Koonung Heights Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Led by Rev Dr Paul Tonson
Pentecost 4 – 16 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.
To Focus Our Thoughts:
An iceberg reflects a deep truth about our lives – what is visible is just a small part of who we are. Moreover, we all have depth of experience that mostly do we not reveal. How does knowing this affect how we relate to each other?
WE GATHER IN A SPIRIT OF PRAYER
W: This is the house of God, a place of prayer for all people.
M: Here there are no insiders and outsiders, no favourites, no strangers.
W: Here we celebrate the divine love and embrace we see in the life of Jesus.
M: We renew our journey following his way of love and affirmation.
W: Here we raise our sails to catch the Wind of the Spirit guiding us into life.
M: May we have inspired vision to see more clearly ourselves, others and the world.
W: We acknowledge the rich heritage of the local indigenous people and of our own
forebears in culture and in faith.
ALL: May our mindfulness here today sustain our faith and increase the storehouse of
wisdom we have to share with others.
We Sing: “To know seeing from blindness” – (TiS 656)
Jesus, my Lord, let me be near you:
by your own word help me to hear you.
Jesus, my Lord, lead me to love you,
nothing more dear, no one above you.
All through the day, sisters and brothers,
yours we will be, caring for others,
hearing your words, learning your story,
bearing your cross, sharing your glory.
Teach us to know seeing from blindness,
help us to show everywhere kindness.
Jesus, our Lord, lead us and guide us,
best of all friends, always beside us.
© Howard Charles Adie Gaunt – 1902-83
The Peace:
Chat Time for the Congregation:
This time enables everyone to tune into the theme for today. It is also a way to show that each of us has something worthwhile to share with others here.
Share an experience where you discovered that another person you knew had a much richer life or deeper understanding than you had thought.
We Sing: “I Believe” WE REMAIN SEATED
“I Believe” was commissioned and introduced in a CBS musical show to offer hope and faith to people troubled by the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950.
I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows
I believe that somewhere in the darkest night, a candle glows
I believe for everyone who goes astray
Someone will come to show the way
I believe, I believe
I believe above a storm the smallest prayer can still be heard
I believe that someone in the great somewhere hears every word
Every time I hear a newborn baby cry
Or touch a leaf or see the sky
Then I know why I believe
Every time I hear a newborn baby cry
Or touch a leaf or see the sky
Then I know why I believe
WE LISTEN FOR WHAT IS REAL AND TRUE
READINGS:
1 Samuel 16:1-7 Looking on the heart
Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.” But Samuel asked, “How can I do that? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”
“Take a heifer with you,” the Lord replied, “and say that you have come to make a sacrifice to the Lord. Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you which of his sons to anoint for me.” So Samuel did as the Lord instructed. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town came trembling to meet him. “What’s wrong?” they asked. “Do you come in peace?”
“Yes,” Samuel replied. “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then Samuel performed the purification rite for Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice, too. When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!”
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
2 Corinthians 5:16f Not just a human point of view
We have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
Willy Wonka It must be believed to be seen
Beyond this door’s a factory begat from just a bean
Beyond this door surprise is in store
But it must be believed to be seen…
Beyond this door’s a banquet of Wonka made cuisine
A lucky few will get to pass through
But it must be believed to be seen …
Beyond this door’s a puzzle you’ll find out what I mean
Beyond this gate Is the world I create
But it must be believed to be seen ….
Beyond this door is chocolate! So tasty, it’s obscene!
So follow me for I guarantee
That this world I’ve conceived and all I’ve achieved
It must be believed to be seen!
Response: May we have the desire and courage to see more clearly:
May the truth set us free.
Anthem: “Make Spaces for Spirit” – words by Shirley Murray, music by Carlton R. Young.
Reflection: Seeing Beneath the Outward – “Doing a Samuel”
Let us spend a few minutes together thinking about seeing and believing
Sometimes SEEING can be wonderful and even life changing experience. The vista from a high lookout, the stars in a dark sky on Philip Island that was a new experience for our Chinese student, green buds on dry stalks of the buddleia pruned down to bare wood, the birth of a child.
‘Just seeing is believing’ are words from a song by Elvis Presley. The mountains, the seas and the stars told him: ‘My God is there’. The same truth appears in Psalm 8:4: “When I see the work of your hands, what is man?” When we wonder and are in awe we remember that we are creatures, that we have received life as sheer gift, that even our simplest pleasures, “raindrops on roses”, are a phenomenal gift of undeserved joy.
This kind of ‘Seeing with our mind’s eye’ is not just about the physical object but about what it means for us. Lights go on in our minds when we see something mentally – we discover a crossword clue, we recall a forgotten connection with someone, Archimedes discovers flotation: eureka!; we work out how to repair something we have taken apart; we understand why our beloved does something differently from the way we do it!
Today’s scripture reminds us that mere outward seeing has great limitations, since there is much below the surface. ‘Things are not always what they seem’ is an ancient proverb from the circle around Socrates in Greece, 400 years BCE. Samuel learnt this when he went to anoint a new king from the family of Jesse. The older brother appears in every way ideal but he is not the one. His inner being does not match what young David has to offer.
To be honest, given the way David’s story unfolds we do not know how he was any better than his brother. But we do know that like Samuel we must learn not to judge a book by its cover. We need to look on the heart, see beyond the outward. And we all have good memories of getting to know someone who proved to be so much richer a person than our prejudice had led us to believe.
One aspect of looking on the heart is seeing behind actions just what makes people tick. Gillian and I have been doing this for nearly 50 years and we are still learning! In our society violence and paedophilia have shocked us. Sadly such offenders seem almost beyond redemption but often they are only acting out violence and abuse imposed on them. Can we see them as ‘there but for the grace of God go I? We have a choice about what we see.
