Sunday Gathering - January 24

Trinity United Church
Sunday January 24, 2021
3rd Sunday after Epiphany
Zoom Worship  

“Connection not Perfection”  

WE GATHER

Greeting/Welcome

Acknowledgement of Territory
We humbly acknowledge that even as we gather digitally, we gather and live and work bon the unceded territory of the Coast Salish People, Trinity United Church rests on the unceded territory of the Kwikwitlem First Nations.  

Prelude

Call to Worship
 Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, saying,
    The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.
Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee and saw Simon and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea.  Jesus said to them,
      Follow me and I will make you fish for people.
Immediately,
      They left their nets and followed him
Let us, too, hear Jesus proclaiming good news
      The Kingdom of God has come near;
Let us repent, and believe in the good news.
      Let us follow him and rejoice!
Come, let us worship.  

Prayer of Approach
Jesus, you have come to the seashore and bid us to follow.
Give us courage, strength, patience and gentle spirits as we join you on your journey.
We know we will stumble along the way.
Teach us enough humility to rise again, to be reconciled and to continue.
May our service in your name transform us, that we might truly shine with the light of your grace.
In your name we pray. 
Amen.  

Hymn “Jesus, You Have Come to the Lakeshore” VU 563  
CLICK HERE for video.

Prayer of Reconciliation and Words of Assurance
Forgiving God,
we repent of all the ways we turn from you.
You call, but we do not listen;
you show us your path, but we prefer our own way.
Forgive us, heal us, and lead us back to you,
that we might show mercy to others.
In Jesus’ name we pray. 
Amen.*  

This is the word of the Lord:
in Jesus Christ we are forgiven by God and given new life.*

*Feasting on the Word Liturgies for Year B vol 1, p 55  

WE HEAR THE WORD  

Telling our Ancient Story: “Jonah Hears God Calling”  CLICK HERE for video.

Jonah heard God calling,
   I see you Jonah, now hear and obey!  

Jonah lived a long, long time ago, when there weren't cars, or trains or plains or even bicycles.  If you wanted to go anywhere you had to walk, ride an animal or take a boat.  Jonah was a prophet.  That means he listened for God's word and told the people what he heard God saying... Sometimes, but not always:
One day, Jonah heard God calling,
    I see you Jonah, now hear and obey!  

God told Jonah that the people of Nineveh were misbehaving.  They were hurting each other, they were lying to each other and to God, the rich wouldn't help the poor, strong people bullied the weak people, people stole from the poor and neglected the sick and elderly.  God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and tell them that they had 40 days to clean up their act, or God would punish them.  

Well, Jonah didn't like the people of Nineveh.  In fact, he wanted God to punish them.  He thought that if he told the people that God wanted them to change, they just might change and then God wouldn't punish them.   So instead of travelling all the way to Nineveh to warn them, he stayed right at home.  So again...
Jonah heard God calling,
    I see you Jonah, now hear and obey!  

"Oh no," Jonah thought, "I don't want those bad old Ninevites to escape punishment."  So Jonah ran away as far as he could get.  He went up a great mountain.  And...
Jonah heard God calling,
    I see you Jonah, now hear and obey!  

Johan hid down in a deep valley under some trees and bushes.  But still...
Jonah heard God calling,
    I see you Jonah, now hear and obey!  

Johan found a really dark closet and buried himself under all his clothes, linens and shoes and blocked out all the light, but still...
God called to Jonah,
    I see you Jonah, now hear and obey!  

So Johan ran as fast as he could as far as he could to the very edge of the shore.  And still...
Jonah heard God calling,
    I see you Jonah, now hear and obey!  

Jonah got on a boat that was bound for Tar shish, the farthest city on the farthest shore of the great sea.  Just to be sure, he went down to the very bottom of the boat and hid under some barrels.  That night there was a great storm at sea and the little boat holding Jonah was tossed about terribly so that all the sailors thought they would drown.  And...
Jonah heard God calling,
    I see you Jonah, now hear and obey!  

Jonah finally admitted to the sailors that God was angry with him because he wouldn't do what God wanted.  The sailors took hold of Jonah and threw him overboard and he was swallowed up by the waters.  Not only the waters, but a great fish came by and swallowed Jonah up too and dragged him down to the very, very bottom of the watery abyss.  

At the bottom of the sea in the belly of a whale, Jonah had some time to think about his situation.  And finally Jonah thought about all the great things God had done for him in the past and he decided to sing a song.  

"God is so good," Jonah sang.  "God made the whole creation and everything in it.  God made me and all my parts.  There is nowhere I can go that God doesn't see me and know me.  God is truly greater than I can even imagine."  and again even at the bottom of the sea in the belly of a whale...
Jonah heard God calling,
    I see you Jonah, now hear and obey!  

And with that the big fish rose to the beach and belched Jonah up so he could obey.   Jonah walked into the great city of Nineveh and proclaimed, "God will give you 40 days to change your ways; if you don't, you will be punished!"  and you know what?  The people of Nineveh heard Jonah, believed him and changed their ways.  So in the end, God didn't have to punish them.    Even though Jonah wasn't a particularly good prophet, he still helped to change God's people.  

Hymn “Be Still my Soul” VU 652  
CLICK HERE for video.

Reading
Mark 1:14-20
14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” 16As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 17And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” 18And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.  

