Warsaw International Church Sunday News: June 19, 2016 THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST Tel. 22 513 16 76; +48 601 331 032 (M) Worship every Sunday at ul. Miodowa 21(near Old Town) at 11:00AM Email: [email protected]; Website: http://www.wic.org.pl

31 The demons begged Jesus not to send them into the abyss. 32 There was a large herd of pigs near by, feeding on a hillside. So the demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and so he let them. 33 They went out of the man and into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the side of the cliff into the lake and was drowned. Luke 8:31-33 (GNB). Image copyright © www.thebiblebookworm.blogspot.com

ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICES WIC Picnic. All are invited to our annual Picnic which will take place on this coming Sunday at June's and Wojtek's. The address is ul Podlaska 188, 05-520 Parcela-Obory and the route (Google) and June's notes are below: https://www.google.pl/maps/dir/Warszawa/Podlaska+188,+05-520+ParcelaObory/@52.0797289,21.1315679,13.88z/data=!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x471ecc669a869 f01:0x72f0be2a88ead3fc!2m2!1d21.0122287!2d52.2296756!1m5!1m1!1s0x471929675a5ea 42d:0x7a5df11aaa8f3222!2m2!1d21.160308!2d52.070122 "Directions to our home as if one were driving from Warsaw to Konstancin or further south: Entering Konstancin, you will be on the main road, Warszawska. Go past the Stara Papiernia shopping center which will be on your left to Adama Mickiewicza ( there will be a sklep on the left hand corner with a Coca Cola sign) and turn left. Continue to the end of Mickiewicza and turn right onto Literatow. Follow Literatow past Obory and past a soccer field which will be on your right. The road will bend to the left slightly. As you come out of that curve, turn right onto Baczynskiego and continue until you come to ul. Podlaska (there will be a little chapel on the corner). Go straight on Podlaska until you come to the woods and turn right onto ul. Grzybowska. Take the next right and go to the end and then turn right again and go straight until you come to our house (ul. Podlaska 188) which is a large white house with a wooden (gant) roof. We have an old dog, Cyrus, and a young 9-month-old big puppy, Kira, and they will bark but they are gentle dogs. Be sure to close the gate behind you so the dogs don’t get out." Language Fellowship meetings or gatherings after worship. If you would like to contribute in language and fellowship over a cup of coffee please contact Marilyn Dypczynski.

MEMBERSHIP at WIC. We hereby extend an invitation to membership at WIC. You can be a member at WIC while retaining the membership of your home church. Membership also does not involve any financial obligations, but would help us in God's ministry in Warsaw. Please talk to Young for more details. Helping to make this Sunday a fine one for our worship: Worship Leader: Young Osawaru Music: Katarzyna Kalisz-Kedziorek Readings for June 19 (The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost): Isaiah 65: 1 – 9; Galatians 3: 23 – 29; Psalm 22: 19 – 28 and Luke 8: 26 – 39. Jesus’ mission includes foreigners, and his authority extends to the casting out of demons. Some who witness Jesus’ work are seized with confusion and fear, but the man who was healed is commissioned to give testimony of God’s mercy and power. The Target Prayer group meets on the last Sunday of every month. Our next regular meeting is on Sunday June 26. BIBLE STUDY. The Bible Study group meets on Fridays at the premises of the Polish Ecumenical Council (Willowa 1) at 7:00 PM. Please contact Young (601 331 032) for more information. https://www.google.pl/maps/place/Willowa+1,+Warszawa/@52.2074313,21.0229112,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x471ecd20ab90 1ae7:0xb633149b266bcfbd

OUTREACH CORNER WIC reaches out to a number of Children’s Homes in Poland aiding in English teaching, financially and in fellowship. We also collect clothes to donate to families in difficult financial situations and to different social services in the region for further distribution. If you would like donate clothes, household equipment or contribute your time in helping please contact Young Osawaru. Last week’s scripture readings: 2 Samuel 11: 26 – 12: 10, 13-15; Galatians 2: 15 – 21; Psalm 32 and Luke 7: 36 – 8: 3 [below]. JESUS AT THE HOME OF SIMON THE PHARISEE 36 A Pharisee invited Jesus to have dinner with him, and Jesus went to his house and sat down to eat. 37 In that town was a woman who lived a sinful life. She heard that Jesus was eating in the Pharisee’s house, so she bought an alabaster jar full of perfume 38 and stood behind Jesus, by his feet, crying and wetting his feet with tears. Then she dried his feet with her hair, kissed them, and poured the perfume on them. 39 When the Pharisee saw this, he said to himself, “If this man really were a prophet, he would know who this woman is who is touching him; he would know what kind of sinful life she lives!” 40 Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Yes, Teacher,” he said, “tell me.” 41 “There were two men who owed money to a moneylender,” Jesus began. “One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other owed him fifty. 42 Neither of them could pay him back, so he cancelled the debts of both. Which one, then, will love him more?” 43 “I suppose,” answered Simon, “that it would be the one who was forgiven more.” “You’re right,” said Jesus. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came to your house, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You did not welcome me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing my feet since I came. 46 You provided no olive oil for my head, but she has covered my feet with perfume. 47 I tell you, then,

