Sunday, May 17, 2020
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Prelude: Is He Worthy? By Christ Tomlin , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkRiYsTN7KY
Alleluia! Christ is risen.
Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Welcome to our virtual worship. The Lord be with you.
GATHERING
Confession and Forgiveness
If you were to keep watch over sins, O Lord, who could stand? Yet with you is forgiveness, and so we confess: (I invite you to reflect in the privacy of your home before a time of confession.)
Confession: Gracious God, have mercy on us. We confess that we have turned away from you, knowingly and unknowingly. We have wandered from your resurrection life. We have strayed from your love for all people. Turn us back to you, O God. Give us new hearts and right spirits, that we may find what is pleasing to you and dwell in your house forever. Amen.
Forgiveness: Receive good news: God turns to you in love. “I will put my spirit in you, and you shall live,” says our God. All your sin is forgiven in the name of ☩ Jesus Christ, who is the free and abounding gift of God’s grace for you. Amen.
Gathering Hymn: Christ is Alive! Let Christians Sing, ELW 389, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYA0tFX2tV4
The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Prayer of the Day
Almighty and ever-living God, you hold together all things in heaven and on earth. In your great mercy receive the prayers of all your children, and give to all the world the Spirit of your truth and peace, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Selection of the Faithful: This is My Father’s World, ELW 824, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uja5sSx0HjM
THE WORD
First Reading: Acts 17:22-31
22Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,
‘For we too are his offspring.’
29Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Psalm: Psalm 66:8-20
8Bless our God, you peoples; let the sound of praise be heard.
9Our God has kept us among the living and has not allowed our feet to slip.
10For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us just as silver is tried.
11You brought us into the net; you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.
12You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water,
but you brought us out into a place of refreshment.
13I will enter your house with burnt offerings and will pay you my vows—
14those that I promised with my lips and spoke with my mouth when I was In trouble.
15I will offer you burnt offerings of fatlings with the smoke of rams;
I will give you oxen and goats.
16Come and listen, all you who believe, and I will tell you what God has done for me.
17I called out to God with my mouth, and praised the Lord with my tongue.
18If I had cherished evil in my heart,
the Lord would not have heard me;
19but in truth God has heard me and has attended to the sound of my prayer.
20Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer,
nor withheld unfailing love from me.
Second Reading: 1 Peter 3:13-22
13Who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? 14But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, 15but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; 16yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. 18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. 21And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
Gospel: John 14:15-21
[Jesus said to the disciples:] 15“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
18“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”
SERMON
Easter 6 signals the Easter season is coming to an end. Thursday is Ascension and next Sunday we close Easter before Pentecost Sunday, May 31. There will be no restrictions on wearing red while we worship virtually! These weeks I have been drawing a strong parallel between the upheaval of life for the first Christians after the empty tomb and the upheaval we are going through today in 21st century. We have heard the testimonies of those who saw, touched, and interacted with the risen Christ. Today we are a bit jaded because of testimonies of con-people raising money using Jesus’ name. Testimonials are not a part of Lutheran worship. We are what is called a “confessional” church. We stand on the confessions and creeds of Christians through the ages, not just on our experiences. We hear testimonials but grow faith differently. We like to say, “God has no grandchildren!”
Next we looked at Jesus’ teaching about being the Good Shepherd and pondered the suffering in our world today, ultimately asking if our lives are not indeed in greener pastures than our life without Christ. Last week we listened to Jesus’ master plan, an overview as he leaves the upper room and heads to Gethsemane. Knowing our lives were going to be upturned by events of life Jesus told his disciples: believe in him, he is going to prepare a place where we will be with him, and that he is indeed in God and God in him and so we can believe his words. Hope.
Today we continue with the disciples and Jesus to the Garden and hear the end of his talk. The promise that jumps out to me from our text today is the words, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.” The word “orphan” is a big word in our family. So these words grab my heart. My husband was adopted at two months. From the arms of a woman who had grown to love him, he went into the arms of loving parents, excited to receive him. Our son, though, was left at Kenyatta Hospital when the family of his mother claimed her body and left him to die. He was put on a bed with 50 other babies rejected, covered with rags. Strong ones lived and many died. The orphanage rescued him from there. So the story goes anyway. We fell in love with him a year later and he became one of our clan. Our daughter was turned into a police station at age four months, almost catatonic from abuse or neglect, given to the orphanage, and we found her at ten months. Not all our stories are happy family stories as we live in the shadow of Mother’s Day and anticipate Father’s Day. For the Christian now living, the question of “where do I belong” may well plague.
