91福利社

INTROIT - THE CALL; COMPOSER: KENNETH TAY
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SCOTT:听 WELCOME

Good morning and welcome to Sunday Worship from the Memorial Chapel at the University of Glasgow. I am the Reverend Scott Blythe, University Chaplain, and I am joined by the Assistant Chaplain, Reverend Roz Lawson.

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We gather today on the second Sunday following Pentecost. In this long season of the coming of God鈥檚 Spirit to the faithful followers of Jesus, we consider the gifts and attitudes of those who would follow Jesus. Today, the theme of mercy frames and shapes our worship together.

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We begin with a hymn of gratitude to God - 鈥極 for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer鈥檚 praise鈥�.

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HYMN 鈥� O FOR A THOUSAND TONGUES TO SING (Tune: Desert/Lyngham)

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SCOTT:听 OPENING PRAYER

Friends, let us pause to pray together.

Gracious and loving God,

We gather before you on this day as we are.

We are a people who live in a world that sometimes inspires us with its beauty and wonder,

We experience moments of great joy within our lives in the celebrations of personal successes and family occasions;

We have days where it can feel that our lives are hard to progress through in light of personal setbacks, conflicts with colleagues and neighbours, and the wider struggles that our unsettled world is experiencing.

In such highs and lows, it can seem easy to condemn those around us, to compete and cocoon our lives from the communities in which we exist.

It can at times seem easy to judge others without reflecting upon our own contributions to division and pain.

Amidst this whirlwind of positives and negatives,

We can fail to be gracious, kind and willing to show mercy to our neighbours.

Therefore, we approach you now,

Asking that those regrets that we carry might be taken away from us,

And that, our burden lighter, we might find new grace and joy within,

Help us return into the midst of our world,

Able to rebuild damaged friendships and relationships,

That we might find healing and reconciliation

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O Holy Spirit, teach us once more your gentle and compassionate ways,

That we might follow Jesus鈥� way of forgiveness and mercy.

We ask this in Jesus鈥� name,

Amen.

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SCOTT:听
Our scripture readings this morning are read for us by students at the university, and the first is from Psalm 33.

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READER: Psalm 33:1-12

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous.

Praise befits the upright.

Praise the Lord with lyre;

make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.

Sing to him a new song;

play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

For the word of the Lord is upright,

and all his work is done in faithfulness.

He loves righteousness and justice;

the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

and all their host by the breath of his mouth.

He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;

he puts the deeps in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the Lord;

let all inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

For he spoke, and it came to be;

he commanded, and it stood firm.

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;

he frustrates the plans of the peoples.

The counsel of the Lord stands forever,

the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.

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COME UNTO ME; 听COMPOSER: RUPERT JEFFCOAT

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ROZ:听 INTRODUCTION TO GOSPEL

We鈥檒l now hear the account of Jesus calling Matthew as one of his disciples, the subsequent dinner at Matthew鈥檚 house and Jesus healing a woman and a young girl. The reading is from the Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 9.

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READER: Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, 鈥淔ollow me.鈥� And he got up and followed him.

And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, 鈥淲hy does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?鈥� But when he heard this, he said, 鈥淭hose who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 鈥業 desire mercy, not sacrifice.鈥� For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.鈥�

While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, 鈥淢y daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.鈥� And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples.

Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, 鈥淚f I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.鈥� Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, 鈥淭ake heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.鈥� And instantly the woman was made well.

When Jesus came to the leader鈥檚 house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, 鈥淕o away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.鈥� And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that district.

EGO SUM VIA; COMPOSER: GAIL GILLESPIE

ROZ: REFLECTION 1

I wonder what comes to mind when you think of the word, 鈥榤ercy鈥�? Two instances immediately pop into my head. One is 鈥淢ercy Mercy Me鈥�, the song by Marvin Gaye, the prescient 1970s lament about an environment under threat even back then. But the other instance I think of is a game played in many a school playground 鈥� 鈥淢ercy鈥�. The rules of the game were very simple. Two players would face each other, putting their hands up as if in a high 5, or perhaps a high 10 situation, before interlocking fingers. The winner was the one who could squeeze and bend the other player鈥檚 hands back such that they were forced into a semi-kneeling posture. The loser would cry out, 鈥淢ercy!鈥� And, it was considered terribly bad form if, after the cry of mercy, the winner continued to apply the agonising hand pressure. A worthy winner releases their hands promptly.

Very merciful.

