The service this week is led by Pauline Weibye.

Call to worship (from Psalm 90)

Lord, you have been a refuge
from one generation to another.

Before the mountains were brought forth,
or the land and the earth were born,
from age to age, you are God.

Satisfy us by your loving kindness in the morning:
so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

Glory to the Father and the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and shall be for ever.

Amen

Hymn 159 Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided

Prayer

God of presence

You invite us your people to listen, to read, to look and to question. Meet with us now through our worship. Challenge our thinking and deepen our understanding that we may be ready to follow You wherever your work needs to be done.

God of mercy

We thank you that you always listen even when our voices are hushed, when we fail to pray. We thank you that you still wait for us even when we dawdle or drag our feet. We thank you that your generosity always overflows even when we are less than generous to others.

God of grace

The stories from your word show us how great the gap can sometimes be between the divine and the human. Forgive us when we have let attachment to our own comfort and convenience deter us from committing to your way.

If we can remember a time when we loved more than we currently do, restore.

If we have become good friends with some favourite sin, rebuke.

If the flame of our commitment to the world’s immense needs is flickering instead of burning brightly, rekindle.

If, along the way, our relationships to our brothers and sisters in the faith are endangered through some wrong, real or imagined, reunite.

Show us the relevance of Christ for the life we live within and the world we make for others, that we may no longer live to ourselves, but in the light of him whom we call Saviour, Lord, and Friend,

in whose name we ask it and in whose name we further pray:

Our father
Who art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come
They will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory

Amen

Scriptures

Daniel 22, 1-13

Daniel in the den of lions

It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, with three chief ministers over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the chief ministers and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. At this, the chief ministers and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally these men said, ‘We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.’

So these chief ministers and satraps went as a group to the king and said: ‘May King Darius live for ever! The royal ministers, prefects, satraps, advisors and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den. Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered – in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.’ So King Darius put the decree in writing.

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened towards Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: ‘Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?’

The king answered, ‘The decree stands – in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.’

Then they said to the king, ‘Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.’

Luke 22, 39-46

Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

Hymn 493 Standing in the need of prayer

Reflection

Daniel – before the lions’ den

The Minister asked me to lead worship today and didn’t tell me I had to stick to the lectionary reading – so I didn’t. We’ve been following Matthew’s Gospel but today I’m departing from that to look at a passage from the book of Daniel that you, like me, may not have read or thought about for many years. The second part of this chapter, not included in the readings today, has long been a beloved Bible story – and no wonder. It’s a very dramatic story and, if you went to Sunday School when you were little, you will almost certainly have acted out the lions in the den. But the first part of the chapter, that we are reading today, is less well-known, though here too there are dramatic features aplenty – the jealousy of political subordinates, the vanity of a king and the courage of a faithful man. It also explains how Daniel overcame the challenge of the lions’ den, with God’s help.

Let’s think about the characters first. We’re not actually sure who this King Darius was. Secular history of this period has no record of a ruler named Darius and the chapter comes in the middle of stories about a ruler called Belshazzar – he of the feast with the writing on the wall, if you remember another story from Sunday School. Nor, actually, do we know who Daniel was. Does that matter?
It is clear that Daniel, whoever he was, was a Jew in exile in Babylon but had managed to rise to the dizzy heights of the civil service and he had won the trust of the king, whoever it was at the time. He was able, hard-working and honest, a man of conspicuous integrity, but this made him an object of scorn and fear to his rivals for power at the court. They planned to trap him by using what we would nowadays call ‘fake news’ since they could find no skeletons in his closet (the Sun newspaper would have despaired).

We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God. These men knew Daniel well. They knew he could not be trapped into evil, but they also knew that he would be faithful to his God in all circumstances. Every Christian should consider if others could say the same about them. If Christianity were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you, or me? It is said that former American President, Jimmy Carter, a devout man, used that question to guide his life and to place his faith at the centre of his being. Do we do the same?

And what about Darius the king? Daniel’s enemies clearly knew the king well too. They knew they could exploit Darius’ pride and his desire for a unified kingdom. They decided to persuade Darius to forbid prayer to any god – and that in a polytheistic world – or to any person but himself for 30 days. Darius, perhaps flattered by the proposal, agreed. He either did not think about the implications for Daniel and his people, with their strong faith in the one true God, or he did not care. For him, this was a way of showing his power and strength and he clearly gave little thought to the likely reactions of his subject peoples.

