Sunday Worship 1 September 2024
Today’s service is led by the Revd Andy Braunston
Welcome
Welcome to worship for this the first Sunday of Creationtide. Over 30 years ago the then Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople asked Christians and all believers to pray for the environment on the 1st of September. This has become now an ecumenical season of the Church’s year lasting until St Francis’ day on 4th October. We’ll be using some of the readings set for today to think a little about the world we’ve created; a world of vitality teeming with life but a world endangered by human selfishness and sinfulness, wanton greed and dreadful warfare. My name is Andy Braunston and it’s my honour to lead worship today. I am the United Reformed Church’s Minister for Digital Worship and I live in the beautiful island county of Orkney off the far north coast of Scotland.
Call to Worship
The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land and God calls to us as a woman calls to her lover: arise my love, my fair one and come away.
The fig tree puts forth its figs, the vines are in blossom giving forth fragrance and God calls us as a woman calls to her lover: arise my love, my fair one and come away.
As God calls to us, we cry to God as a woman calls to her lover: O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice.
And so we come to worship, to rise up into God’s fair presence, that we may see God’s face and hear God’s voice, and find strength for the journey and courage to change.
Hymn From All That Dwell Below the Skies
Isaac Watts (1674 – 1748) Public Domain sung by Topher Keene
From all that dwell below the skies
let the creator’s praise arise: alleluia, alleluia!
Let the redeemer’s name be sung through ev’ry land, by ev’ry tongue.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Eternal are your mercies, Lord;
eternal truth attends your Word: alleluia, alleluia!
Your praise shall sound from shore to shore Till suns shall rise and set no more.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
All praise to God the Father be,
all praise, eternal Son, to thee; alleluia, alleluia!
Whom with the Spirit we adore forever and forevermore:
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Prayers of Approach, Confession, & Grace
Father of Lights in You there is no variation or shadow due to change.
You love justice and hate evil,
and call us to be more than passive hearers of Your Word,
urging us time and time again to show our faith in action.
Risen Lord Jesus,
may our tongues be as nimble as the pens of scribes
that we may sing your praise with our loves and our lives.
When we deceive ourselves
that we are truly following you, enlighten us;
when we lie to others
that our motives come from our faith, forgive us;
when we make faith
merely an ideology, change us,
when we ignore
the cries of creation, awaken us.
Help us, Lord Jesus to be doers of the word
and not merely deluded fools.
Most Holy Spirit,
the earth is alive with Your glory,
You are seen in the life that teems around us,
wounded and endangered by our selfishness,
poisoned and polluted by our limitless greed,
yet nourishing and nurturing us.
Help us remember that pure and undefiled religion is this:
to care for orphans and widows in their distress,
and to keep ourselves unstained by the world’s greed,
that through faith in You, we may bring healing and change
to ourselves and the world. Amen.
Introduction
We are going to look at three readings today; an ancient song of erotic love written from the perspective of a woman. It’s a song without shame and speaks of the desire that brings about change. We’re going to say a Psalm together that sounds a bit like the work of a poet laureate called on to write something toadying for whoever is in power, yet repurposed by Synagogue and Church to speak of God and we’re going to listen to some words from the Epistle of James which encourage us not merely to listen to the Word but to live it in our lives and loves. These will give us the lens to think a little about climate change and the actions we need to take to adapt to it and mitigate against its worst excesses.
Prayer for Illumination
Help us, O Christ,
that as we listen we put what we hear into practice,
that Your Word, read and proclaimed,
brings healing and life not greed and decay.
Amen.
Reading Song of Solomon 2:8-17
The voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice. My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away, for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that ruin the vineyards— for our vineyards are in blossom.’ My beloved is mine and I am his; he pastures his flock among the lilies. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on the cleft mountains.
Reading Psalm 45: 1-2, 6-9
My heart overflows with noble words.
To the king I must speak the song I have made,
my tongue as nimble as the pen of a scribe.
