MORRIS-ROSENFELD ECUMENICAL SHARED MINISTRY
ORDER OF SERVICE FOR SUNDAY, MAY 5, 2024
SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER/RURAL LIFE SUNDAY/MENTAL HEALTH SUNDAY/
ASIAN HERITAGE MONTH 1
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.
Parts of this service are taken from Recognizing That Food Is Sacred: Seed Service; written by Alydia Smith, Program Coordinator, Worship, Music, and Spirituality, the General Council Office, The United Church of Canada.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“People in the country wave because it’s important to them that they wave. The response doesn’t alter what they feel they should do. Apart from that, they generally don’t overthink things. They have too much to do.”
― Donna Goddard, Purnima
BEFORE WE WORSHIP, WE REFLECT…
Today’s readings inspire and compel us to love one another and see one another as God does. As the Holy Spirit falls on those outside the inner circle of the circumcised, Peter asks how the water of baptism can be withheld. In 1 John we hear that those who love the parent love the child. Jesus says followers are no longer servants but friends. So whether they are a stranger with different customs and practices, our family member, or closest friend, we are called today with the challenge and opportunity to love them. The promise is that this unconditional love that comes first from our Creator and Parent, expressed through the person of Jesus and through the Spirit, is splashed all over us, and will make our joy complete.
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.
Creator God, from you every family in heaven and earth takes its name. You have rooted and grounded us in your covenant love, and empowered us by your Spirit to speak the truth in love, and to walk in your way towards justice and wholeness. Mercifully grant that your people, journeying together in partnership, may be strengthened and guided to help one another to grow into the full stature of Christ, who is our light and our life. Amen.
CALL TO WORSHIP
Taken from the earth… like lumps of clay.
Made from the soil… like lumps of clay.
Molded 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![1]
GATHERING SONG: With One Voice #664 A New Commandment
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.
CHILDREN’S CHAT
There is a word we use in the Church that means an object, person or space is connected to God, special, set apart as holy. That word is sacred.
Did you know that seeds are sacred? Created by God, the tiniest seed can grow into a large plant able to make more seeds to grow more plants!
God’s word is like a tiny seed. We hear God speak to us and it is as if a tiny seed has been planted within us. That seed is called love. As we grow and journey through life, the love within us is connected to God’s love. It grows stronger and stronger as God’s Spirit teaches us to love more and more.
As you hold some sacred seeds in your hands, pray this prayer, and when the ground is warm enough, plant them. Watch them grow like God watches your love grow. Beautiful.
Seed Blessing Prayer: We hold these seeds in our hands as a present and future gift. Their existence reminds us of the power of dreams to grow in unexpected ways. Their growth will help us celebrate life, and God’s promise for a world where all are fed and all are loved. May these seeds remind us all, that we, too, are sacred seeds planted in God’s garden. Thank you, God, for the gift of these seeds. Amen.[2]
CANADIAN LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF: FOOD SECURITY & LIVELIHOODS
After decades of progress, hunger is on the rise again. Years of historic droughts and increased weather variability have pushed millions to the brink, and some of the hardest hit are the small-scale farmers who feed so much of the world.
Together with Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Canadian Lutheran World Relief gives families the food they need today plus the skills and supplies to grow their own food — and food for their communities — tomorrow.
With your support, we’re working with small-scale farmers to improve their food production and increase their incomes through the provision of agricultural and marketing training, constructing irrigation systems, protecting watersheds and preventing soil erosion.
Budget: $1,359,860
Beneficiaries: 8,380
Locations: Burundi, Ethiopia, Uganda
In Uganda, programs for women are providing physical care — like farm support and skills training — plus emotional and psychological support, in a region where many women have experienced sexual and gender-based violence.
YOUR GIFTS AT WORK:
30 Farmer Field Schools
10 adult literacy groups for at-risk refugees
690 family farms trained in new techniques
A NEW CREED Voices United p. 918
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Almighty God, in you are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Open our eyes that we may see the wonders of your Word; and give us grace that we may clearly understand and freely choose the way of your wisdom; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
READINGS AND PSALM
First Reading: Acts 10:44-48
While Peter shares the good news of Jesus with a Gentile soldier and his family, the Holy Spirit comes upon them. Recognizing that the Spirit works inclusively in the lives of both Jews and Gentiles, Peter commands that these Gentiles also be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
44While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. 45The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, 46for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, 47“Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.
Psalm 98
Shout with joy to the Lord, all you lands. (Ps. 98:4)
1Sing a new song to the Lord, who has done marvelous things,
whose right hand and holy arm have won the victory.
2O Lord, you have made known your victory,
you have revealed your righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3You remember your steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
4Shout with joy to the Lord, all you lands;
lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing. R
5Sing to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and the voice of song.
6With trumpets and the sound of the horn
shout with joy before the king, the Lord.
7Let the sea roar, and all that fills it,
the world and those who dwell therein.
8Let the rivers clap their hands,
and let the hills ring out with joy before the Lord, who comes to judge the earth.
9The Lord will judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with equity. R
Second Reading: 1 John 5:1-6
God’s children believe that Jesus is the Messiah and love God by keeping God’s commandments. Thus the world is conquered not through military might but through love and faith.
1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. 2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, 4for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. 5Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.
Gospel: John 15:9-17
On the night of his arrest, Jesus delivers a final testimony to his disciples to help them in the days ahead. Here, he repeats the most important of all his commands, that they love one another.
