Posts Tagged ‘Matthew 16’

September 6 Home Worship Guide

Posted in worship, tagged , , , on September 6, 2020| 1 Comment »

Preparation for Worship

  • Something to remind you of the forest. At CBC, we designate the month of September as the Season of Creation. We spend time each Sunday reflecting on our relationship with different aspects of creation. This Sunday we take a look at the forest. So add something to your worship space to remind you of the forest.
  • Two candles. Our worship begins with the light of two candles: one represents Christ’s humanity and the other represents Christ’s divinity.
  • Something to eat and drink to celebrate communion. The type of food and drink does not matter for they are merely symbols which help us celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

The Worship of God

Light two candles in recognition of Christ’s presence.  In our practice, one candle represents Jesus’ divinity and the other Jesus’ humanity.

Gathering for Worship

Passing the Peace
Say to one another, “May the Peace of Christ be with you.”
Respond by saying, “And also with you.”

Call to Worship
Today is Forest Sunday. We acknowledge that we stand in the company of the trees who have lived longer than we have, housing a myriad of creatures, and given us our holy breath. Let us breathe, and pray, and sing today, and worship with the emerald forests.

A Reading from the Hebrew Bible
Genesis 2:4-9

Listen to a church member read the scriptures and/or read below.

On the day the Lord God made earth and sky— before any wild plants appeared on the earth, and before any field crops grew, because the Lord God hadn’t yet sent rain on the earth and there was still no human being to farm the fertile land, though a stream rose from the earth and watered all of the fertile land— the Lord God formed the human from the topsoil of the fertile land and blew life’s breath into his nostrils. The human came to life. The Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east and put there the human he had formed. In the fertile land, the Lord God grew every beautiful tree with edible fruit, and also he grew the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Opening Prayer
God, we come before you today to worship you — you who made the trees of the forest and all their companions. All are fearfully and wonderfully made!

We acknowledge that you created trees to be our companions from the beginning of time. When you formed us, you placed us in the midst of trees where we might live. Trees fed us and nourished us. Trees taught us. Trees gave us the opportunity to choose to follow you or to follow ourselves. And yet even though we were made in your image, we chose to worship and serve our desires instead of yours. So with humility we come to worship you today. Our heart’s desire is to honor and glorify you. We pray that our worship will be pleasing and acceptable. Amen.

Song of Adoration
The Trees of the Field

You shall go out with joy
And be led forth with peace
The mountains and the hills
Will break forth before you
There’ll be shouts of joy
And all the trees of the field
Will clap, will clap their hands

And all the trees of the field
Will clap their hands
The trees of the field
Will clap their hands
The trees of the field
Will clap their hands
While you go out with joy

Psalm Reading and Prayer for Others

A Reading from the Psalms
Psalm 119:33-40

Listen to a church member read the Psalm and/or read below.

Lord, teach me what your statutes are about,
and I will guard every part of them.
Help me understand so I can guard your Instruction
and keep it with all my heart.
Lead me on the trail of your commandments
because that is what I want.
Turn my heart to your laws,
not to greedy gain.
Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things.
Make me live by your way.
Confirm your promise to your servant—
the promise that is for all those who honor you.
Remove the insults that I dread
because your rules are good.
Look how I desire your precepts!
Make me live by your righteousness.

Song of Praise
Walking with You

You’re growing me like a tree,
Your Spirit and love in me.
The glory of all You are is making me new.
O Fullness of Life,
My joy, my delight,
In worship unending I’m walking with You!

Almighty the Lord I Am,
Great Sov’reign and Son of Man,
The touch of the Father’s love so faithful and true,
Beginning and End,
Forgiver and Friend,
My Savior, My Shepherd, I’m walking with You!

You’re growing me like a tree,
Your Spirit and love in me.
The glory of all You are is making me new.
O Fullness of Life,
My joy, my delight,
In worship unending I’m walking with You!

Prayer for Others
Pause after each paragraph to give voice to prayers as prompted. [Additionally, if you would like our church family to pray for someone or something in particular, email the request to tonya@cullowheebaptist.com or call the church office at 293-9024.]

Merciful God, who shelters us and guides us,
we give you thanks for….

God who comforts,
receive those who are fearful and lonely….

God whose love is steadfast,
be refuge for the ill, the dying, and those who care about them.…

God of righteousness,
we ask for your wisdom and ways of justice
to prevail in our community, this nation, your world….

God who seeks our trust, grow us and guide us in your ways that are life-giving in your world. Amen.

Song of Faith
Canticle of the Sun

Listen to the choir sing and join in on the refrain.

Refrain
The heavens are telling the glory of God,
and all creation is shouting for joy;
Come, dance in the forest, come, play in the field,
and sing, sing to the glory of the Lord!

1 Sing to the sun, the bringer of day,
he carries the light of the Lord in his rays;
the moon and the stars, who light up the way unto your throne.

2 Praise to the wind, that blows through the trees,
the seas mighty storms, the gentlest breeze;
they blow where they will, they blow where they please to please the Lord.

3 Praise to the rain, that waters our fields,
and blesses our crops so all the earth yields;
from death unto life her myst’ry revealed springs forth in joy.

4 Praise to the fire, who gives us his light,
the warmth of the sun to brighten our night;
he dances with joy, his spirit so bright, he sings of you.

5 Sing to the earth, who makes life to grow,
the creatures you made to let your life show;
the flowers and trees that help us to know the heart of Love.

6 Praise to our death, that makes our life real,
the knowledge of loss that helps us to feel;
the gift of yourself, your presence revealed to lead us home.

Celebrating Communion

Communion celebrates our unity–our unity with God and with one another. At Cullowhee Baptist Church we practice an open communion which means that anyone who seeks to live the Way of Jesus Christ is invited to share in communion with us. Although we are not able to meet together, our bond still remains with one another and God through Jesus Christ.

Imagine Jesus setting a table for us, a place where we may come together and share a meal. Before we “come to the table,” let us set our hearts aright and seek the Lord’s forgiveness for our shortcomings.

Prayer of Confession
God, we acknowledge that in the last five minutes, around five hundred thousand trees were destroyed across the world by human hands. That’s over 600 acres of forest habitat – of homes for birds and bees, monkeys and rabbits, jaguars and tree frogs. God, we pledge to feel this pain and to know that we carry the blame in our own ways. We pray for forgiveness, and for the possibility that we can become assistants in restoring our unity with the forests of the world.

From the moment we are born, we feel the grace of God coming off the wind, and whispering from the forests. We are always whole, and always part of creation’s wholeness, no matter what we do.

Assurance of Forgiveness
2 Corinthians 5:17-18a
If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, to whom we have been reconciled through Christ.

Now let us come to the “table.”

Invitation
The table has been prepared as Jesus requested,
and we have been invited to the meal.
We come to the table like Peter,
with more enthusiasm than resolve;
like James and John,
dismayed by Jesus’s vision of a kingdom.
We come to the table like Martha,
hosting and leading with confidence;
like Mary,
eager to learn, and full of grief and love.
We come to the table like Judas,
disillusioned and rebellious;
like Mary,
faithful to the end.
Jesus offers us the bread and the cup.
We come to the table of Christ.

