Worship at First Presbyterian Church of Marion, Illinois

Deuteronomy 5:1-21; 6:4-9             Hear O Israel, Ten Commandments (Mark 12:28-31)

           Over my

lifetime, the 10 commandments have made a comeback. It sounds odd to say that,

but for the longest time many Christians were convinced that anything Old

Testament was made irrelevant by Jesus, including the 10 commandments, and so

we heard more about the greatest commandment. And then suddenly there was

debate about where they could be or should be posted, and suddenly people paid

attention to the 10 Commandments again. Notice that I say ‘paid attention to,’

and not ‘followed.’

           Breaking

down the 10 commandments, they often seem pretty simple. Maybe we’ll confess to

bending the 3rd commandment, and we haven’t actually murdered

anyone, but then we get to coveting, and well, the wheels come off the bus.

           These

commandments aren’t easy. They take practice. It takes practice over the long

haul to keep them – whether the 10, or the greatest. How is your training

going? Are you staying in practice?

Exodus 1:8-14 [1:15–2:10]; 3:1-15  Moses and God’s Name (Mark 12:26-27a)

           This small

(3 chapter) section of Exodus highlights again how long a scale God does things

over. At the very beginning we hear that things have changed in Egypt. The

people of God are forgotten – their connection to Joseph and Joseph himself are

unknown by those in power. That situation didn’t happen quickly, and the next

steps didn’t happen quickly either. They take generations. This Pharaoh comes

to power in chapter 1. He dies at the end of chapter 2. This get rougher and

rougher for the people of God. Supply cities are built, the Israelites are

fruitful and prolific. Their population grows enough to be considered a threat

by the ruling class – signs that this story is not yet irrelevant.

           God hears

the people cry at the end of chapter 2, having already seen to the birth of

Moses. Moses grows up, and gets in trouble, runs away, and then encounters a

burning bush. Actually, he encounters the

burning bush. God and Moses have their familiar argument or recruiting speech,

and eventually, gets Moses to go. It takes a long time for things to change.

           How is it

that we understand the scale that God sometimes works on? Are we willing to be

oppressed now, and cry out, and then have the rescuer/prophet/savior be born?

How long can we wait? How long do we wait? What does this say about the prayers

of those who have come before us, and who are still awaiting their deliverance?

Genesis 32:[9-13] 22-30                Jacob Wrestles God  (Mark 14:32-36)

           Here we

catch up to Jacob as he is about to head home. He has been on a long trip from

home. His father sent him to find a wife among the extended family, which he

has done, indeed, he has found two wives, 11 children, and been away from home

for a while. Remember that Jacob had to labor 7 years to be allowed to married

Rachel, and then got Leah instead, and then had to do another 7 years to be allowed

to marry Rachel, and he has 11 children between 2 wives and 2 maids. But, he’s

coming home to a brother that he stole from and embarrassed, and that makes him

nervous.

           So we come

to this place, where Jacob sends bribes ahead to his brother. He waits, having

sent all his stuff, all his people, away. Jacob starts this encounter with

prayer. It is different from the prayer that he starts this journey with after

seeing God in his sleep at Bethel. This one is not conditional. It reflects his

state, his hopes, and his request. He recounts God’s blessings, and God’s

promises, and asks God to deliver him.

           Again at

night he encounters God, this time in a wrestling match. They wrestle all day,

and neither one wins. At daybreak, the stranger needs to go, and the stranger

dislocates Jacob’s hip, and then says that he must go. Jacob will not let him

go until he blesses Jacob. He asks for Jacob’s name, gives him a new name,

Israel, for he has striven with God and with humans, and has prevailed. Jacob

asks for the man’s name, doesn’t get it, and names the place Peniel, for he had

seen God face to face.

           While we

focus on the wrestling match at the end, that really isn’t Jacob’s struggle. In

the 20+ years of his sojourn, he has gone from questioning if God would follow

through to knowing that God has made him who he is, and that God has been with

him far from home. He comes back knowing that God is the one to ask for help. This

is a 20 + year struggle. Think about to your own journey. When and where, from

Bethel to Peniel, did you know that God was in this place or face to face? Over

the long struggle, how have we seen God?

Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-7 Isaac Born to Sarah (Mark 10:27)

           God and

angels come to visit with Sarah and Abraham. Abraham sees them and runs to

greet them (do you hear the prodigal son?) Abraham flags down the travelers and

encourages them to stop. Next he orders a meal to be made. Bread is to be made,

a calf is to be slaughtered, curds and milk are to be prepared, all to be set

before the visitors, the guests. That doesn’t make for a short visit.

They eat, then they ask about

Sarah. One promises to return, and promise that Sarai will have a son at the

time of the next visit. Sarah laughs. She is questioned about her laughing. And

that’s what we remember. We forget that one visitor has extended this visit by

a long little bit.

Sarah’s laughter moves from

disbelief to promise. Her son is born Isaac, and the promise of God moves right

into her home. And that takes time. It takes time for us, as well. It takes

time to move from disbelief to faith. It takes hosting, and running, and

inviting, and waiting, and laughing. It takes slowing down to experience the

presence of God. When was the last time that we settled in for a long visit

with God and everything that it might entail?

Genesis 1:1-9, Isaiah 40:1-8, Hebrews 4:12-14, John 1:1-14, 2 Timothy 3:16-4:5

           Our worship is centered around

the word. We gather around the word, the proclaim the word, and we respond to

the word. That’s the basic structure for our ‘normal’ worship service. The

word can be the text of Scripture. It can be those words that we read from the

Bible. The word can also be the living witness of Jesus Christ. Is it

either/or or both/and?

           We’ll

hear the word, and we’ll respond to the living word. Our service will focus around

hearing the passages that speak about God speaking in creation, about the Word

that worked in creation, about the living word as a 2 edged sword, and about

the word that does not wither or fade.

I John 1:5-10, Hebrews 4:14-16, I Timothy 1:15-17, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Matthew 13:13-16, John 6:52-69

           Confession carries two meanings

in our worship. It is the sense in which we own up to our wrong doings and our

failings and shortcomings. It is also the sense in which we say what we

believe. In both cases, it is a statement of faith – about us and our

relationship with God.

We confess that we fall short, that we sin, that we need forgiveness, and that we need God’s forgiveness.

We also confess that Jesus is Lord, that Christ was born, lived, died, and was raised from the dead, all to restore us to right relationship with God. We confess … and our confession of our sin leads to our confession of our Savior. Our initial public confession of faith is found in the waters of baptism.

We’ll focus this service on the twin aspects of confession, starting with a confession of faith, moving to a confession of sin and pardon, and then responding with confession(s) of faith.

Psalm 146, Psalm 150, Psalm 117, 2 Corinthians 1:1-5

Each of our worship services starts with praise.

We call ourselves to worship by praising God. For what do we praise God? What

words do we use to praise God? What stories do we tell to praise God? What is

the tone of our praise?

   This will be a ‘praise service’ that is

going to focus on the opening part of our worship service, the call to

worship, and all the ways in which we give God praise.

Mary gone, Susan Plays

787 – God Weeps

with Us, Who Weep and Mourn

Malachi 3:6-12, Acts 4:32-5:11 

           And

now, we come to the “or else.” Except it really isn’t an ‘or else.’ It’s more

of a ‘follow through.’ In Malachi God wants to know why we aren’t following

through on our giving. God asserts that we’re actually robbing God of what is

God’s (and it’s all God’s). God asserts that we’re shortchanging God by not

bringing the full tithe before God.

           In

the New Testament, we again have a case where people have promised more than

they’re willing to follow through on. This couple promises to sell property

and give the price to the church, expect they don’t. They withhold some of the

gift, and then there are consequences. There are dramatic consequences. We

like to think about their sudden deaths. It makes for great drama. As people

of the Christian faith, we need to think about what it means that when we

break our word to God, we die. We die, and are not risen.

           Are

we willing to talk about our stewardship in terms of being life or death? Are

we willing to think about ourselves as those who rob God of what is God’s when

we don’t keep our promises?