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Gathering

 

What welcome shall we offer

that opens grace and justice between us

 

What creativity shall we set free

that give new life to us all

 

What relationships shall we invite

that offer love to all our neighbours 

 

What space shall we open

for every generation of our family

 

What compassion shall we give

for each person wellbeing and growth

 

What stories shall we tell

that communicates and shapes love's message

 

What kind of church are we building

here and wherever we are?

 

Come and see

Come and See

 

The story of Prodigal

 

And so the son ran

With money in his pockets

And the world at his fingertips

Having left his father

Ruined

 

Not because of the money

There was always plenty of that

 

Ruined 

Because he let is son off with what he did It was a declaration his father was dead

And the community heard

And knew

And responded

To the disgrace of it all

 

And so the son ran

From the fathers ruin

 

And buried himself in destitution

Frivolesness

And his own ruin

 

Now he no longer ran

 

He wormed his way back home

And it was the father who now ran

Towards him

Arms outstretched

 

O the shame of it all

The elder running to the younger

Never ought that happen

And the community heard

And knew

And responded

To the disgrace of it all

 

But the father cared not

The son was returned

And everything was forgiven

He could live with the gossip of the tiny minded

And incestuous villagers

Love had won

And love had brought his son back home

 

And there

Right there

Is the kingdom

 

Come and See

 

The Samaritan Story

 

The man lay there

Passed by by those who knew the law

Knew the rules of purification

 

To help the beaten up man

Would mean starting the ritual all over again

They would become unclean

Unfit to worship the Almighty

And so they passed by on the other side

Spared the shame of being made unclean

 

Until the sassenach came along

The Samaritan heretic

The Pictish heathen

Who found the man

And bound the man

And carried the man

And left the man

Without debt to the innkeeper

 

And the bound up man

Worried that it was his enemy

who saved him

The one he would voice prejudice towards

Laugh at

The one he put to the back of the queue

 

But his enemy had saved him

Brought him to the front of the queue

O the shame of it all

His words

His ideas

His religion

That bound up the Samaritan by some tiny mind

Yet it was the samaritan who was truly free

 

And there

Right there

Is the kingdom

 

Come and See

Come & See

                            John 1:29-42

        

Choral Reading

 

Leader: And so they asked:

 

All: Where shall we find him?

 

L: You'll find him with the tax-collectors and pharisees

in the sinners he eats with

And the open table he offers all who are hungry for acceptance.

You'll find him in the welcome he gives those the world ignores

 

And they asked:

 

A: Where shall we find him?

L: You'll find him with the least and the lost

those who have been bound up and oppressed by prejudice 

You'll find him giving life back in creative possibility

by opening up the traditions and welcoming in new life

 

And they asked:

 

A: Where shall we find him?

 

L: You'll find him with Samaritans and Gentiles,

making neighbours with our enemies,

you'll find him opening relationships

with those we fear, misunderstand or ignore.

 

And they asked:

 

A: Where shall we find him?

 

L: You'll find him among the children he likes to see and to hear

who are more kingdom-like

more a fit for heaven

than any of us who have grown up 

and forgotten faith is a question

 

And they asked:

 

A: Where shall we find him?

 

L: You'll find him among those with mental ill health

once so hurtfully called ‘demon possessed’

you'll find him caring for their wellbeing

in bringing each back into community

and welcoming them home

 

And they asked:

 

A: Where shall we find him?

 

L: You'll find him in the stories we tell and are

in the words that become life

you'll find him, the light that shines for all,

in the deepest shadows of the world

 

And they asked:

 

L: Where shall we find him?

 

B: Come and see

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