So King Darius put the decree in writing. If that law were to be introduced in Scotland, how many of us would continue to pray? Or would we give up? After all, it’s just for a month… and no-one wants to be torn in pieces by wild beasts. Would we look for excuses to postpone public worship too for a few weeks?
Daniel did not react this way. We assume, given his high position, that he was a faithful servant to Darius the king but he clearly placed his loyalty to God above that, whatever the consequences for himself. What did Daniel do? He went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened towards Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. He kept up his prayers and he did not even try to keep them private but opened his windows so that he could be seen. Not for show, although he was obviously spotted, but because he was not ashamed of his faith. He had made a lifetime commitment to God and he held to that commitment whatever the cost to himself. Daniel didn’t let the decree change his actions one way or another. He didn’t do more praying or less; he simply continued his excellent prayer life. He was duly cast to the lions but emerged unscathed, saved by God precisely because of his faith and his courageous public profession of that faith.

We too have made a commitment to God and Daniel’s story reminds us that God comes first. Do we put enough emphasis on our prayer life and on other private devotions? Do we bend with the weight of public opinion and perhaps try not to offend others by outward signs of our faith? Do we give ill-wishers like Daniel’s colleagues the power to control our behaviour?

Daniel prayed just as Jesus did, in the hours before his arrest, as he too faced torture and death. And both prayers were answered though in different ways.
Our prayers too will be answered. But we are required to be faithful, to admit to what God means to us and to show others where our loyalties lie. We are not generally asked to enter a lion’s den so how much easier is it for us to remain constant in prayer and personal devotions? Let’s set ourselves that challenge in the coming weeks; let the world see the evidence that would convict us of being faithful servants of God and his Son.
Amen

Prayer of the people

God of the harvest
Bless the gifts we have brought to you today or in other ways.
We give you what we can afford because we delight in your service
and in freely offering to you and your world
the products of our hard work and our good fortune.
Hold us to account for what we do with the riches
with which we are blessed;
grant us wisdom; make us generous;
and continue to work out your purpose in and through us.

God of all mercies
hear our prayer

God of compassion,
we remember before you
the poor and the hungry,
the sick and the dying,
prisoners and all who are lonely,
the victims of war, injustice and inhumanity,
and those who face persecution because of their colour, their faith or their nationality.

God of all mercies.
hear our prayer

Lord of all providence
holding the destiny of nations in your hand,
we pray for our country.
Inspire the hearts and minds of our leaders
that they, together with all nations,
may seek your kingdom and righteousness
and not their own glory,
so that order, liberty and peace may dwell with all your people.

God of all mercies
hear our prayer

God the Creator,
we pray for all nations and peoples.
Take away the mistrust and lack of understanding that divide your creatures;
help us understand that we are all your children.


God of all mercies
hear our prayer

Amen

Hymn 510 Jesus calls us here to meet him

Blessing

May God, who is the ground of hope,
fill us with all joy and peace
as we lead a life of faith and prayer
until, by the power of the Holy Spirit,
we overflow with hope.

Amen

Acknowledgements

Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV®
Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Prayers based on material from the Church of Scotland and from the World Council of Churches

Call to Worship (Psalm 80: 1-3)
Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
come and save us.
Restore us, O God;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.

HYMN 543 Christ be our light

Prayer
Faithful God,
we awaken ourselves to Your presence
as we awaken too,
to our discovery of who we have become.
We know we were created in Your image,
that You have a history of bringing us out of slavery
and into freedom
and we long to find that freedom today.
We know You as the great restorer –
able to transform all injustice
into the kingdom of heaven on earth
and we open ourselves
to be part of Your future that is coming.
We hold You to account God, for the things that do not go to plan.
We blame You.
We are angry.
We see You stopping justice from being served.
For we know You could do it better.
We know that You could make it perfect
And so who else to rage at but You?

And it is in this moment of honesty that we find ourselves
And our part in the story –
the things we stayed quiet about,
the things we accepted as being okay,
when deep down we know they are not,
the times we served ourselves first
so that there wasn’t enough to go round.

We ask for Your restoration,
for You to make Your face shine upon us
that, having released our anger and blame
we discover the tools for planting again.
The hope for our future becoming our vision
that together, we can be Your people again.
Forgotten God
You are hidden beneath our idea of being “good Christians”.
We long to rediscover Your faithfulness and love.
We want to reflect Your grace and mercy in our lives
so that we may become the tenants of Your vineyard,
ready to share our harvest with all.
Amen

The Lord’s Prayer

Scriptures:

Isaiah 5: 1-7
I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
my loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.
‘Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have done for it?
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it yield only bad?

Now I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it will be destroyed;
I will break down its wall,
and it will be trampled.
I will make it a wasteland,
neither pruned nor cultivated,
and briers and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain on it.’
The vineyard of the Lord Almighty
is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

Matthew 21: 33-46
‘Listen to another parable: there was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall round it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
‘The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them in the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son,” he said.

‘But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.” So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

‘Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’
‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,’ they replied, ‘and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.’

Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures:
‘“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvellous in our eyes”?

