Closer Week 4 Sermon

Pastoral Welcome

Call to Worship

A table is set before us. A feast is prepared for us. A meal of bread and wine, of meat and bitter herbs. The Lord calls us to this supper of remembrance. The Lord calls us to serve and to be served. As we break the bread and share the cup, our understanding may fail us. But we will never forget Christ’s example. We will never forget the full extent of his love.

Pastoral Prayer

We come before you today knowing Wondrous God of infinite love and boundless compassion

Mark our hearts with the seal of your handiwork

Create within us the joy of being in your presence.

Stitch into our souls the desire to serve,

the power to heal,

and the capacity to love deeply and genuinely.

Mold us into reservoirs of hope,

that we might pour out your bountiful blessings

upon all of your people.

Lord in your mercy; Hear our prayer

We pray for our churches. May they become places of reconciliation, where each human soul is valued, and where equality in Christ is a reality in our midst. Forgive us those times where we do not live out our calling as your people. May our churches model the new humanity of Christ to those in the communities where we live.

Lord in your mercy; Hear our prayer

We pray for our community of Ankeny Iowa. Where there is division, may we bring restoration. Where there is inequality may we bring justice. Where there is powerlessness may we lift up the broken hearted. Where there is damage may we bring healing.

hear our cry as we come to you for unity. Send your Spirit to gather us as you desire us. Remind us that unity does not mean uniformity. Teach us that the “same mind” you call us to have is not ours, but the mind of your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray.

Lord in your mercy; Hear our prayer

we pray Those for whom pain is a constant companion Those who daily live with chronic illnese Those who struggle with the confusion and distress Those who care for and treat people who are ill

and for those for whom treatment is not available or affordable

Lord Jesus we remember that all you have done is heal, build, and restore. We trust your power that is at work here and now.

Lord in your mercy; Hear our prayer

give Your love of justice to those who govern our land.

Help them to lead with wisdom and compassion, so that the poor and powerless may be treated fairly and with justice.

Open their ears to the cries for help from those caught

in cycles of poverty, abuse or violence.

Give them wisdom to know how best to respond,

and courage to do the right thing, even when it may not be popular.

Under their rule, may the people flourish;

may there be lasting peace and plenty for all.

Lord in your mercy; Hear our prayer

We call to mind our brothers and sisters

who are grieving loses today

May you bring comfort to those who are grieving, lonely,

heartbroken, ill or broken of spirit.

May you strengthen those whose lives feel shattered,

don’t make sense, in crisis, and experiencing  loss.

May you say the healing word to those who need it.

May you bring the human touch of love

to those who have not been touched.

May you love the unloved through us.

Lord in your mercy; Hear our prayer

Lord God in the silence of this moment, hear the prayers of our hearts.......

(wait 10 seconds)

Lord in your mercy; Hear our prayer

We pray now either from memory or from reading off the screens the prayer that you have taught us saying...

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen.

CAT talking points

Thine is the kingdom…we find ourselves as a church in the middle of several transitions....

trying to emerge from the pandemic

looking forward to a future without debt

this is a good time to listen intentionally and seek God’s leading

This fall, we will offer the opportunity to take the Congregation Assessment Tool (CAT)It will open in late September and take about a half hour

It will give church leaders a deep dive into our strengths, opportunities, and possible directionsWe will report big-picture results to the congregation later in the fall

All responses will be anonymous

More details will come

Celebration

Facelift on one of our church buildings

Trustees did some remodeling of the building that is right behind Uptown. It is a separate building that our church owns and several small groups have been hosted in.

We celebrate the work that the trustees embarked on, and for the blessing that it is to have buildings to gather in.

Offering Talk

Our vocation as followers of Jesus is to live with others in mind. It is not just about what we can earn, or stockpile, it is about how we can change someone’s life. Both the people that we know, and those that we do not know. Our mission as the church is best lived out when we are outward focused from ourselves.

Our whole lives should a response, or reaction to God’s Love for us. We are going to transition to a time of offering in our worship service as we do every week, and just know that this is one opportunity of many to respond to God’s grace. This one opportunity among many to provide a message a hope to someone. That is what our church is about. There are opportunities to give in the room through our offering plates, you can also choose to give online or through the mail.

Let us respond to God’s grace is our lives....

