Sunday Gathering - April 10

Trinity United Church
April 10, 2022
Lent 6/Palm Sunday
Worship

Worship Leader: Rev David Cathcart
Music Leader: David Rogers
Scripture Reader: Betty McLean
Zoom Hosts: Judy Johnson, Dave Squires

Welcome:

May the Peace of Christ be with you. And also with you.

Welcome to Trinity United Church in Port Coquitlam. We are grateful you have joined us for worship this morning. 
Trinity United Church in Port Coquitlam resides on the unceded traditional territory of the Coast Salish People the Kwikwetlem First Nations. Our acknowledgement of unceded traditional territory is a first step in reconciliation between settler cultures and indigenous peoples and the decolonization of western systems that continue to oppress and exploit indigenous peoples and land.
If you are joining us on YouTube, please check out our website at ucpoco.ca. We would also appreciate it if you would subscribe to our channel and like and share our services, those buttons are just below the video. It does help our reach when you do so.
    I invite you to take a deep breath, and let it go. I invite you to take another breath, and let it go. And one more time, take a deep breath and let it go. Let us prepare our hearts and minds for worship.

Prelude: David Rogers

Tenebrae Candles:

“The right hand of God does mighty things; 
the right hand of God raises up.
The right hand of God does mighty things.
I shall not die, but live; 
and I shall proclaim what God has done.
God indeed punished me, 
but did not give me over to death.” (Psalm 118, VU 837)
 
Today’s worship begins with Hosannas and jubilations upon Jesus’ entry into the city. The disciples participate in the triumphal parade. The anticipated Messiah has arrived victoriously. There is rest for the weary and nourishment for the hungry.

We extinguish this candle, remembering that God disrupts our long journey, delivering us from exhaustion to renewal.

[extinguish a candle]

Response: “The Light Still shines” WorshipCollective 

The light still shines the light is still there
Disrupted but delivered, it’s there
The light still shines the light is still there
We tread this lonely landscape
Following, transforming, surrendering 
we are yours we are yours
The light still shines

Candle flickers wildly 
palm branch whips in wind 
crowded ancient walkway 
stones echo the din

The light still shines the light is still there
Disrupted but delivered, it’s there
The light still shines the light is still there
We tread this lonely landscape
Following, transforming, surrendering 
we are yours we are yours
The light still shines

* WorshipCollective

Call to Worship and Opening Prayer:

O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good;
God’s steadfast love endures forever!
    Hosanna! God’s steadfast love endures forever!
We thank you God that you have answered us and have become our salvation!
    Hosanna! God’s steadfast love endures forever!
The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
    Hosanna! God’s steadfast love endures forever!
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
    Hosanna! God’s steadfast love endures forever!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has given us light.
    Hosanna! God’s steadfast love endures forever!
You are our God, and we will give you thanks; You are our God, we will extol you!
Let the people say:
    Hosanna! God’s steadfast love endures forever!

Hosanna!  Hosanna!  Hosanna!
The Messiah has come!
Justice for the oppressed!
Comfort for the lonely!
Food for the hungry!
Shelter for the homeless!
Joy to the bereaved!
Peace to the afflicted!
New life for the dead!
God’s promise is fulfilled!
Hosanna!  Hosanna in the Highest Heaven!

Hymn: “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna” VU 123 (Palm Parade)

Reconciliation Meditation:
I invite you to make yourself as comfortable as you can on the pew, bring your attention to your breathing, maybe close your eyes. There is no need to control your breath, just become aware of it. Maybe let your body feel a little heavier each time you exhale.

Continue to focus on your breathing as I reflect. Today we will follow Jesus on his triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem. We will hear the crowds shouting and cheering him on, waving their palm branches in the air. We will be reminded that this atmosphere of celebration will quickly change into suspicion, persecution, fear, and abandonment. Our hearts, human hearts, are rapidly changeable. 

God’s heart is not.

I will read a few words from today’s scripture, then we will hold several minutes of silence, resting in God’s reconciling love. If you find your thoughts becoming busy or distracted, simply repeat the words of scripture to yourself in silence and return your focus to God’s reconciling love.

