Koonung Heights Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Easter 4 – 30 April 2023 – 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: “Bless the Lord, my soul” – (Click this link and skip the ads – TIS words below)
Candle Lighting:
As we light the Christ candle today,
we ask that you, Lord Jesus,
would set our hearts on fire with love for you.
May your love and nature burn bright in us,
shining through us so that our neighbours,
and the world, may know the wonder of your love.
May your light kindle our desire to walk with you.
Acknowledgement of Country:
As we gather for worship this morning,
I acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung,
People of the Kulin nation,
traditional custodians of this land and surrounding waters.
I pay my respects to their elders, past and present,
and to all future leaders and generations.
I honour them for their custodianship of the land.
As First and Second Peoples walking together,
may we commit ourselves
to be people of the covenant,
listening, truth telling and seeking justice for all.
Call to Worship:
Let us gather together
and wonder about the feast.
Let us fill our minds with good things
and taste the possibilities of heaven.
But wait,
let us pause, hesitate and reflect.
In the waiting
we worship.
In the not yet
we meet God.
In the pausing
we find a place of possibility,
of potential,
of hope.
Let us worship.
We Sing: “Praise to the Lord”
Prayer of Adoration and Confession:
Loving God,
we come before you today in hope and anticipation.
Into our lives you offer all things new,
you seek us out in love and grace,
hoping that we will enter into a relationship with you.
In adoration and praise we come to worship you.
Into an ordinary town in an ordinary place,
you sent your Son, our saviour Jesus Christ, to be born.
Into ordinary lives he came,
to ordinary people he called,
and with ordinary followers he brought
the glory and love of God to the world.
Help us today, in our lives,
both ordinary and extraordinary,
to appreciate this wondrous news,
and to see that not only in the glorious and the exciting,
but in the everyday, the humdrum and mundane,
the God who created all still seeks to be with us.
Help us learn from the old stories,
like the story of Esther,
who from ordinary beginnings
became a queen who used her position
to do something positive and good
with great courage and faith.
Merciful God,
we have heard your word,
have been guided by your Spirit,
and have felt your presence.
We know what you ask of us,
we know the path we must travel
and yet we sometimes fail to do what you ask.
Forgive us we pray, in Jesus’ name,
and help us to do better in the future,
to learn from our mistakes
and to seek new ways of living as you have called us to.
Loving God,
we each go through times of great joy and great sadness,
great excitement and tremendous boredom,
but through it all you are with us.
Help us today and all days
to know this, to see this
and to accept this.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen.
Words of Assurance:
This is the good news.
Christ forgives our sin,
sets us free to live as God’s people
and calls us to live in the light.
Thanks be to God.
The Peace:
Christ is our peace,
having reconciled us to God through his death on the cross.
Meeting in the name of the resurrected Christ,
let us share his peace.
The peace of the risen Christ be always with you
and also with you.
A Time for All:
I wonder if you took a look at yourself this morning? I’m guessing that most of you did, even if it was just a quick glance. You may have looked in the mirror to see whether your outfit looked okay, your hair was brushed, your collar straight or your lipstick not smudged. Maybe you looked in the mirror to give yourself a smile before you started out for the day.
Mirrors are often a delight for children and mirror games are one of the ways that they learn about themselves. When Elizabeth was little she would spend hours in front of her Nanny’s mirror playing dress-ups and dancing and singing. Her three-year old cousin now enjoys the same game.
Mirrors are just one way that we can take a look at ourselves, or at least at our outward appearance. Of course the way we look on the outside can be really important. It’s the face we present to the world. It’s the way that people make decisions about us, at least before they know us. But sometimes we need to take a good look at ourselves and it can take much more than a mirror to do that. For a mirror only shows what things are like on the outside … they don’t show who we really are and what really matters on the inside.
This is what we find Esther pondering in the story this week. She has now become Queen. She would no doubt have been a stunning vision as she looked at herself in the mirror with her beautiful clothes and lavish jewellery. But Esther was much more than her outward appearance indicated. She was a Jewish girl whose people were being threatened. Being Queen also put her in the unique position to be able to influence the King, and change his mind about making a decision that would have been a terrible tragedy for her people. Even though Esther was scared about speaking to the King, she knew that God was with her and that gave her the courage she needed.
