August 23, 2020
Welcome! We’re so glad you have joined us today! Gathering Gathering Song All God’s Creatures Got a Place in the Choir https://youtu.be/sTKJUxl8TL4 Announcements We will have Zoom Bible Study on Wednesday at 7:00 PM. Here is your invitation: Elisabeth Smith is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Bible Study Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85224166154?pwd=TzJ1TGkvUmMzUHBFdmFOZ1EvSThwZz09 Meeting ID: 852 2416 6154 Passcode: 958188 One tap mobile +13126266799,,85224166154#,,,,,,0#,,958188# US (Chicago) +19292056099,,85224166154#,,,,,,0#,,958188# US (New York) Dial by your location +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Meeting ID: 852 2416 6154 Passcode: 958188 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/keaonGxryr *Call to Worship On the golden days of sunshine or the silvery days of clouds and rain, God is always our bright and shining hope. God is the one who fills our hearts with love and joy. God helps us to become renewed and re-centered for the best living of all our days. Therefore, let us worship God. Song Down to the River Jordan Feliz https://youtu.be/maT4phfTXR4 *Opening Prayer O God, you who have created us and who sustains us: We come with thanksgiving for these moments when we can ease the pace of our lives and listen for your voice. Create a spirit within us that truly draws us toward you and toward our brothers and sisters; a spirit deep, perceptive, gentle, and bold. Clear our minds, open our hearts, and touch us with your presence and your power. We offer this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, our friend and our Savior. Amen. Special Music If Ever I Forget Michael O’Brien https://youtu.be/_L9InlSyDOA Hearing the Word Scripture John 8:1-11 Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When They heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” (NRSV) Sermon Close Encounters With Jesus Amazing Grace: The Woman Caught in Adultery One of the books read by almost every high-school student is The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850. It is the story of Hester Prynne, a Puritan woman who committed adultery and gave birth to an illegitimate child, and who was severely punished by the members of her community. Her punishment rose to the level of outright persecution. The story begins with Hester’s walk from the prison to the place of punishment. All the townspeople have gathered to watch as she is led to a scaffold, where she must stand and be publicly shamed for her sin. As part of her punishment, she is forever to wear a scarlet “A” on her dress. Hawthorne describes the scene like this: … attended by an irregular procession of stern-browed men and unkindly visaged women, Hester Prynne set forth towards the place appointed for her punishment … Haughty as her demeanor was, she perchance underwent an agony from every footstep of those that thronged to see her, as if her heart had been flung into the street for them all to spurn and trample upon … [She] came to a sort of scaffold, at the western extremity of the market-place. It stood nearly beneath the eaves of Boston’s earliest church, and appeared to be a fixture there. In fact, this scaffold constituted a portion of a penal machine, which … was held, in the old time, to be as effectual as an agent, in the promotion of good citizenship, as ever was the guillotine among the terrorists of France. It was, in short, the platform of the pillory; and above it rose the framework of that instrument of discipline, so fashioned as to confine the human head in its tight grasp, and thus holding it up to the public gaze. The very ideal of ignominy was embodied and made manifest in this contrivance of wood and iron. There can be no outrage … more flagrant than to forbid the culprit to hide his face for shame; as it was the essence of this punishment to do … The scene was not without a mixture of awe, such as must always invest the spectacle of guilt and shame in a fellow-creature, before society shall have grown corrupt enough to smile, instead of shuddering, at it … Accordingly, the crowd was somber and grave. The unhappy culprit sustained herself as best a woman might, under the heavy weight of a thousand unrelenting eyes, all fastened upon her … It was almost intolerable to be borne. It is hard for 21st-century Americans even to imagine that adultery would be considered a criminal act deserving of punishment. In Hawthorne’s words, we have become a society “corrupt enough to smile … at it.” And yet, as Christians, we know that adultery is a sin. It is certainly explicit in scripture that adultery is a violation of God’s law. And it was a punishable offense in the time of Jesus. One of the Ten Commandments is, “You shall not commit adultery.” And the punishment for adultery was quite severe. Leviticus 20:10 reads, “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife … both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.” Jesus interpreted the law even more stringently. In Matthew 5:27-28, we read his words, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” It is against that backdrop that we read the story found in John 8. The story of a woman caught in adultery. As this story develops, there are several characters that I’d like to take a look at: the woman, Jesus, and the men who brought the woman to Jesus. First, let’s talk about those men. John tells us that they were all legal experts and Pharisees. They understood the law and they knew exactly what the law said about adultery. There was no question in their minds that this woman had sinned and there was no question about what her punishment should be. And they were correct in their statements. But these men were not really here because they were so concerned about some woman, who wasn’t even important enough