40 minutes of rest
We want to welcome you to our Disciples Net worship.
We will be worshiping God in song, in meditation, in scripture, and finally and always we will
be worshiping at the table.
We will come together at the great feast given us by Jesus Christ.
So wherever we are, we will come as one before God today.
So now, will you join me in worship?
Trying to walk in the steps of the Savior, trying to follow whatever life brings, shaping
our lives to Christ's blessed example, happy, how happy the songs that we sing.
How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior, stepping in the light, stepping in
the light, how beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior, letting paths of light.
Pressing more closely as Jesus is leading, when we are tempted to turn from the way,
trusting the arm that is strong to defend us, happy, how happy our praises each day.
How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior, stepping in the light, stepping in
the light, how beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior, letting paths of light.
Walking in footsteps of gentle forbearance, footsteps of faithfulness, mercy, and love,
looking to Christ for the grace freely promised, happy, how happy our journey above.
How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior, stepping in the light, stepping in
the light, how beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior, letting paths of light.
Psalm 3, verses 14-21 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must
the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believes in him may have eternal life.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in
him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that
the world might be saved through him.
Those who believe in him are not condemned, but those who do not believe are condemned
already because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world and people loved darkness
rather than light because their deeds were evil.
For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds
may not be exposed.
But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that
their deeds have been done in God.
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Hi, I'm Deb Phelps.
And in the Disciples Net family, this has been a particularly rough couple of weeks.
We've experienced some loss and some very close friends.
One was Fred Craddock, who had been a friend and mentor for many of us, and also was an
advisor for Disciples Net.
He passed away on March the 6th.
And then March the 12th, our senior associate pastor Russ Smith, his father passed away.
And I would like to offer special prayers for them today, but also for the losses that
many of you are experiencing too.
So please join me now as we pray for these things.
Gracious and loving God, we thank you first that we can come to you, that you hear our
prayers, that we can pray for each other, that you hear us in our time of need.
We thank you that you care about the world, whether it's a single child in the other side
of the world from us, or if it's the person right next to us.
We thank you that you care about us, and that you've given us your love, that we sometimes
can be the answers to prayers.
Dear God, we ask that you be with Russ Smith and his family in their time of grief, the
family of Fred Craddock, and all the many loved ones of these individuals.
But also, God, hear the prayers of those listening here.
We ask that you be with them in their times of grief, as well as in their times of joy,
or worry, or concern over many, many things.
Dear God, we thank you that you accompany us through all the paths of life.
We know that we are in your presence, God, and we thank you for your holiness.
We thank you for your almighty love that is in all things.
We thank you for this world and the privilege to be on it, to be living here, and to be
able to reach out and connect with each other, whether it's physical touch with someone nearby,
or it's that touch of heart to heart that happens and that we're seeing through these
bridges that take place along the Internet.
Please forgive us, Lord, when we don't measure up to the standards that you have for us.
Please forgive us when we sin horribly, and we don't know where to go next, but dear God,
we thank you for your amazing grace.
We thank you for your forgiveness, and most of all, we thank you for sending Jesus to
teach us an extraordinary kind of love.
Please be with us as we share that love, that light, with all around us, dear God.
Give us the strength to do this in the way that you would want us to do.
Please be with all who are suffering in the different parts of the world, especially the
children, especially those who feel like no one cares.
Please help them to fill your love, help them to connect with people that can share that
love, and be your hands and feet in the world.
All these things we ask, dear God, in the name of your Son, Jesus, who taught us to
pray, saying, Our Father, You are in heaven.
How will we die in Him?
Die in Him, come.
How will we be done?
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our day for it.
And in the forgiveness of our debts.
And in the forgiveness of our debts.
And in the forgiveness of our debt.
And in the forgiveness of our debt.
And in the forgiveness of our debt.
Amen.
And in the forgiveness of our debt.
And in the forgiveness of our debt.
And in the forgiveness of our debt.
Oh, they say we shall meet by the river, where no storm clouds ever darken the sky.
And they say we'll be happy in heaven.
If we never meet again, the sight of this night of never has been strong to this poor man described.
There's another meeting place on where it's now and by the sight of the river of life.
Where the joy runs through forever.
If we never meet again, the sight of this night of never.
I will meet you on that beautiful show.
Yes, I will meet you on that beautiful show.
The sermon title today is called a clean, well-lighted place.
I have borrowed that sermon title from a short story by Ernest Hemingway.
And the story is basically about the loneliness of an old man sitting late at night in a Spanish cafe drinking his glass of wine.
And the impatient young waiter who knows that it's closing time.
He wants the old man to finish his wine and go home so that the waiter can finish his business for the day and go home.
And the waiter says to his older colleague, he can buy a bottle and drink at home.
And his older colleague, much closer in age to the client in the cafe, says simply, no, it is not the same.
We want to be in a clean, well-lighted place.
We're more comfortable. We are less afraid.
I have a friend whose name is Carmen. Carmen is a master's degree student in social work, wants to be a social worker someday.
And because of the counseling that she expects to do in most of her career, because of the counseling I have done for two generations as a pastor,
we talk a lot about that particular subject.
