January 24, 2021 Worship

 

PIONEER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Worship via Blog          Third Sunday after Epiphany     January 24, 2021

 

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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 pandemic.

 

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)    Live worship with masks and social distancing has plenty of room for additional worshipers.

 

-         Annual meeting following worship

-         Potato Feed to go following annual meeting

-         Deacons meets next Sunday following worship

-         PPW lunch meeting in noon on Tuesday

 

Now allow yourself a brief time of silence as you open your hearts and feel God’s presence with you, right where you are.

 

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

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

For God alone our souls wait in silence.

Our hope is from God, our fortress.

God is our rock and our salvation.

God is our refuge and our deliverance.

Trust in God at all times, in all places.

Pour out your hearts to the One who hears.

All people are valuable in God’s sight.

No one is more important than another.

Worship God, who is ready to speak to us.

Open your lives to God’s steadfast love.

All power in the universe belongs to God.

Yet God depends on our faithful service.

 

PRAYER OF THE DAY

We await your message, God of all places and times. Sometimes we do not like what we hear, but we know we need to listen. Your message is inclusive and fair, while we like to make distinctions that favor us and our friends. You call us out of our comfort zones to do new things and try better ways. You direct us to reach out to people with whom we seem to have little in common. Speak your truth to us in this service so we can carry it to the places where you want us to go, to the people you are eager to reach. Amen.

 

OPENING SONG:      “God the Creator”                                   LU#27

                       

                    

CALL TO CONFESSION

We, who have often turned away from God’s direction and purpose, have come together to confront our disobedience and willfulness. Despite good intentions, we have broken trust with God and with one another. Let us acknowledge our sin, that we may be open to God’s healing and the restoration of right relationships with our neighbors.

 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Ever-present God, we confess that we have trusted our narrow understandings rather than seek your will. We have taken our direction from the world rather than question the way things are ordered here. We have put our confidence in riches and worldly status. We have closed our ears to your call. Forgive us and lead us in your way. (continue with personal prayers………..) 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 one another.

 

GLORY BE TO THE FATHER

 

TIME WITH CHILDREN

          Good morning Fiona and Zoey. Do you like to go to the lake or the ocean? Is it fun walking in the edge of the water? Apparently, Jesus liked it, too. One day he was walking along the edge of the Sea of Galilee. It’s not really a sea. It’s a great big lake.

          As Jesus is walking there, enjoying the day, he sees some fishermen throwing nets out in the water. That was one way they fished. They also used lines and hooks. Jesus is watching Peter and his brother Andrew and then calls out to them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

          Wasn’t that was a strange thing to say? How can you fish for people? Would you throw a net over them? But that isn’t the kind of fishing Jesus meant. He meant for them to follow him and learn how to teach others about Jesus and how to love.

          Do you think maybe Jesus wants us to do that, too? That is something we can do. We can love Jesus and follow him and follow what he teaches. And we can also tell others about Jesus and about love. Let’s pray.

          Jesus, you called Peter and Andrew and others to follow you and you call us, too. Help us to follow the things you teach and especially teach us how to love. 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 62:5-12 (New Living Translation)

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge. Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind, and the powerful are not what they appear to be. If you weigh them on the scales, together they are lighter than a breath of air. Don't make your living by extortion or put your hope in stealing. And if your wealth increases, don't make it the center of your life. God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times: Power, O God, belongs to you; unfailing love, O Lord, is yours. Surely you repay all people according to what they have done. 

 

SCRIPTURE 2:  Mark 1:14-20

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel." And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.

 

SERMON:           “Following or Left in the Boat?”            Rev. Jean Hurst

          Last Sunday we read two call stories. The second reading was the one on which we focused. It was about God’s call to Samuel as a child. Samuel had to grow into that call, literally growing up and in the process learning what he needed in order to live into his call. The story about Samuel showed that age is not a determinant in God’s call. God calls the young. God calls the old. The call may start immediately or there may be a passage of time and God uses that passage of time to prepare us.

          The other story we heard last week was about Philip and his friend Nathaniel. As we read about the calling of the disciples we will notice that the gospels vary in how and in what order the disciples are called and even by the name they’re called. Last week was from the gospel of John and in it, Jesus finds Philip first and calls him. Philip tells Nathaniel who responds with that memorable line, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” He finds out when he encounters Jesus and he too, becomes a follower.

          Today, we read from the Gospel of Mark that following the beheading of John the Baptizer, Jesus went to Galilee and walking along the lakeshore sees Simon, later to be called Peter and his brother Andrew fishing and calls them, promising to make them fishers of men. Next he sees James and John in their boat mending nets and calls them.

