Early Christian writing reveals that Holy Week has been marked since at least the 4th century. One such writer, a Christian noblewoman named Etheria, wrote from the Holy Land back to the women in her community describing daily worship in the week leading up to Easter. It is in this tradition that we share services this week. Thanks this morning to Cor, Taye, and Bunny.
PRELUDE: “Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross”
SCRIPTURE SENTENCES:
He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.
Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed. —Isaiah 53.3-5
PRAYER:
Good Friday God:
look graciously, we pray, on us your people
for whom your Beloved, Jesus,
was willing to be betrayed,
to be laid open to the powers of this world,
to suffer death on a cross.
Grant us your presence on this day of his passion,
that we might be with him, through death to resurrection.
We pray in the name of our crucified Saviour. Amen.
READING:
As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ He answered him, ‘You say so.’ Then the chief priests accused him of many things. Pilate asked him again, ‘Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.’ But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed. —Mark 15.1-5
HYMN: “What Wondrous Love is This”
REFLECTION
Like Pilate, Pliny the Younger was a Roman governor. And though he served some seventy years after Pilate, little had changed in the intervening years. Governors were conservative by nature, intensely loyal to Emperor they served, and chiefly concerned with keeping the peace.
Our interest in Pliny is twofold: he was an active letter-writer, and many of his letters survive, and he was active in the earliest persecution of Christians. Now, you might think this would make him a villain, like Nero or Diocletian, but the opposite is true. Pliny was a moderate in the application of the law, and through his letters we learn about the early church.
He is perhaps most famous for his description of our spiritual forebears, again, a moderate description considering his role. Writing to his Emperor he notes:
They were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and bound themselves to a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds [and] not to deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of a meal–but ordinary and innocent food.
In this he reads like an anthropologist, and while he was no friend of the fledgling church, a hint of respect shines through. Some would make the same argument looking back at Pilate, a hint of respect in the midst of tumultuous events.
Now, expanding empire and a culture dedicated to order meant rules, and in the judicial realm there developed a system known as cognito. In modern terms we might call it a bench trial, trial by judge alone, and it fit the idea of the all-powerful military governor perfectly. And Pliny gives us a description:
In the meanwhile, the method I have observed towards those who have [been] denounced to me as Christians is this: I interrogated them whether they were Christians; if they confessed it I repeated the question twice again, adding the threat of capital punishment; if they still persevered, I ordered them to be executed.
The key idea here was the three questions: defendant dragged to court, someone brought a charge, and the magistrate asks the defendant three times to defend themselves. We hear an echo of this in Peter’s denial, the cock crow convicting him in perpetuity, but for today it is Jesus on the stand, with Pilate in the judgement seat:
First question: “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus: “You say so.” (a non-answer) Second question: Have you answer to these charges? Jesus: No answer. Third Question: Do you see how many charges are brought against you? Jesus: No answer.
Oh yes, in the cognito system, refusing to defend yourself guaranteed a conviction. But there is something else: Pliny saw something in the early church that Pilate saw too.
For whatever the nature of their creed might be, I could at least feel no doubt that stubborn refusal to comply with authority and inflexible obstinacy deserved punishment.
In other words, believers were a stubborn lot who seemed to answer to some higher authority and therefore deserved to die. So maybe this is the theme for the day: rational men meet obstinate believers and someone must die.
PRAYER
Gracious God of grief and of suffering,
this Friday seems ‘good’ for all the wrong reasons.
Be with us in these hours as we gather
in the shadow of the cross of Christ
and hear again the story of death and the sounds of burial.
This is not where we would choose to be, O God,
brought face to face with this symbol of death and instrument of torture.
Forgive us, where we have sought to avoid such times:
where we have ignored the cross or denied our own pain,
or turned our backs on the sufferings of others.
Strengthen us to be here today,
that we may know that you are here with us.
You know the ways of the world, O God:
you have been there; you are here;
you have loved and cried
and lived and died
to be with us, to comfort us,
to forgive us and to free us.
For this we give thanks.
This we call ‘good.’
Amen.
HYMN: Were You There
BLESSING:
The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all,
but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
—Philippians 4.5b-7
Maundy is an Old English word derived from the Latin mandatum meaning “commandment.” Jesus commanded his friends to love one another, no matter the circumstances, whether together or apart. Today (or tonight) we commemorate one gathering and two rituals. The first, foot-washing, we will mark by taking time during the service to wash our hands. Next, we remember the Last Supper, and we encourage you to break bread and lift a beverage—juice or wine—as you join this meal. Those joining by Zoom (at 7 pm) will share in the same service as this one.Thanks to Cor, Dave, and Heather!
PRELUDE: “I Love to Tell the Story”
CALL TO WORSHIP:
Saving God,
power of loving service in the world,
we thank you for Jesus,
who on the night he was betrayed,
gave himself to his friends
in humble service, and in bread and wine.
Mysterious God,
tonight we worship in your time,
we do not reenact the Last Supper:
we join the meal, we find our place,
and we gather at Christ’s own table,
by his side, now and ever.
OPENING PRAYER AND SUNG RESPONSE:
Holy God, we come to worship in the gathering shadows of Jesus’ suffering and death. We gather with a cloud of witnesses, to experience love in action: service and sacrifice, commemoration and grace. Stand with us as we remember, and encourage us, as mark this day. Amen.
Christ, let us come with you to the upper room where the feast is laid, to the bread and wine where our peace is made: Christ, let us come with you!
FIRST READING: John 13.1-5, 12-17
It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
REFLECTION
A sacrament is a visible sign of invisible grace. And one, according to St. Augustine, that was given to the church by Jesus Christ. Jesus commended baptism, dying and rising with him, and marked as his forever. Jesus presided at table—the first table—and said “do this in remembrance of me.” Every time you bread bread, and every time you lift you cup, I remain with you. We have two sacraments, two outward signs of an inward grace.
And then there is the other. Instituted by Jesus Christ, commended to the church, reenacted year by year on this night, yet foot-washing is not a sacrament. At least not officially. And what might be the reasons for this? For one, it’s an annual ritual, given to one night of our life together. Two, it’s a bit fraught. The one who washes feet has assumed the role of Jesus, something that most of us are reluctant to do. Finally, it’s messy—literally in some cases—and bit uncomfortable.
Yet the sacramental aspect of this ritual is clear: every time we serve others, every time we care for others in Christ’s name, every time we humble ourselves before others—we are making visible God’s invisible grace. Any time you help someone, particularly if it’s messy or uncomfortable, you are sharing a sacrament, and God’s unconditional love. Amen.
MUSIC: “In the Garden”
HANDWASHING SUNG RESPONSE:
Teach us your serving love: to become as friends, to become as one that the world believe what your life has done: teach us your serving love.
THE LAST SUPPER/GREAT THANKSGIVING
The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right that we should praise you,
gracious God, for you created all things.
You formed us in your own image:
male and female you created us.
When we turned away from you in sin,
you did not cease to care for us,
but opened a path of salvation for all people.
You made a covenant with Israel,
and through your servants Abraham and Sarah
gave the promise of a blessing to all nations.
Through Moses you led your people
from bondage into freedom;
through the prophets you renewed
your promise of salvation.
Therefore, with them, and with all your saints
who have served you in every age,
we give you thanks and raise our voices
to proclaim the glory of your name.
