Trinity-St. Andrew’s United Church
Order of Worship
Sunday, April 6, 2025 – 5th Sunday in Lent
Prelude
Words of welcome, announcements
Lighting the Christ Candle
As we journey towards the darkness of the cross, we light a candle to remind us of the Light that can not be put out. May this light remind us that we are not alone, in all the changing scenes of life. We do not make this journey from death to resurrection alone, for God is with us.
Choral Introit
Call To Worship
When we are lost in the wilderness, God our creator is able to create a new path for us to take. When we are overwhelmed by evil and injustice, God’s Holy Spirit causes streams of mercy to flow in the wastelands. When we are faced with the pain of death and uncertainty, God’s son, Jesus shows us the path that leads to hope and peace for us all. God is doing something new and different, to give us life in abundance. For all these gifts God has given, we give thanks and we rejoice!
Hymn Fairest Lord Jesus VU 341
- Fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature,
O thou of God to earth come down:
thee I will cherish, thee I will honour,
thou my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.
- Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
robed in the blooming garb of spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
who makes the troubled heart to sing.
- Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight,
and the fair twinkling, starry host;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
than all the angels heaven can boast.
- All fairest beauty heavenly and earthly,
wondrously, Jesus, is found in thee;
none can be nearer, fairer or dearer
than thou, my Saviour, art to me.
Prayer of Approach
Holy God, the world in which we live is as terrifying as it is wonderful. We need Jesus as much today as we did in times of old. Many still sow in tears, and are left weeping at harvest time. Replenish our lands, that they might be bountiful once more. Fill our hearts with gladness we pray. Restore our faith in you and each other, for the bonds of society are being torn apart. Wipe away the tears of despair.
As we worship today, may we open our ears and our hearts, for you are still speaking to us. Fill our minds with new understandings so we might have hope for today. Be with us this morning so we will have the courage we need to face all that tomorrow will bring. Amen.
Scripture Reader: Peter Raaphorst
First Reading: Isaiah 43:16-21
Responsive Psalm Psalm 126 VU 850, Refrain 1
Refrain 1: We’ll sing the song of joy,
we’ll sing the song of joy!
When God brought Zion’s captives home,
it seemed to us like a dream.
But then our mouths were full of laughter,
and our tongues uttered shouts of joy.
Then they said among the nations:
“God has done great things for them.”
Truly God has done great things for us,
and therefore we rejoice. Refrain
Restore our fortunes, O God, as streams refresh the Negerev.
Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping, carrying seed for sowing,
shall come home with songs of joy,
bringing in their sheaves. Refrain
Gospel Reading: John 12:1-8
Hymn Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross VU 142
- Jesus, keep me near the cross;
there a precious fountain,
free to all, a healing stream,
flows from Calvary’s mountain.
Refrain: In the cross, in the cross,
be my glory ever,
till my raptured soul shall find
rest beyond the river.
- Near the cross, a trembling soul,
love and mercy found me;
there the bright and morning star
sheds its beams around me. Refrain
- Near the Cross! O Lamb of God,
bring its scenes before me;
help me walk from day to day
with its shadow o’er me. Refrain
- Near the cross I’ll watch and wait,
hoping, trusting ever,
till I reach the golden strand
just beyond the river. Refrain
Homily “ A New Thing”
Special Music
The offering
We give thanks for everyone who continues to support TSA and our many ministries. Your gifts of support and encouragement mean a lot to us. You can get more information about making a donation by contacting the church office or by visiting our website. There are also many opportunities to volunteer in our different ministries. For all the gifts you share, for all the people you bless by your serving and giving as a disciple of Jesus, we give thanks.
Offering Song Know That God is Good MV 104
Know that God is good, (3x)
God is good, God is good.
Offering Prayer
Almighty God, you made us who we are, so we offer all of ourselves to You. Take our talents, our energy and our joy, and use us to share Your love. Also please take our mistakes and our pain, so we might bring Your healing. May the gifts we offer before You today, help to spread Your peace in the world. Amen.
Hymn I have Called You by Your Name MV 161
- I have called you by your name, you are mine;
I have gifted you and ask you now to shine.
I will not abandon you;
all my promises are true.
You are gifted, called, and chosen;
you are mine.
- I will help you learn my name as you go;
read it written in my people, help them grow.
Pour the water in my name,
speak the word your soul can claim,
offer Jesus’ body given long ago.
