August16 2020 Rev Dolson Knox Bayfield
Greetings to my church family and friends. May the grace of God be with you.
Mission Moment – 40 Years of Partnership in Mauritius
In September of 2019, the Presbyterian Church of Mauritius (PCM) celebrated a milestone: the 40th anniversary of their autonomy from the Church of Scotland. The Presbyterian Church in Canada’s partnership with PCM began in 1981 with the appointment of the Rev. Brian Crosby and continued through the years with 11 Canadian Presbyterians serving as ministers and music consultants. Today, our partnership continues through annual grants sent to Formation Biblique et Théologique à Maurice (FBTM), a theological training program for over 1,700 Christians. FBTM’s director, the Rev. Maurice Davantin, gratefully acknowledges that, “Due to the generosity of the PCC, FBTM has been able to continue its ministry in spreading the study of God’s Words among Christians in Mauritius.”
Presbyterians Sharing works with mission partners around the world
(Note: Mauritius is located in the South West part of the Indian Ocean, 855 km east of Madagascar, 2,400 km south east of Africa mainland, and about 3,900 km south west of India.)
Do you have food to share? Take your food donations to the outside bin at Trinity St James Church. Are you dealing with food insecurity? Reach out to the Bayfield Area Food Bank if you are struggling to put food on your table. Make a confidential call to: 519 955-7444 (area manager) Help is available!
The sermon is on our website https://pccweb.ca/knoxbayfieldpc/ and on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTYgIPqvkMsDNal0b1gCiPg
We are thankful to Jean Walker, organist, for her efforts in performing the hymns for the YouTube video. Remember to go to the end of the printed material for the lyrics to the hymns.
Income and Expense Update
The following chart illustrates the July income and expenses, and the year-to-date deficit. You are encouraged to share your questions and concerns with your elder.
Section 2
CALL TO WORSHIP
God has lavished the fullness of the blessed Holy Spirit upon all of creation. My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples, says the Lord. Thanks be to God.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Friends, the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Receive the gift of forgiveness and share that gift with others, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
# 65 All people that on earth do dwell
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Lord, by the loving power of your Spirit give us your words of life that our faith may increase and our hearts be made whole. Amen.
READINGS:
Genesis 45:1–15; Psalm 133; Romans 11:1–2a, 29–32; Matthew 15:10–28
Did you know the bible is free online! https://www.biblegateway.com/
Genesis 45:1-15
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler overall the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.’ And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.
Matthew 15:10-28
Then Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.”
Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?”
Jesus answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.”
But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.”
Then Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.” Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.”
But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.”
Jesus answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the Canaanite woman came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
Jesus answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” The Canaanite woman said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
# 692 Where charity and love prevail
MESSAGE
Our readings today seem to be filled with unanticipated events. The element of surprise is a persistent theme throughout the scriptures. The readings take us into the continuing story of Jacob’s family as his son Joseph continues to fulfill his prophetic dreams. And, once again, Jesus surprises his followers across the ages.
The book of Genesis shares more than the family lineage and historical events. It provides information about the relationships within the families from generation to generation. Abraham with his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Isaac and his twin boys, Jacob and Esau. Jacob fathered children by four women – Leah and Rachel, and their hand-maids. He had twelve sons: the sons of Leah: Reuben the firstborn, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali. The sons of Leah’s servant Zilpah: Gad and Asher.
Joseph, the favored younger son, despised by his older brothers, grows up to be a trusted authority under an Egyptian Pharaoh. There was no love lost between the brothers for Joseph … in part because their father favoured him and in part because of Joseph’s dreams. Jacob did not make it any easier on Joseph. He gave him a “long robe with sleeves” a visible sign of the favouritism. Joseph was seventeen years old when he shared his dreams with his family … that his brothers and parents would bow down to the ground before him. Joseph told his father of the dreams and he was sent on a difficult journey to work with his brothers, a walking journey of more than a hundred km that would take several days.
Perhaps Jacob hoped that Joseph would discover a way to reconcile with his brothers, just as he had with his twin Esau. We are left to wonder whether Joseph was simply locating his brothers or seeking to build a stronger relationship with them. Relationships affected by envy can be a source of misery. We know that Cain murdered his brother Abel because “the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard” . The consequence for murdering Abel is that Cain became a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. Envy is that desire for a possession or quality or talent that belongs to someone else, … or the desire that others will not enjoy their possessions. It is often rooted in the belief that there is not enough for everyone…that life is unfair. It can be rooted in greed. Yet, scriptures tell us that there is no need for envy as there is no limit on love and well-being.
