The Breakfast Club

 Eastern Parkway United Methodist Church

 

 A warm welcome to each worshipper today. We celebrate you and offer you our friendship and love. We are a congregation of people who seek to grow spiritually, to become more like Christ in His compassion and acceptance of everyone while growing more aware of what it really means to be Christians today.

As a Reconciling Congregation, EPUMC affirms the sacred worth of persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities and welcomes them into full participation in the fellowship, membership, ministries, and leadership of the congregation.

 

 

 

943 Palmer Avenue, Schenectady, NY 12309 / 518-374-4306 epumc943@gmail.com / www.easternparkway.org

Order of Worship

May 1, 2022

Second Sunday of Easter

10:00 a.m.

*You are invited to rise in body or spirit.

 

Prelude Prelude J. S. Bach

Greeting and Announcements

Mission Statement:

We are a faith community striving to be, to nurture, and to send forth disciples of Jesus Christ.

 

Call to Worship: By Sandra Miller

Lord, we come before you in joy,

clothed in the majesty of your glory.

We come to sing your praises.

Like the myriad faithful of old,

we proclaim the Lamb to be worthy

of blessing, honor, and glory.

We fall down before you in worship. Amen!

 

*Hymn Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise #312, vv. 1, 2, 4              

Prayer of Confession:

God of Forgiveness,

hear now the confession of our sins.

Our greed and our lust for power

create enemies where we should find friends.

We fail to offer comfort and aid

to those who are afraid and beat down

by the burdens of life.

We are as blind and willful as Saul

to the pain and the destruction

of our wrongdoings

and our well-meaning crusades.

Forgive us, merciful One.

Give us sight to see with your eyes,

that we may bring hope and peace to our world.

Amen.

 

Assurance:

God’s anger lasts but a moment,

but God’s favor lasts a lifetime.

The Lord forgives our shortcomings

and sends deliverance through Christ,

just as the Lord forgave Saul

and used him to spread the gospel.

Thanks be to God! 

Anthem

Scripture Reading John 21:1-19

Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples

21 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin,[a] Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards[b] off.

9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus and Peter

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

 

Sermon The Breakfast Club

There’s a lot of different distinguishing details in this story, but the one my mom always focuses on when she brings up this story is that they eat breakfast. John tells us this story happens just after daybreak, that Jesus helps his disciples catch more fish in one swoop than they had in their whole former career as fishers, and then Jesus lit a campfire on the shore and said “come and have breakfast.” My mom always calls this the “breakfast on the beach” story.

That’s sweet, but if this is a breakfast story, by my standards, it ain’t breakfast on the beach. Rather, it’s a Saturday morning detention in 1984 in Shermer, Illinois. Or 33 CE in Palestine. Whatever. Jesus is Anthony Michael Hall’s character, “the brain”. Peter is Molly Ringwald’s character, “the princess”, Thomas is Emilio Estevez’s character, “the athlete”, Nathaneal is Judd Nelson’s character, “the criminal”, the Zebedee brothers James and John share Ally Sheedy’s role of “the basket case”, and all of us listening to this story now are a principle who dresses like Barry Manilo. There’s some heavy talk going on in a short amount of time between Jesus and the disciples as they come to terms with the disciples abandoning Jesus before but stepping back up now, what roles they all have played in this story of faith up to this point, and who they will be from now on. Reading the words they left for us, will we hear their testimony, take it in, and change our perspective? Or will we go back to life as usual? Jesus can’t control there, only guide. The rest is up to us.

Even when he was a disciple, giving up his stable profession as a fisherman and moving from place to place with no plan, life was good for Peter before Good Friday. He was initiated into this special group of men with his own exalted nickname: Cephas, or Peter, meaning rock, because Jesus would build his Church on him. He stayed close by Jesus so as never to miss any of the action, and he was a major player in the biggest events of the last year–he got to walk on water, he got to see Jesus transfigured on the mountain top, he got to distribute loaves and fish to 5,000 people, he saw the storm calmed, the little children welcomed, and countless people healed. He asked vital questions, and heard sacred answers. He didn’t do any of that perfectly–Jesus corrected him for not forgiving enough, pulled him out of the sea when his lack of faith made him start drowning instead of walking, and even yelled “get behind me, Satan” when Peter questioned Jesus’ talk about his eventual death. Still, he got to walk around with the gold star that Jesus gave him on his first day on the job, and his resolve and reputation were untarnished until the very end.

Being the Molly Ringwald princess character is long over now. Peter is back to wading in the water and catching fish with a net, a job he quit with no notice and never thought he’d go back to. All he had to do to keep being Jesus’ rock was act like one. But on the day Jesus needed him the most, he denied even knowing him to anyone who asked. Maybe the pressures of being Jesus #1 guy were too much for him to keep up.

Jesus, nonetheless, shows Peter something very important first thing in the morning. If he wants to go back to fishing he can not only do well but excel at it. Things certainly aren’t the way they were before now, Peter isn’t Peter to Jesus anymore; Jesus addresses him as Simon throughout this conversation. His days of being the special one and doing nothing to earn that distinction are over. But still, Jesus offers Peter a chance to move on from this moment, and from his mistakes, if he’s willing to take on a major role shift. The most important thing though that Peter, and all the disciples, learn from talking to Jesus this morning is that the future of Jesus’ ministry depends on them being willing to step way up from the clear-cut roles they filled during Jesus’ earthly life. If they can’t bend and change, then the Church died when Jesus did.

