BELLS CORNERS UNITED CHURCH
4TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
SUMMER WORSHIP SERVICE
June 28, 2020
[The video recording of this service can be found here]
Gathering: The Tree Song – Ken Medema soloist: Erin Berard
Welcome & Announcements
Good day everyone! The psalmist declares, “This is the day that God has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!” On behalf of Bells Corners United Church, I welcome and greet you wherever you are in the name of Jesus Christ who calls us to righteous living! For the next five Sundays starting today, I invite you to reflect on the book of Psalms as we experience the life of faith.
During this time when we are not able to worship in the church sanctuary, please know that BCUC offers worship service in a number of ways. Check our website at bcuc.org, for our worship service in audio, video and text formats along with the weekly announcements, online meetings and events and other updates. You can also listen to the service via telephone by dialing 613-820-8104. I also encourage you to show that you care by connecting with each other through emails, phone calls and prayers.
I would like to highlight some announcements:
David’s Flowers are back drive-through style and they are available every Saturday from 11:30 to 12:30 pm. The flowers will be displayed on tables outside the main entrance, and everyone is asked to remain in their car, bring exact change or prepared cheque for donations, and follow instructions of volunteers. Thank you for your support!
And for those of you who are able to join us via Zoom, there will be zoom fellowship every Sunday at 11 am. Link will be emailed to you or call the office for more information.
Friends, I now invite you to open your hearts to God’s compassionate love and justice as we gather in worship.
Lighting of the Christ Candle: Acolyte: Ellen Boynton
As we light this Christ candle,
I invite you to reflect on these words by Betty Lynn Schwab:
“Come from knowing into Mystery.
Come from certainty into Pondering.
Come from time-bound into Eternity.
Come from thinking into Being.”
Call to Gather: Lorrie Lowes, DM
From the freshness of summer, encircle us, embrace us, Creator God.
Visit us in small spaces.
Sprinkle summertime epiphanies on our paths.
Sing through our forests, splash in our rivers, dance in our fields.
Let us gather in worship, filled with the grace of the music-maker God,
the joy of Christ and the hope of the Spirit.
Let us gather in the light of God’s holy presence.
Prayer of Praise: (inspired by Psalm 1)
(written by Bruce Prewer, www.bruceprewer.com)
You, loving God, are the ground of our being and the river of life;
you both steady our roots and draw them to seek the living waters.
You are like the sunlight enticing us taller
and like the breeze rustling our leaves.
You are with us through hard seasons of summer heat,
and in the nights when winter’s frost ice the landscape
your love warms and sustains us.
You are everything to us.
O let our gratitude be great,
let our praise be plentiful,
let our worship be wonder-full!
Through Jesus Christ. Amen
Hymn: Come Touch Our Hearts MV 12 (verses 1-4)
1. Come touch our hearts that we may know compassion,
from failing embers build a blazing fire;
love strong enough to overturn injustice,
to seek a world more gracious, come touch and bless our hearts.
2. Come touch our souls that we may know and love you,
your quiet presence all our fears dispel;
create a space for spirit to grow in us,
let life and beauty fill us, come touch and bless our souls.
3. Come touch our minds and teach us how to reason,
set free our thoughts to wonder and to dream;
help us to open doors of understanding,
to welcome truth and wisdom, come touch and bless our minds.
4. Come touch us in the moments we are fragile,
and in our weakness your great strength reveal;
that we may rise to follow and to serve,
steady now our nerve, come touch and bless our wills.
Words Music © 2002 Gordon Light, arr © 2002 Andrew Donaldson
Common Cup Co. Song # 118062 Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-733214. All rights reserved
Storytime for the Young at Heart Lorrie Lowes
Good Morning!
For the next few weeks we’re going to be talking about the book of Psalms in our services. And so, this week Reverend Kim is starting with Psalm 1, the very first psalm in the book. So, I took a look at that and I was a little bit surprised because one of the things it says is that, as righteous people, we should be like a tree. I thought that’s a little bit different from the kind of messages that we get from Jesus because, to me a tree is something that sort of stands all by itself. It doesn’t move around; it’s not involved in a community in any way… but then I got doing a little bit of research. One of the things I found out is that scientists have discovered that trees really DO have communities. They DO communicate with each other. That’s interesting!
