10/16/2022
Greetings Cooksville Family!
A few less people out today at just around 50. And I am deep into the second day of a mancold, so my energy was down a bit anyway (Please pray that Mardi is able to put up with my whining). A technical problem (I forgot to turn the cameras on) means that there is no recording of the prelude or the welcome and introduction. But for those of you who were at the service, I was able to include the pictures of the mysterious coconut.
Here’s what’s coming up soon.
Upcoming at Cooksville
Thu Oct 20 Senior Choir rehearsal at 7:30pm
Sat Oct 22 Ladies Coffee Hour at 10:00am
(please note change)
Thu Oct 27 Council meeting at 7:00pm Please note the NEW date for this meeting!
Wed Nov 02 Knitwits meeting at 1:00pm
Thu Nov 03 UCW meeting at 12 noon
Please take note that with the start of the fall season, we have made some changes to our COVID precaution procedures. As of today, there is no requirement to wear a mask when in the building. We have also lifted the ‘only every other pew’ request and are returning to passing the trays during the offering. All of these regulations were removed by the governing bodies a few months ago, but we voluntarily continued with them to give ourselves time to analyze the situation. Your council has made the decision that we will attempt to return to a pre-COVID environment. However, we will continue to monitor the situation and adjust our procedures if conditions change.
However, if you are still feeling unsure, we understand. Everyone in our community is free to take extra precautions, such as extra social distancing and continued mask wearing, wen in the building if that is what makes them feel comfortable. And for those of you staying home, we will continue to record a simple version of the service, and after it is edited and uploaded to YouTube, you will be notified that it is available and be provided with a link to the video.
Here is the link to this week’s service.
https://youtu.be/p3aQGknMDVY
(or search on YouTube for “2022-10-09 Cooksville United”)
As always, If you have problems with viewing the video, I have included the full text , of most of the service, below.
And remember, please try to keep in touch with each other, particularly those you know who are forced to spend so much time alone.
And feel free to call or email me personally if you want to connect or if there is anything I can do.
Blessings,
Rev. Brian
Rev. Brian Vickers
Cell – 905-802-4081
Email – [email protected]
https://youtu.be/p3aQGknMDVY
Prelude: “My Hope Is in the Lord” –
Norman Clayton
Greeting
Hymn: “As a Fire Is Meant for Burning”
(VU #578)
Call to Worship:
One: The Lord is making a new covenant
with the people of God.
People: Here in this place,
One: Christ writes the law of love on
our hearts.
People: We are children of the living God.
All: Together, let us worship the
Lord of Love!
Opening Prayer
Lighting the Christ Candle
Prayer for the Children and
The Lord’s Prayer (Spoken)
Hymn: “There Is a Balm in Gilead”
(VU # 612)
(The children may now head out to Sunday School)
Life and Work of the Congregation
Upcoming at Cooksville
Thu Oct 20 Senior Choir rehearsal at 7:30pm
Sat Oct 22 Ladies Coffee Hour at 10:00am
(please note change)
Thu Oct 27 Council meeting at 7:00pm Please note the NEW date for this meeting!
Wed Nov 02 Knitwits meeting at 1:00pm
Thu Nov 03 UCW meeting at 12 noon
Scripture Reading:
Luke 18:1-8 New International Version (NIV)
18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Hear what the Spirit is saying. Thanks be to God.
Anthem: “What Does the Lord Require?” – text based on Micah 6:8; Eric Nelson
Sermon: There was a Widow.
Luke 18:1-8
It almost seems as though giving a sermon on todays scripture is sort of a waste of time. There's not much question as to the meaning of this parable of the widow and the unjust judge.
There's not much question – because Luke tells us why the parable is important before he tells it – and then – after the parable – Luke records the interpretation that Jesus Himself offered. Easy – Peasy – this is a story about persistence in prayer and God's compassion and responsiveness. That’s it - - isn't it?
There is this judge – says Jesus. We know about judges in Israel – not much different than Judges today. We know their role was to maintain a reasonable harmony in the community – and to resolve disputes fairly and impartially.
