Marsden
Road Uniting Church Carlingford
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Whom Ought I Welcome?
Gathering
God’s People
Prelude Music to prepare for
worship
Call to Worship
(Deborah
Sokolove, The Abingdon Worship Annual 2017)
God’s
love is steadfast, inviting us to rejoice and find eternal life in love of God
and others.
The Holy
One calls us to trust God’s steadfast love. With our ancestor Abraham, we say:
“Here I
am.”
The Holy
One calls us to be guided by prophets. With the first followers of Jesus, we
say:
“Here I
am.”
The Holy
One calls us into eternal life. With the Gospel writers, we say:
“Here I
am.”
Let us
worship the God who calls us.
Amen.
Hymn 102: Praise
to the living God
(Tune – Leoni)
Praise to the living God!
All praised be His name,
Who was, and is, and is to be,
And still the same!
The one eternal God,
Ere aught that now appears;
The first, the last: beyond all thought
His timeless years!
His Spirit floweth free,
High surging where it will;
In prophet’s word He spoke of old;
He speaketh still.
Established is His law,
And changeless it shall stand,
Deep writ upon the human heart,
On sea or land.
He hath eternal life
Implanted in the soul;
His love shall be our strength and stay,
While ages roll.
Praise to the living God!
All praised be His name,
Who was, and is, and is to be,
And still the same.
Text:
Jewish Doxology Translated by: Max Landsberg and Newton Mann 1914 Tune: Leoni
arr. by: Meyer Lyon 1770 Source: Episcopal 1940 Hymnal #286
Opening prayer
Wellspring
of Grace, Teacher of Truth, Breath of Resurrection, you welcome us into your
life, and invite us to welcome others with a cup of water, a bite of bread, a
moment of conversation. As we drink from the overflowing spring of your endless
love, fill our hearts with thanksgiving and joy, that we may become the body of
Christ pouring our lives into a world that yearns to be filled. Amen.
A Prayer of Confession
Teacher of Truth, you tell us to welcome prophets
and teachers, and to give to those in need.
Yet we want to hug your salvation to ourselves
and keep your gifts for our own use.
You call us to be servants of your teaching, and to
remember that we are no longer slaves to sin.
Yet we want to continue doing what we have
always done before, hanging onto old habits and opinions, even when you show us
a better way.
You even offer us eternal life when we surrender to
your will.
Forgive us, Holy One, when we mistake our will
for your own. Amen.
Declaration of Forgiveness
God is a
wellspring of grace, offering the gift of eternal life to all who do God’s
will. In the name of Christ, we are forgiven, loved, and free.
Thanks,
be to God! Amen
The
Peace
In gratitude for the gift of eternal life, let us
greet one another with signs of peace.
Peace be with
you!
And also, with you!
(You may like to exchange a sign of peace with
those around you.)
A Word with The Young People
–
Theme: Opening our hearts
and homes to others
Object: "Welcome
Mat"
Good morning.
Have you ever seen a Welcome mat? Where have you seen something like this?
Usually we'd see a mat like this outside the door to our home, wouldn't we? A
mat such as this usually has two purposes. Do you know what those two purposes
are?
Well, for one
thing, it is a friendly reminder for people to wipe their shoes off so that
they won't track dirt or mud into your home. And second, it is placed outside
your door as a sign to let people know that they are welcome in your home.
Welcome —
what does the word "welcome" mean? It means to receive someone in a
warm and friendly way. Are people always welcome in our homes? Do we welcome
people into our home if their skin is a different colour from ours? Do we
welcome people into our homes if they don't have as much money as we do?
How about in
our church? Do you think that we make everyone feel welcome in our church? Do
we speak to those people who are visiting our church that we do not know? If
someone comes to our church and they are not dressed the way we are dressed, do
we make sure that they are made to feel welcome?
Jesus said,
"He who receives you receives me." If we turn that around, we will
understand that if we do not welcome others into our homes and into our
churches, it is the same as if we are refusing to welcome Jesus. We wouldn't do
that, would we?
Well, let's
put the welcome mat out — and let's be sure that we mean it!
Announcements
Offering Prayer
God of grace and
truth, you welcome us into your presence and provide refreshment and renewal
for our lives in Jesus, your Son, our Lord. Receive and bless these gifts
and our lives which we offer in response to your many gracious gifts to
us. May our hands be always open to welcome people in Jesus’ name.
Amen
Hymn 129: Amazing
grace
(Tune – Amazing Grace)
1. Amazing grace! How
sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
2. ’Twas grace that taught
my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!
3. Through many dangers,
toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
4. When we’ve been there
ten thousand years,
Bright
shining as the sun;
We’ve
no less days to sing God’s praise,
Then
when we first begun.
5. Amazing grace, how
sweet the sound,
That
saved a wretch like me;
I
once was lost, but now am found,
Was
blind, but now I see.
