PIONEER
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Worship
via Blog 15th Sunday after
Pentecost September 13, 2020
~~~~~~~~~~
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. 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.
-
Session
has made the decision to resume church activities like PPW meetings, Women’s
Spirituality, Men’s Prayer Group, M&M meetings, and Deacons’ meetings as
long as these groups church and state guidelines, including masks and social
distancing.
-
The
Harvest Festival dinner is canceled for 2020 and hopefully will resume in 2021.
-
The
Harvest Festival bazaar will be held in the basement with changes implemented
to ensure the safety of attendees and those running the bazaar.
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
Tremble, O earth, at the presence of
God.
Let us remember God’s marvelous works.
Surely God has saved us in difficult times.
How can we forget God’s
guiding hand?
When evil surrounds us and we have
been wronged,
God helps us turn the evil to good.
We need not be afraid, whatever happens.
We are in God’s care wherever
we go.
Sing the praises of God, our strength.
Know that God is majestic and holy.
How great is God’s mercy!
God is kind and patient, full
of grace.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Majestic God who led our spiritual
ancestors, protecting them day and night, lead us through the threatening times
in which we live. Save us from our own misplaced trust. Grant strength for
those who are weak and support for all who are stumbling. Let every tongue
praise you as we give account to you for all our deeds. Amen.
OPENING
SONG: “Freely, Freely”
CALL TO CONFESSION
Why do we pass judgement on our brothers
and sisters? Why do we quarrel with those whose ways are different from our
own? How can we despise another who is also a child of God? How can we ignore
the suffering of other human beings? Surely we have much to confess to God.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
We
bow before your judgement seat, O God. We have ranked our brothers and sisters
by the faulty standards of our society to determine who is worthy of our
attention. We have rejected those whom we dislike and have been harsh with
those we think do not measure up. We have been quite willing to overlook our
own faults as we look down on other people. O God, you have shown us a better
way. Save us from the pain we inflict and help us discover the blessing of
forgiveness. (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
SCRIPTURE 1: Romans 14:1-12
As for the man who
is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. One believes he may eat anything, while the
weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains,
and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has
welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is
before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the
Master is able to make him stand. One man esteems one day as better than another,
while another man esteems all days alike. Let every one be fully convinced in
his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He
also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while
he who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. None of
us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the
Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we
die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he
might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on
your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand
before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, "As I live, says the
Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to
God." So each of us shall give account of himself to God.
SCRIPTURE 2: Matthew 18:21-35 (New Living Translation)
Then Peter came to him and asked, "Lord, how often
should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?"
"No, not seven times," Jesus replied, "but seventy times seven!
"Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to
bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In
the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of
dollars. He couldn't pay, so his master ordered that he be sold -- along with
his wife, his children, and everything he owned -- to pay the debt. "But
the man fell down before his master and begged him, 'Please, be patient with
me, and I will pay it all.' Then his master was filled with pity for him, and
he released him and forgave his debt. "But when the man left the king, he
went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He
grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. "His fellow
servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. 'Be patient
with me, and I will pay it,' he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn't wait. He had
the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
"When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went
to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in
the man he had forgiven and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave you that
tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn't you have mercy on your
fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?' Then the angry king sent the man
to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. "That's what
my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and
sisters from your heart."
SERMON: “Why
Forgive?” Rev. Jean Hurst
What are the little things
doing to you in life? That’s where we live, you know—among the little things.
Oh, the big things are certainly out there. There are big life events such as
births, weddings, deaths, divorces, buying your first home, graduations, retirement.
There are big things in the news—wars, riots, violence, political events. Big
things are in natural events like hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and while not
always natural, wildfires and pandemics.
And then there are the big
things in life that are personal. Those include traumas from childhood like
sexual, physical, or emotional abuse, neglect or abandonment. As adults it
might include adultery, betrayal, sexual or physical assault, robbery, sibling
battles over estates, accidents and serious illness.
The big things in life can
have huge impact on us. It’s generally up to us how huge and for how long. When
we feel those things have been intentional, malicious acts against us, then we
can feel wounded, angry, and vengeful or can end up identifying ourselves as
victims. We can develop and hold negative feelings about ourselves. We might
feel worthless, unloved and unlovable, not good enough, not valued, and other
feelings that undermine our self-esteem. We might go through much of our life
not feeling safe or feeling like we can’t trust others.
Certainly those big things
have an impact on our lives and do much to shape who we are and how we see
ourselves and those around us. They can make us unhappy, suspicious, resentful,
self-focused people—if we let it. It can get in the way of our being able to
live life fully and joyfully. We can make our lives about that single event and
literally give our lives to it. That is why forgiveness is so important. We’ve
talked about that before. We’ve talked about how refusing to forgive is more
about its effect on us rather than
the person who has hurt us. It takes a toll on us physically, emotionally and
spiritually. It imprisons us within the memory of that event. Forgiving the
other person is to free ourselves and reclaim our lives.