Holy, Holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Holy God, source of life and goodness,
all creation rightly gives you praise.
In the fullness of time,
you sent your child Jesus Christ,
to share our human nature,
to live and die as one of us,
to reconcile us to you,
the Mother and Father of us all.
He healed the sick
and ate and drank with outcasts and sinners;
he opened the eyes of the blind
and proclaimed the Good News of your kingdom
to the poor and to those in need.
In all things he fulfilled your gracious will.
On the night he was betrayed
our Lord Jesus Christ took bread;
and after giving thanks to you,
broke it, and gave it to his disciples.
And said, “Take, eat:
this is my body which is given for you.
Do this for the remembrance of me.”
After supper he took the cup of wine;
and after giving thanks,
gave it to them, and said,
“Drink this, all of you:
this is my blood of the new covenant,
which is shed for you and for many
for the forgiveness of sins.
Whenever you drink it,
do this for the remembrance of me.”
Gracious God,
by the death of your beloved one
you have destroyed the power of death,
and by raising him to life
you have given us life for evermore.
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
Recalling his death,
proclaiming his resurrection,
and looking for his coming again in glory,
we offer you, O God, this bread and this cup.
Send your Holy Spirit upon us
and upon these gifts,
that all who eat and drink at this table
may be one body, one holy people,
a living sacrifice in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory is yours, God most holy,
now and forever.
THE LORD’S PRAYER:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us
our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against
us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from
evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the
glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
SHARING THE BREAD AND WINE
Partake or share the elements.
SUNG RESPONSE:
Christ of the open hands, you have brought us close to be loved and fed, you have touched our life, now you walk ahead: Christ, let us come with you!
SECOND READING: Psalm 116
I love you, God, because you heard my voice
when I made supplication,
because you turned your ear to me,
when I called upon your name.
The cords of death entangled me,
and the pangs of the Grave laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
Then I called upon the name of God:
‘O God, I pray, save my life.’
How can I repay you, God,
for all the good things you have done for me?
I will take up the cup of salvation,
and call upon the name of God.
I will pay my vows
in the presence of all God’s people. Amen.
BLESSING
Even as we turn away, Lord,
you cannot turn away.
Even in the face of denial and betrayal,
you never turn away.
Even in death, death on the cross,
you will never turn away.
To you be the glory, Lord,
now and ever, Amen.
“Light in Early Spring” by www.holgersbilderwelt.de is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
HOLY WEEK SERVICES
Early Christian writing reveals that Holy Week has been marked since at least the 4th century. One such writer, a Christian noblewoman named Etheria, wrote from the Holy Land back to the women in her community describing daily worship in the week leading up to Easter. It is in this tradition that we share services this week.
SCRIPTURE SENTENCES:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us. —Hebrews 12.1-2
PRAYER:
God, you touch our lives
with mystery and hope.
We move through this week,
ready to see your power working through us.
Help us to be open to your Word,
and to answer your call among us.
Help us to run the race that is set before,
and remind us we never run alone.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
READING:
The Lord GOD helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me.
It is the Lord GOD who helps me; who will declare me guilty?
—Isaiah 50.7-9a
REFLECTION:
Most often we look to the psalmist for expressive poetry and a catalogue of human emotion. Today we find it in Isaiah 50: flint-faced, never disgraced, vindicated by the God who is ever near. We are drawn in to the description of this God, and the polarities that illustrate this divine helpfulness. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me.
Meanwhile, the closest version of this homily to faithfulness found in the psalms is perhaps 118: “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” In a bit of a role reversal, the psalmist sounds very practical, almost down-to-earth in this assessment of God’s faithfulness. What can mere mortals do to me when God is by my side? Nothing!
We need some of this attitude when confronted by trouble in this life. Yes, there is peril all around us; yes, the days ahead look bleak; yes, the uncertainty of these times is wearing us down; but the One who vindicates me is near. Let us stand up together! Let us stand up and run that race, surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. Amen.
HYMN: Take up your cross (verse 2)
Take up your cross; let not its weight fill your weak spirit with alarm; Christ’s strength shall bear your spirit up, and brace your heart, and nerve your arm.
PRAYER:
Fit us, O God, for this new day.
Through your Spirit, grant us courage,
so that today’s uncertainties may not overwhelm us.
Through your Christ, fill us with love,
so that distance may not divide us.
Through your creative energy, make us new,
so that the past may not burden us.
Through you compassionate Child,
tend to everyone in need, and tend to us.
Through the Prince of Peace, send your peace,
for the sake of a weary world, and our peace too.
Amen.
BLESSING:
The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all,
but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
—Philippians 4.5b-7
Early Christian writing reveals that Holy Week has been marked since at least the 4th century. One such writer, a Christian noblewoman named Etheria, wrote from the Holy Land back to the women in her community describing daily worship in the week leading up to Easter. It is in this tradition that we share services this week.
SCRIPTURE SENTENCES:
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me and save me.
Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress. —Psalm 71.1-3
PRAYER:
Ever-present God,
this day enfolds us and surrounds us:
be in our speaking and in our thinking;
be in our life and on our lips;
be in our hearts and in our souls,
be in our deeds and in our doing,
be in our thoughts and our meditation,
be in our hope and in our longing,
today and forever.
Amen.
READING:
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” —1 Corinthians 1.26-31
REFLECTION
Think upon the things that are not. It’s hard to do! St. Paul is in high rhetorical form as he creates his homily to God’s wisdom, always more profound than the wisdom of the world. Yet, in the midst of these comparisons and surprising shifts, he goes one further step: God chose the things that are not to nullify the things that are.
The things that are not to nullify the things that are. This puts me in mind of another verse from Paul, this one from 2 Corinthians 4: “Don’t fix your eyes on what can be seen, by what cannot be seen. What you see is temporary, what you cannot see is eternal.” Maybe he was talking about idols, since the ancient world was full of them. Maybe he was talking about material things, the things you can’t take with you. Maybe he was talking about overt signs of empire, something that never seem to leave us.
So we can’t be certain about what can be seen, or the things that “are.” But things that are not, the things that cannot be seen, they are legion: faith, hope, and love, an example that Paul loved best. Or how about courage, or patience, or conviction? Maybe you can’t see them, in the person who quietly makes their way through life, but they are there. Or the quiet helpers, the ones who serve out of view. Maybe this service is among the things that are not, the things that cannot be seen—but they are certainly eternal!
HYMN: My Faith Looks Up to Thee
May thy rich grace impart Strength to my fainting heart My zeal inspire! As thou hast died for me O may my love to thee Pure, warm, and changeless be A living fire!
PRAYER
Gracious God, we pray for your blessing
as we find our place in Holy Week.
Here may the faithful find salvation,
and the careless be awakened.
Here may the doubting find courage,
and the anxious be calmed.
Here may the tempted find help,
and the sorrowful be comforted.
Here may the weary find rest,
and the strong be renewed.
Here may the aged find consolation,
and the young be inspired,
in Jesus, the Christ.
Amen.
BLESSING:
The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all,
but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
—Philippians 4.5b-7
Early Christian writing reveals that Holy Week has been marked since at least the 4th century. One such writer, a Christian noblewoman named Etheria, wrote from the Holy Land back to the women in her community describing daily worship in the week leading up to Easter. It is in this tradition that we share services this week.
