Koonung Heights Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Lent 2 – 5 March 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.
We will share Communion during this service so you may like to have the elements ready.
Introit: “Holy, holy, holy” – (Click on this and skip the ads – words below)
Santo, santo, santo. Mi corazon te adora!
Mi corazon te sabe decir: Santo eres Senor!
Holy, holy, holy. My heart, my heart adores you!
My heart knows how to say to you: Holy are you, Lord.
Lighting the Christ Candle:
In lighting the Christ Candle this day,
we remember that the light of Christ is what guides us,
going before and lighting our path.
Acknowledgement of Country:
This land is God’s land
and God’s Spirit dwells here.
I acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung
People of the Kulin nation,
traditional custodians of this land under God.
and I pay my respects to their elders and leaders,
past and present,
and to all their descendants.
I commit myself again to working for justice in this land.
Call to Worship:
Let us welcome each other
firstly, by admitting to ourselves
that we are not the best versions of ourselves.
Hear me.
Let us welcome each other
by confessing our sins
to our neighbours and to God.
Forgive me.
Let us welcome each other
by forgiving each other
and inviting all into new life.
We forgive each other.
Let us welcome each other
and make space,
holy space,
for worship.
Amen.
We Sing: “Here in this place” – (Click on this link & skip the ads –TIS words below)
Prayer of Adoration and Confession:
Holy One,
we enter this holy space
in awe of all that you are,
and all that we have yet to discover of you.
We bow humbly before you
and acknowledge our gratitude to you
for the life we are given.
In your image we are made and given free will.
You have created a universe for us
to explore and to care for,
a community to be part of
and an unconditional love
revealed in your son, Jesus.
In this special season of Lent,
we remind ourselves of how small a part we play
in your bigger story.
Yet each one of us is special and unique,
no matter what we think,
we are loved by you
and given a wealth of people and gifts
to help us on our journey in life.
As part of the body of Christ
we work together building your kingdom;
as individuals we each have our part to play.
No matter what part of the journey we are on
we are meant to work together
to encourage and teach each other.
The gift of free will
allows us to make choices that sometimes we regret.
We come before you and offer our apology
for times when we have made poor choices,
and we pray that if we have hurt anyone
that they would forgive us.
Help us to accept that sometimes
we need others to point out our mistakes
and guide us back to the right path.
Help us to be humble enough
to receive and apologise for our faults and failings.
Help us when we see others making mistakes
to gently and lovingly let them know
and help them to see their mistakes
and guide them to make things right.
Keep us humble, Lord.
Help us to be open to those who would guide us wisely,
may we grow daily into the people we were created to be
and give us wisdom to know when to guide others.
Amen.
Words of Assurance:
Sisters and brothers in Christ,
meeting with Jesus is a life-giving experience,
and we are affirmed by God’s grace to us.
This is good news!
Thanks be to God!
We Listen: “Count Your Blessings” – (Click on this link & skip the ads – words below)
Prayer of Dedication:
Generous God,
giver of all things,
you richly bless us.
Receive our offerings of food and money today,
those gifts in the plate and those given by direct credit.
As you poured out your love for us by sending Jesus,
may we pour out our love for you
by continuing to build the kingdom
of which he spoke and taught,
loving and serving
locally and globally.
Amen.
Bible Reading: Isaiah 66:10-14
10 Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her –
11 that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
from her glorious bosom.
12 For thus says the Lord:
I will extend prosperity to her like a river,
and the wealth of the nations
like an overflowing stream;
and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm,
and dandled on her knees.
13 As a mother comforts her child,
so I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
The Reign and Indignation of God
14 You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
your bodies shall flourish like the grass;
and it shall be known that the hand of the Lord is with his servants,
and his indignation is against his enemies.
Bible Reading: John 8:1-11
1 while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”
Watch and listen to the reflection
Reflection: A line in the sand.
I remember visiting my nephew the day he was born. It was 3 September and I remember negotiating a longer lunch break so that I could spend a little bit of time with him at the hospital. I remember walking into the room and seeing my sister and this beautiful baby. I remember commenting that he was so tiny. I remember her response, which I can’t repeat and which was probably justified as he was over 4.5 kilos (10 pounds) and he had arrived naturally in just four hours. I also remember visiting her the next day when things were not going too well. He had been moved into the special care nursery and my sister struggled with this. All she wanted was to be a nurturing mother, and she and her child were separated.
This week’s lection from the Hebrew Scriptures continues the female imagery we find within the Bible. The embodiment of that imagery again is used to help the reader understand something of the qualities of God. Last week the image that took our focus was that of wings of shelter. This week the focus is on a description of the city of Jerusalem (and God) as a mother. If this reading had begun a couple verses earlier, we would have heard of the pain the city had to endure, a pain akin to childbirth, yet in today’s verses we encounter a beautiful description of the life-give sustenance and nurture of a mother.
