Koonung Heights – Surrey Hills Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Easter 5 – 18 May 2025 – 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: “Here in this place” – (TiS 474)
Here in this place new light is streaming,
now is the darkness vanished away,
see, in this space, our fears and our dreamings,
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.
Lighting the Christ Candle:
You assure us, Jesus, that wherever two or three
are gathered in your name, you are there.
We light this candle to remind ourselves
and to celebrate your constant presence.
May we always seek your guiding light in our lives.
Acknowledgement of Country:
Recognising the sovereignty of the One Creator,
who made all peoples in God’s own image,
I acknowledge the Wurundjeri WoiWurrung
people of the Kulin Nations,
traditional custodians of this land
upon which we meet.
May the One Creator continue to bless us all.
Call to Worship:
In kindness we gather.
In justice we welcome each other.
In humility we worship.
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 word.
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:
Loving and gracious God,
we gather in worship this day
in awe at your grace and mercy.
You call us to do justice,
and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with you.
This is a high calling,
but we come to you now
knowing that we can trust you to be with us
as we do our best to live this out.
We are called to live justly,
to care about others,
to live lives that are life giving
not seeking to harm others or the environment.
Forgive us –
forgive us, Lord, when we fail.
We are called to love kindness.
Our words and actions matter:
words spoken or unspoken,
deeds done or left undone.
Kindness is in our gift
and in doing so we honour you.
Forgive us –
forgive us, Lord, when we fail.
We are called to walk humbly with you.
We are to live our lives in gratitude
for all that you have given to us.
Our actions, our words
should point to you,
giving you all the glory.
Forgive us –
forgive us, Lord, when we fail.
Loving and gracious God,
we thank you that despite all we do and don’t do,
you always offer us the chance to start again.
In such knowledge we bring our praises to you
in this time of worship.
Holy is your name.
Amen.
Words of Assurance:
Friends, hear this good news,
despite our many failings and our best efforts,
when we turn to our loving and gracious God,
we are forgiven.
Such is God’s capacity for love and grace.
Thanks be to God!
The Peace:
May the Peace of God dwell with you
and also with you.
Time for All:
Today I’m going to share part of a story with you. It’s a story that shows how we don’t have to be like each other to be friends, and that we can all be kind and help one another if we put our minds to it. It is called The Snail and the Whale and is written by Julia Donald, with illustrations by Axel Scheffler.
This is the tale of a tiny snail and a great big, grey-blue humpback whale.
This is a rock as black as soot, and this is a snail with an itchy foot.
The sea snail slithered all over the rock and gazed at the sea and the ships in the dock.
As she gazed, she sniffed and sighed.
‘The sea is deep and the world is wide!
How I long to sail!’ said the tiny snail.
These are the other snails in the flock,
who all stuck tight to the smooth black rock
and said to the snail with the itchy foot,
‘Be quiet! Don’t wiggle! Sit still! Stay put!’
But the tiny sea snail sniffed and sighed, then cried, ‘I’ve got it! I’ll hitch a ride!’
This is the trail of the tiny snail,
a silvery trail that looped and curled
and said, ‘Ride wanted around the world.’
This is the whale who came one night when the tide was high and the stars were bright.
A humpback whale, immensely long, who sang to the snail a wonderful song
of shimmering ice and coral caves and shooting stars and enormous waves.
And this is the tail of the humpback whale.
He held it out of the starlit sea and said to the snail, ‘Come sail with me.’
This is the sea, so wild and free, that carried the whale and the snail on his tail
to towering icebergs and far-off lands, with fiery mountains and golden sands.
The snail and the whale become friends and travel to many places together, seeing wonderful things all over the world. But then one day the whale lost his way …
These are the speedboats, running a race, zigging and zooming all over the place,
upsetting the whale with their earsplitting roar, making him swim too close to the shore.
This is the tide, slipping away, and this is the whale lying beached in the bay.
‘Quick! Off the sand! Back to sea!’ cried the snail.
‘I can’t move on land! I’m too big!’ moaned the whale.
The snail felt helpless and terribly small. Then, ‘I’ve got it!’ she cried, and started to crawl.
‘I must not fail,’ said the tiny snail.
The snail wants to help her friend, but she is so small. I wonder, do you think she can?
The snail makes a long journey and finds her way into a school classroom.
This is the board, as black as soot. And this is the snail with the itchy foot!
‘A snail! A snail!’ The teacher turns pale.
‘Look!’ say the children, ‘it’s leaving a trail.’
This is the trail of the tiny snail,
a silvery trail saying ‘Save the whale.’
These are the children, running from school,
fetching the firemen, digging a pool,
squirting and spraying to keep the whale cool.
This is the tide coming into the bay,
and these are the villagers shouting, ‘Hooray!’
as the whale and the snail travel safely away.
Back to the dock and the flock on the rock,
who said ‘How time’s flown!’ and ‘Haven’t you grown!’
And the whale and the snail told their wonderful tale of shimmering ice and coral caves,
and shooting stars and enormous waves.
And of how the snail, so small and frail, with her looping curling, silvery trail,
saved the life of the humpback whale.
