Koonung Heights Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Pentecost 3 – 9 June 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: “Santo, santo” – (TiS 723)
Santo, santo, santo. Mi corazón te adora!
Mi corazón te sabe decir: Santo eres Señor!
Holy, holy, holy. My heart, my heart adores you!
My heart knows how to say to you: Holy are you, Lord.
Candle Lighting:
As the candle is awakened this morning,
come with hearts awake and alive,
hearts that are renewed and restored.
As the candle flickers and gathers strength,
remember the God who strengthens your heart.
Acknowledgement of Country:
As we gather, I acknowledge
the Wurundjeri WoiWurrung People
of the Kulin Nations,
Traditional Custodians of this land.
I pay my respects to Elders, past and present,
and all future leaders and generations.
Now, more than ever,
may we live in right relationship with all people
and with the land and the creatures around us.
Call to Worship:
The steadfast love and faithfulness of God endures forever.
God’s hand is stretched out toward you,
God beckons you into the presence of the gathered.
Come and worship with a heart that is whole and undivided.
Come and be renewed and refreshed,
for this is the day that the Lord has made!
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
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,
spring 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:
Creator God,
we come before you this day,
having seen the miracles of everyday creation in our world.
We enjoy both the bright sunshine and the gentle rain.
We marvel over the beauty of flowers and the complexity of your design.
Loving God,
forgive us when we see your miracles all around us
and still doubt your power, presence and love.
Forgive us when we act as though you are not enough
and focus on transient, unimportant things.
Forgive us when we treat this world, and each other,
with careless indifference or with malice.
You, who have created the most wondrous things
from the smallest of particles,
can create in our hearts, confidence and hope.
From our lives you can fashion the most delightful miracles
enabling us to serve you and love one another
through acts of mercy and kindness.
Bring us into rich and deep relationship with each other
and with you we pray.
Hold us in your steadfast, enduring and faithful love.
In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen.
Words of Assurance:
God’s word assures us of forgiveness.
Grace and gratitude abound, for God is faithful.
Friends, be assured, we are loved and forgiven.
Thanks be to God.
The Peace:
We are the family of God.
Let us share signs of familial love and compassion,
peace and forgiveness, as we share in the passing of Christ’s peace.
The Peace of Christ be with you
and also with you.
A Time for All: Uniting’s Winter Appeal
Have you noticed that, as the weather becomes colder, we tend to feel hungrier? I have! While we can enjoy extra food, sadly we know that some people can’t even afford to eat adequately, and have to remain hungry. The volunteers at BCO would be well aware of the need for community meals programs, which are the focus of this year’s Winter Appeal from Uniting.
Let’s hear some words written by Bronwyn Pike, Chief Executive Officer of Uniting: “As we pull out our Winter doonas, turn on our heaters, and prepare a hearty meal, please spare a thought for those facing the harsh realities of Winter without these basic essentials. Winter brings a world of worry to those struggling to survive.”
The cost of living crisis has plunged many into disaster. More than half of Australians are struggling to make ends meet. Many people are seeking help from agencies such as Uniting for the first time in their lives, driven by desperation and fear. Some haven’t eaten for two or three days.
Food, compassion and connection are essential foundations for rekindling hope. A warm meal and a welcoming smile can be a good start to helping someone in crisis. This is why Uniting offer community meals programs right across Victorian and Tasmania.
In Melbourne, there’s Hartley’s Community Meals in Prahran, the Engagement Hub in St. Kilda, and the hot lunches served in partnership with Footscray Uniting Church. Farther afield, there’s BreezeWay in Ballarat, Food Without Barriers in Wodonga and meals programs in Sale and East Bairnsdale. In Tasmania, there’s NoBucks in Hobart. These programs provide a sense of community as well as meals, and are linked to other Uniting services, such as Emergency Relief and mental health support. Some offer cooking classes, so that people can learn to prepare affordable meals independently, if they have access to a kitchen.
Due to the high cost of living, more and more people are needing meals and Emergency Relief, even some people who are working and earning an income. Uniting’s services are struggling to keep up with demand. Hence, the meals programs are the focus of Uniting’s Winter Appeal this year.
Here at Koonung Heights, we support BCO, or Boroondara Community Outreach, with our volunteers and donations of food and money. If, however, you also make a donation to Uniting’s Winter Appeal, you will be helping other programs across Victoria and Tasmania, who are providing meals and support to people in need.
Let’s share a prayer from Uniting, asking for God’s guidance as we reflect on these needs and this work:
Let us pray:
All-embracing God,
Guide us to see others as You see them.