Your throne, O God, shall endure for ever.
A sceptre of justice is the sceptre of your kingdom.
Your love is for justice; your hatred for evil.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness above other kings:
your robes are fragrant with aloes and myrrh.
From the ivory palace you are greeted with music.
The daughters of kings are among your loved ones.
On your right stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
Hymn God The Maker Of The Heavens
© Sam Hargreaves / Resound Worship, Administered by Jubilate Hymns Ltd sung by Engage Worship and used with their kind permission. OneLicence # A-734713
God, the maker of the heavens, and the planet that we share,
show us how to live, like Jesus, lives of gratitude and care.
Make us mindful of the footprints from the lives that we pursue.
Make us partners in your mission: you are making all things new.
God, the gardener of Eden, teach us how to tend this earth,
learning from the changing seasons, times of fallow and new birth.
Lord have mercy when we’re careless, rich resources we misuse.
Use our hands to heal creation: you are making all things new.
God of labour and vocation, Lord of science, trade and art,
take our efforts and our passions make them mirrors of your heart.
Every habitat and creature loved and valued, God, by you.
May our lives reveal your Kingdom: you are making all things new.
Reading James 1:17-27
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfilment of his own purpose he gave birth to us by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. You must understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, for human anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore, rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act–they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Sermon
One of the striking things, for me at least, in our recent General Election campaign was the near total lack of discussion about climate change and how we must mitigate against its worst excesses. The Labour Party had backtracked on impressive Net Zero goals some months before the Election and the Scottish Government’s admission it had no hope of meeting its goals meant the SNP was very quiet about the climate during the campaign. Of course, now a large proportion of their remaining seats are in the oil and gas belt of Northeast Scotland so they may become even more muted. The Conservatives appeared rather distracted by sending youngsters off for National Service and asylum seekers to Rwanda, so it seemed that only the Greens and Reform were raising the issue of climate change. Reform, of course, was denying its reality which doesn’t help us think about how to adapt.
Since the election was called we’ve seen news stories showing our oceans are suffering from a record-breaking year of heat, speculation that climate change is making hurricanes worse, and London being urged to prepare for floods and heatwaves with an urgent need to renew and improve the Thames barrier. All in all, the election seemed to indicate business as usual from the main parties; it remains to be seen if Labour will govern more daringly than they campaigned and if the rising Green vote will make a difference.
Thirty years ago, the Ecumenical Patriarch urged all people of goodwill to set aside 1st September as a special day of prayer for the preservation of the natural environment. Today, across the planet, many churches and Christians mark a season of creation lasting from 1st September through to the Feast of St Francis on 4th October. The Church realises that climate change is real and that we must adapt if we are to survive; how to adapt, how best to mitigate the worst of the excesses which climate change will bring are matters of urgent debate. As Christians we have tremendous resources within our faith tradition, and particularly, within the Bible that will help. Today’s readings can be interesting starting places.
Our passage from the Song of Solomon is an ancient text where a woman celebrates her joy and desire for her lover. The woman desires her man to spend the night with her and the passage joyfully celebrates the passion that two lovers feel for each other – particularly from a woman’s perspective. It’s a lovely counterblast to the patriarchal views of relationships, and sex, that we see in other parts of the Bible. (Though early on the rabbis saw the book as an allegory of God’s love for His people, and early Christian commentators felt the book was about the love Christ has for the Church – all that earthy sexuality can be unsettling!) Here woman and man complement each other in an equal relationship. Erotic love, therefore, is not peripheral to Biblical concerns. It is good; within a relationship of equality, love is life giving and life affirming. There is a contrast here between a Biblical view of sexual joy with the commodification of sex in our contemporary world where everything has a monetary value, where everything is dedicated to decay, where bodies are bought and sold. The transformation that love brings is exchanged for transitory pleasure.