Psalm 118:1 “God’s love endures forever”

[90 sec of silence]

As we enter into Holy Week, let us be assured, “God’s love endures forever.” Thanks be to God.

Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9a

4 The Lord GOD has given me
   the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
   the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens—
   wakens my ear
   to listen as those who are taught.
5 The Lord GOD has opened my ear,
   and I was not rebellious,
   I did not turn backwards.
6 I gave my back to those who struck me,
   and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
   from insult and spitting.

7 The Lord GOD helps me;
   therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
   and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
8   he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
   Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
   Let them confront me.
9 It is the Lord GOD who helps me;
   who will declare me guilty?
All of them will wear out like a garment;
   the moth will eat them up.

Psalm 118 (parts 1, 3, and 4)
[refrain “Sing Hosanna! Sing Hosanna!”]

Reading: Palm Sunday Luke 19:28-40 WorshipCollective

Hymn: “All Glory, Laud and Honour” VU 122

Message: Rev David Cathcart

Holy One,
be our help.
Open our ears
and sustain the weary with a word.
Amen.

The Book of Isaiah is considered to have three distinct parts, written by different communities and different times in Israel's history. We simply call them First, Second and Third Isaiah. First Isaiah considers a time before exile. Second Isaiah is a number of years later calling the people of Israel to return to the Promised Land. Third Isaiah takes place after the return when things weren't exactly as the people remembered them.

There are four passages in Second Isaiah referred to as the "Suffering Servant." These four passages are often used in the Christian Tradition to understand who Jesus was.

While most passages that talk about the awaited Messiah, or Chosen One, depict a conquering hero who will build up a great army and purge the land with fire and sword, liberating the oppressed and vindicating the down trodden, the Suffering Servant is something quite different.

In today's reading from Isaiah, the Suffering Servant is commissioned by God to "sustain the weary with a word."

"The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word."

Wouldn't that be nice? to be sustained by a word right now? because we are weary.

Years now of Covid. Years of grieving. Years of making ends meet. Years of petty conflict. Years of racisms, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia. Years of war and violence. Years of poverty and famine. Years of inequity. Years of climate disaster. And no end in sight for any of it.

If ever there were a weary people, we are a weary people. And we long to be sustained by a word.

And not just words that say, "There, there, poor thing." Empty platitudes, or regurgitated feel good rhetoric.

But words that genuinely witness our distress. Words that set us free. Words that give us vitality and hope. Words that create a new world order. Words that defeat the powers of Empire and Colonialism. Words that participate in a new reality.

Wouldn't that be nice? To hear words that sustain the weary!

Okay Isaiah... no expectations, but we need that sustaining Word, so where is it...

Isaiah continues:

"I gave my back to those who struck me,/and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;/I did not hide my face from insult and spitting."

Well, thanks a whole lot, Isaiah.

Apparently, listening to God means getting beaten, mocked, insulted and spat upon. Where's the sustaining Word, I wonder?

And here it is, "The Lord God helps me," and later, " he who vindicates me is near;" and finally, "It is the Lord God who helps me."

When we stay close to the way of Jesus, God helps us, God vindicates us, God sustains us.

As will be revealed in the next week, the way of Jesus is not the way of power over, oppression and violence, but the way of service to others, especially service to those who are marginalized, oppressed and estranged.

There is a difference between servanthood and slavery. Jesus calls us to give willingly, and generously, not to impose excessive servitude on other people. And if what we are giving makes us feel bitter or resentful in any way, that isn't what Jesus is asking for either.

When we give the way Jesus calls us to give, and serve the way Jesus calls us to serve, we should feel free and enlivened, connected and purposeful. While the service we are called to may be hard, it will also be nourishing and ultimately sustaining.

If it isn't sustaining, Jesus isn't asking us to do it.

While following Jesus we may be struck, we may be mocked, we may be insulted and spat upon, but we will also be sustained.

God is our helper.

In the week to come, we will accompany Jesus through the Last Supper, to the Garden, and then to his arrest, his persecution and his death.

May we remain faithful in our footsteps.
May we honour the way of service.
and May God sustain us on the journey.

