​Prelude
*Call to Worship
“Listen to him!” Our God cries from the mountaintop.
It is good for us to be here. We bow before our God in worship.
May God’s Word resonate in our ears and sink into our innermost beings.
May our hearts be transfigured, our minds filled with understanding
 
*Hymn 1    Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!                       
 
Prayer of Confession
God of compassion,
in Jesus Christ you reveal the light of your glory.
But we turn away, distracted by our own plans.
We confess that we speak when we should listen,
and act when we should wait.
Forgive our aimless enthusiasms.
Grant us wisdom to live in your light
and to follow in the way of your beloved Son,
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
 
*Hymn  698          Take, O Take Me As I Am
 
Assurance of Forgiveness
Though we were blinded by sin,
God’s saving light has been beamed into our hearts
that we may see the radiant mercy of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
Sisters and brothers, I declare to you, your sins are forgiven. Be at peace.  Amen.
 
Old Testament Reading       Exodus 34:29-35                 
 
Time With Our Young Disciples
 
Gospel Reading         Luke 9:28-36
Morning Message
 
We were headed to Boston for spring break. Ed and I and about forty high school choir students and assorted parents. But it’s a long way from Ona, West Virginia to the place where everybody knows your name.
 
So, we stopped for the night right outside New York City, enjoyed a great Italian meal, and turned in. The next day we would go into the city, and though the rain was pouring buckets, we would pay our respects at the 9/11 Memorial and ascend the 102 stories to the Observation Tower of One World Trade, enjoying the Big Apple’s skyline from the tallest building in the western hemisphere.
 
Truth be told, I would have preferred staying on the ground, at the 9/11 Memorial. There was something mysterious and compelling about that place where so many lost their lives that tragic September day. A few moments felt too short a time to absorb the suffering. Too little time to thank God for leading us to live and move and have our being on September 12th, although we would be forever transformed.
 
Up we went, by elevator and stairs, finally reaching the first observation deck. The enthusiastic tour guides pumped us all up for the big reveal. You see, when you get to the observation deck, there are ceiling to floor windows, like Windows on the World, the famous restaurant that once topped the World Trade Center. From this point, visitors would be able to see across Manhattan, and identify city landmarks. Shades cover the windows adding to the excitement.
 
At the moment of greatest suspense, the shades rose slowly to reveal…
 
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We were shrouded in fog so dense you could see nothing of the great throbbing city below. No Statue of Liberty beckoning to the tired and poor, no Empire State Building or Rockefeller Center or St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We knew they were there. We had seen some of them from the busy Manhattan streets.
 
But, in that moment, all we could see was a solid white wall of fog. We were so high up, it was like being enveloped in a cloud. And being in a cloud is disorienting and just a little terrifying.
 
The transfiguration of Jesus is a beautiful and mysterious story found in all three of the synoptic gospels. Jesus has taken his closest disciples-Peter, James, and John, the brother of Jesus, up Mt. Horeb for some time set apart, to pray, to think about this life God has called them to.
 
The transfiguration not only supports the identity of Jesus as the Son of God. But the statement, “Listen to him,” identifies Jesus as the messenger and voice of God. The significance of this identity is affirmed by the presence of Moses, the law-giver, and Elijah, the great prophet. This is vitally important as the bridge to connecting Jewish believers into the ministry.
 
What a moment for Peter, James, and John. Not just to see, but fully experience Jesus in all his glory. And yet, they were terrified. Scripture says so. So terrified that they could do nothing else but fall facedown on the ground.
 
The disciples didn’t anticipate this event. But, they were in the company of Jesus, and when they were with Jesus, all kinds of unusual things could happen. They had witnessed his compelling preaching and teaching. They had seen him perform miracles. They knew deep down in their hearts that Jesus was of God.
 
And still…they were afraid. Is there any other way to respond? Suppose this happened to you. How do you explain what happened? Who would believe you anyway?
 
That’s a good question for us. Has Jesus come to you in some transcendent way? Maybe he has spoken to you, or appeared in a dream, or comforted you in a time of trouble. How did it make you feel? Did you tell anyone? Why? Why not?
 
Tova Sido, is a minister in the United Methodist Church. She shares this story:
She says, “When I was a child the only thing I ever wanted to be was a mom. So, in the year 2000, when I became pregnant, I was ecstatic. This was the beginning of all my dreams coming true. Over the next five years, my husband and I experienced unspeakable tragedy. She would be pregnant five times and five times lose a child at birth or soon after to a rare metabolic disorder.
 