SCRIPTURE SENTENCES:
Thus says God, the LORD,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations. — Isaiah 42.5-6
PRAYER:
Merciful God, as we enter Holy Week and ready ourselves for daily prayer. Turn our hearts again to Jerusalem, to the life, death. and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Bring us at the last with him and all the faithful to your new Jerusalem, your kingdom of peace and justice for all. We ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen.
READING: Psalm 36
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your salvation to the upright of heart!
REFLECTION
Sacred literature is filled with references to the gifts found in the Lord’s house. In our short passage from Psalm 36 there is feasting, abundance, delight, light, and the fountain of life! What a place to shelter! Yet as we begin Holy Week, it’s hard to focus on delight in the midst of the growing gloom, and the event that will dominate this week.
Our task, however, is to hold these two things in tension. Even while plots thickened, and friendships were tested, and intentions were unclear, Jesus would have those around him remember the abundance of the Living God. Even as the destination of this long journey becomes clear, Jesus would have his friends delight in the gift of life.
The link between the abundance and the growing gloom is shelter. All people may take refuge in the shadow of God’s wings. Whatever you are experiencing this week, wherever your find yourself, however you carry yourself, there is a place for you under the shelter of God’s wings. This is how we experience God’s steadfast love: sheltered, held, and surrounded by all that God gives. Amen.
HYMN: Tree of Life
Christ, you lead and we shall follow, stumbling though our steps may be, one with you in joy and sorrow, we the river, you the sea, we the river, you the sea.
PRAYER
Let us pray, brothers and sisters,
for the holy church of God throughout the world,
that God may guide it and gather it together
so that we may worship God in peace and tranquility.
God of power and love,
you have shown your compassion in Jesus Christ.
Guide the work of the church.
Help it to persevere in faith
and to proclaim your name to people everywhere.
Let us pray for elders and leaders
and for all who serve the church
with the gifts God gives them.
Strengthen us as we ascend to the Holy Places.
walk with us, Lord, as we remember this time.
Amen.
BLESSING:
The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all,
but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
— Philippians 4.5b-7
“Palm leaves” by decafinata is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Gathered through the power of the Holy Spirit, we worship God with gladness. We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the links within the liturgy. Prayers in this service are adapted from Celebrate God’s Presence (UCPH). Thanks this week to Shauna, Beth, Amanda, Cor, and Heather!
PRELUDE: “Far Away Friend” (Springer)
OPENING PRAYER:
We join with the crowd that eagerly awaited the coming of Jesus. Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God! Hosanna in the highest! Fulfilling prophecy, Jesus entered the city riding humbly on a donkey. Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God! Hosanna in the highest! Jesus’ followers were excited, filled with anticipation. Yet, within a few short days, they were scattered, disillusioned, and frightened, unwilling to follow as far as Christ would have them go. Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God! Hosanna in the highest! We, too, long to join the triumphal procession, only to find ourselves burdened by the past, fearful of the future, reluctant to accept the way of the cross. Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God! Hosanna in the highest! Yet this Palm Sunday, we receive palm branches, a reminder of the welcome offered to Jesus as he travelled toward the cross. Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God! Hosanna in the highest! Like the crowd in Jerusalem 2000 years ago, we take our palm branches and greet Jesus, shouting: Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God! Hosanna in the highest!
HYMN OF PRAISE: “Hosanna, loud hosanna”
Hosanna, loud hosanna the happy children sang; through pillared court and temple the joyful anthem rang; to Jesus, who had blessed them close folded to his breast, the children sang their praises, the simplest and the best.
From Olivet they followed ‘mid an exultant crowd, the victory palm branch waving, and singing clear and loud; the Lord of earth and heaven rode on in lowly state, content that little children should on his bidding wait.
‘Hosanna in the highest!’ That ancient song we sing, for Christ is our Redeemer; earth, let your anthems ring. O may we ever praise him with heart and life and voice, and in his humble presence eternally rejoice!
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
We love a parade! We love to get what we want. We love for things to unfold according to our plan and not the divine plan— a plan that remains a mystery to our eyes. Help us to trust in you, O God, and help us to set aside our desire for your desire, and our will for your will, now and always. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
God will give us what we need: strength for today, hope for tomorrow, and forgiveness for all that is past. Amen.
“palm trees in the rain through the skylight” by Robert Couse-Baker is licensed under CC BY 2.0
SPECIAL MUSIC: “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” (Maker)
FIRST READING: Psalm 118
Open to me the gates of the temple, that I may enter and give thanks to God. This is the gate of God; through it the righteous shall enter. I thank you for you have answered me; you have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is God’s doing, marvellous in our eyes. This is the day that God has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Save us, O God, we pray; God, we pray, give us success. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God. We bless you from the house of God. God, our God, has given us light; with palm branches in hand let us march to the altar. You are my God, and I will thank you; you are my God, and I will extol you.
SECOND READING: Mark 11.1-11
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” 10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
HYMN: “The glory of our King was seen”
The glory of our King was seen when he came riding by, and all the children waved and sang, ‘Hosanna, King most high!’
The glory of our King was seen when, with his arms stretched wide to show his love to everyone, Jesus was crucified.
The glory of our King was seen on the first Easter day, when Christ rose up, set free from death, to love, to guide, to stay.
“Palm Star” by mripp is licensed under CC BY 2.0
REFLECTION
Jesse Owens had one. Ben Hogan had one. Amelia Earhart had two, and should have had more.
I hope I have you stumped. Theodore Roosevelt had one, as did Queen Elizabeth and the future Queen Beatrix. John Glenn had two, and the New York Yankees had too many to count. Finally, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins had one—Michael Collins the astronaut, not the Irish revolutionary.
If you guessed ticker tape parade, you would be correct. Funny thing, the ticker tape parade. Shower tons of ticker tape upon adoring crowds (and the source of their admiration), then let someone else sweep up the mess. The good news (for them) is that the work is getting scarce. In the 1950’s there were over 60 ticker tape parades in New York, but in the last decade there were only three. Maybe there is less to celebrate.
And since someone reading or listening today has no idea what ticker tape is, I suppose I should explain. Ticker tape is a continuous printout of stock prices, named (of course) for the tick-tick-tick sound of the machine that produced the tape. All over the city, businesses had these remote read-outs of the stock market in great quantity, and they in turn became a very handy way to celebrate. Think of it as long confetti.
I share this because the ticker tape parade may be one of the best modern examples of what happened that day in Jerusalem. It certainly wasn’t a parade in any sense that we might know. It wasn’t a military parade—think Red Square or Bastille Day—since those are really a show of force. It wasn’t an event parade like St. Patrick’s Day, though you could argue it became one. And it wasn’t a victory parade, since the outcome of the next few days was yet to be revealed.
The reason the ticker tape parade is a good parallel begins with design. A ticker tape parade, like our palm parade, is a planned event, carefully choreographed for maximum effect. This is not to suggest it is disingenuous somehow—it simply acknowledges that these are not spontaneous events. Jesus gives his disciples specific instructions on where to go, what to get, and what to say if anyone has questions.
Further, the ticker tape parade, like our palm parade, was held to send a message. City officials would select the people to be honoured (which by definition means others were not selected) as a way to align themselves with some triumph or celebrity. Likewise, Jesus enters on a humble beast, not some grand mount, sending the message that he would be a different kind of king, not the one they were anticipating.