Isn’t this a great story. It reminds us that even if we are small (and we are all small in different ways) what we do can make a big difference.
Let us pray …
We thank you God for all the things that you have done for us. Thankyou too, that even when we feel small, we can do little things that make a really big difference. Help us as we try to help others.
Amen.
We Sing: Jesus’ hands were kind hands’ – (TiS 236)
Jesus’ hands were kind hands, doing good to all,
healing pain and sickness, blessing children small,
washing tired feet, and saving those who fall:
Jesus’ hands were kind hands, doing good to all.
Take my hands, Lord Jesus, let them work for you,
make them strong and gentle, kind in all I do;
let me watch you, Jesus, till I’m gentle too,
till my hands are kind hands, quick to work for you.
Bible Reading: Micah 6:6-8
– What God Requires
6 “With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
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?
Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:4-14
4 Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit, 5 and there are varieties of services but the same Lord, 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of powerful deeds, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
One Body with Many Members
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.
Reflection
Over the next three weeks we will be using Micah 6:6-8 as the foundational passage for our reflections. We will hear it read every week as a constant reminder of God’s call for people of faith: a call to act justly, love kindness, and walk humbly. In it we hear that this is what God is most concerned about – our living in right relationship with God, each other and the planet – rather than sacrifices, rituals or particular forms of worship.
Each week the Micah passage will be coupled with another passage, and as we look at them together, my hope is that they might lead us into thinking about how we might be a creative community together and why it matters. As we begin this week, we think about the ‘why’ we do this, and while the answer is simple, it also takes courage to live out each day.
The passage from Micah emphasises the importance of justice, mercy and humility, all of which are valuable principles for a creative community. Our other reading for today, from 1 Corinthians, reminds us of the diverse variety of gifts given by God to all people. These gifts are all important, and work together to make up the whole of the church, just like one body has many parts which make it up. Within a creative community, spaces can be fostered where all people can use their gifts. When everyone can develop their gifts, the community has the capacity to thrive.
As Micah is going to be the foundational passage for our upcoming reflections, let’s spend a little bit of time hearing again the answer to the central question that is posed within it, namely ‘What does God want of us? The prophet’s response goes something like this … ‘Listen. God has told you what is good. God has told you what is needed. Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with your God.’
These familiar words come from a minor prophet, a prophet from the countryside who walked the streets of the cities of his day and saw people being cheated, and lands and homes seized by the powerful. Micah told the people that they had forgotten their God, and challenged their way of thinking, reminding them that God doesn’t want token offerings of wealth, but much more. I think if he walked the streets of Melbourne today, or any other city for that matter, Micah’s challenge might be the same.
Do justice: be fair and share with others the gifts that God has given you, always and in everything you do. Love kindness: be gentle and caring, always and in everything you do. Walk humbly: be honest about who you are and stay close to God, always and in everything you do.
This is quite a radical take on the relationship that the people Micah was addressing had with God. There was a long-established tradition which understood that relationship with God was transactional – put sacrifices in to get appeasements out. In Micah’s day this might be burnt offerings, but if we gave it a little thought, I’m sure we could all think of those things we might sacrifice or give, to get something back from God. But this really isn’t how God works or, in fact, how God is, and I don’t believe it ever was. Live in right relationship with each other, creation and God – that’s the call! There is no transaction here, just an invitation to bring out more of God in each other.
In Paul’s letter to the community of believers in the Greek city of Corinth, we get a glimpse into the life of an early Christian community. In the verses we have heard today, Paul affirms the diversity of gifts which are present, and which should be used for the common good. Paul emphasises mutuality between these gifts rather than a hierarchy of gifts or people … one person is not better because they have a particular gift, and all gifts are to be used together. Through baptism, we are all one in Christ, and all these gifts come from the same source.
If I were to ask you what is most important in the Church what would you say? In the time that I’ve been in this community it seems that there are two things that people think are most important. One is pastoral care and the other is worship. I believe that both are important and definitely have their place, but I do wonder whether the place a person occupies in the community impacts the thing they think is most important. Of course we want worship to be encouraging, uplifting and one of the places where we encounter God. We worship in different styles because some appeal to us more than others, but regardless of the style of worship we prefer, maybe worship is not the priority to God that we think it is. When we look at our churches today, particularly in the Western world, we might lament the fact that there are less people in the pews on a Sunday. But people are active in the world in the work of justice and love and God is active in this space with them.
Worship is not insignificant, but maybe, as the church, we might need to let go of some of the traditions that focus so much on worship and move instead to rebuilding the relationships we have with each other, the world and God. Act justly. Love kindness. Walk humbly.
What might a world of justice look like – where all are fed, all receive a fair share, all are safe, all are valued, all are loved? What might kindness look like – a word of support or concern, an act of love shared, a thankyou given, a hand up received, a gift of time? What might walking humbly look like – putting others first, putting our trust in God, putting our words in action, putting Christ at the centre and putting our prejudices aside? If we do nothing else than this, the world will be in a better place than it is now.
Amen.
We Sing: “What does the Lord require” – (TiS 618)
What does the Lord require for praise and offering?
