Welcome:
Welcome to our joint service for this, the 15th August. This week we continue to consider aspects of what it means, in practical terms, to place our hope and trust upon Jesus
Call to Worship (from Psalm 111: 1-3):
Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them.
Full of honour and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures for ever.
HYMN 63 All people that on earth do dwell (Psalm 100)
(from Hull Minster)
Prayer
As we gather for worship this morning
let us rejoice in the love of the Lord.
Let us sing praises for all that He has done for us.
God is gracious and merciful,
keeping His promises for ever.
Let us give thanks to the Lord with our whole hearts,
as we gather here.
Let us worship His honour and majesty.
Let us remember that His righteousness endures forever.
Father God, You alone are truly wise,
and sometimes we are truly foolish.
Instead of listening to You,
we try to solve our own problems and make our own paths.
Jesus, You are the bread of life,
and generously give all that we need,
but sometimes we try to provide for ourselves,
or forget to share Your generosity with others.
Spirit of God,
You are faithful, and we are fallible,
forgetting to trust in Your promises.
God, gather us back to Yourself,
set our feet back on Your paths once more.
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:
Ephesians 5: 15-20
Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
John 6: 51-58
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live for ever.’
HYMN 662 Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts
(From First-Plymouth Church Lincoln Nebraska)
Reflection
This week we again consider aspects of what it may mean, in practical terms, to place our hope and trust upon Jesus. Every third year, through the summer months, the lectionary readings take us through the part of John’s Gospel that we’ve been reading for the last couple of weeks. This time around we prepare to say farewell to these passages as we consider them for a final time. We begin, though, with a look at the passage from Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus.
These few verses from the writings of Saint Paul come from a longer section that serves as a ‘wake-up call’ to the Church. It is a call, a challenge, to live the distinctive form of life that should mark Christians out as different. It is a life that exhibits our commitment to God. It is a life that shows how we should live in a world that is mostly indifferent, yet can sometimes be hostile, to the community of faith.
Paul’s emphasis is on living in the wisdom of God, and not the folly of the world. Paul makes his point in three ways. Firstly, we are to serve God by using our time wisely. Paul sees the time he is living in as a sinful age; I think, somehow, that he would not see our time as any different, but perhaps even worse. Secondly, we are to seek a practical understanding of what God’s will is for us. We are to allow that process of discernment to guide us into wise living. We are not all the same, neither are our callings nor our gifts. Thirdly, we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, the bringer of wisdom. Playing with words, the wisdom of the Spirit is contrasted with the folly of drunkenness.
Being filled with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit makes itself seen in our worship. Our commitment to God, and His wisdom, is seen in our praise of Him. Such worship serves to reinforces our relationship with him. It draws us closer to Him, holding us both as individuals and as the Church. Note that just as God exists in the community of Father, Son, and Spirit so, too, is worship described by Paul. It is not a singular affair but a corporate one; we worship as a community, the body of Christ.
As we have considered in previous weeks, we are only able to come to God and live out the life of discipleship through Jesus. It is his presence in each of our lives that makes it possible. So we turn, now, to what may be said to be the climax of Jesus’ teaching about himself as the bread of life. This short passage place that teaching firmly in the context of his work on the Cross. He speaks clearly of life eternal; he speaks, too, of raising people to life on the last day. The context for these happenings is the first Easter, the death and resurrection of Christ himself. Jesus says here that he will give his flesh for the life of the world, perhaps echoing the description of the Suffering Servant of the prophet Isaiah.
Scholars have debated the meaning of these verses since as long as there has been a Church. Some see in them a clear reference to the Lord’s Supper. Others see them as a metaphor describing our relationship with Jesus. No doubt, each of us will have our own opinion as to what these verses mean. In some ways, both interpretations are right. They may, however, be combined to provide a wider message, uniting the chapter and pointing beyond it.
The whole chapter describes our dependence on Jesus. The feeding miracle is one picture of this. References to the Lord’s Supper are another picture. Indeed, these verses help to put The Sacrament in context, and explain its significance. Neither picture nor interpretation is an end in itself. They both point further: back to the person of Jesus, his sacrificial love, and the need for a faithful response to that love.
It is our response to that sacrificial love that calls us to live life in Divine wisdom. It is our response that enables us to be brought closer to God. It is that response that transforms us and enables us to share the love of Jesus.
Amen.
Prayer for the World
Father God,
be with the young people as they prepare to return to school.
Help them to learn and grow and flourish.
We pray for the children and families who are feeling anxious about the new term,
knowing that school isn’t always an easy place to be.
We pray for those who are planning their future path,
reflecting upon the grades they have received this week.
God of wisdom, guide our paths.
Be with those getting ready for the Climate conference.
As reports are prepared and arrangements made,
give us bold ambition to make the changes we know are necessary
to protect the world You have created.
Let us not lose sight of the need for justice and accountability in our decision-making.
God of wisdom, guide our paths.
Be in and with our church,
as we grapple with the need for change
and the reality of a future that is going to be very different from our past.
Help us to recognise You at work already in our fellowship
and to be listening for Your whispers of new possibilities
and ways of living out our faith.
God of wisdom, guide our paths.
Amen
HYMN 465 Be Thou my vision
Benediction
Go out into the week ahead,
seeking the wisdom of God
and let us see His kingdom all around us.
And as you go,
may the blessing of God Almighty,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
go with you now,
and always.
Amen.
Sung Amen
Finally: For those of us who like our Psalms sung unaccompanied, here’s our opening worship done in that way:
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