Share what you have to eat and before eating, have someone say,
“This food represents the body of Christ.
As we eat, we remember Jesus.”

Share what you have to drink and before drinking, have someone say,
“This drink represents the covenant Christ made with us
that our sins will be forgiven.
As we drink, we remember Jesus.”

Prayer of Thanksgiving
Dear God, thank you for your abounding compassionate love. Thank you for guiding and leading us through these difficult times. Thank you for always being with us. Amen.

Song of Faith
Amazing Grace (NEW BRITAIN)

Amazing grace how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I am found,
was blind but now I see.

The Gospel Reading

A Reading from the Gospels
Matthew 18:15-20

Listen to the gospel being read by a church member and/or read below.

If your brother or sister sins against you, go and correct them when you are alone together. If they listen to you, then you’ve won over your brother or sister. But if they won’t listen, take with you one or two others so that every word may be established by the mouth of two or three witnesses. But if they still won’t pay attention, report it to the church. If they won’t pay attention even to the church, treat them as you would a Gentile and tax collector. I assure you that whatever you fasten on earth will be fastened in heaven. And whatever you loosen on earth will be loosened in heaven. Again I assure you that if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, then my Father who is in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I’m there with them.

Reflection on the Gospel from Tonya

Listen to the reflection and/or read below.

Have you ever noticed how we Americans are enamored with individualism. Just take for instance the latest Disney movie release, Mulan. Disney has taken an actual ancient Chinese Ballad and dusted it with Disney movie selling points. You know, young romance, animals, maybe a side kick or two, the triumph of good over evil, and yes, individualism.  In Disney’s Mulan, Mulan saves the emperor’s life and defeats the evil Huns all on her own. She needs no assistance from anyone. If it hadn’t been for Mulan, the whole dynasty would have collapsed.

The actual Chinese Ballad of Mulan dates back to the 350-500’s. It tells the story of young girl who volunteers to take the place of her father and younger brother. You see, at that time a male from each family is called upon to serve in the army. Mulan’s father is old and weak. Her brother is younger than she is, just a child.  So she voluntarily takes their place. After 12 years of military campaigns and service to her country, she returns home with honor and gifts from the emperor. Her family is overjoyed to see her. They prepare a feast for her homecoming inviting everyone. She changes back into her normal clothes. She makes up her hair and face and greets her fellow soldiers. They are shocked. Her comrades had no idea that she was a woman.  Missing from the original tale? Individualism. 

Our compulsion and drive and expectations to be self-supporting and independent comes from growing up in the United States. Our country’s foundations were built upon the philosophical ideas of a British man named John Locke. I probably first learned of Locke in high school, but I don’t remember him from then. I was more interested in math. My first memories of Locke come from my studies to be a teacher. Locke’s name was the answer to fill-in-the-blank questions on exams at Clemson, “Who is credited for the ‘tabula rasa’ theory?” “John Locke” is the answer.  Locke said our minds are like blank slates when we are born, without a thought or an opinion yet developed. The environment, experiences, and influences which shape our development and leave a lasting effect on who we become.  It wasn’t until seminary that I learned that John Locke was famous for his call for the separation of church and state. Baptist are all about separation of church and state. But probably Locke’s greatest influence upon the United States can be seen in the establishment of our government. It is from Locke that we get the American ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Locke’s ideas have become our tradition as Americans. They have become our rights. And meshed in our traditions, founding documents, and rights is individualism.

That’s what makes Jesus’ teaching in today’s gospel reading hard to swallow. When someone wrongs us, Jesus wants us to sit down and talk with them. Not about the weather, or how things are going in their life, but Jesus wants us to talk with them how their actions or lack of actions have offended us. Offended is not the right word. It is more than just, “You upset me.” It is those time when we sin against one another. Think of the 10 commandment kind of sins. Now think of the Greatest Commandment that Jesus added in. You are to love others as you love yourself.  It’s those times when we miss the mark in what our relationships with one another should be as God requires it: life giving. Jesus wants us to let others know when they sin against us. When a relationship starts to break, that’s when you start putting it back together before it completely breaks. But also, Jesus is saying, when the sinning first begins, help your sister or your brother see and understand before the sinning becomes a way of living for them.

But let’s say you try to do just that, but the person won’t lend you a listening ear. They won’t sit still long enough to hear you out. It may be pride getting in the way. It is hard to admit our faults. Sometimes it’s just a pure lack of respect. So what do you do then? When the offender won’t listen to you, Jesus says don’t give up. Go and get another person or perhaps two others to come with you to confront the offender. The two or three of you try to sit down with the person again and talk about what they have done. This 2nd attempt towards reconciliation with additional people coming with you isn’t about making a power move or being a bully by numbers. It is about clarity and accountability for the victim and the offender.  Sometimes it takes more than just the two to get repentance and forgiveness right.  If we truly desire to bring out change and healing, if we truly are seeking to restore community, then toss out that individualism of me against them. No, this is in the context of God’s community.

But what if the offender still turns away, stomps off, won’t listen?  What do you do then? Jesus again says you don’t give up–don’t give up on person. You don’t just turn a blind eye to what has happened, but you don’t give up offering and creating a path that leads to life. Jesus says when the offender still refuses to listen, go get the church involved. Tell the church what has happened and let the church talk with the offender. When an offender is so arrogant or stubborn or dismissive of another that they will not listen and they will not take responsibility for their sins, then it will require the involvement of the whole community of faith to hold that person accountable, to teach repentance, and to actively forgive. I can imagine that when refusal to admit wrong gets to this point, it will take all of us to right  the relationship. For in the body of Christ, in the church, there is ample experiences of offending and being offended. There are ample experiences of repenting and forgiving. There are ample experiences of brokenness and healing. We are blessed to be a part of faith community that truly believes and tries hard to practice grace. Grace does not erase accountability, but it lays a path toward healing for the wronged and the sinner.

But what in the world do we do when all of this doesn’t amount to a hill of beans? It is then, and only then, when the sinner won’t listen to the church family, it is then that Jesus says treat ’em like a Gentile or a tax collector. Now it’s easier to move to that part first. Finally, Jesus is telling us to do something that we can do. If a person won’t listen, then we can move on. We can shake the dust off our feet and wash our hands clean of the situation. We tried. Jesus knows that we did.  And we don’t have to worry about it anymore.

But where, tell me, does Jesus say in the Bible not to worry anymore with the tax collectors and the Gentiles?  Where does Jesus say forget about them, they ain’t got no sense? Well, they may not have any sense, but we cannot write them off. Matthew was one of Jesus’ 12 disciples. Matthew was a tax collector before he started following Jesus. Jesus had dinner multiple times with tax collectors. The religious leaders thought less of him for it. If you have your Bibles in front of you, turn a few pages over to Matthew 21:31. I quote Jesus in mid-sentence. “…the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.” 