The summer of 2005 proved to be the darkest of Tova’s life. She was suicidal. She felt like she had no purpose, no joy, and no hope for a future without children. Her dreams of becoming a mom had only ended in heartbreak. She was deeply depressed and very afraid.
 
This season of tragedy made it very difficult to trust that life was worth living. She was not a particularly spiritual or religious person at the time. But something within her told Tova that the only way out of this was to reach out to someone or something  much bigger than she.
 
She made an appointment with her pastor. On a hot summer day, Tova sat down with him, describing how sad, lonely, and depressed she was. She told of all the losses she and her husband had suffered. She cried what she called an ocean of tears.
 
When she quieted down, her pastor looked at her, and after a long pause, gently asked, “Are you done?”
 
Now, that would have made me cry even more. Didn’t he hear me? Could he not at least sympathize with my pain and grief? If I were Tova, I probably would have left never to return.
 
But, that’s not what happened. Tova’s pastor asked her, “What are you going to do now?”
 
She replied that she had no idea and that was why she was there. She needed help sorting that out. She had great fears. She didn’t know how to live or go on, her dreams now shattered.
 
He looked at her and said what might seem like harsh words. “Tova, God did not put you on earth to sit around and cry about things you cannot change. The scriptures say this is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!”
 
The pastor then left the room and soon came back with the church’s human resources director. He said, “Tova, you need a job. You need to get out of your home, and we need help at the church. I will see you at 9 am on Monday.” Then he promptly left the room and left Tova and the HR director to work out the details.
 
Tova says she thought her pastor had lost his mind. Never in a million years did she expect this kind of response from him. Was this how God gave comfort? It sure didn’t feel like it.
 
Walking into the church that day had taken monumental courage. Tova was so weak and broken and suffering. She was filled with feelings of worthlessness and failure. Heartbroken. Sometimes it was hard just to breathe. It was excruciatingly hard to hold a conversation. How in the world could she commit to a job? It all seemed impossible.
 
But Tova was in for her own transformation story. The first six months were the roughest. Some days, just getting out of bed took all the energy she had. She still cried a lot, but soon the clouds began to lift. Sometimes she even caught herself smiling. In that church, God revealed himself to her in ways that she never imagined. She experienced God’s love, witnessed his miracles- healing power in her own life.
 
Over the next few years, she moved from serving in adult ministry to youth ministry, to eventually becoming one of the church’s pastors. God’s healing power called her out of her grief and pain and showed her how to be Christ’s disciple.
 
Even so, with all the reassurances of God’s presence and power and activity in her life, Tova sometimes becomes fearful.
 
That’s natural. We are human. Being a follower of Jesus isn’t always easy. Jesus is not Santa Claus, appearing occasionally to lavish gifts on us. Sometimes being a disciple requires more of us than we think we can handle. And sometimes following Christ requires sacrifice. 
 
Jesus didn’t leave Peter, James, and John up on that mountain alone. In short order, Jesus would be put to the ultimate test. When he came down from that mountain, Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem. He didn’t abandon his disciples even then, when his very life was threatened. No. Jesus was faithful to the end.
 
And that’s good news for us. Jesus will never forsake us or leave us. He will be with us to the end.
 
Tova says she wakes every morning and asks God to light her path and show her the way. Sometimes, it scares her that this is her prayer. What if God takes her someplace she doesn’t want to go? Or directs her to do something she doesn’t want to do?
 
She knows the answer and so do we: if God calls us into a work, God will give us the skills and courage to accomplish it. What if we don’t feel equipped to handle this task? Then we can borrow from God. In God’s storehouse, we find a supply of strength and courage that never runs out or passes its expiration date.
 
Our last stop that cold spring day in New York, was to visit the Statue of Liberty. Cold rain poured as we boarded the ferry that would take us across the harbor. Visibility was no better than it had been at One World Trade. And now we were on the water and there was a great big ocean out there. The majority of the kids went up on the top deck, where they were drenched and blown about. They were so in hopes of seeing that iconic symbol of welcome that the stormy day just added to the suspense.
 
I had taken this tour before and had no appetite to get colder and wetter than I already was. So I found a seat and started counting life vests. And I started listening. To the sounds of the passengers, of course, but also to the sounds of the ferry’s motor. To the sounds of the choppy water slapping the boat’s body. To the sounds of the fog horn, its lone voice calling mournfully across the water, reminding us of the presence of one we could hear, but could not see.
And, I heard those most comforting of words in my own anxious heart that day, “Cinda, be still, and know that I am God.”
 
And that is always enough.
 
