Muskoka Lakes Ministry of Knox, Port Carling & Zion, Torrance
Sunday March 28, 2021
Message: Choose Love
Reverend Glynis Faith
________________________________________
Announcements
________________________________________
1) We will be holding in-person Communion services on Maundy Thursday at both congregations. The services will be 1p.m. at Zion and 7p.m. at Knox. Pre-registration will be required. Please contact Robin (Zion) robin@keelermail.com or 416-540-4324 and Ken (Knox) krshortt@hotmail.com or 705-769-3239.
2) We are participating in an ecumenical Stations of the Cross Good Friday service. The service will be available for viewing on our YouTube channel any time after 10:00a.m. April 2, 2021. A Link will be sent out on Good Friday morning.
3) Music in the Sanctuary 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month – Come, sit, listen, pray, welcome the Holy Spirit and enjoy. Please be sure to pre-register with Edie Bard 705-645-6748.
4) Lectio Divina cancelled on Maundy Thursday. We will resume April 15.
_______________________________________
Call to Worship
________________________________________
On this Sunday we celebrate the Passion of Christ our Lord, and we light the Christ Candle, welcoming His presence into our worship (Light the candle) Lord Jesus, let Your face shine upon us and save us in Your unfailing love. AMEN

________________________________________
Prayer of Adoration & The Lord’s Prayer
________________________________________
Creator God, out of abundant love You created us. You gave us form. You gave us life. You give us choice. Creator God, we lift our hearts to You in love.
Redeeming Saviour, out of abundant love You suffered and died for us. You give us hope. You give us redemption. You call us to choose life or death. Redeeming Saviour, we lift our hearts to You in Love.
Sustaining Spirit, out of abundant love You continue to help us see our own sins, calling us to confession. You bring us comfort – You give us strength – You remind us always of the Father’s great love for us. Sustaining Spirit, we lift our hearts to You in love.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit we worship and adore You.
Here us as we repeat the Lord’s Prayer, saying: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thine 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 and ever. AMEN