In today’s passage nature, animals, women, and men together all take part in the joy of the poem – the fullness and abundance of life. Here we see a vision of creation in harmony with humanity – written long before humans warmed the planet disrupting the joyful systems of life. Erotic love is not the be all and end all of human existence, but it is transformative. The playfulness and joy that comes from loving and being loved can transform the shy and unlovely into something very different.
The Psalm set for today is a bit toadying really. In the ancient world, as much as now, the wealthy serve as patrons of art. Artwork might be a way to show off wealth, or a way to invest. It may be a reward, or it might be a way of ensuring that wealth is passed on to posterity. We think of art as painting or sculpture, but the written word also demands patronage. Today’s poem was clearly written for a powerful king who may, or may not, have patronised the writer with a juicy appointment. Thankfully our General Assembly’s Address to the Throne doesn’t sink to the level of telling the King that he’s “the most handsome of men”. Maybe this ancient poet laureate believed what he wrote or maybe it was just part of the job. But this poem echoes down the years and we read into its kingly praise descriptions of God or Jesus. In an age far more sceptical of divine right we might sneer at the praise or redirect it to the Most High. We’re not the first to do so; the Psalmist endows the king with a throne, sceptre, love of justice, hated of evil and anointing with oil. The letter to the Hebrews endows Jesus with these things in its attempt to locate Jesus as the everlasting king.
We’ve no idea what Jesus looked like so can’t comment on whether he was, like this ancient king, handsome. We can, however, see beauty in action: overturning tables, lifting the poor, enhancing the status of women, spending time with the outsider, healing the broken, and freeing captives are all marks of beauty. A beauty different to the eroticism seen in our first reading, but vital if we are to see our world transformed and a harmonious relationship with the Earth, real beauty in our midst, be restored.
By naming God as the “Father of Lights” shows that every life-giving gift comes from the Source of Light – God. Yet James departs from the Greek thought of his age with the line “there is no variation due to shadow or change” as we are each given that light equally and abundantly. Relying on Jewish thought about living ethically, James reminds his readers that knowing God’s law is one thing, doing it is what important. In Greek thought those beings bathed in light reflected it back to the source of light; in Christian thought we are blessed with light to be a blessing to others. The final line about caring for orphans and widows has a Christian ethic at the heart of a heartless pagan world; Christians are to be sources of light and love to those at the lowest rung of pagan society.
So, what might we do with an erotic poem, a toadying Psalm of praise to an earthly king, and James’ admonitions to show loving ethics in a heartless world?
First I wonder how we might use this transformative energy seen in erotic love as we seek to change our values and ways of living so that the earth again enjoys abundant life? Clearly we need a sense of fun and wonder, a spirit of playfulness even as we protest. A sense of joy even as we grapple with huge changes. We’re already creative; we know we must reduce, reuse and recycle. We see some early signs of polluters paying to clean up their messes; supermarkets collect both batteries and soft plastic, there’s much we can recycle but lots we can’t. What, I wonder, would yoghurt companies do if we cleaned then posted back to them our yoghurt pots? We get through millions of the things yet they most often can’t be recycled. What if we took those plastic trays that meat is often in, back to the supermarkets for them to puzzle over? Direct action works, playful direct action can be fun too! When we fall in love we change; the pole of our lives moves as we seek to find a new life with a lover whom we see as beautiful. We adjust, hoping the other adjusts too. The energy unleashed from romantic and erotic love lays the foundation for a new life together; what can be unleashed as we learn to love the planet again?
Secondly, we need to see that acting for change can be beautiful. Love unleashed is the power of change. The love we need to show is for people and planet – people we may never meet in areas where the seas are rising or where our pollution is killing. There is deep beauty in this selfless love. The beautiful king extolled in today’s Psalm won’t come and save us like a Greek god popping out of the box to put things right at the end of a tragedy. Instead, that beauty is seen in how God’s people serve, love, and change the world. Just as in the early Church where Christians rescued foundlings who no one wanted, so now we must be at the forefront of the effort to change before we die. We don’t have much time left; certainly, less time than our governments like to believe and so the power of love has to change us and change our way of living in the world.
