Waiting for the calling in Christ
August 4, 2024
Waiting for God’s calling
Lighting the Christ Candle
Welcome and Announcements
Call to Worship
Loving God, we come to you in worship and thanksgiving.
Open our eyes that we may see the wonderful truths
you have shown to us in Jesus.
You are more loving than our hearts can respond to;
help us to give ourselves to you in worship so that we learn what you want us to be.
You are wiser than we can know;
still our minds as we worship you so that we can understand the things you are saying to us.
Loving God, in Jesus you chose to come to the world in humility. In Jesus you renewed the calling of those who thought they knew you.
We worship and adore you and we seek to know you. Amen.
Hymn: 670 Amazing Grace
Prayer of Adoration
You break in, O God, as we journey on the road, wondering where the road may lead us. We welcome your presence, and desire your guidance and leadership. Continue to break in O God, exactly the way we don’t expect you to come, and say what we don’t expect you to say. Open our ears and our hearts so that we will listen, and you will change everything
We are ready to hear your new call, and the invitation to hear the truth you will bring us. We are ready to enter that new realm, and embrace the new world that you open before us.
Break in, O God with your intent for the future
Hear us now as we acknowledge our failure to see and hear you along the way, and as we confess, prepare our hearts to know you more fully….
Prayer of Confession:
Loving God, we seek to follow your desire and walk in your ways. We want to observe your commandment to love you, ourselves and others.
We confess that we are blinded by the way we want to see things. We confuse our will, with your calling.
We go where you don’t ask us to go. We turn a blind eye to the suffering of your people.
Call to us again, that with open eyes we may see how you call us to work together.
Loving God, we seek to follow your desire
And walk in your ways, show us the path that leads to your desire for us.
Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
God’s law, is perfect, reviving our souls, and his commandments are sure, rejoicing our hearts.
Trust in God’s power, and in his wisdom as you receive the gift of his wholeness. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen
Passing the Peace
Hymn: 689 Simply trusting
Scripture:
Acts 7: 54-58
Acts 9: 1-18
1 Corinthians 2: 2-5
Sermon: Waiting for the calling in Christ
The first reading reveals the events of the stoning of Stephen. His crime—proclaiming that Jesus was crucified for our salvation.
If the cruelty of the stoning is the only thing that we focus on, we miss the subtle clues that point us to a larger problem. In verse 58 we read: “Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.” Had we moved on to the next chapter we would have encountered these words, “And Saul approved of their killing him.” Acts 8: 1 NIV
Saul was a very dangerous part of the problem. He was a well renowned scholar of the Hebrew scriptures, and often went about teaching those scriptures in the Synagogues and the Temple. In addition, he was in the employ of the Temple and those who wanted to eradicate the growing followers of the way of Jesus. So Saul would infiltrate their groups and having learned who were among them, he would give their names to the leaders in the Temple, who would arrest them, and try them, and stone them for their faith.
So really, the person who just stood by, guarding the robes of the executioners, had as much blood on his hands as they did. Saul was guilty of persecuting and murdering the followers of Jesus.
When we next encounter him, he is on the ground, having fallen off his horse, and in an encounter with the risen Christ. There, blinded by the light that only he saw, he heard Jesus ask him, why he was a persecutor of the faith.
And then this enemy of the faith receives his instruction to wait. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” Jesus replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. Acts 8: 7-9
We have spoken often that waiting on God requires faith and trust. Based only on the command of Jesus to go to the city and wait to be told what to do, Saul goes. There he stays in the home of Judas, surely a man destined to be one of the next victims of Saul’s vendetta.
That is where he stays for 3 days, neither eating nor drinking.
We have looked at a lot of ways in which people could wait on the Lord’s revelation.
Getting on with everyday life.
Continued acts of service to God.
Being a presence among our neighbours, even those who hold us captive.
Continued prayer and worship.
Even testing God to ensure we hear his voice.
But we have not yet looked at fasting and prayer.
Fasting and prayer was often emphasized in the 80’s. It seemed like a lot of the people in the churches were practicing fasting and prayer. If they had a dilemma that needed an answer they fasted and prayed. Three days was the norm and 10 days were also common. But some followed what was known as a complete fast, which entailed 30 days.
Those days, whatever the length, were a time when you were to be entirely focused on prayer and listening for God to speak It has spiritual merit, when it brings followers closer to God, and strengthens their faith.
I think that this is what happened here for Saul. Blind, confused, perhaps afraid, he fasts, not just food but also water, as he lies in the darkness and worries, wonders, and prays about what has happened to him. He must have wondered how long he would have to wait. In the waiting God gave him a vison of Ananias, who would come to him and pray for Saul to restore his sight.
