A great divide
ST ANDREW’S CHURCH
FEBRUARY 13th 2022
LIGHTING OF THE CHRIST CANDLE
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
AGM February 27th immediately following our Worship Service
World Day of prayer – will be held via Zoom. ST John’s Anglican is the host this year – more details closer to the day.
CALL TO WORSHIP
Sing to the Lord a new song!
Let us make melody before our God!
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Let us praise God’s holy name together.
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
For God is gracious and steadfast in mercy.
A song of praise is always fitting,
For God heals the broken hearted and binds up our wounds.
HYMN 412 Come, let us sing to the Lord our song
Come, let us sing to the Lord our song:
we have stood silently too long;
surely the Lord deserves our praise,
so joyfully thank God for our days.
O thirsty soul, come drink at the well;
God’s living waters will never fail.
Surely the Lord will help you to stand,
strengthened and comforted by God’s hand.
You dwell among us and cause us to pray, and
walk with each other following your way;
our precious brothers and sisters will grow
in the fulfilling love they know.
Deserts shall bloom and mountains shall sing
to the desire of all living things.
Come, all you creatures, high and low;
let your praises endlessly flow.
PRAYER OF INVOCATION
God of majesty and mystery, we come before you in wonder and humility. Source of all that is, you are beyond our imagining, astonishing us with the detail and designs within your creation.
Word of hope and healing, you touch our lives with truth and tenderness, revealing our need and our gift. Spirit of purpose and possibility, you move within us when we least expect it, awakening our gifts, urging us to respond. Receive our praise and prayer this day, and prepare us to receive your Word in its wisdom and warning, for we come to you through Christ our Lord, trusting in his grace and truth. Hear us as we confess together …..
UNISON PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God of life and love,
at this season of the year our hearts are grateful
for all the love which touches our lives.
Still we confess that we are not always shining
examples of the love we long for.
Forgive us those times when we failed to keep our word
and disappointed those who love us.
Forgive us when we gave into our tempers and temptations
and disappointed your hopes for us.
Renew and remake us through the grace of your Son, Jesus,
your love made flesh. In Jesus name AMEN
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
St John records that God is love, and that God’s perfect love casts out fear. We are promised that those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. So claim your hope in this Good News: God’s perfect love and forgiveness abides in you through Jesus Christ our Lord. Take comfort in the assurance that God who knows us completely bestows pardon and peace.. May the peace of our Lord be on you
THE PEACE
HYMN 27 As the deer
As the deer pants for the water so my soul longs after you
You alone are my hearts desire and I long to worship you.
Refrain
You alone are my strength, my shield
To you alone may my spirit yield.
you alone are my heart’s desire
and I long to worship you.
I want you more than gold or silver, only You can satisfy
You alone are the true joy giver and the apple of my eye.
Refrain
You’re my friend and you are my brother even though you are my king.
I want you more than any other So much more than anything.
Refrain
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law meditates day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Luke 6:17-26
17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
20 Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
SERMON
The Continental Divide is an amazing place. At the Divide, raindrops can fall to the earth just inches apart but end up in oceans in opposite ends of the country. Where the rain falls makes all the difference in where it ends up. So it is with life; every action we take has consequences as to where we will end up. The Psalmist concludes todays reading “For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” The roads we walk, the rules we live by, the place where we plant ourselves determines our final destination. The Psalmist establishes the fact that in life there is a great divide.
What was the world of the Psalmist like? What were the conditions in which they were writing and what were they trying to express to those who would listen? Who are the wicked? Who are the righteous? Who are the blessed ones? How does one know the difference? Is this an either/or proposition? Can one be both wicked and righteous at the same time? I think the answers lie beyond our capacity to know with certainty.
Discerning that which is wicked and that which is righteous is more complicated than it may appear at first glance. The Psalmist invites readers into complicated spaces of personal reflection to examine themselves and their own assumptions about what is right, good, true, and worth doing. Psalm 1 provokes an internal conversation about who we are and who we think we are ! It invites us into spaces of discomfort and personal recognition as related questions arise in our mind.
