Lord of the Sabbath - 6/6/21
Call to worship:
L: The God who answers in a day of trouble is among us,
P: And, behold, it is very good!
L: The God who lights a candle during the night is here,
P: And, behold, it is very good!
A: Hearts, rejoice! For peace has triumphed over trouble, and morning has broken eternal light!
Opening Hymn: Jesu, Jesu #432
[Refrain:]
Jesu, Jesu,
fill us with your love, show us how to serve
the neighbors we have from you.
1 Kneels at the feet of his friends,
silently washes their feet,
Master who acts as a slave to them.
(Refrain)
2 Neighbors are rich and poor,
neighbors are black and white,
neighbors are near and far away.
(Refrain)
3 These are the ones we should serve,
these are the ones we should love;
all these are neighbors to us and you.
(Refrain)
4 Loving puts us on our knees,
serving as though we are slaves,
this is the way we should live with you.
(Refrain)
5 Kneel at the feet of our friends,
silently washing their feet,
this is the way we should live with you.
(Refrain)
Opening Prayer:
O God, you do not see as we see. You do not look upon us as we look upon others. Our eyes are seduced by outward appearance, but yours cut straight for the heart.
Search us, O God. Lay bare our ardent longing for you, and grant our heart’s desire. Amen.
Epistle Reading: II Corinthians 4: 5-12
5 For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. 6 For
it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has
shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But
we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that
this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. 11 For
while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake,
so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Hymn: Breathe on Me, Breath of God #420
1. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
fill me with life anew,
that I may love what thou dost love,
and do what thou wouldst do.
2. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
until my heart is pure,
until with thee I will one will,
to do and to endure.
3. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
till I am wholly thine,
till all this earthly part of me
glows with thy fire divine.
4. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
so shall I never die,
but live with thee the perfect life
of thine eternity.
Prayer of Dedication:
Almighty God, what power you pour out upon us! What possibilities you instill within us! You fill our hearts, these fragile earthen pots, with strength and promise. A treasure, indeed, you bestow.
Let us not hide or hoard the treasure that you have entrusted to us. Rather, let us use it to bring others to you and your love and grace. Amen.
Gospel Reading: Mark 2: 23 – 3: 6
23 One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26 He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” 27 Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28 so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
3 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
Sermon Title: Lord of the Sabbath
Today we are celebrating the Sabbath; not because it is Sunday or the weekend or even a vacation day. We are celebrating the Sabbath by jumping out of our ordinary schedules and into something different, and all the while, we are taking time to talk with God. Not just listen, and not just talk to; but having an actual conversation with Almighty God, our Father and Creator.
We find the best of examples of this conversation technique with God from Jesus. He was often found to be wandering away from the crowd in order to have some alone time to converse with God. It didn’t always work out the best, but he never stopped endeavoring to be alone with God to accomplish this goal of conversation. It was in these moments that Jesus felt closest to Father God and this is certainly an inspirational thought for us to be able to be close to God who loves us with an everlasting love. While alone time with God is favored, we happen to be together for worship today and we also want to have that special time with our heavenly Father. So today, we will have a group picnic with God.
I would like to perpetuate this together time with a reading from Acts 2: 43-47.
“Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as they had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”
Eating together is something that friends do; either you are friends when you sit down with each other, or you soon will be. More than likely, you are celebrating something, even if it just the fact that you can be together. Eating together is the symbol of shared life. And of course, if we are eating together, there will be bread. Bread is a staple in our culture for most meals, whatever ethnicity might be involved; there is some kind of bread to share with each other, so share we will.
In John 6: 35, we hear the words of Jesus, “I am the bread of life.” This is why bread is a part of our everyday diet, even if it must be gluten free or take forms that we are unfamiliar with. Thomas R. Kelly gave us something to remember when he said, “the deepest need of men is not food, clothing, and shelter, as important as these are, It is God.” And so with this message of what is truly important, we go back to our picnic to make sure that we have what we need. We have bread for sure, we have our fruit salad, crunchy vegetables, and of course, we have our unfermented wine. We have each other and a checkered tablecloth and we are ready to dine. Today as we dine, we will picnic with God, we will receive elements that may not be familiar to us, but if we dine with God, on the Sabbath, we know that our meal is blessed. For we know the Lord of the Sabbath, and today, we dine with Him and give Him all glory.
Amen
Benediction:
Saint Francis de Sales once advised busy people living in the world, “Retire at various times into the solitude of your own heart, even while outwardly engaged in discussion or transactions with others, and talk to God.”
Closing Hymn: Pass It On #572
And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing.
That’s how it is with God’s love.
Once you’ve experienced it,
You spread the love to everyone.
You want to pass it on.
2. What a wond’rous time is spring,
When all the tress are budding.
The birds begin to sing, the flowers start their blooming.
That’s how it is with God’s love,
Once you’ve experienced it.
You want to sing, it’s fresh like spring,
You want to pass it on.
This happiness that I’ve found.
You can depend on God,
It matters not where you’re bound.
I’ll shout it from the mountaintop, “Praise God!”
I want the world to know
The Lord of Love has come to me.
I want to pass it on.