Anthem: “Blessed Is He Who Comes” by Becki Slagle Mayo, the Trinity Choir

Offering:

We are grateful for the many ways people choose to serve and give at Trinity United Church. Our ministry is only possible thanks to your gifts of money, time and service. If you would like to make a financial contribution, please send a check to the church office, or click on the “Donate Now” button on our website.
Let us pray:

May the gifts we offer 
bring comfort to the grieving, 
humility to the proud, 
freedom to the oppressed 
and hope to the despairing.  
Amen.

Prayers of the People/Disciples’ Prayer: 
“Hear Our Prayer, O God”        VU 856
Hosanna! Hosanna!  Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.  With the throngs of spectators, participants, faithful followers and disinterested bystanders, we have entered Jerusalem with Jesus, the Messiah, the chosen one of Israel.  We celebrate his triumphal entry, the beginning of his reign that will bring justice, peace, joy, comfort, vindication and healing to all nations.  And we are ignorant of the story yet to come.  We are not yet aware that his victory comes at a cost.  His victory will be death on a cross.  And we will participate in and idly witness his persecution, and death.

As we prepare to follow Jesus through his persecution and death, we offer you our humble hearts: R

Holy One, we look at the world you created and we give you thanks.  We thank you for the sun that rises over the purple mountains, for the crisp morning breeze and for the promise of longer, warmer days to come.  We thank you for our community and your church where we gather to worship and sing your praise.  We thank you for the promise you made us through the ministry, death and resurrection of your son, Jesus the Christ.

As we witness your promise and live in the hope that persecution and suffering are not the end, we offer you our humble hearts: R

We look to your world with deep concern and recognize our participation in the things that deny your will.  We confess that when wars rage in foreign countries, when we consume more than our share of the resources of your world, when other children go hungry while ours have more than they could ever need, we participate in the persecution of Jesus.  We ridicule him and the gospel he taught.

As we prepare to follow Jesus through his persecution and death, we offer you our humble hearts: R

We look to our families and friends and give you thanks.  For all the members who make up our communities, the people who care for us, the people who teach us and care for our infrastructure, the people who visit and let us know we are loved and special.  In the eyes of our children and grandchildren, we see your promise and we are grateful.

As we witness your promise and live in the hope that persecution and suffering are not the end, we offer you our humble hearts: R

We know that we have not been good stewards of the land.  We pour chemicals into the earth; we dump pollutants into the rivers and oceans; we change the very climate to meet our own wants and needs.  When we do these things, when we ignore others doing them, we participate in the persecution of Jesus.  We ridicule him and the gospel he taught.

As we prepare to follow Jesus through his persecution and death, we offer you our humble hearts: R

But you send us new life, and we see the clouds pull away and watch the trees prepare to bud.  Mud sticks to our shoes, promising moisture and fertile ground.  We receive healing, the pain of grieving recedes, we find comfort in arms that love us.

As we witness your promise and live in the hope that persecution and suffering are not the end, we offer you our humble hearts: R

Teach us, O God, to treat the body of your son with love and affection, to boldly follow him and witness the truth of our complicit lives, to grieve for him as you have grieved for us.  Help us to see the body of Christ in the eyes of all we meet, in the land and in ourselves, and to treat that Christ with the devotion that is your due.

As we prepare to follow Jesus through his persecution and death, we offer you our humble hearts: R

Send your Holy Spirit among us.  Hear our prayers and remind us of Jesus prayer in the garden, “Your will, not ours.”

As we witness your promise and live in the hope that persecution and suffering are not the end, we offer you our humble hearts: R

And now we turn to you as a child turns to her mother seeking affirmation and comfort, praying the words Jesus taught us: “Our father..”

Hymn: “Ride On! Ride On!” VU 127

Blessing:

Hold your hands out in a sign of blessing:
Imagine the love of God entering through the top of your head, mingling with your heart, going out through your fingers into your device and out to all the people out there:

May the God beyond us, 
the Christ beside us, 
the spirit within us, 
the three all around us 
be with you now and always. Amen.

Postlude: David Rogers