‘Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.’
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

HYMN 259 Beauty for brokenness

Reflection:
One of the features of the Gospel of Matthew is the matter of authority. Our reading today is the third response to queries about the origins of Jesus’ authority for his activity in the Temple. The first response was a counter-challenge about the authority of John the Baptiser; the second was a parable that directly challenged the Temple leaders’ understanding of the activity of God. Now Jesus recalled and re-interpreted Isaiah’s love-song about a vineyard.
The allusion to Isaiah was unmistakable. The prophet made clear that the vineyard was a metaphor for the “house of Israel and the people of Judah”, and that God was the caretaker of this vineyard. Despite careful attention, the vineyard produced only “wild grapes.” The vineyard’s failure to produce better fruit forced the owner to end his care. If the land was unable to produce with proper care, what would it do without it?

In Jesus’ parable the problem was with the tenants themselves. These were extremely violent tenant farmers, harming and slaughtering the various groups of slaves sent by the landowner. The rationale for their brutality and murderous ways was stated explicitly when the son visited: “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance”.

On the surface, the landowner’s decision to send his son despite the tragedy of his servants seemed unwise but the parable did not highlight it as such. Rather, in that culture, the landowner’s decision to send his son was appropriate since he could expect proper respect for his appointed heir.

Culturally, the leasing of land to tenant farmers was a common experience in the first century. Landowners could expect tenants to turn over a portion of the crop. Those who failed to meet the landowner’s standards would be removed from the land.

In addition to a twist on Isaiah’s vineyard, Jesus cites Psalm 118. This shifts the focus of the parable, from a critique of the tenants to a statement about the son (or stone). The story was no longer about the vineyard, the produce, or the tenant farmers. Now, Jesus turned attention toward the abused son: “they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him”.

For Matthew, this twist was important as the abused son became “the stone that the builders rejected” which, in turn, determined who was in or out. The son who was sent becomes an allegory for God’s son, Jesus. The tenant farmers, who represented the temple leadership, would be replaced by other tenants. What looked like a landowner’s foolishness was really God’s plan: “this was the Lord’s doing”.

In Matthew’s account, the temple leadership realized the parables question their leadership abilities over the vineyard (i.e., Israel, the kingdom of God). Yet they are unable to act, despite their anger, due to the crowds. The leadership’s concern was that the crowd viewed both John and Jesus as prophets.
A note on the “landowner” is in order. The term may be translated as “household master”, and was used an analogy for God in Jesus’ teaching in Matthew’s Gospel. To the modern reader the analogy may cause concern, since many of these masters owned slaves. Within Jesus’ parables, household masters generally make wise decisions, even if misunderstood.
While this was a parable about the actions of evil tenant farmers, it was also a story about the abused son, especially once Jesus refocused the story with the attachment of a passage from Psalm 118.

Proper care and oversight of those people and things entrusted to us should receive fair hearing from this parable. We, too, are like those who wish to receive more credit for our labour, as if we “own” the “land.”

In Jesus’ teaching, there was a fundamental reminder that only the Creator owns everything and we, too, are simply tenants leasing out the talents God has granted to be used for the greater good in the kingdom. This means, for us, that we should consider the gifts that we have been given, and how we use them to further the Kingdom of God. Unlike the characters in either Isaiah or the parable we should be endeavouring to be good tenants, worthy of the land.
Amen.

Prayer

Loving and amazing God,
Your constant relationship of love and faithfulness
is one which sustains us through all things.

Your stories speak to us,
transcending time and place,
meeting us here today.

We give You thanks for the choice to let go
of who we have thought ourselves to be
and become a runner in Your race,
with the experience of the love of Christ as our only goal.

We give thanks too, that You call us again and again
to be Your people,
that You love us and want us to live together
in fullness of community and life,
that You send people, prophets and Jesus,
to show us Your love.

In turn, send us as Your people and prophets,
and as Christ to those who need to meet You.

We give thanks that You want us to be part of the harvest,
In the gathering of it and the sharing,
so that we might learn more
of what it is to be like You. Amen

When it is our walls coming down
and we see our family under attack,
when we see the hope of harvest crumbling before us
May Your presence be revealed
When it is the walls of others that are crumbling
when the family under attack are our neighbour’s,
when we have enough, but they do not
May Your justice be stirred within us
When we are tearing down the walls
when we are attacking our neighbours
when we are taking what is not ours
May Your mercy be upon us

When we have a choice to restore the walls
when we have room for others
when harvest will feed everyone
May Christ’s light shine from our hearts
as we share what we have.
Amen

HYMN 359 He came down that we may have love

Benediction
May we be blessed with the restoration of Your vineyard
May we all have a part to play in that joyous task
May we see you in the tearing down of walls
and in our discovery of the Cornerstone that is Christ –
yesterday, today and forever.
Amen

Acknowledgements
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV®
Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Prayers adapted from ‘Church of Scotland Weekly Worship’ for this Sunday.