God's Kingdom and Human Need

Please note:

This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors that were corrected before the radio broadcast.

It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.

Opening announcement from Radio 4 Continuity:
Now it’s time for Sunday Worship, which today comes live from New Kilpatrick Parish Church in Bearsden, and is introduced by the Minister, the Reverend Roddy Hamilton.

REV RODDY HAMILTON:    Welcome

Good morning and welcome.  Our church lies just north of Glasgow, on the line of the Antonine Wall, traces of which can still be seen close by in New Kilpatrick. This is as far north as the Romans managed to get - the good people of Bearsden prevented them going any further.

But there is no wall here now, no barrier, only a welcome to you all
to this ancient parish where people have worshipped since 1227.

Let us all – of every tradition - gather in worship.

I heard the voice of Jesus say (Tune: Kingsfold)
ORGAN ACCOMP + OBOE

RODDY:
Playing today is our own organist Christopher Nickol… who we cannot avoid mentioning had a moment of fame this week trending on social media with his tribute to David Bowie on the Kelvingrove Art Gallery organ.  Also sharing in the service with me this morning is an elder of the Church, Wilma Macdonald, who brings us together in our gathering words.

WILMA:  Gathering Words
Let us gather in this moment
just as we are
questioner
sinner
seeker
for we matter to God
more than doctrine, liturgy or creed

Let us gather in this space
just as we are
less than perfect
and fully human
in our needs and longings

Let us gather wherever we find ourselves
just as we are
each of us created in the poetry of love
and formed from the imagination of heaven

let us interrupt the world this morning
wherever we are
and worship God.

RODDY:  Announcement of hymn

This morning our Church choir and congregation are joined by Bearsden Choir, who will now sing contemporary words by Scottish hymn writers John Bell and Graham Maule to a traditional folk tune, Ye Banks and Braes o’ Bonnie Doon:
‘We cannot measure how you heal, or answer every sufferer’s prayer.’

Choir:  We cannot measure how you heal
(Tune: The Banks o’ Doon (Ye Banks & Braes)
ORGAN ACCOMP + OBOE

RODDY:
Loving God
May there be room here
for us all
a place perfectly shaped for us
set aside and named for us
as we gather in the love
that speaks the words we need to hear
and shapes a space
of welcome for us all.

May we know the grace
that invites us
to interrupt you
and bring here the needs we have

May we trust the love
the same love that
shaped universes
and chose the colour of stars
makes space for our needs and longings here

the same justice that
and fed the hungry thousands
and overturned the temple’s tables
responds to our hunger and hurts here

the same grace that
brought Zacchaeus from the tree
and made space for the one brought down through the roof
calls us into new life here

WILMA:
in this belief and hope
we bring all we are and have been:
all we’ve done to hurt
and all we have refused to do to heal
and long for renewal
for forgiveness and healing
transformed in grace
reshaped by love
and now called once more
as your kingdom servants

Holy God
may we make room for all
in need of forgiveness
and who seek healing
that together,
we shape the community you long for
always ready to be interrupted
by the needs of love
and your intent for the kingdom

All our prayers we bring together in the words Jesus taught us:

Our Father 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.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil
for thine is the kingdom
the power and the glory forever,  Amen.

Take this moment, sign and space
ORGAN ACCOMP

ANNE NICOL - READER:  Scripture Reading - Mark 2:1-12 (NRSV)  

A reading from the Gospel of Mark Chapter 2:

When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. 3 Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.” 12 And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”   Amen.

WILMA:
Last year the congregation of New Kilpatrick published a book called 52 Stories. They had chosen the passages to be preached on during that year, some they hadn’t heard in a long, long while and some very familiar. While Roddy had to preach on them, the payback was they had to rewrite them in their own way but in only 104 words (52 times 2).  The results showed that these stories are still very much alive and real to people today. Three of those who wrote stories last year have written a different perspective on our passage from the second chapter of Mark. 

A friend of the man speaks:

BEN FRYER:
Capernaum was in chaos. Jesus had returned. It was our chance to get our paralysed friend into the house. Alas, the crowds were beyond control, all doors were blocked. We had heard enough of Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom to know lateral thinking was needed: we went up the outside staircase, removed a section of thatch and in the silence of the crowd wondering what was happening as a mat appeared from the roof, we lowered, slowly, very slowly, our hopes, our faith and our friend at Jesus feet. The lateral kingdom made room not just for hope, faith and friendship, but healing too.

