Sunday Worship – 8th September 2024 – Education Sunday

(All our songs this morning are from Singing the Faith (StF) numbers will be given where available)

Call to worship

New Year Prayer, Bradford North Methodist Circuit, September 2024.    

God of every time and space, in this moment and this place we gather to worship you, opening ourselves to one another and to you in your Spirit. We come as people with history, aware of past triumphs and disasters, seeking to learn from what has gone before, grateful for your provision and forgiving grace. We come also as people with potential, looking to the future you have for us with confidence and hopefulness. In these moments, this liminal space between all that has been and all that is yet to be, we seek your guidance, direction and blessing, both as individuals and as your people in this place. Amen.

Song – StF 125 – Praise and thanksgiving

Prayers God of grace and glory, we come to you in awe and wonder, For you are the Lord of all creation. You have made us in your image and likeness, And called us to be your children.

You have chosen us to be your heirs, And invited us to share in your kingdom. Help us to worship you in spirit and in truth, To listen to your Word with faith and obedience, To receive your grace with humility and gratitude And to share your love with justice and mercy. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

Holy God, you show no favouritism but welcome all Into your kingdom – all have a place with you. Your heart is for the poor and those on the margins – You embrace the weak and needy. Your compassion is everlasting and your mercy never fails. We adore you, O God, with all our heart, soul, Mind and strength. Amen.

A prayer of confession: Lord, we confess that we do not always Welcome people as you do.

We have passed judgement on others Instead of looking at them with love. We have been impressed by wealth and fine things, Rather than seeing the whole person. Forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Help us to be doers of the Word, and not just hearers. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Assurance of forgiveness Loving God, thank you for your free and generous forgiveness.

We receive it in humility and with joy. Amen.

Generous God, thank you for the blessings of each day, For friends and neighbours, work and leisure, nature and beauty. Merciful God, thank you that you set prisoners free and bring

About justice for the oppressed. You watch over strangers and uphold the vulnerable.

All praise to your glorious name. Amen.

Meditation Favouritism

Were you ever the last one to be chosen for a  team and really hurt because all the others were picked before you? Were you ever in a class at school when someone else was the teacher’s pet and you always wondered why? Did you ever walk into a room, dressed in your best, only to find that everyone else was casually dressed and they were all staring at you? Have you ever felt out of place because all the others in the room were academics, or people with money, or involved in sport or the entertainment business and you were the only one who seemed to have an ‘ordinary’ job? Did you ever try to join a club, only to find that the ‘inner circle’ all knew each other so well, but left everyone else out in the cold? Did you ever think that there was a total imbalance between rich and poor and the rich got all the favours and the poor were left to fend for themselves? Disgraceful behaviour, isn’t it? But if you walked into church one morning and saw a wealthy friend down near the front and a homeless person hiding in the back row, who would you sit beside? And if you wanted to make an impression, which one would you invite to a meal? And how would you choose if each one of them asked to sleep in your spare room for the night? Be honest! God has no favourites, but certainly has a bias towards the poor, on the basis that the rich should be able to look after themselves, but the poor often don’t have the means to do so. Makes you think, doesn’t it? Or it should. ©Marjorie Dobson

Song – StF 249 – Jesu, Jesu fill us with your love

Readings

James 2: 1-17

Song – StF 415 – The church of Christ in every age

Sermon

James continues his letter by giving a vivid example of people being treated differently in the worshipping community, with the rich and important being favoured over the poor and needy. He is stark in his declaration that showing partiality in this way falls short of God’s standards. This passage also contains his famous pronouncement that faith without works is dead.

This is a compelling reminder that God is merciful and we should do the same in our lives and our communities. Do we need to review our own practice of inclusion in worship and in our outreach? Who are we excluding and why?

