Koonung Heights Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Easter 5 – 28 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: “As the deer pants” – (TiS 703)
As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you.
You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship you.
You alone are my strength, my shield, to you alone may my spirit yield.
You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship you.
Candle Lighting:
God of all,
gather us in to the warmth of your light,
with your love in our hearts,
your words in our ears,
and your praise on our lips.
May we bask in the light of your presence,
knowing that you are always with us.
Acknowledgement of Country:
This is God’s Land and God’s Spirit dwells here.
Many have gone before who have honoured God
by caring for the Land, in the ways they have lived
and in the stories they have shared.
We give thanks for the Wurundjeri WoiWurrung
People of the Kulin nations, who have held as sacred
the duty of protecting the Land and living in harmony with it.
May God honour and bless them – now and to eternity.
Call to Worship (1 John 4):
Beloved, let us love one another.
We love because God first loved us.
Beloved, since God loved us so much,
we should also love one another.
God is love and when we abide in love
God lives in us.
This is the new commandment in Christ:
as Jesus loves us, so we should love one another.
Let us worship the God of love.
Opening Prayer:
Amazing God,
whose love is beyond understanding
and whose mercy is beyond comprehension,
we lift our hearts to you.
Gather us to yourself this morning
and help us experience your divine love afresh.
As we come to this time of worship
may we express our thanksgiving and
allow your love to be seen in us.
In Jesus name we pray,
Amen.
We Sing: “For the beauty of the earth” – (TiS 137)
For the beauty of the earth,
for the beauty of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us likes,
Christ, our God, to you we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.
For the beauty of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale, and tree and flower,
sun and moon and stars of light,
Christ, our God, to you we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.
For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth and friends above, for all gentle thoughts and mild,
Christ, our God, to you we raise this our sacrifice of praise.
For the church that evermore, lifting holy hands above,
offers up on every shore the pure sacrifice of love,
Christ, our God, to you we raise this our sacrifice of praise.
Prayer of Thanks and Confession:
God who is love,
we lift our hearts in thanks to you
for all those who show us your love.
We remember from our early years,
the ones who nurtured us
and taught us about life
through their loving words and actions.
Beloved, let us love one another …
We thank you for their loving presence.
We remember old friends
who celebrated our joys with us,
and stood beside us when things got tough.
Who held our hands and guided our feet
along the path of lovingkindness.
Beloved, let us love one another …
We thank you for their loving presence.
We remember members of our family,
those with us, and those gone before,
who have shown us love despite our differences,
or because of our differences.
Who have taught us quiet wisdom
and practiced deep love to teach us your way.
Beloved, let us love one another …
We thank you for their loving presence.
We recall those who surround us now;
friends and family, neighbours, partners, pets …
all who bring your gift of love alive for us,
generously,
and often when we least expect it.
Beloved, let us love one another …
We thank you for their loving presence.
We confess that there are times
when we have not returned that love
or have not offered it freely, without strings.
We remember those we have struggled to love,
those who, in the past, and in the present,
we have ignored, shunned,
shamed or rejected.
We ask forgiveness for our falseness and
in the quiet, we recall their names.
(time of silence)
God who is love. You forgive and renew us.
Give us courage, hearts full of brave love,
to show up when we’re needed,
to see people through love’s eyes,
to go where we are sent,
and to always abide in your love.
In Jesus’ name, we pray.
Amen.
Words of Assurance:
In the name of Jesus Christ,
God forgives and offers us a transformed future,
enabling us to live fully into God’s grace.
This is good news … thanks be to God.
The Peace:
God makes peace within us. Let us claim it.
God makes peace between us. Let us share it.
The peace of God is here … to stay.
Let us greet one another as a sign of God’s peace.
A Time for All:
I wonder how often you clean out your bedroom? Maybe you throw out the clothes that
you have outgrown, or the ones that you simply don’t wear anymore. Perhaps you share
them with friends or give them to a charity. Maybe you do the same with other things,
photos, books or household items you don’t have a need for anymore.