At first glance, it appears there is a clear separation between that which is wicked and that which is righteous. Those who are wicked are living a life that leads to destruction. Those who are righteous are living lives that lead to blessings lived under the watchful eye of God. However, discerning who is wicked and who is righteous is no easy matter.
The Psalmist recognizes the frailty and precariousness of life outside the law of God and us This writer invites us into a world where delight is found not in material things, but in the law of the LORD
In poetic imagery the writer draws attention to images of trees planted next to streams of water and to whose roots always find nourishment to yield fruit. The water is like the law of God that becomes part of the tree itself and causes it to flourish. Without water, the tree will undoubtedly fail and die. Meditation on the law of God is regarded as something that gets inside of us like water and brings refreshment to parched minds and hearts and bears fruit. This stream can strengthen people so that they might discern that which is wicked and choose against it. The Psalmist is inviting people corporately and individually to live life in all its fullness by allowing the law of God to permeate them completely. It is a good goal and we are invited to the journey toward that goal.
It seems there is no shortage of those who are ready to label someone as wicked and slow to name someone as righteous -except perhaps those who think and act as they do. Maybe this has always been the case. However, our contemporary period seems to be more pointed and acidic than at any time in recent history, Scripture also reminds us it’s not our place to judge others .
I have never been particularly politically focused. However the current situation in Canada is very distressing. We seem to be living in a society of parallel worlds in which each side believes they hold the truth, the whole truth and noting but the truth. One persons idea of Freedom holds another in bondage. A very contemporary illustration of the Great Divide
A Value system is defined as a collection of principles and standards that form our behavior and guide our decision-making. Individuals and corporations have a value system that governs the way they live and do business. We either seek peace and harmony or uproar and chaos. Corporations either emphasize ethical conduct and caring or get the job done at any cost. In this passage from the gospel of Luke, Jesus lays out the value system he expects his followers to adopt. He is not pronouncing a blessing on poverty, hunger or weeping. Nor is he placing a curse on riches, abundance, laughter and social acceptance.
The blessings and woes that follow describe a world that reverses almost everything they (and we) know of how things work
Jesus opens such a different world view from our own that it leaves us stirred and shaken. “Whoa! Stop right there! Before we go any further, here’s what you need to know.”, Jesus is just getting started. “Whoa! Here’s what’s important, disciples of mine. Whoa! Here’s what you need to hold on to.” Jesus’ speech in these verses is quite direct. God’s good news to the poor is also tough news for those who are not poor.
I think “whoa” is exactly what we need to hear right now. A message from Jesus that pulls us up short. Makes us acknowledge what is truly important about our calling and what we believe is at stake for us
Power flows from Jesus, and not just any power, but the power of God. – This power is all about healing and restoring those who have come for help. Jesus, is not about pitting blessings against curses or favor against judgment. Jesus is trying to get the disciples’ attention. He is trying to get our attention.
Verse is 24 – “Woe to you who are rich because you have all the comfort you are going to get.” This is the key that unlocks a true interpretation of the entire passage.
Jesus sees how wealth can encase people in a hard shell of their seeming self-sufficiency. – remember the story of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus at night asking what he had to do to inherit the kingdom of God? He went away sorrowful because he couldn’t open his hands to give all his wealth away. Consider the rich man who decided he would build two barns in which to store his magnificent and abundant crops ( Luke 12:16-21). Here riches distract from heeding the ways of God and lead this farmer into death -away from life with God in his present life and in the hereafter
Prosperity is not related to wealth but to well being Prosperity is spiritual – pertaining to the soul . Prosperity is not a matter of how much we earn but how much we share – not how many gifts we possess but how many we use to the benefit of others
Does God only love us when we are miserable? That is not the meaning of these two texts They are promises to those who are suffering in this world that God still sees them, loves them, and is intent on their thriving. Jesus’ words are also warning calls to his hearers that they are called to live with attention and generosity toward their neighbors, even as God is attentive and generous.