We are told that as Joseph went in search of his brothers, they were so envious that they first conspired to kill him but traded Joseph to the Midianites. These stories from Genesis … of Abraham to Isaac, then of Jacob and now to Joseph … it is a story about more than individuals … stories of betrayal, surprise, forgiveness, tears, insecurity, shame, and hope. This continuing story of this family from the Hebrew scriptures tell of relationships and the impact of family dynamics. Many families go through tough times, living with broken ties, regrettable mistakes, and deep sorrow.
Many years later, famine paralyzed the Middle East, and we find the brothers travelling to Egypt in search of food. Although the brothers did not recognize Joseph, he recognized them and revealed himself. The brothers trembled in fear, expecting a harsh reprimand, maybe even death, from their powerful brother. Instead the brothers and their family received forgiveness … they were welcomed with the promise food during the famine.
Joseph was able to follow the pattern of God’s love … not retribution. There was an overwhelming forgiveness combined with the promise of new life. He loved his family deeply. His faith in God and his emotional connection to his family shaped the future of his family. Instead of hatred and vengeance, Joseph experienced joy and gratitude. The forgiveness expressed by Joseph was not superficial “Oh, forget about it, it doesn’t matter.” Forgiveness requires deep emotion, new ways of thinking and feeling. Joseph may not have understood his brothers choices but he could love them. God did not force the brothers to make their choices, just as God did not force Joseph to reconcile. Yet through God there is beauty out of hatred—and it is the glimpse into this holy purpose that gives us hope.
When we read the scriptures, however, we discover that God’s love is not based on our actions, we are not rewarded for our goodness or our ability to follow rules … we discover that we receive God’s good gifts, God’s love and acceptance, despite our efforts and our failures. God’s love is not logical according to our human logic. Paul’s letter to the Romans illustrates his struggle to understand how God continues to love the people of Israel after they rejected the Messiah… and he discovers that our rejection of God does not lead God to reject us. God steadfast love remains constant. Both Joseph and Paul have a sense of God’s love of humanity. They understand that God works in human history toward the fulfillment of God’s will and way.
Our reading from the gospel of Matthew seems to sit in contrast with the other readings when … did Jesus really call this woman a dog? Initially Jesus did not acknowledge the Gentile woman. He told her that his mission was only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and that food for the children should not be thrown to the dogs referring to non-Israelites like her. Jesus was in the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, where Israelites were not safe. Racial stereotypes and bigotry caused deep division between the Israelites and Canaanites. The disciples walked alongside Jesus, their full attention on protecting him against animosity and violence. It is in this situation that the woman called out to Jesus, pleading with him to heal her daughter.
How do we understand this interaction? The incident raises questions about prejudice and the limits of God’s mercy. Jesus attitude and language in his encounter with the Canaanite woman is shocking. Even “Canaanite” has been used in both positive and negative terms. Canaanite refers to ancient enemies and In the gospel of Matthew, it is a positive reference to women like Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth, who are part of the family history of Jesus.
In today’s passage the Canaanite woman is seeking mercy for herself and her daughter. She has heard about the teachings of Jesus and his reputation as a healer. She called out “Lord, have mercy” … a prayer that echoes through the centuries. It has been chanted in cloisters, whispered in hospitals, screamed out on battlefields. It is the cry of the soul. Yet, Jesus did not respond. So, the woman continued to cry out to him. Despite the cultural restrictions on women, she went to Jesus with the unshakable conviction that God’s mercy would provide for her daughter.
In the beginning of our reading from Matthew, Jesus was critical of the religious doctrine that validated favoritism, exclusion, and contempt; policies that meant this woman and her daughter could not receive mercy. Tradition can provide a solid foundation for faithfulness, but it can also do the opposite. Jesus was critical of the traditions that contravened the will of God. Jesus urged the religious leaders to re-consider their traditions with the understanding that faithfulness to God calls for examination of worship practices and traditions. It is in the living action of how we practice our faith and how we choose to follow in the ways of Christ. We are called to give great care in how we understand hospitality and faithfulness within the context of God’s steadfast love. Jesus stated, “It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles”.
For Jesus, religious purity and faithful discipleship are not about human rules and traditions. It is not about reading the Bible from cover to cover, or how much money we donate, or about our church attendance. Purity and faithfulness are demonstrated by how the church – how the people of faith- how individuals – speak and live out the radical hospitality and love of Christ. What does it mean to follow Jesus into the world in the 21st century? What would it mean …to think less about how we have always done it this way and listen more to the cries from those who are different or unclean or unwanted? What would it mean for those who are in desperate need of the good news of Jesus Christ. Those who have never heard the gospels, those who heard a distorted version of God’s message, and those who have felt rejected or been harmed by people within the church.