          But James and John were not the only ones in the boat mending nets. Their father was there. Hired workers were there also. So what was going on? I see at least three possible scenarios. One is that Jesus was calling only James and John. Two is that Jesus was calling them all and all of them heard him but only James and John responded to the call while the others didn’t. Three is that Jesus calls each in their own time as they are ready to respond.

          It’s common to think that the first scenario is the intended one. Jesus was specifically calling James and John and they were the ones to ‘drop everything’ and follow him while the others sat on the sidelines and watched. Jesus knew who he wanted for his disciples and called accordingly. Levi was at his booth collecting taxes. Jesus says follow me. Matthew just gets up and follows. No safeguarding Rome’s money. No handing in two weeks’ notice. He just walks away from it all.

So was it just limited to twelve apparently special individuals? No. After Levi accepts the call and follows Jesus, he hosts Jesus at his home—along with a motley collection of tax collectors and sinners. Scripture says, “… for there were many who followed him.” By the way, the religious authorities condemned Jesus for that riff raff he hung out with.

In the very next chapter, Jesus goes up on a mountain to pray and then, from among those many followers, names twelve of them as apostles—the close group who would follow him through his ministries. We know now that Jesus wasn’t limiting his call to just a few people or to just particular people or just a certain age person. We can’t even say that Jesus limited his call to just men, because we have other stories in the gospels about women in his group, some helping to finance his ministry.

Back to the boat. There were a minimum of five people in the boat—James, John, their father Zebedee, and the hired men, pural. Jesus calls but only James and John respond.  What was going on in the minds of the others?

There sat Zebedee, clinging to his nets, sitting tight, watching as his sons walk away from him without even asking his leave, watching as they walk away from the family business, a business he’d worked hard to build, a business they were to take over when he was too old to do it anymore.  Maybe Zebedee was older and wiser and too practical to run after this young rebel named Jesus. Or maybe he had been snoozing in the warm sun or was hard of hearing and just hadn’t heard Jesus call.

          What do you think? Do you think he was angry that his sons abandoned him?  Would he have felt betrayed? Or do you think he looked longingly after them, wishing he, too, could follow this soft spoken rabbi, but feeling he’d invested too much of his life in the boat beneath him and the nets scattered around his feet?

Or did he perhaps hear Jesus call, but was not willing to turn away from the life that had become comfortable and secure? It was the known. We're not comfortable with the unknown. Might the workers feel the same? Jobs were hard to come by. How could they just walk away? Maybe they, too, had families to support. Or maybe they felt there were things they’d done in their lives that disqualified them from following a religious man, secrets in their closets that, if revealed, might cause this rabbi to scorn and reject them. 

          Or ... maybe that third scenario came into play. Maybe the call on their lives was not the same as that of James and John. I believe we are all called in different ways, at different times, and to different things. We are all, of course, called to believe in Jesus, to acknowledge him as Lord and Savior. We are all called to live out his teachings, to obey his commands—especially the command to love. Our calls differ in exactly how we live out our faith, even in how we demonstrate that love. As we hear that call, as we respond, we are touched and changed.

          The lives of the disciples were never the same.  I’m suspecting that though Zebedee and his hired hands did not follow Jesus at that time, their lives were still changed. We cannot have even that brief encounter with the Redeemer without being changed. Jesus has a way of turning our world upside down. We can’t help but hear the call. The choice comes in what we do when we hear it. And what we do impacts those around us.

          Jesus didn’t call just one disciple. He didn’t even call one disciple at a time. He called a group of them. He called a community. And he told them exactly what was going to happen. I’m going to make you fishers of people. In other words, there’s going to be even more of you.

God is breaking into your world. This is too big to keep to yourselves. You’re going to want to share this. Light has come into the world. People were in darkness, facing death. There is now hope, there is life. This is the gospel. This is great news. Why do we keep it to ourselves or try to do it by ourselves?

          I can’t tell you how many times I have had people tell me they don’t need church--that they can worship God at home. Problem is, they usually don’t. But even if they did faithfully read their Bibles and pray, that isn’t what Jesus called us to do. He called us to share the good news, to live it in the world, to extend God’s love and grace to others. And how can we not? 

When we answer Jesus’ call, it’s not because we’re hoping it will make a difference. As one commentator put it, “When we repent, we do it not hoping that someday God may come near. We repent because in Jesus Christ, God has come near. We believe, not hoping that one day God will come among us. We believe because in Jesus Christ God is among us.”¹ (emphasis mine). We are invited to become part of what God has already done, is already doing in the world. We are invited as we are, where we are in life, even if we’re sitting in a fishing boat. We’re invited because we are part of the kingdom. And we’re invited to live it now.