So when someone sins against you and they won’t listen to anybody, not even to the church, don’t give them up as lost or worthless. The rest of the world reaches a point where they write people off and they teach us that this is okay. But we are members of the body of Christ before we are members of the world. We have chosen to live the Way of Jesus Christ. We follow in the footsteps of Jesus who has taught us to forgive and who has taught us to seek healing. We cannot draw a line and stop extending the love of God and the grace of God to one who has sinned against us. Even when they stick their fingers in their ears, refusing to listen.  If we, the community, write the person off, then there is no accountability. If we, the community, dismiss the person, there is no option for repentance. If we, the community, treat the person as if they do not exists, then there is no opportunity for forgiveness. Like God, God’s children desire to mend what is broken. And please remember that at this point in Jesus’ teaching, it is no longer the “problem” of just the one offended. It is now the responsibility of the whole community of faith. It is not to be a burden to be carried only by the one who has been wronged.  If we expect that as the community of faith then we sin against the one who has already been sinned against.

The kind of relationship Jesus expects us to have with one another as a church family is different from any other group or organization or even blood family. When you mess up, when you wrong someone in your faith family, you are not to be excluded or pushed out. But when you mess up or wrong someone, when you sin against them, you are also expected to listen. In this passage Jesus makes it clear what is required of us when we sin against one another. Look at verse 15. Jesus says to the offender, “Listen.” Now look at verse 16. There’s the word “listen” again in a different form. Verse 17, says it twice. “Listen.” “Listen.”  Four times Jesus points out the fault, the refusal to listen.

Right now, our Black sisters and brothers in the faith are asking us to “listen.” They have tried to speak with us one on one. They have tried to speak with us with just a few. And they have tried to speak to us within the church family. But we still don’t get it. I truly believe that if we wonder why our Black sisters and brothers are so upset, then we just don’t understand. And that means we need to listen. Listen, and participate in the process of accountability.  Listen, and participate in active repentance. Listen, and participate in offering and receiving forgiveness.  Listen, when our sisters and brothers are saying, “Black lives matter.” They are naming the sin. People of color have been devalued in our nation. Do all lives matter? Oh yes! But when we challenge the statement “Black lives matter” with the statement “All lives matter” do you see how we show a disregard for the wrongs we have committed against people of color. The sin has been named. We are guilty of assigning unequal values to people based on the color of their skin.

Unfortunately today, the majority of Americans suffer from poverty, economic insecurity, lack of access to adequate health care, and environmental destruction. Our country was founded on ensuring Locke’s three ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness but to a select few who looked and acted like the handful of men in charge. And for decades we as a nation have practiced indifference to these maladies among the Black community. And now it extends and extends. Our nation’s practice of indifference became a bad habit which we extended to Hispanics, Latinos, and many others.

God requires something more of us. The Lord won’t give up on us and the Lord won’t let us give up on one another either. What does the Lord require of us? Think back to the Old Testament prophet Micah. Micah 6:8 says we are to do justice, to love goodness, and live humbly with God.  That means we have to acknowledge our failures, restore right relationships, and pursue peace building and humility. These are life-giving ways of living.  May we have the courage to confront. May we have the courage to name the sins. May we have the courage to spend the time needed to repent.  May we have the courage to listen to what are faults are and may we have the courage to forgive in the name of Christ. Amen.

Questions for Reflection
1. How does the ideal of being self-reliant get in the way of being community in Christ?
2. How do we keep an open heart when someone confronts us when we have sinned against them?
3. Many would say the church is irrelevant today. So why is the church important to God? to you? to the world?

Prayer of Thanksgiving. Thank you God for constant love. Please help our church family grow deeper and deeper in your love. Amen.

Song of Faith
Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us With Your Love

Refrain.
Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love,
show us how to serve
the neighbors we have from you.

Kneels at the feet of his friends,
silently washes their feet,
Master who acts as a slave to them.

Neighbors are rich folk and poor,
neighbors are black, brown, and white,
neighbors are nearby and far away.

These are the ones we should serve,
these are the ones we should love;
all these are neighbors to us and you.

Loving puts us on our knees,
silently washing their feet
this is the way we should live with you.

Sending Out
May the blessing and peace of God uphold you,
May the compassion and love of Christ enfold you,
and the vitality and power of the Holy Spirit embolden you
today and always. Amen.

Closing Song.  In our tradition, we close worship by singing the first verse of Blest Be the Tie.  Mindy starts us each week, and so she does today as well.

Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love.
The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. Amen.

Credits: The image of the forest was taken by Michele. The Call to Worship and the Prayer of Confession are from The Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFusion Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2020. The Opening Prayer was written by Tonya. The Trees of the Field is a paraphrase of Isaiah 55:12 written by Steffi Karen Rubin and set to the tune TREES OF THE FIELD by Stuart Dauermann. Genesis 2:4-9 was read by Tyler. The Psalm was read by Calley. Walking with You was written by Ken Bible and set to the Bahamian Folk Tune, JOHN B. SAILS. The words to Canticle of the Sun is based on the writings of St. Francis of Assisi, translated by Georgina Pando-Connolly with music composed by Marty Haugen. The song is sung by Kendall, Ally, Elizabeth, Mindy, and Tonya. The communion litany was written by the Mennonite Worship and Song Committee, 2018. Amazing Grace is set to the tune NEW BRITAIN from the Virginia Harmony, 1831. The words were written by John Newton (1807). The song was played by Aidan. Matthew was read by Kendall. Jesus, Jesus, Fill Us With Your Love was written by Tom Colvin set to the tune CHEREPONI, a Ghana Folk Song. Blest be the Tie is set to the tune DENNIS which was composed by Johann G. Nageli (1836) and arranged by Lowell Mason (1872). The words were written by John Fawcett (1782). Scripture readings are from the Common English Bible translation. Hymns were sung by Mindy and played by Tracy. Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #A-724755. All rights reserved.  All writings have been used by permission from the posting sites or authors.

Read Full Post »

August 30 Home Worship Guide

Posted in worship, tagged , , on August 30, 2020| 2 Comments »

Preparation for Worship (same as last week)

  • Something green. Christian worship has different seasons throughout the year. We are in the season after Pentecost. The color green represents this time communicating growth and discipleship. Add some green to your worship area with cloth, paper, or plants.
  • Two candles. Our worship begins with the light of two candles: one represents Christ’s humanity and the other represents Christ’s divinity.
  • Something to eat and drink to celebrate communion. The type of food and drink does not matter for they are merely symbols which help us celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

The Worship of God

Light two candles in recognition of Christ’s presence.  In our practice, one candle represents Jesus’ divinity and the other Jesus’ humanity.

Gathering for Worship

Passing the Peace
Say to one another, “May the Peace of Christ be with you.”
Respond by saying, “And also with you.”

Call to Worship
Psalm 105:1-6a

Listen to a church member read the Psalm and/or read below.