But – I should point out that Jewish law – that came from the Torah – took things one step further than our laws do. The law emphasized the extra responsibility for such judges when it came to protecting the rights of the poor – of widows and orphans – and travellers in the land.
Our laws say a judge should treat everyone fairly – the ancient law said that some people – particularly the vulnerable of society – were to be treated with a little more compassion.
Then Jesus says – there is this widow. And therein lies the plot. There is this widow. The choice of character automatically raises the stakes for the judge – because any God-fearing jurist would feel obliged by the Torah to take especially good care of her.
The problem is that this jurist is not God-fearing and not especially interested in justice at all. And so – he tries to ignore the widow's pleading.
But the widow is not going to take "no" for an answer. She keeps coming back to him day after day – stubbornly pressing her case – until finally the judge has a conversation with himself.
Luke describes other such internal conversations elsewhere – the rich fool – the prodigal son - the dishonest steward – all of them talk to themselves. But this judge figures that if he doesn't grant the widow's request – she will wear him out – and might even take a swing at him one day – either figuratively or literally.
So – eventually – despite his callousness and his lack of integrity – he gives the woman what she wants. No – that’s not quite correct – the widow doesn’t get what she – WANTS – she gets what she deserves. What she asks for – and what she gets – is Justice.
The flow of the story in this parable is known as – an argument from the lesser to the greater. Basically – if a wicked judge will finally relent and hear the woman's case – how much more will God. The obvious point is that God is full of compassion – willing and ready to hear the prayers of the poor and oppressed.
And the advice then – is to be persistent in prayer – knowing that God will answer the prayers of His children. It's a simple parable with a neat conclusion. And it is good news for those who pray day and night for justice – because it promises that their prayers do not go unanswered.
Of course – if that's the point – and it seems to be – then if we are honest with God and ourselves – we have a bit of a dilemma. The dilemma is that nearly two thousand years later the poor and oppressed are still calling out for relief – and – for the most part – don't seem to be much closer to a world of justice and compassion than they were when Jesus told the parable.
If we read this parable like it’s always been read – as a call to relentless prayer – there will always seem to be a lack of evidence that praying like that really makes a difference.
Unless Jesus is talking about deferred compensation – the sort of compensation that comes to us in the next level of existence – then frankly – the claim for persistence isn't very convincing – or at least not always.
Don't get me wrong – I believe persistent prayer is very important – even when those prayers aren’t answered in the ways we think best. It’s important to be unrelenting in our prayers – not only because of the changes our prayers may elicit in God's mind – but for the changes such prayers can work in our own hearts and minds.
As Frederick Buechner said years ago – persistence is a key – not because you have to beat a path to God's door before God will open it – but because until you beat the path – maybe there's no way of God getting to your door.
That quote got me thinking that maybe there's more to this parable than we have sometimes seen. What if Jesus offered this parable – not only as a call to prayerful persistence – but also as a reminder to the church of the importance of securing justice for the poor and the oppressed in their midst?
Theologian – Alan Culpepper – says – To those who have it in their power to relieve the distress of the widow, the orphan and the stranger but do not, the call to pray day and night is a command to let the priorities of God's compassion reorder the priorities of their lives.
What if we take this parable – and turn it upside down – in order to hear it as a testimony to the persistence of God – who wants – US – to grant justice to God's chosen ones who cry out day and night?
Is it possible that this parable speaks to the resolute – persistent – unrelenting – determined One who keeps knocking on – OUR – door – challenging – US – to respond – pressing – US – to accept God's claims – urging – US – to work for the good of neighbors in need?
All through the Scriptures we can trace God's steadfast claim on God's people – the covenant with Abraham – the giving of Torah – and when God's children rebelled and fell into selfish ways – the sending of prophets to press God's claims and to call for justice and fairness – and later when the people ignored the prophets – God sent the Christ into the world to demonstrate once and for all the character of God's grace and love toward all of God's children – especially the poor and the outcast.
Behold – said the Christ – I stand at the door and knock. That knock – is the sound a conscience makes in the life of the faithful.
There’s a deeply disturbing film – that I think I’ve mentioned before – called Hotel Rwanda – that documents what happened in Rwanda in 1994 – when that African nation descended into madness – with the powerful Hutu majority beginning a systematic slaughter of the Tutsi minority.
