MORRIS-ROSENFELD ECUMENICAL SHARED MINISTRY

ORDER OF SERVICE FOR SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2024

SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

CREATION TIME 2

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

Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come.

~Henri Nouwen

Before we worship, we reflect…

The theology of the cross holds that Christians can encounter Jesus wherever there is suffering. As Christians in the age of climate crisis, we must urgently begin to understand that the cross exists wherever the earth is desecrated and wherever nonhuman creation faces extinction or suffering at our hands. There is no cheap grace in this crisis. While our endless consumption of fossil fuels and other materials has allowed us to “gain the whole world” (Mark 8:36), we are also forfeiting our lives and the life of nonhuman creation. Indeed, we humans are learning that we must be willing to let our old lives die if we wish to save the life of our planet.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & PRAYER

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.

O God, Great Spirit and Creator, make us stewards – of one another’s dignity, of one another’s safety, of one another’s lands, of one another’s right to a cultural identity: … as unique peoples, … as gifts to the human family, … as your beloved children.

Give us one heart and one mind to walk forward together along this path in the love and strength of your Spirit, In truth, reconciliation and peace. We make this prayer in the power of your Most Holy Name. Amen.^[1]

CALL TO CONFESSION:

Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, who forgives all our sin, whose mercy endures forever.

Amen.

Let us confess our sin and come to God for healing.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Gracious God, have mercy on us.  We confess that we have honored you with our lips, but have harmed our neighbors with our tongues.  The cravings at war within us cause conflicts and disputes.  In our desire to be first we make distinctions among ourselves.  We place the needs of the poor and the suffering last.  In your great mercy, forgive us our sins.  Draw near to us with grace in time of need, and turn us to follow in the way of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

God promises to forgive our iniquity and to remember our sin no more.  By grace you have been saved.  In the name of ☩ Jesus Christ, the source of eternal healing, your sins are forgiven.  Amen.

GATHERING SONG:  Voices United #644  Borning Cry

CENTERING PRAYER

O God, through suffering and rejection you bring forth our salvation, and by the glory of the cross you transform our lives. Grant that for the sake of the gospel we may turn from the lure of evil, take up our cross, and follow your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

CANADIAN LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF – Ukraine | Helping children cope with trauma

The conflict in Ukraine has been traumatic for millions of Ukrainian civilians forced to flee their homes for safer parts of the country or as refugees into surrounding countries. While adults have an understanding of the conflict, the trauma is much worse for children whose worlds have been turned upside down, often in the course of a few hours.

Barbara Körozsi is a therapy dog trainer in Berehove, Ukraine. She brings her therapy dog Doxa to work with children at a shelter for internally displaced people in Berehove. The children play with Doxa, who is helping to bring them comfort, build self confidence and teach them to trust again.

Many of the children have lost all sense of control over their surroundings. Deciding what Doxa will do and directing her with commands provides them with a sense of control in a safe space.

Barbara recalls one family with two children: “When they arrived, the children were afraid of any noise that sounded like the war. Thunder caused them anxiety. A psychologist from Kyiv tried to help but couldn’t get very far. They wouldn’t go anywhere without their mother. But when they started to interact with Doxa, they began to open up more and more. They now come without their mom. They don’t cry but play and have fun.”

Your support is helping the children in Ukraine recover from trauma and reclaim their childhood. Thank you!

CHILDREN’S CHAT

Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They gave him several answers, none that fit who Jesus really was.  Then Jesus asked his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?”  Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”  The word messiah means, “anointed one”.  In Jesus’ day, when God chose a man to be king over God’s people, God would send a prophet to pour oil over that man’s head so that everyone knew this was their next king.

Jesus never had oil poured on his head.  He was baptized and the Holy Spirit flew down to him.  Jesus’ baptism and the Holy Spirit coming to Jesus was God’s way of saying to those who were there, “This is my son, my anointed, my chosen one.  He will heal the people and teach them to love God and love neighbour.”

When we are baptized, God anoints us with water, Word and Holy Spirit.  We are hugged by God.  We live our lives so that people around us know that we serve Jesus.  We love everybody.

So, when someone asks who you are, you can answer, “A child of God.”  Love makes all the difference.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Gracious God, as we turn to your Word for us, may the Spirit of God rest upon us. Help us to be steadfast in our hearing, in our speaking, in our believing, and in our living. Amen.

READINGS AND PSALM

First Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9a

The image of the servant of the Lord is one of the notable motifs in the book of Isaiah. Today’s reading describes the mission of the servant, whom early Christians associated with Jesus. Like Jesus, the servant does not strike back at his detractors but trusts in God’s steadfast love.

⁴The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.  Morning by morning he wakens—wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.

⁵The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward.

⁶I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.

⁷The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame;

⁸he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me?  Let us stand up together.  Who are my adversaries?  Let them confront me.

^9aIt is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty?

Psalm 116:1-9

¹I love the Lord, who has heard my voice, and listened to my supplication,

²for the Lord has given ear to me whenever I called.

³The cords of death entangled me; the anguish of the grave came upon me; I came to grief and sorrow.

⁴Then I called upon the name of the Lord:  “O Lord, I pray you, save my life.”

⁵Gracious is the Lord and righteous; our God is full of compassion.

⁶The Lord watches over the innocent; I was brought low, and God saved me.