          As Mark lays out the story, there is an urgency. Time is of the essence. That’s based, not so much on chronology of time, but rather kairos--the time of opportunity. God has acted, let’s get in on the action. Jesus called and immediately his followers dropped everything and came. They came before Jesus had ‘proved’ himself through his miracles. They followed without Jesus even giving explanation.

          Jesus didn’t offer promises, not to them, nor to us. He didn’t say, follow me and I will make you loved or rich or successful or give you a life of ease. He didn’t invite them ... or us ... to simply follow his teachings or be his buddy. Instead, he called them into the trenches.

          He called them to rub elbows with the least loved, least wanted, most needy. He called them to do things that were against their training and against their nature--to love their enemies, to go beyond their comfort zones, to challenge authority and systems that oppress people, to look beyond their own religious system, to not just tolerate but to accept and include those who were different from them, who were outside their normal cultural acceptance. He called them to get their hands dirty and to engage their hearts.

          He called them to the radical, to step away from their old lives and into a new life. He called them to leave behind the old--to leave behind old ways of thinking and being, to leave behind old wounds and resentments, to leave behind old failings and disappointments.

          When Jesus called the disciples, when he calls us, it is not simply to a task. It was to a whole new identity. No longer were they fishermen in the traditional sense they knew. They were followers of Jesus. For us, what is the difference between task and identity, between just doing something and instead being something? We are followers of Jesus. We are Christians. That is our identity. That is who we are now.

          Discipleship is not just a ‘me and Jesus’ sort of thing. We are called to be in community. It was demonstrated in Jesus calling all those who followed him and it was demonstrated in the start of the early church after his death and resurrection.

We need each other. In community, we strengthen and encourage and hold each other accountable. Together we continue to carry out Jesus’ mission and ministry, the building of God’s kingdom. Together we change the world—even if by just one person at a time. We should not keep the good news to ourselves. Each of us is called not just to experience the redemptive light of Jesus but to go out into the world and bring others to the light so that they, too, might know God’s saving grace and love.

 

¹Gary W. Charles, Feasting on the Gospels: Mark, p. 27

 

HYMN:     “The Summons”                                                        Glory #726

 

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER

          O Lord, you have called us to be your disciples and to come to you even without credentials, complete commitment, or a full understanding of who you are and what your commission requires of us. You speak, and the words, “Follow me,” stop us in our tracks. Everything is changed!

          We so often feel unwilling, unworthy, without courage, too full of doubts. Still, you seek us out, you bring us close, and you take us along with the simple invitation whispered to our hearts: “Come, and follow me!”

          We want to answer ‘yes’ to your call. Help us overcome our doubts and hesitation. Help us believe that you prepare us and will work by our side. Point the way, Lord, and show us how to love those to whom you send us.

          In that love, we pray for your children here and around the world—those who live in the shadow of fear and violence and hunger and loneliness, those impacted by Covid, by wildfires, by economics. We pray for those close to us, for  Stephen Meinzinger Phyllis Bauer … Beverly Patterson … Lois White …  Dena Hovey following back surgery ... Virginia … Cherry … John Matthews … Margaret Dunbar … Trisha … Dave … Jacob … George … Joyce … Jennifer … Chuck … Courtney … Ethel … Helen. (Additional prayers …………)

          God who guides our lives, 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

Abundance and wealth have come to us, that we might experience the privilege of sharing. As we share what we have received, our lives are opened to appreciate and enjoy more of God’s blessings. Let us consider what we bring of our resources and lives.

 

DOXOLOGY

 

PRAYER OF DEDICATION

O God, from whom comes all the good things we enjoy. We give in response to your generosity. Bless, we pray, the gifts of our resources and the gifts of our lives.

 

CLOSING HYMN:   “Will You Let Me Be Your Servant”    Glory #727

 

CHARGE AND BENEDICTION

          Your charge this week is to clean out your ears. God is calling you. Can you hear? Will you respond.

          As you consider that, know that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is with you now and always. 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

January 24          following worship       Annual Congregational Meeting

January 26          noon                              PPW lunch meeting

January 31          following worship       Deacons

 

 

PRAYER CARE:

Stephen Meinzinger (Covid), Phyllis Bauer (aging issues), Beverly Patterson (aging issues), Lois White (lymphoma), Dena Hovey (back surgery), Virginia (now 99!), Darlene (heart valve, pulmonary fibrosis, breast cancer), Margaret Dunbar (fall/broken tailbone), John Matthews (cancer), Trisha Cagley (health problems), Dave Clark (kidney cancer), Jacob Cunningham, George and Joyce Sahlberg (health issues), Jennifer Schirm (Parkinson’s), Chuck VanHise (leg/walking rehab), and Courtney Ziegler (Huntington’s).

 

LECTIONARY FOR 1/31/21

Deuteronomy 18:15-20, 10; Psalm 111; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13;

Mark 1:21-28