The film tells the story of that horror through the person a hotel manager in the Rwandan capital named Paul – a Hutu who made a promise to protect his Tutsi wife and the family he loved – and ended up finding the courage to shelter and save over 1,200 people by hiding them in the luxury hotel he managed.
As the horror built around him – Paul initially claimed that there was nothing he could do - but his restraint was challenged by the steady beating of truth upon his door. Paul began to see the horror and experience the shame. It was a truth he didn't want to admit – but in the end – his conscience prevailed and he acted to save as many lives as he could.
But Paul was not the only one to experience the need to reorder his priorities – it happened also to many people – like me – who saw that movie. And I think the turning point – where it really hit home – happened about midway through the story.
As the slaughter of the Tutsi people escalated – western reporters began to capture scenes of the genocide on tape. Paul was encouraged a bit – because he assumed the broadcast of such images would prompt immediate Western intervention.
When a skeptical Western reporter expressed doubt – Paul was dumbfounded. How can they see that and not intervene – he asked. But the reporter had seen it all before – More likely – he responded – people will see the footage – say – isn't that horrible – and then go right on with their dinners.
For me – that was a particularly disturbing moment in a deeply disturbing film – because I knew he was right. Who could see and hear that exchange and not feel shame?
And yet shame could be our full-time preoccupation. Across the span of our lifetimes – we have experienced a steady drumbeat of news reports of injustice after injustice – perpetrated by one group or another. And what do we do about it?
Now – of course – some civil rights laws have been established – and they have brought some progress – though such progress often seems to follow the path of a pendulum rather than the path of an arrow.
We have seen some of the worst offenders elsewhere being brought before international tribunals and tried for crimes against humanity. We've watched celebrities who have staged worldwide concerts to raise awareness and to try to end poverty in our time.
But many of us - seeing these things – have spoken our lamentations – and then gone right back to our dinners or whatever else it was we had been doing.
So – I wonder – if this parable is giving us a reflection of our own lives – then maybe the face many of us will see when we peer into that mirror is the face of the judge – who – as Jesus said – neither feared God nor had respect for people – could that be who we are in this story?
Oh – to be sure – it's not very flattering to read the parable that way – who wants to be painted in that light? But – then again – in the parable the judge does eventually reach the tipping point – even if it isn’t for the best of motives – but comes more from self-interest – he does grant the widow what she wants.
And – as I mentioned earlier – what she wants – of course – is justice and a fair shake. It's what the vulnerable of the world most often want – and we know – from reading the Torah – and the prophets – and from listening to Jesus – it's what God wants for them as well.
Maybe the good news in this story for the non-vulnerable – for the rest of us – is that God is like the widow – unrelenting – persistent – assertive. God hasn't given up on us – even when we have acted as though we – neither feared God nor had respect for people.
So maybe there's hope – not only for the widows and orphans and travelers of this world – but for us.
Maybe there’s hope that we will listen to the shame we feel – and allow it to break through our resistance – and press us to open doors to those who knock persistently. Maybe there’s hope that we will hear their pleas at last – and use our voices and our power to help shape relief and reconciliation and fairness in this world.
Maybe there is hope for us. I believe there is. More importantly – I believe God believes there is.
Behold – says the Christ – I stand at the door and knock. Maybe today we'll open the door. Maybe. And what a good day that would be – for everyone! O Lord – let that day come. Let it come.
Amen.
Hymn: “O Day of God, Draw Nigh”
(VU # 688)
Offering (during which “Prayer” – Ferdinand
Hiller, arr. Frank Asper)
Offertory Hymn: “Praise God…” (VU #541)
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
praise God, all creatures high and low;
give thanks to God in love made known:
Creator, Word and Spirit, One.
Offering Prayer (standing)
Prayers of the People
Hymn: “Make Me a Channel of Your Peace”
(VU # 684)
Benediction & Commissioning
Three-Fold Amen
Postlude: “But Thou didst not leave His soul”
(from ‘Messiah’) – Handel,
arr. T.S. Gleadhill
