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Trinity United Church
Proper 25
October 25, 2020  

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

Prelude: Jesu Joy with candle lighting. Rev David Cathcart singing, Maestro David Rogers on piano.
CLICK HERE to listen.   

Call to Worship and Prayer of Approach
God is our eternal home.
God is our help in the past and our hope in the future.
God is our shelter from the storm.
In the shadow of God’s wing, all the saints have dwelt safely.
God’s arms are sufficient to hold and defend us all.
A thousand ages are like an evening to God.
Time bears us away, but God endures.
Come let us give God thanks and praise.  

God, you are our refuge in every generation.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
before the earth and the world were formed,
from age to age, you are God.
In this time of worship,
Let us find our home in you. Amen.  

Hymn: “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” VU 806
CLICK HERE to listen.   

Prayer of Reconciliation and Words of Assurance
Holy One, for those times when it is easier for us to radicalize than to care for those with mental illness, we ask for mercy.
For those times when we alienate those different from ourselves rather than loving them as ourselves, we ask for mercy.
For those times when we ignore and neglect those who are chronically poor, under nourished, and inadequately sheltered, rather than treating them as one of your family, we ask for mercy.
For those times when the darkness of the world overwhelms us and we give into despair rather than holding out with hope, we ask for mercy.
In the name of your son who calls us to love you with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind and our neighbour as our self, we pray.  Amen  

God’s steadfast love endures forever.  God gathers us in and redeems us from all trouble.  God delivers us from our distress.  God turns deserts into pools of water and parched lands into springs of water.
We are forgiven, redeemed, and made new.  Thanks be to God.  

Telling our Ancient Story: “Moses Saw”       CLICK HERE to listen.    
Moses, look…    
“I’m looking; I’m looking!”

Moses was an old man.   He was 120 years old.  He had led the people of Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness for 40 years.  And he was really tired.  He was tired of eating manna.  He was tired of eating quail.  He was tired of listening to the people complain in the wilderness.  All Moses wanted to do was get some decent rest.  

Moses was also worried.  Moses was so old and he knew that he couldn’t live forever.  Already his brother Aaron had died.  And all the people who had left Egypt with him had died.  And all these young people had their own ideas about how to follow God.  He worried that they would forget their way and that somehow God’s promises to the people might not come true.  

God spoke to the worried and tired Moses, “Moses, look up.”  

“I’m looking; I’m looking.”  

Moses looked and saw.  Moses saw the young man Joshua.  Joshua was a young leader of the people.  Joshua shone like there was a light within him and Moses knew that God would be with Joshua as he led the people.  Moses put his hand on Joshua and blessed him.  Then God said, “Moses, look ahead.”  

“I’m looking; I’m looking.”  

Moses looked and saw.  God was showing him a path out of the camp of the Israelites and through the wilderness into the hills.  So Moses followed the path.  Moses followed the path for a long time and was getting tired of walking when God said, “Moses, look up.”  

“I’m looking; I’m looking.”  

Moses looked and saw.  There was a great mountain in front of him.  God wanted him to climb up the mountain.  So Moses climbed for a long, long time until he got to the top of Mount Nebo.  Moses was tired of climbing the mountain.  And God said, “Moses, look to the north.”  

“I’m looking; I’m looking.”  

Moses looked and saw.  Moses saw the land to the North.  He could see Gilead, Dan, and Naphtali.   “I will give this land to the people of Israel,” said God.  “Moses, look to the west.”  

“I’m looking; I’m looking.”  

Moses looked and saw.  Moses saw the land to the west.  He could see all the way to the Great Sea.  He saw Manasseh, Ephraim, and Judah.   “I will give this land to the people of Israel,” said God.  “Moses, look to the south.”  

“I’m looking; I’m looking.”  

Moses looked and saw.  Moses saw the land to the south.  He could see all the Negeb, the Plain, and the valley of Jericho – the city of palm trees as far as Zoar.   “I will give this land to the people of Israel,” said God.  “Moses, look forward.”  

“I’m looking; I’m looking.”  

Moses looked and saw.  It was like Moses could see into the future.  He could see the Promised Lands filled with the people of God and the people were happy.  They built homes and planted fields.  They were able to harvest plentiful crops and shared everything they had with one another.  No one was hungry, or lonely, or afraid.  Everyone had what they needed.  They lived in peace, comfort, joy, and justice.   God said, “Moses, look on.”  

“I’m looking; I’m looking.”  

Moses looked and saw.  Moses was filled with hope and joy and comfort because he knew that God had made a promise and when God makes a promise the promise comes true.  And so it was that as a very old man, a very tired man, and a very hopeful man, Moses died and was buried.  And the People of God mourned him.  And it was always remembered that Moses was the greatest prophet God had ever sent to the People of God.

