EASTER 4 3RD MAY 2020
PREPARATION:
As usual by now, have a candle and a bible ready as well as your offering,
actual or symbolic (if you give direct debit way).
We will be following the Assembly guidelines for Communion as a dispersed congregation, rather than a gathered one. The group acknowledge these arise from within our current (my emphasis) liturgical guidelines and understanding of the Sacraments. One approved suggestion is this: Congregations may, for good pastoral and theological reasons… use liturgies which do not replace the liturgy of Holy Communion, but provide a specific time within the service for the remembrance and celebration of the saving activity of God through Jesus Christ.
It is my conviction that Jesus is the one who invites us to sup with him,
and as we respond affirmatively to that invitation,
we open ourselves to whatever blessing may follow
from breaking bread and drinking the cup in his presence.
So if you choose to join in the Breaking the Bread Liturgy prepared by myself,
within the spirit of the above quote from the Assembly guidelines
(note however, that the rest of the service makes sense without doing so)
please have ready: bread, a sufficient enough piece for breaking/tearing in half;
and juice or wine in a small jug, or container from which it can be poured
into a glass/cup for drinking, even if you are by yourself.
You may wish to reflect on your responses to the questions asked last Sunday
as part of your preparation.
HOSPITALITY PRAYER
The service concludes with a prayer I wrote some eleven years ago,
what I call the Hospitality Prayer.
How to offer hospitality which reflects God’s hospitality offered to us
during this time of social isolation and distancing poses a real challenge.
One way may be to ensure others have food to eat, whether close by,
in our neighbourhoods, or much further afield.
From Friday 1st May driving around is permissible within a 50 kilometers radius of your home. I for one will be happy to pick up goods, contact free, is that the term?
and others will also I am sure, to drop these off where needed.
Or you could commit yourself to a financial donation
to a service which provides food for people struggling to put food on the table…
such as asylum seekers and homeless persons
but now also including many more other economically struggling families.
Please contact me for more specific information if you wish.
louisvanlaar@msn.com or phone 0478 100 012
EASTER 4 3RD MAY 2020 BALD HILLS UNITING CHURCH (QLD)
WE GATHER IN GOD’S PRESENCE
Being aware that God, though present with us,
is also beyond time and space,
let us therefore gather as a worshipping community mindful of each other
regardless of the day and time when we have chosen to do this…
So even though we may be a solitary person at worship,
we can say the responses within the liturgy,
imagining the others also at worship speaking them
in the presence of God, even if not physically present with us.
Therefore, as the Communion of Saints attests,
in God, we are all present to each other.
Lighting the Candle
Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness
but will have the light of life.’
Greeting:
the Lord is risen HE IS RISEN INDEED
this risen Lord be with you AND ALSO WITH YOU
We Focus on God: Psalm 23 (Jerusalem Bible Translation) Psalm Of David
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 In grassy meadows he lets me lie.
BY TRANQUIL STREAMS HE LEADS ME
3 TO RESTORE MY SPIRIT.
He guides me in paths of saving justice
as befits his name.
4 EVEN WERE I TO WALK IN A RAVINE AS DARK AS DEATH
I SHOULD FEAR NO DANGER, FOR YOU ARE AT MY SIDE.
Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me.
5 YOU PREPARE A TABLE FOR ME
UNDER THE EYES OF MY ENEMIES;
you anoint my head with oil;
MY CUP BRIMS OVER.
6 Kindness and faithful love pursue me
every day of my life.
I MAKE MY HOMEIN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD
FOR ALL TIME TO COME.[1]
We Sing: TIS 145 THE KING OF LOVE MY SHEPHERD IS
Prayer:
Shepherding God,
we gather as your people longing for what you can give us,
nurture and nourishment through your word which alone can satisfy,
abundant life through Christ Jesus our Lord, the living word and bread of life;
with praise and gratitude we offer you this time and our focus. AMEN
WE LISTEN FOR A WORD FROM GOD
Scripture ACTS 2: 42- 47
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.43 Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceedsto all, as any had need. 46 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at homeand ate their food with glad and generoushearts, 47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
PETER 2. 22-25
‘He, (Jesus Christ) committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.’
