'Posturing for position.'

This short act of worship has been prepared for you to use at home by Stephen Mosedaleby. We invite you to spend a few moments with God, knowing that other people across the Methodist Connexion are sharing this act of worship with you.

Call to Worship
We come to worship a wonderful God.
We come not as slaves, but as the truly free;
not as petitioners, but as those already heard; 
not as interlopers, but as invited guests.
Though we may be in dispersed locations, the love of Christ gathers us together, joyful and eager to worship

Hymn: Meekness and Majesty (StF 362)

Prayer
Lord of infinity, who also chose meekness and humility in Jesus, we worship you.
You are the Lord of this morning, whether it greets us with a burst of sunshine or refreshing showers, and the simple pleasures that delight our taste and smell, our hearing and our seeing, are also your gift to us and all creation.
We thank you that in worship we are never alone, but share with countless others
in the music that heaven also enjoys,
in the challenge of your Word,
in the privilege of prayer,
in the comfort of Christian fellowship.
Thank you, generous God, for this Lord’s Day, and all that it speaks to us of your providence and your grace.  Amen.

Today’s OT Reading: Proverbs 25:6-7

Today’s Gospel Reading: Luke 14:1, 7-11

Time to Reflect
Formal dinners have been in short supply the last couple of years, but we all remember an occasion like a wedding where the seating plan enabled us to know our place, and perhaps also to judge our social standing on the basis of how far from the top table it was!

It was a trickier business for Jesus’s contemporaries, who had to judge in relation to the other guests how close to the host their status dictated they should be.

Everyday wisdom, shown in those verses from Proverbs, dictated that it was far better for one’s street cred to aim low and be promoted than high and get relegated to the margins.

“Pride goes before a fall” our own proverb says.  Two ducks and a frog were great friends in the farm pond they shared.  But one really hot August it was drying up.  No problem for the ducks who could fly off and find another, but that was too far for the frog to jump.  They hatched a plan.  The ducks would fly side by side holding the ends of a stick in their beaks whilst the frog with its powerful jaws would hang from the middle.  It worked so well that a farmer looking up exclaimed aloud, “What a good idea.  I wonder who thought of that?”.  “I did”, croaked the frog!

Pride comes before a fall.  But Luke sees the words of Jesus here as a “parable” (verse 7), so it is not just advice on keeping up appearances.  It is about life in the Kingdom where God is the host.  It is God who decides our place.  Genuine humility is not about calculating how to look good; it is simply desiring that God should determine our place.

George Whitefield and John Wesley disagreed on several points.  A man who loved stirring controversy once asked Whitefield if he thought he would see Wesley in heaven.  “I fear not”, Whitefield replied, “for he will be so near the eternal throne and we at such a distance, we shall hardly get sight of him.”

If we are willing to receive the teaching of Jesus as disciples we shall be free from the world’s obsession with posturing for position.

A time of prayer
Lord, it is your call that gives us dignity and we would be nothing without you.
We pray for true humility in your Church.
We remember all who evangelize or serve in areas of poverty, apathy or animosity, and all who face humiliation for their faith.
We pray for ministers who have lost their way, narrowed in their focus, succumbed to the temptation to self-aggrandisement, and for all believers who no longer fulfil their vocation. 
Make us all worthy of our calling.

We pray for people we categorise as “home-less” or “destitute”, but who are individuals as valuable in your eyes as anyone, and more precious in their vulnerability.
And we pray for those who care for them and seek to make accessible to them the opportunities they long for.
We remember church-based community workers who on behalf of us all, but not in our stead, share good news with the poor.
Make us all worthy of our calling.

We remember all who are belittled by others, who lack confidence in themselves, who are timid and nervous.
We ask your blessing on those who live with the hostility of war, oppression or abuse.
We pray for sick and struggling people whom we know individually.
And we acknowledge that we also need your healing for we are not yet perfect in love.
Make us all worthy of our calling.

Father, we thank you that you invite us and accept us into your kingdom, that through Christ you have triumphed over death.
We remember our loved ones in eternity.  
May we too be found faithful to your call, in Jesus’s name, who encouraged us to pray:
Our Father….

Hymn: Show me how to stand for justice (StF 713)

A prayer of blessing
As our worship continues through our service of Jesus Christ during this week, may he who is the same yesterday, today and forever fill us with his peace and joy. Amen.

Original Materials by Stephen Mosedale

We are grateful to all the Ministers and Local Preachers from around the Connexion who have contributed to Worship at Home. This resource is administrated by Ministries: Vocations and Worship in the Connexional Team.