READING: Romans 8:22-39 and Matthew 13:31-33,44-52
SERMON : "Seed, Yeast, and Treasures Old and New"
Rev. Richard J. Fairchild
a-or17sn 683000
The following is a more or less complete liturgy and sermon
for the upcoming Sunday. Hymn numbers, designated as VU are
found in the United Church of Canada Hymnal "Voices United".
SFPG is "Songs For A Gospel People", also available from the UCC.
The Call To Worship, Prayer of Approach, Benediction and
the concept for the Post Communion Prayer is taken and/or
modified from Jeff Shrowder (jeffshrowder@ansonic.com.au)
"July 25 - Call to Worship Etc", as sent to the PRCL-List,
July 99.
GATHERING AND MUSICAL PRELUDE (* = please stand)
* ENTRANCE & CANDLE LIGHTING
* INTROIT: "What Does The Lord Require of You" (VU-701)
* WORDS OF WELCOME AND CALL TO WORSHIP (based on Psalm 105:1-5)
L The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
P And also with you.
L Give thanks to the Lord and call on His name.
P We will tell the world what God has done.
L Sing to the Lord, sing praises; and tell all of God's
wonderful works. Glory in God's holy name.
P We seek the Lord and his strength.
L Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and
the judgments he has uttered.
P All who do so rejoice to the core of their being.
* PRAYER OF INVOCATION:
Holy is your name, O LORD.
Grant us now the help of the Holy Spirit,
that we may receive your word with joy and thanksgiving,
praise you for your goodness,
and give ourselves to you in love and service;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
* HYMN: "Let Us With A Gladsome Mind" - VU 234
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND SHARING JOYS AND CONCERNS
Gathering in of prayer joys and concerns.
INTROIT For The Word of God (please stay seated):
Open my ears, that I may hear voices of truth thou sendest clear;
and while the wave notes fall on my ear, everything false will disappear.
Silently now I wait for thee, ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my ears, illumine me, Spirit divine! (VU 371 v.2 & refrain)
A READING FROM MATTHEW 13:31-33
(Mat 13:31-33 NRSV) He put before them another parable: "The
kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took
and sowed in his field; {32} it is the smallest of all the
seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and
becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make
nests in its branches." {33} He told them another parable:
"The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and
mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was
leavened."
L This is the gospel of our Risen Lord.
P Praise be to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
CHILDREN'S TIME
Theme: God Grows Great Things From Little Beginnings
Object: Yeast, Bannock, Bread
Source: Self
Core Concept: Bring Bread - (on communion table), and some flour
and water = pan bread or bannock. But with yeast.... you get
bread that rises. Much tastier. It spreads through all the
flour.
HYMN: "For The Beauty of The Earth" - VU 226
A READING FROM MATTHEW 13:44-52
(NRSV) "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in
a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he
goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. {45}
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search
of fine pearls; {46} on finding one pearl of great value,
he went and sold all that he had and bought it. {47}
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was
thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; {48}
when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put
the good into baskets but threw out the bad. {49} So it
will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out
and separate the evil from the righteous {50} and throw
them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. {51} "Have you understood all
this?" They answered, "Yes." {52} And he said to them,
"Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the
kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who
brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."
L This is the gospel of our Risen Lord.
P Praise be to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
* HYMN: "Rejoice, The Lord is King" - VU 213
SERMON: "Seed, Yeast, and Treasures Old and New"
Let us Pray: Breathe on us, O God, that we may be filled
with your Spirit - and led by your living word - Jesus
Christ our Lord. Bless the word of my lips and the
meditations of our hearts. We ask it in his name. Amen.
Over the last three weeks we have heard Matthew retell a series
of the parables of Jesus. This Sunday we end this series - with
five of those parables
The first two parables use the images of mustard seed and yeast.
Both describe how, from small, almost invisible beginnings, great
things will come.
In the second group of parables we see God's realm is described
as a treasure hidden in a field, something that brings about
life-changing joy when it is discovered - and when we are
prepared to sell everything we own to obtain it.
We see the kingdom of God described as being like a pearl of
great price - a thing of great beauty, for which the merchant
will give up all other pearls -so he or she may purchase it.
The final parable in this set describes the kingdom of God as
being like a great net that catches all kinds of fish - which are
then sorted out according to their quality - with the good ones
being kept safe for the use of the Master and the bad ones being
tossed away.