Shifts in human understanding brought about by science and technology have resulted in countless revisions of what connotes human freedom. The complexities of what we know through contemporary science and technology only complicates our meditation on the law. Perhaps the contemporary clash of ideas about what might be wicked and righteous stems from battles external and internal Science and techology doesn’t tnegate the teachings of Jesus . They invite deeper levels of reflection.
We are so completely bombarded with the world’s viewpoint that everything can get skewed. Our feelings, our sensitivities, our misperceptions can beoverwhelming. Questions and ideas bump up against core convictions about what is right and wrong, good and evil, valuable and invaluable,
The “wealth gap,” the “education gap,” the “health gap,” and myriad other gaps and failures around the world mark the two sides of the blessings and woes., During our life, experience discloses to us that knowing and doing are not always in alignment with one another. Yet, knowing can aid us in choosing that which is right, good, and true. Sometimes we also know what is wrong and we know that doing it will also be wrong and bring it’s consequences
This text gets right to it. By the world’s measure, if you are rich, successful, happy and popular, that means you are blessed by God. By the same token, the world says that if you are poor, miserable, ugly and rejected, you have a disability, -you or someone in your family has done something to displease God. Blessings, by worldly standards, are understood as circumstances. The are possessions, independence, fame, power.
Society is so engulfed in this world, it is hard for many to understand what Jesus is teaching. Jesus is not saying that you have to be poor and persecuted and hated in order to be blessed. He’s not saying that these circumstances are a prerequisite to blessing. There are lots of poor, hungry, crying, hated people who are not blessed at all – who don’t know and certainly don’t live in submission to the reign of God. Too many are just angry and mean and despairing that they, by the standards of the world, have no blessing.
We also need to understand just because you are successful by the world’s standards, does not mean either that you are blessed, or cursed by God. But if those worldly circumstances are all that you identify yourself by, then that’s all you’re going to get. Woe to you, because that stuff –riches, food, laughter, popularity – doesn’t last, If you rely on money, you’ll know poverty. You may be full now, but you’ll get hungry. If you rely on good laughs, you’ll end up crying. And if you get by on your popularity, people will begin to hate you. You will have your time of knowing just the opposites.
Jesus has a whole other meaning to the word ‘blessing”.The word ‘blessed’ for Jesus refers to the condition of one who lives their lives in the Kingdom of God – who submits to God’s rule in their lives. It’s not about circumstances. It is about knowing that God rules your life within your circumstances. If you know that, you are blessed. But if all you know are the promises of this world, then that’s all you’ll have. No matter how successful you are in this world, that is not enough to be blessed. However we also need to know when God works, the circumstances that result are not always going to be easy
What Jesus is saying is that you are now free not to give the world much control over you. So what is the bottom line? When the standards of the world guide you, you will struggle.. When you let the kingdom of God have the final word about the meaning and significance of your life, you will have true joy.
The assumption here is that all of us want to be blessed. Just about every time I pray for someone, for anyone, I pray that God may richly bless them. It’s good religious words, but depending on what our understanding of blessing is, it can mean very different things.
That is what this passage is about. It demands that we recognize in ourselves how we measure the blessings in our lives. There are two basic measures of blessing. There are worldly measures, and there is a Godly measure. Jesus only has one measure. But the world has many. The Jews of Jesus’ time used worldly measures of their blessings. Many Christians today also claim worldly measures of blessing for themselves.