Finally, the ticker tape parade, like the palm parade, belongs to the crowd as much as the planners or the people being honoured. Just as ticker tape parades would be meaningless without the celebrating crowd, the palm parade would be just an awkward entry without the palm-waving, the scattered cloaks, and the passionate shouting. “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
So the palm parade was carefully choreographed, message-laden, and dedicated to the people who stood by that day. It was a turning point, or maybe a point-of-no-return, when Jesus truly “set his face to Jerusalem.” And it was also a declaration, a declaration that Jesus’ kingship would be unique, unlike any other. So what would it be like?
It might be helpful to think about kingship before Jesus’ reinterpretation of kingship, and the momentous change God was planning that day in Jerusalem. In the distant past, it appeared that God blessed those in power. They ruled at God’s pleasure, and then they fell when the reverse was true. And then the first big change, through Moses. Remember that God, through Moses, defeated a king and freed the people. But the king (Pharaoh) remained. He did not fall, although certainly his economy was ruined. God only acted to free his people, to end their suffering, and bring them home. Moses mounted his own parade of sorts, through the Red Sea and on into the wilderness. It wasn’t a coup or a revolution, more of a parade in the form of a successful rescue mission.
Back to Jerusalem. Jesus confronted royal power that day not with a show of force or a victory parade, but rather with symbols: kingship that should humbly serve the people, kingship that was based on biblical models of faithfulness and not the sword, kingship that was located in heaven rather than on earth. It was a carefully choreographed, message-laden, and dedicated to the people who would then witness even more symbolic action: tables turned in the temple, a clarifying conversation with the high priest about kingship, and his journey to the cross.
So let me end with that clarifying conversation, the real conclusion to the palm parade, when Jesus is asked, “are you the anointed one, the Son of the Blessed One?” (14.62)
“I am,” he said. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” This was never insurrection, rather the last stage of incarnation. Jesus entered Jerusalem to promptly leave Jerusalem, changing the nature of kingship forever. Earthly kings cannot save you, and they cannot even save themselves. Rather, we wait for the Son of the Most High to save us, now and in the days to come. Amen.
“Palm leaves” by macieklew is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
We praise you, O God,
for your redemption of the world through Jesus Christ.
Today he entered the holy city of Jerusalem in triumph
and was proclaimed Messiah and king by those
who spread garments and branches along his way.
Let these branches be signs of his victory,
and grant that we who carry them
may follow him in the way of the cross,
that, dying and rising with him,
we may enter into your kingdom;
As we ponder Jesus’ willingness to carry
the suffering of the world,
we pray in the knowledge that there is more to share.
Listen, Lord, as we remember your children in need:
For the sick, bring healing,
or a sense that healing will come…
For the mournful, bring comfort,
or the comforting knowledge that we care…
For the lost, bring direction,
or a guide or two to help them find their way…
For the lonely, bring a sense of your presence,
or a gentle nudge to have us reach out…
For the hurting, bring hope,
or the hope that hope may come…
For the angry, bring calm,
or a sense that you hear their anger….
For the oppressed, bring justice,
or companions to share their struggle…
We pray all this, trusting in your goodness,
and the new hope that the coming day will bring.
We pray through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit,
now and forever.
Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
HYMN: “Tell me the stories of Jesus”
Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear, things I would ask him to tell me if he were here: scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea, stories of Jesus, tell them to me.
First let me hear how the children stood round his knee, and I shall fancy his blessing resting on me; words full of kindness, deeds full of grace, all in the lovelight of Jesus’ face.
Tell me, in accents of wonder, how rolled the sea tossing the boat in a tempest on Galilee! And how the Master, ready and kind, chided the billows and hushed the wind.
Into the city I’d follow the children’s band, waving a branch of the palm tree high in my hand; one of his heralds, yes, I would sing loudest hosannas! Jesus is king!
Show me that scene in the garden of bitter pain; and of the cross where my Saviour for me was slain. Sad ones or bright ones, so that they be stories of Jesus, tell them to me.
BLESSING
Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Amen.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23
Images this week are inspired by Psalm 51.10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” Heart shaped by tanakawho is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Gathered through the power of the Holy Spirit, we worship God with gladness. We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the links within the liturgy. Prayers in this service are adapted from Celebrate God’s Presence (UCPH). Thanks this week to Madelyn, Kerri, Dave, and Heather!
PRELUDE: “When the Pain of the World” (Strathdee)
OPENING PRAYER:
God of all, May your strength pilot us. May your power preserve us. May your wisdom instruct us. May your hand protect us. May your way direct us. May your shield defend us. May your host guard us against the snares of evil and the temptations of the world. May Christ be with us, Christ before us, Christ in us, Christ over us. And may our salvation, O God, be always ours, this day and forevermore. Amen.
HYMN OF PRAISE: “This is the day”
This is the day, this is the day that our God has made, that our God has made; we will rejoice, we will rejoice, and be glad in it, and be glad in it. This is the day that our God has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day, this is the day that our God has made.
Open to us, open to us your gates, O God, your gates, O God; we will go in, we will go in, to your holy place, to your holy place. Open to us your gates, O God, we will go in to your holy place. Open to us, open to us your gates, O God.
You are our God, you are our God, we will praise your name, we will praise your name; we will give thanks, we will give thanks, for your faithfulness, for your faithfulness. You are our God, we will praise your name, we will give thanks for your faithfulness. You are our God, you are our God, we will praise your name.
This is the day, this is the day that our God has made, that our God has made; we will rejoice, we will rejoice, and be glad in it, and be glad in it. This is the day that our God has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day, this is the day that our God has made.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
We have been called the salt of the earth: guide us Lord, lest we lose our saltiness. We have been called the light of the world, challenge us Lord, lest we hide our light. We have been called a city set on a hill, remind us Lord, a city built on a hill cannot be hidden. Encourage us to bring flavour to life, to bring light to the shadows, and to bring our sense of your glory, Lord, to a place where everyone can see. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
God will give us what we need:
strength for today,
hope for tomorrow,
and forgiveness
for all that is past.
Amen.
Heart-shaped leaves by annapolis_rose is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
SPECIAL MUSIC: “Pass It On” (Kaiser)
FIRST READING: Psalm 51
Have mercy on me, O God, in your great kindness, in the fullness of your mercy blot out my offences. Wash away all my guilt, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my faults, and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence, and blameless in your judgement. Guilty I have been from my birth, a sinner from the time of my conception. But you desire truth in our inward being, therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness, let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. Turn away your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Put a new heart in me, O God, and give me again a constant spirit. Do not cast me away from your presence, do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and strengthen me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. O God, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
You desire no sacrifice, or I would give it; you take no delight in burnt offerings. The sacrifice you accept, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
SECOND READING: John 12.20-33
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
HYMN: “O Jesus, I have promised”
O Jesus, I have promised to serve you to the end; remain for ever near me, my Saviour and my friend: I shall not fear the journey if you are by my side, nor wander from the pathway if you will be my guide.
O let me feel you near me: the world is ever near; I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear; my foes are ever near me, around me and within; but, Jesus, then draw nearer and shield my soul from sin.
O let me hear you speaking in accents clear and still, above the storms of passion, the murmurs of self-will; O speak to reassure me, to hasten or control; now speak, and make me listen, O guardian of my soul.
O Jesus, you have promised to all who follow you, that where you are in glory your servant shall be too. And Jesus, I have promised to serve you to the end; O give me grace to follow, my Saviour and my friend.