Jesus told a parable that
illustrates both the big things and the little things. The first debtor owed
the king a huge sum that he has no hope of repaying. When the debtor sees the
penalty he begs for mercy and the king grants it. But then the debtor
encounters someone who owes him pocket change in comparison, yet despite the
grace he has just received, refuses to forgive that person. The big and the
little.
So again, what are the little things doing to you? Most of life
is little things. What do those accumulated little irritations and resentments
do to you? Think about what puts you at odds with others. Within the family it
could be irritating habits and behaviors like leaving clothes and stuff strewn
around, taking you for granted, not acknowledging your gifts or efforts. There
might be little putdowns or making you the butt of jokes.
Within a family, workplace,
or other situations, there are people who don’t pull their share of the load or
do a haphazard job, those who don’t keep commitments, break promises, fail to
keep a confidence, gossip about you. There are the whiners, those who have all
the answers, those who make everything all about themselves. We could create a
long list of what bothers us about other people. A lot of it comes down to
their not living and doing the way we think they should.
These things may sound more
like irritations than things that need to be forgiven, but what do they do to
you? How do they affect how you feel about that person? What kind of resentments
do you end up carrying? How do they eat at you? Do you think about them beyond
the actual incident? Do you bring them up in conversations about that person?
Do you find yourself watching and waiting for the expected behavior and
resenting it even before it happens? Does it affect your relationship with that
person? Do you hold onto it?
As I was looking at the
original Greek for this passage I was surprised at the translation. The
commonly used word is ‘forgive’. The lexicon offers another choice. The other
meaning is’ to let go’. Let it go. How often have we heard that advice? It
makes sense. When we refuse to forgive, we are holding onto whatever incident,
offence, or pain we have experienced. When we forgive, we are letting it go, no
longer making it part of our emotional arsenal. No longer letting it wound us.
With these little things that seem to keep adding up, it is the same thing. We
can hold onto them or we can let them go. Release it or let it become part of
us.
When Jesus tells us it is important
to forgive others, I don’t think he was talking just about the big things. In
this passage today, Peter isn’t either. Peter asks Jesus how many times he
should forgive when someone sins against him. Most translations say “when my
brother sins against me,” translated from the Greek ἀδελφός . Think City of Brotherly Love—Philadelphia. Using the term ‘brother’ is a
generic reference to other people he encounters. Another Bible translation says
“when a member of the church sins against me.” This isn’t about the church per
se. It’s not limited to relationships within the church. And Peter is asking
about multiple offences from the same person.
Peter probably thinks he’s
being generous when he offers up the number seven, known to be a holy number.
Jesus’ answer shocks him—and perhaps disappoints him. Jesus gave the outrageous
answer of seventy times seven. That must have been hard to swallow for some of
the translators, too, who passed by the original Greek translation of seventy
times seven and went for a more desirable seventy-seven times. That’s hard
enough when you face the repetitive offenses committed by some people.
Jesus is not advocating
keeping track of the offences until we’ve reached a specific limit when we can
say, “enough is enough” and then retaliate or cut them out of your life. What
Jesus is saying is, “live with it.” Not a reasonable answer for most of us.
Peter’s suggestion of seven is pushing the limit for many of us. But face it,
most of those annoying incidents come from people who are a regular part of our
lives. Often it’s family or a co-worker or a neighbor. You can change jobs or move, but generally
we’re stuck with family. Although even with family, moving might help…. But
still, family is family.
This is a good place to note
some reasoning in Jesus’ answer to Peter. Right before this discussion we find
a parable about the lost sheep, which reflects God’s value for every single one
of us—even those with the annoying habit of repeatedly getting themselves into
trouble. Next comes a discussion of settling disputes. The preference is
privately, one-on-one. Talk to the person about it. Try to resolve it just
between the two of you. If that doesn’t clear things up, then bring along
someone to be witness and perhaps arbitrator before it ever escalates to the
point of being a public conflict. And then today’s passage, the next-in-line
teaching, about forgiving.
All of these are about
relationship. Just about all the laws and teachings of scripture are about
relationship—relationship with God and relationship with each other. Think of
those we’ve talked about recently. The first and greatest commandment is to
love God with all that you’ve got, with all that you are. The second is like
it—love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said that on these two rest all the laws and commandments.
Remember, too, the golden
rule (or for Fiona and Zoey, the golden ruler). Treat others the way you want
to be treated. Then there’s the command to love our enemies, pray for them,
bless them, help them. Whenever possible, resolve the issue before it reaches
the point of them becoming enemy. Or use Abraham Lincoln’s method of destroying
his enemy by making him his friend. And then there’s that commandment that
Jesus gave his followers shortly before he died, “Love one another as I have
loved you … by this everyone will know that you are my disciples.”