Ananias, as you can imagine was reluctant to go, Saul’s considerable reputation making him question if God knew what he was doing.
God reassured him, saying, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Acts 8: 15-16 NIV
So Ananias did as God asked, Saul received his sight, then spent several days with the disciples in Damascus, and they taught him about Jesus and explained how the Scriptures and specially the prophets wrote about the suffering Messiah.
Saul believed.
God gave him a new name, Paul.
And immediately Paul began to preach in the synagogues.
It took time, but eventually people trusted him.
Over the years of his travelling ministry and the many letters from prison Paul distilled his calling into one simple phrase—knowing only Christ and Christ crucified.
Today we are not going to focus on Paul’s wait, but on how Paul developed his calling into one simple phrase. That simple statement is what Root and Bertrand call a “watchword.” In fact, they say to “forget the mission statement and get a watchword.”
You will remember that we talked about the need for the church to wait, it was as an antidote to the ways in which the church has adopted the business practices of the prevailing culture.
Those practices included things like:
Plans and Agendas
Projects and workshops
Retreats to find a purpose
All of it intended to find a way to “fix” the problems the church thinks it has. Problems such as dwindling attendance, a lack of young people, no Sunday School, and included things like a lack of volunteers, and fewer people attending Bible Study or small groups.
In the process of planning to find a way to solve these perceived problems, congregations developed 5 and 10 year plans, all based on the mission statement that they spent so much time carefully crafting to include everything that they thought ministry and mission should be.
Just for fun, I looked at the website to read ours. It says a lot of very good things.
St. Andrew’s opens its doors in Christian love and hospitality:
- To all who wish to worship God in Spirit and in truth.
- To all who may be longing to build a deeper relationship with God, with Christ, and with the blessing of the Holy Spirit.
- To all seeking to build friendships in a strong Christian community.
- To all who love God’s house and wish to hear the Word preached and to lift their voices in hymns of praise.
- To all who long to unite in prayer and fellowship; to serve in the building of The Kingdom in this community and around the world.
Young and young at heart, swift or slow, in need of fellowship and Grace, seeking the saving, forgiving love of God in Jesus Christ, you all will find a warm welcome at St. Andrew’s.
A very good plan, and a well thought out idea of who might find themselves coming through our doors to learn about the Jesus we know, love and serve.
But there is a lot packed in there. How can we do all of that? How can we distill that into a watchword? Or do we need to look at who we are and what God is already having us do to find a new word for our watchword?
Hmm… I looked further.
On the “ABOUT” page I found this:
We feel strongly that our purpose is: “To live and share the Gospel, the saving, forgiving love of God in Jesus Christ.”
And then on the worship page, I found this.
St. Andrew’s offers the welcoming warmth of a traditional worship service that helps us “To live and share the Gospel, the saving, forgiving love of God in Jesus Christ.”
Root and Bertrand write that in a waiting congregation, we find our watchword and then help our people live it out. Finding that watchword requires attentiveness. Then, with the watchword we are able to go out into the world to wait for the acting God because we have a story to live out.
So when we look at what you have distilled and declared there are questions. Does the worship page message mean that we live our our purpose and calling in worship? I think you may be close to having a watchword; but I also think that worship is only a small part of what it may be. I believe that if we stop and listen, watch and take note of how we live faith into the world that watchword that defines our calling together will become very clear.
There are some steps that Root and Bertrand outline in that process.
First encounter one another. We recall that part of the growth in a waiting congregation is more resonance with one another. More involvement with one another, and more time just enjoying each other.
Second, we need to encounter God. We look for him, not just in worship but also in the world. Or in a burning bush. Or a blossoming shrub. Or a sunset. Or the glory and majesty of the northern lights. What points us to find awe in God? What helps us to stop and listen for God?
Third, we need to hear God. God speaks to us in his word. And through the hymns of faith. Or the words of the preacher. But also in the stories of our faith. We need to talk about that faith all the time, in our families, in our congregation and in our neighbourhoods.
They point to the passage from Deuteronomy 6:
6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deut 6: 6-9 NIV
This hearing of God needs to happen in all aspects of our lives. At home. On the road. With our children. When lying down and getting up.
As symbols on our hands and our foreheads. Which in the time of Moses meant fringes on arms and foreheads and in modern times they are found on belts. These fringes stand for the 10 Commandments.
The hearing of God happens as we go through the door of our homes—in or out. The Mezzuzah on the door post included the very words of this verse from Deuteronomy—a reminder to be always listening for God in all that we do.
