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Riverhead Clergy Council LENTEN SERVICES
March 22 First Congregational Church
The Rev. Janet Wright
March 29 St. John's Ukrainian (TBD)
The Rev. Dr. Sean Murray
Palm Sunday April 2: First Congregational Church
10:00 AM (Meet in front of church for special procession with donkeys, distribution of palms and prayer)
Easter Sunday April 9
Grangebel Park 7:00 AM
First Congregational Church 10:00 AM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88517704747?pwd=bmJZenJNUFlHK2I1eHl4dHFmbmRsdz09
Meeting ID: 885 1770 4747
Password: 7272621
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kFRvvORoU
Fourth Sunday in Lent
A Service of the Word
March 19, 2023 10am
OPENING WORDS:
We open our hearts to the presence of God and worship together.
PRELUDE: Amazing Grace arr. Webber
Once the music begins, we ask that you would please maintain respectful silence.
*CHORAL INTROIT:
We are here this day to share God's love.
We have come with burdens and cares,
For within this place, we are bound as one
In this fellowship we share.
*CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: God summons us to wake up and see.
Light has come to lead us to all that is good.
Many: Our eyes have been opened to God’s goodness.
We seek to live as children of light.
One: God sees beyond our outer appearance.
God knows the intent of our hearts.
Many: We are here to find out what is pleasing to God.
We want to know is right and true.
One: God listens to all who worship sincerely.
Praise God with openness and obedience.
Many: We seek to know and follow God’s will.
This is a day to do the works of God.
*HYMN: Be Still, My Soul No. 488
https://youtu.be/kqKVFYD8Obc
WELCOME
PRAYER OF INVOCATION
Holy God, we sense your presence in our lives. Like a shepherd, you watch over us and provide abundantly. You lead us in right paths when we are tempted to go astray. You refresh us with living water that overflows with your generosity. Let your light shine on us now to reveal truth we have not seen and open our eyes to possibilities we may not have realized. May we be receptive to prayer.
PASSING OF THE PEACE
ANNOUNCEMENTS, CELEBRATIONS AND CONCERNS
Midweek Prayer Services: Each Wednesday in Lent, the Riverhead Clergy Council offers a prayer service at 7:00 pm. The following is our schedule:
March 22 First CCR
March 29 St. John’s Ukrainian (TBD)
Joint Board Meeting: The Deacons and Trustees are scheduled to meet after church next Sunday, March 26.
A TIME OF PRAYER:
❖ Pastoral Prayer
God of mercy, whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways, thank you for reaching out to support and encourage us even when we have not asked. Your presence is transforming and enable us to better appreciate your provision and walk in your ways.Anointed One, your love comes peaceably into our lives if we will but let it. We are so fixated on the gold standard, the familiar, and the safe choice that we often lose sight of what you are raising up right in our very midst. Enliven us with your Spirit this day so that we might get a glimpse of your peace. Take what we might imagine as too small for your kingdom and use it to open the world to your overflowing abundance and provision for all that you have created...
❖ Silent Prayer
❖ 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 forgiveus our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not
into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, now and forever. Amen.
MISSION MOMENT: One Great Hour of Sharing
OFFERING & OFFERTORY: O Sacred Head, Now wounded McDonald
*DOXOLOGY AND BLESSING OF GIFTS:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above you heavenly host:
Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS:
❖ 1 Samuel 16:1-13 OT Page 240
❖ Psalms 23 Hymnal Page 633
❖ Ephesians 5:8-14 NT Page 172
❖ John 9:1-41 NT Page 89
SERMON “That Took Some Doing”
Once I had read through the lessons for this week, specifically the first about the anointing of David as future king, and the long gospel reading which you just heard, the word that came to me is “Well, that took some doing.”
As I thought about them, I realized I do get to wondering why some of the workings of God just seem to take much longer than I think they should. Perhaps accelerated by the living in the 21st century with microwaves and quick internet connections, we get accustomed to getting things done sooner rather than later, and when something might take a while, we look for short cuts like the pressure cooker for tougher meats that could take a very long time.
And so, patience is one of the lessons I walked away with, but then with the emphasis on sight so clearly prominent in the lessons, I also found that it might also be that I just don’t see things the way that God sees them. We tend to focus on the results and when doing so, we can skip over the lessons nestled in the process.