to them to be named, breaking the law by commit-ting adultery. They had an entirely different agenda. They weren’t motivated by a sense of righteous indignation at the woman who had sinned, or by their desire for justice to be done. They were there because they wanted to trap Jesus into saying or doing something so flagrant-ly in violation of the law that they could arrest him and put him on trial. These men brought a woman “caught in the act” and asked Jesus what he thought they should do with her. It was a trick question. Jesus knew the law as well as they did, and he knew that technically there was only one correct answer that he could give. He was supposed to say that she was guilty of sin and deserving of being put to death by stoning. He could not possibly say that. But if he spoke out of compassion and set her free, then he would entrap himself and the men would have grounds for placing him under arrest. John wrote, “They said this to test him, because they wanted a reason to bring an accusation against him.” Let’s look a little deeper at these men. While they seemed to be the religious and spiritual leaders of the people, what condition were their hearts in? Ken Gire describes them like this: The teachers and Pharisees appeal to the Law and call for the death penalty. But for a person to be put to death the Law requires that there be at least two eyewitnesses. Eyewit-nesses to the very act of adultery. Can you picture the scene? Peeping Pharisees nosing around her windowsill. How long did they watch? How much did they see? And were not their hearts filled with adultery when they eavesdropped on that clandestine rendezvous? At least two wit-nessed the act. Yet without compunction for the sin. Or compassion for the sinner. When they had seen enough, these guardians of morality stormed the door … Meanwhile, where is her lover? By prior agreement allowed to slip through a window? Part of the plot no doubt – the plot to ensnare Jesus. For it is not the woman they want to bring down or the Law to uphold. It is Jesus they want. She is only the bait; and their question, the spring to the trap … The question … is a question of life and death in whose balance hangs not only the fate of the woman but the fate of Christ as well. Those were the men who brought the woman to Jesus. And what about Jesus? We know that Jesus was a man of forgiveness, a man of compassion, especially for people who seemed to deserve it least. Jesus spent his time on this earth more in the company of sinners than of saints. But on this particular occasion, Jesus was in the courtyard of the Temple, the place where God was thought to be most present in Israel, and he was surrounded by people who had come to learn from him. I would imagine they were the same ordinary, everyday people that Jesus normally attracted. It was certainly not a crowd made up of priests or other Temple officials, at least not until the Pharisees and legal experts dragged the woman through the crowd to Jesus. Jesus looked up to see this clever and vicious band of religious personnel surrounding a woman who was probably scared to death and extremely vulnerable. Jesus watched them as they approached, and he never said a word. He didn’t respond to their questions. He didn’t engage them in conversation or debate. He just bent over and wrote something in the dirt with his finger, while they continued to state their case and demand a response. I’ve often wondered what Jesus wrote in the dust. Maybe he was writing the names of those men and the sins that they had committed. Maybe he was writing a quote from scrip-ture. Maybe he was listing the names of the people standing there who had committed adultery themselves. We’ll never know. But apparently whatever Jesus wrote had some kind of meaning to the people standing there. When Jesus finally did stand up and speak, he still didn’t answer their questions. He still didn’t try to argue with them. He never even mentioned the woman or her sin. Instead, Jesus said to them, “Whoever hasn’t sinned should throw the first stone.” And then he bent down and started writing in the dirt again. I can almost hear the noisy silence that followed. One by one, the men dropped the stones they had been prepared to throw at this woman and they left, starting with the oldest in the group. Maybe they were the wisest. Or maybe the most guilty. Or the most honest. Finally, there was just the woman there. When Jesus looked up, the crowd had gone. And Jesus asked her, “Where are they? Is there no one to condemn you?” She answered, “No one, sir.” And Jesus spoke the words of grace, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on, don’t sin anymore.” I wonder how long it took for his words to sink in. She had been dragged from her home, tossed into a circle of shame and disgrace, stared at by angry eyes in this crowd of people. She knew that she had broken the law. She knew that the penalty was death. She had listened as some of the best legal minds in Jerusalem made a case against her. Surely she must have felt the eyes of everyone around her “branding a scarlet letter onto her soul.” (Gire) And now, beyond any hope, beyond anything she imagined, she was free to go. Free from punishment, but more importantly, free from her sin. She was given a second chance, a fresh start, a clean slate. I’d like to believe that she made the most of it. We are all – every single one of us – worthy of wearing a scarlet letter on our souls. It might not be an “A” for adultery. It may be a “C” for coveting what our neighbor has. Or an “L” for some lie that we told. Or an “S” for our selfishness. Maybe your scarlet letter is an “M” for meanness, or an “I” for ingratitude, or a “G” for greed. The list could go on and on. Sooner or later we all recognize the letter that has been branded onto our souls. But that