Koonung Heights Uniting Church – Service of Worship at Home
Pentecost 20 – 10am or whenever possible
Today Heather is having a Sunday off and Ray Michelle leads our worship
You may like to light a candle during your time of worship.
Feel free to text the Peace to other members of the congregation.
As you prepare for worship today think on times of testing,
remembering how Moses was tested by the impatience of the Hebrews in the wilderness, and how the Pharisees tested Jesus with difficult questions.
• What testing times have you come through?
• How did you respond to those times?
• How have you grown through those times?
We Sing: “He is lord”– (Click on this and skip the ads to sing – words below)
Acknowledgement of Country:
As we come to worship today,
I would like to acknowledge that each one of us,
in our homes today
is on traditional land.
We acknowledge the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin nation.
We pay our respects to their elders,
past, present and emerging,
Call to Worship:
Lord Jesus we come to you as we are,
so many things on our hearts and minds,
and for this next period of time,
we ask that we may cast them aside
and feel in oneness with you
Amen.
We Sing: “To God be the Glory” – (Click on this link and skip the ads to sing)
Prayer of Adoration and Confession:
Ever-loving God,
we gather in praise and hope,
your beloved children,
with you, our eternally giving parent.
We come seeking the wisdom
to know your desire for us,
and to live as you have instructed.
Today we cry out in amazement
that you have called each person by name
that we are gathered up in your care
and sustained by your love.
We give thanks today and every day
for all that we have and all that we are.
Because you have blessed us
we seek to bless the world around us,
to stand up to fear and hate,
and reject the evils of bigotry.
As a community of Christians,
we try to be faithful in our attempts
to build your church;
to be a community of pilgrims
journeying together on the road
towards the light of your glorious kingdom.
In a world where rulers
seek to divide rather than build consensus,
we ask for the confidence
to show your love to all people.
We ask for the boldness to be
unbounded by earthly prejudice,
to spread your love,
to profess our faith without fear of ridicule.
Help us to bear witness to the call
to be in the world, while always seeking
to bring your Justice to it
Amen.
Words of Affirmation:
God,
who has never strayed from you,
is with you.
God will heal your heart
and direct your steps.
God’s loving care is with you through life.
This is good news.
Thanks be to God!
A Time for All:
A Quiz for all today!
• What colour is a mirror?
• If you enjoy wasting time, is it really wasted time?
• If you try to fail and succeed, then did you fail or succeed?
• Why is a boxing ring square?
• Why does rain drop but snow falls?
• Why is the third hand on a clock called the second hand?
• Why do we call the time when traffic is slowest rush hour?
Wonder how many you got right?
See if you can find this sort of question in today’s readings.
Let us pray:
God of love, thank you for always being with us,
for showing us how much you care
by sending your Son Jesus
to teach us and to guide us in our lives.
The world can be a confusing place
and it can be hard to always know
what is right and wrong so, we thank you
for our friends and family and all the people
who can teach and guide us
as we grow and learn.
God,
we pray for all your children, young and old,
that we will respect ,love, and care for each other,
so that we can make the world a better place for all people.
Amen
We Sing: “What a friend we have in Jesus” – (Click on this link and skip ads to sing – words below)
Exodus 33:12-23 (New International Version)
Moses and the Glory of the Lord
12 Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”
14 The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
17 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
21 Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”
Matthew 22:12-22 (New International Version)
Paying Taxes
15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax[a] to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
We Sing: “Count your Blessings” – (Click on this link and skip the ads to sing)
To watch and listen to the reflection use the link below. You will need to enter the following password QmTZp@46 (Copy and paste is easiest).
Reflection: “Divided Loyalty”
I’m going to title today’s reflection “divided loyalty” as I reflect on both testaments. The Old Testament reading in Exodus where Moses asks God is he with him and to show it so as he can continue to lead. Then in the New Testament where Jesus was asked the question in regards to paying taxes and what the people’s response should be.
How often do we have internal conflict in our lives of divided loyalties? For example, you get an invitation to a party and accept, only to receive one from someone else you are much closer to. You are then conflicted on how you can go to the second one and not offend the first, and yes, we know what the polite and right thing to do is. Similarly, when those close to us and have a relationship breakdown and how we remain friends with both sides, and when your Footy match clashes with a church or family event.
One last example is some of us have been doing a weekly study on “Climate for Change”. We are learning about the impact of ourselves on the environment. We are learning the impact and theory in regards to plastic waste, having a sustainable lifestyle, etc. We have all the good intent yet when getting to the supermarket rather than putting the fresh veg and fruit lose, we just today pop it in a plastic bag and say think to ourselves “next week we won’t”.
In the Old Testament reading today, we are joining Moses at the beginning of his ministry. He had received the call of God to go to Egypt and set the people free. But he was still absolutely full of doubt and was struggling with his calling. Verse 12: “Moses said to the Lord, ‘See, you have said to me, “Bring up these people”; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.”
Poor Moses was in a place that many of us find ourselves. He was facing a future that looked incredibly difficult and he didn’t feel like he had enough facts to face it with confidence. Moses was frightened for the future and he was asking God to fill in the gaps for him so he could carry on with less fear and more confidence.
