Sunday Gathering - February 28

Trinity United Church
Lent 2
February 28, 2021
Zoom Worship

“Connection not Perfection”

WE GATHER

Greeting/Welcome 

Acknowledgement of Territory
The United Churches of Canada
repudiates the doctrine of discovery
that assumed these lands were unoccupied
when European explorers and settlers first came here.
In humble appreciation,
we acknowledge that Trinity United Church rests
on the unceded territory
of the Coast Salish peoples,
the Kwikwetlem First Nations.

Prelude: “Welcome Home –Lent” CLICK HERE for video.

Call to Worship: “Tree of Life” and Tenebrae Candles    CLICK HERE for video.

Prayer of Approach:
God of covenant, bot ancient and new, we gather to worship and follow Jesus.
Your call humbles us as you task us with lifting up our cross and following your beloved child to the end.
In this time of worship, strengthen us to trust your promise, the promise you made in the ancient past and that you re-affirm today: you are with us; you provide for us; you guide us on our way.
Your Kingdom Come. Amen.

Hymn: “We Have Come at Christ’s own Bidding” VU 104
CLICK HERE for video.

Prayer of Reconciliation and Words of Assurance:
Merciful God,
we confess that we have not been
sincere Christians.
We claim to follow Jesus
but have not taken his path of sacrificial love.
We profess to be disciples,
but we are not willing to bear the cost of discipleship.
We affirm the virtue of self-denial,
but we indulge our selfish desires and seek earthly gain.
Forgive us, we pray.
Free us for sincere [reconciliation]
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.*

Hear the good news:
God deems as righteous all who trust that Jesus
has been raised from the dead for our salvation.
In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.
Thanks be to God!*

WE HEAR THE WORD

Telling our Ancient Story: 
Reading from Lectionary Story Bible by Ralph Milton
“A Baby Called Laughter”

Hymn: “To Abraham and Sarah” VU 634
CLICK HERE for video.

Reading:

Mark 8:27-38
27Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” 30And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.


31Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
34He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

This is the witness of the early church. Thanks be to God!

Message:    CLICK HERE for video.
Holy Spirit,
open our hearts to receive your Word,
reveal to us the good news,
and enable us to trust in the promise of salvation
in Jesus Christ. Amen.

There are three parts to today's reading: Peter's confession that Jesus is the Messiah; Jesus teaching of what will happen to him on his arrival in Jerusalem and Peter rebuking him; and Jesus teaching that to follow him means to pick up our cross. Then, very briefly at the end of first three teachings, Jesus makes a statement about the Son of Man coming on a cloud.

The first part isn't actually part of today's Lent 2 lection. I include it because I think it is so important for us to continually remind ourselves that no sooner does Peter declare Jesus Messiah, than Peter is getting it wrong. Peter has in his own head what a Messiah should be. And Jesus has to un-teach him at the same time that he's teaching him.

It is inconceivable to Peter that the Messiah should suffer. In Peter's mind, Jesus, as Messiah, God's chosen, should be worshiped in this life. He should amass armies of loyal followers who will go to war if necessary and throw the Romans and all other opponents of God's people out of Jerusalem, so that God's people can live in peace.

What Jesus says about being arrested, tired and killed is heresy, as far as Peter is concerned.

Peter is so offended by Jesus' teaching that Peter gets up the audacity to rebuke Jesus.

Peter tries to silence Jesus. "Don’t say such things."

Jesus, of course, rebukes him right back, "Get behind me Satan, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

Jesus then goes on to explain that following him, doesn't consist of grasping power and glory, but in picking up our cross and losing our lives.

Jesus concludes this particular lesson with an allusion to a far off "end times" when the Son of Man will be ashamed of those who shun the path of the cross.

Peter is not alone.

There are two themes that dominate Hollywood movies the last 20 years: apocalypse (movies about the end of the world); and superheroes. The biggest money makers are about superheroes saving us from the end of the world.

These movies are popular because there is a deep human longing for a hero who will rescue us from our greatest dangers and fears.

And right now, some of those fears are big and real: Pandemic, climate crisis, social inequity, racial injustice are all overwhelming, end of the world as we know it realities right now.

It is reasonable that people might want to dream about heroes who can save us from impending doom.

The problem is that superheroes are fiction.

There are not superheroes.

Jesus has to teach Peter that the Messiah he wants, doesn't exist, and wouldn't work.

Jesus saves us, not by snatching us out of the grips of impending doom, but by showing us how to be our best, fully human selves.

He also provides us with what we need in order to be our best human selves. He affirms that we are not in this alone, we have each other; the source of our power isn't in us, but in God; and the ground of our individual being is in face the ground of all being; we are connected to everything, and we can draw on that strength, courage and power.

No superhero, or messiah, is going to rush in at the last moment and snatch us from peril.

Jesus models the path and gives us what we need to walk it.

We are made in the image and likeness of Christ. For our world to be changed, indeed, for our world to be saved, we must recognize that image and likeness in ourselves and others and live into it - our best human selves.

Knowing, of course, that Peter, James and John failed. And yet there is grace.

As this Lenten season continues, may we identify the Christ in our lives; may we witness the life he leads, and may we follow his holy path. Amen.

Special Music

WE RESPOND

Prayers of Thanksgiving and intercession:
Trusting in God’s promises,
let us pray for the world,
when I say Holy God,
please respond with, hear our prayer.

God, you blessed Abraham and Sarah
and promised to make them the ancestors
of many nations.
In Jesus Christ you have opened your covenant
to everyone who lives by faith in you.
For all the descendants of Abraham and Sarah,
both Jesus and Christians,
that they my trust in your promise,
dwell together in peace, and be a sign of your abiding love,
Holy God, hear our prayer.

God, Jesus your son called disciples to follow his way
of self-giving love.
For all pastors and teachers,
that they lead the church by humble example,
take up their cross in faithful service,
and live for the sake of the gospel,
Holy God, hear our prayer.

God, your reign encompasses all the earth,
though many do not remember your
gracious sovereignty.
For peace among the nations
and for integrity within governments,
that your will be done on earth as in heaven,
Holy God, hear our prayer.

God, you hear the cry of the poor,
and you satisfy the hungry with good things.
For the poor and the oppressed,
that they may find deliverance,
and for all who voluntarily take up the cross of self-denial
to serve the poor and alleviate human misery,
Holy God, hear our prayer.

God, you know the needs of the afflicted
and you hear their cries.
For those who suffer illness of mind or body,
that they may find relief from suffering
and be restored to wholeness,
Holy God, hear our prayer.

Grant these prayer, Holy One, by your grace.
Stir p in us the will to seek out your kingdom
with the dedication of our lives in ministry to the world,
for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
through whom we pray…*

*Feasting on the Word: Liturgies for Year B, vol 1, p104 ff

The Disciples’ Prayer: “Our Father” VU 960 (sung by our choir, alone, together, through the magic of technology...)
CLICK HERE for video.

WE GO FORTH

Hymn: “God Says” MV 172
CLICK HERE for video.

Commissioning and Benediction:
May we not shun the cross, but faithfully follow Jesus wherever he may lead us.
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.

Announcements

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