June 14, 2020 2nd Sunday after Pentecost

PIONEER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Worship via Blog            2^nd Sunday after Pentecost            June 14, 2020 

 

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PRELUDE

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

 BAPTISM:         Friends, remember your baptism … and be thankful.

 CALL TO WORSHIP

          People of God, hope in the Lord,

                   For in the Lord there is steadfast love.

          People of God, trust in the Lord,

                   For God is faithful and will not fail us.

          People of God, live in God’s grace,

                   For in God’s grace, we find peace.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

 All-powerful God, in Jesus Christ you turned death into life, and defeat into victory. Increase our faith and trust in him, that we may triumph over all evil, in the strength of the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

OPENING PRAISE HYMN:         “Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart”  

 

CALL TO CONFESSION

 Our God of grace promises to hear our prayers. Believing in that promise, let us ask God to cleanse our hearts, to redeem our memories, and to renew our confidence in God’s goodness.

 PRAYER OF CONFESSION

God of mercy, whose loving-kindness endures forever: we confess that often we have failed to receive and give love; to care for others as we care for ourselves; to forgive and accept forgiveness. We remember good intentions that were not put into actions; harsh words that were hurtful; selfish purposes that caused pain; persistent pride that would not yield. Help us to amend our ways that our thoughts and words and actions would be consistent with your vision for the world. Amen.

 

ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS

Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation.

          The old life has gone; the new life has begun.

Friends, believe the Good News!

          In Jesus Christ we are forgiven and restored to new life!

 

PASSING THE PEACE

          May the peace of Christ be with you.

                   And also with you.

Let us extend the peace of Christ in heart and prayer to God’s children everywhere.

 

GLORY BE TO THE FATHER

 

TIME WITH CHILDREN

 Hello Fiona and Zoey. How are you today? Do you feel good? What makes you feel good? Did you sleep well last night? Did you have a good breakfast? Are you enjoying time with Mama and Daddy? Those are all things that make you feel good, alright. Tell me, do you feel that Mama and Daddy love you? That really makes us feel good when someone loves us. It makes us feel valued and important.

          I want to talk today about how Jesus loves you. You know we sing Jesus Loves Me each Sunday after we talk. The song says we know Jesus loves us because the Bible tells us so. That’s true for adults and children. But there’s a story in the Bible that is about Jesus and children.

          Jesus was talking to some people and mothers tried to bring their children to Jesus so that he could bless them. To bless them would be like Jesus putting his hand on their heads and asking God to make them happy and to be good to them. Jesus’ disciples didn’t want Jesus bothered and tried to make them go away. But Jesus stopped them and said to let the children come to him. He said that we had to be like children to be part of God’s kingdom. That means not just being little but also trusting Jesus and accepting and loving other people. Jesus thinks kids are special and important. That makes us feel good. Let’s pray:

          Jesus, thank you that you love us even when we’re little kids and that you think we are an important part of your kingdom. Please bless us. Thank you. Amen.

HYMN:     “Jesus Loves Me”

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

Little ones to him belong, they are weak but he is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.

SCRIPTURE 1:  Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19

 I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. … What shall I render to the Lord for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. O Lord, I am thy servant; I am thy servant, the son of thy handmaid. Thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!

 

SCRIPTURE 2:  Romans 5:1-8

 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man -- though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

 

SERMON:   “Are You Rejoicing in Your Suffering?”      Rev. Jean Hurst

          Are you rejoicing yet? The Apostle Paul tells us we should rejoice in our sufferings. Kind of a hard pill to swallow, huh? We can lump that in with 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5. Verse 16 says rejoice always and verse 18 tells us to give thanks in all circumstances. Easy for you to say, Paul.

          Sometimes it feels rather Pollyanna-ish when we hear glib statements of how, as Christians, we are supposed to respond to the hard stuff we face in life, as if Christians aren’t supposed to feel pain or fear. Unfortunately, it also can make us feel we are failing in our faith when we don’t have the prescribed reactions. Honestly, I don’t see anyone  rejoicing when the bad times come.