Sometimes we all need to do things that really matter. These can be difficult but we need to remember that God is with us too. So next time you look into a mirror, I invite you to look beyond what you see on the surface and see what God might be calling you to do.
Let us pray:
Amazing, loving, God,
We thank you that each one of us
is far more than what we see on the outside.
We thank you for the fact that we are your children,
and that you love us with all our worries and concerns,
and our hopes and dreams.
Help us to live lives filled with meaning,
and to love and care about the things that are really important.
Help us be brave to take a stand when we need to.
In Jesus name we pray,
Amen.
We Sing: “You are my hiding-place” – (Click on this link and skip the ads – TiS words below)
Bible Reading: Luke 7:11-17
– Jesus Raises the Widow’s Son at Nain
11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. 12 As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow, and with her was a large crowd from the town. 13 When the Lord saw her, he was moved with compassion for her and said to her, “Do not cry.” 14 Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stopped. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized all of them, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17 This word about him spread throughout the whole of Judea and all the surrounding region.
Bible Reading: Esther 5:1-8
– Esther’s Banquet
1 On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, opposite the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne inside the palace opposite the entrance to the palace. 2 As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won his favour, and he held out to her the golden sceptre that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the top of the sceptre. 3 The king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even to half of my kingdom, it shall be given you.” 4 Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to a banquet that I have prepared for the king.” 5 Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther desires.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared. 6 While they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 7 Then Esther answered, “This is my petition and request: 8 If I have won the king’s favour, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet that I will prepare for them, and then I will do as the king has said.”
Reflection: Brave enough to bring life!
I’d like you to think for a moment about someone who was there for you at a critical moment in your life – one of those times that was really hard, a time when you didn’t know how or if you would get through it. Who was there for you? Picture their face … say their name to yourself. Who was it? What was happening in your life at that time? What was that critical moment about? What were you feeling? What did you need or want at that moment? What did that person do for you or say to you? In what ways were they there for you? What difference did it make?
I wonder if you have just told today’s gospel story from Luke through the story of your own life. Whatever your critical moment was, whoever that person was, and whatever they did or said, the result was that she or he helped you cross over into a new life, into a new way of being, into a new way of seeing. They called forth a part of you that you had lost and couldn’t access or didn’t even know was there. They helped you see the thing that you couldn’t see by yourself. In doing so they pointed you to a greater fullness of life. They got you through that time and forever changed your life and who you are. They were brave enough to step out and that action made a huge difference in your story – which is why you still remember the event, the person and what they did today.
This is exactly what Jesus did for the widow he met at the town gate in Nain. He was there at a critical moment for her, and he acted in a way that enabled her to move to a greater fullness of life. This is also what we see starting to take shape as we continue to explore Esther’s story. While things don’t come to fruition for Esther and the Jewish people just yet, in today’s reading she begins to put her plan in to place … her plan for saving the Jewish people … her plan for moving them to a greater fullness of life.
In the reading from last week we saw little agency from Esther, but we have now come to a pivotal moment in her story when we see Esther using whatever power and influence she has to persuade the king to grant her wish. It is also the time when the tensions between Esther’s Jewish identity and her identity as queen are the highest. But first, let us fill in some blanks that the lectionary misses out.
Since Esther became queen last week a lot has happened. Haman has risen to a position of power as the King’s chief official. Haman wants everyone to bow to him but Mordecai (Esther’s cousin and surrogate father) refuses. This infuriates Haman, and after he discovers Mordecai is a Jew, he conceives a plot to exterminate all the Jews. Mordecai hears of this and asks Esther to plead with the king on their behalf. He even suggests that she may be have become queen for just this purpose, to plead for her people.
Today’s text begins with the words ‘On the third day’ (Esther5:1) which refers to the third day of fasting. In preparation for her meeting with the king, Esther has asked the Jews to hold a fast on her behalf, and she has fasted with her maids (Esther 4:16). In doing so she is aligning herself with her Jewish people. Yet she also puts on her royal robes (Esther 5:1) which show her status as queen. Yet Esther assumes the position of outsider as she waits for the king on his throne in the palace to see her. Fortunately, for Esther and the Jewish people, she gains his favour and he says he will grant her request.
It might seem strange that Esther doesn’t make her request straight away, but she has learned to work within this system of power, and so she invites the king and Haman to a banquet. In doing so she brings them into her territory: the king, who has the power to grant her request; and Haman, her enemy. She continues this strategy when they come to her banquet, and when the king repeats his offer to grant her request, she responds by inviting them to another banquet. All the while Esther is assuring the king will grant her request (after all he has promised her twice) and also keeping her enemy, Haman, close by.