23 When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his woundsyou have been healed. 25 For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
Reader: In this is the Word of the Lord
WE HEAR AND REJOICE, O LORD
JOHN 10.1-11
‘Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.’ 6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
7 So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
11 ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Reader: This is the Gospel of our Lord
PRAISE TO YOU LORD JESUS CHRIST
Prayer of Confession:
God of mercy,
we confess to straying from your guidance
and thinking that the grass offered by the false shepherds of today
appears greener and tastier than what you offer… LORD have mercy
Christ Jesus, saviour,
we confess to taking for granted your self-giving on our behalf,
neglecting to give of ourselves in return… CHRIST have mercy
Spirit of truth,
we confess to side stepping uncomfortable truths
about our world, and ourselves,
which necessitated our rescue by God through Christ Jesus… SPIRIT have mercy
Word of Reconciliation
Jesus said, I am the good shepherd;
the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Peter affirms: Jesus himself bore our sins in his body on the cross,
by his wounds we have been healed…
We have been freed from sin,
we have been returned to the shepherd and guardian of our souls,
so we say with joy in our hearts, THANKS BE TO GOD
Passing the Peace.. as we raise our hands in blessing to those unseen…
The peace of the Risen Lord be with you all
AND ALSO WITH YOU.
We Bring Our offering to God
Having made peace with each other,
let us now set aside our gifts to support the local and wider work of the church
and we bless our gifts…
Generous God
who has given us what we have,
and continues to make us who we are,
with gratitude we give these offerings
for the use of your work through Christ’s church.
We Sing: TIS 385 NOW IS ETERNAL LIFE
- Now is eternal life
if ris’n with Christ we stand,
in him to life reborn,
held firm within his hand;
no more we fear death’s ancient dread,
in Christ arisen from the dead. - For God, the living God,
stooped down to share our state;
by death destroying death
Christ opened wide life’s gate.
He lives, who died; he reigns on high;
who live in him shall never die. - Unfathomed love divine,
come reign within my heart;
from you no depth or height,
nor life nor death can part;
my life with you in God shall be,
now and through all eternity.
George Wallace Briggs 1875–1959 alt. Words by permission Oxford University Press, CCLI LICENCE NO . 266946
Music © The United Reformed Church in the United Kingdom. Used by permission.
NURTURED AND NOURISHED BY THE GOOD SHEPHERD
The round-about to where our newly constructed road,
including the newly constructed bridge, takes me,
is newly adorned with a massive McDonald’s.
Currently ‘take away only’ of course.
A constant stream of vehicles testifies to its popularity!
So different to the stream of quiet waters
and green pastures offered by God as shepherd in David’s psalm.
Every now and then there are attempts to bring the imagery
of the 23rd Psalm up to date…
for our day and age would ‘he leads me to a multiplicity of Fast Food Outlets on every corner’ do?
Thinking back to when my two offspring were youngsters, ‘with a children’s play area’ would complete the food and rest image!
How we eat reflects so much of how we live! Until the lockdown restrictions, life for most families was fast and furious.
And eating echoed life’s pace.
Of the earliest disciples Luke records, “day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people” (Acts 2:46–47).
The image brought to mind here speaks of conviviality and joy.
We must not forget of course, this is after the gifted Holy Spirit descended on them. Therefore these gatherings are now so unlike the pre-Pentecost gatherings of a frightened and confused bunch
we read about on previous Sundays!
More than this, these disciples turned an everyday occasion, eating, into an act of worship and service. The worship is summed up with ‘praising God’; the service is captured in ‘with glad and generous hearts’. Thankful hearts directed at God turned into generous hearts directed at each other!
More than this, the disciples transformed this glad and generous eating into an act which brought them into a moment of remembrance.
They loaded the term, ‘to break bread’
into a code for those acts through which Jesus identified himself
to the two disciples in Emmaus.
