Sunday Worship 29 September 2024

 
Today’s service is led by Jo Patterson

 
Welcome

Welcome to our online worship this morning, the 29th of September. Wherever you are and whenever you are worshipping, you are most welcome.  I am Jo Patterson, a church related community worker, serving here at Copleston Church and Community Centre in Peckham in South London, and I bring you warm wishes from our congregation.  Our purpose now is to worship God,  so let us prepare with our responsive call to worship, which this morning is based on Psalm 40.  

Call to Worship 

Wait patiently for the Lord, he will turn and hear our cry,
He will lift us up, set our feet and give us a firm place to stand.

Put new songs in our mouths, hymns of praise to our God,
We will see the Lord and put our trust in him.

Come, let us seek, rejoice and be glad,
Let us always say “God is great”.

Hymn     I The Lord of Sea and Sky
© 1981, Daniel L Schutte, New Dawn Music OneLicence  # A-734713  performed by Ruth and Joy Everingham and used with their kind permission.
 
I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin my hand will save.
I, who made the stars of night, I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear my light to them? Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord.  Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

I, the Lord of snow and rain, I have borne my people’s pain.
I have wept for love of them. They turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone, give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak my words to them. Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord.  Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

I, the Lord of wind and flame, I will send the poor and lame.
I will set a feast for them. My hand will save.
Finest bread I will provide till their hearts be satisfied.
I will give my life to them. Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord.  Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.
 
Prayer of Praise

Let us pray together
Loving God, You are our protector, our guide, and our saviour. We meet this morning to praise all that you have done for us, the wonders that you give us in our world and in our lives. We turn to you in times of joy and in times of sadness knowing that you will always be there to walk with us. We come as your humble children, wanting to know you better and let you fully into our lives. We think of those who have faith in the most difficult circumstances, who show you their love when it is not easy. We are truly thankful for your presence in our lives and come together in the unity of the body of Christ, to worship, to praise your name, however we come to you today. Open our hearts to see your will and let your spirit be active in us today and always.  Amen

Prayer of Confession

Merciful God, You are our protector, our guide and our saviour. We bring to you our apologies, our wrong doings, our short tempers, our untruths and our difficulties. We are human and we get things wrong, at home, at work, in church, at school, with family, friends and neighbours. We do not look after our planet or ourselves as you would like. Knowing that we do not always do the right thing is difficult, but knowing that you are there for us can help us. Show us the best way. Accept our remorse as we know that you will forgive us, you will show us your love and we will be able to move forward. Teach us new ways of being your children in this world. And let us speak of you, knowing we are loved by your unconditional grace and mercy.  Amen

Assurance of Grace

O God, your heart is full of mercy. May we hear and trust your words to each of us: ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ May we forgive each other and forgive ourselves. Thanks be to God.   Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Hymn     O God Our Help in Ages Past
Isaac Watts Public Domain. Sung by the 150 voice Mass Choir, St Andrew’s Kirk, Chennai and used with t heir kind permission.

O God, our Help in ages past,
our Hope for years to come,
our Shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal Home.

Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
sufficient is Thine arm alone,
and our defence is sure.

Before the hills in order stood,
or earth received its frame,
from everlasting Thou art God,
to endless years the same.

A thousand ages in Thy sight
are like an evening gone,
short as the watch that ends the night
before the rising sun.

Time, like an ever-rolling stream
bears all its sons away;
they fly forgotten, as a dream
dies at the op’ning day.

O God, our Help in ages past,
our Hope for years to come,
be Thou our Guard while life shall last,
and our eternal Home!
 
Prayer For Illumination 

Loving God, give us faith to receive your living word, understanding to know what it means, and the will to put it into practice; Through your Son Jesus Christ.  Amen

Reading     Esther 7.1–6, 9, 10; 9.20–22

So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have won your favour, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me – that is my petition – and the lives of my people – that is my request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace, but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king.” Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do this?”

Esther said, “A foe and an enemy, this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Look, the very pole that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” So they hung Haman on the pole that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated. Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year, as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday, that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.