Loving God
may we seek your kingdom
in the places we least expect

WILMA:  How might the lame man tell his story? :

JANET DUFF:
What a journey - hoisted, swaying and jolting up to the roof - my heart in my mouth - through the roof-hole and down in front of the young preacher but Jesus didn't seem put out by all the upheaval. He looked deep into my eyes saying, "Your sins are forgiven!" The learned men muttered! He turned to me, "Pick up your bed and walk!" This was beyond hope. Before I could think, I was standing beside my stretcher, all the people gaping at me, even the mutterers were silenced, and I was almost out of the house before I realised I was walking.

Loving God
may we trust that your love
can turn everything around

WILMA:  And a possible reimagining from one of the scribes:

PAUL COOKE:
When the man rose to his feet a great cheer went up. People hugged. Others danced wildly. A delirium gripped the crowd. It truly was unbelievable. Had I not seen it with my own eyes I would not have believed it. Seeing our leader fall to his knees, head bowed, his hands touching Jesus’ cloak is a sight which has stayed with me my whole lifetime. I had never felt such overwhelming joy prior to that day and never have since. I wept, my scepticism leaving my body carried away by the tears. In this tumult the Son of God stood and smiled serenely.

Loving God
may we dare believe
beyond what we have come to expect

Choir:  Lord, we come to ask your healing
(Tune:  Ar Hyd y Nos  (All Through The Night)
ORGAN ACCOMP + OBOE DESCANT

RODDY: Homily- Being interrupted by human need reminds us what we are all about

If you were ‘patched’ in the past… you’d probably have just had a hole in your jacket elbow or were dressing up as a pirate. Today the word ‘patched’ means you’ve just been ignored… at least it does around here among younger generations.
 
Clearly it’s not a word we hear Jesus ever using, but it does express how the kingdom of God was often received… as people debated the small print, while the kingdom of God was knocking on the door.
 
Imagine the scene:  Jesus was in full flight… the kingdom of God was being preached.  And on this particular day, the house was so crowded - people were packed to the door, and outside too.
 
Jesus just raised his voice, and - busy teaching - was interrupted.  The kingdom of God was broken into… by a case of human need. How frustrating!  Yet, perhaps, the very kingdom of God about which Jesus was teaching, was making its entrance… bound up in the case of a lame man on a mat?
 
The words stopped… the teaching paused, as the immediate demands of the kingdom of God entered… lowered from the roof.
 
We can only imagine what comments the whispers of the crowd carried… disturbed, yet fascinated, by this intrusion of human need into the teaching of the one being called the Messiah.  He spoke so deeply of the love of God, until this… this intrusion, this interruption.
 
But we can see the parallels between this story and some of our own behaviour.... the interruption of humanity in our own well-rehearsed and eloquent faith and expectations of each other.  It seems clear to me that such interruptions are of the kingdom itself, though seen in very vulnerable human form.  They invite flesh to be put on our words… and bring reality to our faith… and remind us what we are as faith communities and people called to love.
 
The interruptions define us… and create space for the kingdom of God to grow through our response.
Of course we don’t know the expression on Jesus’ face, or what he might have been thinking the moment he was interrupted with the roof opening.  But do we dare imagine he paused long enough to be relieved? … and to think, at last, everything I’ve been talking about has just entered through the roof - the teaching becomes vivid, the idea becomes reality.
 
‘Your sins are forgiven’… O now the cat really was among the pigeons. And so a debate ensued over the power to forgive sins or to perform miraculous healing. Immediately the whole situation gets bogged down once more in the sideshow of terms and conditions, about the nature of sin and the meaning of forgiveness, while the kingdom of God waits to be noticed.  They had all been interrupted by a human need. The opportunity for the kingdom of God to be made real was there in the middle of them.  And they did not see it… as they fell over each other working out what best to say to the lame one.
 
Both responses - forgive sins, and pick up your bed - were as ridiculous as they were controversial.  A lame person cannot walk… and who has the authority to forgive sins except God?  But the kingdom of God swept aside these doubts and prevarications.  It was offering a more authentic solution.  Whatever it is that brings the fullness of life to a person… whatever it is that brings them back into community… then offer that… for the urgency to care for a person’s needs is of highest importance.
 
