Koonung Heights Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Easter 3 – 14 April 2024 – 10am or whenever possible
You may like to light a candle during your time of worship.
Feel free to text the Peace to other members of the congregation.
Introit: “Holy, Holy” – (TiS 723)
Holy, holy, holy. My heart, my heart adores you!
My heart knows how to say to you: Holy are you, Lord.
Candle Lighting:
As we come to worship this day,
we light this candle as a symbol of the light of Christ,
which cannot be held back by distance,
and which shines in each one of us,
no matter where we are.
Acknowledgement of Country:
In gathering together, I wish to acknowledge
the Wurundjeri WoiWurrung People of the Kulin nation,
the sovereign First Peoples of the land where we meet.
I pay my respects to their Elders, past and present,
and to all future leaders and generations.
As First and Second Peoples walking together,
may we all commit ourselves to the work of
justice, truth and reconciliation in this land.
Call to Worship:
So, you want to see the risen Jesus?
Then remember to look in the less likely places:
not in the Temple,
but by the lakeside;
not in full view,
but hidden in plain sight;
not dining with the rich,
but preparing food to share;
not in the places of power,
but always on the margins.
Now, come and see! Come and worship!
Opening Prayer:
Lord of Light and Mercy,
be with us this day
as we again hear the stories of faith and sight.
Help us to believe in your abiding presence with us,
both in our darkness and in the light which you bring.
Give us the courage and strength to witness to your resurrection.
In Jesus name we pray –
Amen.
We Sing: “Morning has broken” – (TiS 156)
Morning has broken like the first morning;
blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning,
praise for them, springing fresh from the world.
Sweet the rain’s new fall sunlit from heaven,
like the first dewfall on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
sprung from completeness where his feet pass.
Mine is the sunlight; mine is the morning
born of the one light Eden saw play.
Praise with elation, praise every morning,
God’s recreation of the new day.
Prayer of Adoration and Confession:
Holy One,
we gather before you this day,
we come to meet you in this time of worship,
we come to meet you in the risen Jesus,
we come to wonder at the resurrection.
We know of the cycle of life and death,
we trust in the truth of life eternal
because of the resurrection of Jesus,
because we have met
or hope to meet
the risen Christ ourselves.
We do not claim to understand resurrection
but we trust in you, O God
and in your son, Jesus.
Our human minds are prone to doubt,
forgive us Lord God, for those times
we allow ourselves to give into those thoughts.
We fear the cost to ourselves
for faith and service,
forgive us when we fail to choose
the right path.
Strengthen our resolve to believe,
to chase away all fear
and give us courage to take up our cross
and follow where Jesus leads.
In the name of the risen one we pray.
Amen.
Words of Assurance:
Friends, do not be afraid!
The Light of God has vanquished the darkness!
Christ is risen! Doubts are erased.
Rejoice! for God’s love is poured upon you, now and forever.
Amen.
The Peace:
From Luke 24:36b we hear these words:
While they were talking about this,
Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”
May the Peace of the Risen Christ dwell with you
and also with you.
A Time for All:
I don’t know about you, but I love a good story. My mum was a great reader of stories and I was introduced to them at a young age. She would read to me and when I was older, she encouraged me to read myself with regular visits to the local library and purchases from the Scholastic Book Club. She carried on this tradition with her grand-children, one of them telling his teacher that ‘Grandma is the best at telling stories!’ I’m sure that we all have memories of our favourite stories: Little Racoon and the Thing in the Pool was, and still is, one of mine.
More than just being fun though, stories are important to our culture. They hold the memory of what is important to us and are used to teach us things. They give words of caution (don’t go with strangers, look after one another, face your fears) and give hope for a way forward and happy endings. I think this is part of the reason that stories are told again and again and we don’t get tired of sharing them or hearing them.
Today our gospel reading is part of the resurrection story that was recorded after being told by the early church. There are resurrection stories in all four gospels, and the reality is that there was something about the resurrection which meant that it was important for the early church to tell, and in telling the story, the early church was helped to explore their experience of resurrection.
Resurrection is, after all, an experience. It is a way of engaging and understanding the world. It is a way of living, trust that new life comes out of old, that hope comes out of despair and light comes from darkness. I wonder what resurrection stories we are able to share? I wonder what resurrection stories we might be telling in this community twenty years from now? What stories that we share are going to become part of the important memories and meaning making of this community?
Whatever stories we tell, may we never stop sharing the story of Jesus, the God-one who came to live as one of us.
Let us pray
Loving God,
We thank you that we all have stories to tell,
and we thank you for the stories we hear that enrich our lives.
Particularly we thank you that Jesus came to share with us
the story of your love.
May we ever stop sharing Jesus’ story.
Amen.
We Sing: “We have a gospel to proclaim” – (TiS 245)
We have a gospel to proclaim, good news for all throughout the earth;
the gospel of a Saviour’s name: we sing his glory, tell his worth.
