September 27, 2020 Service Handout

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

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.”

a. “The final line of v. 16 is one of the most remarkable in Scripture.” —Walter Brueggemann1

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. No one is an “object of ministry”—only a brother/sister and potential friend

Matt 23:8 (ESV) But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.

1 Cor 12:26 If one member [of the Body of Christ] suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

4. Seeing Christ in another

But it was seeing Christ in others, loving the Christ you saw in others. Greater than this, it was having faith in the Christ in others without being able to see Him. Blessed is he that believes without seeing. — Dorothy Day8

…we must and will find Christ in each and every man, when we look on them as brothers. —Dorothy Day9

III. New Eyes for God

1. “The Kingdom of God has come near”

2. Begin working even now to bring this Kingdom

“All the way to heaven is heaven,” because He had said, “I am the way.” —Catherine of Sienna (as paraphrased by Dorothy Day)10

“Grace is participation in the life of God.” —Dorothy Day11

3. Do this because/as we are conformed to Christ’s image

Rom 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.

5 Day, The Long Loneliness, 264. 6 Day, The Long Loneliness, 62-64. 7 Day, The Long Loneliness, 273-75. 8 Day, The Long Loneliness, 222. 9 Day, The Long Loneliness, 278. 10 321. 11 Day, The Reckless Way of Love, 35. -6- Creeds for Communion

Jesus, Forgive My Sins

Jesus, forgive my sins. Forgive the sins that I remember, and the sins I have forgotten. Forgive my many failures in the face of temptation, and those times when I have been stubborn in the face of correction. Forgive the times I have been proud of my own achievements and those when I have failed to boast in Your works. Forgive the harsh judgments I have made of others, And the leniency I have shown myself. Forgive the lies I have told to others, and the truths I have avoided. Forgive me the pain I have caused others and the indulgence I have shown myself. Jesus, have mercy on me and make me whole. Amen.

The Apostles Creed

We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; I believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

-7- Final Song

It Is Well

Grander earth has quaked before Moved by the sound of His voice Seas that are shaken and stirred Can be calmed and broken for my regard

Chorus Through it all through it all My eyes are on You Through it all through it all It is well Through it all through it all My eyes are on You And it is well with me

Far be it from me to not believe Even when my eyes can't see And this mountain that's in front of me Will be thrown into the midst of the sea

Bridge So let go my soul and trust in Him The waves and wind still know His name

It is well with my soul It is well with my soul It is well with my soul It is well it is well with my soul

-8-