A Prayer Service for the Beginning of Day, (September 16 2020)

And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Matthew 6:12

Today’s reading, instead of coming from Matthew, is another version of the cursed fig tree from the gospel of Mark. Today we focus not only on faith, but on unity and forgiveness.

DIALOGUE

O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall declare your praise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Alleluia.

PSALMODY

Give glory to God, our light and our life.
Oh, come, let us worship him.
Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord; let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods.
In his hand are the caverns of the earth; the heights of the hills are also his.
The sea is his, for he made it; and his hands have molded the dry land.
Oh, come, let us bow down and bend the knee, and kneel before the Lord, our maker.
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen

Give glory to God, our light and our life. 
Oh, come, let us worship him.

Psalm 133

A Song of Ascents.

  How very good and pleasant it is
when kindred live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down over the collar of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon.

HYMN
I Come with Joy

1. I come with joy, a child of God,
forgiven, loved, and free,
the life of Jesus to recall
in love laid down for me,
in love laid down for me.

2. I come with Christians far and near
to find, as all are fed,
the new community of love
in Christ's communion bread,
in Christ's communion bread.

3. As Christ breaks bread and bids us share,
each proud division ends.
The love that made us, makes us one,
and strangers now are friends,
and strangers now are friends.

4. The Spirit of the risen Christ,
unseen, but ever near,
is in such friendship better known,
alive among us here,
alive among us here.

5. Together met, together bound
by all that God has done,
we'll go with joy, to give the world
the love that makes us one,
the love that makes us one.

Text: Brian A. Wren, b. 1936
Text © 1971, rev. 1995 Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL 60188. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

READINGS
Genesis 50:22-26

So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s household; and Joseph lived one hundred ten years. Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation; the children of Machir son of Manasseh were also born on Joseph’s knees.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die; but God will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, “When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.” And Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old; he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Silence for meditation.

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets,
but in these last days God has spoken to us by the Son.

GOSPEL
Mark 11:20-25

In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

“Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.”

Silence for meditation.

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets,
but in these last days God has spoken to us by the Son.

MESSAGE
Forgiveness and Unity

Our lessons begin with a psalm and a reading where we find a sense of unity, joy, and fulfillment. Psalm 133 begins How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! It is difficult to interpret the rest of this psalm because it sounds odd to our ears. But, it focuses on Zion. Its images combine to produce a picture of great blessing in Zion. According to the Jewish Study Bible, the first verse is generally taken to refer to brotherly harmony. From it we find a sense of hope for the reunification of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. 

In the Genesis reading, as you know, Joseph was not well-liked by his brothers. They saw him as Daddy’s favored son, they listened to his strange dreams, and his arrogant interpretations of them where they would become subservient to Joseph. They throw him into a cistern and tell Daddy that Joey has died. Joseph is sold to Egyptians and eventually the pharaoh makes him the second most powerful man in Egypt. When famine strikes the land, his brothers travel to Egypt for food. Eventually, Joseph forgives, reconciles, and reunites his family and invites them to live in Egypt. In this lesson we see Joseph is about to die. He asks the Israelites to swear to carry his bones to wherever his kindred may be; thus unifying him with  them even in death.

Even our gospel lesson speaks of unity through forgiveness in Mark’s account of the fig tree! Now, last week we looked at Matthew’s version that focused on faith. This time, we direct our attention to  Mark’s account of the cursed fig tree and it varies from Matthew’s. In Mark’s version, the fig-tree cursing takes place over two days. Jesus curses the fig tree because it has no fruit to satisfy his hunger. Jesus and his disciples travel on to Jerusalem where Jesus enters the temple, drives out those who are selling and buying things in the temple. He overturns the money-changers’ tables, prevents people from carrying anything through the temple, and proclaims ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”  The chief priests and scribes are furious, offended and jealous, especially since the people are so captivated by Jesus’ teaching.  So, they look for a way to kill Jesus.

Jesus and his disciples leave the city and the next morning they pass by the cursed fig tree and find that it is withered to the roots. No fruit will be produced from this fig tree ever again! The disciples are astonished and Jesus tells them to believe. Jesus emphasizes the power of faith, prayer, and how to pray, but he takes it a step further than Matthew. He says, “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.” Notice how Jesus points out that we are to forgive others so that our Father may forgive us! Another way of looking at this teaching is to say, when you forgive someone, you pave the way to restoration of your relationship to the one who harmed you. To forgive is essential to our spiritual and emotional, well-being. It’s something to think about and can be hard to do depending on the offense. 

When Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, he tells them to ask God the Father to, forgive them their trespasses, as they forgive those who trespass against them. He doesn’t just say we are to simply ask to be forgiven. Rather, he says we are to ask our Father to forgive us in the manner that we forgive others. To forgive others is so important. Not only because when we forgive others we let go of the wrongs, grudges, hurts, and pain that others have caused us, but it aids in the restoration of relationships with others. It creates unity. When we hang on to our anger and resentment, it only causes us to become more and more resentful and unhappy and drives a wedge between us and divides us from others.  In letting go of and forgiving perceived offenses, we break the chains of anger and resentment that bind us. Jesus’ words of forgiveness are healing, comforting and restorative. As we embrace and practice forgiveness, we find sense of well-being and our relationships begin to mend. We are then restored to health, reunited to others, and are in unity with our God.

In Christ, 
Pastor Harkness

THE GOSPEL CANTICLE

Refrain:

In the tender compassion of our God the Dawn from on high shall break upon us.

Blessed are you, Lord, the God of Israel,
you have come to your people and set them free.
You have raised up for us a mighty Savior,
born of the house of your servant David. Refrain

Through your holy prophets, you promised of old
to save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us;
you promised to show mercy to our forebears
and to remember your holy covenant. Refrain

This was the oath you swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship you without fear,
holy and righteous before you, all the days of our life. Refrain

And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare the way,
to give God's people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins. Refrain

In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace. Refrain

PRAYERS

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

Let us pray,
Mighty God of mercy, we thank you for the resurrection dawn, bringing the glory of our risen Lord who makes every day new.
Especially we thank you—
for the sustaining goodness of your creation . . .
for the new creation in Christ and all gifts of healing and forgiveness . . .
for the gifts of relationship with others . . .
for the communion of faith in your church . . .

Merciful God of might, renew this weary world, heal the hurts of all your children, and bring about your peace for all in Christ Jesus, the living Lord.
Especially we pray—
for those who govern nations of the world especially our president . . .
for the people of our country, for the restoration of peace, and for justice . . .
for the people in countries ravaged by strife or warfare . . .
for all who work for peace and international harmony . . .
for all who strive to save the earth from carelessness and destruction . . .
for the church of Jesus Christ in every land . . .

Almighty and everlasting God, you have brought us in safety to this new day. Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin nor be overcome in adversity. In all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. 
Amen

Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

BENEDICTION

Almighty God, the Father,  ☩  the Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless and preserve us. Amen

HYMN
Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive

1.    ”Forgive our sins as we forgive,"
you taught us, Lord, to pray;
but you alone can grant us grace
to live the words we say.

2 How can your pardon reach and bless
the unforgiving heart
that broods on wrongs and will not let
old bitterness depart?

3 In blazing light your cross reveals
the truth we dimly knew:
how trifling others' debts to us;
how great our debt to you!

4 Lord, cleanse the depths within our souls
and bid resentment cease;
then, by your mercy reconciled,
our lives will spread your peace.

Text: Rosamond E. Herklots, 1905-1987, alt.
Text © Oxford University Press 1969

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