August 30, 2026

CHIMING OF THE HOUR

WELCOME

PRAYER
Lamb of God, your burden is easy.
Good shepherd, your way is righteous.
Give us the resolve to follow wherever you lead,
knowing the hills and valleys ahead,
the places of great suffering
and deep hope along the way.
May we live our lives worthy
of the calling you have given us,
in the strong and gentle name of Christ Jesus. Amen.

PRELUDE

CALL TO WORSHIP
In deep gratitude we come to worship God.
We recognize God as the source of all goodness.
All good gifts come from the Spirit of God:
love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, gentleness are all of God. 
We come with grateful hearts, not for things, but for who God is.
We gather to show our gratitude in song and prayer.

*HYMN No. 329               “God is Our Refuge and Our Strength”
1 God is our refuge and our strength,
our ever-present aid,
and therefore, though the earth be moved,
we will not be afraid;

2 Though hills amid the seas be cast,
though foaming waters roar,
yea, though the mighty billows shake
the mountains on the shore.

3 Where God abides a river flows;
that city will rejoice.
But nations fear and kingdoms shake
before God’s thundering voice.

4 Since God is in the midst of it,
the city walls shall stand,
secure and safe with God’s sure help,
when trouble is at hand.

*CALL TO CONFESSION

We seek the will of God,
but still find ourselves conformed to this world,
instead of being transformed into God’s image.
Let us seek forgiveness
for the ways we have turned away from justice and mercy.

*PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Sometimes it sounds too hard:
deny ourselves, take up our crosses,
lose our lives?
Forgive us, Savior,
but we’d rather you do it for us.
Forgive us, Christ,
but we are overwhelmed with what you ask of us.
We long to see you come in glory,
but fear the road we must take.
Have mercy on our weakness.
Be patient with our stumbling.
Do not leave us behind, even when we are slow to follow,
and lead us in your ways of peace.

Silence is observed

*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Christ does not abandon us,
but died for us, was raised for us, and loves us still.
This is the good news that prevails!
In Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection,
we are forgiven!

*RESPONSE NO. 581                 “Glory Be to the Father”
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen, amen.

*PASSING OF THE PEACE OF CHRIST
Lord Jesus Christ, you know our faults and have heard our prayers. You have ripped apart the barriers that separate us from God and opened us to the grace of God through your sacrifice of love on a cross, and your resurrection from the dead. Promise of God, fill your people and give us peace.

The peace of the Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Worshippers are invited to briefly “pass the peace” of Christ to those directly seated around them thus keeping our worship time “decent and in order” with a focus upon being part of God’s community.

MUSIC

THE CHILDREN’S MESSAGE

UNISON PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Faithful God, how blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Sanctify us by your Word and Spirit
so that we may glorify you
in the company of the faithful;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

SCRIPTURE                     Romans 12:9-21
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.11Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. 14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Pause…

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God!!

SERMON                “I find it very difficult to measure up to”
I was recently reminded of a particular portion of the Velveteen Rabbit, and I want to read it to you:

“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?” 

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.” 

“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit. 

“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.” 

“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?” 

“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. 

Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” 

“Let love be genuine” is how our section from the book of Romans begins. Or as the Message translates, “Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it.” 

Love from the real you – the one made and redeemed in the image of God beneath all the layers we hide behind and hold up to one another….love from the real you. (That is the whole thing)

Paul is writing to the church in Rome – a church comprised of Jews and Gentiles. And after eleven chapters in this letter to the church at Rome in which Paul articulate a profound theology of God’s grace in Jesus Christ, he moves at chapter 12 into practical exhortation – and the thing he really wants to talk about is loving from the center of who you are.

And the fact that he spends considerable time unpacking what that means points to the fact that he is writing to a group of Christians who are struggling mightily to let love be genuine.

Let’s take a moment to get a picture of precisely how that is happening (and let me say right off the bat, I am indebted to Scot McKnight’s book, “Reading Romans Backwards” for much of what follows – it is his commentary on Romans which helps us see that the book of Romans is not one long theological treatise but is – at essence -a pastoral letter addressed to a church with some real issues).

In one part of the church, you have the Jewish Christians – those who believe in Jesus and they also observe the Torah, the law of God as articulated most especially in the first five books of the Bible.