Taking, offering thanks and breaking!
Echoing Jesus’ actions when feeding the multitudes:
Mark has already discerned the Shepherd’s heart of Jesus: 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them,
because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
So he began teaching them many things. Mk 6.34
Then after much teaching, Jesus gave attention to their physical hunger…
Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven,
he gave thanks and broke the loaves.
Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people (Mark 6.41)
on another occasion we read: 6 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks,
he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so (8.6 cf Luke 9.10ff Matt 14.13ff)
The early Christian community used the everyday actions associated with sharing food as an indicator of the presence of the risen Christ! Not at an occasional gathering, we read They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers…
to be then described as day by day…
This early coming together for fellowship, teaching and eating set a pattern followed, apparently by Christian communities, including the Corinthians. Though there the occasion had lost its lustre, for Paul had to correct their practise! It seems the Corinthians overlooked the fourth action after the taking, giving thanks and breaking…
namely giving, distributing, sharing…
the generous heart had constricted into a selfish mind set
(see 1 Corinthians 11.17-34, also last week’s message).
Hence we have the familiar words of Institution
as offered by Paul:
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you:
The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,
“This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood;
do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
The Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep!
The call to ‘remembrance’, anamnesis, by Jesus
is more than merely remembering.
The experience of anamnesis is “body-memory”.
It is a being caught up in the moment memory.
It’s like the total pleasure you get
when you visit the family home after you left it,
and smell your favourite dish being cooked!
That moment brings back all sorts of memories and emotions!
We of course, like the Corinthians, cannot recall
the actual occasion of Jesus’ death -we were not there.
Paul, note please, calls us not just to remember Jesus’ death,
but to proclaim, to witness to it!
Not merely the fact of death, but its manner and significance,
in the words of Peter:
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross,
so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness;
by his woundsyou have been healed.
25 For you were going astray like sheep,
but now you have returned
to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
This illustrates precisely a key meaning of remembrance!
As we eat the broken bread and drink the cup,
we get caught up in the saving action of God
on behalf of humanity and creation through Jesus!
We were not present there, neither at Golgotha,
nor at the empty tomb, for that matter,
but we can recall death to life moments, figuratively mainly,
even physically for some of us,
when we experienced the saving action and presence of God,
of Christ, of the Spirit…
Such remembrance we engage in when we take Jesus’ words,
I am the good shepherd,
and think of him when we read the 23rd psalm.
David speaks not of his experience of Jesus, but of God.
The LORD is the One who self-revealed to Moses
and anointed David as king…
I am not arguing it is wrong to think of Jesus
as the shepherd of Psalm 23. Not at all!
We recognise in David’s words concerning the LORD
our own awareness of Jesus.
Jesus feeds us, Jesus offers us peace…
his presence is constantly with us guiding and leading
as a good shepherd accompanies his flock.
This bringing together
of different examples of God’s saving action
with our own life examples of divine care, rescue,
guidance and leading, is summed up in the term, remembrance.
This undergirds the content of many
a Great Prayer of Thanksgiving,
in which is traced God’s saving activity towards humanity
and creation throughout human history,
and amongst a specific people,
culminating in Christ’s self-giving in life and death.
This approach is a remembrance.
John records in his Gospel how Jesus takes the key feasts of Judaism
of his time, and reinterprets their significance
in terms of his own identity and mission.
So Jesus takes the feeding of the children of Israel
in the wilderness by means of manna, bread from heaven,
as a sign towards his own gift of self as bread of life for the world (6.33).
John gives us here in chapter 6, also Jesus’ own words
on eating his flesh and drinking his blood.
The interpretation of these words
still creates tensions within the universal church,
though Christians no longer kill each other over such disagreements!
A key question is: how is Jesus present in the bread and cup?
This determines how one understands eating and drinking.
It is worth hearing the words of a Uniting Church theologian,
“The UCA does not isolate the bread and wine
as the unique location of Christ’s presence.
