Home Worship Service Plan September 20, 2020 • Week Four (GREEN) Revelation 5:1-10 “Worthy” Christ is worthy, not because of coercion but because of divine compassion. That measure works for us also.

Preparation Gather these items for worship. If you don’t have a particular item, fret not.. • a piece of GREEN cloth • an end table or stand • a Bible

• a plate • a cup or glass • a glass or bowl of water

• a lighter or match • a treasure chest/small

safe

• a computer or internet-accessible device

For each item you have, thank God for the provision. For each piece you do not have, thank God you don’t need it. Place the table/stand in the area you plan to worship. If more than one person will be present, place the table in the middle of where you will be seating. Drape the cloth over it. Arrange the cup of juice, plate with bread, glass of water on the table. Be prepared to light the candle on the table. Keep the Bible in front of you, open to the passage for today.

Announcements & Service Notes

CHURCHWIDE BIBLE STUDY OVER ZOOM “Winning God” is our churchwide examination of the Revelation to John! We are looking at the overall theme of the letter as well as strategies for understanding what actually is a straightforward book of the Bible. To get the reading list for the Fall, you can download it from our website or Facebook page. You can also get a copy (actual or virtual) from the church office. There will also be weekly study guides as well as a supplemental resources published to go along with our efforts to pay attention to this Word of God to the people then and to us now. People WITHOUT a computer can participate (so spread the word!). As long as you have a phone you can study with us. Details are available from the church office. The study begins at 7:30pm on Wednesdays.

READY TO ACT! Worship happens well beyond what happens in a sanctuary or what we’re doing at home. At the end of the service, take the opportunity to engage in one or more of the activities suggested (if you aren’t already) as a continuation of our acts of worship.

SECURING OUR FUTURE Thank you to our Nominating Committee and the work they are taking up on our behalf! They are Nanette Pedelty, Kim Ragland, John Taylor, Vinda Crawford and Beverli McAdams! Pray for them and answer the phone when they call you as they work on their recommendation to us for the next class of Elders.

PRACTICE GOOD STEWARDSHIP! When we talk about stewardship in the Church, that often has to do with money. Sometimes we’ll even turn to the important subject of time and how we spend it. We’ll talk about the way we make use of our talents and abilities. But Stewardship, as a Christian, as a follower of Christ, has to do with the whole of our lives. That includes the idea of relationships.

Because we typically associate stewardship with money, it can seem callous to talk about stewardship in our relationships. But stewardship is about trust: God entrusting blessings, riches, talents, gifts, and people, to us. Consider how important it was to choose Mary and Joseph to trust with Jesus. Consider how important it was to choose the disciples to trust with the future of the Church. Consider how important it is that God entrusts us with the people in our life.

Be good stewards of your relationships. Don’t take each other for granted. When thinking about your own situation, take a moment and think about what you would want to make it better; within reason, do that for someone else. Consider chance encounters to be providential and God-given gifts. Take a moment a think about how your neighborhood has changed: not just geographically, but technologically, demographically, economically. Think about the many pieces your staff has had to weigh to keep operations thriving and what their families have had to sacrifice along with them on our behalf. Remember that when one of our older ones pass, an entire library passes with them: visit them. While our young people struggle to find a new routine, our families find new ways to connect, our church finds new ways to be church, take seriously the stewardship of your relationships.

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Opening Sentences (Read aloud, even if alone; the first spoken words of worship are Scripture): REVELATION 5:5 - “Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Don’t weep. Look! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has emerged victorious so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’”

PRAY: God, you make us worthy. Not like slaves where our value is in compliant function. Not like earthly royalty where our value lies in our blood. Not like popularity where our value lies in who we know or in what people think they know. We are worthy because you love us. We are worthy because you believe in us. We are worthy because you choose us. Let us never forget that. Thank you for seeing us and not rejecting us. Help us see everything the way you do. In the great name of Jesus Christ we pray this together…

PRAY SILENTLY…THEN SAY, “Thank you for listening, God. Amen.”

The Word • SING:’Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven’ (Lyrics on p.6)

PRAY: Lord, your Word is more alive than ever. Put your Word in us so that we may be also. Amen.

READ: REVELATION 5:1-10 Jesus prepares to reveal God’s ultimate will: a nation of priests from every tribe. 1 Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one seated on the throne. It had writing on the front and the back, and it was sealed with seven seals. 2 I saw a powerful angel, who proclaimed in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or look inside it. 4 So I began to weep and weep, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look inside it. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Look! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has emerged victorious so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” 6 Then, in between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a Lamb, standing as if it had been slain. It had seven horns and seven eyes, which are God’s seven spirits, sent out into the whole earth. 7 He came forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one seated on the throne. 8 When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each held a harp and gold bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 They took up a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals,

because you were slain, and by your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation. 10 You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will rule.” SAY: The Word of the Lord…Thanks be to God!

