Welcome & Intimations

Call to Worship:
In the beginning, God was.
Here and now, God is.
In the future, God will be.
God was; God is; God will be.

Let us worship God.

HYMN 19 – Ye gates, lift up your heads – Alleluias – Amens (Ps 24)

(from St. Peter’s Free Church, Dundee – ‘Sing Psalms’ version)

Prayer:

You made the world and called it good.
You made humanity and called it very good.
When we wandered away from you
you sent Jesus to bring us back,
to bring out the good you planted in us.
And so we proclaim: Blessed be our God.

When we were in darkness you gave us light.
When we were angry you offered us love.
When we were lost and weary
you sent Jesus as our guide,
to restore us and renew.
And so we proclaim: Blessed be our God.

When we were deaf you heard us.
When we were blind you saw us.
When we needed healing and wholeness
you sent Jesus to be our salvation,
to make us your image anew.
And so we proclaim: blessed be our God.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.

Scriptures:

Isaiah 35:4-7
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
‘Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.’
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.


Mark 7:24-37
From there he [Jesus] set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus^[c] ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’

HYMN 463 – Fairest Lord Jesus

(Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California)

Reflection:

I imagine you will have heard of the church mouse; it’s a quiet, poor creature that’s is often unseen. But have you heard of the church elephant? In almost every kirk in Edinburgh today there is an elephant. It may be acknowledged but it may not be. It won’t be seen but it is there. The elephant in the room is the up-coming Plan for Presbytery and all that means for the structures of the Kirk as we look at being more missional in our ways. It’s an elephant that brings about a certain degree of anxiety, of fear. The Bible, though, tells us that “perfect love drives out all fear”. If love is truly a matter of the heart, then is that where the antidote to fear may be found?

In the Bible, “heart” means the inner self – our being, our essence, our spiritual centre. It’s the seat of our thoughts, decisions, and will. For the Bible, the condition of our heart matters as much as anything. The Bible often describes the human heart in negative ways: hard, callous, fat, proud, puffed up, deceitful, made of stone. We could also say “closed heart.”

Every one of us has experienced the effects of a closed heart. At times we may even be proud of having a closed heart. It’s a way to protect ourselves. Early in our lives we learn to separate ourselves and to focus on ourselves – that’s often closing or hardening our heart. Of course, there are degrees of being closed and hard. We don’t all shut off in the same way or to the same extent over the same things.

A closed hard doesn’t have to exhibit itself in extremes. Rather it can mean judgmentalism; insensitivity; self-centeredness; self-interest. These are things with which we can identify. We can begin to see that hearts may be closed in more ways and at more times than we perhaps first thought.

Following Jesus will involve a more open heart. Spiritual growth is about the heart becoming more open. The heart of Jesus – is the open heart, the pure heart, the heart exposed, vulnerable, and available – it’s the compassionate heart.

So what then can we make of today’s gospel? What does it have to say about this matter?

A woman, a pagan foreigner, approached Jesus. She accosts him, ignoring both etiquette and social grace. Women don’t approach strange men. Gentiles don’t approach unknown Jews. She fell at his feet because she wanted something. Jesus seems annoyed by her, but his response is what is shocking. He not only refused her, but he compared her to a dog. That’s bad enough in our world. It was even worse then. Dogs weren’t cute, cuddly, amusing pets; they were filthy scavengers. Jews considered them unclean. It was like calling her a rat, a cockroach, subhuman, Untermensch.

But she didn’t back off. “The dogs get the children’s scraps” she says. Jesus does an about-face. Her heart was breaking over her dying child, and her intelligence, her faith, her strength of character so impresses Jesus, that it makes him re-evaluate his response. Then we get the care and compassion we expect from Jesus. He heals her child.

At the beginning, it doesn’t look like he has an open heart. The way he changed his treatment of her, however, is a sign of an open heart. An open heart can learn, can adjust attitude and behaviour, can break the barriers of tradition and habit. The woman helped Jesus understand his call more fully, what God wanted him to do.

Perhaps Jesus had an epiphany. He seems to have realised that God’s children are all of humanity. God’s care and compassion are for all people. The love of God has no limits, no borders. The first part of today’s gospel is a healing story, but it is also a moment of transformation for Jesus. He has a change of heart, even a type of healing for him and all of us. The healing is not only individual, but communal. From his table God feeds all. All are his children. Everyone has equal status as loved and cherished by God. Some aren’t better than others.