________________________________________Scripture
________________________________________
Mark 15:1-20 (NIV)

Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
“Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
The chief priests accused him of many things. So again, Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”
But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
“What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.
“Crucify him!” they shouted.
“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
_______________________________________
Message ~ “ Choose Love ”
________________________________________
Today is, what is known in our liturgical calendar as, Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday. Minister’s choose whether to focus on the celebration of Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem, or on His Passion. To be honest, it is easier and much more uplifting to focus on the Palms, but I believe we need both to be whole.
We need encouragement – joyful events – crowds cheering – celebrations. These things balance the struggles -suffering – pain – heartaches that are a fact of human nature.
Our Hymn leading into the Scripture reading was Hosanna, Loud Hosanna – a celebration of Christ’s arrival. Our Gospel reading comes from Christ’s Passion, or suffering. Our special music, sung by Stan Hunter, was The Dolorosa, which means the Way of Suffering and I pray our concluding hymns will enable you to bring together the idea that Christ suffered for our sins and we now have the choice to reject Him or celebrate and join with Him.
I would like to focus on verse 9-11, which reads like this:
“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had
handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd
to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
The word that catches my attention in this passage is ‘self-interest.’ Other translations use the word ‘envy’ or ‘jealousy.’ I would suggest any of these words works well. Jealousy was at the root of Cain killing his brother Abel, and it was envy of young David that led to King Saul’s murderous rampage and eventually his own death. Self-interest was at the root of the first sin;
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For
God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5
Perhaps this is why we need the introspective season of Lent. 5 weeks of self-reflection – 5 weeks to consider our self-interests and anything that is limiting our closeness with God – limiting us from feeling God’s presence with us in the celebrations and the struggles of this life.
It is easy to read today’s passage and point out the sins of the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the Law, yet in doing so we neglect to look deep within ourselves. This group of religious leaders are not the only ones stirring up crowds, anger and malice driven by self-interests, jealousy and envy.
Each day we have choice. This choice is a gift from God to you. I pray that in all your decision making, you will choose the One who is Love.
I will conclude with a reading from Max Lucado called, “The Choice.”
THE CHOICE by Max Lucado
He placed one scoop of clay upon another until a form lay lifeless on the ground. All of the Garden’s inhabitants paused to witness the event. Hawks hovered. Giraffes stretched. Trees bowed. Butterflies paused on petals and watched.
“You will love me, nature,” God said. “I made you that way. You will obey me, universe. For you are destined to do so. You will reflect my glory, skies, for that is how you were created. But this one will be like me. This one will be able to choose.” All was silent as the Creator reached into Himself and removed something yet unseen. A seed. “It’s called ‘choice’. The seed of choice.”
Creation stood in silence and gazed upon the lifeless form. An angel spoke, “But what if he….”
“What if he chooses not to love?” the Creator finished. “Come, I will show you.”
Unbound by today, God and the angel walked into the realm of tomorrow.
“There, see the fruit of the seed of choice, both the sweet and bitter.”
The angel gasped at what he saw. Spontaneous love. Voluntary devotion. Chosen tenderness. Never had he seen anything like these. He felt the love of the Adams. He heard the joy of Eve and her daughters. He saw the food and marveled at the warmth.
“Heaven has never seen such beauty, my Lord. Truly, this is your greatest creation.”
“Ah, but you’ve only seen the sweet. Now witness the bitter.”
A stench enveloped the pair. The angel turned in horror and exclaimed, “What is it?” The Creator spoke only one word: “Selfishness.” The angel stood speechless as they passed through centuries of repugnance. Never had he seen such filth. Rotten hearts. Ruptured promises. Forgotten loyalties. Children of the creation wandering blindly in lonely labyrinths.
“This is the result of the choice?” the angel asked.
“Yes.”
“They will forget you? They will reject you?”
“Yes.”
“They will never come back?”
“Some will. Most won’t.”
“What will make them listen?”
The Creator walked on in time, further and further into the future, until He stood by a tree. A tree that would be fashioned into a cradle. Even then, He could smell the hay that would surround Him. With another step into the future, He paused before another tree. It stood alone, a stubborn ruler of a bald hill. The trunk was thick, the wood was strong. Stony brow of another hill. And soon He would be mounted on it. He felt the wood rub against a back he did not yet wear.
“Would you go down there?” the angel asked.
“I will.”
“Is there no other way?”
“There isn’t.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to not plant the seed? Wouldn’t it be easier to not give the choice?”
“It would,” the Creator spoke slowly. “But to remove the choice is to remove the love.”
He looked around the hill and foresaw a scene. Three figures hung on three crosses. Arms spread. Heads fallen forward. They moaned with the wind. Men clad in soldiers’ garb sat on the ground near the trio. They played games in the dirt and laughed. Men clad in religion stood off to one side. They smiled. Arrogant, cocky. They had protected God, they thought, by killing this false one. Women clad in sorrow huddled at the foot of the hill…
Speechless. Faces tear-streaked. Eyes downward. One put her arm around another and tried to lead her away. She wouldn’t leave.
“I will stay,” she said softly. “I will stay.”
All heaven stood to fight. All nature rose to rescue. All eternity poised to protect. But the Creator gave no command. “It must be done…” He said, and withdrew. But as he stepped back in time, He heard the cry that He would someday scream: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He wrenched at tomorrow’s agony.
The angel spoke again. “It would be less painful…”
The Creator interrupted softly. “But it wouldn’t be love.”
They stepped into the Garden again. The Maker looked earnestly at the clay creation. A monsoon of love swelled up within Him. God’s form bent over the sculptured face and breathed. Dust stirred on the lips of the new one. The chest rose, cracking the red mud. The cheeks freshened. A finger moved and an eye opened.
But more incredible than the moving of flesh was the stirring of the spirit. Those who could see the unseen gasped. Perhaps it was the wind who said it first. Perhaps what the stars saw that moment is what has made them blink ever since. Maybe it was left to an angel to whisper it: “It looks like… it appears so much like…it is Him!”
The angel wasn’t speaking of the face, the features, or the body. He was looking inside–at the soul. “It’s eternal!” gasped another.
Within the man, God had placed a divine seed. A seed of his self. The God of might had created, not a creature, but another creator. And the One who had chosen to love had created one who could love in return.
______________________________________
Prayers of Thanksgiving & Intercession
________________________________________
Lord Jesus, as we step into Holy Week we pause to give thanks for your Passion. You came as a little babe to take on human flesh. You experienced life as we do with all the joys and pains of this world. You experienced rejection and betrayal, and You did so for us. Jesus we thank you. Although You could have commanded angels and all of nature to step in and stop the suffering, You remained quiet to complete the mission You came for. Jesus, we thank you. Lord, your suffering was caused by our sins. Your death paid our consequences. Your faithfulness in life and death gave way to victory in the resurrection. Jesus we thank you. And, Lord, we pray you will give us the strength and the courage to remain faithful to You each day.
We now lift up our prayers of intercession, praying specifically for people working in the service industry throughout this pandemic.
We offer prayers for:
* those who have struggled through frequent layoffs due to shut downs
* for cooks, wait staff, cashiers, people working in shipping and receiving jobs, factory workers, janitors and cleaning staff, shelf stockers and people offering personal care.
* We pray also for those who work hard at various part-time jobs, yet, whose wages do not cover the bills.
Bless them all, Lord God we pray. And we pray that the many situations that have had light shone on them throughout this pandemic will not be forgotten as we move into a post pandemic world. Remind us to care for the vulnerable and treat all with fairness, dignity and respect.
These things we pray in Christ’s holy Name. AMEN
______________________________________
Prayers of Confession
________________________________________
Sovereign God, we have come through Lent reflecting on our sins – sins that hold us back from enjoying Your love fully. In this moment of silence, hear the prayers of confession each of us offers up to You now Lord (pause)
Lord, forgive us we pray. AMEN
________________________________________
Words of Assurance
________________________________________
“. . .God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
________________________________________
Commission and Benediction
________________________________________
Friends, step into Holy Week grounded in the knowledge that God’s love for you is so great, that He would suffer and die for You. Go and live in God’s love. Go and share God’s love. And as you do. . .
May the hand of God uphold you, the life of Christ guide you, and the presence of the Holy Spirit fill you with hope. Amen.