is not the end of the story. It wasn’t the end for Hester Prynne. It wasn’t the end for this woman caught in adultery. It wasn’t even the end for her accusers who went away condemned. Yes, we have all sinned. Yes, we are all worthy of punishment. But we aren’t branded by our sins forever. Those who believe in Jesus are forgiven, those who repent are redeemed. We are made right with God again. The grace of God surrounds us and all that God sees when he looks at us are his beloved children. Like the woman in the story, we have a fresh start, a second chance, a clean slate. We may be only a stone’s throw from death now, just like that woman who was brought to Jesus, but when we turn to Jesus for mercy, we find ourselves only a stone’s throw from grace and life and freedom. It is truly amazing grace. Song Amazing Grace Babbie Mason https://youtu.be/D2iZMOperGI Praying Together Concerns and Celebrations: Please share any concerns or celebrations you may have with Pastor Elisabeth. Please note if you do not want this shared with this faith community. Pastoral Prayer (Based on Psalm 103:1-13, 22) Lord God, speak with us today, that we may then say with the psalmist: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his Holy Name.” Lord God, the giver and forgiver, healer, redeemer, who showers us with love and mercy; without your word to us, our words fall flat, empty, lethargic; but with your word in ear, praise comes to life, and we say, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his Holy Name.” Now buoy us up as the eagle is borne up by the wind, as we gather in liturgy today. Lord God, you have acted in history, in the history of our community, in our personal history. You have brought us this far by your grace – you have not repaid us evil for evil, but you have given us love, acceptance, embrace, even when we did not acknowledge it. You have removed the stumbling block of sin, and opened the way for communion with you; just as the best of parents love, in spite of a child’s behavior. So we in your presence here, today, we call this place home, because of your grace. May we revel in it. (David R. Grant) We offer this prayer in his name, as we pray together the prayer he taught his disciples: The Lord’s Prayer 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Responding Offertory: You may send your offerings to Grantham United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 152, Grantham, NH, 03753. Doxology UMH #95 Prayer of Dedication We thank you, God, that you have put a spirit of giving into our hearts. Grant that the gifts we have now brought to you will be only the first of many gifts we shall give to others in the course of this week, out of love for them and remembrance of your mercies to us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Song Good News Mandisa https://youtu.be/LKDrg8qPt70 *Benediction Now may God, who calls us from where we are and stands at the end of our journey, be with each of us at every step of the way. Amen.
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August 16, 2020
Welcome! We’re so glad you have joined us today! Gathering Gathering Song Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus Loyiso Bala, Neville D, Ivan Siegelaar https://youtu.be/6KmE5p2n85s Announcements We will have Zoom Bible Study on Wednesday at 7:00 PM. Here is your invitation: Elisabeth Smith is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Bible Study Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85224166154?pwd=TzJ1TGkvUmMzUHBFdmFOZ1EvSThwZz09 Meeting ID: 852 2416 6154 Passcode: 958188 One tap mobile +13126266799,,85224166154#,,,,,,0#,,958188# US (Chicago) +19292056099,,85224166154#,,,,,,0#,,958188# US (New York) Dial by your location +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Meeting ID: 852 2416 6154 Passcode: 958188 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/keaonGxryr *Call to Worship The kingdom of God is at hand. We want to enter this kingdom. The mercy of God is made known. We want to receive this mercy. The grace of God is abundant for all. We praise you, O God, for your compassion and your love. Accept our grateful praise as we come to worship you today. Song Revival Third Day https://youtu.be/WoIAcom2zAk *Opening Prayer Almighty God, we long to rest in your gentle arms. We need your compassion as we face the challenges and disappointments of life. When our hearts are hard, and our concern is only for ourselves, turn us back to you. Remind us of your saving love and keep us close to you, Lord. Love us as only you can love, in Jesus’ name. Amen. Special Music The House of Our Dreams Casting Crowns https://youtu.be/TcW_cHI3Bno Hearing the Word Scripture Mark 10:17-27 As Jesus was coming out to the road, a man came running to him and knelt in front of him. He asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Never murder. Never commit adultery. Never steal. Never give false testimony. Never cheat. Honor your father and mother.” The man replied, “Teacher, I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. He told him, “You’re still missing one thing. Sell everything you have. Give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then follow me!” When the man heard that, he looked unhappy and went away sad, because he owned a lot of property. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for rich people to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were stunned by his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” This amazed his disciples more than ever. They asked each other, “Who, then, can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “It’s impossible for people to save themselves, but it’s not impossible for God to save them. Everything is possible for God.” (GWT) Sermon Close Encounters With Jesus What’s Missing in Your Life? The Rich Man You probably have never heard of Harry Binswanger. In some ways, I wish I had never heard of him. He is a former college professor and board member of the Ayn Rand Institute. He wrote a column for Forbes magazine in September of 2013 stating that “the community should give back to wealth-creators,” and that the world is indebted to the rich and powerful for “their enormous contributions to our standard of living.” He also believes that anyone who earns more than $1 million a year deserves an exemption from paying taxes. He explains that by saying it is a “symbolic gesture” because the “great achievers”, such as Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Steve Jobs, “lifted us out of the cave and gave us our standard of living.” Perhaps Binswanger’s most outrageous notion is his proposal that the highest earner of the year – someone like an investment banker, hedge fund manager, or CEO of a big corporation – should be given a Congressional Medal of Honor in return for their contribution to human life. The extremely wealthy certainly have a different way of looking at things, don’t they? And this story from the book of Mark tells us about a wealthy man who couldn’t quite see or accept things the way Jesus proposed them because of his wealth. And perhaps because of his religious pride. It is important to remember that this passage is speaking to us, right here, right now. In comparison to the rest of the world, we are all wealthy. We are among the rich. And so this story applies to us. Mark Twain once said, “It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t under-stand that bother me, it’s the parts that I do understand.” That’s how I feel about this passage. I know what it says, and I have a pretty good idea of what it means, and it bothers me. It bothers me because I see that I, too, have a problem in my life. What do we know about this man who ran up to Jesus that day? Not much. We don’t even know his name. But he could be any number of people we recognize and know well. He was a good man, a respectable man, a religious man. Mark Batterson describes him like this, in his book All In: On paper, the Rich Young Ruler was the epitome of religiousity… The Rich Young Ruler may rank as one of the most religious people in the pages of Scripture. The text tells us he kept all the commandments. He did nothing wrong, but you can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right … I haven’t met many people possessed by a demon, but I’ve met a lot of people possessed by their possessions. They don’t own things. Things own them. And that is certainly true of the Rich Young Ruler. He had everything money could buy. He had his whole life in front of him. And he called his own shots. The Rich Young Ruler had everything we think we want. He was rich. He was young. And he was in a position of power. What more could he possibly want? That, of course, is what brought the man to Jesus that day. It was his sense that he did want something, he needed something, something was missing in his life. What was it? And how did he get it? It was not something that money could buy, because he had the money to buy anything. It was something elusive, just beyond his awareness perhaps. Whatever it was, it brought him to Jesus. I think we know what this man was feeling. We also have money, maybe not enough to buy everything we want, but enough to buy what we need and some of what we want. We have material possessions. We have at least a certain amount of financial security. But it’s not enough, really. We know that there is a limit to what money can buy, and yet we keep trying to make money be enough. Did you know that Jesus talked more about money than any other topic? There are more sayings of Jesus recorded in the gospels about money than any other subject. Jesus talked more about money than he did about love; more about money than he did about salva-tion; more about money than he did about forgiveness. Why? Probably because Jesus knew that it is such a hard thing to deal with, our love of money, and it so easily lures our hearts away from the things of God. Jesus knew that if we depend only on money, it will kill us in the end. I read about an expedition in 1845 to explore the Arctic. It was highly publicized, and it turned out to be a terrible failure. The brave adventurers who joined the party set out by steamship for the Arctic region. On the ship they had a large library, a hand organ, china place settings, cut-glass wine goblets, and sterling silver flatware engraved with the men’s initials and family crests. In order to make room for these “necessities,” the ship was not able to hold sufficient coal for running the steam engines. The ship came to rest in the frozen waters and the men all died. Search parties later found the bodies of men who had apparently gone on foot to look for help. One had on a dress coat decorated with silk braid. Another was carrying a backpack holding his set of silver flatware. For all that they had, they didn’t have what they needed to survive. They were hanging on to things that were absolutely useless. This rich young man was kind of like that. For all he had, he didn’t have what he really needed. And so Jesus looked at him carefully, and he loved him, and he said, “You are missing one thing.” Hey, that sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? He was just missing one thing. But it was a big thing. Jesus went on, “Go and sell what you own. Give the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.” Why did Jesus say that? Why did Jesus demand such a high price? Because, for this man, it was his wealth that stood in the way of discipleship. Yes, he wanted eternal life, he wanted to be a good and faithful man. But he didn’t want it enough. He didn’t want that alone. He also wanted to hold on to