Give thanks to the Lord;
call upon his name;
make his deeds known to all people!
Sing to God;
sing praises to the Lord;
dwell on all his wondrous works!
Give praise to God’s holy name!
Let the hearts rejoice of all those seeking the Lord!
Pursue the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always!
Remember the wondrous works he has done,
all his marvelous works, and the justice he declared—

Opening Prayer
Awesome and great God, whose holiness is beyond our capacity even to imagine – we worship you. God of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Rachel, we glorify you as our God also. Your care for your people of old is evident through the stories of your involvement and constant covenant with them. Your care for us is evident through your grace and mercy which we experience in Jesus Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit. You love us so lavishly, and empower us so mightily, that we come to see the world as a place charged with blessing – your blessing. We stand on holy ground whenever we are in your presence O God, which is always and forever when we praise you as we ought. We offer our praise and adoration and this time of worship as our response to your extravagant initiative of entering our lives in the person of Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Song of Praise
Sing to God with Joy

Refrain:
Sing to God, with joy and gladness
hymns and psalms of gratitude;
with the voice of praise discover
that to worship God is good.

  1. God unites his scatter’d people,
    gathers those who wonder’d far,
    heals the hurt and broken spirits,
    tending ev’ry wound and scar.
    (Refrain)
  2. Such is God’s great pow’r and wisdom
    none can calculate or tell;
    keen is God to ground the wicked
    and humble folk to dwell.
    (Refrain)
  3. God, with clouds, the sky has curtain’d,
    thus ensuring rain shall fall;
    earth, responding, grows to order
    food for creatures great and small.
    (Refrain)
  4. God’s discernment never favors
    strength or speed to lift or move;
    God delights in those who fear him,
    trusting in his steadfast love
    (Refrain)

Psalm Reading and Prayer for Others

Psalm 26:1-8

Listen to the Psalm and/or read below.

Establish justice for me, Lord,
because I have walked with integrity.
I’ve trusted the Lord without wavering.
Examine me, Lord; put me to the test!
Purify my mind and my heart.
Because your faithful love is right in front of me—
I walk in your truth!
I don’t spend time with people up to no good;
I don’t keep company with liars.
I detest the company of evildoers,
and I don’t sit with wicked people.
I wash my hands—they are innocent!
I walk all around your altar, Lord,
proclaiming out loud my thanks,
declaring all your wonderful deeds!
I love the beauty of your house, Lord;
I love the place where your glory resides.

Prayer for Others
Pause after each paragraph to give voice to prayers as prompted. [Additionally, if you would like our church family to pray for someone or something in particular this week, email the request to tonya@cullowheebaptist.com.]

Merciful God, who shelters us and guides us,
we give you thanks for….

God who comforts,
receive those who are fearful and lonely….

God whose love is steadfast,
be refuge for the ill, the dying, and those who care about them.…

God of righteousness,
we ask for your wisdom and ways of justice
to prevail in our community, this nation, your world….

God who seeks our trust, grow us and guide us in your ways that are life-giving in your world. Amen.

Song of Faith
World Peace Prayer

Listen to the choir sing and join in on the refrain.

Lead us from death to life,
from false-hood to truth,
from despair to hope,
from fear to trust.
Lead us from hate to love,
from war to peace;
let peace fill our hearts,
let peace fill our world,
let peace fill our universe.

Still all the angry cries, still all the angry guns,
still now your people die, earth’s sons and daughters.
Let justice roll, let mercy pour down,
Come and teach us your way of compassion.

So many lonely hearts, so many broken lives,
longing for love to break into their darkness
Come teach us love, come, teach us peace
come and teach us your way of compassion.

Let justice ever roll, let mercy fill the earth,
let us begin to grow into your people.
We can be love, we can be peace,
we can be your way of compassion.

Celebrating Communion

Communion celebrates our unity–our unity with God and with one another. At Cullowhee Baptist Church we practice an open communion which means that anyone who seeks to live the Way of Jesus Christ is invited to share in communion with us. Although we are not able to meet together, our bond still remains with one another and God through Jesus Christ.

Imagine Jesus setting a table for us, a place where we may come together and share a meal. Before we “come to the table,” let us set our hearts aright and seek the Lord’s forgiveness for our shortcomings.

Prayer of Confession
Merciful God, you call us to live out our faith in everyday actions beginning with loving one another with a love that is completely sincere – love with no thought of gain for self, but love totally at the service of others. We are to hate evil and to hold fast to what is good. We are to care for and honor one another. Our faith is to be visible through our joy and our hope – our patience – even in suffering, and through our persevering in prayer and we are to share what we have with those in need, and to extend hospitality not just to those we know and like – but to strangers. We know we fall short of living out our faith in these ways. So we ask you to renew us, strengthen us, and empower us with your Spirit. Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness
2 Corinthians 5:17-18a
If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, to whom we have been reconciled through Christ.

Now let us come to the “table.”

Invitation
The table has been prepared as Jesus requested,
and we have been invited to the meal.
We come to the table
like Peter, with more enthusiasm than resolve;
like James and John, dismayed by Jesus’s vision of a kingdom.
We come to the table
like Martha, hosting and leading with confidence;
like Mary eager to learn, and full of grief and love.
We come to the table
like Judas, disillusioned and rebellious;
like Mary, faithful to the end.
Jesus offers us the bread and the cup.
We come to the table of Christ.

Share what you have to eat.
Before eating, have someone say,
“This food represents the body of Christ.
As we eat, we remember Jesus.”

Share what you have to drink.
Before drinking, have someone say,
“This drink represents the covenant Christ made with us
that our sins will be forgiven.
As we drink, we remember Jesus.”

Prayer of Thanksgiving
Dear God, thank you for your abounding compassionate love. Thank you for guiding and leading us through these difficult times. Thank you for always being with us. Amen.

Song of Faith
Amazing Grace (NEW BRITAIN)

Amazing grace how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I am found,
was blind but now I see.

The Gospel Reading

A Reading from the Gospels
Matthew 16:21-28

Listen to the gospel being read and/or read below.

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and legal experts, and that he had to be killed and raised on the third day. Then Peter took hold of Jesus and, scolding him, began to correct him: “God forbid, Lord! This won’t happen to you.” But he turned to Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are a stone that could make me stumble, for you are not thinking God’s thoughts but human thoughts.”

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will find them. Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives? What will people give in exchange for their lives? For the Human One is about to come with the majesty of his Father with his angels. And then he will repay each one for what that person has done. I assure you that some standing here won’t die before they see the Human One coming in his kingdom.”

Reflection on the Gospel from Jeffrey

Listen to the reflection and/or read below.

What are you saving? We are taught to save money. We sometimes try to save time – without success of course as the clock stops for no one. The phrase, “I’m saving it for a rainy day” can  apply to food, to-do list tasks, travel dreams, or home-owner crises. And of course, people save lives of others, sometimes literally like in a hurricane, or an ER, or on a mission trip to Arkansas, and at other times figuratively, like when you befriend the lonely, or call the elderly, or help someone out of a crisis.

Losing on the other hand, is something we try to avoid. My favorite pocket knife might easily be lost. We can lose money in the stock market. People lose both money and track of time at the casino – that’s the reality of gambling. Teams lose in sports. When we talk about losing someone it means they have died and are, thus, “lost” to us. In a broken relationship we lose a friend or a partner.

We are accustomed, then, to the idea of “saving” being positive and “losing” being negative. It can come as a surprise, then, that Jesus turns saving and losing on their heads when he says, “All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will find them.” In the space of such a short phrase, saving becomes the liability and losing the gain. Jesus is not being obscure for the sake of sounding wise. He is, however, asking us to re-focus our life and envision a new way to approach the world.

