July 22, 2007

16^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Preparation for Worship

Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. 

Luke 10:41

To love God with all one’s heart and one’s neighbor as oneself meant then and now that one must reject society’s rules in favor of the codes of the kingdom – a society without distinctions and boundaries between its members. The rules of that society are just two – to love God and one’s neighbor – but these rules are so radically different from those of the society in which we live that living by them inevitably calls us to disregard all else, break the rules, and follow Jesus example.

R. Alan Culpepper

Today is the sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, the longest portion of the church year. There is nothing ordinary about Ordinary Time as the term comes from the word “ordinal” which means to tell the rank (First, Second, Third, etc.) During the summer season we have switched the sanctuary around with the pulpit in the middle of the chancel area and the Lord’s Table in front of the pulpit. This change allows us to realize the centrality of the Word read and proclaimed in our worship. The Baptismal font, Lord’s Table, Pulpit, and Cross in the sanctuary all align in the middle of our sanctuary.

     The central text for worship today is the Lucan story of Mary and Martha. The story of Martha and her many distractions and Mary who has chosen to sit at the feet of Jesus to listen and learn is a familiar one for most of us. Many scholars think Luke paired this story with the Good Samaritan to more fully illustrate Jesus commandment to love your neighbor and to love God. The parable of the Good Samaritan is a demonstration of loving your neighbor while Mary’s attentiveness to Jesus displays a love for God.

     The Call to Worship is taken from another lectionary reading for today Colossians 1. Our opening hymn, attributed to John Calvin (founder of the Presbyterian theological family), highlights our utter dependence upon God as we sing “Thou art the life, by which alone we live.” Our biblical lessons and sermon focus on the one necessary thing at the heart of the faith. Following the sermon we sing “Be Thou My Vision” exemplifying our commitment to focus on the one necessary thing. Our final hymn sends us out with the words “Take my life, and let it be Consecrated, Lord to Thee.”