Believing that Jesus is the crucified, resurrected and ascended Lord is the central tenet of the Jewish (and Gentile) Christians. It is what sets them free from the guilt of the Law. Yet James is not convinced that their pattern of behaviour, especially their judgement about others, matches their beliefs. Favouritism is a sin. It’s neither hospitality, respect nor honour. Preferential treatment sets the culture within the assembly; it treats the unjust and their injustices as acceptable and righteous, while treating the poor, who are rich in faith and custodians of the kingdom, with disrespect and disregard. This is the opposite of Christ’s intention.

 The world is always assessing people, sizing them up, putting them down, establishing a pecking order. And God, who sees and loves all alike, wants the church to reflect that generous, universal love in how it behaves. In some parts of the early church they had a rule that if a regular member of the congregation came into church the usher would look after them, but that if a stranger came in, particularly a poor stranger, the bishop himself would leave his chair and go to the door to welcome the newcomer. I have often wished I had the courage to do that. But James goes further than simply insisting on equality of treatment. He hints at something he will develop later: that the rich are likely to be oppressors, and even persecutors, of the church. In every society, unless it takes scrupulous care, the rich can operate the ‘justice’ system to their own advantage. They can hire the best lawyers; they can, perhaps, even bribe the judges. They can get their way, and the poor have to put up with it. And in James’s society ‘the rich’ may be more sinister still. As verse 7 indicates, in the first century it was most likely ‘the rich’ who were anxious about the dangers of this new messianic movement, these raggle-taggle Jesus followers, making a fuss about an executed madman and thinking that God’s new world had already been born. Don’t they know who’s in charge around here? And James is ready with his answer: Yes, it’s King Jesus who’s in charge. He is the Lord, the anointed one, the King of glory (verse 1)! All human status, all pride of wealth and fine clothing, pale into insignificance before him. And he, Jesus, has reemphasized one of the most central passages of Israel’s ancient law: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself ’. That was central to Jesus’ teaching, and it remained central in early Christianity. But it needed to be spelled out and applied, as here, to one situation after another. This is the ‘royal law’, by which James presumably means ‘the law which King Jesus himself endorsed and insists upon’. This passage, incidentally, is one of several which make it quite clear that the early church really did see Jesus as ‘king’, as ‘Messiah’. They believed that God had established his ‘kingdom’ in and through Jesus, and they were determined to live under that rule, whether or not the rest of the world – and the rest of the Jewish people whose Messiah Jesus was! – took any notice. If this is the royal law, the ‘law of freedom’ (verse 12 looks back to chapter 1 verse 25), then to break this law is indeed to be a lawbreaker. And, as one wise writer put it a long time ago, the law is like a sheet of glass: if it’s broken, it’s broken. It’s no good saying it’s only a little bit broken. A sheet of glass can no more be only partly broken than a car tyre can be only partly fl at. If it’s fl at, it’s fl at. James sees already, even in these early days of the movement, that some people were trying to drive on the fl at tyre of social prestige rather than the full tyre of loving one’s neighbour as oneself. Here is the paradox, to which James returns in verse 13. God’s mercy is sovereign. It will triumph. But the minute you say ‘Oh well, that’s all right then; God will forgive, so it doesn’t matter what I do’ – and, in particular, when ‘what I do’ includes discriminating against the poor – then, precisely because God is the God of mercy, he must act in judgment. He will not for ever tolerate a world in which mercy is not the ultimate rule of life. ‘Mercy’ isn’t the same as a shoulder-shrugging ‘tolerance’, an ‘anything goes’ attitude to life. ‘Anything’ doesn’t ‘go’. ‘Anything’ includes arrogance, corruption, blasphemy, favouritism and lawbreaking of all kinds. If God was ‘merciful’ to that lot, he would be deeply unmerciful to the poor, the helpless, the innocent and the victims. And the whole gospel insists that in precisely those cases his mercy shines out most particularly. So must ours.

