PIONEER
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Worship
via Blog Christ the King Sunday November 22, 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 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.
-
Happy
Thanksgiving! May it be blessed.
-
Deacons
meet following worship.
-
PPW
lunch meeting Tuesday at noon, Fellowship Hall.
-
following
worship (November 22), there will be a short congregational meeting in order to
elect officers who will then be ordained and/or installed on November 29
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
Come, God is seeking to gather us
together.
Like a shepherd searching for lost sheep,
God calls us.
Something
or someone has summoned us here.
Dare
we believe that God knows and welcomes us?
God reaches out to rescue all who have
strayed.
Scattered, weak and injured ones are drawn
to God.
We
come, in need of healing, seeking a blessing.
Our
faith draws us here, in spite of our doubts.
Come, above all else, to worship and give
thanks.
Make a joyful noise to the Creator of all
worlds.
God’s
steadfast love becomes real to us here.
We
are reminded of God’s immeasurable greatness.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
We come with gladness, loving God, drawn
by our need and by a desire to praise you and give thanks. Enlighten the eyes
of our hearts that we may be full of hope. Enlarge the circle of our concern
that we may see the stranger as next of kin, the hungry person as part of our
own family, the one who is sick as a whole individual deserving of our care.
Grant us the presence of Christ that we may learn more fully to follow in the
footsteps of Jesus. Amen.
OPENING
SONG: “Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart” LU#114
CALL TO CONFESSION
God both loves and judges us. High standards
are held before us, and God expects much of us. Where we have grown careless,
God calls us to a more disciplined life. When we are tempted to forget those
less fortunate than ourselves, God alerts us to make radical changes. Let us
begin by recognizing our sin.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
All-knowing
God, you are aware of our comfort-seeking weakness. We ignore strangers in need
as if they were no concern of ours. We resist programs that might threaten our
privileges. We do only enough good to keep us from feeling guilty. We give
grudgingly of our time and resources, instead of overflowing with thanksgiving
and joyous sharing. We act as though discipleship were something to be done in
our spare time. O God, we pray we have not wandered beyond your reach. (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 one another.
GLORY
BE TO THE FATHER
TIME WITH CHILDREN
Good
morning Zoey and Fiona. Do you know that there is an important holiday this
week? It’s Thanksgiving. What do you think that is about? A lot of people think
it’s about eating too much food. That’s certainly true for a lot of us. But
there is more than that. We also thank God for all the good things in our
lives. Can you think what some of those might be?
There’s
Mama and Daddy and Grandmas and Grandpas and other family members. We have a
warm place to live. There’s lots of food to eat. We have plenty of clothes.
Those are all good things that we should be thankful for.
When
I think of those good things, it also makes me think about people who don’t
have it so good. There are people who are hungry. They don’t enough food to
eat. There are people who don’t have homes or they can’t afford to keep their
homes warm. There are people who don’t have warm clothes to wear. Some don’t
have families to be with. When we hear about people like that we should help
them if we can. Jesus said that when we do it’s just as if we had helped him if he was hungry and in need.
Let’s
pray: Jesus, thank you that we have so
many good things in our lives. Thank you for Mama and Daddy and the rest of our
families. Thank you for warm homes and enough food and clothes. Please help
those who don’t have enough and show us how to help them, too. 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: Matthew 25:31-46
"When
the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will
sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he
will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the
goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the
left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, `Come, O blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I
was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick
and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'
Then the
righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or
thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome
thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and
visit thee?' And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it
to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'
Then he
will say to those at his left hand, `Depart from me, you cursed, into the
eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you
gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and
you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and
you did not visit me.'
Then they
also will answer, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger
or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?' Then he will
answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of
these, you did it not to me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment,
but the righteous into eternal life."
SCRIPTURE 2: Ezekiel 34:11-24
"For thus says the Lord God:
Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As a
shepherd seeks out his flock when some of his sheep have been scattered abroad,
so will I seek out my sheep; and I will rescue them from all places where they
have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring
them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring
them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the
fountains, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them
with good pasture, and upon the mountain heights of Israel shall be their
pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on fat pasture
they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.
I myself will be the shepherd of my
sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost,
and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the crippled, and I will
strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will watch over; I will feed
them in justice.
"As for you, my flock, thus says
the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, rams and he-goats. Is it
not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with
your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must
foul the rest with your feet? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with
your feet, and drink what you have fouled with your feet?
"Therefore, thus says the Lord God
to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean
sheep. Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with
your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, I will save my flock, they
shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will
set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he
shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and
my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.