Was
blind, but now I see.
The
Service of the Word
The First Reading: Romans 6:12-23
The Gospel Reading: Matthew 10:40-42
Readings: NRSV
Romans 6:12-23
12 Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion
in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13 No
longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness but present
yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and present
your members to God as instruments of righteousness. 14 For
sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under
grace. 15 What then? Should we sin because we are
not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do
you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you
are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of
obedience, which leads to righteousness?17 But thanks be
to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the
heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, 18 and
that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of
righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms
because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your
members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now
present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification. 20 When
you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 So
what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed?
The end of those things is death.22 But now that you
have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is
sanctification. The end is eternal life. 23 For the
wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
Matthew 10:40-42
40 ‘Whoever welcomes
you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever
welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward;
and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will
receive the reward of the righteous; 42 and whoever
gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a
disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.’
Preaching of the Word
Whom
Ought I Welcome? – Matthew 10:40-42
“Jesus said, ‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me
welcomes the one who sent me.’”
Just so we get this straight: whoever welcomes you welcomes Jesus, and
whoever welcomes your friend or neighbour or family member or work colleague or
elected official or mother-in-law or next door neighbour or chatty seat
companion on an airplane or the stall holder at the Farmers market or grocery checkout
person or barber (if you still use one) or the Startrack driver or the child
who hit your new car with a soccer ball…and so on and so forth…welcomes God? We
could have fun with this! But would there ever be an end to such a list of
those who are welcome? If there is an end to such a list of
who is welcome, what does this mean? And if not, well- what
does that mean?
Whoever welcomes you welcomes me. And whoever welcomes any one of us
welcomes Jesus, welcomes God.
The message we hear in this morning’s gospel reading from Matthew was
important enough to Jesus and to the early church that some variation on this
theme shows up in each gospel, and often more than once. There are numerous
other examples and variations throughout the New Testament record. The
bottom-line emphasis seems to be on inclusion, reciprocity, welcome and doing
for others—all those things it takes to build up community, to include the
stranger as neighbour. If we can believe the record of today’s lesson and so
many other passages, Jesus and the early disciples and later apostles put a
high value on welcoming and proclaiming the presence of God thereby.
Pause for a moment and think about what we’ve been hearing through all
the election drama and to the present day about division, exclusion, keeping
people separated, kicking people out.
There may be legitimate and compelling reasons to consider the economic
impact or national safety issues in such things, but if an inhospitable,
exclusive attitude goes along with these ideas, then they are antithetical to
the teachings of Jesus who talked so very much about welcome, inclusion,
hospitality.
Hospitality is a primary ethic of the cultures and peoples of the Middle
East even now. Whether one is brought into a family home of Muslims, Christians
or Jews, there is joy in welcoming, there is the belief that it is desired of
God, the welcoming of strangers who are strangers no longer, but beloved
friends, believing that in welcoming people into one’s home they are earning
their crown in heaven, doing as God would have them do in welcoming the living
God among us.
Such an understanding of hospitality, of the obligation of welcome, dates
back to well before the time of Jesus. It was a matter of survival and
community health which translated into the religious understanding of what God
wants of us. Where and how do we experience such welcome today?
“Jesus said, ‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me
welcomes the one who sent me.’”
Is this what we hear? Or do we hear, instead, words of separation, words
of breaking relationship, words of opposition and repudiation?
So many of the ugly attitudes playing out on the world stage and in the
evening news have spilled over into our popular culture, showing up in a
variety of television shows with comments about the increase in bullying not
only among children in our schools, but flowing out into our neighbourhoods,
showing up in stepped-up immigration strictures and deportation raids, among
other things.
Where is our witness to welcoming others, and thereby welcoming Jesus and
the one who sent him? This Sunday falls is close two other occasions marked by
some on their Church calendar: Queens Birthday Weekend celebration here in NSW
and other states and the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. It is important to
note this for a number of reasons. First, think about Peter and Paul. They did
not agree on many things, didn’t get along at all, and finally went their
separate ways in the proclamation of the Gospel.
Peter insisted that the early believers must follow Jewish ways, must be
circumcised, must hold to the Law. Paul’s vision led him to distant lands
proclaiming faith in a risen Christ and urging believers to conform their lives
to that faith. What they had in common, though, was the conviction that God had
visited humanity in Jesus, and that Jesus had brought something new and
remarkable to humankind demonstrated in a way to live, a way to relate and a way
to witness to God’s love. And they both understood that the welcome of God was
an invitation to a place in God’s kingdom.
As we celebrate this this Queens Birthday, and as some sing Advance
Australia or God Save Our Queen, and as we have parties, picnics, BBQ’s
etc., let us also ask ourselves what Jesus meant in telling us over and over
again, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the
one who sent me” (Matthew 10:40).
