January 31, 2010

Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
January 31, 2010

Prelude and Lighting of Altar Candles

Some Opening Thoughts For Worship:

I If we should be able to speak with all human eloquence, or even that of angels, but have no love, we are no more than blaring trumpets or clanging cymbals.
II Or if we had the gift of foretelling the future and held in our minds all the knowledge of the universe, including the secrets of God – and if we had that kind of absolute faith that can move mountains, but have no love, we would amount to nothing at all.
III If we were to dispose of all we possess, yes, even to the point of ultimate sacrificial living, but have no love, we would achieve precisely nothing.
I This love of which we speak is slow to lose patience…
II It always looks for a way to be constructive and is not possessive.
III It is neither anxious to impress nor does it hold on to inflated ideas of its own importance.
I Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage.
II It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people;
III on the contrary, it is glad with all humanity when truth prevails.
ALL: Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when everything else has fallen.
I As for prophecies, they will all be fulfilled and done with.
II As for ecstatic spiritual language, it will all disappear.
III As for knowledge, it will be swallowed up in truth…
ALL: For our knowledge and prophetic insight is always incomplete; and when the complete comes, that is the end of the incomplete.
I When we were children we talked and felt and thought like children, but as we grow to maturity that kind of talking and feeling and thinking is no longer significant to us.
II At the present time we are like people looking at puzzling reflections in a mirror, but the time is coming when we shall see reality whole and face to face!
III At the moment, all we know is a little fraction of the truth, but the time will come when we shall know it in all of its ultimate concerns!
ALL: So in this life there are three great lasting qualities– faith, hope and love; but the greatest of these is love!

[Based on 1 Corinthians 13 with help from JB Phillips and others]

An Opening Hymn: Though I May Speak With Bravest Fire [insert]

Welcomes and Introduction for the Day: Last Sunday we were dealing with the mission statement of Jesus in terms of good news to the poor and liberation for the oppressed… all of it rooted in the concept of a Jubilee Year with its emphasis on the forgiveness of debts. It was a kind of coming out for Jesus in his hometown synagogue in Nazareth… and at first there was a lot of excitement among the folks. But when they found out that he understood that mission in inclusive terms their mood turned to outrage. We’re celebrating our own spirit of inclusiveness today as we welcome THE REV. LISA KEMPER of the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Loudoun (in Leesburg) to do some reflections out of her own life story and her experience in ministry around how these narratives of Jesus have relevance for us in times there are feelings of outrage in many religious communities… (and we may have a few doubts ourselves)… and she’ll do it around the topic of “Saving Ourselves, Saving Each Other.” [For more on Lisa, cf the insert]

Luke 4: 21-30: (After hearing Jesus’ mission statement) everyone was amazed by his gracious words… but then (they must have had second thoughts and) began to ask each other: “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” So he said to them, “I suppose you’d like to quote the old saying, Physician, heal yourself… and tell me, ‘We’ve heard all about all the wonderful works you’ve been doing around Capernaum, so do some of it around here.’ All I can say is, No prophet is ever accepted in his own home town.”

And then he went on . . . “There were lots of widows around in Elijah’s day during a great famine in the land, and he was sent to none of them. But he was sent to one at Zarepta, a Sidonian town. And during Elisha’s time there were many lepers in Israel, but none was cured except Naaman, the Syrian.” And when they heard this everyone was outraged and they took him out to the edge of town and were planning to throw him off the cliff, but he managed to disappear somehow in the crowd and went on his way.

Reflections: The Rev. Lisa Kemper

Reflective Hymn: We’ll Build a Land [insert]

The Offerings and Offertory Music

Prayers of Joys and Concerns and the Lord’s Prayer
(and we pray forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors…)

A Closing and Sending Hymn: No. 306, The Church of Christ, In Every Age
[Extinguishing the candles and taking our light into the world]

Sharing the peace of God as we go . . .

Announcements:

February 7, Fifth Sunday after Epiphany: As the transcending meaning of Jesus as Christ continues to unfold we are taken into some deep water fishing experiences (cf Luke 5:1-11)… a metaphor for how our mission and ministry takes us into new and challenging experiences… and along with our regular communion and potluck meal sharings with each other, we’ll be reviewing some analysis we’ve done in the past about dealing with the economic, social, political contexts in which we live… and will be asking the question for now: What Do We Need To Be Doing? If you don’t have the background paper for this… ask about it!

February 14, Last Sunday of Epiphany (Transfiguration) and Celebration of Evolution Weekend: Readings from Luke 9:28-43 and 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 will help us to reflect on the transcending nature of our faith and to recognize it is never in conflict with the concept of evolution… and that those who insist people must choose between faith and science are creating a false dichotomy.

Ash Wednesday, February 17: Its readings remain relevant, especially Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 and God’s invitation: “Come back to me with all your heart, fasting, weeping, mourning. Let your hearts be broken, not your garments torn….” It’s an invitation to inner reflection… not outward shows of piety. There’s also Matthew 6:6, 16-21, amplifying Joel’s thoughts to get at the heart of reflections on values: “Don’t store up treasures for yourselves on earth… but (invest) in (the commodities of) heaven… for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Worship and Meditation will begin at 8:00 p.m., and will include the imposition of ashes.

February 21, First Sunday in Lent: We’ll be looking at Luke 4:1-13 as commentary on the kinds of struggles and tests that Jesus was feeling as he acted on his understanding of mission… something we’ll find quite relevant for our own struggles and tests. It’s also CHURCH SCHOOL for children and ADULT DISCUSSION time, with both beginning at 10:00 a.m.

February 25: Faith & Life Forum in Leesburg. Mark your calendars!

We continue to gather in worship as an inclusive community, an open & affirming community of faith that transcends any distinctions based on gender, nationality, sexual orientation, race, or religion… with a formal worship that flows into a living worship of love and support for one another and pursuing ways in which we can reflect God’s mercy, justice, and peace in our community and throughout the world, along with finding ways to celebrate the goodness of life together… and always reaching out to draw others, with total inclusiveness, into this communal experience…