Apparently, they do it underground, through their roots and then past their roots there are little fungal networks that join the trees together and that’s how the trees communicate. Now they don’t communicate exactly how we communicate. They don’t use words or have conversations – but they do help each other out. One of the things I learned was that some big trees – they call them mother trees – can use their nutrients and pass them on to the younger saplings that are underneath. That’s really important because when a little tree is starting to grow, it’s often in the shade of other trees, especially in a forest and it can’t get the sunlight and things that it needs to make the kind of food that it needs to grow. So, apparently these mother trees or other trees in the area can feed those trees by sharing some of the nutrients that they get from the air and the environment around them light and water and everything else. As well, if one tree is not doing well and is about to die, it can dump all of its resources, all of its good sugars and things that trees need, into the network so that they can be used by other trees who need them. They can also send messages to other trees if they are being attacked by an insect or by a disease and they can warn other trees to put up their defenses to make sure that they don’t get struck as hard by those diseases or insects as well. So, it’s kind of a hidden network that we don’t even see, that’s under the ground. Scientists have called this the “Wood Wide Web”, kind of a fun play on words.
So when I think back on my first thought that a tree is kind of a solitary thing and Jesus asks us to live in community, now I can see that those aren’t things that are totally separate. Trees don’t live as solitary beings or solitary creations of God. They do work in community and help each other out. So I think the psalmist was right when they wrote that, as righteous people, we should be like trees – because that’s exactly what Jesus has asked us to do, isn’t it?
Hymn: You Shall Go Out with Joy Voices United #884
You shall go out with joy
And be led forth with peace,
The mountains and the hills
Will break forth before you.
There’ll be shouts of joy
And all the trees of the fields
Will clap, will clap their hands.
And all the trees of the fields will clap their hands, (clap, clap)
And all the trees of the fields will clap their hands, (clap, clap)
And all the trees of the fields will clap their hands, (clap, clap)
While you go out with joy.
Music © 1975 Stuart Dauermann, Words © 1975 Steffi Geiser Rubin Lillenas Publishing Co.
Song # 25933 Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-733214. All rights reserved
Prayer for Illumination Reader: Victoria Ogden
Open our hearts to your Word this day, O God. Open our minds to the mystery of your truth. Help us live in such a way that others may see your power shining in us. Amen.
Psalm Reading: Psalm 1 (Common English Bible)
The truly happy person
doesn’t follow wicked advice,
doesn’t stand on the road of sinners,
and doesn’t sit with the disrespectful.
2 Instead of doing those things,
these persons love the Lord’s Instruction,
and they recite God’s Instruction day and night!
3 They are like a tree replanted by streams of water,
which bears fruit at just the right time
and whose leaves don’t fade.
Whatever they do succeeds.
4 That’s not true for the wicked!
They are like dust that the wind blows away.
5 And that’s why the wicked will have no standing in the court of justice—
neither will sinners
in the assembly of the righteous.
6 The Lord is intimately acquainted
with the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked is destroyed.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to all of us!
Thanks be to God!
Sermon: “To Be Like Trees” Rev. Kim Vidal
Today, we begin a sermon series on the book of Psalms. The book of Psalms is a collection of poetry – a total of 150 - that were composed not only as poems but as lyrics to be sang. They are presented in different genres: praise, prayer, lament, thanksgiving, wisdom - all of which have a wonderful capacity to capture the reality of human experience. It was believed that the psalms were written over a period of six centuries from as early as 1000 BCE with its final form completed probably around 400 BCE. Psalms were often used in the context of worship. Although many writers particularly those from the priestly tradition were believed to have written the psalms, they were traditionally attributed to King David because it was believed that during his entire life, in times of joys or troubles, in battlefield or at the pinnacle of his greatness, David was immersed in the constant recitation and even singing of psalms to praise God.
In his book Spirituality of the Psalms, Brueggemann offers a framework for understanding the book of Psalms. He classifies each psalm in three movements that speak to our lived experience. The first movement is called Psalms of Orientation. These are the psalms that give us good feelings and offer comfort and inspiration. These are psalms of gratitude for God that reflects a life full of blessings. The second movement is known as the Psalms of Disorientation. These psalms are the reaction of the faithful to God when the world they knew was broken. These are psalms of lament that move and deepen our faith. The overarching message of these psalms convey that even in the dark places, God is still present. And the third movement is called the Psalms of Re-Orientation. These psalms move us from disorientation – from a place of darkness and lament to moments of restoration, justice and deliverance. These psalms of praise celebrating the God of salvation ushers in a new order. Using these three movements, Brueggemann suggests the book of Psalms like life, has a rhythm as it moves from one place to the next. Lawrence Richards commented that “In every experience of our own, no matter how deep the pain or how great the frustration or how exhilarating the joy, we can find psalms which echo our inmost being, psalms which God uses to bring comfort or to confirm release.”
