For the week of April 13 – Palm Sunday
Morning Prayer: Giver of light, Your steadfast love endures forever. Open our hearts to the Blessed One who comes so humbly, on a borrowed colt. Open before us the gates of Your justice, that we may enter, confessing in heaven and on earth that Jesus is Lord. Amen. (Lectionary Prayers)
Opening Hymn: #278 Hosanna, Loud Hosanna
- Hosanna, loud hosanna, the little children sang,
through pillared court and temple the lovely anthem rang.
To Jesus, who had blessed them close folded to His breast,
the children sang their praises, the simplest and the best. - From Olivet they followed mid an exultant crowd,
the victor palm branch waving, and chanting clear and loud.
The Lord of earth and heaven rode on in lowly state,
nor scorned that little children should on His bidding wait. - "Hosanna in the highest!" that ancient song we sing,
for Christ is our Redeemer, the Lord of heaven our King.
O may we ever praise Him with heart and life and voice,
and in His blissful presence eternally rejoice!
Psalm 118:26-29 (CEB)
26 The one who enters in the Lord’s name is blessed;
we bless all of you from the Lord’s house.
27 The Lord is God!
He has shined a light on us!
So lead the festival offering with ropes
all the way to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God—I will give thanks to You!
You are my God—I will lift You up high!
29 Give thanks to the Lord because He is good,
because His faithful love lasts forever.
Prayers of Intercession: Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers for those dear to our hearts. We now pray as You have taught us: 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 sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: Yaw Nsiah (en-SEE-ah) from Withrow College was with us in worship via technology. He thanked us for the 30 Pieces of Silver offering. The church goal is to raise funds for a generator ($2,500) and 2 air conditioners ($950) for Withrow College in Ghana. Easter Sunday will be the dedication of the Lenten offering of repentance and forgiveness.
Offering prayer: God of Peace, who reigns in unexpected ways, we gather before You in this season of Lent, bringing our gifts as an offering of our hearts. Just as the crowd welcomed Jesus with shouts of praise, we offer our lives in service to Your kingdom. Use these gifts to bring hope, healing, and love to a world longing for Your peace. Guide us to give generously with joyful hearts, knowing that in our giving, we proclaim Your reign of grace. Bless these offerings and all who give in the name of Christ, our Savior. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of Preparation: #280 All Glory, Laud and Honor
Refrain: All glory, laud, and honor, to thee, Redeemer, King,
to whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring.
- Thou art the King of Israel, Thou David's royal Son,
who in the Lord's name comest, the King and Blessed One. (Refrain) - The company of angels are praising Thee on high,
and we with all creation in chorus make reply. (Refrain) - The people of the Hebrews with psalms before Thee went;
our prayer and praise and anthems before Thee we present. (Refrain) - To Thee, before Thy passion, they sang their hymns of praise;
to Thee, now high exalted, our melody we raise. (Refrain) - Thou didst accept their praises; accept the prayers we bring,
who in all good delightest, thou good and gracious King. (Refrain)
Scripture: Luke 6:32-36 (CEB)
32 “If you love those who love you, why should you be commended? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, why should you be commended? Even sinners do that. 34 If you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, why should you be commended? Even sinners lend to sinners expecting to be paid back in full. 35 Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend expecting nothing in return. If you do, you will have a great reward. You will be acting the way children of the Most High act, for He is kind to ungrateful and wicked people. 36 Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate.
Message: Giving Up Pettiness Pastor Becky
Good Palm Sunday morning! We have spent our Lent preparing for Easter morning. We are looking to embrace the glory of what the resurrection of Jesus is, what God is doing for Jesus and for us. We are looking forward to the extension of God’s gracious right arm, we aren’t there yet. The excitement and beauty of this morning will fade into the darkness of Thursday and Friday and the silence of Saturday, before Easter Sunday.
We still have work to do, we need to reflect and repent. Praise God this is work we don’t do alone. We have the companionship of the Holy Spirit.