Tell of his birth at Bethlehem not in a royal house or hall
but in a stable dark and dim, the Word made flesh, a light for all.
Tell of his death at Calvary, hated by those he came to save,
in lonely suffering on the cross, for all he loved his life he gave.
Tell of that glorious Easter morn; empty the tomb, for he was free:
he broke the power of death that we might all share in this victory.
Tell of his reign at God’s right hand, by all creation glorified.
God sends the Spirit on the church to live for him, Jesus, who died.
Now we rejoice to name him King: Jesus is Lord of all the earth.
This gospel-message we proclaim: we sing his glory, tell his worth.
Bible Reading: Luke 24:36-48
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
36 While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see, for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
41 Yet for all their joy they were still disbelieving and wondering, and he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate in their presence.
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.
Bible Reading: Acts 3:1-16
– Peter Heals a Crippled Beggar
1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple.
3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. 4 Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 All the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and astonishment at what had happened to him.
Peter Speaks in Solomon’s Portico
11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s Portico, utterly astonished. 12 When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, “Fellow Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14 But you rejected the holy and righteous one and asked to have a murderer given to you, 15 and you killed the author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.
Reflection:
The rising of the sun had made everything look so different – all colours and shadows were changed so that for a moment they didn’t see the important thing. Then they did. The Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end; and there was no Aslan.
“Oh, oh, oh!” cried the two girls, rushing back to the Table.
“Oh, it’s too bad,” sobbed Lucy; “they might have left the body alone.”
“Who’s done it?” cried Susan. “What does it mean? Is it magic?”
“Yes!” said a great voice behind their backs.
“It is more magic.” They looked round.
There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.
“Oh, Aslan!” cried both the children, staring up at him, almost as much frightened as they
were glad.
“Aren’t you dead then, dear Aslan?” said Lucy.
“Not now,” said Aslan.
“You’re not – not a – ?” asked Susan in a shaky voice. She couldn’t bring herself to say the word ghost. Aslan stooped his golden head and licked her forehead. The warmth of his breath and a rich sort of smell that seemed to hang about his hair came all over her.
“Do I look it?” he said.
“Oh, you’re real, you’re real! Oh, Aslan!” cried Lucy, and both girls flung themselves upon him and covered him with kisses.
This extract comes from the book, ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’, written by CS Lewis, and it is a story of resurrection. Here we are witness to the moment when Susan and Lucy discover that Aslan is no longer dead. With this discovery comes some fear, but after the girls are reassured that Aslan is really alive, they are filled with joy. Both the passages we have heard today include stories of resurrection. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus appears to the disciples, comforting them and giving them tangible evidence that he is alive. He then goes on to explain to them the purpose for his death and resurrection, helping them understand the expansive liberation that is offered to all the nations. In Luke’s second volume, the Acts of the Apostles, we witness another type of resurrection through the healing of the crippled man, who is liberated and released to praise God. Both of these encounters end with a call to witness … a call to recognise and share what has been seen, even if it’s not fully understood. Let’s spend some time unpacking what might be happening here.
Jesus comes to his disciples, after being raised from the dead, and firstly offers them his peace. When Jesus appears to the disciples he interrupts what is happening. They are together and the talk is no doubt about him and how they are to ‘be’ now. He arrives and interprets this.
Jesus shows that he is not just a vision or a ghost, that he is alive and that the resurrection is real and tangible – Jesus does this by inviting them to touch the scars that he bears. He also eats with them and opens the scriptures to them.
When we read stories like this we often focus on the reactions of the disciples, but I am drawn to the actions of Jesus in this encounter. He shows them his scars, his woundedness, and comforts the disciples through his brokenness. Jesus, the God-one made flesh, the one who was betrayed, beaten, crucified and buried, in an act of human agency by those who didn’t like what he said, rises again and chooses to show his scars. This is intimate, real and Jesus’ offering. In our world, we are often tempted to only show the parts of ourselves that are the best, hiding away those bits that are wounded. We wear a mask and pretend everything is okay. We think we can only present the best parts of ourselves, even in church, believing that as followers of Jesus we should have it all together. It’s why we think we need to put on our Sunday best!
Yet, in showing the disciples his scars and brokenness, Jesus shares more of whom he is. I wonder if, rather than covering up our brokenness, we might be able to use it to show others more about who Jesus is. I wonder if the light and love of Jesus, who knows hurt and suffering, can shine into the spaces in people’s lives where they need that touch. I’m not saying that we should share our wounds with everyone at all times, but I do wonder whether erasing the blemishes doesn’t really give a true picture of Jesus. People need authenticity and to be authentic, we need to be our whole self.
Jesus then asks if someone has something to eat. The One who is the bread of life asks to be fed, showing that nurturing the body we have matters. Jesus’ time on earth, his death and resurrection, is not just about helping us escape this world. No … this world matters, creation matters, this life of ours matters. There is hope in resurrection, and when we live with Jesus’ presence we are experiencing that eternal life now.
