MORRIS-ROSENFELD ECUMENICAL SHARED MINISTRY

ORDER OF SERVICE FOR SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2024

SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Due to copyright limitations, we are unable to print the words to many of the songs.  However, our musicians have chosen music to fit the scriptures.  We invite you to look up the words in your worship book and ponder them.  If you do not have a worship book, ponder the words of one of your favourite hymns and listen for God’s voice. Those who have the internet may find the songs on YouTube.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Affliction brings out graces that cannot be seen in a time of health. It is the treading of the grapes that brings out the sweet juices of the vine; so it is affliction that draws forth submission, weanedness from the world, and complete rest in God. Use afflictions while you have them.

– Robert Murray McCheyne

Before we worship, we reflect…

The psalmist describes God’s healing transformation in their life as being like a dramatic outfit change: “You have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy” (Psalm 30:11). Kathleen Norris wrote an article for the New York Times Magazine on the spiritual significance of laundry and the everyday miracle of making something dirty become clean. In response to the article, she received a number of memorable letters, one from an Israeli woman who remembered the government’s warning not to hang clothes outside during the Gulf War, as a gas attack could pollute them. The woman wrote that she had defied the warnings and hung her infant child’s clothing outdoors as an intentional practice and sign of hope in the face of violence and fear.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We acknowledge we gather and worship on Treaty 1 Territory, the original lands of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Anishininew, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.

Dear Loving Lord, Creator of all, you created us all in your own image, one image – many colours, one image – many cultures.  You made us come together like a rainbow, separate parts but coming together in one creation.  Help us to see the beauty you have created in each and every one of us.

Dear Loving Lord, we are your creation, hear the cries of your people.  You gave us ears to

hear and eyes to see, open our eyes to what you want us to see, help us always to look to you to see the wisdom of your ways.  In the name of your dear son, Jesus Christ.  Amen.[1]

CALL TO WORSHIP

The steadfast love of God never ceases.
God’s mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness, O God.
Weeping may linger for the night,
but joy comes with the morning,
for you hear us when we cry.
So we will praise you and will not be silent.
Sing praises, O you faithful ones,
and give thanks to God’s holy name.

GATHERING SONG:  Voices United #220  Praise To The Lord, The Almighty

CENTERING PRAYER

Merciful God, you listen to all our prayers—cries of joy and cries for help, shouts of frustration and speechless awe, wordless weeping and lengthy lament.  Some of us wait decades for your response;
others sense it immediately.  May we come to know your presence, even when you seem absent, and seek your unexpected responses.  Embolden us to keep praying through dismay and disappointment,
for the Holy Spirit speaks for us when we are unable to pray. Amen.

CANADIAN LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF:  Sudan | Emergency assistance to refugees

Canadian Lutheran World Relief is responding to the violence in Sudan by supporting families who have crossed the border into Chad.

In mid-April, fighting began between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Thousands of people were trapped in their homes and hundreds killed. At least 30,000 people have crossed the border into Chad seeking refuge in the first month, with more arriving every day. Initial assessments found Sudanese refugees in Chad have no access or limited access to food, basic household supplies and shelter. There are also growing shortages of sanitation, water, and hygiene facilities. Safeguarding risks have also been identified.

With funding from Global Affairs Canada, Humanitarian Coalition and Manitoba Council for International Cooperation (MCIC), CLWR is responding by providing emergency assistance to almost 3000 people, plus constructing emergency latrines, handwashing facilities and showers, and rehabilitating damaged community water sources, benefitting over 11,000 people. Water treatment products are also being distributed to ensure access to potable water.

CLWR’s local partners, Lutheran World Federation Chad, are prioritizing the most vulnerable, including children, people with disabilities, the elderly, and single mothers. 588 families are receiving cash support to allow purchase of shelter and critical household supplies.

Join us in prayer for our partners in LWF Chad as they respond, and in particular for all those who have been affected by this crisis.

CHILDREN’S CHAT

     Have you ever felt as if the grownups in your life are ignoring you?  Not listening to you?  Not taking what you have to say seriously?  Well, as grown ups, as parents, I admit, sometimes we are guilty of not paying enough attention, or taking seriously, what our children have to say.  This is why asking for forgiveness from our children is important, because we do not mean to deliberately ignore them.

