We are currently unable to post in Recent Services so here is this Sunday’s Service to be led by Mike Dennis.

Tavistock United Reformed Church 

Order of service for 18th July 2021 at 10.00am led by Mike Dennis

A gathering prayer

We come in the spirit of the presence whose care and compassion were shown in the life of Jesus.
As we gather we seek that we may experience the rest offered to us and the peace that can restore and revive us and also enable us to live the promised abundant life as we follow the way of Jesus. Amen.

Hymn words Thomas Troeger (tune Aberystwyth. Hymns of Glory 133) 

Source and Sovereign, Rock and Cloud,

Fortress, Fountain, Shelter, Light, 

Judge, Defender, Mercy, Might, 

Life whose life all life endowed: 

Refrain:

May the church at prayer recall 

that no single holy name 

but the truth behind them all 

is the God whom we proclaim.

Word and Wisdom, Root and Vine, 

Shepherd, Saviour, Servant, Lamb, 

Well and Water, Bread and Wine,

Way who leads us to the I AM:

Refrain

Storm and Stillness, Breath and Dove, 

Thunder, Tempest, Whirlwind, Fire, 

Comfort, Counsellor, Presence Love, 

Energies that never tire.

Refrain

Meditation by Jane O’Shea

Throw the doors wide open and step into the enormous palace inside of you.

Breathe.
Breathe into every space.
Feel every sensation.

The joyful warmth of shared love
and the vast emptiness that sometimes echoes around our hearts.

The excited clarity of inspired thought
as well as that clustered maze inside our heads.

That deep spread of satisfaction at the end of a good day
and the tight knots that curl into the pit of our belly.

Breathe.
It’s your body.
This is the field of your experience.
This your true home.
This is where you belong.

Reading   Mark 6. V 30-34, 53-56

Retelling the story.

‘We had had a fantastic time telling people all the things that Jesus had been teaching us. We had also been able to heal people, and the buzz of excitement about what was happening got better and better. You can imagine the noise when we got back to where Jesus was – all of us trying to tell him our bit of news, trying to get his approval and find out what had been happening to the others! And, at the same time, other people were arriving, asking to see him. And he was talking to them and healing them as well. It was…well, it was chaos – and we never even got round to preparing anything to eat! 

‘Fortunately, Jesus realised what was going on. And seeing how exhausted we all were, he suggested we got away from it all, and have some time to get our breath back. We thought we had managed to slip away by boat, across the lake. But somehow people had spotted us, and ran round to the other side. They beat us to it. By the time we got to shore, there was already a crowd waiting. My heart sank. We needed some peace and quiet. But Jesus quoted that verse from the Book of Numbers to us: “They are just like sheep running about without a shepherd,” and he just got on with teaching them – right up until it was too dark to see any more. Even so, we shared food and all had enough.

‘The same thing happened when we got into the boat and went to Gennesaret. There was the crowd, waiting on the shore. Everywhere we went – towns, villages, out to the countryside – it was always the same. People begging him to heal their friends, their family – whoever they had brought. Some just asked if they could touch his cloak. And even they got better. It was a most exhausting time…but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.’

HYMN words Thomas Troeger  (tune Hyfrydol)

Praise the source of faith and learning 

who has sparked and stoked the mind 

with a passion for discerning 

how the world has been designed.  

Let the sense of wonder flowing

from the wonders we survey

keep our faith forever growing 

and renew our need to pray:

God of wisdom, we acknowledge

 that our science and our art

and the breadth of human knowledge

only partial truth impart.  

Far beyond our calculation

 lies a depth we cannot sound

where your purpose for creation 

and the pulse of life are found.

May our faith redeem the blunder

 of believing that our thought

 has displaced the grounds for wonder 

which the ancient prophets taught.  

May our learning curb the error

 which unthinking faith can breed

 lest we justify some terror

 with an antiquated creed.

Praise for minds to probe the heavens,

 praise for strength to breathe the air, 

praise for all that beauty leavens, 

praise for silence, music, prayer, 

praise for justice and compassion

and for strangers, neighbours, friends, 

praise for hearts and lips to fashion 

praise for love that never ends.

 Psalm 139.  – The Knowing Psalm 139 for today’s world.

By Rev Heather Whyte (URC Minister who was in the South Western synod who preached at Tavistock URC while working for the synod. Printed in Progressive Voices in September 2015)

I am part of all creation;

My words; my actions; my thoughts, my hopes and dreams are shared with all that is.

This knowledge is beyond my imagination, for now,

But I am called to share its knowing,

To be a conscious part of all that is…

There is no hiding in the knowing for we are all one.

There is no escaping, except through denial and rejection,

The creation of my own reality apart from oneness.