So, they take seriously things that most people in Rome think nothing of – and most centrally at issue in the church is the fact that these Jewish Christians do not eat any meat that has been used as a sacrifice to a pagan god. No idol meat. In fact, one of the central ways this group shows forth its faithfulness to God is by keeping the sacred, involatile law of God.

In this same church you have Gentile Christians – those from among Rome’s very cosmopolitan population who have converted to Christianity and also believe in Jesus but do not believe the Torah is binding at all. They are free in Jesus Christ, and absolutely they will eat any and all meat because the idols to which the meat was offered are not even real. In fact, this group shows forth their faithfulness in such things as eating any and all meat for it tangibly shows to all that they are free in Christ.

It perhaps does not surprise us in the least that these two groups were having a difficult time getting along.

The Jewish Christians ‘sit in judgment’ of the Gentile Christians, as Paul puts in Romans 14. It’s a Greek word that has the sense of playing the part of God – of rendering what God thinks about that person, those people.

The Jewish Christians have the Scriptures on their side, they are keeping the faith accordingly, and so yeah – they sit in the seat of God and judge the free-wheeling, loose morals, sure-seems-like-anything-goes Gentile “Christians.”

The Gentile Christians, Paul writes in Romans 14, “disdain” the Jewish Christians.

That’s a word in Greek that means to perceive someone as beneath another’s consideration. Lower than you. The Gentile Christians, which likely have some among them from the more elite parts of society – this group looks down upon the Jewish Christians. They see the Jewish Christians as backward, as antiquated, as people who just don’t get it – and to follow rigid food laws like them would lead to social ostracism and likely material loss because you just didn’t turn down shared meat in that society.

Judgement from one direction. Disdain from the other. The church of Jesus Christ in Rome (also seems likely some similar dynamics in the church at Corinth).

Now, these two groups were quite different in one sense.

“The law is how we show forth faithfulness! Freedom is how we show forth faithfulness!”

But in one critical way these two groups were absolutely the same. Both groups are fully convinced of their position not just rationally – but as deeply faithful and right.

And so – whether from a place of righteous judgment or condescending disdain – increasingly each side’s life excludes the other side. Literally, they have difficulty getting to the same table for a meal because there may very well be meat – and so there’s the issue, there’s the litmus test for who’s right and who’s not.

What a relief the church no longer feels such strong animosity about idol meat – but I think we readily recognize if it isn’t idol meat, it is the sale of indulgences.

If it isn’t indulgences, it’s slavery.

If it isn’t slavery it’s evolution.

If it isn’t evolution, it’s abortion – or it’s same-sex marriage or it’s the 2020 election.

Which is to say, always before the church there are issues of great importance in which sides are taken not just rationally but because we have discerned a side to be deeply faithful and right…and always, then, it becomes increasingly difficult to get to the same table with those whose convictions differ sharply.

Who among us has already thought ahead to family gatherings and it’s not only the possibility of political discussion about the mid-term elections that is worrisome with all the mix of folks from all over…but sometimes what worries us most acutely is that families who share the same last name may not be able to handle gathering at the same table.

Paul, what is your word unto such a situation? Such a moment in our families and church family? (What say you to the Jewish Christians who sit in righteous judgment and the Gentile Christians who sit in we-know-better-than-you disdain?)

Let love be genuine…Love from the center of who you are…love from the real you.

Being right and pursuing that which is true is critically important…oh but to do so and lose love along the way… for Paul, love is the glue. Love is always the thing, in particular love toward the other side, the enemies.

How does he famously put it in 1 Corinthians 13 – “if you have not love, you have nothing.”

How does Jesus put it before those who have put him upon the cross? “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” 

Love – love especially for enemies – it sits at the center of what we are about, and Paul is raising that as the central focus to a divided church.

The remaining verses of 10-21 essentially unpack what it means to love genuinely. Love from the center. Love from the real you.

We hear very practical things like…persevere in prayer; contribute to the needs of those in the church and be hospitable to strangers…bless the people who persecute you – don’t curse them. Be humble. Don’t repay evil for evil. If your enemies are hungry or thirsty – give them food, drink.