- I know you will need my touch as you go;
feel it pulsing in creation’s ebb and flow.
Like the woman reaching out,
choosing faith in spite of doubt,
hold the hem of Jesus’ robe,
then let it go.
- I have given you a name, it is mine;
I have given you my Spirit as a sign.
With my wonder in your soul,
make my wounded children whole;
go and tell my precious people
they are mine.
Pastoral Prayer
Lord’s Prayer VU 910
Hymn God Be with You till We Meet Again VU 422
- God be with you till we meet again;
loving counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care unfold you;
God be with you till we meet again.
Till we meet, till we meet,
till we meet at Jesus’ feet;
till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again.
- God be with you till we meet again;
unseen wings protecting hide you;
daily manna still provide you;
God be with you till we meet again. Refrain
- God be with you till we meet again;
when life’s perils thick confound you,
put unfailing arms around you;
God be with you till we meet again. Refrain
- God be with you till we meet again,
keep love’s banner floating o’er you,
smite death’s threatening wave before you;
God be with you till we meet again. Refrain
Benediction
In Spring the winter passes away, and new life begins again. In Christ, you are a new creation. Everything old has passed away, and everything has become new. All of this is a gift of God. So go forward into this new season of rebirth. Be one with God, and one with the world. May the love of God guide you and bless you this day and always. Go now in peace. Amen.
Choral Amen Go Now in Peace VU 964
Go now in peace, go now in peace.
May the love of God surround you everywhere,
everywhere you may go.
Postlude
A New Thing. Text: Isaiah 43:16-21, John 12:1-8. Fifth Sunday of Lent. April 6, 2025
Preached by Rev. James Murray at Trinity- St. Andrew’s United Church, Renfrew
Last Sunday we had to cancel our in person worship service due to the freezing rain that made going out of the house very dangerous for everyone. This was the second time in a month that extreme weather caused us to cancel our Sunday gathering. Now according to some in the congregation, TSA had a long standing tradition of never closing due to bad weather. So this is something very new and different for us. Afterwards, I was chatting with several ministers from across the country about how our attitudes towards these kinds of events has shifted. Since the pandemic, we have become more willing to change how we do things. The fact we have come to accept online worship as a meaningful alternative when we can’t meet in person now makes it easier to adapt when unexpected events like freezing rain and blizzards roll in. This is a huge shift in our way of doing things.
It’s helpful for us to recognize how things that we once considered unchangeable have now evolved into a new understanding. We are seeing this rapid shift in attitudes in many different ways. How people work is changing. How people dress in the office or at social events has changed dramatically since the pandemic. And of course we are seeing a jarring change in Canada’s relationship with our southern neighbour that is affecting us politically as well as economically. We are live in a time of great uncertainty. And when we are faced with too much uncertainty, it is tempting to circle the wagons and take up defensive positions.
While many changes can feel painful and unpleasant, life has always been full of changes. The prophet Isaiah believes that God is the one driving a lot of the changes we see in the world. He goes so far as to tell us that God is doing a new thing, and we are being asked to pay attention. That’s because God is the source all that is new. When we look at change this way, we start to notice there are patterns that can help us understand the way things are shifting.
The church historian Phyllis Tickle spent her life identifying these patterns. Tickle said that every five hundred years the Christian church undergoes a massive transformation in how it sees itself. She says it is like huge rummage sale where we put everything on the table and clear a lot of old stuff out. Five hundred years ago was the Protestant Reformation. The reformation was when the Protestant church split from the Roman Catholic Church. Five hundred years before that was the Great Schism. The Great Schism happened when the Roman Catholic Church split itself off from the Orthodox Churches. Before that schism, the Pope in Rome was just one of the five patriarchs who had equal authority over the Christian church.
Five hundred years before the Great Schism there was a major disruption when the monastic movement began. At that time, Christianity had become the official religion of the Roman empire, and many people objected to their faith being taken over by the political leaders of the day. So people dropped out of society and became monks. And five hundred years before that was of course the upheaval in the Jewish faith caused by Jesus of Nazareth, and the disruption caused when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. And five hundred years before that was when Jerusalem was destroyed and the leadership was sent into exile. During those 70 years of exile the Jewish people had to figure out how to keep their faith alive when they had lost their homeland and their language. That was when the Bible as we know it started being written down.