Remind us of the inherent worth of all people, created and loved by You.
Guide us to notice what we might otherwise overlook.
Shape our minds to understand the needs of others.
Guide us to participate in Your restorative project in this world.
Open our hearts to offer compassion, and our hands to share blessings.
Guide us to follow the way of Jesus.
Inspire us to walk towards and not away from others’ hardship and hurt.
May we experience anew Your love and care for us,
as we seek to love and care for others.
Amen.
We Sing: “All the sleepy should have a place to sleep” – (TiS 697)
All the sleepy should have a place to sleep.
All the hungry should have a place to eat.
All the mourning should have a place to weep.
Does not every child of God deserve a home?
Make love happen by God’s grace and by God’s power.
Let God move you on this day and in this hour.
New creations will then blossom like a flower
for together we can be the hands of God,
for together we can be the hands of God.
All who suffer should have a place to heal,
and compassion to ease the pain they feel.
Talk is easy, but who will make love real?
Does not ever child of God deserve some peace?
Make love happen …
The forgotten should be remembered too.
Lonely people might need a friend or two.
Who would be there if it were me or you?
Does not every child of God deserve some care?
Make love happen …
Bible Reading: Psalm 138
1 1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name
for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted your name and your word
above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me; you increased my strength of soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.
Bible Reading: Mark 3:20-35
– Jesus and Beelzebul
20 Then he went home, and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. 21 When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” 22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” 23 And he called them to him and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.
28 “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
The True Kindred of Jesus
31 Then his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him.
32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” 33 And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Reflection:
The first verse of one of Charles Wesley’s hymns was a night-time prayer I learnt as a child. It went like this …
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild
Look upon a little child
Pity my simplicity
Suffer me to come to thee.
Even as adults, this image of ‘gentle Jesus, meek and mild’ is one that we can warm to. When we think about Jesus, we often imagine him as someone who was loving and kind, respectful and polite, someone who you couldn’t fail to be irresistibly drawn to if you met him. There is truth in that picture, but it is also true that Jesus was blunt and confronting, and this meant that he managed to make people really angry.
In Mark’s gospel, Jesus already has the religious and political leaders plotting to kill him by the beginning of the third chapter. You might remember from last week’s readings that Jesus was accused of breaking the sabbath law when he healed a man with a withered hand. Before long, we are going to hear of the people from his home town of Nazareth also getting angry enough to want to kill him.
In the reading we have heard today, the religious leaders are again denouncing Jesus and accusing him of being in league with the devil. As if this isn’t enough to deal with, Jesus’ immediate family, his mother and brothers, seem to want to shut him up too. Confronted with a huge crowd and all of this uproar, you might think that the sensible thing for Jesus to do would be to lay low, or try and slip through the crowd quietly, but Jesus responds in a way that is uncompromising as he challenges to most important societal norm of the day, the sanctity of family.
I actually feel sorry for Jesus’ family in this story, and I think that’s because I feel like I’ve been there at times, and maybe you have too. Let’s imagine together and try and see ourselves in the story. Imagine that someone you love is in trouble – maybe a brother or sister, an adult child or parent, someone whom you love dearly. Whatever they are doing, they seem to have gotten in too deep. They have somehow got themselves surrounded by people who are exploiting them horribly. They are not eating properly, they are not getting enough rest. The problem is escalating and feel you just have to step in. You gather the family together and race to rescue your loved one, filled with love and concern and acting with the best of intentions.
Now picture yourself on arrival. You rush to your loved one, saying “We are family. We are here and we are ready to help get you out of this mess.” How would you feel if your loved one looked at you and said, “Family? You’re not my family. These people, they are my new family.”
It hurts, doesn’t it. You were there with genuine concern to help a loved one, and they disown you, and not quietly either, but out loud, in public. This is exactly what Jesus does with his mother and brothers in this story, and there doesn’t seem to be any way to soften what Jesus said so that it becomes more comfortable for us to hear.
So that we are not challenged by Jesus words here, we tend to focus our attention on what Jesus says next: ‘Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’ Taken on its own, this is so much more palatable because it means that we can hugely extend our family. But is it as simple as that?
I wonder if there are a few things going on here. Firstly, Jesus knows the path he is walking. He has accepted that this will bring him into conflict with others and that the reactions of his family, however well-meaning, are simply not helpful. When those we love choose to do things that we are not comfortable with, we can rush in and, if we are not careful, remove any agency they have. Our concern can be misplaced and come to be more about ourselves. Jesus’ family would have heard what people were saying about him and I doubt this would have made their lives any easier.
