Call to Worship

Luke 10:38-41 (The Message)

As they continued their travel, Jesus entered a village. A woman by the name of Martha welcomed him and made him feel quite at home.

She had a sister, Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said. But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen.

Later, she stepped in, interrupting them. “Master, don’t you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand.”

The Master said, “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it—it’s the main course, and won’t be taken from her.”

_____

Scripture Reading

John 11:17-27

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was a little less than two miles from Jerusalem. Many Jews had come to comfort Martha and Mary after their brother’s death.

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, while Mary remained in the house.

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. Even now I know that whatever you ask God, God will give you.”

Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

She replied, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, the one who is coming into the world.”

_____

Pastoral Prayer

O Lord,

Our friend, Frederick Buchner, says that The Good News sometimes begins as Bad News.

Bad news. A broken heart. Busted dreams. Feeling low. Financial disaster. Despair, Anxiety. Sickness. Death.

But the hope of faith, and the promise of Scripture, is that in the bad news, good news breaks forth. When Mary and Martha were enveloped in bad news, the good news showed up in Jesus.

Thank you Lord, for showing up. Teach us to respond to the bad news of life with the assurance that good news is one the way.

Allow us to see clearly in the fog of struggle the hope of a better tomorrow.

Instill in us that while “Weeping may last for the night, joy will come in the morning.

In the name of Jesus, Our brother and our friend,

Amen.