58581el#heart-shaped cloud by prof.bizzarro is licensed under CC BY 2.0
REFLECTION
I can confess a certain passion for borrow-words.
If I told you that the melee we call the Norman invasion caused some malaise in our milieu, you might say ‘yes, but at least we gained some dandy borrow-words from the French.’ And we did. And even before the Normans, the Vikings who “visited” the land of our language left behind some helpful words: ransack and berserk, for obvious reasons; heathen and troll (the bridge kind, not the internet kind), and the more earthly words dirt, mire, and muck. All fine words, but none as evocative or enjoyable as schadenfreude, which means ‘taking pleasure in the misfortune of others.’
To be clear, I enjoy the word, not the sentiment (unless we’re talking about crossing the line ahead of the rest of the fleet). But it got me thinking about the last few weeks and whether our German friends have a word for the opposite, ‘feeling displeasure at the good fortune of others.’ More research is required. Maybe we could simply default to another borrow-word, actually a double borrow-word, (envy) that began as Latin, then French, then English.
O envy, you are so much more than one of the seven deadly sins. You appear every time someone gets something we want, and can lead to upset, frustration, and often anger. Some have learned the hard way that sharing the news of your recent vaccination can generate a variety of responses, and not all positive. Rather than a sense of relief that one more person is edging toward immunity, and therefore making all of us safer, we have witnessed upset, frustration, and even anger.
We’re simple creatures, we humans, and we frequently default to assessing worth, or value, or deservedness, rather than taking pleasure in the good fortune of others. As some medical person said this week, it’s Team Human versus Team COVID, and we should be cheering on our side rather than second-guessing who gets to score first. So the next time you’re offered the opportunity to share someone’s outrage, remind them that epidemiologically speaking, we’re all in this together. End of sermon.
Well, not really—more end of rant. But my rant does relate to the Gospel lesson for today, when Jesus says “we’re all in this together,” or rather, we should be. The heart of the passage is right in the middle: “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. And my Father will honor the one who serves me.” But before we examine the heart, let’s zoom out (no pun intended) and see where these words are set.
Chapter after chapter in John, Jesus says, “my hour has not come.” His mother needs more wine, but his hour has not come. Twice they tried to arrest him, and twice he said his hour had not come. But here in chapter twelve, finally, he says his hour has come. In Luke, we famously get the phrase “he turned his face to Jerusalem,” but for John, his hour has come.
So Jesus is headed to Jerusalem, and he says “Whoever serves me must follow me.” Think about these words. Whoever serves me must follow me. We tend to conflate them—service and following him—but Jesus wants to keep these two ideas separate. We serve Jesus whenever we seek the lost, or slake the thirsty, or visit the sick—but can we also follow him? For you see, following is another thing altogether.
And it’s something Jesus tries to explain again and again. In Matthew (20) he’s confronted by the sons of Zebedee (and their mom!) about this question of who gets to sit at the right and left of Jesus in eternity. Again, Jesus famously asks “can you drink the cup I’m going to drink?” and the sons say “oh yeah!” This was not the answer the Master was looking for. But he doesn’t give up on these two (or their mom), choosing instead to restate the lesson they struggle to understand: “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Again, the difference here is between service and giving his life. Whoever serves me must follow me. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. These are hard words, words we struggle to understand, so maybe it’s time for an example.
Remember back in January, the Vancouver couple who chartered a plane to some remote part of the Yukon, got in the queue pretending to be workers at the local hotel, got the shot, then made the mistake of asking for a ride to back to the airport, proving that clever and stupid often live on the same street? They clearly love their life, and love it enough to break the law, to put an entire northern community at risk, and risk the infamy that comes when every half-baked plan fails. This is what happens when you love your life, to the exclusion of others.
Jesus would have us do the opposite, obviously. ‘Hate your life’ is meant to get your attention, but it just means doing the opposite of the excessive life-lovers, or those who are willing to risk the lives of others in order to preserve their own lives. Yes, we need to avoid doing foolish things; yes, we need to love and serve others; but we also need to follow in his way. And following in his way means loving our own lives a little less.
Back to our example, knowing that remote and northern communities are ahead in the queue should be gratifying— these places where there is no 9-1-1, or a big hospital, or an ambulance on the way. It should be gratifying to know that we are part of a society that works, giving priority to the most vulnerable, and not the people who can afford to charter a plane. It should be gratifying to set aside our own sense of urgency, knowing that we can love our own lives a little less for the safety and well-being of others.
As we get ready for our annual meeting, we can take pride in the fact that the building is filled with food, and boxes, and clean needles, and packaged meals, and clothing (sometimes on the street too). We can take pride knowing that we set aside our own comfort, we set aside the urge to find the building exactly the way we left it, and we set aside the need to control the space—for the sake of others. It’s not a small thing, even if you don’t feel directly involved.
In other words, we serve, but we also follow in his way. Amen.
Heart-Shaped by mrhayata is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
People of God:
we gather, in worship,
to prepare ourselves to experience the passion of Christ,
to go in heart and in mind to Jerusalem,
to see the mystery of our God,
alone on the cross we erected.
In this season,
in the spirit of the God
who so loves the world as to send us Jesus,
let us pray for the needs of the whole world.
We remember especially
those whose lives are disrupted, dislocated,
or even destroyed by the pandemic…
We pray for peace and goodwill among the nations…
Let us pray for the earth,
as it longs for the promise of God’s new creation…
Let us remember before God
all who are poor, hungry or cold…
all who are oppressed by circumstance or by other people…
all who experience violence, especially women…
all who face hatred for their race or sexuality…
all who are sick or dying…
all who are lonely or frightened,
and all wait for their life to resume.
Lastly, let us remember before God
those who have gone before us,
whose company and voices we miss,
but who, in the grace and goodness of God,
are still in fellowship with us.
With them, and with the multitude of hosts
and God’s faithful of every time and place,
we prepare for the mystery of death and resurrection,
an end to death, and new life in Christ. Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
HYMN: “We are pilgrims on a journey”
We are pilgrims on a journey, fellow travellers on the road; we are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.
Sister, let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you; pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant too.
I will hold the Christ-light for you in the night-time of your fear; I will hold my hand out to you, speak the peace you long to hear.
I will weep when you are weeping, when you laugh I’ll laugh with you; I will share your joy and sorrow, till we’ve seen this journey through.
When we sing to God in heaven, we shall find such harmony, born of all we’ve known together of Christ’s love and agony.
Brother, let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you; pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant too.
BLESSING
Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Amen.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23
God be with you till we meet again; loving counsels guide, uphold you, with a shepherd’s care enfold you; God be with you till we meet again.
Heart shaped bokeh 14 by I.Gouss is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Owen Staples, Main Street, Weston, Looking West, 1907
Gathered through the power of the Holy Spirit, we worship God with gladness. We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the links within the liturgy. Prayers in this service are adapted from Celebrate God’s Presence (UCPH). Thanks this week to Taye, Cor, and Heather!
Today we welcome the Rt. Rev. Richard Bott, Moderator of the United Church. A native of Marathon, Ontario, Richard was ordained in 1994, and has served in Ontario and British Columbia, most recently as minister of Pacific Spirit United Church in Vancouver. Elected Moderator in 2018, Richard has brought his passion for writing to the role, along with an interest in discipleship and congregational renewal. Due to the pandemic, the Moderator has agreed to extend his term for an extra year, a gift to the church in this difficult time. We are grateful that Richard will help us celebrate our first anniversary event.
