5th. July 2020 Service
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Call to Worship
God is all mercy and grace—
Slow to anger and rich in love.
God is good to one and all—
Everything God does is filled with grace.
God provides help for us in moments of trouble—
And gives a fresh start to those who feel like giving up.
Come, let us worship God!
Let us lift our voices in praise and thanksgiving.
The Collect for today
O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbour: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Prayer of Adoration and Confession
How wonderful are your works, O God!
How great are your ways!
You are generous in love and kindness,
Eternal in goodness and power,
overflowing with grace and mercy.
You fill the world with truth and justice
and offer all people hope and new beginnings.
Lord and lover of all things,
we praise and adore you as Creator, Redeemer, and Holy Spirit,
today and always, for in Christ we know you are always near.
Amen.
Jesus welcomes all who are tired and heavy laden to lay down their worries at his feet. Let us confess to God and one another our sins and burdens and find the freedom Christ promises.
God of compassion and understanding, our lives have slowed down in the pandemic, and we struggle to hear your voice.
We are caught up in our own situations and fail to notice what others are facing.
Distracted by daily news and the uncertainty around us, we forget to come to you in prayer and offer our fears and uncertainties to you.
Help us to use these slower days of community life, to enjoy the freedom of your presence.
Help us to attune ourselves to the rhythm of your grace and salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Assurance of Pardon
The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. God’s compassion reaches out to all creation. Know that you are forgiven through Christ, our Lord. Live in peace and harmony with yourself and with all people.
Prayer for Understanding
Come as Light, O God, and enlighten our darkness.
Come as Truth, O Christ, and give us wisdom.
Come as Love, O Spirit, and shape our lives.
Come to us, Holy One, so that we may learn to follow you in all our ways. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer (in the words most familiar to you)
The Readings
Zechariah 9:9-12
9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle-bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
Psalm 145:8-14
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
10 All your works praise you, Lord; your faithful people extol you.
11 They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might,
12 so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises¶ and faithful in all he does.
14 The Lord upholds all who fall¶ and lifts up all who are bowed down.
Matthew 11:16-19; 25-30
25 At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children.
26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
27 ‘All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’
Romans 7:15-25a
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.
20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;
23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?
25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
This is the Word of the Lord, to Him be all praise and glory.
Sermon
What is the greatest gift of faith?
Here is a quote from a ministerial friend:
A few weeks ago, I overheard a conversation that was probably more honest than what most of my couples are willing to offer when we are working towards their weddings.
I had ventured next door to our public library and was poking round in the religious section, looking for a book. There I was in the stacks on the second floor, browsing through what was available on the book of Genesis when, the voice of a young man on the other side of the stacks caught my attention.
He said, “You know, I don’t believe in God. It’s my right not to.” And his companion — a young woman — replied, “Oh, but I do. I’d be too afraid of going to hell, so I believe.”
Ouch. Ouch to both of them. I ached to overhear this brief exchange and can’t decide what made me more sad — the young man who has abandoned his faith altogether or the young woman who claims her belief only as a safeguard against some sort of fiery afterlife.
For both are missing the great gifts this life of faith can offer to us now. Both are trying hard, it seems to me, to live this life now pretty much on their own. And yet, at the same time, both appeared to be deeply engaged in conversations about things that matter.
God is surely not done with them yet and it may be that one day they will hear the music again as meant for them.
Here is perhaps the richest gift that faith brings to us in this life:
Come unto me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
There are many ways to find diversion in the 21st century, but where do we find rest? A place where we can let go of all tensions and become quiet and at peace?
We are living in an era of angst and division, at a time when so many things seem uncertain, unjust and frightening, when morality is fluid and to quote the book of Judges
“In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”
(KJV) forgetting the words from Proverbs 21:2:
A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart.
There is a deep, deep hunger in the human soul for a resolution of our doubts and conflicts, for a relief from the weight of unanswered questions, for a lifting from our shoulders the burden of unfulfilled vows and purest longings. For some it is a desire find rest from the burden of being itself; a rest from the weight being an ethical creature, living in a seemingly unconscious universe, spending our days among amoral forces.
