October 24, 2021 Worship

 PIONEER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Worship via Blog          22^nd Sunday after Pentecost   October 24, 2021    

 

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.

 

-         Deacons meet following worship

-         Tuesday PPW lunch meeting at noon

-         Thursday Men’s Prayer Group at 8:30

 

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

In the midst of life’s storms, God is there.

What have we to fear?

In the darkness and terror, God is with us.

Of whom shall we be afraid?

Rise up, people of God, for you are loved and saved.

Thanks be to God who cares deeply for us. Amen.

 

PRAYER OF THE DAY

All-powerful God, we are grateful for your presence among us, for we need the knowledge and energy you alone can provide.  Your ways are wonderful beyond our understanding.  When our strength is spent, our vision clouded and our hope gone, you reach out to us in ways we often fail to discern. We take heart to think that you are calling us to yourself, opening our eyes to see your wonders as if for the first time.  We want to be a part of your faithful remnant in a world that too often loses sight of the holy.  Help us, we pray.  Amen 

 

OPENING HYMN:     “Be Still and Know”                                LU#82

                                  

         

CALL TO CONFESSION

We, who are called to be a servant people have often forgotten what it means to sacrifice ourselves for others.  Success becomes more attractive than service and so we focus on getting ahead, which often means leaving behind those who cannot keep up.  This is a time to confess selfish motives and hurtful actions.

 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

We confess, O God, that our lives have made you a distant deity. We have listened to what others say about you, but we have seldom glimpsed for ourselves who you are.  We are dominated by our doubts instead of by our practice of prayer. We are not ready to repent in dust and ashes, but we do ask for mercy as we face up to sins we have not recognized and wrongdoing we have tried to ignore. Instill in us a new appreciation of righteousness, and help us to grow in the way you would have us go. (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

 

SCRIPTURE 1: Psalm 107: 23-32

Some went off to sea in ships,

          plying the trade routes of the world.

They, too, observed the Lord’s power in action,

          his impressive works on the deepest seas.

 He spoke, and the winds rose,

          stirring up the waves.

Their ships were tossed to the heavens,

          and plunged again to the depths; the sailors cringed in terror.

They reeled and staggered like drunkards

          and were at their wit’s end.

“Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble,

          and he saved them from their distress.

He calmed the storm to a whisper

          and stilled the waves.

What a blessing was that stillness

          as he brought them safely into harbor!

Let them praise the Lord for his great love

          and for the wonderful things he has done for them.

Let them exalt him publicly before the congregation 

and before the leaders of the nation.

 

SCRIPTURE 2:  Mark 10:46-52

And they came to Jericho; and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; rise, he is calling you." And throwing off his mantle he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" And the blind man said to him, "Master, let me receive my sight." And Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

 

SERMON           “Calm in the Storm”                       Sheila Cunningham

          We don’t know much about Bartimaeus other than he was the son of Timaeus, and he was a blind beggar.  By his cry, “My teacher, let me see again”, we can understand that he was able to see at one time.  In those days it was believed that a person with a disability or disfigurement was being punished for their own sins or those of their parents.  Since he had once been able to see, it is implied that he is being punished for his own sins and therefore is deserving of his status as an outcast.  All the more reason for the disciples to think he was unworthy of Jesus’ attention. The crowd believes that by telling Bartimaeus to be quiet they are protecting Jesus from being bothered by an irredeemable sinner - someone who has no standing in the community and survives only through the charity of others.  Such a person is not expected to speak, because he has nothing valuable to say. But as usual Jesus reaches out to the marginalized, the outcast, the throwaways - the irredeemable sinner - sometimes I feel like that, but that’s another sermon!

So Jesus responds to Bartimaeus and says,”call him over to me”.  This is very much like when Jesus stopped the disciples and said, “let the children come to me”.  In verse 49 of this passage, Eugene Peterson puts it this way in his interpretation “The Message, “It’s your lucky day!  Get up! He’s calling you to come.” Throwing off his coat, Bartimaeus was on his feet at once and came to Jesus.”  Throwing off his coat was no small deal when we realize that this coat was a significant possession, a precious guard against the elements for one who is a blind beggar along the roadside.  This seems to be a parallel to Jesus’ instructions to the disciples in Mark 8:34, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me”  This is followed by Jesus’s promise in 10:29-30,  that they will receive much more in return for their sacrifices.

So Bartimaeus approaches Jesus and Jesus asks him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus has a direct and very plain request, “Rabbi, I want to see again.” Immediately Jesus replies, “On your way.  Your faith has saved and healed you.” 

How would you respond to Jesus if he were to ask, “What do you want me to do for you?”  Almost seems like a loaded question.  What do I want Jesus to do for me?  Many people might answer, I want a job so I am able to pay my bills, I want my husband to be healed from Covid, I want my relationship with my mother to be restored, I want a way to afford to go back to school to get a better job. Ok, so you give your requests to Jesus and then what?

