Week of Compassion - Special Offering 2022
Prelude - “All Things Bright & Beautiful” [Larry Shackley], Jan Green
We are a community seeking to have open minds, open hearts, and open arms, building community in a fragmented world.
- We want to welcome everyone who is in the house today, everyone online, and everyone downstairs watching our live telecast. We are grateful for all the many ways you can join us for worship on this Lord’s Day.
- ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Ash Wednesday 7pm
- Chi-Rho - The Pond today at 12:15
- Week of Compassion Boxes
- Let’s prepare our hearts and minds for worship with our Opening Scripture Reading…
Opening Scripture - 1 Corinthians 13:4-13
4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
*Response - Weave
Weave, weave, weave us together,
Weave us together, in unity and love.
Weave, weave, weave us together,
weave us together, together in love.
*Call to Worship - Roger Cram
ONE: Love is patient,
ALL: but sometimes we want things to happen on our schedule.
ONE: Love is kind,
ALL: but we do not always show that in our actions
towards others.
ONE: Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude,
ALL: but there are times when we are.
ONE: Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing,
ALL: but rejoices in truth and freedom.
ONE: Love bears, believes, hopes and endures.
ALL: Our deepest desire is to do the same.
ONE: Love is compassionate action.
ALL: Love is resilient determination.
ONE: Love digs deeper.
ALL: Love gives more.
ONE: Love is made evident in big and small ways,
ALL: and the world is a better place. Let us worship the Lord!
Opening Hymn - Great is Thy Faithfulness #86
1 Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
there is no shadow of turning with thee;
thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
as thou hast been thou forever wilt be.
Refrain:
Great is thy faithfulness!
Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Invitation to Generosity - Roger Cram
Not far from Cape Town, South Africa, there is a ghetto called Khayelitsha inhabited by over one million people living in corrugated tin shacks. Not too long ago, Khayelitsha had 47% of its population infected with AIDS.
A true tragedy occurred when the single parent died of AIDS leaving behind several small children. These new orphans have little means for survival. If they have a dog, the dog is the first to be without food and water. This information about the dog is important, and you’ll understand “why” in a few minutes.
But someone unknown is caring for these orphans. Khayelitsha has a mysterious legend of love and compassion, an enigma of kindness cloaked in folklore and secrecy–but who is this loving spirit?
This legend declares that several years ago an emaciated dog was picked up off the streets of Khayelitsha by a good Samaritan who brought it to a lady veterinarian for care. The veterinarian was concerned how the dog got that way, because if a family could not feed their dog, they might not be able to feed their children.
The lady veterinarian took the dog back to the area where it was found and turned it loose hoping it would return to its home. That is exactly what happened. Upon finding the dog’s home, the veterinarian found six children inside, all under ten years of age, two in diapers, three were sick, and their deceased mother on the bed having succumbed to AIDS.
The veterinarian arranged for the children to be given medical attention, clothing, and food. The dog was cared for as well. Between relatives and good neighbors, all six children and the dog found suitable homes.
This folklore continues stating the lady veterinarian decided to devote her life to finding orphaned and abandoned children whose parents have passed from AIDS. She accomplished this by following other emaciated dogs wandering the streets. Eventually the dogs went to their home, and the destitute children were found and rescued.
Stories started spreading throughout Khayelitsha about a mysterious and anonymous benefactor appearing at the homes of recently orphaned children. The neighborhood affectionately named her the Claw Lady because she was rumored to be following dogs.
Occasionally extraordinary acts of love are shrouded in unexplained mystery. The Claw Lady of Khayelitsha is one of those mysteries. No one has ever seen her. But she keeps arriving unnoticed and cares for these children.
I searched for the Claw Lady. I wanted to talk to her. I slowly drove around the dirt streets of Khayelitsha for several hours looking for any sign of her. But what was I looking for? Is the Claw Lady a Caucasian? Is she black? Should I look for a lady following a scrawny dog, or perhaps, a newer car parked in front of a run-down shack? I did not know, so I looked for all those things. It was fun; it was adventurous, but I was not successful. To be honest, I am glad I did not find the Claw Lady, for I respect her anonymity.
The Claw Lady’s ability to move in stealth and incognito has rendered her a myth, a legend of mystery. How does the Claw Lady pay for her wonderful services? How many volunteers does she have working for her? Perhaps she rescues these children by traveling in stealth at night. No one seems to know. The Claw Lady is not a myth, however, because new orphans are still being located and rescued to this day, yet my search for her on the streets and back alleys of Khayelitsha occurred nineteen years ago. How can she remain anonymous for so long?