The implication of James unashamedly and courageously questioning, ‘Do you with your acts of favouritism really believe in our Lord Jesus Christ?’ What impresses us that leads to bias? Is it the rich and powerful, celebrity status, someone’s profession, or something else? And what about our practices when hosting civic events or when we invite the mayor, a councillor or an MP? Should we say, ‘Take a seat where you like?’ Our Christian walk is not a private matter. It demands public demonstration. Faith without works is useless. As God’s children, we inherit an obligation to support the poor and vulnerable. Who are they in your community? The Church’s task is to be a visible blessing.

‘We welcome all’. It’s easy to say but do we really? James’ teaching is a judgement call on all who show favouritism within the Christian community. God’s kingdom is for all peoples. Are there people we knowingly exclude or have we become a clique? What barriers to others do we create as a Christian community? Consider physical obstacles, actions, language, the structure and tradition of worship. Encourage the congregation to put themselves in the shoes of others. What would they see and feel if they were walking into church for the first time today? What barriers would they face? What would make the church more welcoming?

 Here is a story from a church that met every Sunday in the local primary school. For several years, the church had been set out in traditional rows of seating with the altar up on the stage. One Holy Week, to enable foot washing to take place on Maundy Thursday, this layout was changed so that the chairs were in a circle and the people, including the priest, sat in the round. The altar was brought down to the level of the people. After a little discussion it was decided to leave the church in this layout for the Easter celebrations. Then a vote was held on whether to keep it permanently. It was overwhelmingly carried. 

A little while later, an eight-year-old member of the congregation came to speak to the minister at the end of the service. Mark was crying, so the minister asked what was wrong. Mark said, ‘My mum said that I had to come and tell you that I put two votes in for the “cuddly” shape.’ ‘Oh, Mark,’ the minister replied, ‘I am so pleased you like the new layout in church. So did everyone else! Perhaps they put extra votes in too!’  So often children can put into words what others are feeling too. Well done to that congregation for trying a new shape of church that made people feel ‘cuddled and held in God’s love’. 

Song – StF 654 – The love of God comes close

Prayers of Intercession  God whose peace knows no borders, As we watch the conflicts in Ukraine, Russia, The Middle East, and many other places jn the world that have disappeared from the headlines, we pray for those who are fearful, for people whose circumstances have suddenly and radically changed. Help them work out what to do and find the ways and means to do what is necessary to stay safe. We pray for those now in charge of the country. May our anxieties about the way they will rule move us to pray with passion for all in war zones.

Lord bring peace, And may your love be known by all.

God whose compassion knows no borders,

With the new school term just getting going for some and looming for others we pray for everyone moving on this September. Whether changing year groups, schools or heading off to university for the first time help our young people as things change this autumn. We are particularly mindful of those for whom last year was very difficult – with covid, disruption to routines, difficult times with home learning and personal loss. May all of the children who have had a hard time know compassion and care and may this year be calm and ordered, filled with fun and purpose.

Lord bring compassion, And may your love be known by all.

God whose care and concern knows no borders,

Covid still dominates all of our news cycles. It feels like there are very big differences across our world with some places heading out of restrictions and people feeling life is getting back to normal, and others still struggling with the disease and a lack of vaccinations. Please give world leaders the motivation and determination to help everyone manage covid. Help those who make complex decisions about vaccinations work out how to provide jabs for the poor as well as the rich. We pray for wisdom and calm as we approach the winter, for timely and sensible decisions and for the health and safety of our friends, family and neighbours.

Lord bring care and concern, And may your love be known by all.

God of joy, We thank you for the joy the Paralympics has brought to us in the last couple of weeks. Watching fellow human beings overcoming adversity and triumphing in their sports is exhilarating and heartening. Thank you for all of the athletes who have competed. As they head home may they feel they have worked to the best of their ability and know how inspirational they are.

Lord bring more joy to this world, And may your love be known by all.

 Lord’s Prayer

Song – Stf 668 – Teach me my God and King

Blessing

Let us go and share God’s love in the care of our neighbours, Building up community (place one fist on top of the other) In the words we speak, Building up new friendships (swap fists)

By showing care, Building up God’s kingdom here on earth. (move your arms round in a circle)

Amen.