he is in the world around him. The well-adjusted person is at ease, confident in his or her opinions, assured among the pressures of life, not given to excesses. To be ‘well adjusted” is envied and prized. Most people would be flattered to be called well-adjusted.

A similar attitude is found in religious circles. We encounter the idea that the truly spiritual person is a most serene and unruffled character, eminently reasonable in their religious opinions, not pulled this way or that, never overzealous nor too enthusiastic. Well-adjusted in fact. Maybe we have made an idol out of being well adjusted?

Maybe it’s time to echo in some appropriate way, the Jesus lifestyle? The Spirit immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan among the wild beasts. And the angels ministered to him.

 One of the disturbing things about reading church history is that we soon discover how frequently Christianity has allowed the culture in which it is set to take over and distort the faith. Instead of the word and way of Jesus shaping the culture through the influence of Christians, the culture has altered our understanding of Jesus and what it means to be a follower of his. Repeatedly there have been unholy alliances with things that are at odds with the raw message of Christ.

Examples are found in the stories of churches that have accepted, and actually participated in and perpetuated, the class and political structures of various societies. This can be seen in the way it accepted slavery throughout most of its history, the way it kept women in a position of subservience to men, the way it has blessed armies going off to slaughter one another, the way it has willingly prospered from the injustices that have ground down the poor, the way it has behind the scenes used political pressures to safeguard its self-interest. Even in the way traditional, hierarchical church government adopted that of the Roman Empire. For example, the office of pontiff (pontifex in Latin) originally meant a pre-Christian Roman High Priest. Jesus called disciples, but he never ordained a priest as such.

In such ways the church has allowed itself to be altered and at times subverted by the culture in which it is set. The Gospel can be hobbled in many ways.

Even today, among many types of cultural temptations, some Christians have fallen into the trap of sharing and propagating the idea of being well adjusted.

These are testing times. The twentieth century was sometimes called the age of anxiety. Things have not got better in this twenty first century with political, social, racial and economic divisions compounded by a deadly pandemic. Not only does it kill people it divides people over things like vaccination. We see so much suffering, much of it endured by the innocents who become the chief victims of these things. There is so much global uncertainty flowing from injustice and violence, fear and prejudice, and from excessive reactions, that anxiety levels rise sky high. In such an era to be a well-adjusted person, calm and steady in the midst of it all, certainly seems even more attractive.

Witness the proliferation of therapies, self-help programmes, meditation programmes, and pseudo-religions aimed at helping people to be well adjusted within this anxiety-creating environment. Along with this there has been the proliferation of drugs to keep us happy, legally prescribed as well as the vast supply of illicit drugs sold on the streets.

In this ethos some have taken Christianity and made it an alternative psychotherapy to keep us calm and assured in troubled times.  Jesus is turned into a wise psychiatrist who is well before his time, offering us calm in the storm of life. Though Jesus does call us to this in faith.

Alternatively, the temptation is an introverted spirituality where the hard challenges confronting the world can be set aside and largely ignored.

Against this backdrop, both the historical and the contemporary, Jesus does not seem to be a well-adjusted person in the normal sense

Like the young couple who went to Wester Ross, Jesus willingly went into that wilderness, allowed himself to go hungry and thirsty, to live alone among the wild creatures, and to be sorely tempted by Satan. Isn’t that excessive? What well-adjusted twenty first century man or woman would go off and do a thing like that?

If we could have seen him sheltering under a rock overhang for shade, day after day apparently talking to himself as he tried to thrash out some difficult argument that was going on in his mind and soul, maybe we might begin to understand why we might say that Jesus was not a well-adjusted person.  By this world’s standards, he was obviously a bit of a fanatic. He did not look for a secure place in a troubled world so much as wanting to get his next move right. Getting his priorities right. Getting his faith and calling right.

Jesus did not try to adjust himself to his environment. He did not try to adjust himself to the religious world dominated by Pharisees, nor to the political scene dominated by the Romans in league with the chief priests at Jerusalem. He did not try to adjust himself to the social proprieties of his day. In thinking of this I reflect how the selection processes of our Church emphasise stability and conformity in many areas and wonder how much Jesus really approves.

In Jesus day., religion taught law with painstaking observance to the dotting of i’s and crossing of t’s.

Politics taught compliance, keeping one’s head down, causing no unrest.

Society taught that some were born to be rulers and some to be ruled; at the bottom of the pack were women, and outside the edge of the pack were foreigners, Gentiles.

Jesus was fanatical enough to spend forty days in the wilderness fasting, and silly enough to think he was sent there by God’s Spirit. He emerged from the wilderness to be anything but well-adjusted to these social/political norms.

Religion and law? Jesus refused to be bound by law but went beyond it to love; love was what mattered most. God’s free grace was the source of this love.

Politics and the nation? Jesus refused to toe the party line of the Pharisees, never rocking the political boat. Neither would he join, or approve, the underground freedom fighters who thought that violence was the answer.

The social norm? Jesus refused to judge a person by race or religion, showing favour not only to fellow Jews but to Romans, to Samaritans, and to Phoenicians. He not only debunked the idea of women’s’ innate inferiority, but he included women in the itinerant band of followers who travelled over the countryside with the Gospel. How then can so-called Christian societies today condone racism and discrimination?

We can see why Jesus was called a troublemaker. He never set out to make trouble, but by refusing to be well-adjusted to an evil world he inevitably became a troublemaker. That’s the way he started. That’s the way he finishes. The Spirit immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan among the wild beasts and the angels ministered to him.

