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.
Prelude - “Face to Face” [Todd Kendall], Jan Green
Opening Scripture - Isaiah 55:1, 6-9
Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
*Response - Come and Find the Quiet Center #575
Come and find the quiet center in the crowded life we lead,
find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed:
clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes, that we can see
all the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.
*Call to Worship - Steve Hurd
ONE: Come, all who are thirsty.
ALL: Come, all who are seeking.
ONE: Come, all who are waiting.
ALL: Come, all who labor.
ONE: Come, all who need rest.
ALL: Come, all who dream dreams.
ONE: Come—whether you’re young or old, confident or curious, lonely or hopeful.
ALL: This is God’s house. All are welcome here. Let us worship holy God.
Opening Hymn - To God be the Glory #72
To God be the glory, great things he hath done!
So loved he the world that he gave us his Son,
who yielded his life an atonement for sin,
and opened the life gate that all may go in.
Refrain:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice!
Oh, come to the Father, thru Jesus the Son,
and give him the glory, great things he hath done.
Invitation to Generosity - Steve Hurd
Invitation
The Doxology #46
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God all creatures here below;
Praise God above, ye heavenly host:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Offering Prayer
Children’s Moment - Ally Bozeka
Pastoral Prayer - Rev. Chad Delaney
God of Life and Love, Growth and Abundance,
We are thankful that you are at work in the cosmos every day. You are fertilizing and watering the soil. You are planting roots, new life just waiting. You are growing fruit that is yet to be tasted. Always moving, always active, blessing us with the miracle of life everyday…you are an awesome God. Help us to see that activity and your beauty in the world, in others, even in ourselves.
Holy God, we sometimes treat our self-worth like something that can be bought at a store; Instead of trusting that we are made good, instead of trusting that we are loved exactly as we are, we stockpile our value in earthly things—in trophies and awards, in likes and follows, in wealth and power. Forgive us for creating our own measuring stick.
Heal our open wounds and tell our hearts that we won’t be forgotten if we slow down. To be still and know you are God is a Gift. To share in love and laughter in service of others, even only for a smile is an abundant blessing.
Set us to work in your spirit. May your Holy Presence drive us to act with mercy, justice, and kindness. May our response to your grace outflow in service to others. And even when our work does not bear fruit, remind us that you still love us. When our soil grows dry and cracked, remind us that you still long for us. When all seems hopeless here on earth, hold our hope for us. Help us to trust that you are always at work.
God, we lift the pain of the Ukrainian people to you this day. Pray for those who are in strange places wondering about home and what will be left for them. We pray for the children who are witnessing this terror and its effects on them. God, in your mercy, give us wisdom and courage. Speak a word of truth into the ears of our world leaders that violence may cease.
God in this time of silence we lift up to you the concerns and joys of our hearts….
Communion
Meditation - Roger Cram
Communion Hymn - Seed, Scattered and Sown #395
[Refrain]
Seed, scattered and sown,
Wheat, gathered and grown,
Bread, broken and shared as one,
The living bread of God.
Vine, fruit of the land,
Wine, work of our hands,
One cup that is shared by all;
The living cup, the living bread of God.
(1) Is not the bread we break a sharing in our Lord?
Is not the cup we bless the blood of Christ outpoured?
[Refrain]
Prayer & Lord’s Prayer - Roger Cram
Words of Institution - Rev. Chad Delaney
Music: A Lenten Prayer [Juliet Calkins]
At this time, all are welcome to partake of the elements as they are passed, to utilize the personal cups offered in the entrance.
Scripture - Luke 13:1-9
At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2He asked them, ‘Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.’
6 Then he told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7So he said to the gardener, “See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?” 8He replied, “Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig round it and put manure on it. 9If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.” ’
Sermon - "You Are Worthy", Rev. Chad Delaney
In the passage today, we have a fig tree on the chopping block. The fig tree just can’t seem to get going. And the man who has commissioned its planting is fed up with it and is very ready to cut it down. “Why should it be wasting the soil?” he asks the gardener.
Looking at the passage we understand the man’s exasperation. He’s looking for results. If you’ve planted anything you can understand the frustration when it doesn’t seem to do what it is supposed to do. It's been plotted and planted….there is expectation that it will grow. And when it doesn’t…well let’s take it out and try again maybe somewhere else. Why keep messing with it?
BUT….have you ever thought of this from the perspective of the tree? Rev. Larissa Kwong Abazia makes the point about this passage: “The first thing I want to know is why a fig tree is in the midst of a vineyard.”
Ahh….have you ever noticed that before? Might the fig tree be out of place?
Well it depends on who you ask.
I consulted numerous online sources of people claiming they have the answer to this.