In today’s bible reading, a woman is ignored by other adults.  Even Jesus doesn’t see her because she blended in with the crowd who wanted to get close to Jesus.  It is when Jesus feels God’s power leave him because the woman touched his clothes, that Jesus stops everything to find the person who touched him.  He wasn’t angry, he sincerely wanted to see the person whom he had healed.  She was important to Jesus because she knew that he could heal her of her illness.  She had strong faith.  And, her faith in Jesus’ power did cure her.

This story reminds me that no matter how busy I get, no matter what life puts in my path, I need to always pay attention to the people around me so that I do not ignore someone who is in pain and who needs a listening ear, a hug, maybe even a prayer.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Holy, Holy, Holy One, guide us by the Spirit of truth to hear the Word of life you speak, and to give all glory, honor, and praise to your threefold name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

READINGS AND PSALM

First Reading: Lamentations 3:22-33

The book of Lamentations is one of our most important sources of information about the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587 BCE. Though the people admit that God’s judgment was just, today’s reading declares a fervent trust that God will not leave them forever.

²²The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;
²³they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
²⁴“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
²⁵The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.
²⁶It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
²⁷It is good for one to bear the yoke in youth,
²⁸to sit alone in silence when the Lord has imposed it,
²⁹to put one’s mouth to the dust (there may yet be hope),
³⁰to give one’s cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults.
³¹For the Lord will not reject forever.
³²Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
³³for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone.

Psalm 30

¹I will exalt you, O Lord, because you have lifted me up and have not let my enemies triumph over me.  ²O Lord my God, I cried out to you, and you restored me to health. 

³You brought me up, O Lord, from the dead; you restored my life as I was going down to the grave.

⁴Sing praise to the Lord, all you faithful; give thanks in holy remembrance. 

⁵God’s wrath is short; God’s favor lasts a lifetime.  Weeping spends the night, but joy comes in the morning.  ⁶While I felt secure, I said, “I shall never be disturbed.

⁷You, Lord, with your favor, made me as strong as the mountains.” Then you hid your face, and I was filled with fear.

⁸I cried to you, O Lord; I pleaded with my Lord, saying,

⁹“What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit?  Will the dust praise you or declare your faithfulness?

¹⁰Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me; O Lord, be my helper.” 

¹¹You have turned my wailing into dancing; you have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.

¹²Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing; O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Paul encourages the Corinthians to honor their commitment to participate in the collection his churches are organizing for the Christians in Jerusalem. He presents Jesus as an example of selfless stewardship and reminds them that Christians have received abundantly so that they can share abundantly.

⁷Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.

⁸I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. ⁹For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. ¹⁰And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something—¹¹now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. ¹²For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. ¹³I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between ¹⁴your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. ¹⁵As it is written,
“The one who had much did not have too much,

and the one who had little did not have too little.”

Gospel: Mark 5:21-43

Jairus, a respected leader, begs Jesus to heal his daughter. A woman with a hemorrhage was considered ritually unclean and treated as an outcast. Both Jairus and the unnamed woman come to Jesus in faith, believing in his power to heal and bring life out of death.

²¹When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. ²²Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet ²³and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” ²⁴So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. ²⁵Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. ²⁶She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. ²⁷She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” ²⁹Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” ³¹And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” ³²He looked all around to see who had done it. ³³But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. ³⁴He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
³⁵While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” ³⁶But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” ³⁷He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. ³⁸When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” ⁴⁰And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” ⁴²And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. ⁴³He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

HYMN:  Voices United #288  Great Is Thy Faithfulness

SERMON – Rev. Paul Gehrs:  Assistant to the Bishop, Justice and Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, Evangelical Lutheran Church In Canada

The ELCIC acknowledges that its buildings and ministries, from coast to coast to coast, are on traditional territories of Indigenous Peoples.

The call to reconciliation and renewed relationships between Indigenous – non-Indigenous Peoples is a fundamental element of work for social and ecological justice in the Canadian context today. God is calling on the church to decolonize its life and work. At the heart of this work is building relationships with neighbours.

My name is Paul Gehrs. My pronouns are he/him, and I serve as Assistant to the Bishop for Justice and Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations at the national office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC).

On this Sunday June 30, I wish you a meaningful and restorative Canada Day. I hope the day offers you time for reflection on what it means to love your country, and what it means to be involved in God’s work of transforming neighbourhoods into communities of true justice, peace, caring, and love. I also wish you a blessed conclusion to Indigenous History Month and Pride Month, including a renewed awareness of the work to be done for truth, reconciliation, and healing in many aspects of Canadian life.

Early in life, one thing I was taught is that being a disciple means following Jesus on a journey. At first, this meant the disciples are the good-guys, and to be a good disciple I should be like the disciples in the Bible. As time went on, and I continued to encounter the stories in the Gospels, I learned that the disciples are far from perfect:

They fall asleep when they are asked to pray.

They try to keep some people away from Jesus (you know the list: children, women, gentiles, hungry crowds).

They fight over who is most important.

They ask the wrong questions and often don’t understand the answers.

They brag about their commitment and run away when they are scared.

When they encounter good news, they hide behind locked doors.

In contrast, Jesus often points to those who are marginalized as the ones who are the models of faith and discipleship.

Children, women, and gentiles,

The hungry, the hurting, and the unclean.

In today’s reading, the attention of Jesus is on a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for 12 years and on a 12-year-old girl who is sick to the point of death. Jesus is launched on a journey toward the ailing child by the desperate, persistent, rigorous pleas of her father. The long-suffering woman advocates for herself, by working her way through the crowd from behind Jesus and touching his clothes. Her journey is also desperate, persistent, and rigorous.

When Jesus stops to find out “who touched me,” the disciples say it is impossible to tell. They see only a crowd and no solution. But Jesus insists.  Knowing the identity of the one has been healed is important. The woman finds the courage to face Jesus and tell him the whole truth. Jesus says to her “your faith has made you well; go in peace….” The woman’s courage frees Jesus to continue his journey and keeps things moving forward for the girl who also needs help.

News arrives that the child has died. People begin to say “don’t bother Jesus anymore. There is no hope.” But Jesus continues his journey to the child. When Jesus says there is hope, people laugh. As you know, Jesus continues on, and raises the child from the dead. What a moment for the youth and her family.

On May 16, 2024, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) released a new logo and tagline. This logo and tagline are the result of broad consultation across the church and the development of a new vision statement. They say a lot about who the ELCIC is as a church today.

The new logo draws on several key visual elements, including:

– a dove and olive branch, symbolizing love, peace, hope, and the Holy Spirit;

– the cross, which is at the heart of our faith, embodying Christ, and forgiveness; and

– an open hand, representing God’s grace, welcoming, and openness.

Visually the logo comes together in a modern, contemporary design signifying energy and forward momentum.

Our new tagline – Living Out God’s Grace & Unconditional Love – engages us, reminding us of our call as a church and as individuals.

As a community of people, guided by our faith, we strive to embody grace and unconditional love in everything we do.

This simple, memorable statement reminds us of our commitment to embrace diversity, foster an environment that is inclusive, and to nurture the life-giving relationships that reflect the transformative power of grace and love.

With Living Out God’s Grace & Unconditional Love in mind, I offer you the following observations:

Jesus upheld the dignity of the woman and the girl. Even while on the important mission to heal the child of the leader of the synagogue, Jesus stopped and insisted on knowing the identity and the story of the woman. For the girl, Jesus ensures her dignity and privacy by going to her with a small delegation: the girl’s parents and only 3 disciples. This resurrection and healing are about the needs of this child; it is not a show for the crowds. We are called to offer dignity and respect for each person, their identity, and their story.

I can’t help but notice the disciples in this story keep saying “it can’t be done.” “We can’t tell who touched you.” “We can’t keep going now that someone died.” “We don’t have hope.” Sometimes, “it can’t be done” means we need to do something else. But sometimes “it can’t be done” means endorsing the status quo and letting ourselves off the hook for making needed changes.

As disciples, we are invited to join God’s mission to love, heal, and save the world. Rather than saying “it can’t be done…,” we are invited to ask:

Where are people being fed? Who needs to be fed?

Where are people being healed? Where is healing needed?

Where are people being welcomed? Who needs a place to belong?

A verse from the hymn “Now the Green Blade Rises” comes to mind:

When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,

your touch can call us back to life again,

fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been;

love is come again like wheat arising green.^[2]

Part of working for justice and peace in our particular contexts, is recognizing our own need for healing and transformation. When it comes to addressing my own grief, fear, anxiety, guilt, and pain, there are times when I need to pay more attention to Jesus coming to transform me, and times when I need to muster the courage, effort, and resolve to focus on the healing ways of Jesus; I need to continue the journey with energy and forward momentum.

Finally, I want to point out a story-telling detail. The woman was hemorrhaging for twelve years and the child was twelve years old. In a way, the woman and the girl lived parallel lives: the woman has suffered throughout the child’s life. The child had a caring father who would do almost anything to save his child. The woman, on her own to find a way of healing. Their lives are connected on this day by their need for Jesus and by the actions of Jesus.

Twelve is a number with meaning:

twelve tribes of Israel,

twelve gates to the Temple

twelve apostles,

twelve kinds of fruit on the tree of life in Revelation^[3]

…and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Let there be greening.

In the Jewish tradition, age 13 years old is a common time bat mitzvah and bar mitzvah. It is the age at which one is recognized as an adult. So this “little girl” is at the very precipice of being an adult woman.

On Pentecost, the Spirit liberated the disciples from hiding behind locked doors and sent them into the streets as witnesses to God’s love. Empowered by the Spirit, they found ways to communicate, to feed, to heal, and to love. They were sent to all the world.

As a community of people, guided by our faith, we strive to embody grace and unconditional love in everything we do. The Holy Spirit comes also to us: to liberate us from our fears, to send us into the places God needs us to be, and to support us in living out God’s grace & unconditional love.

May God bless you on this journey. Amen.

HYMN:  Voices United #286  If You Will Trust In God To Guide You

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION

One in the communion of saints and in the power of the Holy Spirit, we join our voices in prayer.

God of abundance, you fill your church with a multitude of gifts. Sustain those among us who feel they are not valued. Open our hearts to the wondrous breadth of all who call upon your name. In your mercy,

hear our prayer.

God of creation, your goodness abounds. Multiply the fruits of the earth and rescue it from our wastefulness. In your mercy,

hear our prayer.

God of justice, you reign in steadfast love. Bring peace between nations ravaged by war or strife and illumine paths of justice and freedom for those who lead them. In your mercy,

hear our prayer.

God of compassion, your touch brings healing and your word revives us for life. Hear our prayers for all who are in need, and for doctors, nurses, and health care workers who provide care. Turn wailing into dancing and weeping into joy. In your mercy,

hear our prayer.

God of community, you gather us at your table of plenty. Where there is hunger among us, open our hands. Where we are indifferent to the needs of others, open our hearts. In your mercy,

hear our prayer.

God of the ages, great is your faithfulness. We remember in thanksgiving our beloved dead who with all the saints sing without ceasing in your realm of glory. In your mercy,

hear our prayer.

Holy God, holy and merciful: into your outstretched arms we commend ourselves and all for whom we pray, trusting in the one who is the way, the truth, and the life, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

SENDING SONG:  Voices United #326  O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing

BENEDICTION

The blessing of God, who provides for us, feeds us, and journeys with us, be upon you now and forever.

Amen.

 

Copyright © 2016 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #SAS011617.

© 2011 The United Church of Canada/L’Église Unie du Canada. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/byncsa/2.5/ca.

[1]Rev’d Robyn Davis, NATSIAC Life Member, Diocese of Bendigo, https://www.abmission.org/resources/prayers-for-reconciliation/

[2]Text: John MacLeod Campbell Crum, music: French Carol, Evangelical Lutheran Worship #379.

[3] Revelation 22