In the second half of the gospel, Jesus heals a deaf man. In the ancient world, many would have attributed his impairment to sin, that in some way he deserved it.. The deaf, the blind, the lame, the poor, the orphaned, the mentally ill, the foreigner were all on the margins; women also had little public status. People on the margins were restricted from community activities, and people feared them. Jesus heals man. He made him a full member of the community. People will be less fearful of him. They won’t avoid him. He’ll have similar status with other people.

Both healing stories today are good news not only because people have been physically healed, but we see God acting contrary to our hierarchies of preference and status. All people are his children. All are to be welcomed, accepted, fully part of the community. Good news.

We are facing a time of great change and challenge. It will mean joining with others, perhaps here, perhaps elsewhere. We will have to learn to accept each other, and the values, traditions and habits that go along with that. Like Jesus in today’s Gospel, we will have to learn. Like Jesus we will have to open our hearts, perhaps even further than we have done before.
Amen.

Prayer:

Let us pray that the Kingdom of God will come among us.

You call us to trust in you through in all things;
show us how to hold on to you and your word
that your kingdom may come in us this day.

You call us to turn from the ways of war;
show us how to be peacemakers
that your kingdom may come in us this day.

You call us not to worry over what to eat or wear;
show us how to share that the world may be fed and clothed
that your kingdom may come in us this day.

Where governments claim your blessing,
may they work for the poor and the powerless
that your kingdom may come in them this day.

Where the church seeks to build a kingdom made in its own image
transform it that it may break down barriers
that your kingdom may come in it this day.

Where people are marginalised because of gender, sexuality, or race
send your Spirit of truth and justice
that your kingdom may come in all this day.

The word declares that the kingdom is in our midst’
may it be made manifest that the whole earth may cry “glory”!
May your kingdom come on earth this day.
Amen.

HYMN 562 Through the love of God, our Saviour

Benediction:

Go from here,
from what you are to what you will become;
from what you know to what you will learn;
from the good you know to the love you will share.
And as you go,
may the blessing of God Almighty,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
go with you now and always.
Sung Amen.

Acknowledgements:
Bible Quotations taken from: New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

English translations of The Lord’s Prayer, © 1998, English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC), and used by permission. www.englishtexts.org

Welcome:
Welcome to the service of worship for the 29^th August from Craigmillar Park and Reid Memorial parish churches in Edinburgh. This week we will be reflecting on the place of tradition in our life of faith.

Call to Worship (Psalm45: 6):
Your throne, O God, endures for ever and ever.
Your royal sceptre is a sceptre of equity;
you love righteousness and hate wickedness.

Let us worship God.

HYMN 100 O lord, thou art my God and King (Psalm 145)

(from Grace Reformed Church, Dunnville, Ontario)

Prayer

Heavenly Father,
we gather to worship you, and glorify your holy name.
As the Psalmist wrote,
“we will thank you forever, because of what you have done”.

You created the heavens above and this world of beauty world below.
How can we not praise you and be thankful for each new day?
You made heaven and earth and all that is within it blesses your holy name.

There are many troubles in your world;
there are storms, and violence, and disease.
There are those who seek to destroy and hate,
rather than build or love.
Through our times of hurt, or fear, or trouble,
we know we always have you to sustain us
to comfort us, and to guide us.

You alone, our God, are worthy of our praise and adoration.
As we worship together this morning,
let us lift our voices with alleluias and songs of joy.
May we hear your word
and have our hearts and minds transformed
to be your disciples.

All this in the name of your son, Jesus, the Christ.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.

Scriptures:

James 1: 17-27
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfilment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror, for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.

If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.


Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands? He said to them, ‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

“This people honours me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.”

You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’


Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.


For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’

HYMN 543 Longing for light, we wait in darkness

(from Frodhsam Methodist Church)

Reflection:

Each of today’s readings speak of what it means to live a life of faith and how that impacts upon the way we interact with God and other people.Our first one, from James, is in some ways a difficult one to deal with because it says so much in a few short verses. It offers no fewer than fourteen pieces of advice on how to live a life of faith, any one of which could be the subject of a sermon. Think of this passage as James setting out the ideas that he will develop later in his letter.

What is important, though, is that James sets out patterns for living a Christian life. Like all patterns the motive can often be lost so that what remains is the practice. The risk with this is that it can turn to tradition or habit that is observed for its own sake. It is this that Jesus engages with in our Gospel reading; it is this that matters to us today. What are our habits or traditions and what do they say about our faith?