PRELUDE: “Joy Come in the Morning” (Cox/Berry)
OPENING PRAYER:
Ever-gracious God,
you call people from near and far
into the fellowship of our church,
building upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets,
upon Jesus Christ, our companion and Lord,
and upon all the saints who have gone before us.
We give you thanks for 200 years of church life,
and especially for the various ministries
that define our life together.
We give you thanks for all in our midst today.
Continue to watch over our congregation, we pray;
help us to fulfill your mission,
on the streets that surround our church,
and around the world.
Fill us again and again with your Spirit;
and deepen our faith and our relationship with you,
so that we might continue to be faithful co-workers with you—
“that all the world might see” you and praise you.
In the name of Jesus Christ who is our Head
and our Cornerstone. Amen.
HYMN OF PRAISE: “Great is thy faithfulness”
Great is thy faithfulness, God our Creator; there is no shadow of turning with thee; thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not; as thou hast been thou forever wilt be. Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; all I have needed thy hand hath provided – great is thy faithfulness, ever to me!
Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above join with all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. R
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide, strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow – wondrous the portion thy blessings provide. R
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Stir up the wills of your people, O God. End our lethargy, and move us into new ways of living. Stir up the minds of your people, O God. End our thoughtlessness, and move us into deeper ways of thinking. Stir up the hearts of your people, O God. End our apathy, and move us into fuller ways of loving. Stir us thoroughly, O God. Let us worship you afresh. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
God will give us what we need:
strength for today,
hope for tomorrow,
and forgiveness
for all that is past.
Amen.
Aerial view of Mount Dennis and Kodak, 1917
SPECIAL MUSIC: “Lean on Me” (Withers)
FIRST READING: Psalm 107
O give thanks, for God is gracious; God’s steadfast love endures for ever. Let the redeemed of God say so, those redeemed from trouble, whom God gathered in from the lands, from the east and the west, from the north and the south.
Some lost their way in desert wastes, finding no place to settle; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried to you, God, in their trouble; you rescued them from their distress. You led them by a straight path, till they reached a place to settle. Let them thank you, O God, for your steadfast love, for the wonders you do for us. For you satisfy the thirsty, and fill the hungry with good things.
SECOND READING: John 3.14-21
14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
HYMN: “Come, O Fount of every blessing”
Come, O Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing your grace; streams of mercy, never ceasing call for songs of endless praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount; I’m fixed upon it, mount of God’s unfailing love.
Here I pause in my sojourning, giving thanks for having come, come to trust, at every turning, God will guide me safely home. Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God, came to rescue me from danger, precious presence, precious blood.
O, to grace how great a debt or daily I am drawn anew! Let that grace now, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to you. Prone to wander, I can feel it, wander from the love I’ve known: here’s my heart, O, take and seal it, seal it for your very own.
REFLECTION
Editor’s note: We were unable to obtain an advanced copy of the Moderator’s homily, so we share a sermon Michael first preached on March 26, 2006.
Where is this quote from?
They can be a great people…if they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all–for their capacity for good–I have sent them you, my only son.
I confess to a terrible trick. Here at the halfway point in the service you have been marinating in the third chapter of John, and the remarkably familiar sixteenth verse, and so the above quote feels biblical. You could even say it feels “Johannine” (meaning in the style of John) and impress your friends. But alas, it is neither Johannine or even biblical: it is from the trailer of the movie “Superman Returns.”
Superman comes to us from the fertile minds of the late Jerry Siegel and the late Joe Shuster. Shuster, born here in Toronto, moved to Toledo, Ohio at the age of nice and befriended Siegel. They shared a love for science fiction and for comics and collaborated on a number of projects, but nothing like the story that debuted on June 1st, 1938. “Superman” was a huge success, and though a multitude of incarnations and a multitude of imitators, remains the gold standard for superheroes. (By the way, if you have a copy of that first issue tucked away, you have the most valuable comic ever published)
The problem with the trailer for this instalment of Superman is in the allusion. Listen again:
They can be a great people…if they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all–for their capacity for good–I have sent them you, my only son.
This injection of Jesus-language (“my only son”) wouldn’t sit well with Shuster and Siegel, a couple of Jewish boys who wanted to retell the story of Moses through their hero Superman. All the elements are there: sent as infants from the troubled place of their birth (Kryptonite, slavery in Egypt) to a better place (earth, the palace of Pharaoh) each embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Both must resolve their duel identity problem (Clark Kent/Superman, Prince of Egypt/Moses) and the appearance of miraculous powers, in order to do good.
The movie built on the success of the television show “Smallville,” a show that tells the story of Clark Kent as a teenager. The show has an innocent feel to it, and some not-so-hidden Christian undertones, and for this reason has been popular with some Christians. The trailer is no accident, building on “Smallville” and using the language of John’s Gospel to turn Superman (aka Moses) into Jesus.
This, however, is not the first time there has been some Jesus-Moses fusion going on. John himself does it as he tells the story of a conversation between Jesus and the Jewish leader Nicodemus:
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
The lifting up refers to Numbers 21, the miraculous sign that brings healing in the desert. The Israelites are complaining so bitterly that God sent poisonous snakes to punish them. In some of the most realistic dialogue in the Bible, the Israelites say “we hate this stupid manna.” (Without a doubt, this passage of scripture was written by someone with small children). God quickly repents of the snakes and through Moses gives them the symbol of healing that doctors continue to use, the snake on a staff.
The comparison here, Jesus as the Son of Man also lifted up, doesn’t quite work. It is as if John is trying too hard, trying to draw a parallel between the miraculous healing power of the snake-staff and the power of the cross. He is trying to draw the followers of Moses (Jewish readers of his Gospel) into the story of Jesus and his death. He is trying to build a bridge between what has become two camps in his community: Jewish Christians within the church and Jewish non-Christians who are increasingly hostile to the message of the church. Ultimately these two groups will go their separate ways, and John’s Gospel will continue to be a document that defines the divide between them. John’s Gospel is filled with allusions meant to retain Jewish Christians in the first century, but also to condemn those who could not follow. It is the most troubling of the four Gospels in terms of Jewish-Christian relations, and must be read carefully for this reason.
The other theme that enters this Moses-Jesus-Superman jumble is the light. When Moses speaks to God on Sinai his face becomes so radiant with reflected light that he frightens Aaron and the others. His face is so radiant that he must wear a veil to cover it, a veil that he begins to wear in God’s presence as well. If you are a student of John this can only lead you to his famous prologue in chapter one:
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of all people. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never overcome it.
If you are thinking to yourself “why does he quote that passage so often?” then I will tell you. The prologue, the first 14 verses the first chapter, is the key to understanding John’s entire Gospel. It is the “rosetta stone” that allows us to interpret the rest of the story. Here is a little more of the prologue:
The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Now jump ahead to our chapter (three) and listen to the way Nicodemus enters the story, and the way our passage today began:
After dark one evening, a Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came to speak with Jesus.
It is no accident that Nicodemus appears in the dark. He comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness (it is already dangerous for a religious leader to speak to Jesus) and his quite literally in the dark about the meaning and purpose of Jesus’ teaching. The other notable part of this exchange is the question “what do you mean?” It passes the lips of Nicodemus twice in five verses, and is clearly meant to cast him in the role of someone lost and in need of the light of understanding.
