PIONEER
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Worship
via Blog 7th Sunday after Pentecost
July 19, 2020
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WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Welcome to Pioneer’s blog worship service.
Though we are accessing this remotely and unable to look each other in the eye,
we are still the Pioneer faith community, gathered as children of God to
worship, to be spiritually fed, and to be equipped to go out to serve in
Christ’s name—though we do it differently during this
Pioneer offers worship in several modes:
a)
The
blog.
b)
The
blog service mailed through US Postal service.
c)
Sermons
only, mailed to those who so request.
d)
Zoom
services at 10:00 Sunday mornings.
e)
Facebook
posting of recorded Zoom services at https://www.facebook.com/Pioneer-Presbyterian-Church-113547145346520.
f)
We
can now allow up to 40 people in worship. A six-foot distancing will be
maintained. Masks are mandated. There can be congregational singing with masks,
but no passing the peace, hugs, handshakes, or coffee hour. Registration is on
a first come-first served basis. We are consistently running an attendance
count lower than we could have. Call or
email Jon if you want to be on the list.
A congregational meeting is scheduled for
August 9th following worship. With Vicki Keeney’s departure, we will
be electing a new elder to serve on session and a new Nominating Committee
member. We need 20 members to constitute a quorum between those in live worship
and those on Zoom.
Now allow yourself a brief time of silence
as you open your hearts and feel God’s presence with you, right where you are.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BAPTISM: Friends, remember your baptism … and be thankful.
CALL
TO WORSHIP
God’s steadfast love extends beyond the farthest
star,
Yet that love is also present among us.
Bless
the Lord, O my soul,
And
all that is within me, bless God’s holy name.
God’s saving acts were experienced by our
ancestors,
And God continues to act in our own day.
Bless
the Lord, O my soul,
And
do not forget all of God’s benefits.
God’s concern is for all creation, for all
worlds,
Yet that care draws us close in these
moments.
The
whole creation is filled with eager longing;
Bless
the Lord, all who live in hope.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
God of awesome moments and fearful
challenges, grant us eyes to see and ears to hear your revelation in our midst
today. We have turned aside from our daily routines to encounter your mystery.
We have dared to step out of our safe places to hear the cries of your people
and observe their affliction. We tremble at the thought of what you may require
of us, yet we are eager for your presence and open to your call. Amen.
OPENING
SONG: “Great Are You Lord”
CALL
TO CONFESSION
By our own actions, the flame of God’s Spirit
is so often dimmed within us that others cannot discern it. Yet God is always
willing to re-create and renew us as we confess our neglect, wrongdoing, and
need.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God of our lives, we have forgotten who
you are. We have turned away from what is right and good. We have rejected
Christ as out of date and impractical. We set our minds on things of the world
rather than on your will and your kingdom. O God, forgive our destructive ways.
Help us to see and believe the fullness of life you intend for us. (Let us
continue our prayers in silence ………….) Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
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
Zoey and Fiona. Last week I talked about flowers and vegetables that grow in my
garden. I put a fair amount of work growing them. I have to plant them and
water them and fertilize them and trim them. And some of them I have to pick
when they’re ripe. But I like pretty flowers and I like vegetables so I’m okay
with that.
But
there are also flowers that I don’t have to work hard to grow. Here’s a picture
of some:
We
talked about vegetables last week. Vegetables are good to grow because we can
eat them and they help us to grow. Did you know you can eat dandelions, too?
They’re more than just a pretty flower. You can cook the leaves and even make
wine out of the blossoms! So dandelions aren’t just weeds. They have value even
besides being sunny.
People
do too! Even if they don’t look like we think they should or do what we think
they should do, they still have value. They are children of God just like we
are. Sometimes we just need to get to know them. Let’s pray:
Jesus,
thank you for creating dandelions and people—even people who are different from
us. Help us get to know them and be friends and value them as your children.
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 139:1-12, 23-24
O LORD, thou hast
searched me and known me! Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up; thou
discernest my thoughts from afar. Thou searchest out my path and my lying down,
and art acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, lo, O
LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou dost beset me behind and before, and
layest thy hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I
cannot attain it. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee
from thy presence? If I ascend to heaven, thou art there! If I make my bed in
Sheol, thou art there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost
parts of the sea, even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall
hold me. If I say, "Let only darkness cover me, and the light about me be
night," even the darkness is not dark to thee, the night is bright as the
day; for darkness is as light with thee. … Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead
me in the way everlasting!
