Virtual Worship - 18 July 2021

Parables for Bradford - Week 6

You are invited

Service sheet (pdf)

Welcome: 

Hello and welcome to worship today. My name is Claire Nott. I’m part of the lay pastor team at Baildon Methodist Church and am currently training to become a local preacher. If you’ve been following the Parables for Bradford series of services, this is week 6 and our parable today contains a personal invitation from Jesus and a reminder that there is a place in Heaven for each of us. During today’s service I’ll be posing three key questions. You may like to pause the video at those points to think about your answer before continuing or you could discuss them with others at the end of the service. 

Call to worship

Our call to worship comes from Psalm 47:

Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth! 

Songs

Let’s celebrate in Jesus being our Lord and saviour with two songs, StF44: Come on and Celebrate (signed in Makaton) followed by StF332: Lord, I lift your name on high

Talk

I’m filming this part of the service in early June, the first time I’ve invited someone to a meal since lockdown ended. I’ve made an effort to tidy the house, the table is laid with a cloth, napkins, the bestplates and cutlery and glasses. There’s even a candle and some fresh flowers. The food is cooking butwhat’s missing? (pan to the empty chairs) The people! Have you ever hosted a party and had gaps at your table where people who’ve been invited haven’t attended? Or is the opposite true? That you’ve made your excuses not to attend an event you were invited to? Illness, tiredness, forgetfulness or double-booking ourselves can sometimes mean we don’t fulfil commitments we have made. Now imagine that it is God inviting you... 

Key Question 1: What things can seem more important than spending time with God?

I can find it hard to make time to spend with God with the demands of working full-time and making sure I have quality time with my family. When I’m struggling, I consciously make an effort to meet God in my surroundings, to look at his creation and see him there and to pray for the people and situations I’m in. God wants us in heaven with him but all of our excuses take us away from him.

Prayers

Let us pray: 

Loving God, thank you for your invitation, open to all who accept it, to join you with Jesus in Heaven. We are sorry for the times we have ignored you or made excuses for not spending time with you. Thank you that you do not give up on us but keep issuing an invitation. Amen. 

Let us join together in saying the Lord’s Prayer

Song

We are going to continue praising the Lord with StF443 Come let us sing of a wonderful love, 

Reading:  

Abbie Nott - The Great Man’s Feast (Luke 14: 15 – 24)

Talk

Thank you, Abbie. (Hold up Polite Society – The Jane Austen Board Game) I’ve borrowed this game from my daughters. The aim of the game is to fill your dining table with eight guests. The guests are all from the novels of Jane Austen, for example the title character of Emma or Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. In order to place a particular guest at your table, you need to meet the cost of their societal assets: wit, wealth, heart and beauty. Mr Darcy is relatively expensive, requiring 3 wealth, 2 heart, 2 beauty and 2 wit cards in exchange for his presence at your table. However, he is an ​excellent guest, providing the potential for many rewards. By contrast, Mr John Thorpe, of Northanger Abbey is relatively inexpensive at one wealth and two wit but may cause you to lose assets as the game progresses. This made me wonder what categories God would consider as assets on our guest cards and what scores we think we’d merit for each one. 

We know from Matthew chapter 7 that earthly wealth counts for nothing in Heaven so that’s not an asset:  Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What about beauty? In 1 Samuel 16, the Lord says to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” So beauty wouldn’t be on our list of attributes.

How about wit? It can be defined as a natural aptitude for using words and ideas in a quick and inventive way to create humour. This isn’t as easy as I first thought to dismiss as a potential asset.

Proverbs 12:18 tells us that Reckless words pierce like a sword but the tongue of the wise brings healing . In Ephesians 4: 14-15 Paul writes that we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

It is clear that using words and ideas is important but to ensure that they are used in love to bring understanding and healing rather than for a quick laugh. In preparing for this service I read an interesting article written by Jayson Bradley in 2019 in which he claims that Jesus often used satire when responding to questions posed by Pharisees hoping to catch him out. His examples include: Matthew 12: 1-4 At that time Jesus went through the cornfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some ears of corn and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.” Jesus is taunting the Pharisees whose power rests on their superior understanding of the scriptures. He’s pointing out in public that he’s not intimidated by them and isn’t afraid to explain the meaning of passages they have read many times but clearly don’t understand.

The final asset on these cards is heart and I think this is the only one we actually need. All the quotes about wealth, beauty and wit mention heart and love. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. Speak truth in love, like Jesus.

 

Take a few moments either now or at the end of the service to reflect on our second key question:

Key Question 2: How can we demonstrate we have hearts for God?

I don’t mean how can we build up enough credit to get into Heaven but how we can show through our actions that we’ve accepted the invitation to follow Jesus and that his love flows through us. 

