The year has well and truly begun, and routines are almost all completely in place. I, and my family, have settled well into our new home, and are growing more and more excited by the possibilities and potential of the ministry we will be able to exercise here in Cape Town. And it doesn’t hurt to live under the shadow of Table Mountain! My prayer for us (meaning the Sacredise cyber-community) is that our worship will continue to grow deeper and more challenging throughout the year, and that our churches will become stronger reflections of the grace, compassion, challenge and reign of Christ as a result.

Epiphany 4 on January 31st is a week that can really challenge us about our views and practice of grace. What has struck me as I have reflected on this week’s readings is that grace is not just a “yes” to love and compassion and acceptance and forgiveness. Grace is also a “no” to hatred and apathy and condemnation and exclusion. The “yes” is often easy to speak and to receive, but the “no” is much harder, much more painful, and can lead us into confrontation and even conflict. Yet, the “no” is as important as the “yes”, for without either one, grace is not really grace at all.

READINGS:
Jeremiah 1:4-10: Jeremiah is called to be a prophet, and God explains God’s knowledge of Jeremiah from his conception, and God’s message for Jeremiah to preach. Note both the “yes” and the “no” in the message Jeremiah is given.

Psalm 71:1-6: A prayer for God to protect and be a refuge from one who has trusted and praised God since the womb.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13: The noble and godly characteristics of love, which lasts forever, and is the greatest of all things. Again note the “yes” (love is…) and the “no” (love is not…).

Luke 4:21-30: After reading the “yes” in Isaiah’s scroll (last week) the “no” to the people of Nazareth in Jesus’ teaching offends them, and they attempt to kill him.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:
The two major themes in this week’s reading stand out in clear relief:
1. God’s grace is not always a comfortable and gentle thing to experience. Integral to God’s grace is the work of justice which distresses the comfortable and self-assured (the “no”) even as it comforts the distressed (the “yes”). Jeremiah is told that his message will not only build up but break down; The psalmist reflects on his vulnerability and the threat of evil in spite of his long life of relationship with God; The love that Paul speaks about is not an easy or comfortable way to follow, but challenges our self-centredness and lethargy toward others; and finally, Jesus makes it clear that his ministry is not “friendly” and non-disruptive, but  a life-changing, all-inclusive confrontation of self-righteousness and injustice.
2. As with Jesus’ near execution in Luke, those who choose to follow Christ in his liberating work, must expect that they will find themselves in confrontation with injustice and those who propagate it. This will inevitably lead to great sacrifice and suffering.

The work of grace is not all acceptance and healing. Sometimes it is a wounding battle – not least because we are called to love even those we challenge.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
“One day, he’s here, and the next he’s not, but you mustn’t press him, after all, he’s not a tame lion.” Mr. Tumnus, speaking of Aslan in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

GLOBAL APPLICATION: Like the people of Nazareth, there are still those who seek to “own” Jesus for themselves. By domesticating Jesus, and editing his message to fit our national, corporate or religious agendas, we tame the Gospel, and make it palatable, with little cost. But, as the people of Nazareth discovered, Jesus will not be tamed, and his grace, while offered to all, also challenges of all that resists grace. As Matthew Fox explains, following Jesus means embracing biophilia – loving life and all that supports it and provides joy and enjoyment – and resisting necrophilia – standing against all that robs life, oppresses and abuses. This dual-character of grace is what is revealed this week in Epiphany, and calls us to stand against any attempt to domesticate and “use” Jesus in our world – as Wilberforce, Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. all did.

LOCAL APPLICATION: As preachers, worship leaders and even Christ-followers, it is all too easy to seek to bring Jesus and his Gospel into service of our own desires and agendas. It is easy to accept grace for ourselves, but deny it to others – even in Jesus’ name. It is easy to remain silent when Jesus is used as justification for abuse, oppression, greed, hatred or arrogance. But, grace does not call us to silence, or to compliance with that which hurts and destroys. The strength of grace is to resist what keeps others from grace – defending the powerless, speaking for the voiceless and lifting up the downtrodden – all while still seeking to love those against whom we stand. Inevitably, this just (justice-focused) grace, will bring us into situations of confrontation and conflict, but they can be navigated with both strength and compassion, if we will learn from Jesus. Who, in your community, needs just grace to defend and heal them (the “yes”)? Who needs just grace to confront and disturb them (the “no”)? And where, in our own hearts, do we need grace to confront and disturb us?