And then Moses embarks on the same sort of bargaining that we all do at one time or another, verse 13: “Now if I have found favour in your sight, so that I may know you…”
There have been times in my past, times of real darkness in my life when I have bargained with God in this way…“Lord, if you heal this person I love, I promise I will be a better Christian…” “Lord, if you let me get this job, I promise you that I will pray for an hour every day…” Bargaining with God when we are facing difficulties in life is perfectly natural: it’s what we do. It’s certainly what I have done in the past.
Perhaps we feel guilty when we behave like that – but I don’t think we need to. It is a perfectly natural way to behave. And if even Moses did that, then perhaps it is understandable that we, weak as we are, will fall into the same pattern of behaviour. Yes, it comes back to the divided loyalty, and human nature.
Linking this to our new testament reading today, many of you may remember the Looney Tunes characters Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote.Wile E. Coyote was always trying to trick and capture Road Runner. However, he always failed. Time and time again, he failed. Spoiler alert: they will fail in today’s passage as well. Interestingly this is one of the few readings that appears in Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s gospels.
The Herodians were primarily politically motivated, whereas the Pharisees were primarily religiously motivated. Now, a natural question arises – who are the Herodians?
We don’t know everything about the Herodians, but we do know that they were loyal and supportive of the rule and reign of King Herod, hence the name “Herodians”.
They’re trying to set up a situation where Jesus offends someone and entraps himself no matter which side he takes. The disciples of the Pharisees are also hoping to trap Jesus on religious grounds, and the Herodians are hoping to trap him on political grounds. Under normal circumstances, these two groups may not even get along. However, when it came to trying to trick Jesus, they seemed to get along just fine.
Further to this, there was an issue with the actual coin. The coin used to pay the taxes was a denarius, which featured an image of Tiberius Caesar, the Roman emperor at that time. Many Jewish people believed that it was a sin for a coin to bear an image, as they viewed that it was a violation of the second commandment which said to “not worship any images”. Additionally, there were inscriptions on the coin that read “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus” and “High Priest.” Well, that’s not ok for a Jewish person, as they believed God was the only.
So, poor Jesus was caught in this situation. We often need to be reminded that Jesus did respect the Jewish law, he did not come to destroy or disrespect it as sometimes the assumption is made, and he gave a great response “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s” – Beep Beep!
So, that’s all very well – but it may sound a little trite, I guess. I know the hardship that many are going through in this lockdown. I know the dark places that many find themselves inhabiting right now – and it seems a bit shallow of me to just say, “Don’t worry – God is with you, he will give you rest, he understands…” He will not put you to the test of your loyalty.
Quite rightly, you would get pretty frustrated at me if that was the best I had to offer. You might know it’s true, but you want more … as Moses did, and those questioning Jesus. However my prayer for you this morning, is to work on remaining faithful and honest to God, be real to how you are feeling, accept that it might not change for that moment, don’t expect someone else to fix it, just sometimes let it sit with you in prayer, and give “your feelings” to God as you are the “things” that are God’s.
Blessings to you all,
Ray
We Sing: “Something Beautiful” – (Click on this link and skip the ads to sing)
Something beautiful, something good
All my confusion He understood
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife
But he made something beautiful of my life
If there ever were dreams
That were lofty and noble
They were my dreams at the start
And hope for life’s best were the hopes
That I harbor down deep in my heart
But my dreams turned to ashes
And my castles all crumbled, my fortune turned to loss
So I wrapped it all in the rags of life
And laid it at the cross.
Prayers for Others
Creator God,
sustainer of all that we perceive,
we join together in prayer
seeking wisdom and guidance
that we might show your
amazing love to all whom we meet.
In our communities your word
may be less obvious but is no less present.
Today we present ourselves as your faithful children,
ready to continue to spread your
message of love and care.
We pray for the strength to
do your work in our communities,
to bring the truly radical message of
your holy word to all whom we meet.
Our world continues to be ravaged
by disease, war, famine, and many other
natural and human-made disasters.
This year, like so many others,
has been difficult for people
all over our planet.
We pray for help
We pray for our Minister Heather and her family
We pray for those on our notice sheet
We pray for those on our hearts … (take your time and name them)
May we all see the promise of your light,
that no matter the problems we face
individually or as a people,
that we will know your love.
As our countries and societies
strive to recover from the difficulties
this year has brought,
we pray that, we along with our leaders,
will have the wisdom to pay
particular attention to those who
were already in most need.
We pray for all those on the margins
of society, those who are demonised
for their economic wealth,
skin colour, sexuality, or ability.
Grant us the boldness to
tear down the walls built to divide us
and bring your righteous justice to all.
We, the church,
ask for your continued protection.
We pray that we will not be confined
by the buildings that serve us,
but that we will use the resources
you have given us to do what is necessary to
be truly radical as we seek to discern your calling
to spread the message of your holy word
to a world that is so in need of your love.
We share the words Jesus taught us:-
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: “Shine Jesus Shine” – (Click on this link to view images – words below)
Blessing:
As we leave our time together
God looks on in love.
We are treasured children,
priceless in God’s eyes,
let that knowledge lift you.
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 36 )