Welcome (Psalm 77:1-12)

I cried out to God for help;
   I cried out to God to hear me.
When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
   at night I stretched out untiring hands,
   and I would not be comforted.

I remembered you, God, and I groaned;
   I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.[b]
You kept my eyes from closing;
  I was too troubled to speak.
I thought about the former days,
   the years of long ago;
I remembered my songs in the night.
   My heart meditated and my spirit asked:

“Will the Lord reject forever?
   Will he never show his favor again?
Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
   Has his promise failed for all time?
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
   Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”

Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
   the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.
I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
   yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will consider all your works
   and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

Preparation: Here I am to worship

Call to Worship

God of the covenant,
in the glory of the cross
your Son embraced the power of death
and broke its hold over your people.
In this time of repentance,
draw all people to yourself,
that we who confess Jesus as Lord
may put aside the deeds of death
and accept the life of your kingdom
and sing your praise in worship.

Hymn: What a friend we have in Jesus

Prayer

O God who knows our pains, sufferings and hardship,
Permit us to come near you in worship.
Hear us when we praise you with our songs and pray to you with our words.

We come as people who fail to love you fully, who give up our hope in you easily and who trust and rely on you only when we are desperate. We know our own inadequacies as we avert our eyes from consequences of our actions. We refuse to accept the hurt and pain we have caused to others by thinking only of ourselves.

Yet we come. Knowing that you are steadfast in your love, abundant in your forgiveness and limitless in your grace. We come with contrite hearts, O God. In your mercy receive this worship by sending your Spirit.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Scripture: Mark 7:1-5

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?’

Sermon: The difficulty of insisting on the righteousness

Without much effort, it is easy for everyone to be like the Pharisees. Indeed it is not that wrong to say that Pharisees are us. We are those who insist on following the rules in order to keep the world safe and sound. We have been hearing a great deal from American politicians about the southern border invasions by the lawless people. In our own city, once in a while, reminding me that we are being overrun by outsiders. They argue why it is important to follow the rules carefully. They are convinced that the broken windows theory is real.

The theory is very simple and clearly on the side of urban myth. It was posed by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling to explain the high crime rate in New York City. They said that if a broken window is left unrepaired, this will inevitably lead to all windows in a building broken because the criminals will not let it alone because a broken window signals to the criminals that no one cares, leading to all the windows broken. This theory led to increased hiring of police officers in New York City and harassment of many people whom the police deemed suspicious.

Being a minister is a strange job sometimes. Of course, we need to get a police check done in order to let others know we do not have a criminal background. This check is supposed to give everyone in our area a sense of relief. Proving that ministers of religion are not criminals became a regular matter after so many scandals of the clergy both Protestant and Roman Catholic ended up in our criminal court system. In the meantime, many clerics began touting their righteousness and how their morals and ethics were beyond reproach. In doing so, instead of humility, they demonstrated full throated self-righteousness.

In the past few years, the conservatives in their political persuasion have been mocking the woke culture of the liberals. In the meantime, the liberals who enjoy riding the conservatives for hypocrisy in political behaviours of the conservatives have been notching up their accusations of the duplicity in crushing the powerless and the poor. In a way both groups are accusing the others of how they are the bigots. Judging others is a sport that brings great satisfaction when we are not the ones getting pasted, but when the shoe is on the other foot? Not so much.

Here is a short story about how terrible a consequence we might bring when we are found to be in the wrong.

The old man in the story was so clear about how he hated liars. He would not tolerate any liars in any shape or form. With that, watch this short film.

He never thought he could be the one who might make a mistake. He was so sure. He proved this by saying how he could not tolerate a liar. What happens to the old man, then, for making a mistake? It was his mistake of forgetting to check every part of his trouser and leaving one raisin that made the poor woman a liar. Often we say the lie by omission is as bad as a lie that is spoken. Mercifully the film leaves to our imagination what happens to him.

In a way it is so easy for us to fall into the trap of being self-righteous and being in the right. We are easily lulled into this state because we do everything so diligently and conscientiously. The trouble is, these “can do” and “am doing it” attitudes lead us into making ourselves dig a big hole from which it is difficult to rise out of. It is the very trap of hypocrisy that Pharisees began displaying toward Jesus. Of course, according to Pharisees or those of us who are in Pharisaic mode cannot fathom that we can actually be in the wrong at all.

This is why we humble ourselves before God and others. This is why, instead of trying to lecture others how to be Christians, we simply follow Christ quietly and prayerfully. Perhaps in God’s compassion shown through Christ we may find forgiveness and be allowed to belong to and be the body of Christ. Humbly and in humility, then, let us follow our Lord!

Prayer

O God, 
You were, are and always will be our God in time and beyond time. Make us yours now and always. Hear our prayer in time and out of time. May your grace never cease as we pour our hearts and souls before you.

Centre us on your Son our Lord, always, with your Spirit. Do not let us be lost in this world. Give us strength to resist temptation. Lead us to our shepherd in all circumstances.

Today we ask you to protect us from self-deceit. Dampen our pride that leads us into this world where we make ourselves to be more than we are. Stop us from trusting in our own strength and power to do things. Limit our minds so that we may see the truth of who we are before you, sinners in need of redemption.

Guard and protect us from self-righteousness. Open our eyes to see that none of us are righteous and none of us can claim to be as clean as we think we are. Cleanse us of our false righteousness.

On this day, we remember before you the cries of all children whose hunger pains destroy them, whose fear of death demolishes their hope of life and whose suffering is beyond imaginable. Open our hearts to be compassionate and witness what these children are going through. Fill us with your grace to be strong in sharing our love with them regardless of the dangers we may face.

We also pray for women and men, both old and young. So many are caught up in death traps set by the powerful and the mighty whose only intention is to pursue their greedy hearts endlessly disregarding the destruction they impose on the powerless. Be with these women and men. Fill us with your mercy in ways that we may be bold in sharing your love in places where greed brings only death.

We bring the concerns of this world to you. Climate change, ever growing economic disparity and never ending destruction of your creation are harming not only this humanity, but also all life forms on earth. Help us to see the cause. Make us your servants who work on your behalf to usher in your reign in order to heal this world. Recreate us as your hand that brings healing through peace and love.

All these we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

You are my all in all

Benediction