For the needs of her daughter, this Gentile woman refused to be deterred. Imagine for a moment the opposition she faced as she called out for mercy. Initially it seemed that Jesus affirmed the belief that the woman should not be heard, that her needs are irrelevant. Yet, he stopped and talked with her … an unusual turn of events. His conversation with her is a radical affirmation of her. Perhaps his initial response to her was for the disciples and others who were present. Jesus had just spoken about the importance of questioning tradition and practices. Was he helping them to understand the difference between our human rules and the divine directives created by God.
Perhaps Jesus was being ironic, teaching them by using their language to make the opposite point. Helping them to understand that the words from our mouths are important. We are often surprised in these teachable moments. Moments when Jesus does not conform to what is expected. Jesus uses the expectation to help them to see the situation in a different way, to help them to shift their understanding of the world and how God is present among them.
In closing, you are encouraged to consider how you might be caught up with following a traditional practice without giving it much thought. It can make us uncomfortable to question what we do… to explore the reasoning behind our practices and traditions. It can be confusing when we there are diverse perspectives that seem to contradict what we think we know. Much prayer, much discussion, is helpful to discern how God is at work in our lives. In a sweeping declaration, Paul proclaimed that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable”—once given, forever ours. Nothing we do will convince God to let go of us. We are the beneficiaries of an eternal love—as is everyone that God claims. We get no special treatment; God extends the special treatment to all God’s children.
God grants freedom so that we may choose to love freely and gracefully. Too often we convert our freedom into what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called cheap grace, the grace we bestow upon ourselves. Grace is God’s alone to offer, and God offers it to all people—the Jew and the Gentile, the ins and the outs, the faithful and the disobedient. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8-9). Praise be to God. Amen
#330 O God, our help in ages past
THE OFFERING OF OUR LIFE AND LABOUR TO THE LORD
QUOTE: The church is not a group of people who believe all the same things; the Church is a group of people caught up in the same story, with Jesus at the center. Rachel Held Evans (1981-2019)
Your donations to the church are greatly appreciated. The expenses for our faith community continue even though we are not gathering in the church building, the work of the church continues in so many ways. Let us give as God has so abundantly given to us.
BLESSING OF GIFTS *
Gracious Lord, you have given us more mercy than we could imagine. Receive these gifts as a token of our gratitude to you, that your mercy may be multiplied. May your blessings abound to embrace all those in need. Amen.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
You are encouraged to share your concerns and celebrations with the congregation. Your requests will be shared in the prayers of the people and kept in my daily prayers and the prayers of our congregation. Let us pray for all people and all of God’s creation. There will be a time of silence for you to lift up your prayers …
O holy God, we pray for your church, in its diversity and love for your creation. Loving God, hear our prayer that your house of prayer will nurture all the peoples of the earth, that women and men in every place may love your name and joyfully offer their lives in service. We pray for pastors, teachers, and ministers.
We pray the leaders of your church will be strengthened. Help them to welcome the stranger and the outcast. Help them to resist the temptation to honor
the wealthy and forsake the poor. Loving God, hear our prayer. . .
Loving God, hear our prayer for leaders within our nations. Uphold the leaders who work of peace. We pray you will provoke their hearts to justice tempered with mercy and lead them to do what is good and right. Loving God, hear our prayer. . . .
Loving God, hear our prayer for those who put their efforts to feeding your creation. Help farmers to live in harmony with your creation. Bless their labors and help them to be good stewards of your earth. May all be good managers of the earth’s produce. Loving God, hear our prayer…
Loving God, we pray for that children will be kept from danger. May they be nurtured with loving care and find protection from that which harms them. Loving God, hear our prayer…
Loving God, we pray for those who are sick in body, mind, or spirit. Help us to reach out to them and support them in their need.
Almighty God, there are many within our church family in need of your care at this time. We lift up Ron, Sandy and their family as Ron continues his treatment. We lift up Jan’s sister, Peggy, as she slowly heals from extensive heart surgery. We lift up Betty Lou as she prepares for surgery. We lift up her daughter, Bonnie, as she enjoys the peace of remission. We lift up Jessie as she deals with chronic back pain. We lift up her daughter, Marlene, as she continues to heal. We lift up Rob, son of Jane and Jim. We lift up Jane as she prepares for surgery. We lift up Gayle as she deals with health concerns. We lift up her granddaughter Courtney. Loving God, hear our prayer…
Gracious and merciful God, abounding in steadfast love, we join our voices with all that you have made in speaking your praises and blessing your name.
