BURTON JOYCE
COMMUNITY CHURCH
SUNDAY 26th SEPTEMBER 2021
Last Sunday was Peace Sunday. In this act of worship, Rev. Alan Boyd considers how true peace might be achieved. Adapted.
A GATHERING PRAYER AND CALL TO WORSHIP
God the Father – fill our worship with your glory.
God the Son – bless our worship with your presence.
God the Holy Spirit – inspire our worship with your gifts
A PRAYER OF PRAISE WITH A SUNG RESPONSE
Between each section, we will use a song from the Iona Community.
If you don’t know the tune, simply repeat the words:
Come all you people, come and praise your maker,
Come now and worship the Lord!
Lord, we are here to worship you with hearts open before you, our voices raised in praise, our minds and understanding, and every fibre of our being. We offer ourselves & our gifts for your use and blessing.
Come all you people ...
We have made our way to worship, a journey we have made many times. But our journey with Jesus isn’t always so straight forward. We come today, Lord God, fully attentive, ready to walk in your ways.
Come all you people ...
Each one of us is unique with different life stories but the constant is that you are with us. We thank you, Lord, that with you as our guide, following your Word, we can make right choices in our lives.
Come all you people ...
A TIME OF CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
Gracious God, you have never ceased loving us. Throughout our lives we keep discovering that this world is your world, and your way is the way of self-giving love. Forgive us that we behave with disregard for you and others. Forgive us that, like Jesus’ disciples, we seek status or power and are not open to receive from other people. Give us humility Make us a welcoming people, through Jesus Christ out Lord. Amen
Lord, as we come to the start of a new church year, we thank you for your faithfulness, we ask you for your guidance, we listen for your voice, and we commit to follow you in the year ahead. Amen
WHAT EXACTLY IS ‘PEACE SUNDAY’?
Peace Sunday is the Sunday closest to the United Nations INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE (21 September). We need a commitment to make our world more equal, more just, equitable, inclusive, sustainable & healthier. We will focus on this as we reflect on our gospel reading and, in our prayers, we will pray for peace.
LET’S SING BEFORE OUR REFLECTION ON MARK
Songs of Fellowship 1202 Come down, O love divine
OUR BIBLE READING: MARK 9:30-37
A REFLECTION ON THE READING
Scritch, scratch, squeak, scratch. Scritch, scratch, squeak, squeak. Louder and louder. The car became harder to drive. We pulled over several times. I was convinced that the car was doing it on purpose. As it got later and darker and wetter and the car became worse. Pull off into a dowdy service area. No garages open. Nowhere to stay. Sit there until morning, 8 or 9 hours. I can still remember that night all those years ago, and that seized-up wheel bearing. We were cold, miserable, sleepless, powerless. That’s what I remember the most - feeling helpless. There wasn’t anything I could do about it.
I’m sure that you’ve had experiences like that yourself. Feelings of helplessness, exasperation, powerlessness. It might have been the car. Or the holiday flight that was cancelled. Or key that snapped in the lock. Or handle that came off in your hand. The letter from the bank. The bill that was impossible to pay. The decision about your future that was taken out of your hands. The job that wasn’t there anymore. The illness that floored you. The accident that finished things off. The operation that you had to wait and wait and wait for. The marriage of one of our children that didn’t work out and we couldn’t live their lives for them. The death you dreaded but could do nothing to stop.
We experience powerlessness in so many ways. That’s the experience now for some of our family, friends and fellowship – maybe for you. Is it possible to feel any purpose again, any sense that you have some sort of control in life again? Will we always be powerless?
Jesus is talking about power and powerlessness in this short reading from Mark. It’s not the first or last time it’ll come up. He’s done it once already and he’ll do it again later. Here, the 2nd time, as they walk through Galilee, he makes a private prediction to his disciples: “Someone’s going to betray a man into powerful hands. He’ll be killed. But 3 days later he’ll rise again”. Not a flicker of recognition from the disciples as to what, or who, he was on about. Let me think - someone’s going to betray a man into powerful hands? No. He’ll be killed? Nothing. 3 days later he’ll rise again? Nope, haven’t a clue.