SERMON: “Fat
or Fluffy?” Rev. Jean Hurst
Have you seen the plaques
and posters that declare, “I’m not fat, I’m fluffy!”? The proclamation is
accompanied by the image of a sheep. It’s a tongue-in-cheek attempt to avoid
reality by reframing it. Nobody is taken in. God wouldn’t be taken in either.
Just as God sees beneath the sheep skin to the wolf underneath, God sees
beneath the fleece to the true person beneath.
Last Sunday we read
America’s favorite Psalm—Psalm 23. We love the words of assurance and promise.
They range from God watching over us and providing for us to God safeguarding
us as we walk through the dark valleys of life. And we love the thought of
God’s love pursuing us throughout life until we arrive in a new life in God’s
presence after our earthly life is done.
As we talked about in the
children’s time last week, we don’t readily think of ourselves as sheep. That
seems a bit demeaning given our prejudice against sheep—dirty, dumb,
dependent—a bunch of followers. We have a higher vision of ourselves. A bit
ironic, don’t you think, since God in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New
Testament sees us exactly as sheep.
One reason for that is
that biblical writings were tied to the common life of the people. Much of the
socio-economic lifestyle of biblical peoples was associated with the land. An
agrarian society would understand teachings about planting and growing and
herds and fishing. Being herders, they would know the behavior of herd animals
and would be able to see how human behavior was so often similar.
Funny that God should love
us even when we act like sheep. Yet clearly that’s the case. God speaks through
the prophet Ezekiel and proclaims a personal involvement. It’s not a task that
God is going to push off onto someone else. God declares that he, himself, will
be the one to seek out the lost sheep and those who are scattered. He’s
speaking of his people Israel who are scattered in exile to different countries
and God promises to bring them back home.
When God declares us to be
sheep, God declares himself to be shepherd. Shepherding was a metaphor for
spiritual leadership and for a king who shepherds, keeps, and cares for his
people.
Like echoes of the 23rd
Psalm, God promises good pastures, safe places of rest, and plenty of food.
There are tender words of seeking the lost, bringing back the strays, binding
up the injured, and strengthening the weak. But then the tone changes as a word
of warning comes through the promises. God is going to keep an eye on the fat
and strong and see that they are fed justice.
Justice is about fairness,
when things are made right, when the wrongdoers get what’s coming to them, when
each gets what they deserve. It’s when the imbalances are corrected, when God
determines that the powerful have had their time at the trough and now it’s the
turn of the weak and vulnerable. That’s when some of the fat sheep may claim,
“I’m not fat, I’m fluffy!” God isn’t fooled. God looks at the behavior. And it
is our behavior that defines us, not our words and not our pretenses.
Not unlike Jesus’
judgement of the nations in the gospel readings, God will judge between sheep
and sheep, between rams and he-goats. The first accusation is against those
grabbing up the good stuff, claiming the best for themselves. But it doesn’t
stop there. As if that greed weren’t bad enough, God accuses them of spoiling
what they don’t use, ruining it so the others don’t get the benefit of what’s
left. Not only do the fat sheep drink of the clear water and eat of the lush
pastures, but then they tromp down the pasture grass and stomp around in the
water, fouling it with their feet and ensuring that no one gets their
leftovers. God demands, “must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet
and drink what you have fouled with your feet?”
In response to that, God
will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Again, their behavior is
noted. “You push with side and shoulder and thrust at all the weak with your
horns ‘til you have scattered them.” God will come to the defense of the weak
and vulnerable. He will set up a shepherd over them, a descendant of David, who
will feed the sheep and be their shepherd.
And, as is made clear in
the gospel reading, that new shepherd is Jesus. And in that passage we are told
that at the end times Jesus will return as judge of the nations where he will
divide the sheep from the goats. Most of us have heard this passage innumerable
times, yet often overlook the word ‘nations’. Typically we understand that
judgement falls on each individual. And that is so. But here, it looks like the
nations will be judged as well.
That provides a stronger
tie to the Old Testament passage. In the Old Testament, time after time nations
have been aggressors, invaded and conquered Israel, stolen their resources and
employed a scorched earth policy in their wake. The obvious ones are Assyria,
Babylon, and Rome. There was also the Hellenistic, Ottoman, Byzantine,
Crusaders, and British.
That brings it up to
modern times … and us. Fat or fluffy? If, during the times of Ezekiel, God
spoke in condemnation of certain behaviors, using the metaphor of sheep, then
we need to examine our own behaviors and guard against similar wrongs.