his possessions and wealth. That was more important to him than following Jesus. And so he turned and walked away. Mark Batterson writes, “The story of the Rich Young Ruler is one of the saddest stories in the Bible because he had so much upside potential. He could have leveraged his resources, his network, and his energy for kingdom causes, but he spent it all on himself. He thought that was what would make him happy … [The moment Jesus said, “Follow me,”] was the opportunity of a lifetime, but he didn’t have the guts to go for it … “Be honest, have you ever felt bad for the Rich Young Ruler? Part of me feels like Jesus was asking for too much. Are you sure you want to ask for everything? Why don’t you start with the tithe? But Jesus goes for the jugular. He asks the Rich Young Ruler to ante up everything. Why? Because he loved the Rich Young Ruler too much to ask for anything less! We focus on what Jesus asked him to give up but fail to consider what he offered up in exchange. Jesus invited the Rich Young Ruler to follow him. And that’s the point in the story where we should gasp … No one in the history of humankind has ever been offered a better internship opportunity than the Rich Young Ruler. An internship with the Creator of the heavens and the earth? Come on … And the Rich Young Ruler said no. So if you feel bad for the Rich Young Ruler, it should not be because of what Jesus asked him to give up. It should be because of the opportunity he passed up. What Jesus asked him to give up was nothing compared to what Jesus would have given him in return.” What is the one thing you need to give up in order to follow Jesus? Why are you holding back? Why are you turning away saddened and dismayed? Have you really thought about what you are losing by holding on to that one thing? Mark Batterson’s book All In talks about how we are called to go all in with Jesus. We can’t hold back. We can’t make a partial commitment or follow halfway. It’s all or nothing. It’s surrendering all of us to all of him. He states, “If Jesus is not Lord of all, then Jesus is not Lord at all.” He goes on to say, “The gospel costs nothing. We cannot buy it or earn it. It can only be received as a free gift, compliments of God’s grace. So it costs nothing, but it demands every-thing. And that is where most of us get stuck … We’ve got just enough of Jesus to be informed, but not enough to be transformed. We want everything God has to offer without giving any-thing up. We want to buy in without selling out. We’re afraid that if we don’t hold out on God, we’ll miss out on what this life has to offer. [But] God is not holding out on you … It’s not until we go all in with God that we discover … true joy …” Batterson tells the story of a group of brave souls who became known as one-way missionaries. It took place about a hundred years ago. These men and women bought one-way tickets to the mission field. Instead of suitcases, they packed their earthly belongings in coffins. As they boarded ships and set sail, they waved goodbye to friends and family, knowing that they would never see them again. One of those missionaries was a man named A. W. Milne. He landed in the New Hebrides in the South Pacific. The headhunters who lived there had already killed every missionary who had gone before him. But Milne was not afraid. He had already died to himself; his coffin was packed. And for 35 years, he lived among the headhunters and loved them. When he died, the tribe members buried him in the middle of their village in the coffin he had brought with him. On his tombstone they wrote, “When he came there was no light. When he left there was no darkness.” Batterson concludes, “When did we start believing that God wants to send us to safe places to do easy things? That faithfulness is holding the fort? That playing it safe is safe? That there is any greater privilege than sacrifice? That radical is anything but normal? Jesus didn’t die to keep us safe. He died to make us dangerous. Faithfulness is not holding the fort. It’s storming the gates of hell. The will of God is not an insurance plan. It’s a daring plan. The complete surrender of your life to the cause of Christ isn’t radical. It’s normal. It’s time to quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. It’s time to go all in … Pack your coffin!” Perhaps the one thing that is missing in all our lives is a sense of adventure about our faith. Perhaps we have spent so much time trying to get Jesus to follow us, that we have forgotten what it means to follow him. Perhaps we’re afraid that if we give up control, we will never enjoy life again. But let me tell you, the opposite is true. It is when I am most closely following Jesus that I find the most joy in life. It is when I find the most meaning, the greatest sense of fulfilling my purpose. It is in following Jesus that I find adventure, and excitement, and the feeling that somehow I just might be making a difference in the world. Yes, following Jesus means giving up some things, but the return on the investment is phenomenal. So I challenge you, go all in with Jesus. Whatever that one thing is that is keeping you from following him, give it up. Let it go. It is not worth missing out on the greatest opportunity you will ever have. Song Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy Fernando Ortega https://youtu.be/GGvCm9I4H0A Praying Together Concerns and Celebrations: Please share any concerns or celebrations you may have with Pastor Elisabeth. Please note if you do not want this shared with this faith community. Pastoral Prayer (Based on Psalm 127) Lord God, we anxious ones gather, fatigued before the week begins, rising early, bedding late, because we believe our labor, our toil, our nervous watching, motivated by failure fear, will build the home we want; but the toll is alarming, and