Let us pray
Dear Lord, thank you for the Claw Lady. Her loving acts have made her a legend. Inspired by her and our desire to serve you, perhaps one of us may become a compassionate legend for our community? Perhaps, we need to ponder such a possibility. We seek your guidance in this quest.
Amen
Children’s Moment Ally Bozeka
Pastoral Prayer - Rev. Chad Delaney
God of abundance, You have ordained that creation yields fruit, and that the earth will put forth plenty. You have promised a banquet in your presence for all those who seek you. And yet, so many in the world are hungry. So many suffer under the weight of poverty, made greater now by the burden of illness. In this time of struggle and uncertainty Lord, hear our prayer.
Guide us to share what we have in faith, so that even our smallest gifts might be transformed by your love. Take our offerings of compassion, so that even when we doubt your abundance, all might be fed.
Forgive us when we cling to what you have given us; when we believe in the world’s story of scarcity more than your promise of plenty.
Forgive us when we fail our neighbors, building up treasures for ourselves when we should be caring for the most vulnerable in our midst.
Teach us, as Disciples, to walk in the way of Christ, who leads us in paths of plenty; who seeks the one lost sheep, who calls in those who have been cast out, and who feeds those he loves with a generous hand. Give us a new Spirit of hope, that all might be fed in your presence, if only we plant the smallest seeds of love.
Call us from our places of fear and into the open fields of generosity, God; we place our trust in you, and in the gospel truth that you are in all things: alive and moving in the world even now.
We lift our hearts, our joys, our concerns to you now in silent prayer…
May this body of Christ move in new ways, in this new season, to share the abundance we have known in you. To Let love flow in compassion In your name and by your grace we pray, Amen.
Communion
Meditation - Steve Hurd
Communion Hymn - One Bread, One Body #393
[Refrain] One bread, one body, one Lord of all
One cup of blessing which we bless
And we, though many, throughout the Earth
We are one body in this one Lord
v1 Gentile or Jew, Servant or free
Woman or man….No more
[Refrain]
Prayer & Lord’s Prayer - Steve Hurd
Words of Institution - Rev. Chad Delaney
Scripture - Lamentations 3:19-41
19 The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall! 20 My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. 21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. 26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. 27 It is good for one to bear the yoke in youth, 28 to sit alone in silence when the Lord has imposed it, 29 to put one’s mouth to the dust (there may yet be hope), 30 to give one’s cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults.
31 For the Lord will not reject for ever. 32 Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; 33 for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone. 34 When all the prisoners of the land are crushed under foot, 35 when human rights are perverted in the presence of the Most High, 36 when one’s case is subverted—does the Lord not see it? 37 Who can command and have it done, if the Lord has not ordained it? 38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? 39 Why should any who draw breath complain about the punishment of their sins?
40 Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord. 41 Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven.
Sermon - Let Love Flow, Rev. Chad Delaney
On this day of recognizing the Week of Compassion we listen to this powerful passage in the book of Lamentations which you undoubtedly recognized a piece of it from the beloved hymn.
Great is thy faithfulness!
Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
A celebration of the goodness of God experienced in every waking moment of every day. Each morning an opportunity to receive all that we need and to bear witness to God’s mercy and provision. A powerful reminder for all of us and a beloved passage and hymn for a reason.
However, most us may not have realized it comes from the book of Lamentations. A book often attributed to the Weeping Prophet -- Jeremiah. A prophet unshy of expressing despair, grief, and anguish. Looking at the world with realistic eyes and unafraid to name it for what it is. The Prophet Jeremiah. Whoever wrote it, the year was 587 and the Babylonians brought fire and fury down upon their Temple and City. Jerusalem burnt and destroyed and the people dragged off into captivity. Utter devastation.
It was a time that was not only ripe for another biblical pronouncement of God’s Great Goodness! But also a passage acknowledging the deep pain felt by the people of God in a terrible time. The passage begins with the author writing:
19 The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall! 20 My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me.
Have you ever been there before? Felt as though your soul, your life, your very being was bowed down within you. Many of us have struggled with depression. We have felt overwhelmed by the what is happening in the world. We have been sick or ill in body, soul, or spirit. We have discovered that What was…isn’t any longer. What we might have hoped for….gone. A blanket of worry, anxiety, or despair wrapped around you. Many have expressed this to me during this time.
