The Celebration of the Gospel
June 23 , 2019 — Second Sunday after Pentecost
The Lord was not in the wind… not in the earthquake… not in the fire;
and after the fire there was a sound of sheer silence.
—1 Kings 19.11-12
________ We Gather as the Body of Christ______
GREETING
PRELUDE – Air from Orchestral Suite No. 3 – J.S. Bach, arr: Lee Evans
[As we listen to the music we quiet our minds and bodies,
listen for our hearts’ deepest desires,
and become present to the Holy One who is lovingly present for us.]
* CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Eternal God, by your Word you create us.
All: Give us grace to listen to your creating Word.
Loving Christ, you speak your Word and we are healed.
Give us grace to listen to your loving Word.
Holy Spirit, you speak in our hearts in the sound of sheer silence.
Give us grace to listen to your silent Word.
We open the ears of our hearts; and we worship you.
[In recognition of David Potts and his service to St. Matthew’s
he has been asked to select favorite hymns for today.]
* SONG – Mighty Fortress Is Our God – Blue hymnal # 110
___________We Attend to the Word___________
THE WORD IN SONG – Summer Singers
PRAYER
God, your Spirit murmurs in our hearts, low and quiet.
Help us listen, beneath the noise of this world,
to hear the still, small voice of your presence. Amen.
HEBREW BIBLE – 1 Kings 19.1-15
[The prophet Elijah has killed the prophets of Baal; to escape retribution he has fled to the wilderness, where he expects to die. But an angel feeds him and sends him to Mt. Horeb, where he encounters God—not in the earthquake, wind or fire, but in utter silence. God then sends him back to Damascus to get to work.]
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; I have work for you to do.
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* PSALTER – Psalm 119.33-40
[We celebrate God’s Word and pray that we may pay attention to it and embody it in our lives.]
Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes,
and I will observe it to the end.
Give me understanding,
that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.
Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
Turn my heart to your decrees,
and not to selfish gain.
Turn my eyes from looking at vanities;
give me life in your ways.
Confirm to your servant your promise,
which is for those who fear you.
Turn away the disgrace that I dread,
for your ordinances are good.
See, I have longed for your precepts;
in your righteousness give me life.
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NEW TESTAMENT – Romans 10.5-13
[Paul speaks of “righteousness:” not “being right,” but being in right relationship with God. This is a gift, not our own doing. The Word that promises this is not far away, but near us, within us. (We just need to listen.)]
If we think we create our own relationship with God
we aren’t in the relationship that God gives us as a gift.
For Christ puts an end to having to get it right:
if we trust we are in a right relationship with God, as God’s gift, then we are!
Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from following the law,
that “the person who does these things will live by them.”
But with the righteousness that comes from trust in God’s gift
you don’t have to ascend into heaven, to bring Christ down,
or descend into the abyss to bring Christ up from the dead.
What scripture say about the word of faith that we proclaim?
“The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart”
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek;
the same God is God of all and is generous to all who call on God.
For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Holy One shall be saved.”
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GOSPEL – John 16.13-15
[Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will convey to us what God wants us to hear. (We just need to listen.)]
Jesus said: “When the Spirit of truth comes, she will guide you into all the truth; for she will not speak on her own, but will speak whatever she hears, and she will declare to you the things that are to come. She will glorify me, because she will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that she will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
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SERMON – That silent little voice
SONG – Great Is Thy Faithfulness – Blue hymnal # 140
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
[Anyone who wishes may share a prayer at the microphone.]
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
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 trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
______We Are Sent in Ministry to the World_____
OFFERING OUR GIFTS – Balm In Gilead – Traditional, arr: David Paxton
* OFFERING SONG – Doxology – Blue hymnal # 95
* PRAYER
Gracious God, we give you our lives, symbolized in these gifts. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. Send us into the world, attentive to your voice, listening for your will, ready to serve for the sake of the healing of the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG – Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah – Blue hymnal #127
* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
RESPONSE We stand and sing to our neighbors:
May the grace and peace of Christ be with you my friends.
Go and share the love of God, love that never ends.
POSTLUDE – Deck Thyself, My Soul, With Gladness – Johan Cruger, arr: Robert Lau