Finally, James urged his readers to reflect the light of God into the world around us telling us to be doers of the word; in this context this will changing how we live; urging governments to make producers pay for the pollution they cause, finding ways to make a just transition away from fossil fuels to renewables, putting pressure through our buying power for food with fewer air miles and less packaging.
The challenge that faces us is massive; a challenge that governments seek to pass on to us whereas we need to convince them not to greenwash or avoid their huge responsibilities. Yet it’s a challenge we can make loving and playful, beautiful and transformative, and a key part of our faith as, together, we seek to save the world. Let’s pray
Ancient of Days, yet ever young,
you hold us in your playful joyful love,
finding beauty in us that often we can’t see,
and urge us to make a difference in our world.
In your lovely joy,
give us the wit and wisdom to work for change,
that we may not perish but flourish. Amen.
Hymn Tend the Ground
Text inspired by Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’. Text and music © 2016, Curtis Stephan. Published by Spirit & Song®, a division of OCP. All rights reserved. Sung by Chris Brunelle and used with his kind permission. One Licence # A-734713
We till the earth, we tend the ground,
sowing hope and peace where none is found.
In selfless love God’s life abounds.
We till the earth, we tend the ground
As God provides our every need,
with grateful hearts let us receive
these gifts of love and make return
to bless the world, to bless the world
All creatures share one common home,
one loving God, one song of hope.
The rocks cry out and praises ring,
rise up and sing, rise up and sing
Affirmation of Faith
We believe that God created the world
and it is good.
We believe that God created us
to live in harmony with nature.
We believe that human selfishness and greed
are changing our climate, heating the earth,
and endangering all living things.
We believe as temperatures and sea levels rise
we have to change our attitudes, lifestyles, economies, and politics,
and adapt to all that is to come.
We believe we can live as the Creator intended,
through the sacrificial example of Jesus Christ,
in the power of the Holy Spirit,
so that our world may not end. Amen
Intercessions
Caring God, we thank you for your gifts in creation:
for our world, the heavens tell of your glory.
for our land, its beauty and resources,
for the rich heritage we enjoy.
We pray:
for those who make decisions about the earth’s resources,
that we may use your gifts responsibly;
for those who work on the land and sea, in city and in industry,
that all may enjoy the fruits of their labours
and marvel at your creation;
for artists, scientists and visionaries,
that through their work we may see creation afresh.
We thank you for giving us life;
for all who enrich our experience.
We pray:
for all who through their own or others’ actions
are deprived of fulness of life,
for prisoners, refugees, the disabled and all who are sick;
for those in politics, medical science, social and relief work,
and for your Church,
for all who seek to bring life to others.
We thank you that you have called us celebrate your creation,
give us reverence for life in your world.
We thank you for your redeeming love;
may your word and sacrament strengthen us to love as you love.
O Most High, creator, bring us new life.
Jesus, Redeemer, renew us.
Holy Spirit, strengthen and guide us.
God, you shape our dreams.
As we put our trust in you,
may your hopes and desires be ours,
and we your expectant people.
Be with us now as we pray as Jesus taught,
Our Father….
Hymn God Whose Love Is All Around Us
Fred Kaan © 1968, 1996, Hope Publishing Company OneLicence # A-734713 sung by members of Acomb Methodist Church
God whose love is all around us,
who in Jesus sought and found us,
who to freedom new unbound us,
keep our hearts with joy aflame.
For the sacramental breaking,
for the honour of partaking,
for your life, our lives re-making,
young and old, we praise your name.
From the service of this table,
lead us to a life more stable,
for our witness make us able;
blessings on our work we claim.
Through our calling closely knitted,
daily to your praise committed,
for a life of service fitted,
let us now your love proclaim.
Holy Communion
God of all creation,
you bring forth bread from the earth and fruit from the vine.
By your Holy Spirit this bread and wine will be for us
the body and blood of Christ.