As he does the other two times, Jesus follows this prediction with some teaching on what it means to be a disciple - to follow him and to follow his way. As they come into a house in Capernaum. Jesus asks: “What were you talking about on the way here?” Well, he knew what they’d been on about. You can just imagine their heads bowed and eyes turned way. They’ve been caught out.
They hadn’t any understanding of what Jesus had been talking about, or what it might mean. Instead, they were arguing over which one of the disciples was the greatest. Jesus goes on to tell them that it’s not going to be like that. Mark 9:35 “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all”.
· So, in this past year, in the middle of a climate catastrophe, a record number of environmental activists working to protect the environment and land rights are killed: 227 murders linked to resource exploitation, logging, mining, large-scale agribusiness, hydroelectric dams and other infrastructure
· So, this month, after the terror, horror, sacrifices and disaster of Afghanistan’s wars - despite promises, the shutters already begin to come down in the UK and the west over those fleeing and seeking protection - while in the country itself, the freedom and voice of women begins to be wiped from the society again.
· So, this week, in spite of all the evidence, health and job crisis, protest and need in 21st century Britain, for reasons of dogma, our government seems hell-bent on cutting the Universal Credit £20 lift-up, meaning that families will struggle to keep warm and put food on the table this winter, while many won’t be able to keep their heads above water and will be kept in poverty.
Status, wealth, power, control, laying down the law, ruling the roost. Our rules. My wealth, Their class.
“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Yes, most of the world thinks about status, wealth, power, control, but to be a disciple, to follow Jesus and follow his way means something totally different. It’s not a quest for status, wealth, power and control. Neither is it letting the world steamroll over you or anyone else.
Jesus brings a child into the middle of the group of the 12 disciples. In those times, children were almost non-persons. They symbolised low status vulnerability, powerlessness, and. Jesus says: “Look, if you welcome one of these, one of the powerless, you also welcome me, you welcome God, this is how you truly follow me and my way, this is how you truly follow God and God’s way”.
· To follow God’s way means that we - and God - protest the case of the powerless - that includes us. How do we feel powerless? To follow God’s way means that we - and God - stand alongside the powerless through thick and thin - that includes us. What is it that makes us feel helpless and alone just now?
· To follow God’s way means that we - and God - believe that the powerless, exasperated, helpless won’t always stay that way - that includes us. Why do we think things are dark and hopeless?
· To follow God’s way means that we - and God - are convinced that those who feel the burden of powerlessness, exasperation, helplessness won’t be crushed in the end but will rise again and find a voice and life and hope again - that includes us.
This is a resurrection promise. From a resurrection God. We are a resurrection people. AMEN TO THAT.
PRAYERS FOR THE WORLD
Thinking of Peace Sunday, we’ll use the words from a hymn written by Alan Gaunt. Read each verse slowly, and guided by each one, offer your own prayers for the world, each other and ourselves.
1. We pray for peace - but not the easy peace built on complacency and not the truth of God; We pray for real peace; the peace God's love alone can seal.
2. We pray for peace- but not the cruel peace leaving God's poor bereft and dying in distress; We pray for real peace, enriching all the human race.
3. We pray for peace - and not the evil peace defending unjust laws and nursing prejudice, But for the real peace of justice, truth and love.
4. We pray for peace - holy communion with Christ our risen Lord and every living thing; God's will fulfilled on earth, and all his creatures reconciled.
5. We pray for peace - and, for the sake of peace, look to the risen Christ, who gives the grace we need to serve the cause of peace and make our own self-sacrifice.
6. God, give us peace - if you withdraw your love, there is no peace for us, nor any hope of it. With you to lead us on through death or tumult, peace will come. AMEN
And now bring everything together with the Lord’s Prayer:
OUR FINAL HYMN
Songs of Fellowship 333 Let us with a gladsome mind
A PRAYER OF BLESSING
The kingdom lies before you - walk towards it with hope and confidence. The Kingdom lies at hand - grasp and live its values today. The Kingdom lies within you. Let it shine through your love for others. AMEN
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