Jesus starts his talk with, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” What troubles our hearts today? Covid-19 virus, memories of rejection or abuse, limitations from accidents, finances, or what?? Jesus speaks into those troubles to say we are not orphans. How is this true as we isolate and shelter?
Jesus explains: He will send an “Advocate,” the “Spirit of truth” who will “abide” with us. This promise takes on flesh and blood, realness as we love God and obey his commandments. I would understand this passage to be saying, as we “obey,” as we submit our wants and will to His way, we learn and rejoice that we are not orphans. So let’s look at the three words.
“Advocate”
16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.”
An Advocate. What comes to your mind? My mind goes to John 8: 1-11 and the story of the woman caught in adultery. At the temple in Jerusalem, the Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus. The woman was caught in the very act of adultery. They test Jesus by asking him if she should be stoned as required by the law of Moses. Jesus bends down and writes in the dirt and then encourages the one who has not sinned to throw the first stone. The crowd melts away and Jesus has the woman note there is not an accuser, neither does he and she is to leave and sin no more. There is a whole sermon here but in terms of understanding what Jesus meant by “Advocate,” I note several things.
The woman is accurately accused of adultery by law, by society and by herself (she makes no defense claiming to be set up or needing money for children or widowed). She is guilty and no one is defending her. There is a crystal clear reality here, advocacy happens in the face of guilt.
Advocacy stands on the side of the accused, the woman, not the law. Jesus stands there, true God and true man, saying, “Neither do I condemn you.” GRACE. We may be accused but we are not condemned. I can only cry.
But, thirdly, advocacy is honest in directing us to reform and leave our sinful behavior. The advocate is not just giving us a “free pass” but is working for our growth, betterment, directing us to green pastures. There is not threat against future slips but encouragement. As Christians we have someone on our side, cheering for us even as we are now captives of sin, offering grace and encouraging us to grow.
Spirit of Truth
7This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,
because it neither sees him nor knows him.
Spirit of Truth. What story comes to mind? For me it is the story of the woman at the well. Jesus passing through Samaria rests by a well at noon while his disciples go to buy food and he meets a woman coming to draw water. He engages her in conversation about “living water” – but for this sermon – then asks her to bring her husband. She responds that indeed she has had five husbands and is living with someone now. She realizes he knows all about her. He knows the truth.
The Spirit of Truth knows all about us, our private truth as well as our public truth. Jesus knew that the woman needed “living water” as well as water from the well. The Spirit of Truth knows what lies behind the mask. My daughter has a missing front tooth from falling off her bike and so wears a “flipper,” a kind of bridge that she can stick in when she wants. An advantage of wearing a mask inow s that she can go without the flipper. The Spirit knows what we really need and operates at that level of truth.
When asked to bring her husband, the woman has to tell the truth that she has had five and is living with a man. I find interesting in this story that after the woman’s confession of her marital mess, she seems to be freed from the shame of her past and is motivated to return to town and tell others about Jesus. Truth in God’s hands is not a chain around our neck that chokes us but is the shedding of a dark secret that has shackled us. It is moving from social outcast to community.
The world does not receive this kind of truth because the world is not in relationship with God. Again we see that God’s truth is not something analytical, sterile, detached from reality but is relationship with Jesus. Pilate turns to Jesus at the trial and asks, “What is truth?” when Jesus confesses that he came into the world “to testify to the truth.”
We are not orphaned. We have an Advocate walking with us, fighting for us and we have the Spirit of Truth walking with us and helping us navigate life. Finally, the verb used to describe the Spirit’s presence is “abide.”
Abides
“he abides with you, and he will be in you.”
It is hard for me to use the word “abide” without thinking of the hymn “Abide with Me,” written by Henry F. Lyte, an Anglican priest from Lower Brixham, England. All his life he struggled with tuberculosis and near the end had to move to Italy. He famously coined the phrase, “It is better to wear out than to rust out.” It is said that he had to crawl to the pulpit and in his final sermon said, “It is my desire to induce you to prepare for the solemn hour which must come to all, by a timely appreciation and dependence on the death of Christ.” He was inspired before the sermon while reading about the two followers meeting Jesus on the road to Emmaus whose hearts burned within them when they realized they were with the risen son of God.
- Abide with me, fast falls the eventide,
The darkness deepens – Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, OV, abide with me!
2. Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see –
O Thou who changest not, abide with me!