 
*Affirmation of Faith                      Apostles’ Creed  p. 35
*Hymn  581      Gloria Patri
 
Pastoral Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer
O Lord, our God,
you are great indeed, clothed in majesty and splendor,
wrapped in light as with a robe.
In the solitude of a mountain height,
you revealed your glory in Jesus Christ
even as he faced his crucifixion.
We praise you for this glimpse of the mystery of our redemption.
Transfigure us by your Spirit,
and let your love shine in all we do and say
that all the world may see the radiance of your light,
Christ Jesus, your Son,
Who guides all creation to the fullness of your glory.
We lift up those in our community of faith, our friends, and family members who are in need of healing and wholeness, all those in need, the forgotten, lost, and abused,
and pray for the coming of your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
We pray as Jesus taught us, saying, Our Father…Amen.
 
Presenting Our Tithes and Offerings
*Hymn  606    Doxology
*Prayer of Dedication
God of grace, you provide for us in more ways than we can know or understand. Accept these offerings as signs of our gratitude and bless them to carry out the ministry of Jesus Christ, that the radiance of his light may transform hearts and minds and wills.
 
*Hymn  193        Jesus, Take Us to the Mountain
 
Blessing                                                           Nathan Nettleton, Laughingbird.net
Go now, and speak of what you have seen of God.
Do not cling to the holy moments when heaven overshadows you.
But, as the Lord lives, listen to Christ and follow him from the places of revelation to the places of mission.
 
And may God shine the light of glory into your hearts.
May Christ be with you and never leave you.
And may the Spirit renew the image of God within you.
 
*Postlude

​Prelude
Welcome and Announcements
*Call to Worship                       Psalm 100
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come into God’s presence with singing!
For the Lord is a gracious God,
whose mercy is everlasting;
and whose faithfulness endures to  all generations.
 
*Hymn  33   Praise the Lord! God’s Glories Show
 
Prayer
Almighty God,
you have taught us that all our deeds without love are worth nothing.
Send your Holy Spirit to pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love,
the very bond of peace and of all goodness;
forgive us where we have failed to show your love and bear one another’s sorrow, and turn us to your way,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
*Hymn  698      Take, O Take Me As I Am
 
Assurance of Forgiveness
The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting.
I declare to you, in the name of Jesus Christ,
you are forgiven.
May the God of mercy,
who forgives all your sins,
strengthen you in all goodness,
and by the power of the Holy Spirit
keep you in eternal life.  Amen.
 
Moments With Our Young Disciples
 
Scripture Reading   6:27-38 
Morning Message
 
Our old and trusty friend, William Barclay, says there is no commandment or speech of Jesus that has caused so much discussion and debate as his commandment to love our enemies.
 
I can certainly relate to that. Loving those who hate me, hurt me, or worse, mistreat my loved ones, will not inspire any tender affection here.  How about you?
 
Barclay suggests we unpack this speech before we react to or try to follow it.
 
So, let’s go to Greek class for a few moments. In Greek, as you likely know, there are multiple words for “love.”
 
Eros, is passionate love, the intimate love of a man or a woman for another.
 
Philia, is the love for our nearest and dearest, our family, children, our closest friends.
Sometimes we call it “brotherly love.”
 
And agape, which is maybe the most complicated type of love to describe. It is the active feeling of benevolence toward the other person. It means that no matter what that person does to us we will never allow ourselves to desire anything but that person’s highest good; and we will deliberately go out of our way to show kindness and fairness to him or her.
 
This is a tall order and does not come naturally. Ask yourself if it’s possible to love your mean neighbor like you love your mother or your grandchildren. It seems nigh unto impossible for me, maybe even wrong. I would argue that there are indeed some people we just shouldn’t engage because to do so would cause harm.
 
The love we bear for our nearest and dearest is something we cannot help. Our language describes the mystery of this by saying things like, “we fall in love.” It is attributed to a force beyond ourselves. We celebrated Valentine’s Day this past week. At what moment did you “fall in love” with that special person in your life? Did you resist that feeling? Could you?
 
But this love Jesus is calling for, a love for our enemies, is not so much a matter of the heart as it is a matter of the will. It is something which, only by the grace and help of God, we intentionally do.
 
Barclay points us to some important characteristics of what he calls the Christian ethic, which is the foundation for the agape form of love:
 
First, the Christian ethic is positive.  It does not exist by not doing things, but by doing things intentionally. Jesus gave us the Golden Rule, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. 
 
We can find that same rule in other languages and cultures, but it is often set out in a negative statement. For instance, Hillel, one of the most revered Jewish Rabbis, was once asked to teach a man the law while he stood on one leg.
 