This is not unfamiliar, yet beyond any difficulties we’ve had during the pandemic there is a world awash in affliction and difficulty.
In South Sudan there is a major humanitarian crisis with nearly 70% of the population in need of assistance. Tens of thousands of people living in famine-like conditions and malnutrition is at critical levels. Over 7 million are food insecure.
In Haiti there is still recovery from the Earthquakes in 2021 and the rampant homelessness and shortages of supplies, food, clothing, and water.
In the United States, there are many who experienced absolutely devastating storms in Western Kentucky, Texas, Alabama, and Ohio still wondering if they can get back to their homes.
This week we have seen the tensions growing higher and escalating to violence in the Ukraine as the world looks on wondering what will happen next.
There are refugees all over the world looking for a place to call home. We would not blame any of these whose souls maybe bowed down within them. Wormwood and gall.
And yet, in the midst of the lament--the voice of the author cries out in defiance! The Lament is never JUST a lament, but coupled with promise.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’
34 When all the prisoners of the land are crushed under foot, 35 when human rights are perverted in the presence of the Most High, 36 when one’s case is subverted—does the Lord not see it?
There is HOPE because God is the God who sees. God is a God of faithfulness and compassion. God is a God of justice and hope.
So, then let’s LOOK for God’s love to show up in the world in ways we wouldn’t expect! AND…let’s not forget how MOST OFTEN God shows up in the midst of the cast down souls? In the midst of the affliction and homelessness of the people? In war and violence, pain and depression. We may be inclined to only keep watch and wait for what God will do…but let’s remember that the faithfulness of God is enacted by God’s people? We are God’s hands and feet! This is what God created us for…!
For….When we let Love Love Flow…when we are sharing our resources and lives to help others…we are God’s hands and feet in the world! Our acts of compassion, service, and love are our response to the faithfulness of God! We are the re-presentation of the Faithfulness of God given in love to the world.
And one of our ARMS is the Week of Compassion. A ministry we can be so proud of as Disciples of Christ. Through their ministry we have responded in places like South Sudan with immediate food assistance; education; protection (particularly from sexual and gender-based violence); livelihood support; sanitation and hygiene; shelter; and financial support. In Haiti we have responded with temporary shelters, power generators, hygiene kits, water, food, first aid. Partnering with people all over the world, on the ground, listening to what is need first…and then responding.
Look at what Week of Compassion is doing right here in Dayton, OH.
All over the world indeed there are people who are struggling. And together as Christ’s body we share together God’s mercy, grace, and provision in ways that love and lift up each other to life abundant. Together we seek to BE the grace. BE the justice. BE the Faithfulness. BE the Compassion….so God’s Mercy and Love might flow.
Great is thy faithfulness!
Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
May we turn God’s faithfulness and mercy to us….out into the world and let love flow! Amen
Closing Hymn - Restless Weaver #658, v.1-4
- Restless Weaver, ever spinning threads of justice and shalom; dreaming patterns of creation where all creatures find a home; gathering up life's varied fibers, every texture, every hue; grant us your creative vision. With us weave your world anew.
- Where earth's fragile web is raveling help us mend each broken strand. Bless our urgent, bold endeavors cleaning water, air and land. Through the Spirit's inspiration offering health were there once was pain-strengthen us to be the stewards of your world knit whole again.
- When our violent lust for power ends in lives abused and torn, from compassion's sturdy fabric fashion hope and trust reborn. Where injustice rules as tyrant, give us courage, God to dare. Live our dreams of transformation. Make our lives incarnate prayer.
- Restless Weaver, still conceiving new life-now and yet to be-binding all of your vast creation into one living tapestry, you have called us to be weavers. Let your love guide all we do. With your Reign of Peace our pattern, we will weave your world anew.
Benediction - Rev. Chad Delaney
The faithful love of God never ceases; it is inexhaustible!
God’s mercy and compassion is new every morning!
Great is Your faithfulness, O God!
So go into the week ahead with courage, and with joy.
Trust in God, and look for those actions of promise and peace.
May God’s Spirit move you to mercy and compassion;
As God’s loving presence goes with us now and always!
Postlude - “Love Medley” [Eugene Butler], Jan Green