Reading     St Mark 9.38–end

John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward. If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched. For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Hymn     Lord of All Hopefulness
Jan Struther Oxford University Press, BBC Songs of Praise, OneLicence # A-734713  

Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,
whose trust, ever childlike, no cares could destroy:
Be there at our waking, and give us, we pray,
your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day.

Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith,
whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe:
Be there at our labours, and give us, we pray,
your strength in our hearts, Lord, at the noon of the day.

Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace,
your hands swift to welcome, your arms to embrace:
Be there at our homing, and give us, we pray,
your love in our hearts, Lord, at the eve of the day.

Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm,
whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm:
Be there at our sleeping, and give us, we pray,
your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day.
 
Sermon 

Let us pray together.  Loving God, give us faith to receive your living word,  understanding to know what it means and the will to put it into practice. 

There is a list of people who have an attachment to their name,  for example, Alfred the Great,  Richard the Lionheart, Ethelred the Unready. I do wonder what he was unready for, and I know my history, but I’m just not quite sure.  Those people aside, there are other people who are named for being particularly brave. 

Boleslaw, the brave, the first king of Poland in  1025. He was a capable monarch and a strong mediator in Central European affairs, and he continued to proselytize Western Christianity among his subjects, and he raised Poland to the rank of a kingdom. So, after doing all of that, seemingly quite brave,  but then we find Ulf the Brave, I’m not making this up, his name is Ulf, who was a Norwegian military commander and he lived in the 8th century.

Ulf was a poet and composed, in one night, a heroic poem praising his own heroic deeds and then he promptly died the next day.  He keeps the title of The Brave. But the poem doesn’t exist anymore, so we will never really know if he really deserves to be called brave because it looks like he made it up. 

Bravery seems to be a lauded thing. It was wanted to prove a person’s worth and power.  There are certain circumstances when actually I don’t feel very brave. Face to face with a spider, for example, or actually left anywhere where my feet are not on the ground. Heights are definitely not my thing. Bravery. 

But we are somehow expected to think of courage and overcoming our fears. And I, I don’t get that. I get someone else to go up the ladder or to put the spider in the vase and chuck it in the garden.  So it makes me wonder, what does it take for us to be brave? And does our Christian faithful life help us or hinder us?

Or call us to take those difficult and challenging steps towards change?  And in what circumstances would provoke us to be braver than we were yesterday?  The Book of Esther is a fascinating tale of a Jewish queen of Persia, queen to King Xerxes, also known as Ahasuerus. So if you read it, you might read that too.

It is a great tale, so worth thinking about what has led us to this point in the book. I encourage you to go and read the whole thing.  Set between 485 465 BC, Esther is chosen as a replacement queen from the king’s harem,  where he falls out with his wife, Queen Vashti, because essentially she disobeys him.

Esther is in this harem, she is Jewish, and on advice from her cousin Mordecai, her adopted parent and protector, She keeps her kinship to herself.  So some bravery already from Esther. She must keep quiet, otherwise her life is at risk.  Married to a really powerful man, she lives in a daily fragile state. 

Haman is the king’s chosen top official. He gets a bit big headed and expects everyone to bow to him as the king requests.  Mordecai, the cousin, Jewish cousin, I’ll remind you, refuses to bow. Again, we can see a family link, perhaps, to being brave. Or maybe he’s being daft, but still sunning up for himself and his people. 

Haman is furious and sets his task to destroy the Jews in retribution for Mordecai’s refusal to bow.  He tells the king what he is going to do, seeking authority from the king’s seal.  Esther discovers the plot from Mordecai, risking her own life to foil the plans by revealing her Jewish origins to the king and asking for the Jewish people to be saved from Haman’s destruction.  The king agrees, and Haman is hung, and Mordecai is rewarded.  But Esther goes even further, asking that Jewish people be allowed to defend themselves and attack their enemies in return.  Mordecai, now a trusted person to the king and queen, sends out a letter to the Jews, allowing them to fight and celebrate their release. 
The Jewish festival of Purim is still celebrated today. As the day that Esther bravely delivered the Jews,  it feels that this is an unlikely person in an unexpected place to be brave. Things are really stacked up against her.  She is a woman with no status, so she has no voice.  having to protect her true identity of her origin and her gender. 