The fourth thing we need to do is to see God. We see God in the Sacraments. We see the washing of the blood in water poured over a baby’s (or an adult’s) head. We see God in the bread broken and the wine poured out. In foot washing, and anointing with oil and prayer. These are the ways in which we visibly share the means of grace; but is not limited to that. It can also be in the way we walk alongside someone in difficulty or turmoil, being for them a comfort on an Emmaus road like journey.
And the final thing we need to do is to serve God by being a prophetic voice and presence in the world. When we are that, then we become a way in which others can see God.
All of this reminds us that in our waiting we are actively seeking God and serving God in every way. In this seeking and service Root and Bertrand remind us we will find our watchword. We will find it in the way that we live.
Root and Bertrand tell the story of a congregation that wanted to ensure success in their Sunday School. They hired another minister, Mike, who would lead the Sunday School into a new success.
Mike gathered together the leaders and taught them a formula for an excellent class with good theology and a curriculum to implement it all.
And they all implemented it. Except for the pesky Jorgenson couple. They had no interest in this plan.
But they were key in the formula. They taught grade seven students, those who were the most at risk to get tired of Sunday School and worship and drop out.
They never taught in the Sunday School room. They could be found every where and anywhere in the building, doing who knows what. Often all of them would be crowded together under a table, whispering and giggling, even horrors, laughing as they explored the story of Jesus.
Mike couldn’t figure it out. This elderly couple had somehow found a way to spark an interest with this group who really should not have been interested in older people like them.
He kept hearing stories of special phone calls for each student on their birthday in which they sang happy birthday to them. And this continued for 10 and more years after they graduated from Sunday School.
Unsure of how to get them on board with the programme, Mike watched and waited. As he watched he noted that their group had resonance. They were close, they enjoyed each other’s company. The seventh graders listened closely to the lessons, and asked big questions. They were all engaged in searching for God. Mike grew to admire the Jorgenson’s. He couldn’t put his finger on what made them good teachers, but he could see that they were.
One day Mike asked them, “how did you two become such great Sunday School teachers?”
Mr. Jorgenson said, “We are not really good teachers. We only have one message and it’s the same every single time. We just keep saying, “nothing can separate us from God’s love.”
Paul said, “all I know is Christ and Christ crucified.”
The Jorgenson’s only knew, “nothing can separate us from God’s love.”
What is the only thing we know? The only thing that is lived out in our interactions with each other and the greater community.
Let us wait for God to reveal it.
Amen
Affirmation of Faith:
Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40: 31 NRSV
Hymn: 474 The love of God comes close
Offering and Doxology 830
Offertory Prayer
We give you our love, O God, rejoicing that in this world, kingdom living is possible.
In our mouths: we give you kingdom praises.
In our hearts: we give you kingdom goals.
In our hands: we bring kingdom gifts.
May your kingdom come and your will be done in our praises, our living and our giving. Amen.
Gathering Prayer Requests
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
We thank you, O God that you are always near us and that you are always guiding us along the way. We thank you that you speak to us on our journey, renewing your call, and filling our hearts with the joy of serving you.
Hear our prayers this day, as we realize the honour and privilege we have to pray for this world. Give us courage and hope in the face of violence that seems endless, the disasters that destroy both earth and life. Give us the assurance that you have heard our prayers and that you are working to bring peace and justice and restoration to your world and your people.
So now with confidence we bring you our prayers for those we know, and those whom we don’t know. For our community and for the world around us. Hear our prayers and in your grace, answer.
Joys
Concerns
Landslide in the Chilcotin/danger of flooding
The danger of new fires as heat increases
World
Peace in the Ukraine and a commitment to justice in Russia
Peace among the people of Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and Iran. Stop, we pray the escalation of an eye for an eye, and bring to all the leaders the wisdom and the courage to forge a pathway of love, grace and justice.
Hear our prayer O God as we heed your call that we may listen to your voice as clearly as Paul, and recognized its truth. Grant us the strength to be your voice in this world, open our hearts and hands to reach out to those in need, that we become the way of bringing grace and healing to a world that looks increasingly lost and hopeless.
We thank you for speaking to us and ask that you help us to listen for your voice every day. With thanksgiving, we pray together as Jesus has taught us, saying,
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 and 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, for ever. Amen
Hymn: 683 I know not why such wondrous grace
Benediction
Blessing Song: 500 Open my eyes v.1 & chorus
Open my eyes that I may see glimpses of truth thou hast for me place in my hands the wonderful key
that shall unclasp and set me free Silently now, I wait for thee ready my Lord, thy will to see open my eyes, illumine me Spirit