Where do we find rest? Many today ask, “But is this all there is? Is this as good as it gets? Surely there must be more to life than this?”
Most people, at some stage, settle for diversions. The diversions of the contemporary world tempt us in many directions. There are so many available that a hungry or a lost soul can spend all its days trying them out, running from one to another, without ever exhausting the possibilities, yet also never arriving at a moment of peace.
Diversions vary from crude, old fashioned ones like scrabbling for wealth or playing power games, going from relationship to relationship or escaping through entertainment, television, alcohol or drugs. I do not want to create a proscriptive list of how people escape by using social media and other multimedia resources, for we all know how such things are used for good as well as for abuse and how many are addicted or use them for ill.
I think it is true that the world has never before offered so many diversions in which a human soul can become utterly lost. Even religion has become a consumer product as people search for meaning.
(As a foil to this it was encouraging to read yesterday that in the UK mainline churches are seeing a tenfold increase in those who access online worship and devotions over the number who attended worship before the Covid-19 epidemic.)
So, it seems that restless souls today can spend their whole life, going from one diversion to another, without finding peace. Is there not a parallel in Jesus poignant words at the beginning of the Gospel reading today?
‘To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
‘“We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.”
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon.” The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.’
What comes through in this is Jesus’ frustration and anger with his own generation who will not engage with God, no matter how God approaches them. They are like children who will not come out to play. Whether the game is happy or sad, they will dance neither jig nor strathspey. They criticise God’s prophets for being too strict or too lax as an excuse.
Thus, even among Jesus’ religious contemporaries there was a reluctance to engage with the God of their forefathers to find peace and blessing. Here is another comment on this:
I do not know why people also choose to do this in their lives of faith, although I could offer some guesses.
Either way, we who are deeply engaged in this ‘dance’ do know that fewer and fewer of those around us in the world are in it with us.
We grieve this, I know.
We are surprised by it — by the cynicism, the anger, or the utter lack of interest held by so many.
I know that when I am in conversation with many couples before their wedding day, it is the exception rather than the rule that they consider their faith to be an important support in their life together.
More often than not, even among those who were raised in the faith, by the time they reach young adulthood it appears that faith is a non-player.
They don’t seem to even hear the music anymore — or at least they don’t hear it in a way that calls to them.
Of course, the danger of how I tend to hear the words that Jesus offers now is that I hear it as meant for others — I forget that ‘this generation’ which is too much marked by cynicism, despair, anger, and hurt that has forgotten the sound of the music that is calling us to dance — is also many ways descriptive of me.
Indeed, I am among those who have been called to encourage others to live their lives in ways that are rich and full and good and somehow, as I think of the two whose conversation I overheard a few weeks ago — perhaps it is so, that I have been less than a good model for that full engagement in all of God’s gifts.
Perhaps, I too, don’t always ‘hear the music’ in a way that others can tell.
Jesus disappointment with his contemporaries nonetheless does not prevent him from making yet another appeal from the love of God. He does not shout or threaten, rather he invites with these beautiful words:
Come unto me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Jesus offers us rest. Rest for our total being, Recuperation for our frayed psyches. He offers us a place where we may lay down our burdens and satisfy the deepest longings of our souls.
To those who have tried every diversion this world offers, yet remain empty, speaking their plaintive complaint “there must be more to life than this,” Jesus of Nazareth says. “Yes, there is. Come unto me and sample it.”
What he calls us to discover and trust is the hidden, deep sacred reality that underpins our lives. He invites us to discover the blessed reality which surrounds us, beside us though we touch it not, within us though we don’t yet know.
Jesus asks us to enjoy a holy reality which cannot be probed by scientific investigation, captured in a mathematical equation, nor encapsulated in a theological creed, yet can be known and trusted even by a child. He invites us to hear and dance to the music of heaven.