The climax of this exchange, the reason Nicodemus enters the narrative, and the message that Jesus wants to leave with both hearer and reader is this:
The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness. They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished. But those who do what is right come to the light gladly, so everyone can see that they are doing what God wants.
This Jesus is a little harder to love. I have to say I much prefer the forgiving Jesus, the “consider the lilies” Jesus, the eating and drinking Jesus, the healing Jesus, even the cryptic and hard to understand Jesus. Judgmental Jesus, the Jesus that explains the nature of human sinfulness, is more difficult. And whenever I’m challenged by some aspect of Jesus and try to put it into context, I go back to the prologue. “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him,” John said. We did not receive him, or at least not in his more unsettling ways of being, because we couldn’t bear his light.
Everyone in this sermon—Jesus, Moses and Superman—is about the business of confronting evil. Each must develop a self-understanding that permits them to confront evil in their context. Each must name the evil in the hope that others will see it too. Where they stand apart, in is in the way evil is confronted. Moses/Superman will follow the path of the miraculous sign and the mighty act. Jesus will choose the cross. And this is where we begin to stumble. God demonstrated powerful acts in human history, a limitless capacity to defend his people. How does the cross fit this picture?
When the sky was darkened, when the earth shook, when Jesus breathed his last human breath, the light was momentarily veiled. The light was nearly extinguished, but “the darkness will never overcome it.” The cross is the mysterious way that God now confronts evil, it is the way of sacrifice and self-denial, it is a way apart from the way of the world. Our work, is to see the sense in God’s new way, to reject that power must meet power, and find God in those that suffer. We find God there, and we find ourselves, and we find the light. Amen.
GTR Weston Station, c. 1900, Weston Historical Society Collection
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
God, giver of all good, you continually pour your benefits upon us. Age after age the living wait upon you and find that your faithfulness has no end, and that your care is unfailing. We praise you that the mystery of life is a mystery of infinite goodness. We praise you for the order and constancy of nature; for the beauty and bounty of the earth; for day and night, summer and winter, seedtime and harvest; for the varied gifts of loveliness which every season brings. We give you thanks for all the comfort and joy of life, for our homes, for our friends, and for all the love, sympathy, and goodwill of all people.
God, giver of all comfort, you meet us where we are and send us what we need: courage and strength, hope and healing, and a sense of your abiding presence. We praise you for companions on this journey, for kindness extended and care given, for elders and friends, makers and servers, planners and builders, for doers and those who can simply be, and visionaries in every generation. We give you thanks that you have entrusted us with 200 years on this corner. We stand on the shoulders of giants: Indigenous peoples, tending this land for countless generations, the first to understand the blessing of river and trail. For settlers and pioneers, for circuit riders and lay preachers, for elders and teachers, bringing the Wesleyan message to this community, in sermon, lesson, and song. For those who worked for the betterment of the human condition, and those who sought a better community and nation, addressing poverty and injustice, inequality and the rights of the vulnerable.
God, giver of all blessings, for the mission and ministry that you made: Spirit-formed and Spirit-led, blessed by companions and friends from Elverston-Trethewey, Mount Dennis, Westminster, and the many congregations that sent us your faithful ones through the years. We give you thanks, O God, for ten thousand Sundays on this corner, for prayer and praise, for songs to comfort and bless, and for your Word, guiding us still. We pray in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
HYMN: “May the God of hope go with us”
May the God of hope go with us every day, filling all our lives with love and joy and peace. May the God of justice speed us on our way, bringing light and hope to every land and race. Praying, let us work for peace, singing, share our joy with all, working for a world that’s new, faithful when we hear Christ’s call.
May the God of healing free the earth from fear, freeing us for peace, both treasured and pursued. May the God of love keep our commitment clear to a world restored, to human life renewed. R(twice)
BLESSING
Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Amen.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23
God be with you till we meet again; loving counsels guide, uphold you, with a shepherd’s care enfold you; God be with you till we meet again.
Michelangelo, Moses, c. 1513, Church of San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter in Chains), Rome. In mediaeval art, Moses is depicted with horns. This is owing to a (supposed) error by St. Jerome, who translated Exodus 34.30 to say “horned” rather than “shone.” The full verse: “And Aaron and the children of Israel seeing the face of Moses horned, were afraid to come near.”
Gathered through the power of the Holy Spirit, we worship God with gladness. We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the links within the liturgy. Prayers in this service are adapted from Celebrate God’s Presence (UCPH). Thanks this week to Cor, Jenny, and Heather!
PRELUDE: “Be Still My Soul” (von Schlegel)
OPENING PRAYER:
Gracious God, we pray for your blessing on the church this day. May the faithful find salvation, and the careless be awakened. May the doubting find courage, and the anxious be calmed. May the tempted find help, and the sorrowful be comforted. May the weary find rest, and the strong be renewed. May the aged find consolation, and the young be inspired, in Jesus, the Christ. Amen.
HYMN OF PRAISE: “Come, we that love the Lord”
Come, we that love the Lord, and let our joys be known, join in a song with sweet accord, and thus surround the throne.
Let those refuse to sing who never knew our God; but children of the heavenly King may speak their joys abroad.
The hill of Zion yields a thousand sacred sweets before we reach the heavenly fields or walk the golden streets.
Then let our songs abound, and every tear be dry; we’re marching through Emmanuel’s ground, to fairer worlds on high.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God of exodus and wilderness, God of refuge and help, hear us now as we make our confession to you. In times of wandering, we forget what you have done for us. You give us everything we need, yet we often remain unsatisfied; You give us your law, yet often we fail in its application, and the righteousness that follows; You show us the path of life, yet we often continue on the path of self-indulgence and self-centredness. Forgive us, we pray. We ask for your direction, your patience, your love; in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
God will give us what we need:
strength for today,
hope for tomorrow,
and forgiveness
for all that is past.
Amen.
Tablets of the Ten Commandments in Laurent d’Orléans, La Somme le Roi (Paris, c. 1295): Add MS 54180, f. 5v, British Museum, London.
SPECIAL MUSIC: “Spirit of God” (Winter)
FIRST READING: Psalm 19
God’s law is perfect, refreshing the soul; God’s instruction is sure, giving wisdom to the simple; God’s precepts are right, rejoicing the heart; God’s commandment is pure giving light to the eyes; God’s fear is clean, enduring forever; God’s judgements are true, every one of them righteous; more desirable than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, pure honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned; for in keeping them there is great reward. But who can discern unwitting sins? O cleanse me from my secret faults. Keep your servant also from presumptuous sins, lest they get the better of me. Then shall I be clean and innocent of great offence.
SECOND READING: Exodus 20.1-17
And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.”
HYMN: “If our God had simply saved us (Dayeinu)”
Dayeinu (pronounced Die-yea-noo) is a Hebrew word meaning “enough.”
If our God had simply saved us, merely brought us out of Egypt, only opened up our prison: Dayeinu! Dadayeinu, dadayeinu, Dadayeinu, dayeinu, Dayeinu, dayeinu! Dadayeinu, dadayeinu, Dadayeinu, dayeinu, dayeinu!