We stand on the cusp of the Great Divide When the standards of the world guide you, you will have great woe. When you let God determine who you are, you will be greatly blessed When you let the kingdom of God have the final word about the meaning and significance of your life, you will have true joy and know without a doubt that you are indeed truly blessed by God. AMEN
HYMN 624 Blest are they
Blest are they, the poor in spirit
Theirs is the kingdom of God
Blest are they, full of sorrow
They shall be consoled
Refrain
Rejoice and be glad
Blessed are you; holy are you
Rejoice and be glad
Yours is the Kingdom of God
Blest are they, the lowly ones
They shall inherit the earth
Blest are they, who hunger and thirst
They shall have their fill
Refrain
Blest are they who show mercy
Mercy shall be theirs
Blest are they, the pure of heart
They shall see God
Refrain
Blest are they who seek peace
They are the children of God
Blest are they who suffer in faith
The glory of God is theirs
Refrain
Blest are you who suffer hate
All because of me
Rejoice and be glad, yours is the kingdom
Shine for all to see
Refrain
OFFERING
Our faith does not rely on human wisdom, but on the power of God working in us and among us. So we bring our offering, trusting that each gift has a power beyond itself, the power God gives. Trust in the miracle of God at work in the world through the gifts we bring.
DOXOLOGY
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him all creatures here below
Praise him above ye heavenly host.
Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost
OFFERTORY PRAYER
God, you are the Source of our lives. From you, all loving kindness, justice and mercy flow. Bless these gifts so that acts of kindness, justice and mercy may flow through them, too. Bless our lives so our words and actions show your Spirit at work in us and through us, in the name of Jesus Christ, our friend and Saviour. Amen.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
God of mystery and mercy ,We come before you today carrying our hopes and dreams, the burdens and blessings of our lives. We bring all that is on our hearts and minds to you, seeking your comfort and strength, listening for your guidance, grateful that you hear us when we pray. Faithful God, Hear our prayer.
God of life and love, We give you thanks that you engage us whenever we need you, in the midst of challenge and uncertainty. We pray today for all those who are fearful about their future, and for all who wrestle with challenges at work or at home .Help us face our fears and our challenges, sure of your steadfast love:
God of hope and healing, In Jesus Christ you confront demons that trouble our minds and the pain and illness which can weigh us down. We pray today for all those who are facing health concerns, and for all who care for the suffering and those in need support. .Surround each one with your steadfast love.
God of peace and promise, when we wrestle with any burden, your Spirit prays within us with sighs too deep for words. Today we pray for all those whose burdens seem too heavy to bear: for the victims of violence or disaster, for their friends and families…
For refugees at risk in so many places in the world, and those making a new home in our community…
For those caught in despair and poverty in our own neighbourhoods a nd in the forgotten corners of your world..
Renew the strength of all facing realities beyond their control with your steadfast love:
For all who are caught up in the overwhelming mess of their “search for freedom “ we pray fro a peaceful and constructive ending for all who are looking for justice, leadership,– that the personal damage to so many and the damage to our country ecomomics will quickly come to an end without violence or injury.
Lord we thank you for the blessings poured out on Chuck as this past week he has entered a new chapter of his life with his retirement . We know you are with him and his family as he goes forward into all the challenges he may encounter .
Lord as days become lighter and spring begins to approach we lift to you all those who are engaged in agriculture – farmers , orchardists, vinters and others as they prepare for the coming growing season and the hopes for good crops.
Bountiful Lord we give you thanks……….
Great physician we lift to you ……………….
Dear God Receive all our prayers, spoken and unspoken, and equip us to do your will as together we pray the words Jesus taught us:
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
HYMN 371 Love divine, all loves excelling
Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven, to earth come down;
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter every trembling heart.
Breathe, oh breathe thy loving Spirit
into every troubled breast!
Let us all in thee inherit,
let us find the promised rest;
take away our love of sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
end of faith as its beginning,
set our hearts at liberty.
Come, almighty to deliver,
let us all thy grace receive;
suddenly return and never,
never more thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above,
pray and praise thee, without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.
Finish then thy new creation;
pure and spotless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation
perfectly re stored in thee,
changed from glory into glory
till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love and praise.
BENEDICTION
May the love of God the Father enfold us , the wisdom of the Son enlighten us and the fire of the Spirit kindle us and may the blessings of God remain with us always.
CLOSING SONG