Service of Worship Opoho Church Sunday 17 February, 2019 Epiphany 6

Welcome

Call to Worship 

Let us accept God’s blessings today.

Christ’s hands are stretched out to those in need.

Let us dare to hear Christ’s challenge today

Christ stands here with us and looks us in the face. 

Open our hearts and minds to your truth as we gather in worship

We turn to you God, for we long to be your people.

Hymn please stand as the Bible is carried in and for the first hymn

Words  Marty Haugen Tune Gather us in CH4 623

Here in this place new light is streaming,

Now is the darkness vanished away,

see in this space our fears and our dreaming,

brought here to you in the light of this day.

Gather us in – the lost and forsaken,

gather us in – the blind and the lame;

call to us now, and we shall awaken,

we shall arise at the sound of our name.

We are the young – our lives are a mystery,

we are the old who yearn for your face,

we have been sung throughout all of history,

called to be light to the whole human race.

Gather us in – the rich and the haughty,

gather us in – the proud and the strong;

give us a heart so meek and so lowly,

give us the courage to enter the song.

Not in the dark of the buildings confining,

not in some heaven, light years away,

but here in this place the new light is shining,

now is the Kingdom, now is the day.

Gather us in and hold us for ever,

gather us in and make us your own;

gather us in – all peoples together,

fire of love in our flesh and our bone.

Psalm read responsively based on Psalm 1

Happy are those who do not follow

the advice of the wicked

or take the paths that wrong-doers tread,

Happy are those who do not sit

in the seat of those who mock others.

Our delight is in the law of God.

We will be like trees planted by streams of living water

which yield their fruit in its season.

Our leaves will not wither

and in all that we do we will prosper.

Our delight is in the law of God.

The foolish are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

God watches over the righteous

but the way of the wicked will not last.

Our delight is in the law of God.

           © Dorothy McRae McMahon

Prayer of Confession

God, we take a moment to be still – to quieten the business of our lives, to breathe in the peace of this your house as we gather in worship.

Silence

Holy One, we bring our praise, our delight in your faithfulness, your completeness, the abundance of your mercy and your grace in our lives.

We bring our confession to you – deeply aware of how we do not always offer that same grace and mercy to others.

For the times we have dimmed your light through our anger, our judgement, our arrogance, forgive us reconciling God and teach us to better be your love in this world.

For the times we have ignored your teachings, preferring to follow our own rules and the less onerous expectations of this world, forgive us Jesus Christ and help us to expect more of ourselves as your people.

For the times we have failed to respond to your delight in our lives, when we dampen down our creativity, when we dismiss your blessing, when we fail to see the joy of diversity in your body, forgive us and encourage us to be bold and excited in our ministry, each one of us. 

Holy God, in your mercy hear these our prayers and open us to your wisdom and grace we pray.  In Jesus name. Amen

Assurance of Pardon

E te whanau – we are loved as we are, we are as we are loved – the people of God, made known in Jesus Christ, held close by the Spirit. In the bountiful mercy of the three in one God,…we are forgiven, we are set free.  Thanks be to God

The Peace 

Kia tau tonu te rangimarie o te Ariki ki a koutou;

The Peace of Christ be with you all

A ki a koe anō hoki. And also with you

we exchange a sign of peace with each other

Community Time – welcome, notices, anniversaries

Birthday greetings today.
May God bless you we pray.
Live for Jesus dear [name or friends],
May he guide you always.

Chat Time

Youth Hymn  please remain standing at the end for the Offertory Prayer .

WOV 166

Jesus loves me! This I know
for the Bible tells me so.
little ones to him belong;
they are weak, but he is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves me
The Bible tells me so.

Jesus loves me! This I know
as he loved so long ago;
taking children on His knee
saying, "Let them come to me."

Jesus loves me still today
walking with me on my way;
wanting as a friend to give
light and love to all who live.

Offertory Prayer

Gracious God, as we bring our gifts to you, remind us that we do not do this because we have to, nor because it is some subscription for membership, but because we can do no other.  Recognising the abundance of blessing that we receive we bring our abundance to share with others.  Grant that all we offer, our money, the goods for the food bank, our skills and gifts be use to your glory and to bring blessing to those in need.  We pray in Jesus name.  Amen.