If our God had only led us, only gone ahead to guide us, given cloud and fire to lead us: Dayeinu! R
If our God had only brought us to the awful fire at Sinai: filled us all with dread at Sinai: Dayeinu! R
If our God had spoken to us only one word through the thunder merely whispered on the mountain: Dayeinu! R
If our God had given to us less than Ten Words as prescription simply told us: ‘Take the tablets!’: Dayeinu! R
If our God had laid the law down: tabled in the words by Moses, only given us the Torah: Dayeinu! R
But, our God, who holds the banquet, calls the whole world into freedom: opens up the new creation: Dayeinu! R
Moses, The Church St Etienne Fecamp, Normandy, photo by Mamjodh (Creative Commons BY 2.0)
REFLECTION
I’ve never heard of it, and I’ve never seen it, and frankly, I don’t think I’d like it.
I’m talking about a film called The Fifth Commandment (2008), written and directed by Rick Yune, and rated by Rotten Tomatoes at 25 percent. Ouch. I’m surprized, actually, because Rick Yune is one of the best Bond villains, or rather a villain’s sidekick: the character Zao from Die Another Day (2002). Zao is famous for surviving an explosion and becoming bejeweled in the worst possible way. Let’s just say diamonds are forever.
So, I’m telling you about a film I’ve never heard of, and I’ve never seen, and frankly, I don’t think I’d like—because of the title. Being churchgoing folk, you will of course know the fifth commandment, the commandment that apparently inspired a rather uninspiring film. So what’s the fifth commandment?
Well, based on the premise of the film—an assassin who becomes the target of assassins—we would assume that the title of the film refers to the commandment “thou shalt not kill.” But we already have a problem. You see, “thou shalt not kill” is the fifth commandment for Roman Catholics and Anglicans, but not for us. Over here in reform territory, the fifth commandment is “honour thy father and mother.”
Actually, I’d like to see the director do a reformed church remake of the film, maybe making his parents a cup of tea, or driving them to the store. And maybe that’s not the most compelling idea for an action film, but it might do better than 25 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. So if you’re reading this Mr. Yune, get in touch—I have lots of ideas.
I also share this numerical anomaly because it has some bearing on what I really want to say this morning—and that is the nature and scope of the first commandment. Again, there is disagreement within the Christian family: with Catholics and Anglicans including making idols in the first commandment, and the reformed crowd giving idols their own separate commandment. So let’s just pretend we’re Catholic for a moment while I make the point I hope to make—and that is the length and breadth of the first commandment.
To begin, the commandment runs to 98 words. 98 words, compared to five for adultery, four for theft, and just four for murder. 98 versus five, or four, or four. Clearly, if importance was determined by word count, you wouldn’t worry so much about that bicycle you lost back-in-the-day and worry more about any idols you might have laying around the house. Or who you might be putting ahead of the Most High. But let’s leave that for a minute and listen again to the first commandment, as defined by the non-reformed:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
It’s part preface, it’s part mission statement, and it’s part dire warning. And it begins as these things often do—with reminder. And the reminder is the first strand on our collective DNA, the magna carta of our relationship with God—that is, we were redeemed. We were redeemed by God, and released from bondage, precisely because this is what God desires for all of humanity. And so, God creates the template whereby people resist bondage in whatever form it appears, whatever guise it wears.
Yet running to 98 words means that this commandment/ covenant has a “wait, there’s more” quality to it. I redeemed you, therefore you shall have no other gods but me. And furthermore, don’t make idols, because I know that having idols is the same as saying “gosh darnit” and pretending you’re not breaking the second (or third) commandment, which is about taking the Lord’s name in vain. And then there are some sub-clauses about jealousy and how long it takes God to forget.
At our study this past week, we were inevitably comparing the Old and New Testaments, and trying to find the divine line between judgement and mercy, and more-or-less deciding that it’s complicated. In the first half of Isaiah God fumes over the disobedience of these people, but in the second half of Isaiah we meet a loving God, offering comfort, and willing to make a highway in the desert of our lives. Likewise, in the first commandment, God warns about visiting the sins of the parents down the third and fourth generations, but then pledging a thousand generations of love if we can simply follow God’s ways.
Just now you’re thinking that this love feels conditional, and not the grace that we have some to expect from God, especially the God we find in Jesus. But let’s not forget that the first words Jesus said to his disciples was, “come, and follow me.” Following Jesus is conditional, insofar and many choose not to follow. Too hard, too complex, and too demanding—this need to love and serve others. Yet here we are, doing our best, trying to live with love and mercy, because Jesus invited us to do so.
So too with God. Being part of a covenant is conditional by definition, the party of the first part offering love, and the party of the second part offering devotion. Recall the old catechism, our chief aim as humans is to glorify God and enjoy God each day. So it need not be onerous. Acknowledging God as the source of all this is; praising God for the wonder of life and creation; following God through our decision to love our neighbours—all these constitute the first commandment. And then, of course, there’s the idol thing.
Idols, you see, are what we make them. Anything that tries to take the place of the God we love and serve can be an idol. In fact, even serving God can become an idol if we make serving into servitude, where we make God into some sort of harsh taskmaster like old Pharoah. So idols are what we make them and idols are everywhere. The market is an idol, made plain by the golden bull on Wall Street that everyone loves having a picture with. Our obsessions become idols, our cravings become idols, even the people we love can become idols if we forget that God loves them more.
So maybe it’s time for a little spring cleaning. Check here and there for idols, and then put them in the trash or maybe the recycling bin. Reread the covenants found in scripture: the God who redeems us and wants only our devotion and concern. And then take a walk—with Jesus, of course—through these Lenten days of pondering and reflecting, and meet God anew. Amen.
Marc Chagall, Scenes from the Bible, 1956, photo by Jean Louis Mazieres (Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0)
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Attentive God,
you have called us to be your holy people,
and to sing your praise.
Teach us to use our gifts for your glory,
and for strengthening the faith of your church.
Help us to persevere in practice and prayer,
that we may show your love to others,
and lead them closer to you.
Accept, O God,
the service of those who offer you praise
in the fellowship of this church.
May they serve you with glad hearts and dedicated lives;
that, by their service, your name will be glorified,
and the hearts of your people uplifted.
Acknowledge God,
the confession we make, having wronged others.
the prayers we make, for the sake of others.
the needs we have, making us like all others.
For those who are ill…hear our prayers.
For those who mourn…hear our prayers.
For those who have lost everything,
or enough to make it feel that way…hear our prayers.
For those in leadership…hear our prayers.
For those who teach, care, comfort, challenge,
support, console, or advocate…hear our prayers.
Find us among those we name,
as we pray for ourselves.
Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
HYMN: “Forth in your name, O Christ, we go”
Forth in your name, O Christ, we go, our daily labour to pursue, you, only you, resolved to know in all we think, or speak, or do.
The task your wisdom has assigned here let us cheerfully fulfil; in all our works your presence find, and prove your good and perfect will.
You may we set at our right hand, whose eyes our inmost secrets view, and labour on at your command and offer all our works to you.
Help us to bear your easy yoke, in every moment watch and pray, and still to things eternal look, and hasten to that glorious day.
Then with delight may we employ all that your bounteous grace has given, and run our earthly course with joy, and closely walk with you to heaven.
BLESSING
Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Amen.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23
God be with you till we meet again; loving counsels guide, uphold you, with a shepherd’s care enfold you; God be with you till we meet again.
Rembrandt, detail of Moses Smashing the Tablets of the Law, 1659, The Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.