To look on the heart is an act of ‘pure imagination’. Imagination is one of our powerful spiritual capacities. So it is that a song from Willy Wonka stands alongside what Elvis sang: ‘It must be believed to be seen.’ The story is a lot about chocolate, but the real sweet the children need is imagination.
When we see with our imagination – we look beyond what is, to envision what might be. Fred Kaan’ hymn recognises that we need new eyes for seeing, we need to learn to love others as they may become.
Oh how MUCH you and I may transform our close relationships, our congregation, our neighbourhoods, our work and our leisure contacts if we will “do a Samuel” this week: let’s show someone we believe in them; let’s look beyond how they seem, to imagine what they may become; with our steady love and encouragement let’s empower them to become all that they can be. And in the process our gift of believing in another person will also enable us to be all that we can be.
OFFERING we remain seated as, thoughtfully, we sing …
“Lord Jesus we belong to you” – (TiS 686)
Lord Jesus, we belong to you, you live in us, we live in you;
we live and work for you — because we bear your name.
May we receive each other, Lord, for you receive the least of us
and come to us in them — because we bear your name.
Let nothing that we do or say offend the weak so that they fall
and lose their faith in you — because we bear your name.
You are the salt that cleanses us, so clean us out, and make us fit
for common life with you — because we bear your name.
© John Wilfred Kleinig – 1942-
WE RESPOND IN LOVE AND HOPE
Thanksgiving and Offering:
The blessings and the challenges of human life are manifold:
We give thanks for everything that has shaped us for good.
We are all gifted with rich experiences: some of joy, some of pain:
May we know how to make our living enriching for others.
We admit the prejudices and fears we have learned that can make others seem uninteresting or even ugly.
We pray for stronger motivation to see the beauty sometimes only latent in others.
In every honest conversation with another person or within our own minds, the wind of the Eternal Spirit is blowing us towards truth and life.
In our every act of listening and accepting, the Spirit of the Holy reaches others with transforming love.
May we have grace and wisdom to listen more attentively and to learn from others, especially those we often disregard. So may the spiritual gifts in each one of us find greater fulfillment, as we follow in the Way of Jesus, Amen.
The Joys and Concerns of the Congregation:
Prayers for Others (prepared by Margaret Lord)
Let us pray …
Let us open our hearts and minds and listen in the depth of our being for that still small voice, as we pray for ourselves and for the world.
May we take to heart what Samuel learned – the Lord does not look at things as people do. While people look at the outward appearance, the Lord looks at the heart.
It is easy to judge and assume things – we do it all the time.
When we don’t take the time and effort to try to determine truth from falsehood, performance from the reality, honesty from deception, we throw up barriers and create injustices all over the place. May we be more patient with others before forming an opinion about them – before “othering” them.
How we all long for peace in this complicated world – peace between nations, peace between factions of all sorts, peace within neighbourhoods, peace within families.
We know that there can be no peace without justice, and no justice without truth,
and no truth without letting go of prejudice and the demonisation of others.
Sometimes peace means the calm and quiet that fills our minds and souls and we are thankful for those experiences.
Sometimes peace is a result of effort and struggle. We pray that we might all be up for such struggle. When peace seems an impossible goal – may we hang on to hope, rather than be paralysed and depressed by the enormity of situations.
So many people right now, through no fault of their own, struggle to find peace in their lives. Amongst them, we think of:
- Those living through the horrors of war – where the “othering” of people makes horrible violence possible within conflicts.
- Those living under the burden of systemic injustice – often the result of deep- seated prejudice, conscious or unconscious, from the rest of us.
- Those affected by disasters – natural and man-made. May we especially strengthen the way we empathise and react to tragedies in communities whose daily lives are very different from ours, so that the problem can seem a bit abstracted or not warranting our concern.
- Those who are sick, or sad or anxious and whose lives are diminished by the negative assessments of others.
- Those who experience domestic violence and need to be truly seen and heard by those who could help them.
- Those known to us personally, who are struggling with issues of many kinds.
We pray for all those who are trying to bring peace into these difficult situations: governments, professional workers, volunteers, families, friends and ourselves.
May each of us have the courage and determination to make our contribution to building a just world.
May we be planters of seeds of truth, hope, peace and justice.
We bring our prayers, spoken and unspoken, inspired by Jesus, who taught his disciples to pray, saying:
Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
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: “New Eyes for Seeing” – (TiS 648)
Help us accept each other as Christ accepted us;
teach us as sister, brother, each person to embrace.
Be present, Lord, among us and bring us to believe
we are ourselves accepted and meant to love and live.
Teach us, O Lord, your lessons, as in our daily life
we struggle to be human and search for hope and faith.
Teach us to care for people, for all — not just for some,
to love them as we find them or as they may become.
Let your acceptance change us, so that we may be moved
in living situations to do the truth in love;
to practise your acceptance until we know by heart
the table* of forgiveness and laughter’s healing art.
Lord, for today’s encounters with all who are in need,
who hunger for acceptance, for righteousness and bread,
we need new eyes for seeing, new hands for holding on:
renew us with your Spirit; Lord, free us, make us one!
*The 70 times table is in Matthew 18:21–22:
‘seventy times seven’.
Blessing:
May the light of the world in Jesus of Nazareth shine in our lives each day.
May holy imagination give us new vision and transform our old ways.
May divine love infuse us and be hope for those around us who struggle.
Song: “Day by Day”
These words are from a prayer written by Richard Bishop of Chichester ca 1200 CE
Day by day, day by day,
O Dear Lord three things I pray
To see thee more clearly,
Love you more dearly,
Follow you more nearly, day by day by day by day.
(Words reproduced with permission under CCLI Licence)