⁷Turn again to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt well with you.

⁸For you have rescued my life from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling;

⁹I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living. 

Second Reading: James 3:1-12

This text uses various images to illustrate how damaging and hurtful the way we speak to and about others can be. Not only are we to control our speech, but what we say and how we say it are to reflect our faith.

¹Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. ²For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. ³If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. ⁴Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.

How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! ⁶And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. ⁷For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, ⁸but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. ¹¹Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? ¹²Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.

Gospel: Mark 8:27-38

This story provides the turning point in Mark’s gospel. Peter is the first human being in the narrative to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, but he cannot accept that as the Messiah Jesus will have to suffer. Moreover, Jesus issues a strong challenge to all by connecting discipleship and the cross.

²⁷Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” ²⁸And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” ³⁰And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

³¹Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³²He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

³⁴He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. ³⁶For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? ³⁷Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? ³⁸Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

HYMN:  Just A Closer Walk With Thee

SERMON – National Bishop Susan Johnson

Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus. I bring you greetings from your siblings in Christ from coast to coast to coast that make up this part of God’s family we know as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.

The verse from today’s gospel lesson I want to focus on is “If any want to become my followers let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Deny yourself and take up your cross is certainly a countercultural message to the society that surrounds us.

Today’s culture celebrates “indulging oneself,” not “denying oneself.” It has a “look after number one attitude” not a “take care of the needs of others attitude.”

At the National Worship conference this year I attended a workshop by Adrian Jacobs who put it this way – “it’s a hard time to live in a good way.”

Walter Brueggemann’s prayer “The voice we can scarcely hear” also speaks to this:

You are the voice we can scarcely hear

because you speak to us about dying and suffering,

and we are impacted by so many voices

that have to do with power

and competence

and success.

We do know that you are the voice that gives life,

that you are the voice that opens futures to people who are hopeless.

We are a part of a hopeless people,

because the other voices eat at our hearts,

and we are immobilized

and we become deaf.

So we pray for new ears.

We pray that your voice may be more audible to us,

that we may be able to sort out the death-giving

from the life-giving voices among us.

We pray in the name of Jesus,

through whom you have spoken

in such inscrutable ways.

Amen.

So why does this sentence bother us so much? “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Partly that we don’t have experience with crosses these days. We understand historical references, and we understand pietistic ones that describe all of life’s burdens as crosses to bear. And although there are people still today dying for their faith, that is not going to happen to you or I.

Partly because this is the starkest description of what it means to follow Jesus that Jesus uses. Jesus describes what it means to follow him in many other ways. Leave your boats and nets and follow me. Feed the hungry and follow me. Heal the sick and follow me. Welcome all and follow me. Love God and neighbour and follow me. Speak truth to power and follow me.

These are not as scary sounding as taking up your cross, but they are still costly things to do.  They mean putting God’s will first ahead of our own. They take up our time, our money, and our effort.

So how are you answering God’s call to follow? Perhaps you are being called to a new vocation? Perhaps you are already working in your congregations feeding program or donating to CLWR or a local food bank. Perhaps you are a health care worker. Perhaps you are taking racial justice training to make sure that you are truly welcoming. Perhaps you are serving neighbours through community service. Perhaps you are advocating for better health care, or an end to war, or that we would provide welcome to refugees.

You may already be taking up your cross and following! Sometimes it is tempting to put those crosses down. Life might seem easier. But life would not be as life-giving, and we would end up drifting away from the one who gives us life.

Part of what helps us keep going, keep taking up our cross, keep following Jesus, is that we are called into community to support each other in our following and our serving. This week, find someone you see following Jesus and thank them for their service. You may be surprised how many followers you find once you start looking.

Blessings to each of you as you strive to follow Jesus with the gifts and talents you have been given. Blessings to each of you as you resist the temptation of selfishness that pervades our society. Amen.

HYMN OF THE MONTH:  Voices United #253  Sing Your Joy

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION

Drawn together in the power of the Holy Spirit, we pray with confidence for the church, God’s good creation, and all who are in need.

We pray for the church throughout the world. Form us into communities of forgiveness and grace. Help us to notice where you are calling us into new relationships, and give us courage to embrace the uncomfortable and unfamiliar. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

We pray for the earth and all its inhabitants. Protect lands at risk of wildfire and heal dying forests. Where fire brings destruction, raise up new growth. Guide us in tending precarious ecosystems. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

We pray for those who govern nations, tribes, and cities. Open them to the cries of people in need. Direct them in shaping policies that prioritize the health and well-being of all who struggle with hunger and housing insecurity. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

We pray for all who are ill, all who are lonely or anxious, and all who grieve. Draw them close to you and soothe them with the promise of your enduring love. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

We pray for teachers, professors, librarians, school administrators, staff, and all who support the education of young people. Sustain them as they shape learning communities, rooted in equity and authenticity. We pray for children of all ages in their learning. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

We remember our beloved dead, who with the great cloud of witnesses bear witness to your saving grace. Accompany us in our pilgrimage of faith, that we too place our hope and trust in you. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

We entrust these and all our prayers to you, holy God, in the name of your beloved child, Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

SENDING SONG:  VU 646  We Are Marching

BENEDICTION

God has laid claim to your life.  By your baptism you have been marked as God’s own forever.  In grace may God watch over you.  In strength may you go forth in service.

 

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© 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.

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