Worship Service for November 24, 2024

November 24, 2024 – Twenty-seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Introit

Prelude

Lighting of the Christ Candle

This is the Christ Candle. We light the candle to help us remember that Jesus Christ, the light of the world, is with us in every place and every time.

Call to Worship

One: Come, let us sing to the Lord;
All: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

One: Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving:
All: let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise.

One: O come let us worship and bow down,
All: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.

One: For he is our God,
All: and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Opening Hymn

“God of grace and God of glory” (Book of Praise 1997, Hymn 490). Words (1930) by American pastor Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878–1969). Music (1907; tune “Cwm Rhondda”) by Welsh composer John Hughes (1873–1932). Words and music public domain. Descant copyright © 1990 Kevin Mayhew Ltd.; used by permission of One License, license number 722141-A.

Prayers of Approach and Confession, & Lord’s Prayer (sins)

God our Creator, your love is at work in all that you have made. Son of God, it is in your likeness that we are made new. God the Spirit, you touch our lives with hope and power. Receive now our worship, speak to us your word, and set us free to honour and serve you today.

Holy God, we confess that we have sinned again you and others through ignorance, through weakness, and through our own deliberate faults. We have been hesitant to serve you, reluctant to count the cost of discipleship in your name, unwilling really to risk anything for the sake of your Gospel. We want our lives to be comfortable, secure and safe, even if that means that our witness is weakened or our mission to others hindered. Forgive us, we pray, for the sake of your son Jesus, and set us free to serve you with enthusiasm and joy. It is in his name that we pray, and continue to pray in the words he taught us:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and forever.
Amen.

Declaration of Pardon

The Peace

One: The Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
All: And also with you.

The Life and Work of the Church (Announcements)

GCPC Senior Choir presents

“River Flows in You” (2001) by South-Korean composer and pianist Yiruma (1978–). Music copyright © 2001 Sony Music Entertainment Korea Inc.

Note from Music Director Brooks Gorst

A couple of weeks ago, the reception to Yiruma’s “Kiss the Rain” was impactful and as a result, it can be followed up with another reflective song of his, “River Flows in You.” Yiruma has an affinity for pastoral images of nature and especially with the element of water. The Holy Spirit works in its way as last Sunday we heard the GCPC Choir sing, “River in Judea” — the life is a river metaphor: “River Flows in You” is no different.

Fun with the Young at Heart (children’s story)

We sing verse 1 of “Jesus loves me this I know”.

“Jesus loves me, this I know“ (Book of Praise 1997, Hymn 373). Words (1859 or 1860) by American writer Anna Bartlett Warner (1827–1915). Revisions to v2 and v3 by Canadian Anglican priest David Rutherford McGuire (1929–1971). Music (1862; tune: “Jesus loves me”) by American musician William Batchelder Bradbury (1816–1868). Words, revisions, and music in the public domain.

Scripture Reading

Matthew 25:14–30  <– this links to on-line text of the NRSV bible

Click here for additional scripture readings from today’s lectionary. Links courtesy of the Revised Common Lectionary, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.

Matthew 25:14–30

The Parable of the Talents

14 “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; 15 to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. At once 16 the one who had received the five talents went off and traded with them and made five more talents. 17 In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. 18 But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. 29 For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 30 As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

Sermon

Taking the Plunge

It was a blistering hot summer afternoon. My brothers and I were hanging around the house deep in summer laziness, moaning that there was nothing to do. I would have been about 8 years old at the time.

My mother finally got fed up with us. She produced a quarter for each of us, and told us to get lost. Get on your bicycles and go to the Hancock Pool, to the local public swimming pool. We weren’t going to argue with that. We’d been to the pool lots of times, and it was always a ton of fun. On a hot day like this, it was a perfect way to cool off.

So we raced around grabbing our bathing suits and towels. We headed out as fast as we could for the pool on our bikes racing all the way, building up a sweat so that the cool water would feel that much more refreshing when we jumped in.

