Audio service, June 7 (published June 14)

The full text of the service for the First Sunday after Pentecost — last Sunday —  follows. Low bandwidth users might want to download and unzip the lower-quality audio file.

Higher-quality audio:

Download: Lower-quality audio file, zipped (2.0 Mb)

Welcome

Greetings. This is a service of worship for June 7, 2020, the First Sunday after Pentecost

Sentence and Votum (Psalm 124:8)

Day and night without ceasing they sing, “Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” [Revelation 4:8b]

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Collect for the Day

Let us pray:
O Lord our God, who by your Son has taught us that love is the fulfilling of the law and of the gospel; fill us, we ask, with the spirit of universal charity, that we may love you above all, and our neighbor as ourselves. Amen.

Lord’s Prayer

Let us pray, as Jesus taught, 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 glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm

Let us praise God with words from Psalm 29

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
worship the Lord in holy splendour.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,
and strips the forest bare;
and in his temple all say, ‘Glory!’

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king for ever.
May the Lord give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Lesson

A reading from the Gospel of John [John 3:1-15, NRSV]

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Here ends the reading.

Address

Greetings: my intention with these services was to create moments of worship for scattered Universalists and others, and to test how a lone person could produce them. This service, the last, is a week late because of the deepening sense of crisis and doom in the country. But it’s a canon of pastoral practice to not leave the people without hope, and so I’d like to conclude with a thought from today’s lesson.

“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

Jesus’ parallel between his own coming crucifixion and agony, and Moses lifting up of the bronze snake is not obvious. The reference is from a passage in Numbers where the people were attacked by snakes, and this was interpreted as being a curse from God because the people rejected the provision of manna. They wanted their own familiar food, but God sent serpents instead. The people interceded with Moses to intercede with God, and God’s response was for Moses to fashion the bronzen snake. “So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.” (Numbers 21:9, NRSV)

One connection seems clear. Sins against God requires divine response if we are to be healed and be whole. But does that make Jesus the snake? No, it makes him the conduit between heaven and earth. But there the parallel breaks down. Where Israelites needed only to look upon the bronze snake and be healed, Jesus said “believe.” Lazy habits then and now confuse obedience with a changed and good life. Belief without change is simply subordination, a kind of oppression. But if you should believe, and turn to the good, and do good, you will have eternal life here on earth.

Think of what happened to that bronze snake. It was later placed in the Jerusalem Temple, but as we read in 2 Kings, Hezekiah destroyed it, consolidating worship to the One God “for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it.” (2 Kings 18:4, NRSV) Rather than turning the people towards God, it became an emblem of worship in its own right. In the first case, God’s means of healing became a scandal, yet Jesus Christ took the cross, a scandal, and made it life for us. So it’s not enough to look to the cross. Let it move you closer by grace to God despite — perhaps because — its cruelty. Indeed, keep a clear eye on cruelty so you are not seduced into believing it can justify the good. The goal is peace, love and light.

May God bless and keep us today and always.

Winchester Profession

Let us profess our faith:

We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament contain a revelation of the character of God, and of the duty, interest and final destination of mankind.

We believe that there is one God, whose nature is Love, revealed in one Lord Jesus Christ, by one Holy Spirit of Grace, who will finally restore the whole family of mankind to holiness and happiness.

We believe that holiness and true happiness are inseparably connected, and that believers ought to be careful to maintain order and practice good works; for these things are good and profitable unto men.

Collects

For peace

Let us pray for peace:

O God, who is the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom stands our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom; Grant us, your servants, we humbly ask you, that peace which the world can neither give nor take away; that we, who in all our dangers rely on your goodness, may under your parental protection be defended against all adversities, and rejoice evermore in your blessed service, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

For grace

Let us pray for grace:

O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, who has safely brought us to the beginning of this day; Defend us today with your mighty power; and grant that we fall into no sin, nor run into any kind of danger; but that all our doings may be ordered by your governance, to do always that which is righteous in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For all conditions of humankind

Let us pray for all people

O God, the Creator and Preserver of all humankind, we humbly ask that you would make your ways known unto the breath and width of the human family, your saving health to all nations. More especially we pray for the good estate of the Church Universal; that it may be so guided and governed by your Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life. Finally, we commend to your tender goodness all those who are any ways afflicted or distressed, in mind, body, or estate (particularly sick people and those close to death); that you would comfort and relieve them according to their various needs, giving them patience under their condition, and a happy result from all their afflictions. And this we ask for your mercy’s sake in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Concluding prayer

Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen. [1979 Book of Common Prayer]

Benediction

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.

Notices

This is the last of these services but for more information, visit revscottwells.com. The portions of scripture are from the New Revised Standard Version.

This is Scott Wells. God bless.

One Reply to “Audio service, June 7 (published June 14)”

  1. Thanks for these, it was an interesting and meaningful experiment.

    I’d be interested in a follow up at some stage on your experiences making them- what worked, what was hard etc.
    For my part, it caused me to reflect on the differences between an audience, a word you used, and a congregation.

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