I’m just going to focus on one small area in which we can show we have hearts for God, linking it to today’s parable of serving those on the margins of society. During the Spring Bank half-term holiday I stepped out of my comfort zone to help deliver food to local families as part of Shipley Christians Together holiday food initiative. Over 50 households received a week’s worth of food along with suggested recipes. The sight of rooms full of bags of food will stay with me for some time and remind me that food poverty and deprivation isn’t just far away but very nearby. Other local charities providing food and shelter for those on the margins are the Bradford Soup Run and Inn Churches. Their details will be on the slides at the end of the service if you feel called to support them with prayer, donations or volunteering your time. Inn Churches have an initiative called “Buy a Beanie, Give a Beanie” whereby for every beanie hat sold, they give a beanie hat to a homeless person. If you are keen on knitting why not consider making a hat or two for Inn Churches to sell? If you want more ideas on how we can show God’s love, keep watching the Parables in Bradford series of services and go back and watch the Spirit Filled Church series from earlier this year on Youtube.

Going back to the board game, at God’s table there is no cost to meet - Jesus sacrificed himself to pay the price for us. We need to accept the invitation and the grace God has shown us and we’ll be welcomed into the party in Heaven. Grace – that spontaneous gift from God: generous, free, undeserved and unexpected. By Grace we are saved and are free to show God’s love through our actions.

Song: 

Just Grace: 

As we move towards our prayers of intercession, let’s reflect on some on the themes in today’s parable (inspired by http://www.jesuswalk.com/luke/064-banquet.htm )

Rejection and Excuses: 

“A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests…But they all alike began to make excuses.” Rejection is painful, can lead to damaged relationships and resentment. It can cause a breakdown in trust and communication. Throughout the bible there are many instances of God’s people making excuses, delaying action and causing him pain. We are no different when we ignore God’s call and make excuses not to do his will.

Empty Seats: 

Sometimes empty seats at tables represent friends or family who are no longer with us. Over the last eighteen months, there are few people who have not been affected by the loss of loved ones, whether through Covid-19 or other causes. We think of those known to us who have died and of those who are grieving.

Mercy and Grace: 

“Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God”. Originally, the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame were not invited to the banquet. They were not considered worthy to attend just as we are unworthy to come to the Lord’s table. But God doesn’t care about status and wealth – he loved us before we loved him by sending his son to save us, to make us fit for his table.

Evangelism: 

“Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame”. Bring in, make them come…it’s not just about issuing an invitation but actively engaging with people and encouraging them to accept God’s invitation. We are the servant in the parable and are tasked with sharing the message of his love and helping people to meet God. We pray for the outreach provided by organisations like the Bradford Soup Run and Inn Churches working in our neighbourhoods to provide food, clothes and shelter to those who are marginalised.

Judgement: 

“I tell you not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet”. A difficult message – God has given us all free will and it can be upsetting when we see people rejecting his invitation. Our focus should be on sharing God’s love: the gospel, the good news, with all we meet through our words and actions so that the Holy Spirit can touch their hearts and they can accept the invitation.

God’s Plan: 

Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in so that my house will be full”. In the parable, the host has ensured that plenty of food has been prepared for his many guests. He does not want it to go to waste so keeps throwing open his doors until every seat is filled. Similarly, Jesus wants us to fill Heaven and he’ll keep giving us every opportunity to follow him.
Our prayers are led by four young people from Baildon Methodist Church, building on the themes they see in today’s parable: firstly ‘excuses’ and then ‘accepting and welcoming’

Prayers:

‘Excuses’

When it is easier to choose the unhealthy option rather than the healthy option,
help us not to make excuses
When it is easier to buy cheaper mass products rather than environmentally and workforce friendly products,
help us not to make excuses
When it is easier to throw a can in the bin rather than take it home to recycle it,
help us not to make excuses
When we’re given an opportunity we’re reluctant to follow,
help us not to make excuses.

‘Accepting and Welcoming’

When we meet someone from a different culture or background from us,
help us to be accepting and welcoming
When someone we know is taking an opportunity,
help us to be accepting and welcoming
When our siblings want to right their wrongs,
help us to be accepting and welcoming
If someone who is new joins our community,
help us to be accepting and welcoming
Amen

Song

Our final song today is Come People of the Risen King by Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend, sung here by the pupils and staff of Ashville College.

Thank you to all who have helped contribute to or prepare this service. Before we end, I’d like to pose a final question for you to reflect on. Jesus invites us to live with him in Heaven – that invite is for everyone.

Key Question 3: Who will you share the invitation with?

Let’s end by sharing with one another the words of The Grace

Closing song: 

Vagabonds, Stuart Townend