SCRIPTURE
2: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Another parable he
put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man
who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came
and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and
bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder
came and said to him, `Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then
has it weeds?' He said to them, `An enemy has done this.' The servants said to
him, `Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he said, `No; lest in
gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow
together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather
the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat
into my barn.'"
Then he left the
crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying,
"Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." He answered,
"He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world, and
the good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are the sons of the evil
one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the
age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with
fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send his
angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all
evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and
gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of
their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
SERMON: “The
Parable of the Party Crashers” Rev. Jean Hurst
Wheat
or weeds? Children of the kingdom or children of evil? Shine like the sun or
burn to ashes? Yikes! Jesus continues his teaching in parables, speaking of the
kingdom of God and what the kingdom is like. Now remember that the kingdom of
God or the kingdom of heaven, is not just about some far off future place of
eternal bliss, but rather is life on earth now and God’s vision of what it
should be.
So
Jesus tells a story. What is the kingdom of heaven like? Well, it’s kind of
like this: A farmer plants a field using good, clean, weed-free seed. While
he’s sleeping, though, a competitor comes and throws weed seeds among the wheat
and then skeedaddles. The wheat and the weeds sprout and grow together. Grain
heads are forming and the field workers go out to check to see how close they
are to harvest. They discover all these weeds … or tares… growing throughout
the field, mixed in with the wheat. They look a lot the same and are likely
bearded darnel. The seeds are poison.
They
question the farmer. Didn’t you use good, clean seed? Why is the field full of
weeds? Immediately, the farmer knows he’s got enemies and they’ve corrupted his
field. The field workers ask if they should go pull up the weeds but he tells
them no. Pulling them out would damage the wheat. He decides to let them
continue growing together until it’s time for harvest. Then he will tell the
harvesters to gather the weeds first and bundle them up for burning, then to
gather the wheat into the barn.
The
disciples, ever ignorant in Matthew’s gospel, ask Jesus what he meant. So Jesus
lays it out for them, telling them that the one who sows the good seed is the
Son of Man—that would be Jesus himself. The field is the world. The good seeds
are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil
one—Satan, the devil, the adversary—whatever you want to call him. And the
enemy is, of course, the devil—the evil one. The harvest is the end of the
world and the reapers are angels.
At
the end of time, Jesus will send his angels and they will remove from the
kingdom all the causes of sin and all the sinners and toss them in the fire.
And here you know it’s Matthew’s writing because his signature line proclaims
that “there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” With the riffraff gone, the
righteous will shine like the sun in God’s kingdom.
This
is a hellfire and damnation passage and a warning to those who might be
inclined to be weeds. To put this classic interpretation in a nutshell, the
wheat are the good guys, the tares (which look very much like the wheat) are
the bad guys. We’re stuck with co-existing for now, but in the end, the bad
guys will get tossed in the fiery furnace while the good guys get heaven. We
like that tidy little picture because we see ourselves as the good guys and we
like to see people get what’s coming to them. That’s our less noble, vindictive
nature.
Now,
I had a professor at seminary who would tell us not to ask questions scripture
doesn’t want to answer. I do it anyway. People tend to base their understanding
of what God is like and our relationship with God on a literal interpretation
of scripture and often from little segments. If it’s attributed to Jesus, then
all the more so. Many then use that literal interpretation as a weapon or as
justification for judging others. I tend to be a little suspicious of the words
that have been put in Jesus’ mouth or how ‘the righteous’ tend to turn those
words to their own way of thinking. So, I’ll not dispute the story, but ask
some questions of it.
It
makes it sound like the world is divided into good and bad. Either/or. Black
and white. But the world isn’t that simple. There are gradations of good and
bad. Each of us has both good and bad in us. We all have a dark side to some
degree or another. An example was in the news this past week.
There
was a rabbi in San Diego whose synagogue had been attacked in a hate crime. One
member was killed. He and another were injured. Robert Brewer, U.S. attorney
said, “His role
after the 2019 terrorist attack was exemplary.” “He became a significant advocate
for peace and elimination of violence based on religious hatred. He spoke all
over the world and sent a strong message of peace.”