Hillel answered like this, so goes the legend, “What is hateful to thee, do not to another. That is the whole law and all else is explanation.”
 
Philo, the Jewish teacher of Alexandria, explained it this way:  “What you hate to suffer, do not do to anyone else.”
 
Isocrates, the great Greek orator, said, “What things make you angry when you suffer them at the hands of others, do not you do to other people.”
 
You can see what we mean then about this ethic not to just avoid wrong-doing, but to intentionally do what is good. It is not just to stay out of trouble, but to invest some energy into doing something good even when you know it won’t be reciprocated or appreciated.
 
Who does that? Who, seriously, is capable of living with that kind of dissonance? Public servants, for sure. Teachers do this every day. Treating each and every student equally, seeking to educate and enrich young lives while working through the many challenges they are presented.
 
Who watches “Blue Bloods?” It’s one of my favorite shows, though I was late to the party. I thought, based on the name, that it was about a family of aristocrats, like “Dynasty.”  But, I had missed the word play. In this case, “Blue Bloods” is about the life and times of the Reagan family of New York City, who are bound together not just by their Irish Catholic faith and ancestry, but by their common calling to serve the citizens of New York in various aspects of law enforcement.
 
New York City is sometimes called the capital of the world. And indeed, it seems so. Soaring to the top of the Empire State Building, we dream of humankind’s greatest achievements. Peering into the tunnels that lie beneath the city, we can witness the worst of human depravity. It is a city full of life and creativity and opportunity, filled with color and sound and masses of people. It is a city of great need, her citizens coping with poverty and homelessness and crime. It is a city of immigrants. It is a city of many faiths. It is city that has survived the greatest of tragedies. It is a city in love with itself. And at war with itself. Every day.
 
And in this bustling and beautiful metropolis the Reagan family lives and moves and has its being. It includes the patriarch, Henry, the retired Police Commissioner, his son, Frank, the current PC and patriarch- in- training. Two sons and a daughter- in- law serve as police officers. A third died in the line of duty. The only daughter is a lawyer in the District Attorney’s office. At least one grandson has joined the family business. And it’s a messy business, often unfair to the ones in blue, often cruel to their loved ones. What are these people made of?
 
We get a clue in the scenes set around the family dinner table, an event which happens every Sunday as regularly as Mass.  It is there we hear of the triumphs and tragedies of keeping the good people of New York safe and fully functioning, even at risk to their own safety and well-being. It gets complicated, yet they seem to thrive in it and love it all the more.
 
The Reagans don’t shrink from debate. They can be loud and lively, sometimes even angry and obnoxious. Stabbing a pork chop, one asks, “Which rules are non-negotiable? Whose interest do we serve?” And with that question, we are drawn into the most compelling of questions: Which has the higher value: civic law or God’s law? Justice or mercy? They can be in conflict.
 
Scripture tells us that God sends the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike. God breathes life into all of us, those who are faithful and those who give not a care toward God, the saint and the sinner, the one who grieves God’s heart and the one who brings him joy. God always pursues us. His love never ends.
 
So that’s the standard Jesus points us toward. None of us measures up to it this side of heaven. That last curious verse gives us a glimpse of what is to come, a future hope, a blessing so rich a full we cannot yet imagine it.
 
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
 
We lift up that hope each time we gather around the table, the big one set with china and crystal and the one set simply with bread and wine. All of us God’s grateful, un-finished, imperfect kids, asking God to “Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive fron thy bounty. Through Christ our Lord.  May it be so for all of us. Amen.
 
 
 
*Affirmation of Faith         The Apostles’ Creed p. 35
*Hymn    581     Gloria Patri
 
Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer
 
Presenting Our Tithes and Offerings
*Hymn    606      Doxology
*Prayer of Dedication
Blessed are you, O God of all creation,
through your goodness we have these gifts to share.
Accept and use our offerings for your glory
and for the service of your kingdom. Amen.
 
*Hymn    693   Though I May Speak
 
*Blessing
Go now, and give your life to the Lord.
Trust in God and do good.
Love and bless everyone, even your enemies.
Do not judge others, but be merciful and generous to all.
Treat others as you would have them treat you.
And may God be quick to act on your behalf,
may Christ Jesus raise you to new and everlasting life;
and may the Holy Spirit go before you to prepare a place for you.  Amen.
 
*Postlude

​Prelude
Welcome and Announcements
 
*Call to Worship
Happy are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the way of the Lord.
Happy are those who keep the Lord’s decrees,
who seek the Lord with their whole heart.
 