The big lesson of our first reading is clearly found in the process. Of course, we think, it would have been easier if God had arranged Samuel’s visit to be at dinnertime when the entire clan of Jesse was sitting around the table. Samuel could have just had a look and then discerned that the one who was called was David. Instead, we have the odd parade of the boys.
The big lesson comes early: “When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord's anointed is now before the LORD.’ 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.’"The Lord looks on the heart is a great aphorism, and it’s one that we teach our children as our parents taught us – “don’t judge a book by its cover.” But so often we do. And even beyond the
banality of this aphorism there is another important lesson buried in the account: Strive to see with the eyes of faith. When the pickings get slim, we might choose to go with a lesser option rather than wait things out. Rather than be more patient, we take what readily apparent. When the last of the sons walked before Samuel, Samuel might have thought, “Okay, so it’s one of these guys I overlooked.” But instead, Samuel looks to another option, and one not yet visible. Sometimes
the message to us, too, is a little more patience, a little more seeking. Such perhaps lends itself most easily to those who seek a place to move to, or even a life partner, but such can also be the case for choosing a doctor or a good course of action for any thorny problem. Of course, in the case of Samuel, it really helped that he had God’s voice in his ear, and that, too, gives us a lesson of striving to hear the voice of God.The lessons of sight are, of course, most visible in the Gospel account of the blind man. And thebig takeaways from the first reading are again laid out, but differently.When it come to the healing itself, we think, “Clearly there were more stream-lined ways of doing things here.” An instant healing touch certainly didn’t seem to be beyond the reach of Jesus. But there’s the mud cake, and then the sending, and then the return. Now for a sighted person, the instruction to “Go wash in the pool of Siloam” might not seem so difficult, but the blind man was going to have to make an effort in his own healing, and that is only if he believes the guy who put the mud in his eyes really knew what he was doing. Lo and behold, the blind man takes the instruction on faith and makes the effort to find his way.
Plus, he returns. And later when the Pharisees don’t get the answer they seek and drive away the now-seeing former blind man, Jesus seeks him out. That, of course, leads to the big profession of faith: “Lord, I believe.”
As for the other lessons buried in the account, that of the neighbors and of the Pharisees, one biggie is: The way we see the problem is the problem. Despite clear evidence, the neighbors couldn’t make sense of the healing and didn’t allow themselves to believe the man. As the saying goes, There are none so blind as those who will not see. The neighbors weren’t able to believe in miracles, to believe in healing, to believe in the prophet called Jesus in their town.Such was true too for the Pharisees, but their lack of vision was also tied to prejudice and a warped sense of the Sabbath. With their comment of "You were born entirely in sins, and are
you trying to teach us?" their prejudice is clear with regard to understanding of blindness and sin.
Yet their prejudice is also against Jesus. Jesus was an outsider, not a Pharisee or a priest, not one within their approved circle of religious leaders, and this outsider even had the audacity to heal on the Sabbath. Of course, knowing what we know, seeing as we see, it’s easy to discern how ridiculous their assessment of things was.
As for us, and our takeaways, I hope there was something in all the doing that strikes home for you. If we allow ourselves to take in God's leading, we stand a chance of overcoming our anger, our fear, or prejudice in the process, however long it may seem. We stand a chance to see things in a right and new light. This can mean seeing a relationship, a challenge or opportunity, a project, or even seeing ourselves in a new light. God reminds us that no matter the task, the person, the situation or the befuddlement, Jesus and the eyes of faith can help us see things differently enough to work towards a holy resolution of putting things right with God's help, of
seeing with the heart, and truly doing what is pleasing to the Lord. It may take some doing, but even the process can be filled with important lessons in the life of faith.
*HYMN: Not with the Naked Not with Human Sense
https://hymnary.org/media/fetch/97335/hymnary/audio/WAR2003/417.mid
1 Not with naked eye,
not with human sense:
through the eye of faith
observe omnipotence.
2 God is always near,
but is never seen:
Source of heaven and earth
and all that lies between.
3 Children learn of God
trusting what they feel;
touching, tasting, seeking,
finding what is real.
4 Thomas saw the Christ
breaking earth's routine;
blessed are those who trust
the Holy One unseen.
5 Not with crafted scope,
not with crystal lens:
vision of the Christ
begins where seeing ends.
*BENEDICTION
CHORAL BENEDICTION:
May the light of God shine on us today.
May the light of God shine on us today.
May it show us where to travel,
Lead us back if we should stray.
May the light of God shine on us today.
POSTLUDE: The Heavens Declare Marcello