we need to hear a new word. We punctuate our drive, our ambition, our goal achieving, with vow-taking, love-making, home-building, child-rearing, mortgage-paying, building the home we want; but the demands are perilous, and we need to hear a new word. For our hard work may satisfy our customers, and kill us; and our best intentions may build the shell of companionable life, and kill our families. And sometimes our best work dissipates in frustrated disappointment, or no work at all; and our hopeful vow-taking twists to regretful vow-breaking, or no vow at all. We need to hear, we urgently need to hear, a new word; words which say, blessedness and received restedness, giftedness and enjoyed fruitfulness, yieldedness and delight in rewardedness. For on Sabbath day we admit we are not the center of human endeavor. You are, Lord God, and we are learning to trust you. Break in on our lonely ambitions, our vocations and family, with new words of yielding, rewardedness; gifting, fruitfulness; blessing, restedness; a trusting that you will provide as you said you would even for us, for me. (David R. Grant) We offer this prayer in his name, as we pray together the prayer he taught his disciples: The Lord’s Prayer 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Responding Offertory: You may send your offerings to Grantham United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 152, Grantham, NH, 03753. Doxology UMH #95 Prayer of Dedication With open hands and thankful hearts, we offer to you all that is already yours, O Lord. Everything we possess is a gift from you. You so freely give us what we need, and you promise us even greater treasures that await us in heaven. Take what we offer and use it for the goodness of your kingdom. Help us share generously with others all that you have so graciously given to us. Amen. Song Without Him Steven Curtis Chapman, Herb Chapman, Sr., Herb Chapman, Jr. https://youtu.be/wYz3NHsIvfs *Benediction With God all things are possible. May you carry that confidence into your daily life and work, as you walk in the footsteps of Jesus, guided by the hand of God. Amen. August 9, 2020
Welcome! We’re so glad you have joined us today! Gathering Gathering Song Be Still and Know Steven Curtis Chapman https://youtu.be/jop65i0sZGw Announcements We will have Zoom Bible Study on Wednesday at 7:00 PM. We will begin a study of the Minor Prophets, with a look at Hosea. Here is your invitation: Elisabeth Smith is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Bible Study Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85224166154?pwd=TzJ1TGkvUmMzUHBFdmFOZ1EvSThwZz09 Meeting ID: 852 2416 6154 Passcode: 958188 One tap mobile +13126266799,,85224166154#,,,,,,0#,,958188# US (Chicago) +19292056099,,85224166154#,,,,,,0#,,958188# US (New York) Dial by your location +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Meeting ID: 852 2416 6154 Passcode: 958188 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/keaonGxryr *Call to Worship Come, all who are thirsty! Christ offers living water to all. Come, all who have doubts. Christ offers living water to all. Come, all who long for rest. Christ offers living water to all. Come, all who are in need of God’s love. Christ offers living water to all. Come and worship! Song 10,000 Reasons Matt Redman https://youtu.be/XtwlT8JjddM *Opening Prayer Loving and caring God, we come this morning in hope – hope that will sustain us in our trying times, our lonely times, our doubting times. Refresh us this morning with the living water of your presence and love. Open us to the possibilities of friendship – the possibilities of encountering you in unexpected ways, the possibilities of seeing the miraculous in everyday life. Amen. Special Music Blessings Laura Story https://youtu.be/Cd6J6Wgnv4M Hearing the Word Scripture John 4:3-30, 39-42 So [Jesus] left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can we get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call you husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you – I am he.” Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” (New International Version) Sermon Close Encounters With Jesus The First to Know Jesus as Messiah: The Woman at the Well Stephen Nkansah is an evangelist trained in Ghana. He tells the story of a friend of his who is a cab driver. One day his friend drove a fare to Potomoc, Maryland, and decided to attend church while he was in the area. He walked into a Baptist church, and the congregation called the police, reporting that he was trespassing. He said, “No, I am a Baptist, from Ghana.” They insisted that he was trespassing. Sam Takunchung, who is from Cameroon, had a similar experience when he attended a church in Texas. The pastor refused to serve him communion, even though he had just spoken the words, “This is Jesus Christ’s table; people shall come from everywhere to it.” Clearly, the walls of race and culture are high in the church, and there are many barriers that need to be overcome. But that is nothing new. As we discover in this story about the encounter between Jesus and a woman at a well, there have always been barriers between people, and Jesus has always been about breaking down those barriers. There are so many surprising statements in the opening verses of this story, but only if you understand the historical and theological context in which it took place. So I want to walk with you through the story and try to explain what the subtext is behind the written words. First, it says that Jesus “had to go through Samaria.” Well, not really. At least not in the opinion of most Jews. Palestine was about 120 miles long and was divided into three parts. In the north was Galilee; Judea was in the south; and in the middle was Samaria. While it is true that the quickest way to get from Judea to