Sunday 18 August 2024
13th after Pentecost
Welcome!
We know not everyone who is part of Westwood Church is able to be in church on Sunday morning however, we thought it would be good to offer some excerpts from the Sunday morning service. Where we can, we offer parts of the service in text and audio, whichever works best for you. If you want to plug in headphones to your computer, tablet or mobile phone now is a good time to do it ! If you want to offer some comment or feedback just use the comment box at the end of this post.
Scripture
Psalm 111
Ephesians 5: 15 – 20
Praise – Open my eyes
Prayers
Loving God, You are God above all else, the One enthroned in highest heaven, The Almighty who speaks and with a Word creates, whose breath is life itself.
Yet You are also the God who comes among us; the one born in a stable, who worked wood, who taught and healed, who washed feet, and tended to the least. You are the God who calls us, the One who reaches out in Spirit, who welcomes us into Your presence and makes us holy.
As we gather in worship of You, may You meet us here –in this place, in this moment that we might receive afresh the fullness of Your love and grow in our service to You and our neighbour.
Lord Jesus Christ, you call us, as you called your first disciples to follow you: not simply to believe, nor merely to declare our faith and confess you as Lord, but to keep on following wherever you lead. Help us to follow you faithfully. Help us to pursue the way of love and accept the pathway that often leads to sacrifice. Help us to follow through on the life of discipleship, not allowing ourselves to become distracted, nor to lose heart, but keeping faith to the end. Lord Jesus Christ you call us, as you call all your people, to follow you. By your grace help us to be followers of The Way that is Christ.
In obedience to our calling, just as you were obedient to Your Father’s calling, we offer our all to you. In trust and faith, in time and talents and service to others we bring our gifts. We bring our prayers and the cries of our hearts and place them before you Lord. This is what we offer and we are assured that gifts such as these are precious in your sight.
Hear us as we join in the words of the Lord’s Prayer saying…
Our Father who art in Heaven Hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory forever. Amen.
Address
In my childhood I used to have an illustration of an owl that hung on my bedroom wall. And below the owl was the words of a poem.
A wise old own sat in an oak
The more he saw the less he spoke
The less he spoke the more he heard
Oh, why can’t we by like that wise old bird
Those words must have given me something to ponder as I still remember them.
On 1st August 1974 the Mackenzie family moved from the outskirts of Aberdeen to the rural North East town of Huntly. Our new home, Laurel Bank sat on the corner of Richmond Road and Factory Brae. We had the quietest of neighbours – the house backed on to the cemetery of the Parish Church! Not that we went to the parish church even though we could literally jump the garden wall and be at the church, we chose instead to go to the Strathbogie Church where Rev George Stewart was Minister.
George Stewart was slight of build, not imposing in any way. I recall him wearing half rimmed glasses which he used for reading and otherwise looked over the top of his glasses for long distance. It made him look very wise. In fact, George Stewart was a very wise man. I’m not sure quite how to explain that, how I knew or understood him to be wise. He simply seemed to be un-rushed, took his time to come to a decision, like you could see all the wheels churning in his mind as he worked through the options, the implications, of any course of action. He didn’t say too much, he didn’t think out loud or try to explain everything, but when he spoke you knew that it was a considered answer. He was wise, like he understood life and what was good and where the limits lay. He listened and responded in a balanced way.
We might also remember King Solomon of Old Testament fame renowned for his great wisdom. In 1stKings Chp 3 we find the story taught in so many Sunday School classes. Solomon in his wisdom determines who is the real mother of the baby knowing that the real mother would not allow any harm to come to her child. The Books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes record Solomon’s many wise sayings and philosophical outlook.
Wisdom is without doubt a quality we hold in high regard even though we might find it difficult to pin down exactly what wisdom is, or how to describe it, yet we recognise it when we see it in someone; it often sets them apart from others.
Maybe that is what Paul is hoping for when he asks his friends in Ephesus not to live like ignorant people, but as wise people. I’m sure Paul was dismayed by the conflict that was taking place between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians; their hostilities, arguing, insults and shouting made them no better than those who were immoral, indecent or greedy in their behaviour. He makes it clear that you cannot follow Christ and allow your heart to be polluted, infected with hatred or loathing for another human being. You cannot allow yourself to succumb to the attitudes you see around you that perpetuate division, ignorance, greed. Christ has called you out of the darkness of this world into the light. It is in the light of Christ that we find “a rich harvest of every kind of goodness, righteousness and truth. Try to learn what pleases the Lord.”
Isn’t this the very nature of wisdom? To be able to consider your response, to make a good decision that makes things better not worse, that does not allow you to just respond ignorantly to a gut feeling, the latest trend, the moment of anger or passion or hatred, the biased words of a politician, or peer pressure from a circle of friends. It is wisdom that lets us stand apart and be set apart from that which degrades society and degrades humanity.
On Wednesday evening Lynn and I were walking the dog at Calderglen. We walked by a young mum and overheard her speaking with her friend about those folk with their “F…ing Burkas turning up f..ing everywhere.” It’s the kind of racist language that we hear so frequently now. I cannot comprehend what it must be like to be that young mum living a life filled with anger and hatred and loathing toward others. And I am sad for her child who will grow up learning that harbouring hatred and loathing deep in your heart and soul is normal and acceptable.
We cannot follow Christ and let our hearts be filled with loathing toward others, whoever they are, whatever their faith, wherever they live. This is the wisdom that comes from Christ that calls us to respond in love, forgiveness and grace, with open arms, however challenging we might find that to be. We cannot give in to the ignorance, hatred and loathing that infects the soul; to do so is to deny Christ and faith and all that we believe as Christians.
Praise – Crown Him with many crowns
Prayers for Others
Generous and loving God, You feed Your children, You care for all the earth,
You dare to dream a future for us that is filled with hope and justice. Yet,
there are those who go hungry, there are parts of this world that are battered and bruised, torn and tormented, there are those who are imprisoned in despair.
Help us to discern how to respond.
Give us wise hearts and compassionate minds, as we seek to pray, to serve and to live well in these challenging times.
Where there is conflict – may it cease and be still. Lord, we remember the changing map of conflict between Russian and Ukraine with Ukrainian Forces advancing in to the Kursk and Belgorod regions of Russia. Who can say how this will unfold? Who knows what the future holds? Yet we pray that where there is conflict may it cease and be still.
Where there is poverty – may there be abundance. Lord, we think on the 4 million children who live in poverty in the United Kingdom, let alone the millions who live in poverty in African nations. Poverty may be relative, poverty may be described in different ways, yet poverty touches every nation. Where there is inequality in resources, opportunities, education and work, where there are have’s and have not’s may you Lord bring your abundance of care and compassion.
May we all know Your tending and empowering touch, through the presence of Your Spirit, until your will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
May God bless us with discomfort
at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live with integrity in our hearts.
May God bless us with anger
at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless us with tears
to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war, so that we may reach out our hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless us with enough foolishness
to believe that we can make a difference in the world, so that we can do what this world claims cannot be done and bring justice and kindness to all people.
AMEN.
Praise – Will you come and follow me
The Grace
And now… May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you and all whom you love, now and for evermore. AMEN.
Very moving service and lots to think about.