Jesus calls to us in the same way to break out of the narrowly defined, familiar routines we’ve dwelled within in order to create change and the build a corner of the Kin-dom. In fact, I have a story for you about a woman who I would argue Jesus called to do just that. Though her story is non-religious, she has become a brave and compassionate leader who shows us the way to go. This is also a relatively local story. 

Lois Gibbs was born on June 25, 1951 in Grand Island, New York. The early years of her life made no headlines, and Lois didn’t mind that. She was a shy, reserved person, and one with simple aspirations. She married, had a few children, and raised them as a stay at home mom in a neighborhood called “The Love Canal” in Niagara Falls. She had everything she ever wanted and no desire to chase after anything more until tragedy struck her comfortable life: in 1978, her 5 year old son became seriously ill with symptoms that utterly mystified his doctors. Lois searched tirelessly for answers until the truth became a public health catastrophe: her son’s elementary school was built right over a site where a chemical plant had dumped thousands of tons of toxic waste, and the ground was filled with poison. Lois recalls that she “waited at the house for somebody to knock on my door and tell me what to do…and then when nobody came, I went and knocked on doors.”  She started small and local, and founded the Love Canal Homeowners Association. As birth defects, miscarriages, and cancer ravaged Love Canal, the company responsible for dumping the waste insisted they did nothing wrong, and the air and soil quality were compatible with a healthy life.

Lois began circulating petitions, and speaking publicly, both of which were utterly foreign, and quite intimidating to her. Local law makers suggested that expectant mothers and families with young children simply sell their houses and move to another town. When Lois refused to accept that “let them eat cake” compromise, she was met with death threats. Nevertheless, she persisted.

She kept fighting until she reached the national level in 1980, when President Carter intervened, and used government funds to buy the homes in Love Canal so the residents could evacuate, and began a clean up effort there. Lois’s steadfast protests led the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a Superfund to enable them to intervene when toxins threaten the health of entire towns. Lois moved her family out of Love Canal, and initially thought she would return to a quiet life as a homemaker. But the calling of her heart spoke otherwise, and told her that none of us change the world by staying who we have always been. Lois has continued fighting against careless business practices that poison the environment, from styrofoam containers, to PVC in toys, to fracking.

Though this story takes us back more than forty years in history, it’s more relevant now than ever. As our friends in Flint, Michigan are forced to drink lead contaminated water, as oil pipelines threaten the health of indigenous Americans for the sake of corporate profit, and as climate change threatens all of our futures, Jesus looks us in the eye and asks the same question he asked Peter 2,000 years ago: Do you love me? Then for heaven’s sake, feed my sheep.

The work of following Jesus is miles from easy. For his love’s sake, we walk away from our riches, our comforts, and our greatest achievements. But when we do, he lives in us, and others find life in him, too.

Amen.

*Hymn When Morning Gilds the Skies #185, vv 1, 2, 4

Offering

Offertory

*Doxology #94

*Prayer of dedication           

 

Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

Holy God, we come before you in prayer,

lifting to you the joys and concerns,

the hopes and dreams of our lives. 

May we also be open to your voice in our lives

that we may see with new eyes, and hear with new ears,

the direction you will have us to go.

 

Bless, we pray, this gathering of your people

that we may grow and flourish in your love and grace

for the purpose to which you have called us.

 

Hear our prayers for those whose lives have touched us—

those who are in pain, those who are ill, those who grieve. 

May we touch their lives not only through our prayers,

but through our lives and actions as well.

 

Guide us, bless us, uplift us, and hold us,

for we are your children called to our purpose in your world. 

Hear our prayers, those spoken and those hidden in our hearts,

we pray in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen. 

 

~ posted on Life in Liturgy, from the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). https://lifeinliturgy.wordpress.com/

Our Father, Mother, Creator God, who art 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 trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. Lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen.

The Lord’s Supper                                                                      #2257 a-d

(sung) The Lord be with you

And also with you

Lift up your hearts

We lift them up to the Lord

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God

It is right to give our thanks and praise

(spoken) It is right to give our thanks and praise as we recall the mystery of your eternal presence. Through the example of Jesus, your love was made more real to us, and through your Spirit our lives are filled with grace. When we forget, when we doubt, when we turn away, you are there. Even in our imperfection, you call us to embody your presence as Jesus did, that others might know the infinite love that is grace. And so, as disciples of Jesus, we join our voices with others throughout the world in a hymn of praise:

(sung) Holy, holy, holy Lord

God of power and might.

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest,

Hosanna in the highest,

Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest,

Hosanna in the highest,

Hosanna in the highest!

(spoken) In this act of Holy communion, we remember that on the last night Jesus gathered with his friends, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, broken for you.” And afterward he took the cup, blessed it, and gave it to them, saying “This is my love, poured out for you. When you do this, remember me.” 

Now as we share these gifts–the bread which recalls the reality of Christ’s presence, the cup which recalls a life lived fully in God–we offer our own lives to the service of God, and proclaim the mystery of faith:

(sung) Christ has died,

Christ is risen,

Christ will come again.

Hosanna in the highest,

Hosanna in the highest,

Hosanna in the highest!

(spoken) May we know Christ’s presence, God’s love embodied, in these gifts of bread and cup, and may we be blessed and empowered by that Spirit which transcends all our understanding. For all the ways our lives are touched by the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, we offer praise and thanks.

(sung) Amen, Amen, Amen.

Hosanna in the highest,

Hosanna in the highest,

Hosanna in the highest!

*Hymn Thine Be the Glory #308         

Benediction

Postlude Praise the Name of Jesus Mark Hayes, arr.

Staff

Natalie Bowerman Pastor

Betsy Lehmann Music Director

Joe White Custodian

Cassandra Brown Nursery Attendant