We all have habits. Perhaps they are good ones, or perhaps not. Were you ever told off for having one of the less acceptable ones such as biting your fingernails? Or perhaps, if you are of a certain age, you had an ‘Abbey habit’. But what if the habits, or traditions, are ones that impact directly on the lives of others? What if they say something about our faith? Do our habits or traditions attract people or scare them away?

For almost eighteen months we have lived through a time where hand hygiene has been even more essential for survival than usual. You may be tempted to think this is what the Pharisees and scribes were getting at. If it had been then they would have had a point when they criticise the disciples for eating without first washing their hands. Their concern though was not in the interests of good health but in the fulfilment of ceremonial cleanliness. They had codified thousands of rules which would make or keep a person ritually clean and washing hands in a certain way before a meal was one.

Jesus responds to them by calling them hypocrites. He quotes from Isaiah the passage where the prophet complains against those who practice the rituals of religion without allowing it to transform their lives into ones of discipleship. This isn’t simply an issue for the time of Jesus; it is also one that is pertinent to us. Over the centuries many in the Church were left with the impression that faith simply boiled down to a set of rituals and practices that, if performed correctly, didn’t need to affect lifestyle. Jesus clearly warns against the risk of falling into that trap. Religious practices are good if they help turn us towards God and others. But it is vitally important that our practices or traditions do not become the be all and end all of religion. Our faith is so much more than religious observance.

Jesus turns from the religious leaders to the wider crowd, making a statement that would have shocked them. He said, “there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.” Jesus goes against tradition and scriptures which make provision for what foods and objects are clean or unclean. Instead, he declares that it is the heart that makes someone clean or unclean.

The crowd had lived with these teachings and practices for generations. Now Jesus says that’s not what really matters. It must have been a lot to take in. Do we, like the crowd, have traditions and practices we hold dear? Do we have observances that stretch back over the generations and which we would find difficult to move beyond? Do we have places that have become more sacred to us than the God whom we worship? If we do, Jesus may also be proclaiming to us that, ultimately, they don’t really matter!

It would be wrong to see Jesus’ words as simply an attack on tradition. This is always tempting for those of us from parts of the Church that play down the place of ceremony. We all have traditions irrespective of whether these are explicitly acknowledged or not. The challenge is to keep them in perspective. The challenge is not to let them hinder a living relationship with God, but to reinforce it. In this time of change we must also consider what traditions to hold on to. What ones will we allow to evolve and take forward from our past to whatever form the Kirk takes tomorrow?

Two thousand years ago Jesus called both the Pharisees and the crowd back to their relationship with God. That relationship shows itself in the attitudes which transform us inwardly and which are exhibited in how we behave. Our faith, our religion, is a radical commitment affecting our whole life.
Amen.

Prayer for the World

God our Creator,
you made us to be sisters and brothers in Christ;
hear us as we lift our hearts in prayer for all those in need.

We bless you for the fellowship of the church family
gathered around us as we meet in this house of prayer and worship;
may we honour you with our lips, our hearts and our lives.

We pray for peace in the world, especially in Afghanistan.
We pray for a time when war will cease,
and weapons transformed into tools for growth.
Strengthen us to work for justice;
give us the wisdom to speak only truth;
make us examples of living by peace and love.

We bless you for our friends and neighbours,
and those with whom we share our daily lives.
We thank you for all the joys and blessings of life.
Aid us when we quarrel, or fall out,
to quickly put things right and forgive one another.

Loving God we lift before you all whose lives are restricted.
We remember the chronically ill, those in constant pain,
those who are depressed and despairing.
We pray in silence for those whose names lie heavy on our hearts.

(Short Silence)

Loving God we pray for those whose hearts have been saddened by death.
Aid us to experience the comfort of your Holy Spirit within us,
and the fellowship of the church family around us
until we are reunited once more in your heavenly kingdom.

(Short Silence)

Faithful God, we now ask for the blessing of your presence in the week ahead.
We pray that you will guide us, guard us and keep us safe in all we do and say.

Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Amen

HYMN 489 Come down, O love divine

Benediction:

As you go from this place,
be the eyes that see beauty afresh;
be the ears that are quick to listen;
be the mouths that are slow to speak
and be the hands that act in compassion.
And as you go,
may the blessing of God Almighty,
Father, Son, and Spirit Holy,
be with you all,
now and always.
Amen.

Sung Amen

Acknowledgements:
Bible Quotations taken from: New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

English translations of The Lord’s Prayer, © 1998, English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC), and used by permission. www.englishtexts.org