And when she is picked, how awful to be a person who has to be picked. She seems to take her newfound position and make no mistake, this is an unstable position. to not just protect her people from certain death, but goes that further step in asking for more. Let the people defend themselves.  Esther risks her own life for the continuation of her people.

We can see that she is Esther the brave, with good reason. Not because she wrote a poem about herself like, Oh. but because she actually behaved in a brave  way to save the Jews.  Mordecai also takes a central and brave role. Firstly, taking on a child, a cousin, adopting and seeing the vision of what can be done to protect her.  He hides her in plain sight, and it feels risky, but it’s one he is worth taking.  And he stands up for himself, refusing to belittle himself. challenging the proposed massacre, also putting his life at risk.  Did he see the potential in his adopted child?  If he hadn’t put her in the harem, and that’s not a nice place to be, this would not have worked out.  It is in Mordecai’s prophetic and brave action that the deliverance of the Jewish people is decided. 

Again, it is worth looking at the setting for our Gospel passage. It is just after the Transfiguration, where Jesus has told three disciples not to tell anyone what they have seen.  Interesting, I always think, that he does that, and I wonder if it’s just perhaps to focus their minds. Because what he says next is going to be very important.  Directly preceding our verses, the disciples have been arguing about who is most favoured or important.  Jesus teaches them, those who want to be first must be last.  And don’t forget the children, they are important.  Jesus has also just told them, and I quote from verse 31, The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands.

And they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.  But they don’t really understand what he is saying, and they were afraid to ask him.  And it is in this context that Jesus is talking about discipleship  and social structures. And so we come now to our actual passage.  Jesus seems aware now that his time is limited, and he is not getting through the disciples in the way that he would have liked, because they seem to be more concerned about where they sit in the hierarchy. 

Jesus is trying to speak of how we reorder the scene, but not just that, but also reorder the world, and keep God at the centre.  In this new world, anyone is included. Not just as a faithful person, but an expectation to be an active one. It is not just for Jesus to act in faithful communities. It is also for us. 

In fact, most importantly, it is for us.  But, here we go, we will have to be brave, because what Jesus asks of us here needs us to actually grit our teeth and get it done.  Using children as an example represents a new way, levelling out social understandings. If children are valued, all are valued, all are recognised as the children of God.

For us to reorder our social structures. requires us to speak and be brave, overcome our prejudices, our preformed ideas, and understand where we need to hear others.  Then we have a reasonably violent passage in the described mutilation of a human body, not for the faint hearted.  It is purposefully harsh.

It points us towards how difficult discipleship and bravery can be. Not difficulty in the expectation of physical harm, but in changing our practice and our presence to embrace the liberation of all.  How we use ourselves to challenge inequality is key to our mission. Jesus is telling us that is what God wants. 

But it does require confidence and courage.  We are tasked with eliminating, cutting off, if you like, the bits that do not help that mission, not in actual physical ways because that’s not allowed. We are really to consider the unhelpful things, the words we use, the images we use, how we speak of God, how we speak of others,  We are asked here not to assume. 

This is all very discomforting and disquieting, but I do quite like that.  We need to be shaken to allow ourselves to be brave. Change is slow and uncertain, but the most stable change is considered and worked with people, not just for people.  And finally, to salt, at the end of our passage used in Leviticus and Numbers and 2 Chronicles, Salt is a symbol of the covenant with God.  It is also present at a shared meal and used as a symbol for peace. There is a call here for unity and peace.  challenging social structures, doing what is good,  getting rid of what is bad.  So real bravery is in the unexpected people like Esther and Mordecai and others in the story, but our challenge is to be with them.

It is so easy for us to sit and say, that is not me, I’m not that brave.  I’m not sure that our context are asking us to be risking our own lives or cutting off. Hands and feet, but we should consider what could have happened if those people had not been brave. What would the consequences have been?  And if you are inspired by brave people, there are many in our scriptures who do those things.