Imagine if you never threw anything out? What do you think might happen? It’s likely that
you would eventually run out of space, and you wouldn’t be able to find your bed or
wardrobe or anything, because your room was so jam packed with everything you have
gathered over the years. You might even end up lost in your own bedroom! Can you
imagine that? The more things we gather the less room we have for something new, and
every so often we need a clear out to make space for something else.
Jesus told a story about a gardener whose vines
were growing bigger and longer. You can read it in
the gospel of John. Vines grow grapes, but the
problem with this vine was that the juicy grapes
were so hard to find in between the tiny, sour,
inedible grapes. If the gardener wanted to get some
good grapes he was going to have to cut back the
vine to make room for the good grapes to grow.
He did this and in time, this vine turned out to be
much healthier and grow the best grapes ever.
Sometimes we need to declutter and get rid of all the things that stop us from growing. We
need to get rid of some of the things that stop us learning new things about ourselves and
about God. We might also need to get rid of some things so that we might be open to the
new things that God has in mind for us. I wonder what things we might need to stop doing,
in order that we can do something new, something that would help us and others,
something that God is dreaming for us?
Let us pray:
Loving God,
you gave Jesus as a gift to the world.
He became the vine so that we could be the branches –
extending your goodness out into our communities and world.
Help us live into the things that you are calling us to do,
so that we can make a difference in your world.
Amen.
We Sing: “O God in your love” – (Tune TiS 143)
O God, in your love, you have made us unique:
In gifts and traditions, in service we seek,
In race and in culture and family design
Diverse are the branches in Jesus the Vine.
Lord Jesus, you came to bring God’s love on earth;
You welcomed the outcasts and showed us our worth.
You reached out to people whom others despised
You said all are precious in God’s loving eyes.
So may your church welcome in loving accord
All people who want to love Jesus our Lord.
O Spirit, unite us in Jesus the Son
In mission and ministry, God, make us one.
Bible Reading: Acts 8:26-40
– Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up
and go toward the south to the road that goes
down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a
wilderness road.) 27 So he got up and went. Now
there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of
the Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, in
charge of her entire treasury. He had come to
Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning home;
seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go
over to this chariot and join it.” 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet
Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I,
unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32 Now the
passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:
“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about
himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this
scripture he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were going along the
road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to
prevent me from being baptized?” 38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them,
Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they
came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him
no more and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was
passing through the region he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to
Caesarea.
(Note: Other ancient authorities add all or most of 8.37 – And Philip said, “If you believe with
all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”)
Bible Reading: 1 John 4:7-21
– God is Love
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is
from God; everyone who loves is born of God and
knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know
God, for God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed
among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the
world so that we might live through him. 10 In this is
love, not that we loved God but that he loved us
and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so
much, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one
another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the
world. 15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in
God. 16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 17 Love has
been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment,
because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out
fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in
love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother
or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen,
cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 The commandment we have from him is this:
those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
Reflection:
‘What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No, not just for some, but for everyone’
‘What the World Needs Now is Love’ is a popular song with lyrics by Hal David and music
composed by Burt Bacharach. First recorded in 1965, it’s popularity took the songwriters
completely by surprise, since they were very aware of the controversy and disagreements
among Americans about the Vietnam War, which was the subtext for David’s lyrics. Nearly
sixty years later, I think love is still what the world needs.
Last week we were reflecting on love, particularly love in action, and I wanted to mention
briefly something I was asked about. What does it mean to lay down our lives? With Anzac
Day commemorations over the last few days we may have reflected on the men and women
who have, and continue to, lay down their lives. Sometimes people have lost their lives, and
this is tragic every time it happens, but I think that laying down your life has more to do with
putting the needs of others above your own. We are called to love one another.
We are called to look out for the least of these. We are called, as community, to do more
than follow policy, but exercise ‘best practice’ in ensuring that our spaces are safe for all.
What we are not called to do is be doormats, who are trampled on because someone else is
not acting appropriately. Neither are we called to simply put up with bad or harmful
behaviour. Part of loving is calling out that which is difficult.