Meditation [What Is Your Tribe?] One of the remarkable things about growing up in a military family is the moving around. We had the privilege of seeing the breadth of our country, from coast to coast. We saw much of Europe and even paid a brief visit to what was East Germany. I can say that I have seen the Vatican and skied in Austria and Switzerland. I have been on the beaches of Italy and seen the unblemished countryside of Alaska. But no matter where we visited, no matter where we lived, invariably, came the question of identity.

“Where are you from?”

And when you think about it, this really is an unfair question to ask anybody, even if they grew up living in only one place. What if I were to ask you, “Where did your life start? What were the five most significant turning points in your life? Who are the people who most affect the way you think about things?” Those questions alone don’t cover it all. Not even close. and yet we’ll say “Where are you from?” and expect, without a hint of irony, a terse answer.

I had to learn early to simply tell people, “Well…I’m a military brat.” Then came the knowing looks. The nods of understanding. I hadn’t given them anything to really pinpoint my life, my family, who I am, what I believe, but that phrase was meant to give them shorthand.

In my time at Mount Olive College, I learned alongside hundreds of people for whom that was their first foray away from where they had grown up. But even asking them “Where are you from?” was a hopelessly shortsighted question: They too had families, influences, history, that didn’t begin to be covered by “Well…I’m from Spivey’s Corner” or “I’m from Kinston.”

But we thrive on shorthand. We relish shortcuts. When it comes to people, we depend on abbreviation. One thing the pandemic has gifted us with is a different way of thinking about time. Time is so fluid now that I think one of the reasons we gets so worn out with the way things are is because we’re

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out practice acting outside our routines, outside our shorthand.

It’s so much easier to look at a sea of people and to categorize, even stereotype. Actually getting to know a person takes time, effort, lots of trial and error. It takes a lifetime. Add to that the lie of scarcity that we believe so deeply we don’t even question it and you have a recipe for tribes.

We are divided into tribes. And they vary along the longs of the variety of humanity itself: demographics, nationality, religion, politics, languages, rituals, physical characteristics, shared circumstances or history.

I was reading an article about a group of women that had formed a bond—a tribe—around being the victims of revenge pornography. These are people who have taken explicit pictures of them and posted them publicly without their consent or knowledge, in many cases with identifying and location information. But reading the article reminded me of an important reason why tribalism is such a powerful human experience. These women found strength and power knowing they were not the only alone in their experiences. There was power in numbers.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 speaks to this directly: “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their hard work. If either should fall, one can pick up the other. But how miserable are those who fall and don’t have a companion to help them up! Also, if two lie down together, they can stay warm. But how can anyone stay warm alone? Also, one can be overpowered, but two together can put up resistance. A three-ply cord doesn’t easily snap.”

The more people you can have on “your side”. the more people you have in your tribe, the more you can justify ideas, behaviors, the more you can ensure continuity, survival. Having a large tribe, in our minds, can mean difference between dominance or annihilation.

And Rome, by the standards surrounding the writing of Revelation was vast. Oh there were many other large kingdoms and nations, but the tribe of Rome was thought to be forever. And the small, disparate tribe of Christians John was writing to thought themselves to be coming against Rome. They didn’t have a chance. At least, so many of them thought.

But John frames the encouragement of Revelation in a traditional Biblical notion: God’s Sovereignty. In the song the elders sing in verse, they say of Jesus:

“ …You purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation.”

And what’s truly remarkable is that this purchase of all tribes doesn’t come through coercion, the dominant human expression of will, it comes through God willing to die, for us. It comes through the blood of Christ. We are made God’s tribe—God’s home (as we’ll see at the end of the letter)—through God’s compassion for us.

[Belonging] One of the reason why gangs happen is this same tribal mentality. Isolation feels, instinctively, like a precarious circumstance. And so belonging become a powerful, influential force in our relationships. I think God built this into the created order. As it says so well in Genesis 2:18, “It is not good that the human is alone…”: the first thing in all Creation called ‘bad.” God designed us to need each other. To belong to each other. That’s why homogeneity is not the best expression of God’s will for us. Differences matter. Diversity matters. Presbyterians won’t be the only ones walking around heaven because we aren’t the only ones walking around the Earth.

But we have to do better than tolerate each other. Can you imagine if the second greatest commandment read, “Tolerate your neighbor as you tolerate yourself?” We’re not supposed to just put up with each other. We’re supposed to love each other.

You might ask: “What does that have to do with Revelation?” It’s a good and right question to ask. Thus far, we haven’t seen anything that talks about that. John has only talked about holding on to our faith. And holding onto our faith has even been described as being “victorious,” definitely a bellicose term. What’s love got to do with it?

[Worth] In the passage, John talks about a series of impressions. I say impressions and not images because I think we’re in a bad habit of abusing this text.