          Because how do you feel thankful when there are riots in the streets, when we live under the shadow of the coronavirus, when someone we love is at death’s door, when we receive a dreaded diagnosis from the doctor, when the car breaks down the same day the paycheck runs out? How do we rejoice when a relationship is crumbling, when we feel lonely, when it seems there is nothing to look forward to, when no matter what we do, it seems wrong? Are we to rejoice when all around us is divisiveness? How do you rejoice when it feels there is no joy in life?

          Yet Paul says hang in there. This will build character. In the middle of a crisis or a tragedy is not the time I want to hear that this is going to make me a better person. That smacks too much of the trite ‘no pain, no gain’ concept. When we’re hurting, what we often feel is anger and we want to lash out. Frequently God becomes the target. We feel, especially as Christians, that God should be doing something.

          Hearing the anger of the people is not new to God. The Old Testament, Psalms in particular, is full of people’s lamentations, anger, and accusations against God. They accuse God of abandoning them, failing to protect them, being absent from their lives, sleeping on the job, not providing for them, and refusing to deliver them from their enemies.

          We can resonate with some of those cries. There’s also a statement there about our expectations of God. We believe God is there for us. Our time of pain is when we  truly need to claim God’s promise of always being with us, of watching over us, going before, providing for us, holding us in grace, and creating a future with hope. Many times I’ve heard people of faith wonder how those who don’t have faith make it through the crises of their lives.

          And isn’t that what Paul was saying? We are pretty much forced to endure the suffering that comes into our lives. What can we do but hang in there and get through it? As we endure those unexpected events, it shapes who we are, or as Paul puts it, it builds character. Kind of a forced character development, isn’t it? And yes, even then we have choices—not necessarily about the traumatic event itself, but about how we respond to it.

          Life’s traumas can leave us angry or embittered or depressed. Infidelity or abuse can leave a person feeling like a victim and that can become their identity as they interact with other people. When someone breaks our trust, we can become distrustful of everyone. When our heart has been broken, we can refuse to open ourselves up to love again, for fear of being hurt again. Tragedy can shape our character, for good or for ill.

          In the creation part of last Sunday’s sermon, you’ll remember that God created and called it good. This was God’s vision, God’s desire, and not just for God’s own pleasure but also for us. God made this garden-like place complete with mountains and valleys, rivers and oceans, deserts and beaches, lush green forests and miles of sagebrush.  God populated it with every imaginable form of life, including some rather odd ones like the platypus and the giraffe and some rather annoying ones like mosquitos and people. And we wonder why.

          For all the pondering, the reality is that God has chosen to place us on this planet.  And it’s not a garden of Eden. Along with all the pleasures of earthly life, there are challenges. The rose has thorns. We get hurt along the way. Some of that hurt is just part of life. And some of that hurt is caused by other people, sometimes accidentally or carelessly, sometimes deliberately.

          Why would the God of love subject us to that? Why put us into an earthly life where we will inevitably suffer? My guess is that God sees within this earthly life a hope that raises us above any suffering we might experience, that there is something of such beauty and promise even within this life that it outweighs any pain we may encounter. Perhaps, if we let it, the things we experience, good and bad, will bring out the best in us, bring us closer and closer to that promise and vision that God holds.

The apostle Paul says we can rejoice when we run into problems and trials.  Suffering produces endurance; endurance produces character. It doesn’t stop there. There are two huge promises within this text—the promise of hope; the promise of peace. The passage starts out, “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.” 

          We are justified by faith. We are put in right relationship with God through faith—and not just our own, thank goodness. Our faith can get awfully shaky at times. God’s faith and God’s faithfulness are steady as a rock. We don’t lose out if our faith isn’t strong enough. If you doubt that, look at Romans 3:3 which says, “What if some did not have faith?  Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?  Not a all!” We can’t do it on our own, we can’t believe ourselves into God’s grace. Rather it is God’s faithfulness toward us that brings us into peace with God through Jesus Christ. And it is through Jesus the Christ that we have access to God’s grace.