Galilee was straight through Samaria, most Jews would have taken the long way around, stretching the journey from three days to six. Why was that? Because of a feud between the Jews and the Samaritans that had been going on for roughly 400 years. It makes the Hatfields and the McCoys look almost civilized! In the year 722 BCE, the Assyrian Empire conquered Israel, deporting most of the population and resettling the land with foreigners. This was in an effort to prevent rebellions. Some of the Jews who were left chose to intermarry with these foreign people. When the Jews returned to their home some two hundred years later, they refused to have anything to do with these mixed-race people, the Samaritans. In fact, when they began rebuilding the Temple and the Samaritans offered to help, they turned them down with utter contempt. They told them that they had lost their Jewish heritage and had no right to share in the rebuilding of the house of God. The Samaritans understandably turned against the Jews and built their own temple on Mount Gerazim. The hatred between the two groups only grew over the years. They typically did anything they could to avoid each other. So why did Jesus “have” to go through Samaria? I think this woman was the reason. And that is our second surprise. This woman came to the well at noon. That was very unusual. Most women came to the well early in the morning or at dusk, when it was cool. And it wasn’t just a task to them; it was an event. Ken Gire writes, “That she comes at noon, the hottest hour of the day, whispers a rumor of her reputation. The other women come at dawn, a cooler, more comfortable hour. They come not only to draw water but to take off their veils and slip out from under the thumb of a male-dominated society. They come for companion-ship, to talk, to laugh, and to barter gossip – much of which centers around this woman. So, shunned …, she braves the sun’s scorn.” The next surprise is that Jesus speaks to this woman. He was a male, single, Jewish rabbi, and never should have spoken to this woman privately. For a rabbi to be seen speaking to a woman in public would have ruined his reputation, especially to be speaking to a woman who herself had such a bad reputation. But Jesus spoke to her, engaged her in conversation. And look at the conversation they had! Jesus asked the woman for water. And she was amazed that he would do such a thing, to ask her, a Samaritan woman, to give him water! Which opened the door for Jesus to talk to her about living water. He offered to give living water to her. Literally, living water meant running water, water in a stream or river as opposed to water in a well. But Jesus also speaking figuratively about quenching the thirst in the soul for God with living water, or the Spirit of God. Jesus was not talking in deliberately mysterious language; he was using imagery that was in the Old Testament; his terms shouldn’t be misunderstood. But this woman didn’t seem to under-stand what Jesus was saying. Jesus then stated that he could give living water that would well up into eternal life, and banish her thirst forever. She took him literally again, but Jesus this time was making a claim to be the messiah, the deliverer promised in the prophets. Isaiah mentions several times that the messiah would bring living water and life. It is true that there is a thirst in the human heart for God, and only God can satisfy that thirst. Augustine wrote, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” Jesus saw that this woman had that kind of thirst. But again, she seemed not to understand. So Jesus confronted her more directly. “Go and get your husband.” She replied that she had no husband, and Jesus let her know that he knew her situation. It was true that she had no husband, but she had had five husbands and was now living with a man who was not her husband. This woman had been trying to fill the emptiness inside her with a series of relation-ships with men. She had been looking for love in all the wrong places, as the country song says. But in meeting Jesus, she had found the one who could fill that emptiness, she just didn’t understand yet. Paul N. Tassell writes, “Jesus could have given her a lecture on the sins of divorce and adultery and sexual promiscuity. He could have railed on her for trying to evade the truth. He did instead get to the heart of the problem by getting to the problem of her heart. She was thirsty. She knew her sin did not satisfy … And Jesus tactfully brought all of that into focus for her.” Unfortunately, because Jesus had gotten too close to the truth, the woman changed the subject. Where should I worship? That was her basic question. The Jews believed you could only worship in Jerusalem; the Samaritans believed you could worship on Mt. Gerazim. Who was correct? Ken Gire writes, “[It is] remarkable what Jesus doesn’t say. He states her past and present marital status but makes no reference to her sin. He gives no call to repent. He presents no structured plan of salvation. He offers no prayer … Yet to her, an anonymous woman with a failed life, he gives the most profound discourse in Scripture on the subject of worship – that God is spirit and that worship is not an approach of the body to a church, but an approach of the soul to the spirit of God.” The woman then tried to make another detour in the conversation. “I know the Messiah is coming.” Maybe she hoped to get Jesus off and running on that subject for a while, rather than making her uncomfortable with a discussion of her personal life or the deeper side of worship. But I can almost promise that she never expected to hear what he said next. Jesus said, “I Am.” That was the divine name that God had revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, and Jesus is claiming that name for himself. He was saying, “I Am the Messiah. I Am the Son of God.” Of all the people that Jesus might have first revealed his true identity to, I never would have picked this woman. I might have expected him to tell his chosen disciples. Or maybe even the religious leaders. Or even the Roman governor. But, no. As Max Lucado writes, “It wasn’t within the colonnades of a Roman court that he announced his identity. No, it was in the shadow of a well in a rejected land to an ostracized woman. His eyes must have danced as he whispered the secret. ‘I am the Messiah.’ .. Don’t miss the drama of the moment. Look at her eyes, wide with amazement. Listen to her as she struggles for words … Suddenly the insignifi-cance of her life was swallowed by the significance of the moment. ‘God is here! God has come! God cares … for me!” The woman left her water jar and ran back to Sychar to tell all those people who ostracized her about Jesus. And they believed in him because of what she said. They also invited Jesus to come and stay with them, which brings us to the final surprise of the story. Jesus and his disciples stayed with them for two days. This was huge. Jesus not only went through Samaria, he stayed in Samaria and accepted Samaritan hospitality. Craig S. Keenan says, “For Jesus to lodge there, eating Samaritan food and teaching Samaritans would be roughly equivalent to defying segregation in the United States during the 1950s or apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s – shocking, extremely difficult, somewhat dangerous. The Jesus of the Gospels is more concerned with people than with customs.” Jesus broke down every barrier that presented itself during this encounter. He broke down the racial barrier between Jews and Samaritans. He broke down the gender barrier between men and women. He broke down the ritual barrier over where to worship God. He broke down the barrier between God and human beings. And in that, he revealed himself to be the Savior of the world. And the world needs a Savior. Because human beings are still very good at putting up barriers between themselves, and between themselves and God. We hide behind those barriers, feeling safe and smug and secure. We comfort ourselves with the belief that we are right to put up those barriers, because it is too scary to come out from behind them and deal with each other as people. Rich people and poor people put up barriers between themselves. White people and people of color put up barriers between themselves. America and other nations put up barriers between themselves. Christians and Muslims and Hindus and Buddhists put up barriers between themselves. Methodists and Baptists and Lutherans and Episcopalians and Catholics put up barriers between themselves. And pretty soon we find ourselves surrounded by so many walls that we don’t even know each other anymore. And we find that God is calling us to be and do something different. God calls us to take down the barriers. God calls us to relate to each other, regardless of race, or culture, or religion, or sexual orientation, or socioeconomic level, or form of worship. And God calls us to himself, to be in relationship with God on a personal level. Jesus calls us to know him not only as The deliverer but as Our deliverer, not only as the Savior of the world, but as the Savior of you and me. What barriers lie between you and other people? What barriers keep people away from you? Away from our church? Away from God? Just like Jesus, we need to get to work on taking down the barriers. Song Fill My Cup, Lord CRC Worship https://youtu.be/s4l2yY2r95g Praying Together Concerns and Celebrations: Please share any concerns or celebrations you may have with Pastor Elisabeth. Please note if you do not want this shared with this faith community. Pastoral Prayer When we are still, O God, life flows around us like a stream around a rock, and we have a sense of what it means to be centered in your eternity. Teach us to be still more often: when the day is hectic; when we are under attack; when others have lost their calm; when the news is bad and life appears to be getting worse. In the stillness, we sense your presence and we are healed. In the stillness, we know what is wrong in ourselves and can ask you to help us change. In the stillness, we become reoriented for living and can follow the right path once more. Remember our friends and loved ones who are ill, or are grieving, or are suffering. Care for those who are struggling financially. Enrich the lives of all families, especially as they are thinking about children returning to school. Be with all the healthcare professionals, the essential workers, and the educators. Be with all our leaders, from the national level to the local level, and give them wisdom in these difficult days. (John Killinger, adapted) We offer this prayer in his name, as we pray together the prayer he taught his disciples: The Lord’s Prayer 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Responding Offertory: You may send your offerings to Grantham United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 152, Grantham, NH, 03753. Doxology UMH #95 Prayer of Dedication Life-giving God, we offer you ourselves and our resources. Use us and our gifts, that we may be water-bearers to a world thirsty for love, for meaning, for justice and for hope. May all your people encounter fullness of life through the love of Christ, which lives within us. Amen. Song He’ll Find a Way Babbie Mason https://youtu.be/Tra3DxAYMro *Benediction God has met us here and goes with us into each new day. Christ, who spoke to the woman at the well, offers us the same living water she received. God sends us into the world as water carriers and equips us with abilities to share the good news. Where God sends, we will go. Amen. |
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