*Hymn 366        Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
 
Prayer of Confession
Almighty God, you gave the law to guide our lives.
May we never shrink from your commandments,
but, as we are taught by your Son, Jesus,
strive to fulfill the law in perfect love, aware of our occasions of hard-heartedness and sin.
Forgive us and set us free to live in the fullness of your love.  Amen.
 
*Hymn  698         Take, O Take Me As I Am
 
Assurance of Forgiveness
God is love.
Those who abide in love abide in God
and God abides in them.
Friends, God’s word is true and completely reliable.
We are loved, forgiven, and freed. Alleluia! Amen.
 
Old Testament Reading            Psalm 1
 
Time With Our Young Disciples
 
Gospel Reading                         Luke 6:17-26
 
Morning Message
 
I told a friend this past week that I was struggling with this text.  Every time I read blessed are the poor, the hungry, the hated and hurt, and know the end of the sentence is going to be something like, “when you die and go to heaven, you won’t suffer these things,” it feels insincere and decidedly, not helpful.
 
Well, scripture does testify to heaven as a glorious place. The trouble is, there is often a lot of life between then and now. And the now-ness is overwhelming.
 
Years ago, I had an intractable migraine. It started on a Sunday morning and grew more intense all day, a day that included a trip to a church in mortal combat with itself. I was part of a team of presbytery folks called on to help them resolve their issues, and, hopefully reconcile.
 
It didn’t work out that way. Our chairman read the lengthy report and immediately we were hit with angry comments that accused us of all sorts of grievous sins, including lying. Hard to take. Visions of heaven? That congregation could only see hell and some believed we were the devil’s agents.
 
It was a long ride home. My head felt like it was being squeezed in a vise, my vision was blurring, and I felt sick. The good news was I wasn’t driving, but, the bad news was I was riding in a colleague’s brand new van.
 
I finally made it home, crawled in bed and Ed brought me an ice pack and more meds and left me in the dark room. He checked on me awhile later, and I felt worse. The room seemed to throb with my pulse. I couldn’t talk. The sound of my own voice hurt my head.
 
Ed was seriously concerned and called my doctor. And, to his relief, the answering service reached him. On a Sunday night. A little bit of heaven was breaking in, though I couldn’t see it yet.
 
My doctor called and advised us not to go to the ER, but, he had Ed go to the kitchen cupboard where we keep over the counter and prescription meds, to do a sort of inventory. He said if they could get me to go to sleep, my brain and body could rest and maybe the pain would lessen. So, together, they put together a cocktail of sorts that would hopefully accomplish that.
 
It worked. I did sleep, but, I had a migraine hangover for the next two days. Kind of like the flu. But, the experience led to some changes in managing my health which have prevented further attacks that intense. And, believe me, it’s a blessing.
 
Why am I telling you this story? I talk too much already about my own life.
 
As I’ve said, every time the Beatitudes come up in the lectionary, I read blessed are the poor, the hungry, the hurting and I remember that intractable pain. There was no blessing in it. I truly thought it would be better to die.
 
And for so many, near and far away, life is just that hard. Every day. Unrelenting misery. No evidence of blessing.
 
But, there it is in scripture. Jesus said to the suffering, “You are blessed, even though you suffer. Your reward is great in heaven.”
 
The language of the Beatitudes is beautiful, but they aren’t a lovely Christian poem about the virtuous life or something we could do in counted cross stitch to hang on the wall. No. The Beatitudes, as delivered by Jesus, were words of hope for a world in transition. In his day, they were radical.
 
The audience to whom Jesus spoke was living in a land occupied by Roman oppressors. Those in power were elite imperialists who had no use or care for the common folk. The people who followed Jesus were drawn to him because they were hungry for a new way to live, and for a realm of justice and relief from oppression.  The Beatitudes offered hope and comfort in an age when there was little of either.
 
What Jesus is doing is describing a vision of how this world can be if God is at its heart. And, if God is at the heart of our world, then God is in the hearts of God’s people, and that’s you and me.
 
Episcopal priest, Barbara Brown Taylor, says, “I think Jesus should have asked the crowd to stand on their heads when he taught them the Beatitudes, because that is what he was doing. He was turning the known world upside down, so that those who had been fighting for breath at the bottom of the human heap suddenly found themselves closest to heaven, while those who thought they were on top of things found themselves flat on their backs looking up.”
 
In 1964, the artist, Sister Mary Corita was asked to submit a piece of art to the New York World’s Fair. The piece she created was filled with vibrant color. With it came this statement:
“On a mountain, Christ said these words, the Beatitudes. Ever since then men have said these words to each other each time with different gestures. Said yes, this is how it should be. This is the way to be happy.”
 