I think it matters that Jesus gives us this teaching about saving and losing our life in the long shadow of John’s unjust murder at the orders of the authorities. The death of someone you know, a family relative of Jesus in this case, for no other reason but the capricious choice of one person in power is unsettling even for Jesus. It is still on his mind (I’m convinced) and also confirmation that his own impending death is now a certainty. He will continue to do God’s work in God’s way among the people despite the successful efforts of the powerful to take his life. As he tells his friends what he’s thinking, that the men in power are going to kill him also, he gives them a hope that must have sounded empty on this day, but that became their lifeline of hope when the women gave witness on Easter morning – that he would be raised on the third day. 

Famous for his faux pas, Peter had other plans for Jesus, but Jesus was blunt enough to call him out for it. To Peter, suggesting that Jesus should now stop what he’s doing and work instead to save his own life makes sense, and sounds good, and might be justifiable until Jesus calls out this plan as from Satan rather than from God. Yes, it turns out that not following God sometimes looks good and sounds right and receives approval from our friends. Sometimes letting the temptation to preserve myself at all costs, or not get involved because it might be messy, or passing off responsibility to someone else is “satanic” — not in the sense that some personified devil is sitting on my shoulder whispering in my ear convincing me to get into trouble. That’s an imagined scenario from fantasy fiction rather than biblical teaching. No, here I mean “satanic” in the sense that it serves as a good-looking temptation to refrain from following God for the sake of something that helps me personally. This idea comes from the fact that Jesus used the Hebrew title “Satan” here rather than the Greek word “devil.” He is recorded as using either term in the Gospels, but from Jesus’ own Jewish background, he has an understanding that “the Satan” is a referent to “the Tempter” and not an anti-god with a pitchfork.

For some reason, every time I read this story I think of the choices Dietrich Bonhoeffer made in life. Bonhoeffer is a much-celebrated German Christian and pastor. His book entitled “The Cost of Discipleship” is certainly one of the most important books for Christians to come out of the 20th century. Bonhoeffer was horrified when the church leaders in Germany convened the Brown Synod and concluded that all Christian pastors of non-Aryan ancestry and any clergy who did not give unqualified support to the Nazi party should be dismissed or forced into retirement. With this news, Bonhoeffer’s active but non-violent resistance to Nazism begins. Among other things, he moves to London for two years to gather support and encourage other German pastors who join the resistance. He returns to Germany in 1935 and opens an illegal seminary where he trains more than 150 pastors in justice and non-violence and open resistance by becoming conscientious objectors to the impending war. Bonhoeffer told his students, “It is an evil time when the world lets injustice happen silently, when the oppression of the poor and the wretched cries out to heaven . . . when the persecuted church calls to God for help in the hour of dire distress and exhorts people to do justice, and yet no mouth on earth is opening to bring justice.” Eventually, Bonhoeffer flees for refuge in America. Mahatma Gandhi offers him the opportunity to live and train with him in India. Yet Bonhoeffer sees his life of faith taking a different path. After struggling with the decision to remain in the safety of New York City or return to Germany he writes, “I must live through this difficult period of our national history with the Christian people of Germany. I will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people . . .” “I know which of these two alternatives I must choose; but I cannot make that choice in security.” Bonhoeffer’s story ends with his choice to be faithful to God’s work despite the danger to his life. It ended with his obedience to the Gospel unquestioned, but his life taken far too soon. While helping to resist the German government and encouraging those Germans who objected to the war, Bonhoeffer was arrested and imprisoned in the concentration camp at Flossenbürg where he was executed at the age of 39 only days before the American forces liberated it and WWII would end. Bonhoeffer’s last words were, “This is the end – for me, the beginning of life.” 

I read the Gospels and try to really understand the human struggle of Jesus in his grief and facing the violence of his death. I consider the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and wonder about my own allegiances and where they would have been cast had I been a pastor in Germany, told by my church to support the government, expected by my country to take up arms in war, and convinced by the rhetoric of deceiving politicians that they were solving the Jewish “problem” as a protection of my German way of life. Would I be willing to lose my patriotism to save my life with God?

To add a different context, what sermons would I be preaching if I pastored Cullowhee Baptist Church in May 1830 when the Indian Removal Act was signed, or in May 1861 when NC seceded from the country and joined in the impending war against the United States for the sake of defending slavery? Christian teachings and Gospel truths are insistently against the injustice imposed on the Cherokee, and the defense of slavery by the Confederacy. Would I have criticized the US president for stealing Cherokee land and killing thousands on their forced march to Oklahoma? Would I have resisted the call to fight against the US Army and kill fellow Americans for the sake of an economy built on the enslavement of human beings? These seem clear points in history where choosing to follow God is not going to end with congratulatory success, but will save our life with God.

How much clearer can it be, then, that the willingness to follow God first, even if it comes at the cost of preserving our own self, is a cost we are asked to carry even today? If we secure our success or aid our comfort in life as our first priority, and then add on following Jesus as a secondary appendage to our life and hope, then we will let human will rather than God’s will determine the definition of our “life” and what it means and how we live it.  The temptation will happen in the everyday places of work and school and family first. We can make more money and provide for our family by choosing to be devoted to our job first rather than following God first. Jesus can be paraphrased as saying, “everyone who wants to save their family will lose it, and those who lose their family for my sake will find it.” Or we could substitute “work” for “family.” Or “lifestyle” or “success.” Or “heritage” or “society.”

When Jesus says (in v. 25), “All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will find them,” he is clearly talking about life and death for himself, and at times for us. Yet Jesus is also considering that losing our “life” may include a re-calibration our identity in the world around us. After all, he follows that statement with two questions: “Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives? What will people give in exchange for their lives?” So let me be blunt for a moment.

It is not more important for me to be Baptist than it is for me to follow Jesus’ teachings. Even more, to say that by definition a Baptist will always be like Jesus is to make the mistake of thinking that Baptists can’t fall into temptation to follow something or someone else than the Gospel of God. Like Bonhoeffer’s push back against the German churches, I have chosen at times to lose being Baptist in order to remain faithful to God first. I grew up with my “self” identifying as Southern Baptist, and then they tied themselves to one political party, they claimed the Bible forbids women from pastoral leadership, they narrowed into a fundamentalism that no longer recognizes the wideness of God’s mercy. And so I “lost” being Southern Baptist and saved my life before God. Gratefully, the Alliance of Baptists is my “Baptist home” and reflects the Gospel faithfully.

In the same way it is not more important for me to be a White American of privilege than it is for me to follow Jesus’ teachings. And so I will support, even from this virtual pulpit, the efforts of the Black Lives Matter Movement in the struggle against the injustice of systemic, societal racism that is allowed by the government in power whether it is local, state, or federal.  I do so not because of my political party affiliation or my family values or my education, but by the Gospel affirmation that violence and death and fear and cover-up and misuse of authority are in no way Christian. Were Jesus faced with these things today, he would call out our current president and any politician or citizen or agency who blindly supports the current political climate of fear and dishonesty and injustice as being satanic. 