Jesus was certainly not adjusted to the world of First Century Palestine. If he were in the flesh today, he would also be seen as a gravely maladjusted person. These days we are unlikely to go as far as having him executed, but we might load him up with drugs, or confine him in a clinic for some time.

The kind of man Jesus was, a person of sublime truth and grace, would never sit at ease among the distortions, lies and corruptions of this world. His teachings about living humbly, scorning power and money, forgiving your enemy, turning the other cheek, giving without expecting reward, picking up a cross and following him along the path of love, are still at odds with most of the things people look for in our culture. Instead, many try to accommodate both God and Mammon.

Some question we now must ask are these; How far have we been seduced and subverted by the values of our ambitious yet anxious society?

To what degree have we compromised the rough edges of the Gospel by compliance with the expectations of our culture?

How seriously have we edged away from the Gospel of Jesus into an uneasy adjustment to this evil world?

In what ways have we tried to use religion as a therapy, rather than as the catalyst and catapult for dealing with the sickness of the world around us?

To what degree are really offering our lives to the cause of Jesus and his transformation of all things?

Yes, Jesus does appear to be excessive. After he experienced the joy of his baptism, he did something rather bizarre. He felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to go out into the wilderness, to half starve himself, to live among the wild beasts, and to wrestle with the matter of how was he going to live his life and fulfil the reason for his birth?   He did not seek to be a well-adjusted citizen; he sought only to glorify God and when anyone does that, like Jesus, he or she may expect trouble. As Jesus said,

 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.

There is a postscript to this story: “And angels ministered to him.”  Angels, the messengers of God, do minister to the needs of those who choose to be poorly adjusted to the pervasive social norms, in order to give greater glory to God. Angels come in many forms. Old and young, friends and opponents, smartly dressed and shabby, well-schooled and self-educated. But they are here. God’s messengers; the ministering angels; they encourage and feed those who dare to be true to the Highest, not counting the cost of being seen as different.

Here is a different penance for Lent: Dare to be maladjusted in the cause of Christ. Affirm even wilderness experiences, not as illness but as true sanity. And be good humoured about it. For Jesus sake! Amen.

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
At the beginning of this holy season, Lord God,
we thank you for the promise of new life that sustains us,
especially as these months of pandemic stretch on.
We thank you:
For tiny signs of hope, even in a bleak landscape or on challenging day.
For glimpses of beauty in a smile or a ray of sunshine.
For scientific achievements that ease suffering in this time of pandemic.
For the people who support and serve others in times of weakness or loss.
For the chance to recover from mistakes, to begin again.
Lord of life, sustain us with your presence
and give us patience and perseverance as we await the future with you.

As we trust the promise of new life, it is with hope that we pray:
For anyone whom we have hurt by harsh words or careless deeds.
(Hold a silence)
For those known to us who are carrying heavy burdens.
(Hold a silence)
For those we work with every day.
(Hold a silence)
For all who are looking for employment or worry about their businesses.
(Hold a silence)
For teachers, students and school administrators managing so many challenges this year and for children going back into classrooms.
(Hold a silence)
For troubled places in our world and those who work for reconciliation and understanding.
(Hold a silence)
For our congregation and all churches seeking new ways to minister in these months of distancing from each other.
(Hold a silence)
For ourselves and those whose lives are closely connected to ours.
(Hold a silence)
Renew our health and hope for the future you will bring us as we offer our lives in faith through the courage and compassion of Christ our Lord, whom we worship with your, our Father and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and evermore. Amen.

Hymn “Stand up, stand up for Jesus.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGf2fTIa0zo

Benediction

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

 Postlude: “Teach my thy way, O Lord”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKPhjvn3tIA

 

 For Children
Here are some rings and some rings remind us of an important promise. Do any of your parents have wedding rings?

Wedding rings are very special rings. On the day of their wedding, the people getting married promised to love each other forever. And the ring reminds them of that promise.

People make promises on their wedding days, and at other times, too. We all make promises, like when we promise our parents that, we’ll clean up our toys after we play. Promises are important, but sometimes we don’t keep them.

But God–He always keeps his promises. Our Bible lesson today is about a promise God made to a man named Noah. You might know about Noah’s ark.  Here is a short video about Noah’s ark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzYjy6lhRag

After the flood waters went down, God made a promise to Noah. He promised Noah that He would never again destroy the whole earth with a flood. Then He put a rainbow in the sky and said to Noah, “I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the promise between Me and all life on the earth.” God said the rainbow would remind us of the promise that He made.

Let’s try a little rainbow science experiment now. Place some coloured smarties around the edge of a plate, alternating colours. Pour warm water in the centre of the plate. As the water spreads to the edge of the plate watch the rainbow appear.

God’s rainbow was in the sky and a reminder that He always keeps His promises. The Bible says that, “No matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘yes’ in Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:20). The next time you see a rainbow, remember the promise God made to Noah, and remember that just as God has kept that promise, He keeps all of His promises to you, too.

Dear God, we’re thankful that You keep Your promises. Help us to keep our promises, too. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Intimations

Owing to a change in date, the Bible Discussion Group will be held on Tuesday 23rd at 7:30pm via Zoom. If you wish to participate for the first time, please contact the minister at calston@churchofscotland.org.uk  to receive the Zoom details.

The minister has received permission from the Trustees of the General Assembly to live in his own house whilst continuing in ministry.  The new address is 32c Townhill Road Dunfermline KY12 0QX. The telephone remains 01383 621050 although the transfer of the line has been delayed to March 4^th.

You can contact the minister meanwhile by email above, or via Moira Lamont  01383 415859 or Colin Bain in North Queensferry.