Finally Jesus tells his disciples how to respond to the Good News
that he has just proclaimed. He tells them that those who are
students of the scriptures - those who study them diligently AND
become disciples of the kingdom of God - will bring out treasures
both old and new from the storeroom of heaven.
What to make of all this?
For me these parables speaks strongly about the nature of faith
and what it does -
and about the nature of God
and what he does,
and, as usual, God does far more
than we normally give God credit for.
Jesus says in the first two parables that the smallest faith,
the smallest seed of God,
the tiny bit of the yeast of righteousness
can transform itself and those things in contact with it - and so
change the world.
As Jesus said at another time "If we have faith as small as
mustard seed we can say to the
mountains be removed - and it
will remove itself."
Think of it
--- just a little seed - from which can come a mighty bush.
--- just a little leaven - and we can change the entire loaf.
When I was pastoring in Ontario a few years back I met a man in
the local coffee shop one day. Then, like now I spent about an
hour each day indulging in a great Canadian tradition - holding
up my end as it were. Did you know that Canadians consume more
coffee and have more coffee shops per capita than any other
nation on the face of the earth....
Anyway I was enjoying a rounded sugar, double cream - and
I met this man who lived in my community, but I, and many
others in the church, really didn't know him - though he
knew us - you know how it goes.
As we talked he asked me - "You're the Minister at the
United Church aren't you"
I fessed up. And then I invited him to come out and give
the church a try.
"Well", he said, "I don't really know. I haven't been to
church for a while. But I'll think about it for sure."
"What the heck", I said, "Just come and enjoy it -
there's always room for one more sinner. That's what it
is all about. We have all kinds of sinners at our church"
The next Sunday the man showed up at the church with his
wife and children. As he said, he hadn't been to church
regularly for a long time. He hadn't felt right about
himself. He didn't think God was too pleased with him.
He was uncomfortable in the places where he used to feel
at ease. --- That's how it is for a person when things
aren't right - and to be frank - they aren't right quite a
bit of the time for a whole lot of people.
But God calls us back - and he works with the tiniest seeds - the
small bit of faith we have - and the littlest bit of His Word -
whatever he can sneak right by all a person's guilt and anxiety
and remorse and worldly busyness and plant.
For that man - the word that the church was full of sinners was
all he needed to hear - for the seed of faith he had told him
that churches that welcomed sinners would welcome him.
Nothing can stop the growing of the seed
because the Power of God is in the seed
Nothing can prevent the leaven from spreading
because The Power of God is in the leaven.
In God's kingdom the smallest and the least significant things
have incredible power; the incredible power to affect the largest
and most significant things and transform them.
From the small amount of yeast that represented that man's
faith - the man I met in the coffee shop; and from the
small seed of welcoming truth - the small seed of God that
God let me plant that day, has come a mighty bush - or to
switch parables - a mighty tasty loaf.
Today my coffee drinking friend is an elder of my old
church. And he is helping lead a revival there - a time
of awakening - within the congregation - and - as is
always the case when God's spirit is involved - without
it.
Revival it is said "always begins with me" Something awakens in
us - something gets us on fire - and suddenly marvellous things
are happening - not only to us - but to those we come into
contact with.
God takes a seed - he plants it - and slowly, but surely growth
comes - until suddenly everyone notices it - we notice it and
other people notice it in us.
The mustard seed is the word of the kingdom of God
- the word of truth
- the word that points the way to the living reality of God
in Christ among us.
And the yeast is the word that grows within us
- the faith that rises up because that is the nature that God
gave it
- that rises up and makes new - that brings to life - that
revives.
And praise God - I have seen a planting - and I have seen a
sprouting - and now others, like the birds of the air - are
suddenly frequent visitors because of that which God has wrought
- people build their spiritual homes on the branches of faith
that my coffee drinking friend has produced because he listened
to and held onto the word which came his way.
Which brings me to the next two parables.
In the next two parables Jesus calls us to treasure the message
we have discovered in the field of life,
to do everything to hold onto the wonder working seed and the
miraculous yeast that we find,
- or which finds us - for who can predict just how and why
we would ever stumble upon treasure buried in the middle
of a field? or just how and why a pearl of tremendous
beauty might come our way, even if we are merchants who
deal in such things?
There has been many a pastor and many a faithful Christian in the
pew - who have let go of the treasure - and whose joy and delight
in God - and whose trust and confidence in God - has been not as
tremendously beautiful as it once was.