So you can see how every five hundred years our religious tradition goes through a major upheaval. These changes in how religion is practiced often reflects the cultural shifts that are taking place in our society, which is also evolving. Our beliefs and our practices and our priorities change as our world progresses. And God keeps doing something new, as our circumstances keep changing.
The church historian Phyllis Tickle said that what we are living through right now is part of this 500 year cycle of significant change in the life of our religion and our world. She calls this new era that we are entering into “The Great Emergence”. Like the prophet Isaiah, she noted how God is doing something new. The Holy Spirit is on the loose and we are trying to catch up with what God is doing in this rapidly changing world. In each of the great 500 year changes I mentioned, there was a shift in who has the power. Power can be held by kings, by governments, by institutions, by communities, and even by the individual. In the Emerging age, the power resides with the individual.
That’s because we now live in a world where people trust their own personal experience ahead of the inherited wisdom shared through our social institutions. This social change in attitude is a challenge for us because Christianity has traditionally focused on dictating morality and calling for social conformity. It used to be that our religious communities were organized on the basis of race and language, with rigidly defined traditional gender roles. Now we live in a world where our understandings of race and sexual identity are being radically redefined. We live in a world where technology has changed what is possible in the workplace. Technology it has redefined our concepts of recreation. It has changed what it means to be religious and spiritual. The Christian church is among the last of the big social institutions to respond to these cultural shifts. As Christians who belong to the social institution of the church, it can be hard for us to realize how peoples’ needs have changed and how we express our faith is also changing.
For some people, when we are confronted by all this change, it feels like the world has left God behind. For others, we look at this emerging world and we wonder how we can catch up to what God is doing in the world. But God never says that doing a new thing will be easy. God never promises us that change will be a simple painless three step process that leads to glorious success. Jesus does offer us a process that can help us to adapt and evolve. The process of change that Jesus leads us through is called death and resurrection. Death and resurrection is a painful, messy business. It means letting go of what you value most. It means being willing to die to your sense of identity, your privilege, your power. It means giving up what you have, in order to receive what God is seeking to create.
This journey from death to resurrection is not what most of us expect to have to face in our lives. This is why the disciples are shocked when Mary anoints Jesus. She is preparing his body for burial, even as he is sitting there eating his dinner. It is a bizarre scene that is painful to watch. Everyone knows that the Temple authorities want Jesus dead. They know the Roman governor is always quick to use the power of a sword to keep things in line. Everyone at that table is afraid. Jesus is telling them that this kind of pain is not avoidable. You cannot live or love without this sense of discomfort. You could say the shadow of the cross is hanging over this dinner party. The cross is perhaps the most painful form of execution ever created. It can take several days of agony to die on a cross. And Jesus expects each of us to be able to face such a possibility for the sake of our beliefs.
Now some people say Jesus died on the cross because God was angry with the sinfulness of the world and Jesus had to die in our place in order for us to be forgiven by God. The message of this understanding is that you should feel guilty for your sin. We are told we should be thankful that Jesus has died for you, so you should do what God wants and you should live the way the Church tells you to. The goal is for you to conform to the moral expectations we put on you.
There is, however, another way to understand why Jesus died on the cross. The scriptures speak of Jesus who was a revolutionary. He healed people on the Sabbath, which was against the rules. The punishment for violating the Sabbath laws back then was death. His actions showed that the essential nature of God is that of a loving parent who wants us to be healed, restored, forgiven and set free. Jesus’ actions and his teachings continually challenged the moral authority of the religious leaders.
Jesus also called himself the Son of God. That was the official title of the Roman Emperor. So Jesus was making political claims that had the possibility of starting an armed revolution. We know Jesus was actually calling for a non violent revolution, but the Roman authorities didn’t want any kind of uprising to get started. This alternative understanding tells us that Jesus died on the cross because he challenged the religious and political powers that rule over this world.
His resurrection is God’s response to this rejection. The message of this understanding is that God wants to forgive us, to heal us, to create a healthy society that builds people up. Even when the dominant powers of this world reject such a change, God will keep working for our salvation. God’s love is a light that shines in our darkness, and the darkness caused by our politics, our economics, and our greed cannot put this light out. The role of the church is to share this message of liberation with you. Because the goal here is not for you to conform. The goal is for you to be transformed.
Such a change is never easy. Death and resurrection is a messy business. But God is with us. God never stops working for your salvation. God says “Forget about what’s happened, don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand new. It’s bursting out! Do you see it?”
Source: Phyllis Tickle, “The Great Emergence” Baker Books, 2008