Vineyard-owner James Richardson says, “No one – but no one – plants a fig tree in their vineyard. A fig tree would consume too much groundwater, the canopy would produce too much shade, and the fig tree would attract birds that would eat the grapes.”
However, Peter McKenna says, “Some vineyards have a problem with small birds who peck at the grapes looking for the seeds and causing the grapes to rot. One solution is to plant fig trees around the vineyard. The birds prefer the figs because they have more seeds and the seeds are more accessible, they then leave the grapes alone.”
And still another long-time vineyard owner said that he plants fig trees around the same time as the grapes and the timeline is similar…when the figs are ripe…he knows the grapes are ripe.
You might not know it from looking at me…but I don’t know anything about figs or these fig-related controversies.
I just know that it does seem curious that there is a fig tree planted in a vineyard. Maybe the fig tree is out of place?
Have you ever felt out of place? Like you were planted in the wrong place? The wrong location? The wrong soil? The wrong family? The wrong job? The wrong career? The wrong church or theological tradition? The wrong social circle? Just something isn’t right. The conditions you find yourself in…are not conditions for YOU to thrive? I bet you have at some point or another.
Rev. Abazia reminds us that MANY people live everyday as a fig tree in a vineyard--due to the color of their skin, their language, sexual orientation, a physical disability or just anyone being labeled as different. She says, “Many of us experience the world as a fig tree in the midst of grape vines. We are placed in fields not meant for us and yet expected to thrive. People discount and doubt us, threatening to cut us down if we don’t produce in the ways that have been defined on our behalf. We are afterthoughts demanded to bear fruit or be destroyed.”
We may have found ourselves under the critical eye of someone or even ourselves. We can feel out of place and then turn it in on ourselves. Leaving us feeling like there is something wrong with us. Like we are unworthy. Like we don’t have value. That it is better if we were just cast to the side.
Yet…we might recognize that there IS NOTHING WRONG with the Fig tree!! A few shifts, new location, little tending…and it will be ready to thrive. Yet there is something holding them back.
It reminds me of Anthony De Mello’s telling of the story of The Golden Eagle….
A farmer found an eagle’s egg and placed it under a brooding hen. The eaglet hatched with the chickens and grew to be like them. He clucked and cackled; scratched the earth for worms; flapped his wings and managed to fly a few feet in the air.
Years passed. One day, the eagle, now older, saw a magnificent bird above him in the sky. It glided in graceful majesty against the powerful wind, with scarcely a movement of its golden wings.
Spellbound, the eagle asked, “Who’s that?”
“That’s the king of the birds, the eagle,” said his neighbor. “He belongs to the sky. We belong to earth—we’re chickens.”
So the eagle lived and died a chicken for that’s what he thought he was.
The gift of life, the potential, the power already within them…but pressed down because of the conditions thrust upon them. The possibilities stunted…
In the parable today, however…Jesus tells us that there is another way to see it. Jesus offers a vision of grace for the tree. The gardener has a different point of view. The gardener--who loves and works the land--says to the impatient man….NOT SO FAST! You are ready to cut this tree down, but let me tend it. Dig around it. Put manure on it. Let me do it for one more year--then you can cut it down. BUT…I like to imagine that the gardener would make the same argument the next year and the next as the gardener won’t give up on it. This is a message of Grace in a world that wants to cut us down or cast us out.
Family in Christ,
We are reminded today that if we are ready to cut something down or give up on something or someone…we might listen to the gardener who looks for ways to nurture and tend to it. What if just a few small shifts would change everything for them? To not see them as unworthy and a waste in the soil…but offer our love and tending support to nurture their growth.
And may we be reminded and encouraged that we’ve ever been seen as the tree, that we are worthy. Worthy of second chances. Worthy of extra help and support? Worthy of a new environment or change in scenery to grow into the person we have been created to be. For God has made each one of us. God doesn’t make mistakes. To receive God’s abundant love and expansive grace…each one of us is worthy. Amen.
*Closing Hymn - I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry #75
I was there to hear your borning cry, I’ll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized, to see your life unfold.
I was there when you were but a child, with a faith to suit you well;
In a blaze of light you wandered off to find where demons dwell.
When you heard the wonder of the Word I was there to cheer you on;
You were raised to praise the living Lord, to whom you now belong.
If you find someone to share your time and you join your hearts as one,
I’ll be there to make your verses rhyme from dusk ‘till rising sun.
In the middle ages of your life, not too old, no longer young,
I’ll be there to guide you through the night, complete what I’ve begun.
When the evening gently closes in, and you shut your weary eyes,
I’ll be there as I have always been with just one more surprise.
I was there to hear your borning cry, I’ll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized, to see your life unfold.
Benediction - Rev. Chad Delaney
Postlude - We Are an Offering [Laura Bergquiest], Jan Green