If I describe someone as being my “right hand man”, that’s not meant to be taken as a literal image. I think it would be ridiculously cumbersome for someone to be attached to the end of my right arm. I say the phrase to convey an idea of trust and delegation. I’m saying something about how I regard the person, not what they look like. When I talk about “hot dogs”, it’s really important to understand my context. Because if I’m not talking about dogs that need water or indescribable food, how do you know what I’m talking about? We make interpretive choices like this everyday and we

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certainly make them when we encounter the Biblical text. And when reading this or any other passage in Revelation, we need to be careful about what we think is a literal picture and what is meant to give us an impression.

Take Luke 18:22. This passage says, “When Jesus heard this, he said, ‘There’s one more thing. Sell everything you own and distribute the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.’”

I’ve read people twist themselves into knots trying to argue that this passage is metaphorical, not to be taken literally. Why? Because we don’t like what Jesus is saying here? But we have the whole of the Gospel of Luke to give us context. We have the whole history of the prophets of the Old Testament to give us context. The message should be evident on its face: Following God by caring for our fellow humanity should matter more to us than money.

But we continually mix up God’s express priorities with our economic interests. It’s one of the reasons we get hung up on the crazy image of a lamb with seven horns and seven eyes

and miss the far more important discussion about worth.

Yes the scroll with writing on both sides represents God’s complete and ultimate will. Yes, seven seals means it is completely unable to be breached. But the angel, the messenger’s question in verse 2 is supremely important: “Who is worthy to open the scroll?”

Take a moment, and think about (talk about) how do you define “worthy”? What does it mean to you that something or someone is worthy?

Of course, life insurance notwithstanding, we shouldn’t put a monetary value on people. But we shouldn’t measure a person’s worth by how useful they are, how popular they are or how likable they are. Working with youth for so many years, one of the number one issues I ran into was the question of worth, especially as defined by the tribe. A lack of self-worth was rivaled only by greed as being the root of all evil when came to adolescence. But worth, in God’s standards is a very different thing.

God models the way we should measure someone’s worth. God chooses us. God chooses to die for us. God chooses to have God’s own blood spilled to make us all blood-relatives and members of God’s tribe. Akin to the word “holy”—which means set apart for God’s purpose—we are made worthy by God’s choice. And in this passage, the Lamb is

“…worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slain, and by your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation. You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will rule.” (vv.9-10)

This theme comes up over and over again. And it’s importance, the importance of Jesus being described as the Lamb, connects the Church not only to the crucifixion, but to the Exodus and the emancipation from Egypt. It connects the Church, by Jesus’ blood, to the Passover event, the passing over of the Angel of Death.

John is saying we share in this redemptive destiny. Not because we’ve committed worthy acts, but because the Lamb chose to die. Because God chose to redeem. Because God chooses for God’s will to be known. And the vision that is set up for us is a doozy.

[They Will Rule] You have the throne upon which God is seated. You have the Lamb who can open the scroll of God’s will. And you have this kingdom business.

Whenever we think about government or kingdoms or even nations, they are characterized by their leaders. But the vision set up here is specifically different and it’s important to realize the difference.

Every empire ever, thought it would last forever. Every empire we can think of invested its future into human leadership. They have all failed. When God tried to do things differently, from the very beginning, the rule of law was straightforward: trust me, I am your king. But we thought we’d eat the fruit anyway. We thought we’d set up a golden calf anyway. We thought we’d get a conventional king anyway. We thought the Messiah would be conventional anyway. And now, the churches John is writing to, are being reminded of the way God conquers, the way God actually rules.

You see, it’s not a question of power. God already has that. It’s not a question of authority. God has that too. In fact, the real mistake the Church has made over the centuries is reading

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verse 10 and thinking that meant conventional political power. But it’s not about power. It’s about responsibility. It’s about God taking responsibility for us. It’s about God, in Jesus Christ, dying for us. It’s about us, as God’s kingdom, God’s priests, taking that ultimate, divine expression of love, and living it out loud.

[What Must We Do?] How do we read and hear Revelation the way God wants? How do we understand what God is trying to help us see? And how do keep that focus, especially now?

Don’t get distracted by tribal interests. Brand loyalty is a laughable concept in a global economy with supply chain diversity that spans the planet. Time is the truly mitigating factor in seeing each other the way God sees us: beloved members of the tribe Jesus’ blood has purchased. See each other as blood kin and act accordingly.

Don’t get distracted by the visuals. Remember, the clue to understanding may be more in what you hear rather than what you see. The seven horns (God’s complete authority) and seven eyes (God’s complete knowledge) are all to point to one thing: God’s in charge.

And because God’s in charge, God decides worth. God decides value. God decides what is salvageable. God determines who’s in and who’s out. And God chose to die. Thought we were worth, after everything, dying for.