And then she used the bold colors of yellow, and orange, and cobalt, and magenta, and added the words of the world’s peacemakers: Anne Frank, Dag Hammarskjold, Albert Einstein, and John F. Kennedy among others.
 
How can we make our part of the world look more like the vision Jesus described?  And, does it mean we have to show up with our paintboxes, our toolboxes?
 
I think it does. The work we started at that conflicted church was not over the day we delivered our report. No. What we uncovered had to be dealt with, corrected. And they couldn’t do it without help. The congregation had to re-imagine the vision of God’s kingdom in that place. And when so much has happened, when trust is broken, and friendships destroyed, that vision is illusive.
 
In Eugene Peterson’s translation of the Bible, he offers this interpretation of Luke 6:
“You’re blessed when you’ve lost it all. God’s kingdom is there for the finding.
You’re blessed when you’re ravenously hungry. Then you’re ready for the Messianic Meal. You’re blessed when the tears flow freely. For joy comes in the morning.”
 
Years after that episode, I can see it more clearly. We had turned that church’s beliefs about themselves upside down. It was very hard to hear and they rejected it. Not only did they reject it, they rejected the people sent to help and pretty much chased us out. So, instead of being mad at each other, they were now mad at us. It would have been fine with me to just shake the dust off our sandals and never return. But, that’s not ok if you’re trying to do things Jesus’ way.
 
Our friend Barbara Brown Taylor gets the last word this morning with these thoughts:
“Upside down, you begin to see God’s blessed ones in places it would never have occurred to you to look. You begin to see that the poor in spirit, the meek and those who mourn are not people you can help, but people who can help you, if you will let them, and that their hunger  and thirst for God are not voids to be filled but appetites to be envied.
 
Upside down, you begin to see that the peacemakers are not flower children but physicians, prescribing God’s own tranquility…Upside down, you begin to see that those who have been bruised for their faith are not the sad ones but the happy ones because they have found something worth being bruised for, and that those who are merciful are just handing out what they have already received in abundance.
 
The world looks funny upside down, but maybe that is just how it looks when you have got your feet planted in heaven.”
 
So, friends, blessed are we…the one who writes the sermons and those who tolerate them. To God be the glory.  Amen.
 
 
*Affirmation of Faith                 Apostles’ Creed p. 35
 
*Hymn  581          Gloria Patri
 
Pastoral Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer
 
Presenting Our Tithes and Offerings
*Hymn 606      Doxology
*Prayer of Dedication
 
*Hymn 692       Spirit, Open My Heart
 
*Blessing
Go now, with your trust in the Lord.
Do not be influenced by the ways of cynics and scoffers,
but delight in the Lord’s company, day and night.
And may God raise you to new life with Christ.
May Christ Jesus heal you of all that troubles you.
And may the Holy Spirit nourish you from the deep well
and keep you faithful and fruitful in all you do.  Amen.
 
*Postlude

​Prelude
Welcome and Announcements
*Call to Worship                    Psalm 147
How good it is to sing praises to our God.
For God is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
God heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.
God is our Lord, and abundant in power.
God’s understanding is beyond measure.
 
*Hymn  744    Arise, Your Light Is Come!
 
Call to Confession
Isaiah exclaims, “Have you not seen? Have you not heard? “The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. God does not faint or grow weary,” but comes to us to renew our strength and restore us to right relationship with God and others.
 
Prayer
O God, our creator, redeemer, and sustainer, we confess our feelings of anxiety and uncertainty brought on by a continuing pandemic, extreme weather events, acts of senseless violence, and other threats. We look for help, but, sometimes it seems you are far away. Remind us that you are present to us, and to all your vulnerable children, to comfort and to bless in times of suffering and need. Renew our strength and restore our joy that we might mount up with wings like eagles to carry out each day’s purpose.  Amen.
 
*Hymn  698              Take, O Take Me As I Am
Assurance of Pardon
The God who fashioned the stars and the moon has come close to each of us with mercy and love. Hear the good news of the gospel: We are forgiven and freed to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint. Know you are forgiven and be at peace.
 
Old Testament Reading                Isaiah 40:25-31
 
Time With Our Young Disciples
 
Gospel Reading       Mark 1:29-39
The Morning Message
 
“Have you not known? Have you not heard?”
 
I always get a tingle up my arms when I hear those questions. It’s like a cosmic, “Where have you been? Have you been living under a rock?”
 
Isaiah 40 begins what Bible scholars call Second Isaiah. This passage has been described as a pre-trial narrative containing a strong defense of God. This section precedes the “trial” of the next eight chapters of Isaiah, where humanity is “tried” as in a courtroom. In this pre-trial narrative, God is presented as the one who needs no introduction.
 