Rabbi Lionel Blue, who often brought a huge amount of human insight into faith, said that as a rabbi he was told: “Preach the general rules from the pulpit… but treat everyone as an exception to those rules”.  The kingdom of God interrupts our familiar habits and assumptions and clever doctrine with human need…
how we respond can reflect the generosity and love of the Kingdom.

Before I was ordained, part of my training was in South Africa.  I found myself in a township, asked to serve bread and wine to an old bedridden woman who could not walk or see… Namhlojwe was her name.  My first thought was - as I wasn’t yet accepted by the church as a fully qualified minister - “I’m not really allowed”, and the second was, “I don’t know the words”. But I served… with words close enough to what was familiar, yet distant enough to know this was more about need than creed or a tutor’s assessment.  No surprise, heaven didn’t implode, and perhaps even rejoiced, in the creating of that healing space that day. I don’t know how much longer Namhlojwe lived, but for me she still invokes the truth that the interruption of the hungry, of the displaced, of the poor - in our lives… community… and national life… reminds us what we are about.

The authority we have is simply to do God’s work; to make room for the kingdom in every need, and express Love’s reign in each interruption… for authority really comes down to authenticity.  How we respond when we are interrupted… expresses how we hear or ignore the needs of the kingdom.
 
An onlooker from the crowd speaks:

I had managed to get into the house
to listen to him
and he was part way through a sentence
when the dust and stoor came tumbling into the room
We had heard the scraping above us
but didn’t imagine the whole roof was coming in
But it did
and after the thud as the roof fell
the cloud of dust stirred in the air
amid coughing and hush
and caught a beam of light
that fell across Jesus
he paused
and let the world break into his teaching
 
Loving God
May we pause long enough
to hear the world...

WILMA:
Our next hymn is to a tune called ‘The leaving of Lismore’, an island in the Inner Hebrides.   New Kilpatrick Church Choir now leads us in singing ‘Spirit of God, come dwell within me’.

Spirit of God, come dwell within me
(Mallaig Sprinkling Song, Tune: Leaving of Lismore)

ORGAN ACCOMP

Dedication and Prayers for Others

JANET:
Loving God
May we gather as your people here
ready to be interrupted
by the needs of the world
and make space for them
in prayer
in purpose
and in our actions
Hear us

May we pause
and listen
pause
and refocus
pause
and take time
to see your kingdom among those in need

among those who travel across borders
in need of shelter and safety
in lands they do not know
among cultures that are strange:
in these places
may we respond to your kingdom
welcoming
sheltering
caring for those who have no bed to walk from

PAUL:
May we hear their voices and hear the kingdom invitation…

…among those who are powerless
through poverty
through hunger
through prejudice
and a world too busy with itself
May we remove the barriers
and set free
those who are bound up without others to carry them
May we hear their voices and hear your kingdom invitation…

…among those who are lonely
or living in fear
and cannot face the world
that does not notice them anyway
May we clear a place
to open our communities
in a new relationship
with those behind doors and walls and fear

WILMA:
May we hear their voices and hear your kingdom invitation…

…among those coping in a changing environment
from floods
to famine
across our world
and such difficult decisions to take
about lifestyle and economy
May we create a space
for vision and balance
for a creation needing to be listened to

May we hear her voice and hear your kingdom invitation… 

…among those closest to us
our families and friends
and the lives we live together
May we make a place
where love is found anew
and healing brought anew
for all those who need new life
May we hear their voices and hear your kingdom invitation

RODDY:
... among the people of Burkina Faso
In Madaya in Syria
Refugees across Europe
May we create a place
Where humanity finds worth in each other
Where religion can no longer be used for fear
Where loving neighbour really is
The beginning of every religion, every manifesto, every culture
May we hear that voice
Your kingdom invitation
To interrupt the pain and conflict of the world
With compassion, healing and love.

Hear us
So be it
Amen.

RODDY:

We sing, moving ourselves out into the world to interrupt it with hearts rejoicing o’er each work divine… Angel voices, ever singing ...

Angel voices ever singing (Tune: Angel Voices)
ORGAN ACCOMP

RODDY:  Benediction
May God interrupt your world with grace
and may you hear the invitation to interrupt the world with God’s kingdom

And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
The Love of God
and the Commonwealth of the Holy Spirit
Be with us all
Evermore
Amen (Sung)

Organ:  Voluntary - Processional March from 6 Sketches by C. Armstrong Gibbs