Bible Readings  

First Reading Jeremiah 17:5-8

Thus says the Lord: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord.

They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.

They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.

Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church

People: Thanks be to God

Gospel Reading  Luke 6:17-26

He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon.

They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.

And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

"Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

"Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

"Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. "Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

"Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets."

Reader: This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ

People:  Praise to Christ the Word

Sermon followed by time for reflection

We pray: We have heard your word for us in the readings from scripture, O God – bless us with ears open, hearts ready, minds challenged by your message for us today we pray.  In Jesus name.  Amen,

Blessed are those…..blessed are those who trust in the Lord!  They shall be like a tree planted by water….

Blessed are those who are poor, hungry, sad, reviled…for theirs is the kingdom of God

Jeremiah and Jesus – speaking of the blessing of God to God’s people.  Jeremiah to a people in exile, Jesus to a people at the edges of society.

This version of Jesus’ sermon from Luke are a most uncomfortable message for us who are none of the above.  The beatitudes as we heard them today have a particularly sharp edge when we who have wealth, food, laughter and regard hear them.  Unlike Matthew’s version which allows us an out - poor in spirit, hungry for righteousness – Luke keeps it uncompromisingly simple and, before we know it, we seem to end up on the woeful side.  You might say that Luke’s Gospel, with its plain language, gives us way less room to wriggle ourselves into the picture. 

The problematic, uncompromising beatitudes.  What to do with that?  Let us untangle and rethread and see where we get to. 

First of all it helps to look carefully at the wording.  It’s not ‘only the poor’ but the poor – those without will know plenty in the company of God, those reviled will be loved and respected in the kingdom of God.  Rather than excluding all who are rich or replete or happy from the kingdom, this is a call to action for those whose live in comfort .  A call to also live in the generosity and compassion of Christ no matter who we are, to be abundant in our giving, not just of our material goods but of ourselves.

Secondly they are words for the time.  A time when the people of faith had turned their back on justice and mercy and compassion for the marginal.  Material ‘blessings’ of this world had become their new God and the other put aside. With that understanding, it is interesting to contemplate what the beatitudes for today might be.  Pope Francis has some thoughts on that – ones to add – they include

Blessed are those who remain faithful while enduring evils inflicted on them by others and forgive them from their heart.

Blessed are those who look into the eyes of the abandoned and marginalised and show them their closeness.

Blessed are those who see God in every person and strive to make others also discover him.

Blessed are those who protect and care for our common home.

Blessed are those who renounce their own comfort in order to help others.

Blessed are those who pray and work for full communion between Christians.

What might we see as beatitudes for our Christian life, here and now? Maybe something to think about.

Thirdly these words of blessing speak of commitment and promise.  Our life as disciples of Christ is about being committed to walking, sometimes running the way that Jesus takes.  Whether we are rich or poor, we are to love each other as God loves us – and that means getting down and dirty with Jesus whatever that might look like.  Our call to action folks!  Distant, considered benevolence won’t cut it – in the truth of the beatitudes, much more is asked of us. 

Promise – ah the promise.  This is where I believe we are being taken today.  In Luke Jesus teaches not on a mountain top but on the plain – and he speaks plainly to those who have come to hear his teaching.  While much is asked of us, this we do know - we can trust Jesus to not only be with us every step of the way, but also to speak truth to us.  And it is when we are in our poverty, our pain, our weeping and our aloneness, that is when we most need to trust in the blessing of God in our lives.  When we are at our most vulnerable those roots of that trust tree that Jeremiah speaks of hold us in blessing even when we want to cry out with despair.  Blessed are you for you trust in the kingdom of God.  We are held in the promise of a God who never leaves us, who is with us for all time and in whom the pain and the poverty and the helplessness become the promise of healing and wholeness and delight.

A wise mentor once said to me that it is in the life of the parish that you will find your words for preaching – and this week past has most definitely done just that. 