And
… the good rabbi just confessed to tax fraud in a multi-million dollar
charitable contribution scheme called the 90-10 tax fraud scheme Donors give
him a large sum of money. He gives them 90% of it back along with a receipt for
100% of the 'donation'. He keeps the 10%--not for the synagogue but for
himself. Wheat or weed?
Looking
again at the parable, Matthew makes it sound like predestination. Those good
guys were selected and planted in advance with the label of good; the same for
the bad. But it doesn’t work that way in life. People aren’t inherently either
good or bad. God created and it was good. Look in the face of a baby and see if
you can decide if it is good or evil—a wheat or a weed.
We
become. I think we all start out good and then life shapes us and molds us and
our own choices start to define us. The writer of the Matthew Gospel is very
focused on righteousness. He is also focused on pitting the believers against
those who adhere to the Jewish faith. At the time of the writing, the followers
of Jesus were facing a lot of persecution from the Romans as well as being
tossed out of the synagogues. So we can kind of understand Matthew’s passionate
objectifying of people.
But
what if we look at this passage from the perspective of what we know about
Jesus? Jesus loved and accepted everyone. He was inclusive. He hung out with
the very ones that Matthew and his self-righteousness labelled tares: tax
collectors, sinners, Samaritans, other Jews (because remember that Jesus was,
himself, a Jew). He knew what they were and he loved them anyway.
Jesus
met people where they were, as they were. He gave them hope for a new life, new
beginnings, second chances. He forgave and healed. And yes, he called them away
from sinful lives into their better selves, into better relationship with God
and with each other. Remember, Jesus wouldn’t allow the disciples to call down
destruction on a Samaritan village that rejected them. Nor would he allow them
to stop a preacher who wasn’t following in their way or with them.
Think
about what this parable says. The kingdom of heaven is like …. The part like
the kingdom is not the over and done part. It’s the now. There are wheat and
weeds in the world. That’s the reality of life. They are intermixed. Try to
tear out all the evil in the world and you end up damaging the good as well.
Because wouldn’t that process of deciding who is guilty, who is bad, be one of
judgement and condemnation, deciding how good is good enough and how bad is
bad—exactly what we are called to avoid because that is God’s realm, not ours.
We have millennia of history where that’s been tried and it didn’t work. It is
part of the shame of our faith tradition as well as that of other faiths.
Let’s
talk about that wheat and those tares as people—which is what they represent in
Jesus’ story. It’s easy to condemn a label or object. Put a face to it and
we’ve got a different situation. Those are our friends and family and neighbors
and us. Those seeds weren’t created good and bad. They’re a product of
cultivation over time. In horticulture, we could say the good seeds come from
good parent plants. The weed seed comes from weed parents. Hmmm. That doesn’t
sound so good when we’re talking people, does it? We’ve seen people go bad who
come from very good parentage. And we’ve seen others overcome tremendous obstacles
of bad parenting to be very good people.
The
problem I have with the parable is that there’s no hope. It’s simply crime and
punishment and basically predestined at that. There isn’t any redemption in
that parable and Jesus is all about redemption and transformation. I don’t find
grace in this story. And God is all about grace. There is no love in this
story—and God is love. What we know about the ways of Jesus and God is that
they don’t give up on us. They initiate. They come seeking. Think of the lost
sheep, the lost coin, the lost son. Maybe we need to rethink this parable.
One
thing in this that does sound very like Jesus is that instruction to leave the
weeds and let them grow alongside the wheat. It’s not our place to judge. For
one, the weeds are just as much our brothers and sisters as the wheat are. We
are called to love them. It’s not for us to condemn and punish. With people, we
don’t know their relationship with God and how God might be working in their
lives. When the end times and day of judgement comes, it won’t be us doing the
judging. And I’m not convinced that the God of love is going to chuck anyone
into the fire.
Okay,
how about if I just tell a different parable—the parable of the party crashers.
The party was planned by and for the right kind of people—our kind of people.
Those would be the ones who think like we do, who believe and worship like we
do, they pretty much look like we do, they value the same things we do. It’s
going to be a great party. Lots of red caps.
Everyone’s
having a great time. The music is lively, the drinks are flowing. After a bit,
though, people start noticing a different element mixing in. Street grubby was not the code of dress for the evening.