God is the master designer, creator of all that is, whose power and authority have no limits. The one who is the very definition of benevolence, who reaches out to the weak, faint, and powerless to renew, strengthen, and empower. God is the author of the natural world, rendering us awestruck at summer’s rushing waterfalls that turn to hanging swords of ice by winter. Surely, we all know this. Surely, we can all bear witness to God’s dominion in any courtroom.
 
Someone I love is a lawyer. Early in her career she appeared with a client before a judge. It was a deportation hearing. In a few moments, the court would surely separate a mother from her little children, maybe to never see each other again. The young lawyer stumbled for words, overwhelmed by the circumstances.
 
The judge swiftly chastised her, “Young lady, are you an attorney?”  She squeaked out, “Yes, Your Honor.”  “Then represent your client!”
 
If you were to stand before the court, if you were to testify to the mighty acts of God, what would you say?
 
When this text appears in the lectionary, I always think of my friend, whose hyper-active adolescent son was to appear before the session with his confirmation class. This was the moment of truth, the hour when they could be questioned on what they had learned about church history and theology, the moment when someone would surely ask if you have to be baptized to get into heaven and why Presbyterians don’t normally applaud in worship.
 
Unconvinced that his son was ready for this examination, dad took the boy to a nearby stadium and walked up and down, back and forth, all afternoon, quizzing him.
 
That night, washed and combed and dressed in their go-to-meeting clothes, the class was assembled before the session. One by one, the elders asked a question of the young people. With each question, my friend grew more nervous.
 
Finally, it was his son’s turn. An elder of many years service looked at the boy and asked, “Young man, can Jesus do anything?”
 
It required only a one-word answer. “Yes.”
 
Examination over.
 
Have you not known? Have you not heard? Those who wait upon the Lord shall be filled with strength. They will stand before stern judges and not be rendered mute. They will be given uncommon endurance, even surpassing the fitness of young athletes. They will succeed in their work even when their mom or dad doubts them or enemies assail them.
 
In our gospel text, we are witnesses to the power Jesus wields over sickness and death. Fevers were common in Galilee. The Greek translation of the text indicates that the sick woman was seriously ill. She was near death. When Jesus ministered to her, she was healed immediately. That’s a common theme in Mark: things happen immediately.
 
And after she was healed, she got up out of her bed and began to serve the people gathered in her home. Apparently, she didn’t need six weeks to recuperate like I did following major surgery. If the neighbors came with casseroles and flowers, the Scriptures don’t mention it.
 
No. She resumed her role and responsibilities right away- cooking, cleaning, serving.
 
I’m not advocating that any of us jump up out of a sick bed to make dinner for company. That misses the point.
 
God gives and gives and gives and does not grow tired or weary. One good deed, one life redeemed, one relationship restored- gathers steam. Strength builds upon strength. And, if we want to understand that kind of strength, we will find it by waiting upon the Lord.
 
That can be translated into waiting upon or serving or taking care of God’s world and God’s people. Peter’s mother-in-law regained her strength in performing household tasks in service to Jesus and her family. But it can come through teaching and advocating and problem-solving, fixing the plumbing or patching the road. I remember times when the pediatrician’s answering service was a gift from God. Service in God’s realm is unlimited.
 
Oftentimes, we explain or rationalize healing stories in the Bible by qualifying them. We say things like disease was misunderstood, that the science that informs us today did not exist, so that is why these stories appear so dramatic.
 
A simple medication, like penicillin, would come along in time and save millions of lives. Simple practices, like wearing shoes, prevents the infestation of parasites entering the body through the souls of the feet. Parasites rob the body of nutrients and eventually cause death. Healing so often comes by way of human invention we might expect the stories of miraculous healing to cease.
 
But, the fact remains that Jesus was, and is, a healer, and that was one reason people were drawn to him. Fast-forward two millennia, and healing may well come by other means, rendering the witness of scripture a relic.
 
Or, does it?
 
Two years ago we heard reports of a disease that was about to sweep over the whole world. Little was known about it, but, it seemed no one was immune. First-world or the two-thirds world. No difference. The disease may be of little consequence or it could lead to a horrible death. The first timeI heard of the coronavirus, Jessica, our secretary, was working with some Chinese students learning English on-line. These kids were traumatized by illness and isolation. Some were alone in their homes without their parents. I think Jessica served them as much by listening to the concerns of their hearts as helping them gain language skills.
 