Today the passages we have read remind us again that our love for God is shown in the love
that we have for others. In his letter, John tells us that ‘The commandment we have from
God is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.’ (I John 4:21) In the
reading from Acts, we witness love for someone who is an ‘other’ because of their
nationality, faith and physical appearance.
I think that each one of us would want to affirm the
conviction that our love for God is demonstrated by
the love we have for our fellow human beings, but I
wonder if in reality we somehow believe that
demonstrating our love of God doesn’t need to move
further than those who are within our sphere. Many
of us don’t seem to concern ourselves particularly for
those who are beyond the immediate circle of our
family and friends. While we believe that our love of
God is also a love for our neighbour, we somehow
trace an unconscious circle around us which divides
those who we see as ‘our neighbours’ from those who
are not.
I do wonder whether the long periods we spent in Covid lockdown in Melbourne have
contributed to the way that much of society has become more insular and protective?
Whatever the reason, I think some of us still believe that the ‘brothers and sisters’ we are
called to love are those people we are most comfortable with – probably our closest family,
friends, colleagues and community. However, I think it’s fair to say that these are not the
people John is talking about. Very early in the Church’s history, when the Christian
community was composed entirely of ethic Jews, it was forced to ask the very same
question that we are asking ourselves now … who are our brothers and sisters?
The story about Phillip and the Ethiopian official, from Luke’s gospel, answers that question
in a way that radically undermined the status quo of the time and, if we are honest,
threatens to do the same to us. We are told that an angel came to Phillip and commanded
him to head south from Jerusalem to Gaza. On the way he meets an Ethiopian eunuch who
is treasurer for the Queen. Clearly he is an honest, trustworthy individual, who has risen to
a position of some importance. He is also sympathetic to Jewish faith, and has probably
been to Jerusalem to participate in one of the Jewish festivals. Yet despite all of this, there
is a problem in that, according to the Scribal law of the time, a male person could only
become a Jew through circumcision. As someone who had his genitalia removed, probably
as a child in slavery, circumcision was not possible.
Despite the fact that the Ethiopian probably believed in God and was keen to understand
the Hebrew Scriptures, he could not become part of the worshipping community of God.
The Scribal law had effectively put a sign up on the gate which said “Keep out, God does not
want you.” I wonder if we can be guilty of putting these signs up … signs which are read as
‘God does not want you’ when, in truth, it is all about what we want?
It’s hard to imagine the level of joy that the Eunuch must have felt when he encountered
Phillip who shared a new interpretation of the Jewish faith with him. Firstly he explained
the words of Isaiah, who gave an account of a suffering servant who, like the eunuch, was
denied the chance of passing on his name to future generations. Phillip spoke of a God who
vindicated the servant’s cause by raising him from the dead so that his name, and cause,
would live forever. Then Phillip invited the man to become part of God’s people, not
through circumcision, but through faith in Jesus and the alternative Christian rite of baptism.
As Phillip shared with the Eunuch, he heard about a different God, a God who loves and
welcomes everyone who believes, no matter their ethnic or religious heritage, or physical
attributes.
As Luke tells this story of about God’s love, he reminds his readers that just as God loves
those outside the circle, they are called to do the same. So are we, but of course, like many
things in life this is easier said than done. We are comfortable with our way of doing things
and when we come into contact with people who do things differently, it calls into question
our own assumptions. This means we can feel quite unsure of things and this makes us
uncomfortable. It also takes more energy to engage with things that are different and so
when we are tired we are tempted to conserve our energy by sticking with those we know
are ‘easy’ to be around. We stick to what we know and who we know rather that rock our
sense of equilibrium. Yet God calls us to step out of this space, and while it might be
challenging, we are not called to do it alone.
God knows what it’s like to step into a place which is uncomfortable. Jesus did this exact
thing when he came to earth. Abiding in God’s love is not about locking yourself in a safe
place and feeling the warmth, but actually taking that safe place with you beyond the circle,
into the land of the ‘other’ which is not safe. God sends us out beyond the circle to bear the
fruit of love and justice in a world which has ceased to believe that these are possible. It is
not safe outside the circle. Yet it is safe. Safe because we carry the love of God with us, and
the perfect love of God is powerful and stronger even that death.