the great love she has shown proves that her many sins have been forgiven. But whoever has been forgiven little shows only a little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 The others sitting at the table began to say to themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 But Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” WOMEN WHO ACCOMPANIED JESUS 8 1 Some time later Jesus travelled through towns and villages, preaching the Good News about the Kingdom of God. The twelve disciples went with him, 2 and so did some women who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (who was called Magdalene), from whom seven demons had been driven out; 3 Joanna, whose husband Chuza was an officer of Herod’s court; and Susanna, and many other women who used their own resources to help Jesus and his disciples.

NOTES FROM LAST WEEK’S SERMON TITLED "I HAVE SINNED" BY YOUNG OSAWARU. Please join me in prayer. May the words of my mouth and the fellowship of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight O Lord. Amen. 39

When the Pharisee saw this, he said to himself, “If this man really were a prophet, he would

know who this woman is who is touching him; he would know what kind of sinful life she lives!” Simon the Pharisee had invited Jesus to dinner most probably to find out of new teacher that had come to town. He wanted to see for himself and to put this new teacher into the category, to which he belonged. People were following him around calling him a prophet so maybe he wanted to know what sort of prophet he was. Though Luke did not point this at the beginning, it seems the Pharisee was seated when Jesus came. He didn’t receive Jesus at the door neither did he offer to Jesus any drink. It would also seem that they had not begun discussing when a woman, we can call an intruder, came into the Pharisee’s house. She could have been driven away by the host, but what a good opportunity this would be to discredit this teacher. He couldn’t be religious if he associated with such women. But then, the lady cried, washed Jesus’ feet with her hair and rubbed it with perfume. But what did this matter whether she was crying? She was a sinner. The Pharisee saw the sin, but did not see the woman. He also saw Jesus at fault for not trying to stop her. He saw the Law and did not notice the Son of God. Jesus knew what Simon was thinking in his heart and then counted out his faults from the time he came in. He was not welcomed at the door with a kiss, he didn’t get any water to clean the dust off his feet, he was not offered any oil for his head. The woman on the other hand washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and cleaned them with her hair, she kissed his feet and covered them with perfume.

What could it be that made Simon, and also most probably people in the town think she lived a sinful life? She couldn't have been a tax collector nor a soldier of the Roman occupants, so we may have been declared sinner on moral grounds. She had had some money with her because we read that she bought the expensive perfume when she heard that Jesus was in the house of the Pharisee. And did she come only with the jar of expensive perfume to Jesus? If so, she could have presented it to Jesus as a gift and left. But she had come voluntarily with her own self. With her worries, her sadness and her sins. Apart from her way of life, people like Simon the Pharisee had taken all the joy from her. She knew the One who could take away this load from her so the perfume was just a symbol of something to counter the weight in her life. She could not say the words "I have sinned," but would like to express it in some other way. Of the sons of Jesse, David had been the least expected to be chosen as king of Israel. But God had chosen him, protected him, equipped him with a strong army to consolidate Israel and Judah to one nation. After centuries of war with neighbors, there was relative peace in Israel. But then he made a dirty scheme to have one of his most loyal soldiers, Urriah killed in battle because he had wanted to take his wife. He had succeeded in doing this and thought things would go on just as usual. God loved David, but he would not allow him to dwell in sin. So He sent Nathan to confront him with what he had done. By the parable of the rich man and the poor man Nathan exposed David's sin to him. "I have sinned against the Lord," David had replied. But actually he had also sinned also against Urriah, Bathsheba and all who saw him as a man of God. Today it is becoming more difficult to hear someone say "I have sinned." We go to great lengths to find all types of explanations, reasons, laws, rights just to justify an evident wrong. Maybe it isn't wrong, because it has not been specified anywhere that it is wrong. The best lawyers are hired to prove an innocence that is neither felt nor seen. Or, just as David, we pretend that it was not noticed and things would go on as usual. But Nathan calls this "showing contempt of the Lord" who sees everything. There is relief, forgiveness and purity in admitting a wrong that has been done. Confession opens the way for forgiveness. In both cases of David and the woman in Nain, the confession of sin was a result of love and courage, not of fear. David loved God. It is evident in Psalms which he wrote, his songs of praise, his dance at religious festivals, but he fell, admitted it and received forgiveness. The opposite happened in the cases of John the Baptist who had confronted Herod and Herodias, and also when Elijah confronted Ahab and Jezebel. These kings had responded to the words of prophets with fear. God does not call us to fear, but to freedom. The woman had taken advantage of this freedom to come to Jesus. Jesus himself had said of her, "the great love she has shown proves that her many sins have been forgiven." She may have been a sinner in the eyes of the whole town, but deep inside she had