Jesus also explains to the disciples that everything that happened was about forgiveness and redemption for all nations. This is about expansive deliverance and liberation for everyone. It’s not for just a chosen few … and it is what the disciples are called to witness to. We are called to talk about death in the light of this hope which is for all. We are called to witness to the good news of the resurrection and to proclaim to a confused world the simple, clear message of the gospel – that Jesus’ death is about repentance, freedom and liberation.
We might wonder how we can do that, and the passage from Acts gives us a perfect example of how we might. Here we see Peter and John encounter a man who is sharing his brokenness. Peter and John bear witness to the resurrection hope of Jesus and brings healing in his name.
The crowd who witness this are surprised but Peter reminds them that they should not be surprised because liberation is part of the reality of the power of Jesus. This would sit well with the Greco-Roman idea that there is power in a name, but Luke reinterprets that saying that it is not just the name that matters … but having faith in the name of Jesus Christ. God made sense of Jesus death, with the resurrection hope of refreshing and universal salvation, which is part of God’s intention to draw all things back to God-self.
Peter speaks to the crowd and invites them to live into this reality and liberation. This is the news that Peter is called to witness to, and when he does he invites others to continue that witness.
We weren’t with the disciples when Jesus rose and were not blessed to be ‘witnesses to these things’ in the same way. We haven’t seen the risen Jesus, touched him or heard his voice open the scriptures, in the same way the first disciples did. Yet just as Jesus opened their minds, they opened the minds and hearts of others. We are blessed to read the scriptures, filled with inspired words of witness to Jesus. We are probably all here today because of the witness of another, and so we are invited again to go and bear witness to all that we know of the loving, liberating, reality of Jesus. Thanks be to God for this privilege.
Amen.
We Sing: “O for a thousand tongues to sing” – (TiS 210)
Oh for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise,
the glories of our God and King, the triumphs of his grace!
Jesus! the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows ease;
such music in the sinner’s ears is life, and health and peace.
He speaks, and listen to his voice
new life the dead receive,
the mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
the humble poor believe.
My gracious Master and my God,
assist me to proclaim,
to spread through all the earth abroad
the honours of your name.
Prayer for Others (prepared by Paul Tonson)
(Please reflect in silence with each prayer point and then respond together as in bold type.)
To be Christian means to be present in the world for others and to be with them in body or in spirit. Let us go in our minds to be with those bother near and far who are ‘others’ to us today.
– people of our congregation who are able to be with us. Let us name them silently or loudly.
Together we pray … may they sense the presence of the Spirit right where they are.
– aboriginal young people in Alice Springs and elsewhre, and their anxious family member.
Together we pray … may they find empowerment and hope drawing on many resources available to them.
– Palestinians and Jews who have become pawns in games of political power.
Together we pray … may the voices of moderation and peaceful co-existence by clearly heard.
To be Christian is to possess enduring hope that, even when things will never be the same again, new life will emerge from ashes. Let us bring to mind
– those who are grieving for loved ones or friends who have died, some from road accidents, some from floor or fire, some murdered …
Together we pray … may they find transforming hope through the love of those surrounding them.
– those who have lost their homes or livelihoods through no fault of their own.
Together we pray … may they have courage to start over and find greater security and deeper meaning in life that does not depend on material wealth.
– those who struggle with unresolved bitterness and hurt.
Together we pray … may they draw on their God given capacity to forgive others and to forgive themselves.
For followers of Jesus, prayer has more to do with wearing out the soles of our shoes than the knees of our trousers:
God grant us the integrity to make our living in this fragile world this week consistent with the faith we have professed in worship today.
So be it.
We Sing: “Yours be the glory” – (TiS 380)
Yours be the glory, risen, conquering Son,
endless is the victory over death you’ve won;
angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
kept the folded grave-clothes, where your body lay.
Yours be the glory, risen, conquering Son,
endless is the victory over death you’ve won.
See, Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
let the church with gladness hymns of triumph sing,
for the Lord is living, death has lost its sting.
Yours be the glory …
No more we doubt you, glorious Prince of Life;
life is naught without you: aid us in our strife;
make us more than conquerors through your deathless love;
bring us safe through Jordan to your home above.
Yours be the glory …
Blessing:
Friends,
may we go from here full of hope and joy,
knowing that through the resurrection,
we are forgiven, loved and free.
May we go to share this story,
a story of God’s abundant, extravagant love,
with all who we meet on the journey,
so that this story may become their story too.
The blessing of the triune God,
Father, Son and Spirit,
the One who Mothers us all,
be with you this day and always.
Amen.
Thanks to all those who have assisted in preparation for this liturgy with encouragement, prayers and conversation. I have also utilised the following resources:
Spill the Beans (issue 38), By the Well and Fig Tree Worship.