Creation has formed me;

The atoms that give me form are part of all that is,

All that has been and all that will be.

I share with them everything and everyone within this world and beyond.

I am wonderfully and fearfully made as is everyone and everything in the sphere of creative energy.

We are what has always been the source of all being

The past, present. And future;

A reality beyond our humble imagination but we are called into this other reality, into the knowing.

The knowing calls everyone but some are afraid,

Fearing that which they see as unknown when there is nothing unknown in oneness,

This fear creates divisions and hurt and anger,

But love can drive out fear and in the oneness, the knowing, love is all there is.

A differ way of living, a different way of seeing, a different way of being;

We are known and we are called into oneness. 

To be is to be one.

Prayer in spirit of the Lord’s Prayer (by Mark Berry):

O Breathing Life, your Name shines everywhere! 

Release a space to plant your Presence here. 

Imagine your possibilities now. 

Embody your desire in every light and form. 

Grow through us this moment’s bread and wisdom. 

Untie the knots of failure binding us, 

as we release the strands we hold of others’ faults. 

Help us not forget our Source, 

Yet free us from not being in the Present. 

From you arises every Vision, Power and Song 

from gathering to gathering. Amen – 

May our future actions grow from here!

 Reflection

During a recent zoom meeting, the speaker referred to a book called “A history of reading”. What? Surely, either we read or not! What can be said to fill a book about the history of reading? 

Some people think of reading as the introvert’s hobby: a silent activity for a person who likes quiet, save for the voices in their head. But in the 5,000 or so years that humans have been writing, reading as we conceive it, as a solo activity with a book, is a relatively new form of leisure. For centuries, Europeans who could read did so aloud. The ancient Greeks read their texts aloud. So did the monks of Europe’s dark ages. As did those who first received the gospels and the letters of Paul. But by the 17th century, reading in Europe had changed drastically. Text technologies, like moveable type, and the rise of vernacular writing helped usher in the practice we cherish today: taking in words without saying them aloud, letting them build a world in our heads.

We often assume that the written word was about facts but in the 1st century, they were not concerned with who wrote a text: indeed copying was a way of honouring the earlier writer. There was rarely a fixed interpretation of the word. They looked for allusions, metaphors or coded hints from their scriptures. 

In our reading today, it said that Jesus taught them many things. This he did by getting people outside in the community to think about the meaning of life and he did so often by using parables. The parables in the New Testament are not about finding one meaning but are tools to get people to think. They are challenging and argumentative. The parables of Jesus are not seeking to be original but to be faithful to the tradition in which he had been brought up. We will think more about parables later.

Hymn By George Stuart. (Tune Aurelia.)

1. The stories told by Jesus

Were told to simple folk

He told them for their comfort,

As well as to provoke.

The leaders of the temple,

The ones who taught the law,

Did not give their approval

To what they heard and saw.

2. For Jesus strays were welcome.

They were the ones he sought;

And so he told this story

To give them more support.

“Take sheep – you have a hundred;

You lose one. You will leave

The ninety-nine in pasture,

The lost one to retrieve”.

3. “And when you find the drifter,

The one alone and cold,

You take it to your shoulder,

Return it to the fold.

Your joy is overwhelming;

For what was lost is found.

You celebrate with neighbours. 

Your happiness, profound”.

4. Just so. This is the message

Of hope and grace and peace

To those who feel “gone missing”,

For those who need release.

There’s joy in restoration

For when we feel alone,

In God we are accepted;

In God is peace unknown.

Reflection

Parables are about presenting a story which is not history but is meant to make you think. There is more of this in the bible than many people are aware.

If you get sued for your coat, (what does it say) then you give your shirt, your undergarment. This act of being sued is in a 2 garment society. If you get sued for your trousers, give your underwear too. If you get sued, embarrass to death the person who is suing you. Would anybody do that? – well that is the saying. It is quite outrageous, quite provocative, quite challenging, it is trying to turn around the argument. The accuser becomes embarrassed such that the accuser has to reform. The accuser has to see the oppression that is being caused.

Turn the other cheek. (What do we think it is about?) We often think it means, give in, don’t react violently. But if someone gives you a back handed slap on your left cheek, offer them your right cheek. A back handed slap is a slap by a superior to an inferior. It is to humiliate them and keep them in their place. You have already stepped above your place in society to incur a slap-  but you say, I am not going to take this insult to my humanity, I offer my other cheek but his time you have to use your right hand with an open palm. Hit me like an equal. I refuse to accept an inferior status, hit me as an equal, then I can react as an equal. Is this about non-violence or did it have a lesson about equality for their society? It is not as straightforward as some might like to admit.