And here’s one who has a distinct … odor. And that person over there is acting
really weird. He’s got to be mental. What’s that gal in the corner smoking? And
is she pregnant? I don’t see a ring on her finger.
Did
that guy in the entry actually pull out a little rug and start bowing and
mumbling on it? And who let in that gal with a donkey sticker on her purse?
Gasp! Are those two men actually holding hands? And those two—their skin sure
is suspiciously dark. What’s going on here? These folks clearly were not on the invite list. They’ve crashed
our party! Maybe if we make them feel uncomfortable enough, they’ll leave. Or
should we call the bouncer and have them tossed?
And
Jesus said, leave them be. Well, actually don’t. Get to know them. Those are
your brothers and sisters. You just might learn something from them. And they
might learn something from you. You could show them God’s love and grace. And
you just might learn more about God’s love and grace in the process. You might
find you’ve got more in common than you expected. Like the family connection.
Children of God. And the party got more lively. And Jesus said, “See how they
all shine like the sun!”
HYMN: “Bringing
in the Sheaves”
PRAYERS OF THE
PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
Holy
God, you repeatedly amaze us. We see through human eyes, we respond through
hearts that know fear and confusion. You see us through eyes of love, through a
heart that searches us out and seeks to reconcile with us no matter how we have
failed you, denied you, betrayed you, or kept silent when we should have
spoken. God, that is a love we find hard to comprehend. You loved us so much
that you hung on that cross. You see each one of us as an individual precious
in your sight. You call us beloved. Grant us the strength and courage, Lord, to
live into that. Help us to see each other through your eyes, to love each other
with your heart.
It is with that love we lift up to you
those of our church family and the community. We pray for comfort for the
family of Shirley Mingus, for Virginia DesIlets … Peggy Jamison … Judy’s
daughter Rosa … Darlene … Joel Scrivner
… John Matthews … Margaret Dunbar … Evelyn Neasham … Sandi …Trisha … Dave …
Jacob … Joyce … Jennifer … Chuck … Courtney … Ethel … Helen. (Additional prayers
…………)
We pray for your children
everywhere—the lonely, the scared, the hungry, the desperate. We pray for those
enslaved to alcohol and drugs, pornography and gambling, to wealth and power.
We pray for an end to the pandemic and that we would refuse to be part of the
politicizing of it. We pray for unity in our country and in our world. Help us
to see each other as brothers and sisters rather than labels.
We
entrust to you these prayers and those that remain yet in our hearts as we pray
the prayer Jesus taught: 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 forever.
Amen.
CALL TO OFFERING
Let
us bring before God the gifts of our hearts and labors. Let the offerings of
our lives be a reflection of the grace and blessings that have been bestowed
upon us.
DOXOLOGY
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
No
gift we bring is adequate to return the love you have given us, O God. Yet we bring what we can and we
bring who we are. Bless these gifts for your kingdom work. Bless the offering
of our lives as we rededicate them to you in response to your grace. Amen.
CLOSING HYMN: “Help
Us Accept Each Other”
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
Whether
you are wheat or weed, believe that God loves you dearly and there is a purpose
in you being in that field. God’s kingdom is one of inclusion, not exclusion.
As
you ponder that, 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
May the Lord, Mighty God, bless and keep you forever.
Grant you peace, perfect peace, courage in every endeavor. Lift up your eyes
and see his face and his grace forever. May the Lord, Mighty God, bless and
keep you forever.
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LOOKING
AHEAD
Worship has
resumed under restricted conditions which include a 25-person limit, 6’
distancing, masks, and no physical contact. Reservations are on a first-come,
first-served basis. Contact Jon Zieber at the church office to get on the list.
Being on the list once does not automatically sign you up for subsequent
services. You need to register each time.
PRAYER
CARE:
The family of
Shirley Mingus (Alan Bossuot’s sister), John Heinzenger, Virginia DesIlets
(fall/injured ribs on 6/16), Peggy Jamison (knee replacement 6/25), Margaret
Dunbar (fall/broken tailbone), Judy’s daughter Rosa Lester (retinal bleed), Darlene
Wingfield (pulmonary fibrosis), Joel Scrivner (heart attack), John Matthews
(cancer), 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 7/26/20
Genesis 29:15-28;
Psalm 105:1-11, 45b or Psalm 128
Romans 8:26-39;
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
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