It began last Sunday when we welcomed Franzi to our service – and in part anyway she came with sadness – her beloved grandfather had passed away three days before – back in Germany and she wasn’t there and his funeral was yesterday.  It was tough. She asked if we could we remember him in some way today – and soon we are going to do that.

A conversation after church –  for another of our church family a close friend and then a cousin – both untimely deaths, both hurting deeply.

Laurie  - Thursday night – not well at all in the days leading up but the finality, the pain of deep and abiding love broken for Val and for family, and for us who also loved him.

Friday morning – a number of us at Rev Dr Judith McKinlay’s funeral – inspiring, deeply mourned, tears, laughter, the gift of her life in so many ways.

And, in the midst of all this grief and the pain and heart break, the unequivocal promise of a God who, in Christ, will never let us go, who will heal and hold, who blesses us with life everlasting, and so fills us with delight and rejoicing and hope eternal.  

And so, in this time of mourning for many of us I invite us into a moment to remember.  With Franzi we are going to say a few words and light a candle and a prayer.  And then I am going to invite you all to come and also light a candle for the pain of saying goodbye to those whom we love but also to remind ourselves, to show us the light of Christ that continues to shine in each one of us and never, never goes out.

And when we are finished we will remain seated and sing for ourselves and for each other the song of blessing that Colin Gibson has written – nothing is lost on the breath of God.

A Time to Remember

Hymn

©Colin Gibson FFS 50

Nothing is lost on the breath of God,

nothing is lost for ever,

God’s breath is love and that love will remain,

holding the world for ever.

No feather too light, no hair too fine,

no flower too brief in its glory,

no drop in the ocean, no dust in the air,

but is counted and told in God’s story.

Nothing is lost to the eyes of God,

nothing is lost for ever,

God sees with love and that love will remain,

holding the world for ever.

No journey too far, no distance too great,

no valley of darkness too blinding; 

no creature too humble, no child too small

for God to be seeking and finding

Nothing is lost to the heart of God,

nothing is lost for ever,

God’s heart is love and that love will remain,

holding the world for ever.

No impulse of love, no office of care,

no moment of life in its fullness; 

no beginning too late, no ending too soon,

but is gathered and known in its goodness

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession

Loving Father, compassionate God you have been beside us in this time of worship and so we don’t need to invite you into prayer for you are here.  We do need to give thanks for blessings, for each other, for faith, for compassion shown and received, for tears and laughter, for hunger and for wholeness.

Thank you loving God.

We pray for those who mourn – for Val and Susan and Janice and Gillian and their families, for Franzi here in Dunedin and for her family at home, for those in our congregation who are hurting, for the family and friends of Judith and for all who grieve.

We pray for those who are estranged from you, loving God, especially if it is through our actions or the unkindness and injustice of the church.  May we find ways to reach them in love and humbleness.

We pray for governments around the world – for politicians, for powerbrokers, for agencies and businesses that all might know generosity, compassion and justice.  Help us to speak into that which is wrong and uncaring.

We pray now in silence – for those situations and those people who are on our hearts at this time.

Silence

Loving God, hear our prayers and help us to work toward that which we pray for – in Jesus name who taught us to pray this prayer together

....we say together

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth, as in heaven. 

Give us this day our daily bread. 

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. 

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. 

For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever.  Amen.

Hymn

Words Bernadette Farrell: CH4 543

Longing for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
light for the world to see.
Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.

Longing for peace, our world is troubled.
Longing for hope, many despair.
Your word alone has pow’r to save us.
Make us your living voice.
Christ, be our light!...

Many the gifts, many the people,
many the hearts that yearn to belong.
Let us be servants to one another,
making your kingdom come.

Christ, be our light!....

Commissioning 

Let us go into the world and in to the week certain of the blessing of God in our lives and through our works….Let us go in peace.

We go in the name of Christ.

Benediction

And may the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and always.   Amen

Blessing Song

Words © Shirley Murray Tune: Colin Gibson AA 99

Now as we go, kind Spirit keep us,

in all we see, Christ be our focus,

in all we do, Christ’s story shape us,

that we may grow to God’s good purpose.

Now as we go, sister and brother,

give us good care one of the other,

more hope to share, more strength to gather,

more life to know in faith together