It is sections of the Bible like this one that makes me think of Mark Twain’s insight:

“I am not troubled by the things in the Bible which I do not understand, but I am troubled by those things which I do understand and which I find very difficult to measure up to.” 

I think we understand this part of the Bible, and so I am not going to spend time in this sermon unpacking each of these exhortations.

What we struggle with, I think, is that we do understand them and can be timid to live them forthrightly.

And so, what I want to do instead of talking through all of them is help us hear which part of these verses God may be putting on our heart to hear and act upon this day.

And I want to go about that by first describing how the church in Rome would have heard Paul’s letter for the very first time.

In ancient times when a letter was written and then delivered to a people – the person who wrote it often chose someone, in particular, to read the letter aloud, and that letter writer would go over somewhat extensively with the letter reader how that letter was to be read aloud.

In many ways, the letter – when it was read aloud – it was to be performed so that the ideas were conveyed correctly and with the right emphases.

The standard elements of this performative reading included gestures at the right spots, voice inflection, speeding up or slowing down, ad-libbing if needed, and then – critically – the eye contact. The reader would look over toward the people whose specific words really needed to be heard.

In Paul’s case, he chooses a woman named Phoebe to read the letter to the church in Rome by going to the various houses churches in which the Jewish and Gentile Christians would gather together.

Can you imagine gathering in the intimate setting of a home with a few other folks – some within your own biological or Christian family with whom you disagree over matters of significant importance…perhaps even they have become enemies.

Can you imagine being in that room and hearing Phoebe read Paul’s words – and upon words in particular point might Phoebe look in your direction?

I am going to read Romans 12:9-21 again, but this time I am going to read from the Message Translation to give us a slightly more contemporary hearing of these words of Scripture.

And my invitation is that as I read this, you consider at which point you sense Phoebe might look directly toward you…and might that be the Holy Spirit’s prompting unto a certain action or actions?

9-10 Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. 

11-13 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. 

14-16 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody. 

17-19 Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.” 

20-21 Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good. 

When did Phoebe look your way?

To be sure, nothing in Paul’s exhortations promises ‘success’ – at least if success is defined as changing the enemy. There is nothing here to suggest that a church that takes these exhortations seriously will see the other side stop eating the meat – or start eating the meat. The call is simply to faithfulness, regardless of what they do or do not do.

But it doesn’t mean nothing will change when we risk loving the other side.

How does Psalm 23 famously put it when talking about what happens when we draw near to enemies?

“you prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” 

When we draw near to our enemies, when we love our enemies – Jesus shows up. He prepares a table. Jesus nourishes us with his very love in the presence of our enemies.

That is a profound promise.

The Velveteen Rabbit talks about discovering the real you once you have been slowly but surely loved to pieces by a child. There is much truth in that story.

And it makes me mindful that a promise of Scripture is that we discover our real selves,

true selves, people-God-made-us-to-be-selves when we have been slowly and surely loved to pieces by God. And the truth is, one of the more central ways Jesus shows up to love us is when we risk loving the judgmental over there, the disdainful over there.

That’s where he sets up table.

“In the presence of mine enemies” – that is where we are fed upon Love himself.

And, of course, you are what you eat.

To be sure, in the course of loving our enemies it may well be that we lose our hair and our eye droops and our joints grow loose and our body shabby… such love is not easy. But, would we trade it for the world if we knew that in such love we had been nourished unto our full, real, uninhibited selves in Jesus Christ? Amen.

*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH                              Assorted Scripture
This is the good news which we have received,
in which we stand,
and by which we are saved,
if we hold it fast:
that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures,
that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day,
and that he appeared
first to the women,
then to Peter, and to the Twelve,
and then to many faithful witnesses.
We believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of the living God.
Jesus Christ is the first and the last,
the beginning and the end;
he is our Lord and our God. Amen.

*HYMN No. 375               “Shall We Gather at the River”
1 Shall we gather at the river,
where bright angel feet have trod,
with its crystal tide forever
flowing by the throne of God?

Refrain:
Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
the beautiful, the beautiful river;
gather with the saints at the river
that flows by the throne of God.

2 On the margin of the river,
washing up its silver spray,
we will walk and worship ever,
all the happy golden day. (Refrain)

Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
the beautiful, the beautiful river;
gather with the saints at the river
that flows by the throne of God.