Returning from exile, the people are called to rejoice with Jerusalem. I know there was rejoicing by my sister when her child was able to be back with her and she could hold him again. The prophet describes the relationship between Jerusalem and the people as mother and child, with the returning exiles nursing at Jerusalem’s breast and drinking deeply with delight. The comfort that comes nurtures the people and provides everything they need.
The feminine imagery then expands from Jerusalem as mother to God as mother. The milk becomes the river of prosperity that God extends to the people. The people are now carried and dandled – the term for bouncing a baby or young child up and down on the knee in an affection way. God fulfills every need the people have. God comforts them and delights in them the same way that a mother comforts and delights in her child.
We like the thought of God nurturing and comforting, but the last verse alludes to the fact that God is also indignant, yet this indignation seems to be reserved for those who are against us. Just like a mother, God is protective when her children are threatened.
This complexity of the nurturing, comforting yet indignant God, is carried through into the well-known story of the scribes and Pharisees who bring a woman accused of adultery before Jesus. It is worth noting that this passage does not appear in the earliest manuscripts of John’s gospel, so it may have been part of an oral tradition added later, a story which illustrates how Jesus is the One who stands with the accused.
Stories like this can be a little problematic as they can be used to reinforce anti-Semitic stereotypes. The language in John’s gospel definitely has an anti-Jewish undercurrent, so rather than focus on the scribes and Pharisee’s, let us hear the story from the perspective of the unnamed woman, as she experiences the judgement of those in positions of power, and their attempts to use her in order to trap Jesus between Jewish and Roman laws.
They were ready to stone me.
Why would he want to save me – even if he could?
They had the law on their side.
Why would he break it – even if he dared?
They put to him an impossible question – any answer would catch him out.
Why would he outwit them, even if he knew how?
They used me to bring him down but he brought himself down.
Without a word, without an answer,
without an escape,
down he stooped on his knees in the dirt,
stretching out a hand,
trailing a finger through the dusty sand.
His head bowed, his back bent,
his arm moving slowly, making lines …
They keep on badgering him, goading him into tripping himself up.
But without a stumble, he stood straight and made clear his line in the sand.
“Stone her then, whoever is without sin.”
Bending down once more,
trailing fingers, eyes lowered, arm outstretched.
Silence.
Slowly, shuffling footsteps.
Accusers departing.
No-one left to condemn me.
“Go well now,” he said to me, “Be without sin.”
What a way to save a life.
The woman witnesses firsthand Jesus’ simple but effective manner of de-escalating the argument. I wonder how it must have felt to have the enclosed space of enforced judgement by others, and the imposition of shame, stripped away as that shame is distributed amongst all of those gathered, rather than focused on a single person?
Jesus provides an ‘off ramp’ for the accusers so that they can leave the highway of hypocrisy they had been travelling upon. For while they quote the law of Moses to accuse her, that law requires both parties be stoned and yet it is only the woman they bring. This is not really about her at all, but about people with power using someone who has none to achieve their own ends. Jesus’ words shift the judgement and encourage self-reflection in her accusers who come to recognise the limits of their own authority.
The woman escapes the taunts of those who accuse her, and is freed to live her life knowing that she is not condemned. Jesus’ grace is offered to her, not after she has confessed her sin, or after she has promised she won’t do it again. Jesus offers life affirming grace without a caveat.
I like to think of Jesus doodling on the ground.
I like to think that Jesus did not draw a straight line, but a squiggly circle.
A circle that made room for more and more inclusion.
A circle that meandered, accommodating others.
A circle that enabled the most sceptical and the least likely to find a way in.
Let our doodling always be as inclusive. When we draw a line, may we not discover that Jesus is on the other side of it.
May the pronouncements we make be filled with compassion, love and acceptance, as we strive to doodle with Jesus.
Amen.
We Sing: “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy” – (Click on this link for the tune – words below)
Prayer for Others (prepared by Rhonwen Pierce):
Let us pray
Lord God,
As we are about to welcome the new people to our community may we be open to ways to invite many, many more. We prepare ourselves to celebrate communion and reach out in prayer to those in great need. Lord, you know their needs, just remind us in our thoughts of who and what we need to remember.
World news brings information of disasters and wars and rebellions from many places but not all the problems are being faced. There may only be one line about floods in Brazil or drought and starvation in central Africa or other places. So often we feel overwhelmed and want to say ‘God you look after it’ but we need to care and pray and be open to ways to act as you lead us.
Here in Australia Lord we are looking at human caused carbon dioxide levels as being the cause of climate change but now different research is finding other causes in geological strata’s, ice cores and cave speleothems and other places. You created this world to be the challenge for human life we believe and now know there were other animals dominant in other times. Lead us to be more caring of everything living and sharing this perfect world so that we keep it this way.
We pray for those who have lost loved ones especially for Grace Chong’s friends and family. We pray for all who are unwell or unable to join us that they feel the love and care we have for them. Let us hold them up in this silence.
We remember the elders who so faithfully support our fellowship and pray for Rev Heather and her family.