And Carmen happens to be a very attractive young woman.
And that actually needed to be part of one of our conversations.
So I was faced with how do I bring up a subject like that?
Well, if I am not going to be a creepy old guy trying to be too friendly, I have to do two things.
I have to say something, first of all, in a very business-like tone of voice.
And secondly, it has to be in a clean, well-lighted place.
A clean, well-lighted place means there is less opportunity for misunderstanding.
When we read this marvelous capsule of the entire gospel message, probably the most beloved scripture passage for Christians everywhere,
we see God expressing love for the entire world, not just your private soul or mine,
but God sending God's Christ into the world that the world might be saved.
God sending God's Christ into the world so that the world might be brought light.
And the suggestion that John makes as he expands on this thought is that light can be both blessing and curse.
Light can be judgment or light can bring great joy.
And I invite you just for a moment to think it kind of depends on who you are and what you're up to at the moment.
Two teenage lovers who think that they are alone in a dark room.
When the lights come on, they are somewhat distressed and they get very nervous.
If you are a burglar in someone else's house and the lights come on, obviously you know you are in trouble.
If you are a person whose eyesight is not very good and you are struggling to read what's in front of you
and the bright light comes on, the light means something very different indeed.
The light is a great blessing.
And so we have this marvelous metaphor that John gives us talking about the Christ of God being light
and bringing light.
As I suggested at the beginning, darkness kind of scares us.
We don't want to be in the darkness.
We would like the darkness to stay out there in the dark where it belongs.
And when we talk about the world we live in today, when we think about poverty, starvation, death,
we may think about injustice in the world, we may think about possibilities for racism
or perhaps child abuse in our very own communities.
That kind of darkness we do not like and we want to shine light.
When darkness is on all sides, we are not comfortable.
It is important to us to keep our own place clean, well lighted.
And yet, I'm not sure we Christians have it completely right when we think that way
because God did not send the light into the world simply for God's love for your intimate private soul and mine.
God intended for the whole world to be a clean, well lighted place
with the light of God's Christ shining everywhere.
And simply keeping our own place clean and well lighted almost like we want to hoard that light to protect ourselves.
Not really what God intended for us.
Instead we take the light into the world and we share.
And that can be a scary thing indeed.
But if the light of Christ exposes, the light of Christ does not leave an open sore.
The light of Christ heals.
And so as we prepare to celebrate the greatest light of all,
the resurrection on Easter Sunday three weeks from today,
as we prepare to celebrate the coming of that marvelous light
into our own private souls and into God's entire creation,
even in the situation where the most beautiful, the most holy Son of God
can be cruelly executed in the darkness as a criminal.
Even in that incredible darkness there is hope, there is victory, and there is light.
As we confront evil and death, as we confront darkness,
whether it is in our personal life, in the society around us, or even in the larger world,
when we confront that, we bring into that God's marvelous light, the light of God's Christ.
Thanks be to God. Praise be to God. Amen.
Each day I'll do the golden deed by helping those who are in need. My life on earth is but a span,
and so I'll do the best I can. Life's evening sun is sinking low, a few more days,
and I must go to meet the deeds that I have done, where there will be no setting sun.
To be a child of God each day, my life must shine along the way.
I'll sing his praise while the ages roll, and proud of some troubled soul.
Life's evening sun is sinking low, a few more days, and I must go to meet the deeds that I have done,
where there will be no setting sun. While traveling down, I'll try to live some traveling's load.
I'll try to change each night today, make roses bloom along the way.
Life's evening sun is sinking low, a few more days, and I must go to meet the deeds that I have done,
where there will be no setting sun.
We live in a gray world. Sometimes it's difficult to see whether the darkness or the light is winning,
and even at this table we're remembering the death of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
And yet the very fact that we're at this table means that we recognize that Jesus, our host,
is here with us and calls us to this table.
So even as we remember the death, we're celebrating not just that the light has come into the world,
but that the light is still present in our lives and calling us to be more than what the darkness tells us we are.
Let's pray.
Our Lord and our God, we thank you. We thank you for this table that reminds us of who Jesus is
and what you were willing to give to welcome us into your family and to accept us as children.
We thank you for this bread and this cup that remind us of Jesus.
And we thank you for your Spirit's presence and for Christ our host, who is present with us now.
And as we gather at this table, we pray that you would infuse us with your Holy Spirit,
so that as we go from this place, as we see people living in darkness,
the little of your light could shine through us and into their lives.
We pray in Christ's name. Amen.
And so it is that we remember on the night that he was betrayed, Jesus took the bread.
When he had blessed it, he broke it.
He gave it to them and he said, this is my body, which is broken for you. Eat this, remember me.
And in the same way after supper, he took the cup.
And he said, this cup is a new covenant which is poured out in my blood.
Drink this and remember me.
Often as we eat this bread and we drink this cup, we remember the Christ until he comes again.
Our host is present.
The table is set. Come, join the feast.
And now may the light of God's Christ fill your heart, your mind, your very soul.
And may you take that light with you and share it with everybody you touch.
Please remember that the Jesus Christ in you today just might be the only Jesus Christ one of your friends will see.
Amen.
Amen.