Today’s reading continues through those steps of suffering, endurance, character, and finally hope. And we are reassured that “hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

          Suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. And that is the greatest marvel--that through our ordeals, hope should still shine through. In that, I think, we find a clue as to why God offers us life this side of heaven. It is what happens in the midst of life’s tragedies. We’ve had plenty of examples to lift up through the years--on both a large and small scale.  There are traumas within our church family--aging, life transitions, health issues, relationship struggles, and way too many losses. 

          Here, within the faith community, we stand by one another, support and encourage one other, help in the little ways that we can, whether with a call, card, visit, or a dish of food. We help in physical, practical ways. We pray for one another, and sometimes all we can do is cry together and stand in silent solidarity. Perhaps that is the most valuable of all.

          We see it in all kinds of ways in response to the pandemic. We try to stay connected and make sure no one in our church family feels isolated. Some have made face masks for those who need them or run errands for those who shouldn’t be out and about. We help each other with computer skills to allow access to worship. We try to support businesses that are impacted, getting take out meals more often than we otherwise would or buying ‘virtual’ services or finding creative ways to help.

Nationally and internationally health care workers and emergency responders are putting their own lives in jeopardy to help others—some losing their lives in the process. People are creatively raising funds to help where needed.

We see it on the news in response to the protests over racism. There are those who put themselves at physical risk and put their reputations on the line to stand in solidarity against evil. In the past, as in the future, we give our hard-earned money through Presbyterian Disaster Fund so the church can help people who face disasters like hurricanes and famine and other crises.

There is a display of courage and compassion and generosity as people give of themselves. Stranger helps stranger and in the process their hearts are touched. All of this is love. And that is what God created us for. And where there is love, there is hope--not just hope for some future heavenly reward, but hope now, that this world can be a place of light and peace and love.

          Suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Through God’s faithfulness, through the grace of God proved out in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, through the action of the Holy Spirit pouring out God’s love in our hearts, we find hope and we in turn become instruments of hope. And that is evidence of love. Within that hope, born out in love, we know there is no wrong, no evil, no sorrow out of which God cannot bring good, bring healing, and bring redemption.  It is hope for the living of this life as well as our hope for life eternal. Thanks be to God. 

HYMN:     “Faith Begins by Letting Go”

 

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER

 

OFFERING

 Let us bring before God the gifts of our hearts and labors. As we consider the gifts of our hearts, remember what God spoke through the prophet Micah: What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. Is this an offering you can make to your God?

DOXOLOGY

 

PRAYER OF DEDICATION

God of our lives, we bring before you our offerings and ask your blessings upon them. Bless our financial offerings as we use them to carry on the mission and ministry of Jesus. Bless, we pray, the offerings of our lives as we strive to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with you. Amen.

CLOSING HYMN:     “Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty”

 

CHARGE AND BENEDICTION

 Your charge for the week is to be aware of what you are going through, whether it is pain or struggle or frustration or whatever, and consider how that might be or might become part of the shaping of your faith and character, then look for the hope.

 And now, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

CHORAL RESPONSE

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LOOKING AHEAD

Worship has resumed under restricted conditions which include a 25-person limit. Reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact Jon Zieber at the church office to get on the list. See the newsletter article for full details.

 

PPW Annual Sale will be held July 17-18.

 

PRAYER CARE:

Joel Scrivner (heart attack), James Hurst (motorcycle accident), Ralph Hook (stroke), John Matthews (cancer), Barbara Clark (heart surgery recovery) Sandi Posz (lymphoma), Trisha Cagley (health problems), Dave Clark (kidney cancer), Jacob Cunningham, Joyce Sahlberg (health issues), Jennifer Schirm (Parkinson’s), Chuck VanHise (leg/walking rehab), and Courtney Ziegler (Huntington’s).

 

LECTIONARY FOR 6/21/20

Genesis 21:8-21; Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17; Romans 6:1b-11;

Matthew 10:24-39