To those who come to him, Jesus offers the secret of the “kingdom of God.” The good news of God’s ruling presence in all and through all yet above all. A kingdom of overflowing love, where sinners are recovered, rebels are forgiven, lepers are embraced, and where the lost find themselves truly at home.
This is not an invitation to take up a new religion nor to subscribe to a new set of rules. He asks us to return the true roots of selfhood to return and find ourselves totally at home with God.
This of course involves a commitment, the yoke of Jesus. With Christ, we are yoked with him in the service of God’s other children.
We have all seen images or yoked animals most often in pairs, and I like to think that we are linked in the yoke with Jesus himself, with him adding his strength to our weakness. Otherwise, there is a problem with this image because a yoke is also a metaphor of bondage.
A yoke keeps the wearer under the control of another. By adopting the idea of being yoked with Christ, we see here a recognition that much of this life is a burden. Rather than the yoke simply subjecting us to God’s control, we are enabled to carry the burdens of our life with him as well as under his direction.
Paradox lies at the heart of Christian experience. In the Gospel reading and the sermon last week we considered a similar paradox.
“He who saves his life will lose it. And he who loses his life for my sake will find it.”
By taking Christ’s yoke upon our shoulders, we become free the burden is eased. His yoke is the nearest thing to pure liberty that we shall ever experience in this life.
Make me a captive, Lord,
and then I shall be free
force me to render up my sword
and I shall; conqueror be.
My will is not my own
till I have made it thine.
If it would reach a monarch’s throne
it must its crown resign. George Matheson
There is of course no absolute freedom in this scheme of things. In our weakness and vulnerability, we will always need help in navigating life. We will always find ourselves looking for love, strength, support and rest.
One wonders how the young couple mentioned above have fared with their opposite approaches to life and faith; they could be, as Paul says, “unequally yoked,” and may find it hard to pull together and truly share the weight of life’s burdens.
Without Christ’s saving love, we become inevitably yoked to all kinds of delusions and bondages. Yet Jesus wishes us to have life, and to have it in full abundance. His yoke is liberty.
Diversions will never put us in touch with our true selves. But God in Christ can and will if we accept the invitation.
There is no doubt that the yoke of Christ may limit some of our freedom, and it does require us to cooperate with him. If we pull against him, or ignore him, then our burdens will become heavier. In our worship, our study, our devotion and our prayers we engage with him and share our burdens with him, but also with all the others who are equally yoked with him. It is also in our interactions with each other that we learn of him and find his humility of heart for ourselves.
In my book of virtuoso piano exercises, the author suggests that students compare themselves with each other, listening to their performances, learning from and even competing with them.
Whenever I allow myself to be slack or sloppy in practice, I find myself imagining a student who is more accurate, more even, and able to play more rapidly. That soon changes how I practice!
In our fellowship we can take some of St Paul’s advice:
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” Philippians 2:3 and,
“Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves.” Romans 12:10
If we do this it will be a powerful testimony to those who need to hear the music of heaven. A final quote:
For until his last breath and beyond, Jesus was present to all those he encountered: his disciples and the Pharisees, the widowed and the hungry, the sick and the dying, the hopeful and the hurting, the wise and the innocent, old and young.
Through it all, his message was clear. Jesus was always inviting others to live fully the lives God had given them. To hear the music and dance. And not only did he preach it. He lived it.
Perhaps what Jesus urges us to now is to allow ourselves to dance when we hear the music and to grieve when our hearts are broken and through it all to know that a place of rest and peace and hope is always ours to return to.
And perhaps if I only lived my life fully engaged in the world, that alone would be powerful witness to those who cannot seem to hear the music anymore. Amen.
Invitation to the Offering
God came to us in Jesus Christ so that we would know God’s great love and generous compassion. Let us respond to this extravagant love as we offer our own gifts as witness to the saving power of such love in our lives.