Whether it be saving large populations or approaching Jesus when they really were not allowed.  Go and take a look. Always good to pick up your Bible.  We can be those people in the small and the big actions. Wouldn’t it be lovely if we were to be expectedly  or unexpectedly brave?  What is more important is that we do it.  Go on, take a leap and follow Jesus call to be brave.  Amen.

Hymn     Will You Come and Follow Me?
©1987  WGRG, Iona Community, Govan, Glasgow G51 3UU, Scotland performed by Justin Stretch of St Lawrence Church, Chorley. OneLicence # A-734713  

Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown, will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?

Will you leave your self behind if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare,
will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me?

Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free and never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean and do such as this unseen,
and admit to what I mean in you and you in me?

Will you love the ‘you’ you hide if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around
through my sight & touch & sound in you and you in me?
 
Lord, your summons echoes true when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In your company I’ll go where your love & footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you and you in me.

Affirmation of Faith

All Holy God, who gives us life and love, grace and mercy, and is glorified by all the earth…We believe and trust in you.

All Holy Son, who came to be with us and live like us, to show us new ways to challenge and to love the unloved… We believe and trust in you.

All Holy Spirit, who remains in and around us, helping us to love and serve, to tell the stories of hope and to fight for justice…We believe and trust in you.

This is our faith, the faith of the Church, our faith in Jesus Christ our saviour.  Amen.

Prayers of Intercession

Let us bring our hearts and minds to God. Let us pray.

Sisters and brothers in Christ,
God invites us to bring our doubts and fears,
our joys and concerns, our petitions and praise,
and offer them for the earth and all its creatures.

God of all creation. You are our holy and most wondrous God, who made this wonderful earth. We thank you for this world and all who live, work and play, within it. We bring to you our concerns for those in other nations. It is difficult to hear about the division present in the world. The places of famine and illness, drought and floods. We ask for your love and grace to guide those who are making difficult decisions. And to surround those innocent people caught up in these conflicts named to you today. We offer them to you, and any other international conflicts know particularly to us.

God of grace and mercy. We thank you for those who give their lives to service in this country. Politicians, government workers, servicemen and women, in armed services and domestic services. 

We are forever thankful for their work to serve and protect us. We offer them to you.  We lift to you those in medical services especially those who have to make difficult and life changing decisions. Give those in power your guidance that they may lead well, guide us in our national concerns and receive your wisdom. 
We feel divided especially in the face of, racism, gender issues, disability, sexuality, privilege, mental health and other social injustices. And in the hate that sometimes fuels those debates. Hate is such a negative state to live in, let us not be tempted to use bitterness and frustration to hit out at others. Bring peace and calm to those who live in a state of hatred. Let us live in unity, as you would wish. 

God of love and compassion. We look to you for guidance and love, as we know you will always love us. We pray about our local areas, our church and ourselves. We offer what we can, to our local communities, in the face of crime, poverty and injustice. Be with our faith leaders, local government representatives and community leaders as they try to tackle the issues of in our area. They are trying to do your work and sometimes this is fraught with difficulty and opposition. Let us ask those who live here what they want and work alongside them. Guide them support them so they can flourish and enable the community to come together in unity and peace. 

God of healing. We come to others we know who are suffering, in poverty, with money concerns, unemployment, grief, illness or loneliness. We hold them to you.  Show them your compassion and teach us to do the same. We especially pray for those who have asked for the prayers of our churches.  

God of thankfulness and grace. And finally we offer you ourselves. We do our best, but we are human and have our human concerns. In a moment of quiet we bring to you our private concerns, that only you can see in our hearts.

Merciful God, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Hymn     Great is Thy Faithfulness 
Thomas O. Chisholm 1923,  Public Domain, sung by the Champaign Church of Christ worship team 

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
there is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
as Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed Thy hand hath provided:
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest;
sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. 

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed Thy hand hath provided:
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow:
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed Thy hand hath provided:
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Blessing

May the God who dances with creation, 
Who embraces us with human love, 
And shakes our lives like thunder –  
Bless us and drive us out with power  
to fill the world with her justice; 

And the blessing of God almighty,  
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit  
be among you and remain with you always. Amen.