3. I need they presence ev’ry passing hour –
What but thy grace can foil the tempters pow’r?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Thru cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.
4. Hold Thou thy word before my closing eyes.
Shine thru the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heav’ns morning breaks and earth’s vain shadows flee –
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
5. I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
“Abides,” verse 1 means that the Advocate does not flee like others but stays. Verse 2, the Advocate does not change and stays close through all of life. Verse 3, the Advocate helps me defeat the evil one. Verse 4, the Advocate will be with me in death. And verse 5, the Advocate escorts us to greener pastures.
Our hearts do not need to be troubled in these uncertain times. We are not orphaned. We have an advocate who is for us, who tells us the truth, and who goes with us through all of life and death.
Thank you, Lord!
Hymn of the Day: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, ELW 631, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y33xr6_B7Kc
Let us join our voices virtually by sharing the Maasai Version of the Apostles’ Creed.We believe in the one High God, who out of love created the beautiful world and everything good in it. He created man and wanted man to be happy in the world. God loves the world and every nation and tribe on the earth. We have known this High God in darkness, and now we know him in the light. God promised in the book of his word, the bible, that he would save the world and all the nations and tribes.
We believe that God made good his promise by sending his son, Jesus Christ, a man in the flesh, a Jew by tribe, born poor in a little village, who left his home and was always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and man, showing the meaning of religion is love. He was rejected by his people, tortured and nailed hands and feet to a cross, and died. He lay buried in the grave, but the hyenas did not touch him, and on the third day, he rose from the grave. He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord.
We believe that all our sins are forgiven through him. All who have faith in him must be sorry for their sins, be baptized in the Holy Spirit of God, live the rules of love and share the bread together in love, to announce the good news to others until Jesus comes again. We are waiting for him. He is alive. He lives. This we believe. Amen.
Or you can listen to the Creed in vocal form: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuDI-sk2nJU
Prayers of Intercession
Uplifted by the promised hope of healing and resurrection, we join the people of God in all times and places in praying for the church, the world, and all who are in need.
Abiding God, you have revealed yourself to us in the form of your Son, Jesus Christ. Embolden your church, as your followers, to reveal your love to everyone in our speaking and in our living. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
You are the creator of heaven and earth. Revitalize the health of oceans, rivers, lakes, springs, glaciers, and other bodies of water that give life to your creatures. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
You call all people of the world your children. Judge the nations justly, show mercy to the oppressed, and speak truth to power through your prophets. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
You come near to us when we are lost, and you hear our distress. We pray for those who suffer in any way. Draw near to those fighting for theirs and others lives and those who grieve. Help leaders be wise about reopening. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Your commands are good and merciful. Give us courage to take hold of our promises to work for justice, advocate for the voiceless, and free the oppressed and imprisoned in body, mind, or spirit. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
You remain with us always, O God, and your kingdom has no end. We remember the saints who have gone before us. Unite us forever in your final victory over death. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
With bold confidence in your love, almighty God, we place all for whom we pray into your eternal care; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Peace: If you are worship with someone else, turn and share, “The peace of Christ be with you always.” Response, “And also with you.” You might use your finger to mark you children or loved one with a cross on their forehead. If you are practicing social distancing, put your palms together in-front of your chest and open them outward to the other to show your blessing of them. Peace!
THE MEAL
Offering Prayer: (We cannot pass the offering plate but we can respond to God’s for his gracious gifts to us.)
Merciful God, our ordinary gifts seem small for such a celebration, but you make of them an abundance, just as you do with our lives. Feed us again at this table for service in your name, in the strength of the risen Christ. Amen.
Communion: We can here take a piece of bread and eat and think how Christ gave his body for us. Never forget. sip a bit of fluid and remember that he is as close to you, strengthening you as the blood in your body. Never forget
Prayer after Communion
Life-giving God, you have fed us with your word, and our hearts burn within us. You have opened us to your presence. Now send us forth to share the gifts of Easter with all in need; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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 that trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
THE SENDING
Blessing
May the One who brought forth Jesus from the dead raise you to new life, fill you with hope, and turn your mourning into dancing. Almighty God, Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you now and forever. Amen.
Sending Hymn: Come, We That Love the Lord (We’re Marching to Zion), ELW 625. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmbqN0yiT4I
Dismissal
Christ is risen, just as he said. Go in peace. Share the good news. Alleluia!
Thanks be to God. Alleluia!
On the Way to Wonder 