COVENANT CHURCH ● 781-646-9027 ● 9 WESTMINSTER AVENUE, ARLINGTON, MA 02474 ● WWW.COVMIN.ORG Sunday, September 27, 2020 Order of Service Call to Worship Singing 1. We Praise You (see pp. 1-2 for lyrics) 2. Most Beautiful (see pp. 2-3 for lyrics) 3. One Thirst And Hunger (see p. 3 for lyrics) 4. All Honour (see pp. 3-4 for lyrics) Sermon: “Is Not This to Know Me?”: Jer 22:1-5, 16 (see pp. 4-6) Ordination of Joanna Levy as Elder Communion (see p. 7 for creeds) Final Song: It Is Well (see p. 8 for lyrics) Corporate Prayer (everyone on Zoom) Announcements and Benediction (everyone on Zoom) Song Lyrics Song #1: We Praise You CCLI Song # 7130961 Brandon Lake | Brian Johnson | Matt Redman | Phil Wickham © 2019 Integrity Worship Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing (Integrity Music, David C Cook)) | Said And Done Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing (Integrity Music, David C Cook)) | Phil Wickham Music (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC]) | Simply Global Songs (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC]) | Sing My Songs (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC]) | Maverick City Publishing Worldwide (Admin. by Heritage Worship Publishing) | Bethel Music Publishing All rights reserved. www.ccli.com | CCLI License # 405367 Let praise be a weapon that silences the enemy Let praise be a weapon that conquers all anxiety Let it rise let praise arise -1- We sing Your name in the dark And it changes ev’rything We sing with all we are and we claim Your victory Let it rise let praise arise Chorus We’ll see you break down ev'ry wall We’ll watch the giants fall For fear cannot survive when we praise You The God of breakthrough's on our side Forever lift (Him) (You) high With all creation cry God we praise You Interlude Oh we praise You oh Let faith be the song That overcomes the raging sea Let faith be the song That calms the storm inside of me Let it rise let faith arise Interlude Oh we praise You oh we praise You Oh we praise You oh we praise You Bridge This is what living looks like This is what freedom feels like This is what Heaven sounds like We praise You We praise You (REPEAT) Song #2: Most Beautiful CCLI Song # 7142629 Chandler Moore | Dante Bowe | Omari Walthour © Bethel Worship Publishing (Admin. by Bethel Music Publishing) | Maverick City Publishing (Admin. by Heritage Worship Music Publishing) (Admin. by Heritage Worship Publishing) | Songs By MoWorks (Admin. by Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc.) All rights reserved. www.ccli.com | CCLI License # 405367 One thing I desire Only this I seek Just to dwell dwell dwell Here forever This will be my posture Laying at Your feet Oh just to dwell dwell dwell Here forever -2- Chorus Dearest Father Closest Friend Most beautiful Most beautiful Bridge There are no words There’s nothing left Our love sings to You Oh Song #3: One Thirst And Hunger CCLI Song # 5923373 Jeremy Riddle © 2011 Mercy / Vineyard Publishing (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing (Integrity Music, David C Cook)) All rights reserved. www.ccli.com | CCLI License # 405367 You say to us seek My face Our hearts reply Your face we seek Come teach us Lord reveal Your ways Anoint us for the greater things Chorus We have gather’d with one thirst and hunger We're here to lift up glory and wonder Here to cry out come and fill this place (Come and fill this place) One single wish one sole desire To gaze upon Your beauty God Bridge We wait for You to come and show Your glory here today We wait for You to come and show Your glory here today We wait for You we wait for You My soul waits for You I wait for You (And) hallelujah come yes hallelujah come Oh hallelujah come hallelujah come (REPEAT) Song #4: All Honour CCLI Song # 420359 Chris Falson © 1990 Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publishing (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.) All rights reserved. www.ccli.com | CCLI License # 405367 -3- Chorus All honour all glory All power to You All honour all glory All power to You Verse Holy Father we worship You Precious Jesus our Saviour Holy Spirit we wait on You Holy Spirit we wait on You Holy Spirit we wait on You For fire for fire Sermon Handout “Is Not This to Know Me?”: Jer 22:1-5, 16 Covenant Church Sunday, September 27, 2020 Zack Phillips, Pastor Jer 22:1-5, 16 (NRSV) 1 Thus says the LORD: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, 2 and say: Hear the word of the LORD, O King of Judah sitting on the throne of David—you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3 Thus says the LORD: Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed obey this word, then through the gates of this house shall enter kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their servants, and their people. 5 But if you will not heed these words, I swear by myself, says the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation. 16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? says the LORD. Introduction 1. Contours of this chapter 2. Verse 16: “He judged the cause of the poor and needy; / then it was well. / Is not this to know me? / says the LORD.” 1 a. “The final line of v. 16 is one of the most remarkable in Scripture.” —Walter Brueggemann 1 Walter Brueggemann, A Commentary on Jeremiah: Exile and Homecoming (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), 200. -4- b. Similar claims in Scripture i. Jas 1:27 Jas 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. ii. Mic 6:8 Mic 6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? 3. Question for today: Why is judging “the cause of the poor and needy” “to know God”? “Because I sincerely loved his poor, he taught me to know him.” —Dorothy Day2 I. New Eyes for Ourselves 1. James 2:1-7 1 My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? 7 Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? 2. “Lord, that I may know myself, in order to know Thee.” —Augustine (as paraphrased by Dorothy Day)3 II. New Eyes for Others 1. What is our default view of “the poor and needy”? From my earliest remembrance the destitute were always looked upon as the shiftless, the worthless, those without talent of any kind, let alone the ability to make a living for themselves. They were that way because of their own fault. They chose their lot. They drank. They were the prodigal sons who were eating the swines’ husks only because they had squandered their inheritance. —Dorothy Day4 2. What did Dorothy Day see when she saw “the poor and needy”? a. Her own privilege 2 Dorothy Day, The Reckless Way of Love: Notes on Following Jesus (Walden, NY: Plough Publishing, 2017): 39. 3 Dorothy Day, The Long Loneliness: The Autobiography of the Legendary Catholic Social Activist (New York: HarperOne, 2009): 15. 4 Day, The Long Loneliness, 51 -5- Every one of us who was attracted to the poor had a sense of guilt, of responsibility, a feeling that in some way we were living on the labor of others. The fact that we were born in a certain environment, were enabled to go to school, were endowed with the ability to compete with others and hold our own, that we had few physical disabilities—all these things marked us as the privileged in a way. We felt a respect for the poor and destitute as those nearest to God, as those chosen by Christ for His compassion. —Dorothy Day5 b. Her own sin—and the power of God to overcome it6 c. People “could endure so much and yet have courage to go on”—and who thus “lifted her heart” “to hope and love and admiration”7 3.