Think about Bartimaeus, he asked to have his sight restored and BAM - he was able to see.  Think about those fishermen on the raging sea in our Old Testament reading, they asked for the waters to be calmed and BAM, the waters were calmed.  So when Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” and I ask for something, . . . but wait for BAM, it doesn’t happen the way I asked, what am I supposed to think? 

We face so many storms in our lives in the way of struggles and disappointments.  The storm of unemployment and financial distress, the storm of illness and even death, the storm of broken relationships, the storm of a bleak future.  So why aren’t those storms calmed, why aren’t those requests answered?  

Remember when Jesus said to Bartimaeus, “Your faith has saved and healed you.”  So that’s it, not enough faith, that’s why they weren’t answered.  But wait, I don’t think that’s the road God wants us to go down in this passage.  Instead, I see a different perspective.  Yes, faith has everything to do with it, but yet faith has nothing to do with it.  While faith is an anchor for us to hold on to, it doesn’t require faith for our prayers to be answered.  Instead, God gives us everything we need. Paul tells us in Philippians 4: the first part of verse 19, “God will take care of everything you need. Did you get that?  God takes care of everything we need, just not necessarily everything we want.

During our troubling times, God knows that our faith is faltering, that our understanding of how God works is confusing, but even then God knows what we need.  The storm referenced in the Psalms can be said to parallel the storm described in Mark 4: verses 35-41 where the disciples are in a boat with Jesus on the Sea of Galilee and a fierce storm comes up. High waves were breaking into the boat and it began filling with water.  I think most of us are familiar with this passage and know that Jesus was asleep in the boat.  Asleep while their lives were in danger - well according to the disciples!  

So in both these instances the storms are calmed, but then I refer back to times in our lives when it seems that our storms are not calmed - that life is raging out of control around us - boy it really seems like that lately with illness and death at our very doorstep. We experience all kinds of storms in our lives - the inconvenience of a flat tire or getting to work late and being confronted by the boss.  Often it’s much more than a little inconvenience.  It’s more devastating, like a prolonged illness, the death of a loved one, a loss of purpose, a failed marriage, or the loss of financial stability.  We pray for deliverance from these storms, for healing, for relief, for opportunity, for reconciliation - anything that will make the storm pass.  These are the kind of responses we might have if Jesus were to ask us, “What do you want me to do for you?’  

But let’s think for a minute, maybe it’s not about the storm, the difficulties in our lives - but just consider that it’s more about who is with us during these storms, during the hardest and most inconvenient times in our lives.  Storms are frightening, I know, I’ve been through a few - quite a few of them in my life.  I know what it is to feel useless, helpless, and even hopeless and I imagine you have felt those ways too, but it’s during those times that we can feel the presence of the one who is in the storm with us.  He is the one who walks us through the storm to the other side, to a place where we can be transformed, changed, our faith strengthened.  Sometimes God calms the storm . . . but sometimes he lets the storm rage and calms his child. So while we may feel we are drowning in the storms of life, we can be assured that God is right there with us in those storms. How amazing it is to feel a peace come over us when we know the presence of God. We feel his comforting arms of security and support through the duration of our storms.  But oftentimes those comforting arms of security and support are delivered through brothers and sisters who walk alongside us.  Do we feel them, do we acknowledge those comforting arms, do we allow those brothers and sisters to be God beside us in the storms of life?

I am reminded of a fictional, yet timely story of a man caught in a storm. He was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to God for help.

Soon a man in a rowboat came by and the fellow shouted to the man on the roof, "Jump in, I can save you." The stranded fellow shouted back, "No, it's OK, I'm praying to God and he is going to save me."

So the rowboat went on.

Then a motorboat came by. "The fellow in the motorboat shouted, "Jump in, I can save you." To this the stranded man said, "No thanks, I'm praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith."

So the motorboat went on.

Then a helicopter came by and the pilot shouted down, "Grab this rope and I will lift you to safety." To this the stranded man again replied, "No thanks, I'm praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith."

So the helicopter reluctantly flew away.

Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to Heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, "I had faith in you but you didn't save me, you let me drown. I don't understand why!"

To this God replied, "I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?"

Do we recognize the rowboat, the motorboat, the helicopter in our lives? Do we allow those helpers that come forth to support us into our lives?  Do we welcome them?  That’s been a hard acceptance for me - accepting that I might need some help.  What might prevent us from receiving an extended hand, an offer of support, believing that we are worthy of that help?  I believe that when we don't allow someone the opportunity to assist us in some way, we are denying that person the chance to give us a gift, we are taking away from them the fulfillment of being a helper. Mr. Rogers reminds us to look for the helpers and allow them to help us through the difficult times in our lives - the storms in our lives.  