I am convinced that we are faced with this kind of losing and choosing often. That is, we must constantly be choosing God rather than self; we must choose Gospel rather than culture; we must choose love rather than hate; we must choose embrace rather than abuse. One function of society is to try and impose a definition of what is acceptable, and successful, and approved for citizens in that culture. Being able to discern what is the society’s definition of life and self is important in determining if that contradicts with the Gospel identity of our life and self with God. To be American is to embrace greed, but it’s not a Gospel virtue. To be American is to be aggressive and boastful, but the Gospel calls us to meekness and humility. To be American is to never run from a fight, but the Sermon on the Mount calls for turning the other cheek. To be American is be take revenge, but the Golden Rule does NOT say “do to others what they did to you.” If I have to choose these ways of being American, then I will willingly lose that part of myself for the sake of the Gospel. I have committed my life to being a follower of Jesus rather than an American.

Peter had to follow Jesus enough to watch Jesus die for the sake of living for God. And Peter failed at first to make the same choice for himself. When Peter denied Jesus, he must have felt like he lost his life for the sake of his security. He followed the Tempter instead of the Savior. But that was not Peter’s last chance or final choice. More opportunities came his way and later, he chose better.  What about us? Have we gained a way of life but lost our life with God? Our latest choice is not our last one. Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift.   

Questions for Reflection
1. What makes you you? Or asked differently, of what part of your “self” are you most aware?

2. The New Testament uses many images intended to remind us that we belong to God. When do you feel most like you belong to God?

3. The pandemic has limited our excess activities and experiences. How has a forced pause in life shown you things that you can live without?

Prayer of Thanksgiving. Thank you God for constant love. Please help our church family grow deeper and deeper in your love. Amen.

Song of Faith
The Summons

Will you come and follow me
If I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know
And never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown,
Will you let my name be known,
Will you let my life be grown
In you and you in me?

Will you leave yourself behind
If I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind
And never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare
Should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer
In you and you in me?

Will you let the blinded see
If I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free
And never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean,
And do such as this unseen,
And admit to what I mean
In you and you in me?

Will you love the ‘you’ you hide
If I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside
And never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found
To reshape the world around,
Through my sight and touch and sound
In you and you in me?

Lord, your summons echoes true
When you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you
And never be the same.
In your company I’ll go
Where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow
In you and you in me.

Sending Out
May the blessing and peace of God uphold you,
May the compassion and love of Christ enfold you,
and the vitality and power of the Holy Spirit embolden you
today and always. Amen.

Closing Song.  In our tradition, we close worship by singing the first verse of Blest Be the Tie.  Mindy starts us each week, and so she does today as well.

Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love.
The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. Amen.

Credits: The soccer image was taken by Torsten Bolton and posted at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Soccer_Youth_Goal_Keeper.jpg [retrieved August 27, 2020]. Psalm 105 was read by Gail. The Opening Prayer and Prayer of Confession were written by Moira Laidlaw. Sing to God with Joy was written by John L. Bell and set to the tune GLENDON (JLB). It is based on Psalm 147. World Peace Prayer was composed by Marty Haugen. The refrain was written by Satish Kumar (dates unknown), a Jain monk, who based the poem on passages from the Hindu scriptures known as the Upanishads. The verses were written by Haugen. The song is sung by Ally, Elizabeth, Laura, Mindy, and Tonya. The communion litany was written by the Mennonite Worship and Song Committee, 2018. Amazing Grace is set to the tune NEW BRITAIN from the Virginia Harmony, 1831. The words were written by John Newton (1807). The song was played by Aidan. The Summons was written by John L. Bell and set to the tune KELVINGROVE, a traditional Scottish melody. Blest be the Tie is set to the tune DENNIS which was composed by Johann G. Nageli (1836) and arranged by Lowell Mason (1872). The words were written by John Fawcett (1782). Scripture readings are from the Common English Bible translation. Hymns were sung by Mindy. Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #A-724755. All rights reserved.  All writings have been used by permission from the posting sites or authors.  

Read Full Post »

August 23 Home Worship Guide

Posted in Matthew, worship, tagged , , on August 23, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Preparation for Worship (same as last week)

  • Something green. Christian worship has different seasons throughout the year. We are in the season after Pentecost. The color green represents this time communicating growth and discipleship. Add some green to your worship area with cloth, paper, or plants.
  • Two candles. Our worship begins with the light of two candles: one represents Christ’s humanity and the other represents Christ’s divinity.
  • Something to eat and drink to celebrate communion. The type of food and drink does not matter for they are merely symbols which help us celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Caesarea Philippi as seen by Jeff, Sandy, and Annelise.

The Worship of God

Light two candles in recognition of Christ’s presence.  In our practice, one candle represents Jesus’ divinity and the other Jesus’ humanity.

Gathering for Worship

Passing the Peace
Say to one another, “May the Peace of Christ be with you.”
Respond by saying, “And also with you.”

Call to Worship
Psalm 124

Listen to a church member read the Psalm and/or read below.

If the Lord had not been on our side,
let Israel now say;
if the Lord had not been on our side,
when enemies rose up against us;
then would they have swallowed us up alive
in their fierce anger toward us;
then would the waters have overwhelmed us
and the torrent gone over us;
then would the raging waters
have gone right over us.
Blessed be the Lord
who has not given us over to be a prey for their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler;
the snare is broken, and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.

Opening Prayer
God our Help and our Redeemer, if you had not chosen to become a part of our lives, through the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, where and who would we be? Helpless! -helpless without you – and so we offer our heartfelt thanks and praise, for such evidence of your care for us. In and through Jesus, we have become more deeply aware of your goodness and mercy. As your presence enabled him to live courageously, so you strengthen us to live boldly through the gift of the Holy Spirit – your empowering presence in us. We pray that our worship and our daily living will resonate with our gratitude and praise for your presence with us, and all your gracious gifts to us.  This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen

Song of Praise
Alleluia, Alleluia! Give Thanks

Refrain:
Alleluia, alleluia! Give thanks to the risen Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia! Give praise to his name.

Jesus is Lord of all the earth.
He is the King of creation.
(Refrain.)

Spread the good news o’er all the earth;
Jesus has died and has risen.
(Refrain)

We have been crucified with Christ.
Now we shall live forever.
(Refrain)

Come, let us praise the living God,
Joyfully sing to our Savior.
(Refrain)

Psalm Reading and Prayer for Others

Psalm 138

Listen to church members read the Psalm and/or read below.


I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I will sing your praise.
I will bow down toward your holy temple and praise your name,
because of your love and faithfulness;
for you have glorified your name
and your word above all things.
When I called, you answered me;
you increased my strength within me.

All the rulers of the earth will praise you, O Lord,
when they have heard the words of your mouth.
They will sing of the ways of the Lord,
that great is the glory of the Lord.
Though you are high, you care for the lowly;
you perceive the haughty from afar.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe;
you stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies;
your mighty hand shall save me.
O Lord, you will make good your purpose for me;
your love endures for ever;
do not abandon the works of your hands.

Prayer for Others
Pause after each paragraph to give voice to prayers as prompted. [Additionally, if you would like our church family to pray for someone or something in particular this week, email the request to tonya@cullowheebaptist.com.]