May we go out beyond the comfort and safety of
our own circles, into the place of those who need
God’s love most. May we stand alongside those
who are different from us – those with a view of the
world which might even call us to question our own.
And may we trust that the love of God will hold us as
we do this, even in unfamiliar places, because
nothing is impossible for God.
Amen.
We Sing: “Faith will not grow” – (TiS 691)
Faith will not grow from words alone, from proofs provided, scripture known;
our faith must feel its way about, and live with question marks and doubt.
The pattern Jesus showed, we share: life comes through death,
hope through despair.
God is made known in brokenness, and faith feeds on God’s emptiness.
The church still tells how Jesus came through death to glorious life again –
the strangest story! Yet, maybe, our faith will thrive on mystery.
Faith takes the little that we know, and calls for hope, and tells us: Go!
Love and take courage, come what may; Christ will be with us on the way.
Prayer for Others (prepared by Margaret Lord)
Let us pray:
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from
God, and whoever loves has been born of God and
knows God. Whoever does not love does not know
God, for God is love.”
As we bring our prayers for others, may each of us
seek to embody, and share, the love that is God, as
we live our lives in this hurting world.
Let love be shown for the whole of creation. We humans are but a small part of the greater
scheme of things, but the effect of our actions is highly disproportionate. We pray that we
can curb our arrogance and not irretrievably foul our own nest – the exquisite and bountiful
planet we call home.
May love work in places where there is little or no peace, and where even a glimmer of
hope is so desperately needed. We know of the seemingly intractable situations in Gaza and
the wider Middle East, in Ukraine, in South Sudan, and acknowledge the many other
conflicts of which we are barely aware.
May love work amongst all men, women and children who live in fear of their lives, because
their faith or ethnicity makes them targets and amongst the people who would harm them.
We pray for leaders at every level, that those who work for peace and justice are
encouraged and supported and that love may creep in where pride and lust for power hold
sway.
May love inform the relationships between the first and later peoples of our own country.
May we later comers learn to truly listen and then act justly. The status quo is unacceptable.
May love find an opening into the hearts and minds of those who for whatever reason are
feeling desolate, and seemingly beyond comfort. We pray for all who give their time to
volunteer to be at the end of a phone or to meet an emergency, offering practical help,
support, and comfort. We pray for those who sacrifice their own safety to keep others safe.
We give thanks for all those who listen and care along the way.
We pray for those closest to our hearts – members of this congregation here in the church
or at home, our families, and friends – all those we know to have special needs today. May
they know the love of God, as it is expressed to them through us and others.
We acknowledge that bringing our thoughts and prayers to these situations is the beginning,
not the total, of Christian love in action. There is work to be done. We all have differing gifts
to bring—gifts of listening, healing, consoling, feeding, advising, teaching, agitating— may
we use these gifts wisely, so that together we can provide at least a small patch to
contribute to a strong worldwide patchwork of loving action.
God is love. May we open ourselves to receive that love, and then to share it.
Now let us join in the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name;
Your kingdom come, your will be done on
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: “The power of your love” – (TiS 685)
Lord, I come to you:
let my heart be changed, renewed,
flowing from the grace that I found in you.
And, Lord, I’ve come to know
the weaknesses I see in me
will be stripped away
by the power of your love.
Hold me close, let your love surround me;
bring me near, draw me to your side:
and as I wait I’ll rise up like the eagle,
and I will soar with you: your Spirit leads me on in the power of your love.
Lord, unveil my eyes, let me see you face to face,
the knowledge of your love as you live in me.
Lord, renew my mind as your will unfolds in my life,
in living every day in the power of your love.
Hold me close …
Blessing:
Loving Spirit,
as you sent Philip to teach your love
in word and deed,
so send us.
Gracious God,
give us what we need to do your work
and keep us close to you,
abiding in your love.
Siblings in Christ,
love one another, as you are loved.
That’s it.
And the blessing of God,
Father, Son and Spirit,
the One who Mother’s us all,
be with you,
now 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), Ministry Matters, laughingbird.net and Fig Tree Worship.