All of these support
relationship. Our faith is based on a God of love who created all that is. God
entered into relationship with the humans he created. God’s desire was that
those relationships would be healthy and mutual both with God and with each
other. From the start, the relationships were damaged as the early Genesis
stories tell us. First, when Adam and Eve rebelled against God and again when
Cain allowed jealousy and resentment to get the better of him and he killed his
brother Abel. Ever since then, God has been seeking out humans and striving to
heal the broken relationships. God wants us to love each other, to get along,
to be in whole, happy relationships. When we are not in healthy relationship with
each other, it affects our relationship with God. Jesus came to show us what
love is and to heal us. As his followers he expects us to continue that effort,
which includes forgiving.
Forgiving begins with love.
To love others as Jesus loves us is to love unconditionally—despite all our
failings, all our irritating habits and behaviors, to love sacrificially, to
love when it goes against our egos and hurts our pride, to love even when we
know we are right and the other is wrong, to love even when the other person
repeatedly offends us. To love is to let go.
When we forgive, we are not
just forgiving a specific incident, especially when it is a repeated offence.
We are forgiving their humanness, their failure to be perfect, their failure to
meet our expectations, to live up to our vision of how they should behave.
Jesus told that parable of
the king and the two debtors to show us the magnitude of our own debt, our own
sins and failings and the extent of God’s mercy and grace toward us. How can we
refuse to forgive another person when God has forgiven us for so much. God has
forgiven us not just for the big sins but for all those little, repeated sins
as well--seventy times seven. God has forgiven us and we, in turn, are expected
to forgive one another. Amen.
HYMN: “God,
How Can We Forgive?”
PRAYERS OF THE
PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
O Lord, how large is your love! The
world and all that is in it you have provided for our use and care. You have
blessed us with grace upon grace. You walk beside us through good times and
bad. You know our needs and the hungers of our hearts. We are embraced by that
knowing and loving.
Having received love, Holy God, you
tell us to love in turn. That isn’t always easy, even—or particularly—with
those closest to us. Where words said or unsaid mean so much more, where needs
cry out and hurts go deep, there is more chance for things to get all tangled.
Help us to see clearly when nothing is clear, to speak in love when feeling
unloved, and to have the wisdom and patience to speak the right words at the
right time. And when we lean toward self-righteousness, remind us that others
might find us just as difficult to love.
You also call us to love our enemies.
God of peace, that is really hard right now. We have been thrust into a time
when we wonder if the world will survive all the hate and turmoil. There is
violence in our streets, turmoil in our capitol, fear and confusion and
frustration around the Covid virus, enmity between countries. We are hurting,
tender God. We don’t know what kind of future our children and grandchildren
will have. God, bring peace and reason to a world that is out of control. Grant
our people wisdom in how we respond to the issues before us. Help us to see
those with whom we differ as brothers and sisters, not enemies. Unite our
country and help us to work together for peace.
We pray for those who put their own
lives at risk to fight wildfires, to respond to violence, to provide medical
services during the pandemic. We pray for teachers and students. We lift up
those who suffer and are afflicted in body or in mind, for the hungry and
homeless, the destitute and oppressed, for all who suffer persecution, doubt,
and despair. Hear the cry of those in need. Show them your mercy and give us,
your servants, the strength and compassion to serve them.
We pray for those close to us,
for Duane VanCleave and family as they grieve Laura's death … Darlene Wingfield
… Lois White … Virginia … Cherry … Judy’s
daughter Rosa … John Matthews … Margaret Dunbar … Trisha … Dave … Jacob … Joyce
… Jennifer … Chuck … Courtney … Ethel … Helen. (Additional prayers …………)
God
who holds the world in your hands, 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
Nothing we can do will ever begin to
repay the debt of life and the multitude of blessings we have received from God.
Therefore with gratitude, we extend to others the gracious acceptance and
generosity we have experienced. Let us thank God with our offerings—from our
finances and from the very living of our lives.
DOXOLOGY
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Holy God, your gifts to us are without number. In
humble gratitude, we thank you. We dedicate our offerings, our resources, our
lives to you for the work of your realm. Receive our gifts and draw us to
yourself. Amen.
CLOSING HYMN: “There’s
a Wideness in God’s Mercy”
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
There
is much in the world to divide us, much that would lead us to view others as
adversaries if not enemies. Yet we have the power to choose how we see the
world. Just for this next week, your charge is to see others as your brothers
and sisters no matter how much they differ with you on any topic.
As
you do, know that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit goes with you. 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.
~~~~~~~~~~
LOOKING
AHEAD
Session has
authorized church groups to resume meeting if they comply with the church and
state covid restrictions (masks and distancing). Not all groups will be reading
to start up again. Check with your committee leaders and watch for further
announcements.
PRAYER
CARE:
Duane VanCleave and family as they grieve Laura's death, Lois White (lymphoma), Virginia DesIlets (broken hip),
Darlene Wingfield (heart valve, pulmonary fibrosis, breast cancer), Margaret
Dunbar (fall/broken tailbone), Judy’s daughter Rosa Lester (covid-19/retinal
bleed), 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 9/20/20
Exodus
16:2-15; Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45; Philippians 1:21-30;
Matthew
20:1-16