Of course we know how the story ends (or we will next week) but Esther didn’t. Like any one of us she must have had conflicting throughs about what might have happened as she put her plan into place. Of course she would have had hopes, but there must also be fear of what might happen when the king grants her request, and what could happen if he refuses. Yet despite all of this, Esther is brave enough to instigate a plan that will bring life for her people, even when she doesn’t know the outcome.
I think there’s a lesson in that for all of us. While there are exciting pivotal moments in life (like when the widow from Nain encounters Jesus) the reality is that most of our lives don’t happen in these moments. We live out most of our lives not in the exiting endings, but in the tension building middle. In the waiting times, maybe even in the boring times. It can be easy to overlook these moments, but this is where most of us are, and we need to respect, recognise and reflect on this.
For in these in-between times, the times of waiting, God is still acting and calling us to act too. These are the times we can wait on God and discover what opportunities are being placed before us and what we are being called to do. This is when we can choose to be brave enough to play our part and bring life in all the ways it matters.
Her exile name, ‘Esther’, means ‘hidden’.
There are so many things she has to hide:
her heritage, her faith, herself.
All needs to be subsumed in order to survive.
On the surface –
the very beautiful and pleasing surface –
she tends to silence, speaks only when spoken to,
is submissive, does as she’s told, does what’s expected.
Her Jewish name, ‘Hadassah’, means ‘myrtle’
whose fragrance comes only when placed under pressure:
her position, her privilege, her skills –
all need to be employed to save lives.
Below the surface –
that perfectly lovely surface –
she tends to watch, waiting for opportunities,
does what she needs to do to preserve herself, her people:
a woman of courage, this exile and orphan.
May the story of Esther / Hadassah inspire us to bring life in all the encounters we have.
Amen.
We Sing: “All my hope on God is founded”
Prayer for Others (prepared by Margaret Lord,
acknowledging inclusion of words from a prayer
by Dr Marelle Harisun)
Let us pray.
Ever- loving God, our worship draws us near to you, and also towards our neighbours, so here today, we pray for the world:
May we all learn before it is too late, to respect the uniqueness, fragility, interrelatedness, and sacredness of our earth and all creation.
May weapons and prejudice be discarded – instead of people; guns silenced – instead of the voices of the poor; and, in our very interconnected world may all Peoples learn to respect the integrity, diversity, and unity of all, and that love is not a luxury.
We pray especially for our First Nations sisters and brothers.
We acknowledge the grace and gift they have offered to us despite the discrimination and marginalisation they face every day.
We pray that the Uluru Statement from the Heart may not fall on deaf ears, but that it may be seen and heard as a cry from the heart for real truth telling; that its gracious invitation to walk together into a new future might be grasped by all and that true recognition in the constitution and agency for our First Peoples becomes a reality so that Australia will move towards healing.
May we grow in faith, in love and in hope, and in our commitment to walk in solidarity with our Indigenous brothers and sisters.
We pray for the witness of our church community here at Koonung Heights.
We pray that open hearts and an inclusive spirit infuse all that we do.
Help us to understand that no planning for the future, however necessary, no program, no matter how carefully conceived, can relieve us of the necessity of going forward into a future that cannot be fully planned — a future full of risk, of danger, and of hope in your incalculable grace.
We pray for ourselves – those gathered here today, those joining with us in worship at home, those too unwell to be actively involved.
Not one of us has ever found or has ever given, enough tenderness or love in his or her life, enough truth, freedom, beauty, goodness, or joy.
We are always travelling to a new tomorrow.
We pray because you have put within us an unquenchable hope.
Amen.
Let us join together in the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name;
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and 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.
We Sing: “God gives us a future”
Blessing:
Having gathered,
we scatter
to share God’s good news
and offer a foretaste of the Kingdom of heaven.
As we wait
for the fulfilment of all things,
speak hope into a waiting world
and as you do:
the blessing of the One
who created, saved, and sustains you still,
be yours, evermore.
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 46), The Women’s Lectionary: Preaching The Women Of The Bible Throughout The Year (Ashley M Wilcox), www.interruptingthesilence.com and Fig Tree Worship.