The Celebration of the Gospel
June 12, 2016 —4th Sunday after Pentecost
“Do you see this woman?”
— Luke 7.44
________We Gather as the Body of Christ______
GREETING
PRELUDE 8:15: God Who Madest Earth And Heaven Sigfrid Karg-Elert
10:30: A Festive Proclamation Robert Noland (Bells of St. Matthew’s)
[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: Loving God, you create us in your image.
All: We give you our thanks and praise!
Loving Christ, you heal our wounds, forgive our sin and receive our gifts.
We give you our hearts.
Loving Spirit, you make us one with all your children,
who are also loved, forgiven, blessed and gifted.
We give you our lives.
We worship you now, that we may worship you always. Alleluia!
* SONG Who Is my Mother Black hymnal # 2225
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
____________ We Attend to the Word__________
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG Alleluia Randall Thompson
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Eternal God, you create human beings in your image, as the body of your love. In all our diversity we bear the gifts of your Spirit. Open our eyes to one another. Open our hearts to your grace. Open our arms to your justice. Open our ears to hear your Word and be re-created, in the name and Spirit of Christ. Amen.
NEW TESTAMENT Galatians 2.15-21
[ Paul says we are saved not by our fulfillment of the law, but by God’s grace, which we trust because of Christ. We have “died to the law,” that is, we do not seek life from our efforts to fulfill the law. Instead we live to God: our life comes from God loving in us. So “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”]
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not the sinners we think Gentiles are; yet we know that a person is set right with God not by obeying laws correctly but just by trusting in Jesus Christ. So we have come to trust in Christ Jesus, so that we might be set right with God by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one’s relationship with God is perfected just because they obey laws.
Now, even though we are seeking to get right with God by trusting in Christ, we are still sinners. So does that mean Christ is getting us to sin? Certainly not! But trying to rely on getting everything right, which I’ve already rejected, is completely self-defeating.
I adhered to the rules till it was clear they would get me nowhere, so I quit that and instead adhered to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in God’s Beloved, who loved me and gave himself for me. Nothing trumps the grace of God: after all, if I could have gotten reconciled to God by getting it all right, then Christ died for nothing.
+
GOSPEL Luke 7.36 – 8.3
[A woman who is labeled a “sinner” anoints Jesus’ feet (people ate reclining at a low table with their feet out behind them). Her behavior seems inappropriate, but Jesus accepts her gift and tells his dinner host a parable about forgiveness. Since she has been forgiven of much, she loves much. Subsequently many women join his ministry.]
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was labeled a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.”
Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “Speak.” “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.”
Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the Realm of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.
+
SERMON
SONG Help Us Accept Each Other Blue hymnal # 560
A RECONCILING AFFIRMATION
We believe in God, Creator of all people, with all our diversity.
Thank you, God, for the rainbow of humanity you have created!
We follow Christ, who loved the outcast, who included the marginalized, who built a New Community of radical welcome and belonging.
Thank you, Jesus, for your love for all people, and your love of justice.
We live by the Holy Spirit, God’s love that breathes in all of us, that gives each of us gifts for ministry for the sake of the world.
Thank you, Spirit, for filling all of us with your love and courage.
As children of God we affirm that we are all broken and beloved, that we are all sinners and all forgiven.
In grace and mercy God has reconciled us with God, and with all people.
As followers of the Crucified Christ we behold God in those who are condemned or rejected.
We who bear the cross of Christ stand with those who are excluded.
As vessels of the Holy Spirit we reject discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
We affirm the Holy Spirit’s gifts in all God’s children; we will not judge or label people.
God, we confess that we do label people, and we need your mercy.
We repent of our racism and sexism in their many forms, and ask your forgiveness.
We affirm our baptismal vows to “accept the power God gives us to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.”
We pray for faith to show mercy, and courage to do justice.
We pray for strength to bear witness in love; to reform our hearts, our church and the world; and to faithfully face resistance, even from the church.
We pray for hope to carry on.
For our brokenness and our belovedness, and our unity with each other, we cry, Mercy!
For systems that hurt and exclude people, we cry, Justice!
For the dream of a church that offers healing and reconciliation, we cry, Come, Lord Jesus!
For the grace to offer love unbounded, we cry, Come, Holy Spirit!
For the coming of your Reign of mercy and justice, in unity with all who live in hope, we cry with one voice:
Your will be done! Alleluia!
SONG I Dream of a Church Mark Miller
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
[Anyone who wishes may share a prayer concern at the microphone.]
RESPONSE: This is my prayer. All: This is our prayer.
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
PASSING THE PEACE
_______ We Are Sent in Ministry to the World____
OFFERING OUR GIFTS
I Want Jesus To Walk With Me Traditional Spiritual, arr: Mark Hayes
* OFFERING SONG Make Us One Black hymnal #2224
* PRAYER
Gracious God, we give you these gifts as symbols of our lives. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. Fill us with your mercy, strengthen us with your grace and send us to do the work of justice for the sake of healing for one another, the church and the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.
GIVING THANKS FOR GIFTS OF MINISTRY
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love Black hymnal #2223
* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
RESPONSE
8:15: 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.
10:30: Aaronic Benediction Julian Wachner
POSTLUDE Sortie Christopher Tambling
[During the postlude there are people ready to pray with you at the candles in the corners.]