In our Gospel reading from St Matthew this morning, the writer is keen for us to understand something about mercy. Thanks to Matthew, we have our first glimpse into the manifesto of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, which is recounted just a few chapters earlier. In it, one of the beatitudes declares, 鈥淏lessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.鈥� And then here in chapter 9, Jesus says something which neither Mark nor Luke鈥檚 Gospel accounts record about the same incident. He starts a sentence which ought to make anyone who wishes to follow Jesus sit up and take notice. 鈥淕o and learn what this means鈥︹��

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]Now, it wouldn鈥檛 be hard to imagine how that sentence *could* end. Jesus has asked Matthew, a deeply unpopular tax collector, to follow him. Without a word, he does so. Jesus doesn鈥檛 actually say what for. There鈥檚 a dinner, presumably at Matthew鈥檚 house, in which a whole bunch of other tax collectors, undesirables and other riff-raff have gathered. The implication is one of intimacy, but perhaps there has been a mistake? Some religious leaders give Jesus the 鈥榦ut,鈥� by addressing his closest followers, the disciples: 鈥淲hy does your teacher eat with these people?鈥� Why *should* he eat with them, after all? Tax collectors are representatives of the subjugating Roman empire. They handle heathen money, and they鈥檙e not averse to profiteering at the expense of the people. They perpetrate injustice. Tax collectors were viewed with the same kind of indignance as we view loan sharks, payday lenders or the practice of price gouging. Those folk take money from those who can鈥檛 afford it, and render them even worse off. It鈥檚 exploitative. It鈥檚 wrong. So perhaps after dinner, Jesus can speak a few home truths to them. 鈥淕o and learn what this means: the wicked will get their comeuppance.鈥� 鈥淕o and learn what this means: only the righteous will be loved by God.鈥�

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But no, he says: 鈥淕o and learn what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice.鈥� 鈥淭hose who are well have no need of a physician.鈥� 鈥淚 have come to call not the righteous but sinners.鈥� This word is for the people who get things wrong. It鈥檚 the people who have complicated personal relationships. It鈥檚 the people who tried but failed to stay on the straight and narrow. It鈥檚 the people who don鈥檛 quite know why things have turned out the way they have. It鈥檚 the people who are tired, and ill, and wounded; those who have lost more than others might know. It鈥檚 the people who have been abandoned, who are empty, who feel broken.听

In other words, most people need a physician. Most people need mercy.

HYMN: COME, HOLY GHOST, OUR HEARTS INSPIRE (Tune: St Columba (Erin))听

Most people need mercy.听 And the good news is, this God-man Jesus desires it. Quoting from the ancient prophet Hosea and making the statement his own, he declares that mercy trumps sacrifice. Mercy is much more than the finger-breaking game I remember from childhood. It requires the one who could, and sometimes even should, wield power to instead withhold force. Mercy is the pulling of punches. Mercy doesn鈥檛 require another person to beg, but if they do, to recognise and restore their dignity as swiftly as possible. Mercy relieves suffering with great compassion and forgiveness.

鈥淲atch out now鈥�, the Gospel writer of Matthew seems to be saying. 鈥淚鈥檒l show you what I mean by mercy.鈥� For a young girl has just died, and her desperate father is begging for help.

[Organ improvisation}

ROZ:听 Outside his house, the flute players have gathered, and have begun to sing a mournful song.

SONG OF SORROW (Extract); 听COMPOSER: SHEENA PHILLIPS

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ROZ:听 REFLECTION 2

Again, Matthew鈥檚 Gospel account differs from those of Mark and Luke, for whom the synagogue leader鈥檚 daughter is dying, not already dead. Matthew wants to get to the point: Jesus can raise the dead. Confronted by the sudden intervention of a desperate father, Jesus leaves the party thrown by a tax collector immediately. Presumably the religious leaders, concerned with propriety, are temporarily appeased.

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It seems too much to ask, doesn鈥檛 it? You don鈥檛, as a general rule, ask someone to bring life back to dead people. We know it鈥檚 impossible. Is this man in denial? Has he been sent by an equally desperate wife, who can鈥檛 bear to leave her daughter鈥檚 side? Has she implored her husband to get down on his knees and beg for help if he has to? Because we only beg from people we perceive to have power. We only beg when we need mercy. But Jesus is ready to give it.

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Step one in this masterclass on mercy: Jesus immediately gets rid of the crowd. Perhaps he anticipates what a circus the place will become if they see a 12 year old back on her feet. He affords dignity and privacy to a family, offering his power freely without histrionics, preamble, incantations or requests for money. He even stops on the way to offer this same dignity to a woman who is made well simply by touching his prayer shawl. There is a deep tenderness to this. Again, Matthew inserts an extra phrase, and Jesus says the words, 鈥淭ake heart鈥� before he addresses the woman tenderly as a daughter.

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Jesus is the physician offering mercy freely and unbegrudgingly.

Jesus is the One who illustrates perfectly the mercy of the God who bestows gifts upon imperfect humans.

