Prelude - “Come, Thou Almighty King” [by F. DeGiardini] - Sarah Park
We are a community seeking to have open minds, open hearts, and open arms, building community in a fragmented world. Welcome to the Mantua Center Christian Church on this World Communion Sunday
Opening Scripture - James 2:14-17
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
*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 - Cheryl Delaney
ONE: We gather, as God's people, bringing our fears and pain,
ALL: knowing that when our spirits have grown cold, God rekindles the gift of faith in us.
ONE: We gather, as God's people, hanging our broken hearts on the branches of the tree of life.
ALL: knowing that while friends may turn against us, God transforms enemies into sisters and brothers.
ONE: We gather, as God's people, hungering for healing and hope,
ALL: knowing that even when life is no picnic, God prepares a feast for us.
~Written by Thom Shuman
*Opening Hymn - Bring Many Names #10, v.1-2,4-5
1 Bring many names, beautiful and good, celebrate, in parable and story,
holiness in glory, living, loving God. Hail and Hosanna! Bring many names!
2 Strong mother God, working night and day, planning all the wonders of creation,
setting each equation, genius at play: Hail and Hosanna, strong mother God!
4 Old, aching God, grey with endless care, calmly piercing evil's new disguises,
glad of good surprises, wiser than despair: Hail and Hosanna, old, aching God!
5 Young, growing God, eager, on the move, saying no to falsehood and unkindness,
crying out for justice, giving all you have: Hail and Hosanna, young, growing God!
Invitation to Generosity
Invitation - Cheryl Delaney
Offertory
Music: “My Life, My Love I Give to Thee ” [by C. R. Dunbar ]
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 - Cheryl Delaney
Children’s Moment - Rev. Chad Delaney
I’m gonna be Brave (stand), I’m gonna be Strong (arms) and Courageous (tiger)
-- When Life Is Hard
-- When we feel alone
-- When I need to do what’s right
Pastoral Prayer - Rev. Chad Delaney
By Bruce Prewer
Please reveal your compassion,
Loving God, bring wholeness to all.
God of all things seen and unseen, if you had insulated yourself from the pain of the world, then your name could not be love and our condition would be without hope. Thank you for being so personally involved, for revealing your complete commitment in Jesus of Nazareth. Through him we pray with hope, in him we pray with love.
Let your healing love be known this day by all who suffer ailment of body, or distress of mind, or agony of spirit
Please reveal your compassion,
Loving God, bring wholeness to all.
Let your fierce love this day redress the wrongs of all who suffer exploitation, injustice, abuse, neglect, violence or unwarranted imprisonment.
Please reveal your compassion,
Loving God, bring wholeness to all.
Let your nurturing love today encourage those who are gathering resolve to make tough decisions, take on new responsibilities, or break free from some bondage.
Please reveal your compassion,
Loving God, bring wholeness to all.
Let your relentless love this day upset congregations that have become self-centered or even contemptuous of other churches.
Please reveal your compassion,
Loving God, bring wholeness to all.
Let your reconciling love today gather together the separated Christians, and make them aware of the fellowship and mission of the one, universal body of Christ
Please reveal your compassion,
Loving God, bring wholeness to all.
Let your inspiring love this day rejuvenate pastors, priests and prophets who have become weary to the very roots of their souls.
Please reveal your compassion,
Loving God, bring wholeness to all.
Thank you for hearing us, most loving God. With the whole body of believers in time and eternity, we want to love, praise and serve you, today and evermore. Through Christ Jesus your true Son. Amen!
Communion
Meditation - Steve Hurd
Communion Hymn - Seed, Scattered, and Sown #395, v.1&3
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.
Is not the bread we break a sharing in our Lord?
Is not the cup we bless the blood of Christ outpoured? [Refrain]
As wheat upon the hills was gathered and was grown,
so may the church of God be gathered into one. [Refrain]
Prayer & Lord’s Prayer - Steve Hurd
Words of Institution - Rev. Chad Delaney
Music: “Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee” [Arr. by W. Shield]
I am grateful to our small group of folks who gather on Wednesday afternoons for their insights and I would be remiss not to thank Katie, Nora, Ruth Anne, Vince, Joan, and Karla for their wisdom in thinking through this passage.
Prayer: Help us so to hear…
Scripture - Numbers 27:1-11
“Then the daughters of Zelophehad came forward. Zelophehad was son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh son of Joseph, a member of the Manassite clans. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and they said, 3‘Our father died in the wilderness; he was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin; and he had no sons. 4Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father’s brothers.’
5 Moses brought their case before the Lord. 6And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 7The daughters of Zelophehad are right in what they are saying; you shall indeed let them possess an inheritance among their father’s brothers and pass the inheritance of their father on to them. 8You shall also say to the Israelites, ‘If a man dies, and has no son, then you shall pass his inheritance on to his daughter. 9If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan, and he shall possess it. It shall be for the Israelites a statute and ordinance, as the Lord commanded Moses.’”
Sermon - The Five Sisters - Rev. Chad Delaney
A big event has happened in Numbers chapter 26--the census. By Numbers 26 the people of God have been wandering around the desert for almost 40 years. God had freed them from slavery in Egypt and now they are this close to finding their way to the promised land. It has been a hard journey and it has been hard generational work. Now God wanted them to take a census of the people. That way they could get organized and know which men were available to fight battles and what land they would be apportioned.