O Holy One, although we are apart and cannot lift our voices together, we speak the words aloud that Christ taught his disciples, Our Father who art in heaven, hallow’ed 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. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
# 124 People in darkness
BENEDICTION
The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. God has gifted you with forgiveness and graced you with reconciliation. Go now and share God’s gifts with the distressed and estranged. Christ has called you close and healed you from torment. Go now and call others to receive Christ’s mercy and healing.
The God who forgives, reconciles, heals, and blesses is with you today and forevermore.
CLOSING CHORUS
May the Lord, mighty God bless and keep you forever, Grant you peace, perfect peace, faith in every endeavor Lift your eyes and see His face, and His grace forever, May the Lord, mighty God bless and keep you forever.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
Why do you think Jesus resisted the Canaanite woman’s request? How does this fit with your idea of Jesus’ mercy and love? How does this influence your faith in God? Paul, in his letter to the Romans, declared, “The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” How do the gifts and calling of God support us? How might they support us when we are not aware of them or even when we reject them?
Section 3
Morning Prayer
Merciful God, this day is full of your possibility for healing and reconciliation, for new beginnings, and restored relationships. Unite my heart with your will so that your abundant anointing will flow through me. Send me now with your promised blessings to serve those in need. Amen.
Evening Prayer
God guard me from torment, release me from distress. Call me close to you and kiss me with your favor that I may rest secure in you. Amen.
Daily Prayer
Almighty God, whose compassion embraces everyone, gather the outcast and the lost, heal the wounds of fear and distrust, and make us a community of reconciliation that we may embody your merciful love and rejoice in your astounding grace in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Hymns: 65 All people that on earth do dwell; 692 Where charity and love prevail;
330 O God, our help in ages past; 124 People in darkness
65 All people that on earth do dwell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtr6o1XK1zk Author: William Kethe
1. All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice
Him serve with mirth; his praise forth tell, Come ye before him and rejoice
2. Know that the Lord is God indeed, without our aid he did us make
we are his flock, he doth us feed, and for his sheep he doth us take
3. Oh enter then his gates with praise, approach with joy his courts unto
praise, laud and bless his name always, for it is seemly so to do
4. For why, the Lord our God is good, his mercy is forever sure
his truth at all times firmly stood, and shall from age to age endure
William Kethe (circa 1594). Although both the time and place of Kethe’s birth and death are unknown, scholars think he was a Scotsman. A Protestant, he fled to the continent during Queen Mary’s persecution in the late 1550s. He lived in Geneva for some time but traveled to Basel and Strasbourg to maintain contact with other English refugees. Kethe is thought to be one of the scholars who translated and published the English-language Geneva Bible (1560), a version favored over the King James Bible by the Pilgrim fathers. The twenty-five psalm versifications Kethe prepared for the Anglo-Genevan Psalter of 1561 were also adopted into the Scottish Psalter of 1565. https://hymnary.org/text/all_people_that_on_earth_do_dwell
692 Where charity and love prevail
Hymn: Ubi Caritas, translated by Omer Westendorf (1961)
1. Where charity and love prevail, there God is ever found
Brought here together by Christ’s love, by love are we thus bound.
2. With grateful joy and holy fear His charity we learn
Let us with heart and mind and soul now love him in return.
3. Forgive we now each other’s faults as we our faults confess
And let us love each other well in Christian holiness.
4. Let strife among us be unknown, let all contention cease
Be His the glory that we seek, be ours His holy peace.
5. Let us recall that in our midst dwells God’s begotten Son
As members of His body joined, we are in Him made one.
6. No race or creed can love exclude, if honored be God’s name
Our family embraces all whose Father is the same.
330 O God, our help in ages past
Songwriters: Watts; R. Ringwald / Croft
1. God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come
Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home
2. Benearth the shadow of thy throne, Thy saints have dwelt secure
Sufficient is thine arm alone, And our defense is sure
3. Before the hills in order stood, Or earth received her frame
From everlasting thou art God, To endless years the same
4. A thousand ages in thy sight Are like an evening gone
Short as the watch that ends the night Before the rising sun
5. Time, like an ever-rolling stream, Bears all its sons away
They fly, forgotten, as a dream Dies at the opening day
6. God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come
Be thou our guide while troubles last, And our eternal home