As we rode, I made a decision. This would be the day. This would be the day that I would finally get up my courage and jump off the high diving board. My big brothers could do it. Lots of other kids at the pool could do it. They seemed to survive doing it, but I could never pull myself together enough to climb that ladder, and throw myself off.

Yes, today would be the day. We got to the pool, and quickly got changed and showered. In no time, we were in the water, splashing around and having a great time.

I remember the Hancock Pool from those days as being huge. In my adulthood I drive by and am struck by how it has shrunk over the years. But on that wonderful hot summer day, when I was 8 years old it was still enormous and there were probably 100 kids enjoying the water.

Eventually my big brother, Jim, said, “I’m going off the diving board.” And away he went to get in line. My heart went to my mouth — I knew that if I were ever going to do it, this would be the moment. Now there were two diving boards, a low one that I had jumped off lots of times, and the high one, probably three metres high.

To Jim, the low board was for sissies, and I knew the line-up he was heading for was the big one. Very bravely, I joined him in the line. As each person in front of me climbed the ladder and then jumped off, I got more and more terrified.

Jim was right in front of me. He climbed the ladder with no hesitation. I don’t know if he knew what I was going through, but just to show off how easy it was he even did one of those crazy jumps designed to make a big splash. Now Jim is really quite a nice guy, and we get along fine now.

But at that moment I think I hated him.

So then it was my turn. By not allowing myself to look down I was able to climb the ladder without much difficulty. So then I was at the top. There was a railing on either side of the board for the first metre or so, but the board stretched out much further than that. It suddenly occurred to me that there was nothing to hang onto out at the end.

I hung on to those railings for dear life. My head was spinning. My skinny 8-year-old knees were knocking. I looked down — it seemed a lot higher from up there than it did from the pool deck. I was in agony.

My fingers were locked on the railings. The board stretched out in front of me into nothingness. Down below, a hundred kids were having a blast in the water completely unaware of the turmoil I was going through. A dozen kids in the line-up were starting to get a bit impatient. Someone yelled from below, “Come on kid, let’s go. We haven’t got all day.”

And I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t take the plunge, couldn’t let go and jump. I lost my nerve, and climbed back down the ladder. Filled with shame, surrounded by snickers and teasing, I had to push my way back through the line-up of bigger kids who could jump so easily. By then of course I was in tears.

I don’t think this was exactly a life-defining moment for me, but it was significant enough that more than 60 years later I still remember that hot summer day in great detail. Years later when a bunch of friends were all daring each other to jump off a 10 or 12 metre cliff into a lake in Muskoka, my mind went back to my day of shame at the Hancock Pool. Years later again, when for some reason that God alone understands I found myself in a water park, standing at the top of a 40-metre water slide call the Suicide Drop with my wife and children looking on from below I thought of the day that I froze, and backed away from a challenge.

So you will understand, I hope, that I have never much liked the Parable of the Talents. I know what it is not to be equal to a challenge, not to want to take a risk, not to want to stick my neck out too far.

I know about that fear that will back away from a challenge or risk and make me hide my money in the ground like the third servant. I don’t particularly like to live on the edge — I don’t bet even if it’s a sure thing. I never went on blind dates. I don’t buy lottery tickets. So I have some sympathy with someone who plays it safe. Frankly, I feel sorry for this guy because I’m a lot like him, and I suspect many of you are too.

In fact, sometimes, I really don’t get it with Jesus. I think I understand what he is saying and doing, and then something like the talents doesn’t fit. Jesus can welcome home a young man who goes off and wastes his father’s fortune on loose living, but then condemns a cautious servant who puts his money in safety deposit box instead of investing it. Jesus can hire workers late in the afternoon and pay them as much as the ones who worked all day but throws into the outer darkness a poor servant who believes that discretion is the better part of valour.

They say in the parables, there is usually a twist, some unexpected turn where grace steps in to lift up the lowly, the sinner, the spendthrift, the hopeless. Here, the twist is that there is no twist. Here, the ways of the world run rampant, and grace does not intervene.