Message:      CLICK HERE for video.
As we reflect on your Holy Texts,
Speak to us your word, O God,
That we may hear Jesus' call to be his followers.
In the name of the one
who calls us to seek justice,
love kindness
and walk humbly, we pray.
Amen.  

We have an incredibly rich text this week. Mark uses very few words and packs a whole lot into deceptively short passages.  

In Mark's Gospel the whole temptation in the wilderness, following Jesus' baptism, is summed up in two short verses.  

"And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him." Period.  

Mark's account has none of the details afforded by Matthew and Luke. If nothing else, the Gospel of Mark is succinct.  

The next seven verses, those that we heard read today are no less packed full of theology, action, meaning and themes:  

We learn that John the Baptizer has been arrested.
Jesus comes to Galilee proclaiming the Good News:
The Good News is that the time is fulfilled, the Kingdom of God has come near.
And Jesus commands us to repent and believe that Good News.  

All that in just two verses!  

In the next five verse, Jesus will see and call two sets of brothers: Simon and Andrew, and James and John - the sons of Zebedee. All four are fishermen. The first two were casting nets; the second two, mending their nets. All four follow Jesus "Immediately." Simon and Andrew leave behind their nets. James and John leave their boat, their father and the hired men to follow Jesus. Jesus promises to make them fishers of people.  

The word "Immediately" is used 59 times in the New Testament… 41 times in the Gospel of Mark.  Remember that Mark's Gospel is short and succinct. That he repeats one word 41 times is significant.  

Many scholars would argue that Mark is in a hurry to get us to the story of the passion of the cross. Approximately one half of Mark's gospel is Jesus teaching and traveling (three years of ministry) until he gets to Jerusalem. Then the narrative slows right down and the next week: the turning of the tables in the Temple, Jesus' arrest, persecution, death and resurrection take up the second half of the story. These scholars would argue that Mark is impatient to get to the "meat" of the story.  

There other possibilities, though.  

We know that Mark doesn't paint the first disciples in a very positive light. The original followers of Jesus constantly give the wrong answer, and demonstrate less than admirable behaviour. The original ending of Mark's Gospel, the women flee from the tomb having witnessed the resurrected Jesus, but they tell no one. According to that ending of Mark, we do not witness any redemption for Peter after Peter has denied Jesus three time. Mark has it in for the first followers of Jesus.  

There is a story near the beginning Mark's Gospel about a farmer sowing seeds.  

"Some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away."  

"It sprang up quickly" in Mark's Greek should actually read, "it sprang up immediately."  

While much tradition has pointed to the word "immediately" in these stories of call to emphasize the obedience of the first disciples and the power of Jesus's call, I think we have good reason to believe that Mark is using the word "immediately" to mock Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John.  

Every single time Mark uses the word "immediately" (41 times), he is referring to seed that "fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away."  

I would challenge folk to read the Gospel of Mark, it’s a short read, and every time you see the word "immediately" or quickly remind yourself that Mark wants to undermine Peter, Andrew, James and John.  

In the early church, there was a great deal of tension between the follower of Peter and the followers of Paul. Peter was first, Paul was a johnny come lately to the whole followers of Jesus gig. It is a whole year after the resurrection that Paul has his conversion experience.  

Mark is a follower of Paul.  

Mark needs some kind of explanation of why anyone should listen to him, a follower of johnny come lately, Paul. Paul took longer to sprout, but he has deeper roots.  

Indeed, those first followers of Jesus were uneducated fishermen. Paul was an educated tradesman who had been steeped in the Hebrew tradition and really knew the scriptures.  

I think Mark's Gospel is full of early church politics.  

So what would our take away be?  

I find reassurance in stories of bad discipleship… and bad prophecy-ing (the story of Jonah). Despite our failings as followers, God's will be done. Thanks be to God.  

Thanks be to God! We don't have to get it right!  

We just have to try. Again and again and again, we keep trying. And each time around, something changes, something moves, something grows.  

May we hear Christ calling,
May we follow Christ's lead,
And May we obey.
Amen.  

 WE RESPOND  

Special Music

Prayers of Thanksgiving and intercession
God of new visions,
we pray for people highly placed in power,
that they may focus their eyes on you, [seeking justice for all.]
And we pray for the lowly victims of power,
that they may also focus their eyes on you,
[finding comfort and peace.]  

We pray for those who bless with their lips
but curse with their mouths,
including ourselves.  

We pray for those who are ill
and those facing the end of life.
Give them the gift of prayer,
that they may pour out their hearts to you.  

We pray for the church and its leaders,
that we may hear and respond to your call
to be fishers of people.  

Rock of our salvation,
through Christ and your Holy Spirit
bring us into the new world that you are shaping
even as this world is passing away…*

*Feasting on the Word Liturgies for Year B vol 1, p 56  

The Disciples’ Prayer: “Heavenly Mother, Heavenly Father”
CLICK HERE for video.

WE GO FORTH  

Hymn “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God” VU 356
CLICK HERE for video.  

Commissioning and Benediction
Repent!  And believe the good news:      
    God is with us, and calls us for a purpose!  

May the God of second chances
renew your sense of call
and inspire you to go out and share
the good news of forgiveness and hope! 
Amen.*

*Feasting on the Word Liturgies for Year B vol 1, p 57  

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