3 Ere we reach the shining river,
lay we every burden down;
grace our spirits will deliver,
and provide a robe and crown. (Refrain)

Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
the beautiful, the beautiful river;
gather with the saints at the river
that flows by the throne of God.

4 Soon we’ll reach the shining river;
soon our pilgrimage will cease;
soon our happy hearts will quiver
with the melody of peace. (Refrain)

Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
the beautiful, the beautiful river;
gather with the saints at the river
that flows by the throne of God.

THE PASTORAL PRAYER & THE LORD’S PRAYER
Jesus Christ, Savior, Light of the world, we lift our prayers to you, confident that you hear us, weep with us, laugh with us, and stay always close by us.

We have much to celebrate today. We lift our prayers for this congregation, that we might grow strong and love fiercely, shining as a light to our community. We lift up our ministries, grateful that your Spirit and our spirits can work together to do amazing things. We lift up each member and friend of this congregation, who give their time, talents and treasure to turn a group of people into a church.

We also have much to grieve today. We lift our prayers for a world torn apart by violence, hatred, suspicion, prejudice and apathy. We lift our prayers for those whose lives splash across our news screens as their blood splashes across the ground. We ask that you keep our hearts open to the pain of the world, not retreating into fear or apathy, but caring for all your children with strong and powerful mercy. As the church has cried out for millennia: Christ, have mercy!

We look with hope to all the stories of peace and joy that occupy less space on the front page: for the doctors, nurses, chaplains, therapists, organizers, mentors, parents, neighbors and strangers who come together in heavy times to bring healing and hope. We dare to celebrate even the smallest glimmers, knowing that your Love is strong enough to carry the sorrows of the world. We pray we might be servants of that love and of your just peace, the hands and feet of Christ here on earth.

We remember also those stories of pain which do not make the news, remembering that we have committed to loving those we do not know. Open our ears and eyes, and help us to see our neighbors who suffer, in this place and across the world, with no one to notice them. We pray for those confined to their homes and those who have nowhere to call home; we pray for the sick who seek healing and those for whom healing will not come; we pray for victims of abuse in all forms, and for those who seek power not in You but in violence, bigotry, fear or force. We lift all these things to you, knowing that your arms are wide enough to encircle the whole world, even as we cannot comprehend it all. We also lift those concerns we know all too well; those people and situations we hold deep in our hearts…

Secure that Christ has heard all these prayers, along with those we have not formed into words, let us say together the words he himself taught his disciples to pray, saying, “Our Father …”

THE 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. Forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

PASSING OF FELLOWSHIP PADS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

TITHES & OFFERINGS
Giving is not a casual act—
it relates God’s work to our work.
Peter writes:
“as each has received a gift,
employ it for one another,
as good stewards of God’s varied grace,
that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”

Let us give as people
whose work is inextricably linked to God’s great works
of creation, redemption and empowerment.

OFFERTORY ANTHEM

*RESPONSE N0. 606                  “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Come”
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

*PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Almighty God, 
giver of every good and perfect gift, 
teach us to give to you all that we have and all that we are, 
that we may praise you not with our words only, 
but with our whole lives.
Amen.

*HYMN No. 547               “Go, My Children, with My Blessing”
1 “Go, my children, with my blessing,
never alone.
Waking, sleeping, I am with you,
you are my own.
In my love’s baptismal river
I have made you mine forever.
Go, my children, with my blessing,
you are my own.”

2 “Go, my children, sins forgiven,
at peace and pure.
Here you learned how much I love you,
what I can cure.
Here you heard my dear Son’s story;
here you touched him, saw his glory.
Go, my children, sins forgiven,
at peace and pure.”

3 “Go, my children, fed and nourished,
closer to me.
Grow in love and love by serving,
joyful and free.
Here my Spirit’s power filled you;
here my tender comfort stilled you.
Go, my children, fed and nourished,
joyful and free.”

*BENEDICTION
I send you out now into the world: where are there are many fires burning that could consume you. But still I say: do not be afraid!
You bear the fire that does not consume: the strength of God who keeps you, the clarity of Christ who calls you, and the dancing flames of the Holy Spirit, who makes you brave and bold. Amen.

*POSTLUDE