Secondly, I think Jesus is saying something about where our first priority needs to be. For most of us, family duties tend to trump everything. Our culture is focused on family. We hear it reflected in the names of our political parties, institutions and churches. ‘Family first’ is something that most of us can warm too, particularly in a society where we are in disagreement on so many things. It seems that in this confrontation with his family, Jesus is reminding them that there is something more important, and that is being in step with God.
In a society where our concept of family has seemed to grow more and more small, nuclear and insular, Jesus’ invitation to join him in a family of abundance is very good news. We will be blessed with more parents and sisters and brothers and aunties and uncles. This is challenging and somewhat disorienting, but very good news.
With this invitation comes the challenge of our understanding of what ‘family’ actually is.
We have been born into families, but as people of faith we are all a part of God’s family. What holds us together, even when we don’t always get along, is our love of God, or rather, God’s love for us.
Often in our church families there is a history of being together, we have known each other a long time and have grown comfortable together. We know where we belong in our church family and we are content. But it seems to me that in Jesus’ invitation is the calling to be more dynamic and open-ended, for Jesus says his family are those who do the will of God, not just those who sign up for church and turn up every week no matter what. It seems to me that we might have brothers and sisters that we have not met, or may never see in the church, who could be part of our family as they are also doing the will of God.
The challenge Jesus presents, of loving God first, is not a call to love our families less, rather it is a call to love everyone else more, to love as Jesus loved us. Jesus showed love in many family situations – responding to appeals from parents to bless or heal their children, healing Peter’s mother-in-law, attending weddings and providing wine for marriage celebrations. As he was dying he expressed concern for his bereaved mother, and spoke to his disciples about taking care of her.
In the end love trumps everything. It is what matters. So love God, love your family, love your neighbours. Love those who are like you and those who are not. Love even when it’s hard to love. For in doing this we are living into Jesus’ invitation to be part of God’s family, Jesus’ sisters and brothers.
Amen.
We Sing: “A New Commandment” – (TiS 699)
A new commandment I give unto you
that you love one another as I have loved you,
that you love one another as I have loved you.
By this will others know that you are my disciples
if you have love one for another.
By this will others know that you are my disciples,
if you have love one for another.
Prayer for Others (prepared by Liz Pace)Let us pray …
Creator God, we come before you this morning with a multitude of questions and thoughts that seem to consume us, yet you ask us to have faith.
Strengthen our faith.
Calm our minds and bodies and hear these our prayers.
Through all the competing noises of this world we need help to discern your plans for your kingdom. Help us to see those who need our love, not just amongst our friends and families but those outside our comfort zone. Help us to become aware of the true needs of others.
We pray for all the people caught up in wars. We see their needs and feel helpless. Guide us to find the quiet ways to help that do not aggravate the situation. May our prayers then lead to action.
We pray for the people suffering from natural disasters. Encourage those who have been sent to help. Remind us that we can also help even in the smallest of ways.
Strengthen our faith.
Remind us that we need to take the time to build our spiritual strength so that we can cope with the continual bombardment by our media reminding us of our human failings.
Give us time to think things through, so that we do not automatically follow what seem to be the next course of action. Help us to discern what actions really will bring about your kingdom on this earth.
Father and mother of us all, many of us have particular prayers we need to bring before you this morning. Let us pray in silence and listen for the answers …
Hear our prayers, strengthen our faith and guide us in our actions, this we ask through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us say together the Lord’s Prayer …
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: “Community of Christ” – (TiS 473)
Community of Christ, who make the Cross your own,
live out your creed and risk your life for God alone:
the God who wears your face, to whom all worlds belong,
whose children are of every race and every song.
Community of Christ,
look past the Church’s door
to see the refugee, the hungry, and the poor.
Take hands with the oppressed,
the jobless in your street,
take towel and water, that you wash
your neighbour’s feet.
Community of Christ through whom the word must sound –
cry out for justice and for peace the whole world round:
disarm the powers that war and all that can destroy,
turn bombs to bread, and tears of anguish into joy.
When menace melts away, so shall God’s will be done,
the climate of the world be peace and Christ it’s Sun;
our currency be love and kindliness our law,
our food and faith be shared as one for evermore.
Blessing:
Sisters and brothers of Christ,
as we leave this place may we go in peace,
knowing the miracles God has produced in our lives
and being assured there are more to come.
Let us go bearing witness to God’s love,
encountering all we meet with forgiveness, grace and compassion.
Let us go as Christ’s family for all to see.
And the blessing of the God the Father,
God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
the One who Mother’s us all,
be with you 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: Ministry Matters, The Fig Tree Worship and www.laughingbird.net