Now as some of you know and have experienced, dividing up land and inheritance is not always easy. There would be issues and disputes of all different kinds. Good thing though that Moses was gaining lots of experience in this area. God had empowered him to be the one to settle disputes and help people figure out their issues and you can imagine how many came up as they wandered across the desert. Think of your immediate family for a moment--imagine walking through the desert with them for the next 2 years. How’s that gonna go? Moses became quite the expert at fielding all the suggestions and complaints of the people.
Well not too long after the census, there arose the interesting case we read today. There was a man-- Zelophehad-- who was a member of the Manassite clans and was entitled to his apportionment of the Promised Land according to the census. However, he died and had no sons. In their culture, tradition, and religious practice--It was only the MEN who were part of the census…for they were the ones to serve in battle and to have land. Typically--in a case like Zelophehad’s-- the land would have gone to Zelophehad’s oldest brother...but his 5 daughters had something to say about that. And their story needs to be told
Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah -- clearly were not going to sit idly by and let their father's land and name be taken from them. They took decisive action. It would have been amazing to be a fly on the wall in seeing their conversation. Did the 5 sisters get along normally? Were they close or this brought them closer? Did they have a plan?
The first thing we might notice is their courage. They went straight to the top -- Moses, The High Priest Eleazer, and at the Tent of Meeting. This is the place where the top MEN gathered for decisions. And not only did they go before them, but it says they stood before the whole community. No doubt they drew strength and courage from each other as they sought to do this. It never hurts to have a team behind you.
The second thing to see is their wisdom. Notice they didn’t go in guns blazing and roasting Moses over the coals for this horrible, oppressive system in place. Instead they were like--as Jesus said, “wise as serpents and gentle as doves.” They stated the facts of the case with an accurate bluntness. They anticipated the arguments against them -- being sure to mention their father was not a rebel in Korah. And then with a powerful question they appealed to the men’s egos about their own land…Why should the name of our father be taken away, because he had no son?” This was the perfect question to ask to show the gravity of the situation--to show these men what was at stake that they all could relate to.
The final thing to notice would be their faith. They had incredible faith in each other. Together they went before the powers and made a case for what was right and good. They trusted each other and stood together. AND…they trusted in the goodness and judgment of God over and against the wisdom of the men in power and their cultural traditions. A rabbinic midrash in the third century (talk about ahead of their time) would say:
[The sisters] said that the mercy of flesh and blood is not like the mercy of God. Flesh and blood is apt to be more merciful to males than to females. But God who spoke and the world came into being is different: His mercy is for males and females; His mercy is for all, as it is written, “The Lord is good for all and His mercy is over all His works” [Psalms 145:9].
God was faithful and merciful and would show no partiality just because of someone’s gender.
In these moments, we might think of the Little Rock Nine -- the nine African-American teenagers who were the first to integrate a high school in the United States. Or those getting ready for the sit-ins and bus boycotts of the 60s. We might think of the women who have fought for property rights and agency in their own lives for centuries and centuries…even to this day.
Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah -- were rebels with a cause fighting on the side of equity, justice, and fairness for all God’s people. It is God’s work. It is HOLY work.
Human rights are not some game of politics--it is to come more insync/in tune with what God created the world to be. These women speaking out for themselves and the women coming after them changed things for the better albeit incrementally. The struggle would continue. As Dr. King once quoted: “The arc of the moral universe is long…but it bends towards justice!” Fighting for the rights of all God’s people is the work of faith to bring justice, equity, and fairness for all. It is not the mission of the left or the right or the center…it is practical, it is political, it is theological. It is most certainly HOLY.
Today, as we -- in big and small ways -- work for change in our church, our community, and world…may we learn from the 5 sisters.
No doubt they would have had much to be afraid of in confronting the powers…It would have been easy to talk themselves out out of it. But they took courage and put themselves out there for what they knew was right.
They were thoughtful and wise. They worked the dynamics around them and were strategic about their words and approach. They conducted a master class in getting to the heart of the issue and stating their case clearly and convincingly.
And at their core they trusted they were right because of who they knew God to be. Culture, Tradition, the Law, even the Bible does NOT have the final say…God does. There will always be rules and laws and ideas passed on for generation after generation…it doesn’t mean they are true and right. God gets the final say and God is always merciful. Moses was flummoxed on what to do so he turned to God and God said, “7The daughters of Zelophehad are right in what they are saying; you shall indeed let them possess an inheritance among their father’s brothers and pass the inheritance of their father on to them.”
Family of God, each of us will not turn out to be Sojourner Truth or Martin Luther King, Jr….however, we can find ways to make a difference. With courage, wisdom, and faith let’s speak out for what is right to build God’s kindom on earth as it is in heaven. May it be so.
*Closing Hymn - Sister Let Me Be Your Servant #490, v. 1,2,&4
1. Sister, let me be your servant. brother, let me walk with you;
pray that I might have the grace to let you be my servant, too.
2. We are pilgrims on a journey. fellow trav'lers on the road.
we are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.
4. When we sing to God in heaven, we shall find such harmony.
born of all we've known together of great love and agony.
Benediction - Rev. Chad Delaney
- BEAUTY - Stay after for Sunday School
- Wednesday Afternoon and Evening Life Study
- CYF United at Auble house for Bonfire at 6:30pm
People of God,
When we work this week, May we work as though working for the Lord.
When we rest, May we rest in the sovereign grace of God
And when we celebrate the beauty of the world around us, between us and with in,
celebrate as a people with the greatest reason for love, joy, and grace.
Go then now in the grace and forgiveness of our Savior,
and in the name of the Creator, the Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Postlude - “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less” [by W. B. Bradbury] - Sarah Park
Good morning MCC!