Service for the Lord's Day

Praise with music
Let us praise God in every place, every language, with every people around the world! 

Call to Worship    
L: Come, children of God,
P:  rejoice in your Maker!
L: Sing songs and hymns, old and new;
P: celebrate with voices and instruments, with praise and prayers!
L: Open your eyes to the life-giving presence of Jesus Christ.
P: For God is already here,
L: among us and within us, bringing new life to all who believe.
     Let’s praise God together!

Prayer

Micah 6: 6-8
“With what shall I come before the Lord,
    and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?

Romans 12: 9-21
9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
  
Message
This will be my last sermon that I’ve written specifically for at home worship, as we’ll be gathering together in person next week for the first time in awhile.  I know that many of you will not be able to come for some time, and I want you to know that you are still a beloved part of the church.  You are not forgotten.  We will do our best to have videos of the message and the music that you can use to continue to worship even at home, and when things are safer, we will be delighted to see you.
    The scripture this week from Paul’s letter to the Romans is a crucially important word for us to hear today. The passage really speaks for itself as a statement of what it means to live a faithful life.  And as we’ve seen over the past few months, we have a long way to go before we can say we exhibit these behaviors.  How many of us can say that we have consistently hated what is evil and held fast to what is good?  No one.  Instead, we stay quiet in the face of evil, telling ourselves that it’s not our problem. Who can say that you don’t lag in zeal or that you are patient in suffering?  Do you offer hospitality to strangers?  What if those strangers are homeless? or mentally ill? or wearing strange clothes? or who, in your mind, “look like criminals?” If you are anything like me, or like most Christians in the United States, no you don’t. And maybe most difficult of all, do you love your enemies?  Do you bless those who persecute you?  Because it would turn the world around if we all just did that.
    Paul says, “don’t repay evil for evil,” but we rely on our guns and our weapons to do just that— we have a “Stand Your Ground” law that makes it legally acceptable to kill someone who you think might want to do some harm to your property.  We don’t just repay evil for evil— we defend police for killing men and women who they may suspect of having ill intentions.  We allow them to kill people who happen to be in the same place as someone they suspect, and call it collateral damage.  We’re not very good at this instruction.  Paul says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  How are we doing?
    For those of you who are still listening, despite our falling short of these instructions, there is hope here, because Paul is writing with the faithful hope that we will get there.  It is a hope that reflects his deep understanding of the gospel which was established by Jesus himself— the one who did live up to these standards.  Jesus was not haughty, he associated with the lowly. Jesus didn’t repay evil for evil, he did love his enemies and pray for them as he died on the cross.  In his lifetime, he overcame evil with good, and for that we can be grateful.  And as a sign of this gratitude we pray that we may come closer to God, in word, in deed, and in devotion.
    In reflection on the year 2020, and on a different passage from Romans, another pastor wrote these words, which give me hope:

So, Who will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will economic hardship, or COVID, or Toilet paper shortages, or social distancing,
or Zoom fatigue, or doomscrolling, or murder hornets?
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death,
nor life, nor white supremacy, nor homophobia,
nor sexism, nor transphobia,
nor elections, nor demon sperm, nor unmarked vans, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.

Music and Offering
During this time, or after our prayers, you may make an offering to John Knox by going to our homepage and scrolling to the bottom where you will see a link to online giving.  When you give this way, consider giving a little extra to defray the cost of this service.  If you prefer, you may mail you offerings to the church directly.  Even though we are far apart, the church's expenses remain the same.  We give out of pure gratitude for what God has done.

Listen to this offertory music, taking a few minutes to reflect on the scripture. 

Prayers of the People
Gracious God,
In love You created us,
and in love You sustain us, day after day.
So it is with confidence that we bring our prayers to You,
knowing that You hear us, and will respond.

We pray for the world around us,
for the many who continue to suffer and call out for help:
            for those without enough to eat;
            for those caught up in violence and political uprisings;
            for those picking up the pieces after a natural disaster;
            for those desperate to find work to support their families.
           
Gracious God, hear our prayer,
and in Your love, answer.       

We also pray for family and friends who are suffering:
            those struggling physically or emotionally,
            those working to overcome mental illness;
            those facing challenges at home or at work;
            those grieving the death of a loved one.
           
Gracious God, hear our prayer,
and in Your love, answer.

God, You have called us to pray for our enemies;
to bless, rather than curse, those who deliberately seek to harm us.
We bring their names before You now--
            those who have hurt us, physically or emotionally;
            those who have stolen from us,
                        or cheated us of what was rightfully ours;
            those who have spread rumors about us,
                        or turned our friends against us.
We ask You to bless them.
Open our hearts so that we may see them as You see them,
and be able to respond to them with Your love.

Gracious God, hear our prayer,
and in Your love, answer.

We pray for Your church around the world,
that it would be a living demonstration of Your coming kingdom:
            offering hospitality to all,
            ready to help in times of need,
            showing love to friends and enemies alike,
            seeking to live in peace with all.

Gracious God, hear our prayer,
and in Your love, answer.

God, we praise You for Your faithful love,
and for the mercy You have shown toward us.
Open our eyes to recognize Your presence in our lives.
Give us grace to hear Your call,
and courage to follow without hesitation,
knowing that Your way is the only way that leads to life.

In the name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord,
Amen.

Lord’s Prayer
And now with confidence as the children of God, let us pray as Jesus taught his disciples:  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 debts as we forgive our debtors.  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, now and forever.  Amen.

Benediction: For a benediction today, hear the words of the late Representative John Lewis:  ”Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe," he wrote. "In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring."
"When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide."

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Today’s prayers are from  [email protected]

Rewriting of Romans 8:  Pastor Lura Green, facebook post

Benediction: Representative John Lewis, final essay, written shortly before his death on July 17, 2020