Hymn: “Abide with Me”                  VU 436
CLICK HERE to listen.   

Reading: Matthew 22:34-46 34
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” 41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: 42 “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, 44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’? 45 If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” 46 No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.  

Message        CLICK HERE to listen. 

A Brief History of Salvation from Abraham to Exile:

Abram and Sarai. God makes a promise of land and descendants.
Joseph (Abraham and Sarah's great grandson) goes to Egypt, saving the family from a famine.
The downside is that the family is enslaved in Egypt for several generations.

Exodus: Moses and the wilderness/wonders and signs/law and commandments

Settlement/Conquest of the Promised Land: Joshua and Judges

The United Kingdom: Saul/David/Solomon (1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings)

Divided Kingdoms: The story is told by the greater and lesser prophets (& Chronicles)

Exile to Babylon. Jerusalem is sacked; the Great Temple is razed to the ground; the people scattered. God's promise ends. Tragically.

If God has promised the land, and the eternal reign of David's household, why did the exile happen?
    The lesser and greater prophets started answering this question:
      The rich and the wealthy (kings/queens) failed to keep the covenants, so God punished Israel

The Book of Deuteronomy (in which Moses re-utters the law and promise, then dies)
    The people who wrote Deuteronomy (during the late exile)
      rewrote the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures

God commands that the rich care for widows, orphans, strangers, the poor, the sick.
God sends Babylon to conquer Jerusalem, raze its temple and take its leaders into exile as punishment for failing to care for widows, orphans, strangers, the poor, the sick.

According to the writers of the book of Deuteronomy,
Exile is the consequence of failing to care for the vulnerable.

God promises good things to us.
God's righteousness is good. It is the best of all possible worlds. It is love and justice incarnate. It is comfort and compassion. It is deep satisfaction.

The way to God's righteousness is caring for our neighbour. Not just the wealthy neighbour, the powerful neighbour, the affluent neighbour who looks and talks and lives the way we look and talk and live. But all our neighbours. With preference for the most vulnerable.  
      This is reiterated again and again in the lesser and greater prophets

We can look in the mirror of scripture and ask questions about ourselves and our world, today.

God's promise to us is so good. God's righteousness is hope, peace, joy, love and justice.
So why do we have genocide?
Why do we have race riots?
Why do we have a pandemic?
Why do we have a climate crisis?
Why do we have an opioid crisis?
Why do we have chronic homelessness?

God isn't punishing us; these are the consequences of failing to care for the vulnerable.
Failure to care for our neighbours.
Failure to care for the environment.

We cannot live in God's righteousness and God centeredness, if we insist on living in self-righteousness and self-centeredness.

Tested by the Lawyer in today's New Testament Text, Jesus says the most important commandment

“’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38This is the greatest and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Loving our neighbour is not about having warm fuzzy feelings for them.

Love is how we treat one another.

Love is how we treat that which is of God in our neighbour

Love is how we treat our neighbour who is indigenous
Love is how we treat our neighbour who is different from ourselves
Love is how we treat our neighbour who is a refugee or immigrant
Love is how we treat our neighbour who is gender diverse
Love is how we treat our neighbour who has addictions or mental health challenges
Love is how we treat our neighbour who is homeless or under employed

Until we learn to love our most vulnerable neighbours as ourselves, we will continue to live with the consequences of self-righteousness rather than in the joy of the promise of God's righteousness.

May we learn to truly love our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and all our mind and our neighbour as ourselves. Amen.

Prayers of Thanksgiving and intercession
Holy God, you have provided all we have needed.
You have walked alongside us
as we have journeyed through the wilderness and valley
and climbed to the heights of the mountains.  

We have glimpsed the promised land,
here,
but not yet.  

We lift up those who live in the shadow of disappointment,
having seen the promise by not the realization.  

We lift up those who live in the no-longer-but-not-yet,
having left an arduous past for a future yet unknown.  

We lift up those who live with the weight of responsibility,
having carried the burden of another person’s pain.  

We lift up those who live in the obscurity of loneliness,
having survived a torment that cannot be explained.  

Lay your holy hands upon us, empowering God,
that we may be the church for them,
through Christ who sustains us.*  

*Feasting on the Word liturgies for Year A vol 2, p 216 ff  

The Disciples’ Prayer  

Hymn: “Let All Things Now Living” VU 242
CLICK HERE to listen. 

Commissioning and Benediction
May the Lord bless you
and lay loving hands upon you,
that you may be strengthened
to continue to walk in the faith
that others have passed on to you,
to move ahead into the promised land.*  

*Feasting on the Word liturgies for Year A vol 2, p 216 ff  

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