All you have made is good. Your love endures for ever.
The Spirit of God be with you. And also with you.
Lift your hearts to heaven where Christ in glory reigns.
Let us give thanks to God. It is right to offer thanks and praise.
It is right indeed to give you thanks most loving God,
through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer,
the first born from the dead, the pioneer of our salvation,
who is with us always, one of us, yet from the heart of God.
For with your whole created universe,
we praise you for your unfailing gift of life.
We thank you that you make us human and stay with us
even when we turn from you to sin.
God’s love is shown to us:
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
In that love, dear God, righteous and strong to save,
you came among us in Jesus Christ, our crucified and living Lord.
You make all things new.
In Christ’s suffering and cross you reveal your glory
and reconcile all peoples to yourself, their true and living God.
In your mercy you are now our God.
Through Christ you gather us, new-born in your Spirit,
a people after your own heart.
We entrust ourselves to you, for you alone do justice
to all people, living and departed.
Now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation.
Therefore with saints and martyrs, apostles and prophets,
with all the redeemed, joyfully we praise you and say:
Holy, holy, holy: God of mercy, giver of life;
earth and sea and sky and all that lives,
declare your presence and your glory.
All glory to you, Giver of life sufficient and full for all creation.
Accept our praises, living God, for Jesus Christ,
the one perfect offering for the world,
who in the night that he was betrayed,
took bread, and when he had given thanks,
broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said:
Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you;
do this to remember me.
After supper he took the cup; and when he had given thanks,
he gave it to them and said:
Drink this, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant
which is shed for you, and for many, to forgive sin.
Do this as often as you drink it to remember me.
Therefore, God of all creation,
in the suffering and death of Jesus our redeemer,
we meet you in your glory.
We lift up the cup of salvation and call upon your name.
Here and now, with this bread and wine,
we celebrate your great acts of liberation,
ever present and living in Jesus Christ,
crucified and risen, who was, and is, and is to come.
Amen! Come Lord Jesus.
May Christ ascended in majesty be our new and living way,
our access to you, Father, and source of all new life.
In Christ we offer ourselves to do your will.
Empower our celebration with your Holy Spirit,
feed us with your life, fire us with your love, confront us with your justice,
and make us one in the body of Christ
with all who share your gifts of love.
Through Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit,
with all who stand before you in earth and heaven,
we worship you, Creator God. Amen.
Bread and wine; the gifts of God for the people of God.
May we who share these gifts be found in Christ and Christ in us.
Music for Communion I Watch the Sunrise
John Glynn © 1976, Kevin Mayhew sung by Emmaus Music and used with their kind permission. OneLicence # A-734713
Post Communion Prayer
From the service of this table,
lead us to a life more stable O Most High,
that we who have been fed by You will feed others,
we who have been blessed by You, will be a blessing to all creation,
that we who have been gathered into Your presence,
will bring your grace to a hurting world,
that we may live evermore in You, and You in us. Amen
Hymn I Sing the Mighty Power of God
Isaac Watts (1715) Public Domain. Sung by the 300 Voice Mass Choir recorded at St Andrew’s Kirk, Chennai and used with their kind permission.
I sing the mighty power of God that made the mountains rise,
that spread the flowing seas abroad and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
the moon shines full at His command, and all the stars obey.
I sing the goodness of the Lord that filled the earth with food;
he formed the creatures with His word and then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, where’er we turn our eyes,
if I survey the ground I tread or gaze upon the skies.
There’s not a plant or flower below but makes Thy glories known,
and clouds arise and tempests blow by order from Thy throne;
while all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care,
and everywhere that we can be, Thou, God, are present there.
Blessing
May the One who breathed creation into life,
the One who walked in harmony with the earth,
the One who inspires us to learn from the world around us,
breath life into you,
enable you to live in harmony with the planet,
and inspire you to learn from the life that surrounds us,
and the blessing of God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
be with you and all whom you love,
now and evermore,
Amen.