9“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
12“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.”
HYMN: Voices United #242: Let All Things Now Living
SERMON: written by the Rev. Dr. Karoline Lewis[3]
“Nepal, Baltimore, school shootings, cancer, suicide, poverty, discrimination, apathy, violence, ignorance, spite, abuse, injustice. Some days it’s just too much for my little heart.”
This was a Facebook post this week by a working preacher I know.
I would add to the list sexism, anxiety, broken relationships, and sorrow. I would add disillusionment, distrust, depression, and disregard….
It’s been that kind of week. It’s been that kind of time. It’s been that kind of world.
Which makes Jesus’ words of joy seem out of place. Out of sync. Out of touch with reality. “Seriously, Jesus. Are you …… kidding me?”
What is joy doing here and now in a time and place like this?
I have a feeling the disciples asked the same questions. After all, here they are in the middle of the Farewell Discourse, Jesus’ parting words to his disciples, and it’s here and now in Jesus’ ministry that Jesus offers statements of joy. There’s already been the acknowledgement of troubled hearts. And the next chapters will be words about rejection and hatred and abandonment, yet even more joy, “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete” (16:24); And later “But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves” (John 17:13).
Joy appears misplaced in passages that deal primarily with Jesus’ departure and impending death. Joy seems inappropriate when you are told that the one on whom you have relied for intimacy and belonging will no longer be around. Joy is a marked juxtaposition to the realities that the disciples face — that we face. And maybe that’s the point. Because where is joy in the midst of the hardship Jesus described and in the peril that is sure to come? Where is joy when a primary source of your joy is leaving you? Where is joy when you need it the most? Jesus knows that the presence of joy needs to be heard, needs to be felt, when you face things that assume and anticipate a profound absence of joy.
Full disclosure. When writing my book on preaching the Gospel of John for Fortress Press, I really struggled with how to make sense of these passages — for all of the reasons mentioned above. Joy is not abstract happiness. Joy is elusive. True joy is hard to come by and seems simply impossible when one starts down the road of real life. I’ve had some personal struggles with joy. It escaped me for a while. A long while, to be exact. Why? Well, many reasons, I suppose. So at one point I decided that its pursuit was essential for who I was, who I was called to be, who I wanted to be in the world. But, paradoxically, joy is hard. It takes work. It takes effort. It takes intention. Hanging in my office is a plaque with the following definitions of joy: “1. The emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires. 2. The expression or exhibition of such emotion. 3. A state of felicity. 4. A source or cause of delight.” I read these definitions every day. What do you need to remind you that joy can be present? Who do you need around you to tell you that joy is here? Especially in the face of those who seek to steal your joy away? Those who seem quite determined to make sure that your joy is but a dream? That which tries to quell your joy?
This Sunday, the church may be that place… — that place where true joy is experienced. This Sunday, you may be that person… — that person who speaks the assurance of joy in the midst of palpable pain. We…would do well to recall that the Greek words for “grace” and “joy” share the same root. Joy may very well be a feeling of grace, the emotion of grace, even the response to grace. Joy is that indescribable sense when you find yourself experiencing abundant grace. In other words, joy amidst all that was named above, all that you can certainly name in your own life, in the life of your congregation, both communally and individually, is not an answer. It’s an affirmation. It’s the guarantee of God’s grace when all that is good seems so far away. It’s the security of God’s love when it appears that love is nowhere to be felt, especially from those you thought would love you. It’s the hope that even in the darkest places of separation, God’s abiding and our abiding in God (1:18;13:23) is promised and present.
Choose joy.
HYMN OF THE MONTH: More Voices #147 God, Help Us To Treasure
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Rejoicing that Jesus is risen and love has triumphed over fear, let us pray for the church, the world, and all those in need of good news.
Your Holy Spirit falls upon all who hear the word. Fill your church with the gifts of your Spirit and give understanding hearts to those who strengthen our commitments with our ecumenical and interreligious partners. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
You speak and the face of the earth is renewed. Revive your creation, that habitats and every kind of living thing might flourish. Protect endangered species and help us to care for all your creatures. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
Your world is divided and the nations rage. Grant wisdom and vision to world leaders, that they may seek justice, peace, and the good of all. Strengthen international partnerships and cooperation. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
Your children are in need. Comfort all those who suffer, especially those afflicted by anxiety, depression, and mental illness. Help us to be conduits of your love in our care for one another. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
Your work is done in this place with our hands. Bless the ministries of this congregation, that we may embody your love for the world. Inspire those who plan and lead worship, council members, committee members, and volunteers. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
Your blessed saints now rest in you. Give us thankful hearts for those who have gone before us. At the last, bring us all together around your heavenly banquet table. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
Into your hands, most merciful God, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your abiding love; through Jesus Christ, our resurrected and living Lord.
Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
SENDING SONG: With One Voice #725 Blessed Be The God Of Israel
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.
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] Richard Bott, while at St. Andrew’s U.C., Maple Ridge, B.C. Traduction et adaptation: D. Fortin / MiF. First published in Gathering Pentecost 2, 2015 and reproduced with permission.
[2] Inspired by the Commission on Justice, Peace, and Creation, National Council of Churches in India (Rev. Dr. M J Joseph, Rev. Chukka Sweety Helen and Rev. R. Christopher Rajkumar) and the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance.
[3] https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/choose-joy