But just as we are to look for the helpers, those people God puts into our lives to support us through our storms, we are equally encouraged to be the helpers.  We are reminded in Matthew 25 verse 40 when Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters, you did for me.”  

In her book, Not Alone, Nell E. Noonan tells of a marble figure of Jesus with hands outstretched that stood in a small French country village during World War II.  The statue graced the courtyard of a quaint little church.  One day a bomb stuck so close that the statue was dismembered.  

When the battle was over and the enemy had passed through, citizens of the village decided to find the pieces of their beloved statue and reconstruct it.  They gathered the broken pieces and reassembled the statue.  To them, the scars on the body added to the sculpture’s beauty.  But there was one problem: they were unable to find the hands.

A sculptor in the town offered to replace the broken hands as a gift to the church.  The church leaders met to consider the offer and, after giving it considerable thought, decided not to accept the gift. 

After further research of this story, it appears that the same situation is claimed to have happened in a church in England, and a cathedral in Germany, and more recently a Catholic church in San Diego.  Though the authenticity of the story may be questioned, the message is still unquestionable, for today a brass plaque attached to the base of the statue reads: “I have no hands but your hands.”

Let us be those hands, let us be the outstretched arms of God welcoming and supporting all God's children through the storms of life.

Thanks be to God.

                  

HYMN:     “Today We Are Called to Be Disciples”     Glory # 757

 

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER

Lord of wind and water, of calmness and peace, be with us this day. Calm our fears as we face uncertain futures. Help us to relinquish control and to place our trust totally in you. Remind us to continue to faithfully work for good, with gratitude for the many blessings you have poured upon us. When the waves and torrents threaten us, let us again turn to you, remembering your saving mercies and love. Give us courage to become disciples who can calm the seas of doubt and anger, bringing hope and peace. As we have brought before you situations that require help and healing mercies, remind us again that you are with each person and situation, offering your love and mercy. We thank you for the many ways in which you have healed us. For all the goodness you have poured on us, we offer prayers of gratitude and love.

We pray for your children here in Harney and beyond, for we know they, too, struggle with the realities of their lives.  Strengthen them, provide for them, protect them, bless them, we ask.  We lift up to you  RaeJean Newman … Julia Milleson … Dave Clark … Tina Bossuot … Verna’s sister and family … Mary and Ray Swarthout … Sandy Cargill … Elaine LaChapelle …  Linda and Bill Kaesemeyer … Somer Bauer … Tasha Sizemore … Beverly Patterson … Margaret Dunbar …Virginia  … Darlene … Trisha … Jacob … George and Joyce … Jennifer … Chuck … Courtney … Ethel … and Pastor Jean. (Additional prayers …………)

We pray in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray: 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

Our offerings are to magnify God’s name and to express our deep sense of empathy and concern for sisters and brothers who struggle to find life.  Giving reorients our lives to what is of lasting value and importance.  Let us give as we are able - with joy!

 

DOXOLOGY

 

PRAYER OF DEDICATION

Holy God, hear our prayer for all who may be helped by what we give.  We offer more than money; we offer ourselves.  May what we give and how we commit our lives to your service be useful in your kingdom work.  Amen

 

CLOSING HYMN:  “Song of Hope”                                       Glory #765

 

CHARGE AND BENEDICTION

So folks, go out into your week looking for helpers.  May you find one, may you be one. 

 

Go out into the world in peace;
have courage;
hold on to what is good;
return no one evil for evil;
support the weak;
help the suffering;
honor all people;
love and serve the Lord,
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.  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

-         October 24     following worship       Deacons

-         October 26     noon                              PPW lunch meeting

-         October 27     5:30 p.m.                      Choir practice

-         October 28     8:30 a.m.                       Men’s Prayer Group

 

PRAYER CARE:

Rae Jean Newman (Covid recovery), Julia Milleson (cancer), Tina Bossuot (Alzheimer’s), Verna’s sister and family (Covid), Mary and Ray Swarthout, Sandy Cargill (breast cancer),  Linda and Bill Kaesemeyer (Bill’s heart/breathing issues), Somer Bauer (breast cancer), Tasha Sizemore (Crohn’s), Jacob Cunningham, Trisha Cagley (health problems), Dave Clark (recovery from brain surgery, kidney cancer), Virginia DesIlets (age 99!), Margaret Dunbar (Ashley Manor), George and Joyce Sahlberg (health issues), Jennifer Schirm (Parkinson’s), Chuck VanHise (leg/walking rehab), Darlene Wingfield (pulmonary fibrosis, breast cancer), Courtney Ziegler (Huntington’s), and Pastor Jean Hurst (kidney cancer).

 

LECTIONARY FOR 10/31/21

Deuteronomy 6:1-9; Psalm 119:1-8;

Hebrews 9:11-14; Mark 12:28-34