PLEASE NOTE:
CHURCH SERVICES RESUMED IN THE SANCTUARY.
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
A Service of the Word
September 19, 2021 - 10am
OPENING WORDS:
We open our hearts to the presence of God and worship together.
CALL TO WORSHIP:
Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you.
Happy are those who find delight in God’s law.
God is always nearer than our next breath.
We gather to become more aware of that presence.
Knowledge of God is a delight to the righteous.
They seek to grow in wisdom and understanding.
There is always more to discover than we know.
God is our teacher and helper and judge.
Put your trust in God as you prepare to serve.
Learn to be peaceable, gentle, and merciful.
We seek to do good and not harm all our days.
We open our hands and hearts to the poor and needy,
and we worship our God together.
OPENING HYMN: O Worship the King, All Glorious Above https://youtu.be/jAI5pWbjKQc
WELCOME
No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you're welcome here, by our church and our God.
OPENING PRAYER:
Gracious and Loving God, we thank you for this day and for this time together. We are grateful, O God, for you watch over us and supply us with all we need. We give you thanks for delightful sunny days and cool nights, for moments of laughter and peace, for all that makes our hearts bright with hope.
Guardian of all our days, and show us the way to prosper in life, not so much in things as in relationships that contribute to our wholeness and well-being. Thank you for meeting us here and helping us to deal with our selfish ambition, disorder, and conflicts. We submit ourselves to you for instruction. Help us to be honest with ourselves and with you, voicing our doubts as well as our faith, facing our hypocrisy, and celebrating all that is deeply genuine. Create in us a space for quiet listening and thoughtful meditation. It is in Jesus' Name that we gather and we pray. Amen..
CHILDREN'S TIME: "How Great Is Mom?"
PRAYERS:
Gracious God, revealed to us as we welcome children in the name of Jesus, grant us childlike openness and honesty to explore your word. Teach us as Jesus taught the disciples that we may not so much aspire to greatness as the world defines it but to greatness as you define it with faithfulness, and compassionate service.
We need your blessings, we need your help, O God. We pray for our world in need, for those who struggle with health and wholeness, for those who seek the basics of life, for food and shelter, for those who find themselves having to dig their way out of trouble or struggling to recover.
We pray for peace: Peace in our hearts, in our communities, throughout our nation and our world. We pray for the leaders of our nation, and the leaders of the world that they may lead us in ways of peace and prosperity for the good of all.
We pray for the hungry and the homeless, for the addicted, abused, confused, and afraid. We pray for the caretakers, the healers and rescuers, grace them, O God, with your strength and peace.
We pray for ourselves, each one. Help us and heal us in all our sore and broken places. Be with our families, our dear friends, our church, and the churches throughout our world who proclaim your welcoming love, grace and acceptance. We pray for our community, and the many around us in need of the help that only you can provide, our God of all creation.
We remember, Dear Lord, in spoken prayer and in silence those we know to be especially in need of your healing touch. Bless those on our prayer list, and those whose concerns we hold in our hearts. We ask these things in Jesus' Name who taught us to pray saying, "Our Father who art in heaven...."
SCRIPTURE LESSONS:
- Proverbs 31.10-31; Psalm 1; James 3.13–14.3, 7-8a; Mark 9.30-37
SERMON: "How's Your Great Self?"
When I read scripture, I tend to particularly like the passages that I can picture in my mind, those that draw me in so that I can see them as if watching a movie or a play. I also like to imagine the actual conversations, because more often than not, we only get a few snippets of dialogue. It brings everything to life. The gospel lesson we just heard was like that, it drew me in. Yet trying to imagine the actual dialogue as Jesus and the 12 walked along that Galilean road puzzled me as even it made me smile a bit.
Clear enough is the fact that Jesus gets into to some heavy teaching, about betrayal, his death, and that he'd rise again after three days. One would think that line of dialogue would be engaging. It's not. The disciples didn't have a clue what he was going on about, nor did they ask him. Instead, they argued among themselves.
Jesus, of course, noticed it, and asked them what they were going on about as they made their way. Then we read, "but they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest."
Seriously? Over the years, I've been in a lot of discussions with friends, but who's the greatest was never a topic. As a young child, I've been in discussions about who's the fastest, or strongest, or who can even hold his breath the longest, but "the greatest?" I wonder what the criteria was, especially in a first century context? Was it who's got the biggest or best boat? Or nicest house? Was it who's the strongest or who's the smartest? What, exactly, does it mean to be great?
Are you great? And if so, how? What are the characteristics that enable ourselves, or others to think us great?
There are the characteristics that Proverbs offers, although "great" isn't used. Instead, it's in praise of a "capable" wife. In today's reality, we can replace "wife" with mate or partner, for such duties aren't confined to a woman's role. And that one is apparently not just capable, but really great. She's up before dawn to provide food for her household. She's a business lady, and buys a field and plants a vineyard. She apparently, with distaff and spindle in hand, makes her own cloth and then tailors clothes for her kids. She also makes linen garments and sells them; she supplies the merchant with sashes. And she totally manages the household. Plus, she carries herself well, "Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come." And she's wise and kind, "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." She even "Opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy."
That one is never idle and wonderfully skilled in everything. Most of all, she "fears the Lord" -- is a faithful believer. The Psalmist sums it up with, "Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all." I think it's fair to call that one "great."
But really, I'm pretty certain I don't know a woman -- or man -- who is quite all that.
We don't tend to use "great" much when speaking about another, except perhaps in a nebulous umbrella term when describing a person to someone who doesn't know him or her. For example, the other day I had a nice conversation with Ron, who's wonderfully well in Florida. He's in love and sounds like a smitten teenager. "So what is she like?" I asked. "Oh, she's great..." But it wasn't just left at that. "Genuine," "funny," "sweet," even a "great dancer" spelled out his particular read on greatness.
When it comes to a person, how do you define great? Are you great?
With our Bible study crowd, James proved very popular. Not because he paints a good picture or tells a good story, but because of his clear and sound advice. We get some of that which works well even within the context of this greatness. James has already addressed one problem of bad mouthing others, of intemperate speech. Now he goes after another: arrogance. He stresses “gentleness born of wisdom” versus bitter envy, selfish ambition. And he adds “But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth.” And the lesson continues. He adds, don’t be a braggart or a liar. Don’t let your cravings make war with your spirit. Don’t covet. Don’t engage the other in bitter conflicts and disputes.
As for the good, or even great, James urges his listeners/readers to focus on gentleness,, moderation, courtesy and humility, and most of all to draw near to God, for then God will draw near to them. Those things clearly make us great.
God, I do think, wants us to be great. But God's notion of greatness is not where we would tend to first go with our considerations. Instead of power or riches, God focuses on putting others first, on welcoming others in Jesus' name, on kindness and humility. So how's your great self? Are you great? Let's all strive to be great together, and to draw near to our God, so we may also be greatly blessed.
HYMN OF RESPONSE: Be Thou My Vision https://youtu.be/ihJAJA4ibEs
BENEDICTION:
May our God bless you with a new vision of greatness that shines in grace. May God bless you with compassion and hope, with loving kindness and healing. May God bless you with joy and peace in this day and always. Amen and amen.