Make lots and lots of money — 100% return on investment and you’re a hero. But mess up and you’re out. Do well, and even the little that the incompetent have is taken from them and given to you — as if you need it. But fail, and you get thrown into the outer darkness.

Have everything go right for you and you get invited into the boss’s office for a drink. But don’t perform up to standard, even when it isn’t clear what the standard is, and you find yourself out in the parking lot with a pink slip in your hand. What about the last being first? What about bringing good news to the downcast? What about seeking for the wayward and the lost?

The master in the story gives no instructions. He doles out his money in huge amounts — a talent is twenty years’ income for a labourer. Think of it as a million dollars today. He divides his fortune according to each servant’s ability. So he knows that this last guy is a bad risk — what does he expect? Is this a set-up?

Does the master know in advance that contestant number three would not be able to handle the pressure and that the prize behind his door would be weeping and gnashing of teeth? In just what way is the kingdom of God like this hard story?

Well, maybe it’s not about money or even the talent of being able to sing in the church choir. Maybe the story is about our willingness to take a risk for God, about letting ourselves go with God. Maybe the grace here is that it is by our willingness to risk that grace happens. Maybe, on a spiritual level, it is about investing ourselves in the One who calls us to “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me”

And maybe the punishment that awaits us for not taking those risks is really just the consequence of not opening ourselves up to God, of not taking the leap of letting God take us somewhere new of not giving God any space to fill us, any room to bless us.

Now there’s a risk we’re not all that eager to take. For some of us, especially the careful, the timid, giving ourselves that completely to God feels like throwing ourselves off into nothingness.

But the punishment for not jumping would be someday having to say, “I was afraid, God. I had to hang on to something I knew you would expect a lot from me, so I hid your money. Here you can have it back now. It hasn’t grown any, but it’s all there — the opportunities to grow, to serve, the openings to share my faith with others, the joy of becoming more Christ-like. You can have it all back, God.”

Not to take the plunge with God is to reject what God could do in me, in you, and to miss the thrill of joyous kingdom living. Sure, there is risk in taking, using, investing the gifts of faith that God gives us. There’s a risk is giving generously to good causes and to serving recklessly the needy in whom we see the face of Jesus. There’s a risk in letting Jesus’ kingdom values invade our thinking and shape our living.

But those who take that risk will find that they have more to invest. Those who turn away from the opportunities will lose them. For ideas that are buried in the ground, insights that are suppressed, knowledge that is not shared, joy that is not expressed, will never grow or live to bless others.

What is at stake is the nurturing and deepening of our own faith, our children learning the faith because we are prepared to let it show, and the world around us being attracted because we allowed the light to shine in us. The payoff is in the growth of the kingdom.

It was a couple of weeks later, the same summer when I was 8 years old, that I finally jumped off the high diving board at the Hancock Pool. I summoned up all my courage, let go of the railing, and threw myself off the nothingness of the end of the board into oblivion.

I took the plunge. I conquered my fear and did it. I remember that day as well. I remember the time in mid-air being longer than I expected. I remember the wonderful weightlessness under water and the realization that I had survived. And I remember coming up for air with a grin from ear to ear. because I had done it.

What I don’t remember is whether my brother Jim was there that day, or if he was, whether he was impressed. But I certainly was. What I discovered, of course, was that it was a great thrill. I immediately hopped out of the water, and did it again and again — the return on the investment of my risk-taking.

And when I thought of that incident later on a Muskoka cliff and on a ridiculously high water-slide, I remembered the fear. But I also remembered the exhilaration of finally letting go, and jumping.

Jesus tells us it’s the same with our faith. Having been found faithful with a little test, and taking a plunge in faith, God puts us in charge of more, and that gives us the courage to jump again.

Amen.