Sermon Intro

Closer Series

In the begining God wants to be closer to us

We respond to that through worship

Communion last week

If you came back desiring even more communion this week don’t worry we will celebrate this week as well

Communion for us commonly is a liturgical practice in worship for us, and honestly is not really about feeding our physical bodies with a meal

That is a relatively new phenomenon though

Context for Scripture

Love Feast

Food being shared communal more often

Communion wasn’t meant to be this sacred tiny piece of bread

Scripture

1 Corinthians 11:17–22 NRSV

17 Now in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it. 19 Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine. 20 When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s supper. 21 For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. 22 What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!

1 Corinthians 11:27–34 NRSV

27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves. 30 For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. 33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not be for your condemnation. About the other things I will give instructions when I come.

Follow up to Scripture

The division of the rich and the poor

the tendency to separate the haves from the have nots

This was not ceremonial this was nutritional

Go over what a love feast was

convenient for the community

It was necessary (they didn’t have Hyvee)

It was so much more than food - it was a communal gathering

It was the essence of community

It was the heartbeat of connection a place of belonging, and a place of equality, as it should be in communion

Communion cannot exist without community

Communion with God cannot exist without the perspectives of God that we get from other’s in community.

The sacrament of communion also can’t exist without the community it wouldn’t be the same

Even those that are not physically in this room with us are able to

The true Christian find their greatest privilege not in jealously guarding their privileges but in giving them away.

They were missing the point they thought the point was just about the elements, but the point was also about the people the people were what made the bread sacramental

It wasn’t that they mistreated the body and bread (ie the elements) it’s that they mistreated themselves who were the body and blood (maybe a good second point)

Distinctiveness is different then divisiveness

Don’t let this divide

The one place and time (the love feast) that there should be no distinctions there were, and the extreme. Paul greatly rebukes this for obvious reason

A church where social and class distinctions exist is no true church at all.

yet Sunday Morning is the most segregated time of the week

Divisiveness separates the table

It tells some people that church isn’t a place for them

Divisiveness invents the word “them” because it implies the word “us”

There are very few people, very people, that think that what they are doing is wrong

On a passage that delves so clearly into divisions that are run rampant in the community, we would be remiss if we did not confess some of the divisions that we fall pray to.

They mistreated the body and the blood

they thought that meant the elements

They thought maybe that meant that they didn’t store or serve the bread and the juice in the right way

What they failed to see was that it wasn’t the body that they had mistreated (motion to elements) it was the body that they had mistreated.

There were differences in the faith communities

it had not been centralized

they had legitimate reasons to believe and to practice the ways that they did.

but what Paul is calling out here is not just distinctiveness but division

The celebration of the body of Christ and the Blood of Christ is not just about the element it is about you the body of Christ

What happens when we sit at a table with someone that is different then us

over time we begin to see things through their perspective

We learn that hate is actually pretty difficult to sustain

Closeness with God brings us into communion with others

Pastor Mike put this last week that when we are close with God we have more realistic expectations of others

Closeness with other has been difficult to come by recently

We have faced barriers upon barriers to being close to one another

The word “distance” has been much more familiar to us than the word “close” has been

I would say that probably has some significant impact on the way we understand God

But if we start not from our ability to be close with each other and instead we start with our ability to be close with God we get a much different story.

The great narrative of scripture is one in which God pursues us (and not the other way around)

God created humanity in God’s own image

God lived with the people of God and they were God’s people

God lived among us in flesh and blood through the body of Jesus Christ

Through this act of communion God becomes one with us again

You see it was never about things that we did or didn’t do

From the begining our closeness comes from God

Our ability to be close to God redefines our ability to be close with other people.

Grace is a gift for us and to us

Transition to Communion

So if you have ever been made to feel like this communion table was not for you, I apologize that has been your experience

We serve communion

To rich and poor

To left and right

To vacinated and unvacinated

To online and in person

Let there be no division among you

To church people and non-church people

Communion is always an open invitation no rsvp required event

The church is the body so when Paul is talking about them harming the body he is talking about the community not the bread and the juice

THE GREAT THANKSGIVING

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection you gave birth to your Church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

(Pastor speaks.) And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and forever. Amen.

Benediction

As people who have been fed,

go now to feed the world.

As those who have been given hope,

bring hope in place of despair.

May God help us to do so.