Lost sheep. (What do we think it is about?) In Luke’s gospel, the parable seems to be about God going out and finding the lost sinner. Let’s look at it in the context of the time. Sheep gets lost, shepherd goes out and brings it back and then there is a celebration. In the first century, how would you celebrate? You would not only slaughter one sheep but several; probably the one you found and 3 or four others. For a party, that is what you would have roasted sheep! 

In Luke’s story, the shepherd leaves the 99 and goes off to look for the other. Luke asks who would not do that?  If you were a shepherd, you definitely would not do that. To leave the 99 to wander off, to be open to attack by a wolf and to possibly get lost or killed.  What? The story says you come back triumphantly having found the lost sheep but you then give up what you have got. It is about celebrating, not about finding.

The above is hyperbole. Exaggerated claims not meant to be taken literally but to make you think

How do we use our power? How do we respond to those who seek to humiliate us or put us down? How do we celebrate?

When the queen visits, councils tidy streets and decorate buildings in the places where she will pass or visit. Often the same happens with the Prime Minister or government ministers. Perhaps we should leave unemptied bins, the closed shops, the flaking paint so that they are embarrassed when they flaunt their status or privilege or wealth when they have failed to provide essential services for the man or woman in the street.

When governments fail to respond to climate change but continue to invest in fossil fuels or set long term targets to meet climate change aims but then fail to put their money into achieving imminent and short term actions – what should we do? By their failure to act, governments are giving us, our children and our grandchildren a slap in the face. Do we just accept it or challenge them?

Phil Kingston. An 83 year old grandfather from Bristol was in the news in October 2019 when he glued his hand to a DLR train. He said that he was making a protest for his grandchildren because heading for a 3 degree rise in temperature would cause suffering and death on an enormous scale. He wanted the authorities to open their eyes and see what is happening to future generations. He was demanding that his humanity be recognised. He was insisting that those with power recognise that if they abuse future generations there will be a cost and not just with one delayed train.

These parables are hyperbole – they are exaggerated statements not to be taken literally. Jesus’ sayings are about questioning, challenging, breaking free of yourself, not being caught up in the system but to have compassion for others. Today’s parables say that if you give up not only what you have but even more, you will find life and that Life should be about celebration. It is not about hanging on to what you have got but using what you have for others. Jesus goes over the top – Yes – that is what parables do – but it should make us think about our life and attitudes if nothing else. 

DEDICATION OF OFFERING

We offer our money and our wealth,

our trust and our incredulity,

our fullness and our emptiness.

May they and we be blessed for our journey. Amen

PRAYERS OF CONCERN

We express our prayers for those in our hearts and minds…

For all in government and in every kind of leadership,

we pray that their leadership will be one of wisdom and integrity.

For those who have no strength to carry on,

when the road seems too long to travel or too steep,

we pray that their hearts might be lifted up.

For all who mourn the loss of loved ones,

we pray that they will sense an eternal presence of love surrounding and embracing them.

As we journey from the pandemic, watching its effect, fearing its progress, 

we pray in hope and expectation.

By restraining ourselves from greeting others as we would wish for over a year, 

we have learned to value human contact as never before.

May the Spirit’s touch upon our lives encourage and sustain us 

in these days of promise and recovery.

In silence, we bring to mind all who need our prayers this morning………………

For ourselves and for one another, as we travel together in faith,

sharing our stories and encouraging one another,

we pray that, in knowing one another, we may see and find glimpses of the divine.

May the Church be somewhere where we wonder anew at Creation, 

hold out hope for a better world for all people 

and take action to make that world a reality.

We pray in the name of the one who journeys with us, Jesus Christ. Amen.

HYMN Words: Jan Berry (Tune: Abbot’s Leigh)

In the stories that surprise us,

When we find the words to tell,

In the meanings that delight us

With their liberating spell;

In the dawn of hope awaking

In the wisdom that we find,

God-with-us in storymaking,

Speak the words that free our mind.

And when stories can’t be spoken,

When the grief cannot be told,

When the threads of trust are broken,

Torn apart by terror’s hold;

When we’re weary with the aching

Of the pain we cannot share,

God-with-us in storymaking,

Hear the silence of our prayer.

When the stories grow in spinning,

Learning from each other’s art,

When each end is a beginning

And each knot and strand a part;

In the tangled risks we’re taking,

In the fragile web we weave,

God-with-us in storymaking,

Help us act what we believe.

When in symbol dream and story,

We are searching for what’s true,

When in holy human glory

God is making all things new;

In the loaf of bread we’re breaking,

In the cup of wine outpoured,

God-with-us in storymaking,

Live in us, as flesh and word.

Blessing

As we go about our daily activities, may we be aware of the presence of the Spirit in the middle and muddle of our daily lives.

ReplyForward