We all know the facts of life. When a person finds something of
great value he or she has a decision to make -
-- to obtain that treasure - no matter what the cost
-- or to be content with the treasure that he or she already has.
Often what we do - is obtain the treasure - and then let it go.
We exchange it for lesser things
- things that seem important at the time
or maybe we just allow events to overwhelm us
- so that the great treasure is once again buried in the
field of our life.
And then, to mix up the parables of Jesus, we suddenly come to
our senses and return home to our Father; we decide to repurchase
the pearl; to once again lay claim to the treasure.
Hopefully we are not too late.
There is a word from God for us - a touch of the Spirit for us -
an event for us - a person who comes to us for us - that is
worth everything we have - So says Jesus!
Don't let it go by.
Pick up - hold on to it - don't let go.
It is a saving thing that makes all of one's life worthwhile.
The value of what God has given to us freely through his law and
his prophets,
the value of what God has buried in our hearts and our minds
for us to find,
what God has brought to us in the person of Christ and
pours out upon us through his Spirit,
is beyond everything. When we grasp it.
The challenge for us is to grasp it - to not only recognize what
we see and hear as being important; but to take action - to hold
on to it - to give everything we have for it -- to stand - and
then walk - and then run if need be - to that place where we can
claim full ownership of it.
Hold on to the seeds cast your way - let them germinate - nurture
them.
Take the yeast out of its container and risk losing it all by
putting all of it into the dough of your life.
Sell everything and buy the whole field - get the pearl - and
watch what happens.
What will happen is great. You'll be attacked and assaulted by
doubters and naysayers. But you will see better things than you
have seen before - and you'll know a love and show a love that
the people who live in the world can only dream about it.
Which flows into the last parable - the parable of the net - and
of the judgement that comes once the net is drawn and landed on
the shore of heaven.
God casts his net to catch us all - he gives us all a chance to
be his - he reaches out to us - he seeks us - and as the parables
we have looked at over the last three weeks - and the stories I
have told indicate - he goes to great lengths to make us into the
kind of catch he wants. He is patient with us. He allows the
weeds to grow so that the wheat is not uprooted - he changes what
appears to be beyond hope into something that is worthy of
praise.
But still there is a time when the catch is landed and sorted for
market, when the field is harvested and the wheat and the weeds
are separated.
And God calls to heed the approaching of that time - to number
our days - to have a holy fear - so that we might acquire a heart
of wisdom.
What God has made good lasts forever. It is valued by the maker.
What turns out bad - and refuses to be reworked - revived -
refashioned - by the Maker,
perishes.
And so it should be.
"Do you understand all these things",
Jesus asked his disciples when he finished speaking.
"Do you understand what I have been telling you"
"Yes", they said, "We do."
So he told them "Every student of the scriptures who becomes a
disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like
someone who brings out new and old treasures
from the storeroom."
There is a difference here drawn between being a student and
being a disciple
between learning about something or knowing something and
then actually doing it,
between taking a stand and actually standing,
and it is an important difference.
The one who becomes a disciple, the one not only learns about
Christ, but who actually follows Christ, is one who discovers an
abundance of treasure - treasure that is both old and new -
and who displays it all for others to see,
who values it all - and wants all the world to see it all.
In changing times it is good to know that the followers of Christ
embrace what has gone by and recognize that which has just come
has value as well.
There are so many treasures that God has sent our way -
so many to value and embrace and hold up -
- the old law and the prophets with their guidance and their
grace and the new law written in the heart by the Spirit of
God,
- the old rituals with their ability to calm and quieten the
heart so that we may meet God, and the new ones which can
energize and make fresh a tired soul,
- the great grandmother with the wisdom of her age worn like
a mantle upon her shoulders and the smallest child with his
or her tremendous ability - born of innocence - to see God
where no one else can.
God's treasure, it is said in scripture, is contained in earthen
vessels, in perishable - very mortal containers - and so the
disciples of Christ value one another - and what they have to
offer - whether it be old or new or in between.
There is a great mercy spoken of in all the parables we have
heard. A great love, a great power, a great God, are pointed to
in them.
It is worth everything and when embraced - leads to everything of
importance in this world and in the next.
Blessed be God - day by day. Amen
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let us pray: Lord, we give you thanks for the word that you hide
like a treasure in our heart, for the leaven which is able to
penetrate to every area of our life - for the seed that is able
to grow into a mighty plant... Help us we pray to value that
which you have given us - to make following Christ the most
important thing in our daily lives - to concentrate above all
upon the doing your will and sharing your love and the good news
you have proclaimed through Jesus with one another and with the
entire whole world.... Lord hear our prayer...