Prayer of Dedication
God of kindness and compassion, we offer you our gifts in hope, trusting that you will bless them and extend your kindness to our neighbours in Jesus’ name. Help us find the courage to be generous to neighbours and strangers for Christ’s sake. Amen.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
God of mystery and meaning, reveal to each of us your purpose for our lives in Jesus Christ.
Free us from the limits our past expectations and experience have set upon our lives and keep us open to all possibilities.
Bless those who endeavour to extend the boundaries of love and respect and who show kindness to strangers and forgiveness to people who hurt them.
Work among us by your Spirit to heal the invisible wounds of the heart:
Lord, in your mercy…
Hear our prayer.
We pray for those who suffer from the power of anger, jealousy, resentment, or bitterness in their lives. Work among us by your Spirit to create mutual respect and good relations.
Lord, in your mercy…
Hear our prayer.
We pray for your wisdom to inspire politicians, judges, lawyers, and all who form and keep our laws. Work among us by your Spirit to recognize injustice and respond to it by creating systems of fairness and trust.
Lord, in your mercy…
Hear our prayer.
We pray for your healing for those who are ill or in chronic pain, for those grieving the many losses of the pandemic, and for all who feel afraid for the future. Work among us by your Spirit to renew hope and sustain us as we support each other.
Lord, in your mercy…
Hear our prayer.
We pray for those whose workplaces are recovering from the lockdown and economic shock during the pandemic. Give courage to those who have lost so much, and creativity to those reorganizing their lives. Work among us by your Spirit to rebuild common life with an eye to the most vulnerable.
Lord, in your mercy…
Hear our prayer.
And now we offer you our own prayers today …
We bring our prayers to you, the source of life, with faith and love through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Benediction
As a gentle father, God has opened his hand and blessed us with his touch.
God has wiped away our tears and healed our every hurt.
Let us leave this place now satisfied in his embrace.
Go now in peace with the love of Christ in your hearts.
You are released from your burdens!
Go with joy to serve God,
Amen.
Hymns
Here are some hymn suggestions to check on YouTube if you wish to sing along. Some may not be as familiar as their titles suggest:
Praise the Lord, ye heavens adore him
I the Lord of sea and sky
What a friend we have in Jesus
I heard the voice of Jesus say
All my days I will sing this song of gladness
Through the love of God our Saviour
For Children
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
How much do you think this brick like thus weighs?
Well, all bricks don’t weigh exactly the same, but the average brick weighs about two kilos.
That isn’t very heavy, is it?
You could easily pick up a brick. Do you think you could pick up this brick up and hold it with your arm straight out to the side of you like this?
You might be able to hold it for a minute or two, but do you think you could hold it all day?
No way! The longer you hold it, the heavier it feels.
That same thing is true of the burdens we carry around with us.
What are some of those burdens?
Here are a few examples: some of you may be having trouble with your school work, perhaps you are having trouble at home, perhaps you may have a serious illness, you may be feeling guilty about something you have done, your family may be having financial difficulties, or maybe one of your playmates has been making fun of you.
That is a heavy load to have to carry by yourself, isn’t it?
Well the good news is you don’t have to carry it alone!
In our Bible lesson for today, Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Then he went on to say, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Jesus is our helper. Sometimes we hold on to our burdens and try to carry them ourselves, but Jesus will help us, if we will let Him.
(See the picture of a yoke at the top of the page).
Whenever your load is too heavy, remember the words to this song:
I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!
I cannot bear my burdens alone.
I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!
Jesus can help me, Jesus alone.
Father, sometimes our burdens are more than we can bear.
Help us to remember that Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” In his name we pray.
Amen.
I must tell Jesus
Intimation
Mrs Christine Foster’s funeral will take place on Thursday 9th July 2020 at 11:00 am in Inveresk Cemetery in Musselburgh with family members only in attendance.
The cortège will leave 36 Stephens Drive at 10:00 am if you wish to pay respect as it passes by.
There will be a memorial service after the church is reopened for worship.
Please remember Christine’s family in your prayers today.
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