Because Christ is worthy, not because of coercion but because of divine compassion. We must measure our worth the same way.

Respond to the Word • SING, ‘Revelation Song’ (lyrics p.6)

Offering & Offertory We give because God is good. Our tithes, gifts, participation, acts of service and compassion and offerings are thankful responses for what God has made us: priests and rulers in God’s Kingdom!

Remember to look over the section at the end of the service plan (after the benediction for ways to continue in worship through your acts of service. And if you have the means and will and inclination to give money to the church, you can bring your offering or gift by the church office. You can submit it online by making the church a vendor with your bank’s bill pay service or by going to our church’s website and giving through our Square® portal (no app or extra software necessary). You can mail a check (please do not mail cash) or call the church office and we’ll walk you through the process.

You can set time aside or schedule when you will do some of things prescribed in the meditation.

OFFERTORY & REFLECTION:

Blessing PRAY: Lord, take our gifts offered in earnest. Multiply them according to your purposes that they may serve your ends. And in the process, make us all a part of the blessing you mean for the world. Amen.

Prayers of the People • SAY: The Lord be with you...and also with you. • PRAY: (You can make use of the prompts below or

completely compose your own prayer. You can also have me write you one if you wish [but let me know that as soon as you can!]).

• THANK GOD for telling us the truth and inviting us to live true. Thank God for including us in God’s plans to change the world. Thank God for the examples you see of God’s Spirit at work in you and everyone and everywhere else.

• PRAY for our world and for an end to the epidemic • PRAY for our reconciliation and reckoning as a nation • PRAY for our upcoming election • PRAY for the victims and those fighting the wildfires out

west • PRAY for the victims of Hurricane Sally • PRAY for various situations and folks your may know

about (try to only use first names) • PRAY for Hawfields as we work to reopen in a

responsible manner • Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.”

Sending & Benediction • SAY: ’Christ is worthy, not because of coercion but because

of divine compassion. We must measure our worth the same way.’

• (raise your hands and say) “Get up, take heart, Jesus is still calling you…Work for peace.”

_____________________________

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Your Continuing Acts of Worship MISSION FROM HOME:

send cards or write letter call or video-call people pray, everyday make art to share in some way start (or join) a Bible study group put together your own phone tree collect food or even clothing for someone else to take for you make masks put together health kits (the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance website has several lists to work from) observe the themes of the upcoming worship services and provide artwork, music or audio/video files of liturgy (the reading list is available from the church office).

MISSION AWAY FROM HOME: park in someone’s driveway and pray with them visit with folks through the window of their house or residence collect food (yours or pick up someone else’s) to give to Manna Market, our schools, or to a neighbor you know about leave gifts on the door knobs or handles of folks do drive-by Birthday greetings fix a meal to deliver to someone’s porch. make a cake, package or deliver part of it, and then eat it together with someone over the phone or video-call make a banner of thanks to display at a hospital or any number of first responder stations deliver cleaning supplies to shelters, food pantries or even a neighbor buy a little extra while you’re out help deliver the worship service plans and printed email updates and/or DVDs to those members without Internet access (and save the church a few stamps).

MISSION IN OTHER WAYS: give online or by mail (no cash, please) Meals on Wheels of Alamance County Manna Market Food Pantry the school pantry at Audrey Garrett Elementary building ramps and other helps for folks who need more accessibility at their homes support our employees, facilities support efforts to blunt not only the effects of the virus, but of poverty, food insecurity and social violence determine your love will be concrete

You could determine that being a part of the household of God doesn’t limit your options, but actually expands your options for love and compassion and kindness. Be generous. Be Christ-like. Be Christ

SONGS Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven Praise, my soul, the King of heaven; to his feet your tribute bring; ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, evermore his praises sing: Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise the everlasting King.

Praise him for his grace and favor to his people in distress; praise him still the same as ever, slow to chide, and swift to bless: Alleluia! Alleluia! Glorious in his faithfulness.

Fatherlike, he tends and spares us; well our feeble frame he knows; in his hands he gently bears us, rescues us from all our foes. Alleluia! Alleluia! Widely yet his mercy flows.

Angels, help us to adore him; you behold him face to face. Sun and moon, bow down before him, dwellers all in time and space: Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise with us the God of grace.

Revelation Song Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Holy, holy is He. Sing a new song to Him who sits on Heaven's Mercy Seat. (x2)

Chorus: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come. With all creation I sing, "Praise to the King of Kings, You are my everything, and I will adore You."

Clothed in rainbows of living color. Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder. Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be To You, the only wise King.

Chorus:

Filled with wonder, awestruck wonder, at the mention of Your name. Jesus, Your Name is power, breath, and living water - Such a marvelous mystery.

Chorus: (x2)

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Holy, holy is He.

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