Merciful God, who shelters us and guides us,
we give you thanks for….

God who comforts,
receive those who are fearful and lonely….

God whose love is steadfast,
be refuge for the ill, the dying, and those who care about them.…

God of righteousness,
we ask for your wisdom and ways of justice
to prevail in our community, this nation, your world….

God who seeks our trust, grow us and guide us in your ways that are life-giving in your world. Amen.

Celebrating Communion

Communion celebrates our unity–our unity with God and with one another. At Cullowhee Baptist Church we practice an open communion which means that anyone who seeks to live the Way of Jesus Christ is invited to share in communion with us. Although we are not able to meet together, our bond still remains with one another and God through Jesus Christ.

Imagine Jesus setting a table for us, a place where we may come together and share a meal. Before we “come to the table,” let us set our hearts aright and seek the Lord’s forgiveness for our shortcomings.

Prayer of Confession
Merciful God, we proclaim that Jesus is Christ, your Son. In Jesus, our lives, our minds, and our hearts are transformed and renewed so that we may discern your will for our lives, and all that is good and acceptable and perfect. We confess, however, that there are times when our actions and our words seem to be conformed more to other values than to doing your will.

If we believe that our faith experience is superior to the way others have come to faith and so fail to recognize and share the humility that life in Christ possesses. Forgive us.

If our relationships are so shaped by bitterness and jealousy, that we fail to recognize and share the joy that life in Christ reveals. Forgive us.

If we exclude people from our fellowship through our prejudice and discrimination; and so fail to recognize and share the love that life in Christ imparts. Forgive us.

If selfishness and greed so corrode our lifestyles that we fail to recognize and share the generosity that life in Christ delights in. Forgive us.

Merciful God, so transform us with the life of Christ and renew us in your image that the grace, humility and compassion which marked the life of Jesus will be clearly visible in and experienced through our lives; so that we who are one body in Christ may delight in sharing the gifts you graciously give us for both the building up of this community of faith and the communities where we live and work and play. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness
2 Corinthians 5:17-18a
If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, to whom we have been reconciled through Christ.

Now let us come to the “table.”

Invitation
The table has been prepared as Jesus requested,
and we have been invited to the meal.
We come to the table
like Peter, with more enthusiasm than resolve;
like James and John, dismayed by Jesus’s vision of a kingdom.
We come to the table
like Martha, hosting and leading with confidence;
like Mary eager to learn, and full of grief and love.
We come to the table
like Judas, disillusioned and rebellious;
like Mary, faithful to the end.
Jesus offers us the bread and the cup.
We come to the table of Christ.

Share what you have to eat.
Before eating, have someone say,
“This food represents the body of Christ.
As we eat, we remember Jesus.”

Share what you have to drink.
Before drinking, have someone say,
“This drink represents the covenant Christ made with us
that our sins will be forgiven.
As we drink, we remember Jesus.”

Prayer of Thanksgiving
Dear God, thank you for your abounding compassionate love. Thank you for guiding and leading us through these difficult times. Thank you for always being with us. Amen.

Song of Faith
Amazing Grace (NEW BRITAIN)

Amazing grace how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I am found,
was blind but now I see.

The Gospel Reading

A Reading from the Gospels
Matthew 16:13-20
13 Now when Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Human One is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” 15 He said, “And what about you? Who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17 Then Jesus replied, “Happy are you, Simon son of Jonah, because no human has shown this to you. Rather my Father who is in heaven has shown you. 18 I tell you that you are Peter. And I’ll build my church on this rock. The gates of the underworld won’t be able to stand against it. 19 I’ll give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Anything you fasten on earth will be fastened in heaven. Anything you loosen on earth will be loosened in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered the disciples not to tell anybody that he was the Christ.

Reflection on the Gospel from Tonya

Listen to the reflection and/or read below.

Throughout the summer our scripture readings for the most part have been from the Common English Bible translation. It is the translation of the Bibles that was given to our church children at the beginning of June. The Common English Bible is a very readable translation. One hundred and twenty scholars from 22 faith traditions worked on this translation which was completed in 2011. The translators chose to be accurate in translating, but to also offer clarity of expression.

For example, the phrase “Lord of hosts” appears hundreds of times in older Biblical translations. Those of us who grew up with those translations know the word “host” is referring to heavenly beings, like the angels and all those in the heavenly realm. We think of the Christmas story in Luke’s gospel where a multitude of the heavenly hosts were singing and praising God.  But “hosts” doesn’t have the same meaning for English readers today. Instead “hosts” are people in charge of a party or a dinner. Or in the realm of science, a “host” is something on which a parasite lives.  Although God is the Lord of Entertainment especially when it comes to meals, and one could say God is the the Lord of homes for all parasites, this is not exactly what the Bible was trying to say. Therefore, the CEB translators renders the phrase “Lord of hosts” as “Lord of heavenly forces.”  

All that is to say that when you listened to gospel being read or as you read it yourself, you heard or read Jesus referred to as “the Human One.”  This is how the CEB translates the Greek phrase we typically hear translated as “Son of Man.” You may have found the reference to Jesus as “the Human One” a little jarring, but it probably does us some good to be jarred by the names of Jesus every once in a while.

So why did the CEB translators choose to say “the Human One” instead of “the Son of Man”? When the Greeks used the phrase “son of x,” they were implying “one who has the character of x.” So if we were to use the phrase, “son of Mother Teresa,” we would be implying that this one has the character of Mother Teresa, not that Mother Teresa had a son. Another example can be found in Acts 13:10.  Paul calls a sorcerer “a son of the devil.” Paul isn’t saying the person’s daddy is a devil. Rather, Paul is saying the character of the sorcerer is like the character of the devil.  In other words, he is devilish. So when the phrase “son of man” is used to describe Jesus, the phrase is saying Jesus is humanish. Jesus identifies with humanity. Jesus has taken on the characteristics of human beings. Jesus shares in our humanity. So the CEB chose to translate the phrase as Jesus, “the Human One.”

Now, let’s take a look at the gospel story. What good news does God have for us today?

In this Sunday’s reading, Jesus and the disciples have traveled north into the area of Caesarea Philippi.  If you have a chance to look at a map of Palestine from that time, find the Sea of Galilee, paddle your way north up the Jordan River all the way to Lake Hula. By the way, you won’t find Lake Hula on a map today. The lake was drained in the 1950’s. Zionist philosophy in the 50’s wanted to increase the amount of land for growing crops and grazing cattle. They also touted the claim that draining the lake would help eradicate malaria. Now they are working to restore the Hula Valley and hopefully the lake. Look back to your biblical map which still shows the tranquil lake. Now go a little east and a little north from the lake and you will be that foot of a mountain chain (think Mt. Hermon) and there you will find Caesarea Philippi.

Sometimes it is good to see where the story is happening. Jesus and his disciples always seem to be on the move: traveling along the Mediterranean seashore, hopping over to the Sea of Galilee, and now back up north to Caesarea Philippi. I’m not sure there’s a rhyme or reason to the zigzag travel pattern, but I’m sure someone has affixed some spiritual or religious meaning to it.