Life is too short. We come to that realization at some point in our lives. It can be a lament voiced after the death of someone that came far too soon. Sometimes it comes when we finally obtain that “‘one thing” we have been striving for or looking for, only to find we don’t have time left to enjoy it. Reconciliations come too late, diagnosis come too late. Life is too short.
We can also come to this realization when looking at what we could lose. Does it come at the cost of our peace, our focus, or our faith. We draw a hard line regarding what we won’t tolerate. We don’t partake of abusive relationships, toxic affiliations, injustice, or unkindness.
That is the thumbnail of Luke 6:32-36. How you treat those you love should be the same way you treat your enemies. I know we prefer it the other way around, to treat our enemies as we treat those we love. We have wiggle room, maybe excuse our behavior a bit – I mean after all they are our enemies after all.
Yet, Christ calls us to be different. Everybody loves those that love them, are kind to those who are kind to us, lend to those who will repay. Even sinners do that. Sinners being those outside the faith, those not in connection with the Temple, the non God-fearers. Jesus is making the point that even those we assume have no god, treat their loved ones well, do good, and lend.
But we are to treat all equally because God does. It is a sign; it is the fruit of compassion. All because human life is too short and mistreatment of our presumed enemies doesn’t change our enemies, it changes us. It becomes the question of transformation. Do we want to be transformed toward the good or transformed toward the bad? Are we filling ourselves with light or darkness, because we act out of our reserves.
Yet, we have been examining what we need to cut out of our lives for Lent and life is too short for pettiness. Pettiness is the small, insignificant things we allow to become big things. Having big feelings over minor inconveniences or differences of opinion or how things should be done is what drives pettiness. It divides families, organizations, and churches. You all know what I am talking about. Someone new comes into your family, they show up at their first family picnic or meal. They bring with them a pie/casserole/salad that just happens to be “Aunt Millie’s” specialty. There is a family meltdown. Now thirty years later, it is brought up at every gathering how they dared to bring whatever dish.
It is hard to come into any established system and be accepted. We forget that, and then wonder why nobody wants to join any organization. It is the pettiness they face in trying to navigate what acceptance will look like.
The problem with pettiness is it makes us look small. The person experiencing the pettiness, the victim, isn’t made small, just excluded; which again isn’t doesn’t make for a good experience.
It also has this wretched way of becoming a character trait. Would you rather be known for your compassion or your pettiness? Please choose compassion. I know it sounds like the most Christ like response, yet sadly pettiness seems to be the chosen route.
Life is too short for hurt feelings. Now I am not saying hurt feelings aren’t valid. We hurt people’s feelings regularly, mostly accidently. When we do, we need to apologize and make amends. Deliberately hurting people’s feelings is a symptom of pettiness. I’m talking about when we harbor hurt feelings. James Moore tells the story in his book, Give Up Something Bad for Lent, about a woman who suddenly quit the church. When asked by the pastor why she left, she said her sister died September 20 and her Sunday School didn’t send her a sympathy card until Oct 3. She proclaimed she was never going to forgive them for slighting her like that.
Another symptom of pettiness is bitterness. When we live and act out of pettiness we become bitter and it contaminates our souls. There is no joy, because all we notice is how we are being wronged, how someone else is getting what we wanted or what we thought we deserved. Bitterness infects everything. The writer of Hebrews gives us this admonishment (12:15): “Make sure that no one misses out on God’s grace. Make sure that no root of bitterness grows up that might cause trouble and pollute many people.”
How we act, how we behave affects not just the person we are enacting with, it affects us and how we are seen. Again, I say – choose compassion and give up bitterness. Christ came to bring wholeness, to make us well, to heal us, to deliver us from all our sins. He came as light to counter the darkness. This is transformation, this is new life, here and in the life to come. Set aside pettiness, hurt feelings, and bitterness and welcome resurrection into your life. Amen
Closing Hymn: #707 Hymn of Promise
- In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
- There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody;
There’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
- In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity,
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
The blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you this week.