Jesus is calling for a worshipping community to be one which has steadfast love and mercy at its core.

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It鈥檚 not difficult to see how much mercy as a core attribute of a loving God is much-needed in our world today. For its opposite is mercilessness, callousness and cruelty, the wielding of power with brutality. It鈥檚 the holding of grudges, unforgiveness and petty vendettas. And so we pray, 鈥淟ord, have mercy鈥� for those countries who are overpowered and outgunned by others. We pray, 鈥淟ord, have mercy鈥� for places which are suffering the effects of climate change caused by larger, more industrialised nations. We pray, 鈥淟ord, have mercy鈥� for people awaiting good outcomes from bureaucratic processes. We pray, 鈥淟ord, have mercy鈥� for women and girls who are afraid of the men in their lives.

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Perhaps there are specific things you can think of to help you practise mercy today鈥�.

For example, how do you respond when someone cuts you up on the motorway?

How will you react when someone you line manage at work makes a mistake?

How will you respond when a friend betrays you?

How could you commit to being merciful towards the created world?

How will you treat a child who is being belligerent?

How do you respond to those who are worse off than you emotionally, financially or socially?

Will you support politicians who will keep their promise to help the most vulnerable?

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And although it can feel too demotivating to practise mercy in an unmerciful world, where every small positive action feels drowned out by apathy and indifference, this is the call:

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-to recognise when we are privileged and powerful;

-to give freely what we have already received from God 鈥� lovingkindness, mercy and tender compassion;

-to allow ourselves to be reawakened and to bring life to others.

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So, may we hear the voice of God-in-Christ saying today:

Take heart, daughter.

Take heart, son.

Take heart, child.

My touch will give you life today.

Now, go and learn what this means: 鈥業 desire mercy.鈥�

Amen.

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LET YOUR RESTLESS HEARTS BE STILL; COMPOSER: JOHN L BELL

Kyrie + Verse 1

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SCOTT:听
Loving God,

As we reflect on the power of mercy to change us and our world,

We bring before you now our concerns and worries in a time of prayer.

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STUDENT:

We pray for the places of conflict and violence throughout our world.

We pray for all those whose lives have been shattered by the war in Ukraine, now approaching its four and a half year milestone.

We pray for the families who have loved ones on battlefields, living in homes that have been bombed.

We pray for those suffering deprivation in poor communities, including those in Sudan and Afghanistan.

We pray for all those caught up in the war in the Middle East.

Praying especially for those who have been displaced and are short of food, and for parents who are distraught about how they might feed their children and keep them safe.听

SCOTT:听

O Christ, aid those churches that seek to support international efforts to bring peace in situations of conflict, and all those agencies of relief that seek to feed and heal amidst such places of conflict and famine.

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LET YOUR RESTLESS HEARTS BE STILL (John L Bell)

Kyrie

SCOTT:听
Loving Jesus, you who demand of us the need to be merciful in all that we do and say; hear now our prayers for our local communities.

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STUDENT:
We bring before you, O Christ, those whose family budgets are becoming once again an issue of anxiety.

We pray for those worried about fuel and food bills.

We pray also for families who at this time might be experiencing conflict within their homes.

We pray for women and children who are trapped in fear, facing the sudden unexpected rise of anger or violence.

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SCOTT:

O Christ, we pray for organisations that seek to support those in financial difficulties and all agencies that seek to bring peace and protection to those whose home life is threatening and precarious.

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LET YOUR RESTLESS HEARTS BE STILL (John L Bell)

Kyrie

SCOTT:听 Holy Spirit,

You live deep within each of us, seeking to inspire, to motivate and transform our lives.

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STUDENT:

We bring to you those who have recently been bereaved and those who continue to mourn for long-passed loved ones.

We pray that your light might accompany and guide those in the darkness of grief, to new beginnings.

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SCOTT:听

In the silence of this place, we lay before you our deepest needs and anxieties today.

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O Trinity, whose being is of love, we offer these our prayers, asking that we might be moved to aid those in need, and that we might continue to offer compassion to听one another, bringing healing and hope.听 Amen.

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LET YOUR RESTLESS HEARTS BE STILL (John L Bell)
Verse 2 + Kyrie

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SCOTT:听 Friends, we hope you have enjoyed sharing in our worship this morning. We bring our time of reflection to a close, singing our final hymn:

鈥極 worship the King, all glorious above鈥�.

HYMN 鈥� O WORSHIP THE KING, ALL GLORIOUS ABOVE (Tune: Hanover)

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SCOTT:听 BLESSING

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you

Deep peace of the running wave to you
Deep peace of the flowing air to you
Deep peace of the shining stars to you
Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.

Amen.

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ORGAN VOLUNTARY: SARABANDE; COMPOSER: ANTHONY BALDWIN

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