Psalm 1 opens the book of Psalms with these questions: “Which road will you follow? Will you take the road that leads to destruction or the road that leads to life?” And we know that choices have consequences. Rolf Jacobson remarks that “the roads signal the directions one takes in life -- and the roads are characterized not by their geography but rather by who walks on each road... Down one road walk the wicked, those who do not depend on God, the sinners, those who rebel against God's will, and the scoffers, those who mock God…This road leads to nowhere. Those who take this road end up being non-resilient -- they cannot endure suffering. Down the other road walk the righteous or those who depend on God. This other road belongs not to those who take it, but to God -- who watches over it.”
Psalm 1 presents a choice and invites us to give attention to God’s teaching and instruction. It is the psalm’s hope that we choose following God’s direction that makes it possible to be rooted in love, grounded in justice and fruitful in grace. Walter Brueggemann says that “Psalm 1 as a preamble to the Psalter urges a lifestyle that finds its source in the Creator. The psalm speaks of life as a path or way, and of divine instruction as nourishment for the way...” For those who live their lives following the call of love, justice and grace “are like a tree replanted by streams of water, which bears fruit at just the right time and whose leaves don’t fade. Whatever they do succeeds.” (Ps 1: 3, CEB). They are like trees, whose roots are sunk deep into the earth next to a stream where they can flourish -- even when the going gets tough.
I love this image of a tree in Psalm 1 - rooted, strong, fruitful. When I think of a tree, what comes to mind is the famous poem Trees by Alfred Joyce Kilmer that I learned when I was in Grade 4:
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
No matter where you live, trees were probably part of your landscape. On my walks in the greenbelt near our house, trees abound! I see maples, oaks, pines, and crab apples unfurling their green leaves announcing summer life. There is also a giant blue spruce tree in our front yard that offers a haven for many animals all throughout the year. These trees remind me of Tolkien’s tree-like creatures Ents, in the Lord of the Rings- ancient shepherds of the forest, wise, and strong, allies to all that’s good and righteous and true. The arborist Criswell Davis once said that a symbiotic relationship exists between trees and humans. Humans breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, while trees breathe in carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen…The third and most important similarity between humans and trees is that each tree, like each human, is unique and beautiful in its own way.
In early June last year, Ken and I had the opportunity to visit South Korea. One of the few places that we’ve visited was the famous Hahoe (ha-hway) Folk Village, a traditional village dating from the 13th century Joseon (jo-son) era of Korean history. The village showcases Joseon period-style architecture, folk traditions, valuable books, and an old tradition of clan-based villages. In the heart of Hahoe village stands a huge 600-year old Zelkova tree also called Samsin Goddess Tree believed to be inhabited by a goddess named “Samsin” meaning three goddesses in one. Samsin is revered as the goddess of fertility and childbirth. The tree is encircled by a fence decorated by thousands of white “wish cloths”. Each cloth has a wish written on it most likely wishes or prayers for childbirth, for fertility, for good health or for good harvest. The Koreans pay homage to this timeless tree as sacred. They have preserved it for 600 years and made it a part of their way of life. It is a symbol of hope and a promise of new life.
A beautiful reflection on trees by Hermann Hesse from his 1920 collection of fragments, Wandering: Notes and Sketches caught my attention as I reflect on Psalm 1. Let me share with you an excerpt from his reflection:
For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves…In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity; but they do not lose themselves there, they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfill themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves. Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, strong tree. When a tree is cut down and reveals its naked death-wound to the sun, one can read its whole history in the luminous, inscribed disk of its trunk: in the rings of its years, its scars, all the struggle, all the suffering, all the sickness, all the happiness and prosperity stand truly written, the narrow years and the luxurious years, the attacks withstood, the storms endured... Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life... A tree says: My strength is trust. I know nothing about my parents, I know nothing about the thousand children that every year spring out of me. I live out the secret of my seed to the very end, and I care for nothing else. I trust that God is in me. I trust that my labor is holy. Out of this trust I live…Trees never try to be something else, like wart hogs or sledge hammers. They are content to be trees. Are we like trees?