What sacrifice desire or tribute did you bring?
Do justly; love mercy; walk humbly with your God.
Rulers of earth, give ear! should you not justice show?
Will God your pleading hear, while crime and cruelty grow?
Do justly; love mercy; walk humbly with your God.
Leaders in wealth and trade, for whom the worker toils,
think not to win God’s aid if greed your commerce soils.
Do justly; love mercy; walk humbly with your God.
Still down the ages ring the prophet’s stern commands:
to merchant, worker, king, he brings God’s high demands.
Do justly; love mercy; walk humbly with your God.
How shall our life fulfil God’s law so hard and high?
Let Christ endure our will with grace to fortify.
Then justly, in mercy, we’ll humbly walk with God.
Prayer for Others (prepared by Reuben Phiri):
Good morning, My Name is Reuben Phiri.
Paul Tonson asked me if I could do this, pray for others. I must confess this is something I tend to avoid.
Therefore in the past couple of weeks, I wondered how to do this thing that I don’t do? I decided to indulge myself and tell you a real-life prayer story from my work.
I was counselling a distraught Hindu woman over many weeks, and we seemed to be making no progress at all. One day, at the end of a counselling session, she said, “Could you please pray to your god for me to help solve my troubles?” I was taken aback a bit. I wished there was someone I could send her to, but there was no one. This is what I said to her, “I will pray for you if you promise me you will pray to your god like you have never prayed before.” We closed the session and I almost forgot to pray as I said a very brief prayer, something to the effect that you heard the lady, please do something.
We met again two weeks later and she was very excited. She told me my god had sent her an angel. I said, “if you prayed to your god as I asked you to, how do you know the angel was from my god?” “Because my god does not have angels “ she replied.
She was sitting at a park bench when a woman came and sat beside her. She said she immediately felt very calm and safe. This woman appeared to know everything about her life. When the woman left she gave her a number to call. It turned out to be the number of a local pastor. She is now a Christian.
From this encounter, I have learned that:
1. A prayer need not be more than a sentence to get results.
2. There is no special place for prayer, God is everywhere.
3. God will use you in spite of yourself.
I now invite you to join me in saying these affirmations of faith, as you are able …
1. I love that I am a child of God.
2. I love that to God I am as special as an only child.
3. I love that my needs are always fully catered for.
4. I love that as a child of God I am safe and I am protected.
5. I love knowing that every time I see lack, it only means that I am looking in the wrong direction.
6. I love to be reminded that all I need to do is ask, and it is given.
7. I forgive everyone who steps on my toes.
8. I love knowing that my sins are forgiven.
9. I am grateful to be the beacon of light that I am in my community.
10. I radiate the peace and love of Jesus that surpasses all understanding.
11. Just like I know that the sun will rise tomorrow, I know that I am special and that I am here for a purpose.
12. I give thanks as my purpose is revealed to me.
13. While I wait for my purpose to be revealed to me, I am performing my duties where I am, be it as an employee, an employer, a husband, a wife, etc., as if
they were God-assigned.
I love to say these and similar affirmations of love for myself. If you do not feel good about yourself and you don’t feel loved, there is no hope that you will ever be useful to anyone. You will certainly not be praying for others or finding your purpose on this earth. I would like each of us to be able to say …
1. I am the beacon of hope that my people and the world have been looking for.
2. I am the miracle my neighbour has been waiting for.
3. I am the miracle that my community has been looking for.
4. In the name of Jesus, I want everyone to have a safe roof over their heads.
5. I want every child to go to bed with their belly full.
6. I want humans to love each other so much that they do not feel like killing each
other.
7. I want the guns to fall silent all over the world.
8. I want every weapon of mass destruction to be turned to ploughshares.
9. I want governments to spend more resources researching food security than they spend on their armies.
10. I want that very, very, very much.
11. I want all of us to place ourselves at God’s disposal to be used as the instruments of change.
12. I want us to be the change we want to see in the world.
Let us pray the prayer that Jesus taught us …
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: “Jesus put this song into our hearts” – (TiS 670)
Jesus put this song into our hearts,
Jesus put this song into our hearts,
it’s a song of joy no-one can take away:
Jesus put this song into our hearts.
Jesus taught us how to live in harmony,
Jesus taught us how to live in harmony;
different faces, different races,
he made us one:
Jesus taught us to how live in harmony.
Jesus taught us how to be a family,
Jesus taught us how to be a family,
loving one another with the love that he gives:
Jesus taught us how to be a family.
Jesus turned our sorrow into dancing,
Jesus turned our sorrow into dancing,
changed our tears of sadness into rivers of joy:
Jesus turned our sorrow into a dance.
Blessing and Sending:
As we go today may we walk with God.
May we do what is fair and just with our neighbours.
May we be compassionate and loyal in our love.
May we lead humble and righteous lives.
And may we do it all,
knowing that the blessing of God is upon us,
Creator, Son and Spirit,
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:
Fig Tree Worship, Ministry Matters and Spill the Beans (Issue 54).
The Snail and the Whale is written by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler and published by Puffin Books.