Lord, we give We give you thanks today for the wonders of our
heritage and for the new things that you continue to do in our
midst. We praise you for the teachings of the prophets, for the
law you revealed unto Moses, for the grace and the love that you
poured out and continue to pour out through Christ - and for the
guidance, the strength, the wisdom, the peace, the joy, the
patience, and the gentleness that you bestow upon us through your
Spirit. Help us to value both the old and the new and to become
worthy teachers of the lessons of your eternal kingdom.... Lord,
hear our prayer....
-- Father, we pray for the people around us this day - for those
who are upon our hearts and minds because of a need that they
have - for those who have or will visit with us this day -- for
those we have worked with this past week - for those we have
dreamed of recently. Bless each one according to the need that
they have and bring all to a closer walk with thee. Lord hear
our prayer..
We ask you to hear all our prayers, O God, in the name of the one
who taught us to pray to you in the word's we now sing -- OUR
FATHER
* SHARING GOD'S BLESSINGS: As the Offering is presented all stand
for the Doxology (Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow - VU
541) and Prayer of Dedication
We pray thee, O God, to receive the offerings of your
people and to bless them in the work you have set before
us. May all that we say and do be said and done in the
manner that Christ taught us and in the power of his
Spirit. Amen.
* SHARING THE PEACE: We greet those around us with a sign of
peace (handshakes or hugs) and words like "The peace of the Lord
be with you". This ancient tradition is an appropriate response
to the peace that God gives to those who hear and do his word.
* COMMUNION HYMN: "Seek Ye First The Kingdom" - VU 356
COMMUNION LITANY:
L The peace of the Lord be with you.
P And also with you.
L Lift up your hearts.
P We lift them up to the Lord.
L Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
P It is right to give God thanks and praise.
EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
THE INSTITUTION & THE ACT OF CONSECRATION
We remember how on the night before his passion Jesus took bread
and gave you thanks - as even now we give thanks to you O God for
this bread, saying: "Take and eat: this is my body which will be
broken for you." We recall as well how, in the same way, when
the meal was over, he took the cup, the cup of blessing, and gave
it to his disciples, saying: "Take and drink: This is my blood,
the blood of a new covenant for the forgiveness of sin.... When
you do this, do it in memory of me."
Father, send thy Holy Spirit upon us and what we do here that we,
and these gifts, may be signs of hope to us and to all the world.
Make them for us the body and blood of Christ Jesus, and make us
through them the body of Christ in the world. We ask it in his
name, praying together as he taught us, singing: Our Father...
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS: The congregation is invited to
come forward up the centre aisle, then return to their seats by
the side aisles
DEPARTING PRAYER: (based on Romans 8:26-39)
L Let us pray..... We thank you O God that you did not keep
your own Son to yourself, but gave him up for all of us.
P By this we are sure that you will give us everything else.
L It is you, O God, who makes all things right;
who is there to condemn us?
P Indeed, it is Christ Jesus, who died, and whom you raised,
who is at your right hand and who pleads our case.
L Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness;
P We thank you that even though we do not know how to pray as we
ought, that the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep
for words.
L We thank you God for how the Spirit intercedes for the saints
according to your will and for the love of Christ from which
we cannot be separated.
P We thank you for the Holy Table that you spread before us,
for the life that you grant which is strong than death.
L We thank you for the bread and wine that you have given us,
and for the love which makes us more than conquerors through
him who loved us.
P Amen and Amen. Halleluiah. Amen.
* DEPARTING HYMN: "The Day of Resurrection" - VU 164
* COMMISSIONING (Unison): In the power of the Holy Spirit we now
go forth into the world, to fulfil our calling as the people
of God, the body of Christ.
* BENEDICTION AND THREEFOLD AMEN
Go in peace,
knowing that nothing can separate you from the love of God.
- And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ rest upon you,
- the love of God embrace you,
- and the presence of the Holy Spirit surprise and encourage you,
both now and forevermore. Amen.
* THREEFOLD AMEN & CHORAL BLESSING: "Go Now In Peace" - VU 964
copyright - Rev. Richard J. Fairchild - Spirit Networks, 1999 - 2006
please acknowledge the appropriate author if citing these sermons.
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