Hymn

“Will you come and follow me” (Book of Praise 1997, Hymn 634). Words (1987) by Scottish hymn-writer and Church of Scotland minister John L. Bell (1949–) and his Scottish hymn-writing partner Graham Maule (1958–2019), both affiliated with the Iona Community. Music (Scottish traditional; tune “Kelvingrove”) arranged in 1987 by Bell. Words and arrangement copyright © 1987, Iona Community, GIA Publications, Inc. agent; used by permission of One License, license number 722141-A. Music public domain. Arrangement copyright © 1987 GIA Publications; used by permission of One License, license number 722141-A.

Offering

As Jesus gave himself for us, let us return to God the offerings of our life and the gifts of the earth.

Offering – Musical Reflection

We remind everyone that we must continue to pay our bills; in the absence of being present at Sunday worship, you may sign up for pre-authorized remittance (PAR), donate online, or drop off your offering envelope in the mailbox at the church. Do not leave a cash donation unattended in the mailbox; instead, please call the office (416.261.4037) to ensure someone will be there to receive it. The building will be checked daily for mail and phone messages. If you are not comfortable leaving an envelope, you are welcome to contact the office (once again, 416.261.4037) and someone will pick up your offering.

Dedication of our Gifts

Our offering will now be received.

Doxology 306

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow” (Book of Praise 1997, Hymn 306). Based on the tune “Old 100^th“ with words (1989) by English hymnwriter Brian A. Wren (1936–). Words copyright © 1989 Hope Publishing Co.; used by permission of One License, license number 722141-A. Music public domain.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
praise God all creatures high and low;
praise God in Jesus fully known,
Creator Word and Spirit One.

Prayer of dedication

The Prayer of Thanksgiving and Hope

Almighty and eternal God, great enough to fashion the creation and rule over it, close enough to know us all by name, and care for us individually: your love embraces every heart. We praise you for your goodness, for how we know that you are with us, and that nothing can separate us from your great love shown to us in your son Jesus.

Great God, we bring you now our prayers for the world. We pray for all who exercise power over us at every level of government and in all places. Give to them a desire to seek peace instead of hostility, reconciliation in the place of conflict, generosity to replace selfishness, a concern for the vulnerable instead of a reliance of violence, and trust in the place of suspicion. May all who hold power over others do so with responsibility and humility, and with reverence for your authority.

We pray for those in our society who struggle, and in whom you are present to us. We think of those who have no home, who lack nourishment, who suffer and do without the basics of life that we enjoy: clothing, shelter, medical care, education, security. It shocks us when we hear that these conditions can exist in our own city, and we pray that you would show to us how to do our part to ensure that all people would be able to live with dignity and security.

We pray for the sick, that you would send your healing, and that for those who are living with the pain and uncertainly of illness, you would calm their spirits and give them peace through the knowledge that you are with them to comfort and befriend.

We pray for the witness of this congregation in our community and beyond, that you would bless and strengthen it, and build up its fellowship so that it would be equipped for your work in the world. We give you thanks for each one in this family of faith, and celebrate the gifts that all bring to its common ministry.

Gracious God, hear these our prayers, and send us out into the world ready to give ourselves to you, to take risks for your sake, and for the cause of building up your reign on the earth. All this we pray in the name of Jesus, our saviour and our friend. Amen.

Closing Hymn

“Lord, Jesus, you shall be my song” (Book of Praise 1997, Hymn 665). English words (1970; translated from the original French words of 1961) by Anglo-Canadian priest, musician and theologian Stephen Somerville (1931–); music (1961; tune: “Les Petities Soeurs”) by Les Petites Soeurs de Jésus. English words copyright © 1970 Stephen Somerville. Music copyright © 1987 Les Petites Soeurs de Jésus.

Changing the Light

Now, it is time to change the light. The light that was in one place can now be in every place and every time going with you wherever you go.

Commissioning and Benediction

Go in peace,
And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The love of God
And the communion of the Holy Spirit,
Be with you, now and forever. Amen.

Blessing

“Danish Amen” (Book of Praise 1997, Hymn 780). Words and music (tune: “Amen (Danish)”) traditional. Words and music public domain.

Postlude

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Last updated 2024-11-24 22:45 – First version.