In Ezekiel, God is saying
that it’s wrong to grab all the best for ourselves and leave those less
fortunate with leftovers. It’s wrong to use our power and influence to our own
gain and to the detriment of others. And it’s wrong to spoil the bounty so that
those next to use them end up without or with spoiled and contaminated resources.
It’s wrong behavior for a nation and wrong behavior for an individual.
When Jesus told of that
time of judgement, he added another perspective on it. As he divided the
people, it was into two categories. After that, he explained why. Those he called
sheep, he praised because they had responded to human need—hunger, thirst,
clothes, illness, imprisonment saying they had done it for him. They were
perplexed at this because surely they would have remembered helping Jesus. His
answer to them was that whenever they helped someone else, the least, the ones
who don’t count, the ones shunted aside, the ones without voice and power, the
weak and vulnerable, it was the same as if they had helped him.
The goats, in turn, were
told that they had failed to help Jesus when he needed help and were condemned
for it. They, too, were perplexed. When? Certainly, if they’d seen him in need
they would have helped. Jesus’ answer to them was the same. As much as you have
not done it to one of the least of these, you have not done it to me.
With these two passages,
we have two different aspects of what God expects of us, his flock. One is
about not doing ill to another—the medical equivalent of ‘do no harm’. The
second aspect is one of intentionality or being proactive. It’s one thing not
to intentionally do harm. It’s another to stand by and do nothing.
We are rapidly approaching
Advent—that time of waiting and anticipation of the coming of Jesus—both as the
Christ child and also in the return of Christ. We often wonder when Jesus will
come again. Commentator and professor, Barbara Lundblad, says we are asking the
wrong question. She writes, “Jesus is already here. We see him in those we may
consider least among us. We see Jesus in the child going to bed hungry. We see
Jesus in the stranger who is of a different ethnic group, someone who does not
look like me. We will see Jesus in the prisoner if we ever go to visit. These
sisters and brothers are not metaphors, and neither is Jesus.”1
These passages speak to us
on multiple levels. Sometimes we are the lost, the strayed, the wounded and the
weak. The promise of being sought, found, brought home, healed, and sustained
is life-giving. Sometimes, too, we are ‘the least’ referred to by Jesus. At
other times, we are the ones who have the ability to touch lives, to help the
vulnerable, to share the resources, to act in life-giving ways. How we respond
will answer the question: fat or fluffy?
1Barbara K. Lundblad, Feasting on
the Gospels, Matthew Volume 2, Chapters 14-28, p. 271, Homiletical
Perspective, Cynthia A. Jarvis and E. Elizabeth Johnson, Eds., Westminster John
Knox Press, Louisville, 2013.
HYMN: “Let
All Things Now Living” #37
PRAYERS OF THE
PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
As we gather this week with family and
friends to celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving, awaken our hearts to all the
gifts you have bestowed on us that when we lift up our thanks to you we truly
recognize the magnitude of all you have given. Safeguard those who travel and
those who gather that they would be safe from Covid as well as the perils of
the highways.
At the same time that we recognize the
abundance of good in our lives, help us to open our eyes to those who don’t
have what we have. Stir our hearts with compassion so that we will respond to
them as if we were responding to you.
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 George Sahlberg … Phyllis Bauer … Beverly Patterson
… Darlene Wingfield … Lois White …
Virginia … Cherry … John Matthews … Margaret Dunbar … Trisha … Dave …
Jacob … 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
The riches we enjoy grant us an
opportunity to be generous and work for good. Through the offerings of our
finances, time and abilities we can share the good news and bear the light of
Christ. Ponder now what you might offer to God.
DOXOLOGY
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
God of steadfast love, receive these expressions of
our thanks for what you have entrusted to us. We offer ourselves and our
resources toward the realization of your eternal purpose for all humanity. May
this congregation become more and more a source of hope for each of us and for
all we meet. Amen.
CLOSING HYMN: “All
Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name”
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
Our charge for the week is to keep our
eyes open. Jesus is always present—often in the faces and hearts of those who
most need the difference we can make.
As you watch and wait, may 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
November 22 following worship congregational meeting
November 22 following meeting Deacons
November 29 during worship ordinations/installations
December 6 10:30 a.m. Women’s Spirituality
PRAYER
CARE:
George Sahlberg
(infection, heart problems), Phyllis Bauer, Beverly Patterson (Sheila
Cunningham’s mother) (aging issues), Lois White (lymphoma), Virginia DesIlets
(broken hip), Darlene Wingfield (heart valve, pulmonary fibrosis, breast
cancer), Margaret Dunbar (fall/broken tailbone), John Matthews (cancer), 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 11/29/20
Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians
1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37