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
Wild God
Just Grace

Hymn Suggestions:
Christ For The World We Sing
Ah, Holy Jesus
O Young And Fearless Prophet
Stop The Clanging
The Church’s One Foundation
You Are (Link to YouTube video. Or download the mp3 & chord chart free from here)
History Maker (Link to YouTube video)
God Of This City (Link to YouTube video)
Everlasting God (Link to YouTube video)
Living For Your Glory (Link to YouTube video)

Liturgy:
A Liturgy for the Celebration of Sacrifice (Calls us to remember Jesus’ sacrifice and to embrace the suffering and struggle of following Christ)

Video Suggestions:
Disrupt With Mercy
Justice And The Kingdom Of God (This is different from the Brian McLaren video that I’ve featured before)
Spoken Word – His Grace
MLK – Faith Is Taking The First Step

This last week (as I write this) has seen the last days of 2009 go by, and the first days of 2010 arrive. A new year always holds new possibilities and hopes, and so it is for Sacredise. There are many hopes and dreams for this year, but all of them include bringing you the best in worship ideas, resources and reflections to help you and your congregations to encounter God in transforming ways each week. Please continue to pray for this work, and feel free to offer any suggestions or critiques that can help me to improve this ministry.

This week we explore Epiphany 3 (January 24) – a wonderful set of readings that remind us of the purpose of God in Christ, and of our role, as Christ’s body, in continuing Christ’s liberating work.

READINGS:
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10: Ezra reads the book of the law to the people. They respond in remorse, but Nehemiah encourages them to be joyful and to celebrate.

Psalm 19: A celebration of God’s word spoken through creation, and bringing great benefit to those who listen and obey it.

1 Corinthians 12:12-31a: Paul teaches that the Christian community is like a body with many parts. Each has a gift, and each must use their unique gift for the benefit of the body. The Body of Christ.

Luke 4:14-21: Jesus reads from Isaiah’s scroll about God’s anointing for ministry, and God’s liberating work through God’s anointed. Then, he claims this prophecy for himself.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:
In a world that can sometimes seem so random, this week in Epiphany gives us a vision of purpose. God’s purpose – God’s message – spoken to God’s people in the book of the law, and through all of creation – was the guiding force in Jesus’ ministry. As he began his work, he proclaimed as his mandate the words of Isaiah’s prophecy – God’s saving and liberating “Jubilee” purpose. Now, as those who follow Christ, we are called, individually and together, to fulfil Christ’s purpose, in our world and in our time. To do this, God has gifted each of us, and called us to work together as one Body.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: The idea of having a sense of purpose – of calling – is one with a chequered history in the global community. Too many corrupt and tyrannical leaders have become so because they felt that they were somehow given a special purpose by God, and that God was on their side, and against their enemies. The time for this kind of “destiny” talk is over. However, the purpose of Christ, revealed in the Isaiah prophecy, is one that God calls us all to participate in. This liberating, compassionate, transforming vision is one that impacts every thing we do, and is one to which we can hold our leaders accountable. As we face global economic, climatological and other challenges this year, let’s allow a renewed vision of Christ, and of Christ’s purpose, to guide our social conscience and activism.

LOCAL APPLICATION: In every community are those who need liberation – the poor who need good news, the physically, psychologically or spiritually blind who need sight, the prisoners who need to be freed. Who are these people in your church and in your community? The purpose of Christ is both an invitation to life for all the broken and lost ones (including us), but also a challenge to participate in the work of liberation for those who choose to follow Jesus. How can you work within your world to commit to Christ’s purpose so that to those among you, you may also say (collectively) “today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”?

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
The Way Forward
The Way

Hymn Suggestions:
Jesus, Joy Of Our Desiring
Now Thank We All Our God
Christ Whose Glory Fills The Sky
All Ears (New Hymn.com)
Jubilee
Beautiful News
You Do All Things Well
Take It To The Streets
God Of Justice
I Will Follow Him (Sister Act)

Liturgy:
A Liturgy for the Foretaste of the Heavenly Banquet (Relates well to the theme of hope and the purpose that flows from it)

Video Suggestions:
Body of Christ
Plass on Being Part of the Community
What Is Your Purpose
Missing Purpose

Image Suggestions:
All of these images focus on paths or roads and can be used to evoke the idea of Jesus’ mission/purpose as the “way” we are called to follow.
Forest Path
Road
Forest Bridge