As we remember the indigenous people of Australia at the beginning of our service so we pray for improvements in our understanding of them and for the Voice in parliament. We pray for all new arrivals to this country that they also be understood and able to settle here. This country is very different and we pray we continue to be leaders in caring for that difference.
These things and many more we bring to you Lord, sharing together words based on the prayer Jesus taught his disciples …
Our Father – Mother, who lives in and beyond all of creation,
may your name be made holy.
May your commonwealth thrive, may your justice be done,
may your loving compassion reign in every season.
Give today the bread we need; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors;
in every trial strengthen us, in the midst of evil deliver us.
For yours is the dominion and the power and the glory, now and forever. Amen.
Service of Welcome:
We come now to a happy and significant moment in our congregation’s life – a service to welcome newcomers and to receive some by transfer of membership.
Many people have started attending in the last few months and we give thanks for this. At the same time, we acknowledge that the closure of the Woodhouse Grove church has been a source of sorrow for some of these people.
In the Uniting Church, every member and friend is encouraged to witness to God’s love in Christ, through regular worship, through building up the community of faith and through service to the world.
Questions to newcomers
In this moment, do you, as a member or friend of the Uniting Church, reaffirm your faith in God and your commitment to Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord?
I do.
Do you, in publicly affiliating yourself as a member or friend of this congregation, promise to share in the life and worship of the church and service to the world, as you are able and as you are called?
I do.
Question to the congregation
Do you, the congregation of Koonung Heights, welcome each of these people into the fellowship of this congregation, and will you offer them your love and support?
We will.
Let us pray:
God of new beginnings, we praise you for calling us to faith
and for gathering us into the church, the Body of Christ.
We give thanks for this congregation
and for the ways in which it witnesses to Your love and grace in the world.
And in this moment, we especially give thanks for those we have welcomed,
and for the faith in you that they have reaffirmed today.
May we all live together in the Spirit, building one another up in love,
sharing in the life of the church, and serving the world,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Communion:
Preparation
Come,
and gather with your friends and relations.
Come,
share time with all in your church family.
Come,
eat and drink together,
with the people of God here and everywhere.
Live for love, jump for joy, pray for peace,
practice patience, kindle kindness, generate generosity,
find faith, garnish gentleness, show self-control.
As we gather to share God’s gifts of bread and wine, we remember Jesus.
We remember his life and death, his stories and teaching,
the promises made and the gifts given to us, the children of God.
So, let us pause and be still, as we talk to God in prayer.
Prayer Of Thanksgiving
Let us give thanks for the good things in our life.
Let us give thanks that Jesus forgives our mistakes.
Let us give thanks that God gives us what we need.
Let us give thanks for the Holy Spirit breathing life into us.
Thank you, God, for the faith growing inside us,
for your wonderful gifts and your friendship,
for our safety and shelter.
Thank you, God, for food to nourish us
and water to quench our thirst.
Thank you, God, for the people to whom we extend our care,
the people we can help,
the people we can support,
the people we can heal,
the people from whom we learn,
the people we can encourage,
and the people we can strengthen.
In the name of Jesus we pray,
Amen.
Invitation
God is here, Jesus is here, the Holy Spirit is here.
The bread is made ready, the wine is served, the people are here.
The time is now to celebrate the feast of God.
Come, and share together … the gifts of God for the people of God.
Come, if you are hungry and thirsty, God will meet your need.
Come, if you feel full, God will bless you.
Come, whatever your experience of God, and gain some more.
Come, people of faith, and put your faith into action today.
All are invited. All are welcome.
Listen as we recall the story of why we come to celebrate the Lords Supper.
Institution
Jesus ate and drank with his followers in an upper room long ago.
At the end of that meal he took some left-over bread that was still on the table,
gave thanks to God for his generosity, broke it into two pieces and said:
‘This is my body broken for you, eat this and remember me.’
Then Jesus took his cup of wine, swirled it around and declared,
‘This is my blood which I will shed for you. Drink this to remember me.’
So, let us take our bread and wine, and as we eat and drink,
remember all that Jesus has done for us, yesterday, today, and forever.
So, eat and drink, experience God, enjoy the blessing, live the gospel each day,
in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
(eat and drink)
Prayer
The bread is gone, but more can be baked.
The wine is drunk, but more can be poured.
God is always here.
There is work to be done, Good News to be shared,
people to say sorry to, kindness to be practised,
love to give away, and faith to unpack.
So,
let God in, let faith grow, let peace reign,
let fairness be experienced, let hope be inspirational,
in the name of the Creator, Christ and Companion.
Amen.
Sing: “Sent forth by God’s blessing” – (Click on this link & skip the ads – TIS words below)
Blessing:
Go now children of God,
know you are loved and forgiven.
Go out into the world
and share the good news
that is for everyone.
Go in the love, joy and peace of God,
made known to us
as the Father, Son and Spirit,
Creator, Christ and Companion.
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) and The Women’s Lectionary: Preaching The Women Of The Bible Throughout The Year (Ashley M Wilcox), WorkingPreacher.com and Fig Tree Worship.