Soon, in the US, there would be panicky trips to grocery stores to stock up on food and supplies. Paper and cleaning products were rationed. Schools and churches and restaurants closed. Vacations were cancelled and playgrounds were roped off. We all donned masks.  We washed our hands til the skin was chapped and sore.
 
Life was turned upside-down. For once, I think Americans understood what it was like to be as vulnerable as our brothers and sisters in the world’s most backward and impoverished places. It was a time of humility. We needed a dose of humility. It was a reckoning of sorts.
 
Conversation soon turned to finding a way to control the Coronavirus. We heard that scientists were working around the clock to develop a vaccine. There were starts and stops and angst and anxiety and accusations and all manner of shameful words and deeds in these many months.
 
Every evening we watched the news for a progress report. We still do. We had hope, and still do.  Sadly, we witnessed the devastating effects of Covid, people who wouldn’t benefit from the vaccine, but whose experience with the disease would advance our understanding.
 
Plagues and diseases and famines were commonplace in Bible times. Disease was often thought to be the result of anti-social or sinful behavior. People lived in fear of sickness and death. Sometimes they turned to folk remedies. Folk medicine may or not be very effective and can be harmful.
 
One of my daughters works in the field of medical anthropology. A lot of that work involves understanding belief systems. She called me one day, so excited, because one of the survey questions in her current study was something like, “So, who taught you that Vicks Vapor Rub was effective on hemorrhoids?”
 
No kidding. One of her grandmothers advocated for Vicks on everything, from diaper rash to sore throats. Vicks could cure it.
 
So, before Vicks was invented, Jesus comes along and he heals this woman and the demon-possessed man and lepers and the lame. And what are we to make of them? Some say these accounts are metaphors to demonstrate the power and majesty of God. 
 
Hmm…
 
A year ago, like many of you, I took my mother to the Saint Mary’s education campus to receive her second Covid vaccine. We waited in a long line of cars. It could have been hectic and impersonal. But, on that cold, cold day, those who waited on us were pleasant. I would go so far as to say they were cheerful.  They were finding some pleasure in waiting upon the public. That went a long way to calm nerves. At least, in my mother’s case, I believe the gentle nature of the nurse who administered the shot reduced her pain.
 
As I inched my car through this set-up, one of a hundred cars in the lot, I thought of the paralyzed man that was lowered through the roof of a crowded house to be healed by Jesus. As I looked at the people in those vehicles, they were all in that early vulnerable class of recipients, I remembered Jesus telling long-suffering people to take up their mats and walk.
 
Immediately upon receiving her shot, my mother turned to me and said she hoped how soon I would be eligible to receive mine. That’s what happens when we understand that good things should happen to all people and not just to us or the right people or the deserving people.  In God’s realm, blessings are lavished on all people. Unfortunately, my mother was diagnosed with Covid last week. On Thursday, she received the first of a series of antibody infusions that we hope will help her recover. We are thankful.
 
The healing presence and power of Jesus is not a metaphor. It is not a relic. It is just as real and effective as it was in Galilee so many years ago, even if it’s delivered by a clerk ringing up my giant bottles of vitamins, a pharmacist mixing my meds, or a masked nurse leaning into my car with a syringe full of life.
 
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
God gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
…those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles,
they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
 
*Hymn  761    Called As Partners In Christ’s Service, verses 1 and 2
 
*Affirmation of Faith            Apostles’ Creed  p.35
*Hymn   581          Gloria Patri
 
Pastoral Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer                  
Holy and gracious God,
we give thanks for all the blessings of this life: for comfortable homes, nourishing food, medical care when we are sick; for work to do and strength and ability to do it; for the gift of good neighbors and the love of our families.
Loving God, fill those who suffer, struggle, or live in fear, with peace and reassurance.
Comfort those who weep, heal the broken and shattered, and welcome the lost.
Renew in us the joy of your salvation and restore in us a willing spirit.
We pray as Jesus taught us, saying, Our Father…Amen.
 
Presenting Our Tithes and Offerings
*Hymn  606    Doxology
*Prayer of Dedication
Blessed are you, O God.
Through your goodness, we have been blessed with the gifts of time, talent, and treasure. Use us, and what we have gathered, to strengthen your kingdom on earth and benefit those who have need in body, mind, or circumstance.
We offer our gifts through Jesus Christ, who died that we might live. Amen.
 
*Hymn  761  Called As Partners In Christ’s Service, verses 3 and 4
 
*Blessing
Go now, and follow Christ wherever he leads you.
By the grace of God, be all you have been called to be,
and cast wide the net of God’s love.
Remind one another of the good news, and hold fast to your saving faith.
In peace, go out to love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
 
*Postlude