Friends, there is a beautiful promise in Psalm 1. To be like trees is to have hope for today and for tomorrow; to trust in the promise that we will indeed thrive and produce, that good years will follow bad, that God’s goodness is to be counted on. To be like trees is a wonderful sign of promise that even when things get rough, there is still the promise of new life. May we all heed the way of God – the way of love, justice and grace. May we experience and exhibit the blessings and promises of a tree - fruitfulness, abundance, resilience, inclusion, patience and promise. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Sources used:
Walter Brueggemann, Spirituality of the Psalms (2002) and “Psalms” (2014)
Lawrence O. Richards, The Teacher's Commentary, electronic media.
Joan Stott, The Timeless Psalms, timelesspsalms.net
Rev. Timothy Keyl, Bethesda Lutheran Church bethesdanewhaven.org
Rolf Jacobson, Commentary on Psalm 1, Narrative Lectionary, workingpreacher.org.
Hermann Hesse, Wanderings and Sketches (1920).
Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer: Lorrie Lowes, DM
Holy One,
We find in the Book of Psalms a wealth of examples
of the ways in which your children may approach you.
Not only have you given us these models, but through them,
through everything the psalmists wrestle with,
You issue to us an open invitation to speak our hearts to you.
Hear us as we open our hearts to you this day.
We open our hearts in gratitude
For the long days of summer,
For the time spent with family,
For the care given to each other and to the earth
in this time of pandemic.
Help us see the blessings in our lives.
We open our hearts in sorrow
For those who are suffering illness and loss,
For those finding life difficult in these days of social isolation,
For those who struggle with basic needs at the best of times
and those who find it even more difficult today.
Help us become the blessings in their lives.
We open our hearts in fear and anger
For the unrest in the world,
For those affected by war and violence,
For those facing discrimination and racism
– today and throughout history.
Help us see the places where we are the problem,
And help us become the allies they need.
Open our hearts, God,
To see the wisdom in the holy words
Written so long ago as our ancestors struggled
to understand your will for your world and our place in it.
Help us see the laws laid down by Moses and the example of Jesus
As ways to move toward the vision of your kin-dom here on earth.
These things we ask in the words that Jesus taught his disciples:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kin-dom come, thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kin-dom, the power and the glory,
Forever and ever,
Amen.
Invitation to Offer: Rev. Kim
I now invite you to offer your gifts of time, talents and resources as expressions of our gratitude to God’s blessings. If you are not on PAR and wish to send in your offering and donations, you can drop them in the slot by the kitchen door of the church or mail them to BCUC. You can also send in your support through e-transfer. Thank you for your continued love and support to BCUC.
Offertory Prayer:
Use these gifts, O God, as we offer them with humility and willingness.
Bless what we bring and use them to build God’s reign on earth. Amen.
Sending Forth: Rev. Kim
As timeless as trees, go forth and walk each day
in communion with one another.
No matter where you go or what you do,
may the love of God walks with you,
the rays of Jesus’ light shine through you,
and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit empower you.
This day and in the days to come. Amen.
Hymn: Trees by Michael Morgan (2012) (Tune: DIX, VU 81)
Tree of Wisdom, fruitful, green,
flourishing beside the stream;
spread your knowledge day and night;
make your law my true delight.
Fashion me, O Lord, to be
strong and splendid as a tree.
Tree of Justice, ever bless;
shade me with your righteousness.
Teach me how to live your ways,
and my lips shall sing your praise.
Fashion me, O Lord, to be
ever branching as a tree.
Tree of Plenty, feed my soul;
nurture me, and make me whole.
Give me strength, cast fear aside;
let me in your love abide.
Fashion me, O Lord, to be
firmly planted as a tree.
Tree of Promise, keep your vow:
with me then, and with me now.
Springtime blossoms, winter tears,
mark the seasons of my years.
Fashion me, O Lord, to be
always changing as a tree.
Like a forest all around,
so the gifts of grace abound:
flowing waters, fertile sod,
sunlit dawn, the Word of God.
Fashion me, O Lord, to be
living, giving as a tree.
Words © 2011 Michael Morgan Faith Alive Christian Resources tune: DIX
Song #89337 Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-733214.
All rights reserved
Departing: Gaelic Blessing – Rutter BCUC Choir
Zoom Fellowship hosted by Lorrie at 11 am. Link has been emailed. See you there!