We may believe differently about the details of faith, as Peter and Paul
certainly did and as Christians are wont to do. We may understand civic
responsibility differently; Americans have always held a variety of opinions on
things.
But for us as Christian Australians the question of the day growing out
of this gospel text asks: What does it mean to welcome, and how do we do that?
What does it look like in our churches, in our neighbourhoods, in our national
policies, in our very attitudes? For we are Christians first, as citizens of
God’s kingdom, living that faith in an Australian context of privilege and
challenge.
Jesus didn’t say that we have to agree on everything, but he pretty
clearly told us to be welcoming. Like Peter and Paul, we won’t all agree on
everything. And as Australians, we will stand proudly to celebrate on the
Fourth. When we put all that together, one possible outcome is that we may have
to agree to disagree on some aspects of Australian policy as we live our
Christian faith in daily practice.
Christian people are called to be welcoming, for in welcoming others we
welcome God. Can we at least agree on that? As the author of the Epistle to the
Hebrews reminds us, when we welcome strangers, we may be entertaining angels
unaware.
Hymn
585: I
heard the voice of Jesus say
(Tune – Kingsfold)
1. I heard the voice of Jesus
say,
"Come unto me and rest;
lay down, O weary one, lay
down
your head upon my
breast."
I came to Jesus as I was,
weary and worn and sad;
I found in him a resting
place,
and he has made me glad.
2. I heard the voice of Jesus
say,
"Behold, I freely give
the living water; thirsty one,
stoop down and drink, and
live."
I came to Jesus, and I drank
of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched, my
soul revived,
and now I live in him.
3. I heard the voice of Jesus
say,
"I am this dark world's
Light;
look unto me, your morn shall
rise,
and all your days be
bright."
I looked to Jesus and I found
in him my Star, my Sun;
and in that light of life I'll
walk,
'til travelling days are done.
Tune: Kingsfold
Music to lead us to
prayer
Intercessory Prayers
Come to
prayer, all who labour and are heavy laden, and God will give us rest. Come to
praise,
Lord, hear our prayer.
We thank you
for the revelation of your gift of abundant life and for the rest coming to
those who put their trust in you. For such life and rest, we pray to you Lord,
Lord, hear our prayer.
We thank you
for entrusting us with the message of your grace and love, that we might speak
a reconciling word to our age. For such mercy, we pray to you Lord,
Lord, hear our prayer.
We thank you
for leading us into the ways of peace and for transforming weapons of war into
tools of charity. For such peacemaking, we pray to you Lord,
Lord, hear our prayer.
We thank you
for the people of faith who surround us, and for family and friends, teachers
and clergy, especially ………... and for all who assist our growth in grace. For
such companions through life, we pray to you Lord,
Lord, hear our prayer.
We thank you for the gifts of creation
and for wholesome times of recreation. For such times of harmony, we pray to
you Lord,
Lord,
hear our prayer.
We thank you for those who tend the
sick, accompany the frustrated, visit the lonely, comfort the dying, confront
the addicted, or minister to any need. For such attention to human anguish, we
pray to you Lord,
Lord,
hear our prayer.
We thank you for sustaining all who are
oppressed, all who suffer for reasons of conscience, all who are passionate for
justice and all those in need of our prayers for any reason, [especially N.].
For such relief from their burdens and refreshment in you, we pray to you Lord,
Lord,
hear our prayer.
Into your hands,
O God, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy, through your
Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE LORD'S PRAYER
(Tune –
Servant Song)
Brother,
sister, let me serve you;
let
me be as Christ to you;
pray
that I may have the grace to
let
you be my servant too.
We
are pilgrims on a journey,
and
companions on the road;
we
are here to help each other
walk
the mile and bear the load.
I
will hold the Christ light for you
in
the nighttime of your fear;
I
will hold my hand out to you,
speak
the peace you long to hear.
I
will weep when you are weeping;
when
you laugh I'll laugh with you;
I
will share your joy and sorrow,
till
we've seen this journey through.
When
we sing to God in heaven,
we
shall find such harmony,
born
of all we've known together
of
Christ's love and agony.
Brother,
sister, let me serve you;
let
me be as Christ to you;
pray
that I may have the grace to
let
you be my servant too.
Authors: Richard Gillard
Tune Name: THE SERVANT SONG
Arranger:
Betty Pulkingham
Benediction
With prophets and teachers, and all who seek to
do the will of God— let us go forth to fill the empty cups of all who ask; let
us give in the name of the Breath of Resurrection, the Wellspring of Grace, the
Teacher of Truth: The One, Triune God, who gives eternal life. Let us share the
blessings of Christ’s eternal covenant, and praising God for the Spirit’s call
to love and give. Amen.
(Tune – Somos del Senor)
Shalom to you now, shalom, my
friends.
May God’s full mercies bless
you, my friends.
In all your living and
through your loving,
Christ be your shalom, Christ
be your shalom
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