Back when Jesus was in the Mediterranean seashore cities of Tyre and Sidon (which are south of present day Beirut), Jesus encountered a woman who sought healing for her daughter from Jesus. However, the woman wasn’t Jewish. Jesus called this to her attention when she asked for his help.  He had been sent to help Jewish people who had been overlooked by their faith tradition. She knew better and would not be deterred by what he perceived to be his marching orders. She begged him to help her little girl. He again pointed out that she was not Jewish and that it wouldn’t be good to take what gifts and talents he had and use them for those who were not Jewish. And then she counters what he says by implying that there is enough of Jesus for everyone. It was just like she had heard Jesus’ story about the mustard seed or the one he told about the wee little bit of yeast leavening a ton of bread. Jesus, just even a little bit of you will do. You are more than enough for everyone. Jesus answers her with these words, “Woman, you have great faith.” I’m not sure he ever said that to the disciples–the great faith part; however, I do recall him saying to them, “O ye of little faith.”  

It fascinates me that shortly after this encounter with the woman of great faith, Jesus tries to get a feel from his disciples for how he is being seen by others. He has had the Jewish religious leaders barking at him. They want him to do some tricks especially for them so they can see if he really is who people say he is. He declines the invitation. But up north, at the foot of Mt. Hermon, Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do the people say I am? What’s the talk out there in the field about me?”  They give him the laundry list. Well, some see you as John the Baptist come back to life. Some rumors are going around that you are Elijah come back to life. And then there are some out there who say you just might be Jeremiah. And there are tons of other rumors floating around saying your are one of the other prophets come back from the dead.  

Then Jesus asks them what they think.  “What about you? Who do you say that I am?”

Peter is the only one the gospels record as speaking up. However, no additional word was needed. Simon Peter confesses, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”   

You are “the Christ” means You are the One who has been anointed and appointed by God to come and save the world. You are the “Son of the living God” means we see the character of God in you. I view Peter’s confession as an affirmation and thus a blessing. Did Jesus need someone to say these words so that he could become the Savior of the world? No. But what a difference it makes when others can see the living God in you. What an encouragement when your closest companions can see that God has anointed you and sent you to save the world. Jesus, the Human One, can relate to our need to be affirmed. Jesus, the Human One knows what it is like to just need a little bit more encouragement from those around you.

You know what a difference it makes, how empowering it is when the community of believers affirms you and the identity God has created within you. You know how uplifting it is when the community of believers lets you know that they can see the nature of the living God in what you do and say. You know how assuring it is when the community of believers affirms the calling of God in your life. Did Jesus need Peter to say these words?  No.  But think of how leaders of the faith tradition wanted to suppress Jesus. They did not affirm the anointing of God upon him. They did not affirm the character of God in him that everyone else could see. They could not affirm him because Jesus did not fit into their definition of what God would look like or act like. Jesus didn’t meet their expectations. So think what a difference it must have made to Jesus to have those who knew him best affirm his identity in God.

Jesus’ question to the disciples is a question we must ask ourselves, not just once, but every day. Who do we say Jesus is? 

I hope and pray that we can join with Peter in saying, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.” We may be like the woman on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. We have been shunned and pushed away from the Christian faith because we were seen as the wrong kind of person to be included. Others may think that there is no way on God’s green earth that we could live the way of Jesus  We may be like Jesus’ close companions. We didn’t have a difficult time being seen as a Christian and we are eager to learn so we can better live the Way of Jesus.  We may even be like the religious leaders. We refuse to believe because Jesus doesn’t do what we want or what we say we need in order to believe.  I pray for each us no matter where we are in our relationship and understanding of Jesus, that we will join with Peter in saying, “Jesus is Christ, the Son of the living God.”  

But these are not just the words we say with our mouths. Last week’s gospel reading has already made this point. These are words that we live as well. How we act and what we do says a lot about who Jesus is to us. You may want to think of it this way. If we confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, do others know this by what we do and how we live? Turn the idea a little bit more and ask yourself, what kind of Jesus am I confessing and professing through what I do. Does my family see my profession of Jesus matching with my actions? If I’m professing Jesus is the Christ, what kind of Jesus are my actions reflecting to my coworkers? Think about your neighbors? Member of the community? Members of our church family? Our sister church in Brazil?  Are our words and actions confessing Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God?

Jesus says, “What about you? Who do you say that I am?”

Questions for Reflection

  1. In what ways do you want to be more like Jesus? 
  1. How do our choices and actions communicate the goodness of God? 
  1. How do you distinguish between your faith in God and faith in God’s people? Do they depend upon one another?

Prayer of Thanksgiving. Thank you God for constant love. Please help our church family grow deeper and deeper in your love. Amen.

Song of Faith
Christ is Made the Sure Foundation

1 Christ is made the sure foundation,
Christ the head and corner-stone
chosen of the Lord and precious,
binding all the Church in one;
holy Zion’s help for ever,
and her confidence alone.

2 All within that holy city
dearly loved of God on high,
in exultant jubilation
sing, in perfect harmony;
God the One-in-Three adoring
in glad hymns eternally.

3 We as living stones implore you:
Come among us, Lord, today!
with your gracious loving-kindness
hear your children as we pray;
and the fulness of your blessing
in our fellowship display.

4 Here entrust to all your servants
what we long from you to gain
that on earth and in the heavens
we one people shall remain,
till united in your glory
evermore with you we reign.

5 Praise and honour to the Father,
praise and honour to the Son,
praise and honour to the Spirit,
ever Three and ever One:
one in power and one in glory
while eternal ages run.

Sending Out
May the blessing and peace of God uphold you,
May the compassion and love of Christ enfold you,
and the vitality and power of the Holy Spirit nourish and sustain you
today and always. Amen.

Closing Song.  In our tradition, we close worship by singing the first verse of Blest Be the Tie.  Mindy starts us each week, and so she does today as well.

Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love.
The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. Amen.

Credits: The psalm readings are from the Anglican Liturgical Psalter (https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/GS2016-Liturgical-Psalter-2016-05-04.pdf). Psalm 124 was read by Donna. The Opening Prayer, Prayer of Confession, and Sending Out were written by Moira Laidlaw. Alleluia, Alleluia. Give Thanks was written by Donald Fishel and set to the tune ALLELUIA, NO. 1 composed by Fishel. Psalm 138 was read by Tonya, Laura, and Kelly. The communion litany was written by the Mennonite Worship and Song Committee, 2018. Amazing Grace is set to the tune NEW BRITAIN from the Virginia Harmony, 1831. The words were written by John Newton (1807). The song was played by Aidan. Christ is Made the Sure Foundaion is set to a tune REGENT SQUARE composed by Henry T. Smart (1879). The words were written by John M. Neale. Blest be the Tie is set to the tune DENNIS which was composed by Johann G. Nageli (1836) and arranged by Lowell Mason (1872). The words were written by John Fawcett (1782). The gospel reading is from the Common English Bible translation. Hymns were played by Tracy on the organ and sung by Mindy. Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #A-724755. All rights reserved.  All writings have been used by permission from the posting sites or authors.  

Read Full Post »

%d bloggers like this: