ORDER OF SERVICE FOR SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2022
SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER / ASIAN HERITAGE MONTH 4 / RURAL LIFE SUNDAY
Due to copyright limitations, we are unable to print the words to 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 to one of your favourite hymns and listen for God’s voice. Those who have internet may find the songs on YouTube.
Parts of this worship service are taken from The United Church of Canada/L’ Église Unite Du Canada 2015, 2016 Recognizing That Food Is Sacred: Seed Service.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You’ll find what you need to furnish it – memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey.
~Tad Williams
BEFORE WE WORSHIP, WE REFLECT…
Into the midst of our anxiety and alarm we are offered a vision of a glorious future filled with promise—the promise that God will make a home with us. This is a promise of an ultimate future home—a New Jerusalem!—but also a promise of God’s daily home-making presence in the hearts of all who believe. Paul has a vision of a cry for help from Macedonia, and his beloved church at Philippi is founded in the home and household of Lydia. In Revelation, John, turning from the lake of fire, is carried up in a vision and sees the New Jerusalem coming down, centered on the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. But no longer is there separation from God, weeping, or mourning, but now a restored creation where God and God’s people are at home together. Jesus promises that though he is going away, he will come to his disciples in the power of an advocate, the Holy Spirit, and that both he and the Father will make their home in all who believe. The gathering of the faithful assembly to receive Christ’s word and sacrament is a foretaste of that New Jerusalem, where God will finally and ultimately be at home with us, even as the Holy Trinity makes a home now in the hearts of all who believe. Into the anxieties and uncertainties of our everyday life we are offered both a vision of a glorious future when God will be at home with us and we will be at home with God, and a living foretaste of that same future: “We will come to them and make our home with them. . . . Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:23b, 27a).
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
We acknowledge that we gather to worship on Treaty 1 territory, the traditional gathering place of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene people and the traditional homeland of the Métis people.
Every time we acknowledge this truth, we have an invitation and an opportunity to reflect on what we do and what we can do to make Manitoba a better place for everyone who lives here.
CALL TO WORSHIP
Taken from the earth… like lumps of clay.
Made from the soil… like lumps of clay.
Moulded and fashioned… like lumps of clay.
Worked and re-worked… like lumps of clay.
People of God, look around you! Look and see what God has made—fellow earth creatures…
creations of beauty!
The birds of the air, the fish of the sea…
creations of joy!
Every star, every planet, every atom, every quark…
creations of love!
As part of this love-given, joy-filled, beautiful creation, let us give thanks to the Potter who gave us life and form—
Alleluia. Alleluia! ALLELUIA!
CHILDREN’S SONG: VU 87 I Am The Light Of The World
CENTERING PRAYER
Creating God, provide us with all that we need to grow into who you have created us to be: As the womb of the earth nourishes seeds, may we be nourished by this gathered community and the assurance of your holy presence. As the sun provides energy, leading seeds to transformation, may we find the courage to embrace new life through the example of Jesus. As water refreshes and replenishes growing seedlings, may we be restored by the movement of the spirit. In times of drought, when we cannot feel your warmth or taste your goodness, protect us from harmful attitudes and actions that may secure our well-being at the cost of others, and lead us again to abundant life. Amen.
A NEW CREED
We are not alone; we live in God’s world.
We believe in God: who has created and is creating, who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the Church: to celebrate God’s presence, to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.
CHILDREN’S CHAT
Think about your kitchen. What items do you have in your kitchen that help you cook? In my kitchen I have a can opener. If I want to make myself a bowl of soup, I need to be able to open the can to get to the soup! I also have a good bread knife. Have you ever tried to cut bread with a dull knife? It isn’t pretty. And the pot scrubber! Where would we be without the pot scrubber!
All these items help us to do something. Jesus tells the disciples that he will send a helper to them, the advocate, to help them love others like Jesus does. The Holy spirit helps us to love even those people who are difficult to love. Sometimes, we are those people!
Jesus knows that we need help to love others well, to forgive others who have wronged us, to ask for forgiveness when we have hurt someone with our words and actions. That is why Jesus gives us the power of the Holy Spirit to do what God wants us to do, because it can be hard work.
Thank you, Jesus, for your love, forgiveness, and the strength of the Spirit to help us make this world a more loving place. Amen.
Nutrition Program in Somalia Helps Save Lives
Somalia is going through its worst drought in 40 years.
Hodan has three children. Her husband works as a charcoal burner and is the family breadwinner. He works hard but the $3‒$5 he makes each day just isn’t enough. Eight months ago the family had a farm. But all their livestock died during a devastating drought, and they had no choice but to leave their home to try to find help.
In Somalia, one in seven children die before the age of five. Therapeutic feeding centres dot the country, but they are overwhelmed. The country is going through its worst drought in 40 years, and more than half a million farmers and herders have lost their crops and animals. Humanitarian agencies say they have less than 3 percent of the money they need to help.
That’s why for the last three years, in partnership with Development and Peace‒Caritas Canada and Canadian Foodgrains Bank, your generosity through Mission & Service has been supporting a nutrition program in the Gedo region of Somalia. There, families receive nutrition education, supplements, and treatment for malnutrition in healthcare facilities.
Hodan’s son Suheyb was badly malnourished when she brought him to the health facility for care. She had already tried everything she could on her own and he wasn’t getting better. For just over a month, Suheyb received treatment. In the end, he got better.
“I never imagined that my child would recover,” says Hodan. “I am very happy to see my child’s health improve. I will continue to give him his therapeutic food regularly.”
Even though there’s enough food to feed everyone on the planet, conflict, climate change, disasters, and unjust systems that strip people of their resources mean that each of us has to be strongly committed to achieve the goal of a world without hunger. Please continue to provide immediate support and advocate for long-term solutions. Together, we can build a better world. Thank you.
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Calm us now, O Lord, into a quietness that heals and listens. Open wounded hearts to the balm of your Word. Speak to us in clear tones so that we might feel our spirits leap for joy and skip with hope as your resurrection witnesses. Amen.
Readings and Psalm
First Reading: Acts 16:9-15
A vision compels Paul to move his ministry into Greece. There he meets Lydia, an important person in the business community, whose heart has been opened by God to receive the gospel. Her conversion and baptism provide the impetus for the founding of the church at Philippi.
9During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
11We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, 12and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. 13On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. 14A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. 15When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.
Psalm 67
R: Let the nations be glad and sing for joy. (Ps. 67:4)
1May God be merciful to us and bless us; may the light of God’s face shine upon us.
2Let your way be known upon earth, your saving health among all nations.
3Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
4Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity and guide all the nations on earth. R
5Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
6The earth has brought forth its increase; God, our own God, has blessed us.
7May God give us blessing, and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe. R
Second Reading: Revelation 21:10, 22–22:5
John’s vision of a new Jerusalem coming out of heaven provides continuity with God’s past actions. Yet in this new city, God’s presence replaces the temple, and the glory of God and the Lamb supplants sun and moon.
10And in the spirit carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
22I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
22:1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; 4they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Gospel: John 14:23-29
As Jesus talks of returning to the Father, he promises to send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who will teach Jesus’ followers and remind them of all that Jesus taught. Even more, those in whom God makes a home will experience a peace that overcomes fear.
23Jesus answered “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
25“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. 28You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. 29And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.”
HYMN: WOV 649 I Want To Walk As A Child Of The Light
SERMON
It’s a common occurrence. All flesh being equal, knowing that eventually it must die, the human being prepares to leave this world and provide for those still in it by writing a will. The instructions of the will are carried out by an executor. This is not always the most pleasant of tasks, depending upon the family situation.
No matter how well a person arranges their belongings to be divided among the living after they are dead, inevitably someone will be dissatisfied. Grandma’s handmade quilt will go to the despised youngest daughter, father’s tools to the oldest son, and in front of the executor’s eyes, amidst reminders of who is in charge and what the will states, purgatory suddenly becomes a reality! Being the executor of a will is not always a way to win friends and influence relatives.
For the last several Sundays in Easter we have been looking at the farewell speeches of Jesus to his disciples as he prepares to face Golgotha. Yet Jesus speaks as if the resurrection has already occurred, for the promise given is in the present tense.
As I read this passage it sounds to me to be almost a verbal will. Jesus acts as his own executor. The verbal source of this ‘will’ is clearly stated, “The word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.” Let there be no mistake about the authority of what the disciples are about to hear.
Interestingly enough, what the Father leaves to the disciples, through Jesus, is the Holy Spirit and peace — shalom. There is no favouritism here. Everyone receives the same gift. It is a very special gift, better than anything the world can give.
‘But why give it to us now, Jesus? After all, you are not dead.’
‘I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.’
‘This all sounds very nice and special, Jesus, but what’s the catch. We are not used to such generosity.’
‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.’
‘Uh huh. Just as we suspected. It’s the ‘love thing’ again. You’re really big on that, aren’t you Jesus? So, what are you saying–we have to love you in order to get the goods? No love, no Spirit, no peace?’
Why is it that human beings are so conditioned to assume that they must ‘perform’ in order to receive grace? Jesus is not saying ‘no love, no deal’. Rather, Jesus is stating the faith response. Out of our love for God, we obey God.
But let us look more closely at the gifts Jesus has ‘willed’ to us. Who is this Paraclete, this Advocate. The Spirit is the one who reminds us of Jesus words so that we have hope and forgiveness. The Spirit is the one who interprets our prayers and cries of pain to God and affirms us that God does listen. The Spirit is the One who continues to create and sustain the Church. Not the institution, but the body of Christ, and who feeds it with faith and courage to take on the hopelessness, faithlessness and despair of the world.
In the summer of 1983, in Ottawa, a Christian festival was held. Many denominational leaders were sceptical as to its success, but as is often the case with human beings, they forgot that nothing is impossible for God. The most memorable moment of that festival, for me, was the evening candlelight communion service. I don’t know how many thousands of people were there, but they represented every Christian denomination. Chills ran through me as we sang Amazing Grace in four-part harmony, thousands strong, to the flickering light of the candles. At that moment I understood what ‘unity in the Spirit’ meant, and the powerful feeling of comfort and hope that the Spirit can give. All things are possible for God.
And what of this peace that Jesus speaks of? I believe it is the peace of heart, mind and soul that flows from this unity of Spirit. We do not walk this earth alone, nor do we suffer alone. It is through the love of one human being for another, and many for one, that healing and peace are given. We need one another to affirm each other that we are loved, baptized, forgiven and cherished children of God. This peace is what gives us the courage to face death, knowing that life on this earth is not all there is.
Years ago I had a serious accident with my car. As my friend and I were heading for the ditch at high speed, I suddenly felt very calm. While the experience lasted only an instant, in that instant I knew that my friend and I would not die. Yet I also knew that even if we did die, we would be all right. I have never experienced a moment such as that, since. I realize it as my moment of peace that passed all understanding. I hold on to that moment in times of fear and doubt. The presence of God at that moment was so strong and yet so calming, that I faced possible death with peace. Such peace the world cannot offer.
Where the love of Christ is lived out, there the presence of Christ is. Often, as Christians, we take both the love and the presence for granted. It is not until the Spirit leads us into the world to be the light in the world that we realize the power of Christ’s love. It transforms people. It overcomes despair and hopelessness. It gives strength and courage in suffering. The world cannot offer this.
God lives in us and among us. We are blessed with shalom. Shalom is more than peace of mind, it embraces the relationship of all creation to God and each other. This is what Jesus tells the disciples to keep aware of so that when it is given, they will recognize it and believe. So too, we who live in this world see the hand of God where others see only fate or coincidence.
In the unity of the Spirit we say to each other, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.’ Love lives here. Christ is present.
The peace of Christ be with you. Amen.
HYMN OF THE MONTH: MV 169 When Hands Reach Out Beyond Divides
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Creator, conspire with us to create a world where all have access to nutritious and sustainable food sources, and none live with scarcity or food insecurity. Redeemer, save us from oppressive and unjust systems. Mobilize us to be a part of a world response that works in partnership with those of good will to foster equitable resource sharing. Sustainer, cultivate our resilience and expand our imaginations, so that we might continually find new ways to answer the call to end hunger— until all may flourish. (written by Alydia Smith)
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
God of new life, open your church to the unexpected ways your Spirit is at work. Guide bishops, pastors, deacons, and lay leaders in their visioning, partnership, and planning. Surround us with your peace. God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Give a vision of increase and abundant harvest for farmers, laborers, and gardeners who are beginning their growing season. Join their efforts with the goodness of creation to feed all living things. God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Shine your light of wisdom and peace among nations. When those in power seek to assert dominance over others, confound their ways and make them yield to your humble authority. God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Give safe haven to those who seek healing, liberation, or peace. Create places filled with hospitality where hurting people find your loving presence and wholeness.
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Uphold the work of ministries and organizations in our communities who assist people experiencing homelessness, citizens returning from prison, and all marginalized people. Accomplish your will through their efforts.
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Assemble your people at rivers, streams, and fonts, where we remember our baptism and welcome others into the communion of saints. Gather us with those who have died when we meet together at your river of life.
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We lift up before you the people of Ukraine, Russia, the Indigenous peoples of Canada, the family of Lawrence Petroni, Robert Codette & family, Bill and Terry Howie, Evie and Brian Watt, Tracy Skoglund, Brooke Alexiuk, Joan, Dwayne, Debbie H., Wendy Bachinsky, Jean Filbert, Audrey and Larry McCrady, farmers, all who have and are recovering from Covid.
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
In your mercy, O God, respond to these prayers, and renew us by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
SENDING SONG: VU 333 Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
BENEDICTION
Go, appreciating the beauty and promise of all things sacred. Go, knowing that we cannot hold on to the glimpses of beauty that we experience. Go, thankful for the gifts such beauty brings.
And may the deep nourishing soil of God’s grace, the radiant warmth of Christ’s love, and the restoring power of the Spirit be with us all, as we spread God’s glory, wherever we are planted. Amen.