love. Just as in the case of David whose contempt for Urriah led to contempt for God, Simon the Pharisee's contempt for the lady led to contempt for Christ himself who was his guest. And as I mentioned earlier, Jesus Christ had listed some simple things which seemed to have escaped his attention - a welcome kiss at the door, water and olive oil. He did not value these little things because most probably the sinful woman was not worthy to have such a welcome at his house. In our gospel lesson, our Lord reminds us that these are important things in welcoming anyone. He takes notice, because when they are missing, it is a sign of contempt, not for the person, but for the Lord himself. Our Lord had to draw the attention of Simon the Pharisee, the teacher of the Law to the woman - "Do you see this woman?" he had asked. Nathan also had to remind David of the blessings he had received from God. The two parables - of the rich man and of the man who owed five hundred silver coins, are of those who have received much. But one would take the only property of another person who had received less, and the second would be hesitant to show appreciation or love the moneylender. By faith, we too have received much from God. Paul reminds us of this in his letter to the Galatians. "I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me." He doesn't call for anything, but to also show much love as those who have received much. He does not want us to be in search of sinners, for in doing so we neglect our relationship with God. Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans that "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Rather, he wants us to see the man, or the woman and that through faith in Christ we are redeemed by God's grace. To pray for those who have not met our Lord who is able to forgive sin. In our prayer, it could be that forgiveness will be possible. Fortunately, as we read in the gospel lesson, this grace of God is also available to men and women in sin who turn to Christ. Luke further went on to mention Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna who were saved by Christ and later became strong supporters of his ministry. The Old Testament and Gospel lesson teach us of our God with immense grace. With Nathan's evidence David would have been prosecuted in today's world. In confession, he would have lost his office, but Nathan had told him "The Lord forgives you, you will not die." There are many of such stories in the Bible, where God showed his grace. Jesus had also forgiven the woman in Nain, but if we take a closer look at the text, her forgiveness started before she met Jesus. Most probably this happened at the moment she decided to meet him. "The great love she has shown proves that her many sins have been forgiven." Jesus said these words to the Pharisee, before he pronounced forgiveness to the woman. Maybe forgiveness has also begun in someone who still seems to be in sin. No one can tell, only Christ or God. Jesus Christ draws our attention to the person, not to his or her sin, and to pray for him or her. And also in love for the person

that is in us, we should be able to say "I have sinned" before our God anytime we stumble and fall. In Christ forgiveness is assured. The person in us suffers, when, unlike David and the woman in Nain, we fail to acknowledge or find excuses for what we have done wrong. "Why do you call me good?" Jesus had once asked the rich man that came to ask how to receive eternal life. "No one is good except God alone," he had continued. Our God is love, he is faithfulness, he is mercy, he is grace. He is everything good. Let us always keep this in mind and come to him in prayer for all who are still to meet him, and also the courage to confess anytime we stumble and fall. Amen.

Christian Calendar [Courtesy of Sundays and Seasons (Augsburg Fortress)] Tuesday, June 21 Onesimos Nesib, translator, evangelist (1855 – 1931) Onesimos was born into the Oromo people in Ethiopia. He was captured by slave traders and taken from his homeland to Eritrea, where he was bought, freed and educated by Swedish missionaries. He translated the Bible into Oromo and returned to his homeland to preach the gospel. His tombstone includes a verse from Jeremiah 22:29, “O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord!” Friday, June 24 John the Baptist The birth of John the Baptist is celebrated exactly six months before Christmas Eve. For Christians in the Northern Hemisphere, These two dates are deeply symbolic. John said that he must decrease as Jesus increased. According to tradition, John was born as the days are longest and then steadily decrease, while Jesus was born as the days are shortest and steadily increase. In many countries this day is celebrated with customs associated with the summer solstice. Saturday, June 25 Presentation of the Augsburg Confession, 1530 On this day in 1530 the German and Latin editions of the Augsburg Confession were presented to Emperor Charles of the Holy Roman Empire. The Augsburg Confession was written by Philipp Melanchthon and endorsed by Martin Luther and consists of a brief summary of points in which the reformers saw their teaching as either agreeing with or differing from that of the Roman Catholic Church of the time. In 1580 when the Book of Concord was drawn up, an unaltered Augsburg Confession was included as the principal Lutheran Confession. Saturday, June 25 Philipp Melanchthon, renewer of the church (1497 – 1560) Though he died on April 19, Philipp Melanchthon is commemorated today because of his connection with the Augsburg Confession. Colleague and co-reformer with Martin Luther, Melanchthon was a brilliant scholar, known as “the teacher of Germany.” The University of Wittenberg hired him as its first professor of Greek, and there he became a friend of Luther. Melanchthon was a popular professor – even his classes at six in the morning had as many as six hundred students. As a reformer he was known for his conciliatory spirit and for finding areas of agreement with fellow Christians. He was never ordained.