Although we affirm Christ’s presence in the bread and wine,
this affirmation is part of his presence among the people
and the actions of the liturgy.
Along with other strands of the Reformed tradition,
we do not seek to explain that presence
with theories of transubstantiation or consubstantiation.”
Jesus as recorded by John,
emphasises the life he brings through the gift of his own life…
I came that they might have life,
and have it abundantly (John 10:10b)
not merely his death, but his lived life and his teaching…
the word became flesh!
As resurrected Lord, having breathed the Holy Spirit
on his disciples, sharing if you like, his breath of life (John 20.22),
may we think, perhaps,
in terms of the flesh becoming word again!?
Conversely of course, the message more likely
is that the word is now enfleshed in and through us,
a much more challenging thought.
Nevertheless, another act of remembrance,
bringing to life God’s saving activity
ultimately completed in and through Jesus Christ,
the good shepherd who gives his life for the sheep,
conflates the promised table and cup of abundance
of the 23rd psalm
with the anticipated banquet in the kingdom of heaven…
the until he comes in Paul’s words.
Our meeting around the table of the Lord
for the breaking of bread
always includes an anticipation of this time,
a time when we celebrate Christ’s victory over death,
not merely his death, but death period!
The words of David
5 you prepare a table for me under the eyes of my enemies;
speak to us of God’s protection.
Once hospitality was offered to a person,
and they accepted and were sitting at your table,
you as host was obligated to defend them if, for example,
someone had followed them to do harm.
Paul makes the point that ‘death’ is our last enemy,
which Jesus has overcome.
Death cannot harm us
and our feasting at our Lord’s table celebrates that
(Romans 5 & 1Corinthians 15:25-27, 53-55).
you anoint my head with oil; my cup brims over.
These of course speak of being an honoured guest,
enjoying generous hospitality.
This sort of hospitality, overflowing, generous,
brings us back full circle to those early Christians who
day by day… broke bread at home
and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God.
We Sing: TIS 526 LIVING LORD
(This is the time to uncover the bread and jug, with the cup/glass)
THE BREAKING OF BREAD
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship,
to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Acts 2: 42
We have paid attention to the apostles’ teaching,
Paul, including the words of Institution
John, and Peter; to words of David,
and to the words of the living word, Jesus himself…
We remind ourselves again as we think on fellowship, community,
that as the creedal line ‘we believe in the Communion of Saints’ attests,
in God, we are all present to each other,
thousands and millions of communities of whatever size,
even isolated individuals,
across time and space,
celebrating Communion together,
entirely isolated from one another
yet joyfully proclaiming that all are joining together
with the faithful of every time and place and even the choirs of angels! #
Let us be mindful of each other,
taking a moment to think about our congregation,
praying for each other…
then including other physically absent dear ones in this sacred time.
The Invitation
It is Jesus who invites himself to sup with us:
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
COME, LORD JESUS
The Bread
Taking,
We take the bread, and hold it
marvelling at the richness of it as a metaphor for life,
bread of heaven,
of which Christ said, I am the bread of life…
Thanking, holding up the bread…
We pray:
We give you thanks, O God,
that in this bread, such an essential everyday item,
we receive an insight into how essential Jesus is to us;
we praise you for he who is the bread of life,
who through the gifting of his own life unto death
offers us life abundant.
Breaking, as you break the bread ready to eat, say:
Jesus himself bore our sins in his body on the cross,
so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness;
My body, broken for you, Jesus said.
Do this for the remembrance of me…
Sharing and Eating: eat with remembrance
Jesus invites us: Take and eat
SILENCE
The Cup
Taking
We take the cup,
look at its contents,
marvelling at the way the liquid as juice or wine
extracted from fruit or water transformed
serves as a metaphor for
life and joy in liquid form…
Thanking, holding up the cup…
We pray:
we give you thanks, O God
that in this fruit of the vine
we receive an insight into how being crushed and broken
can bring blessing and joy,
we praise you for the one who transforms water into wine,
who through the gifting of his own life unto death
offers us life abundant.
Pouring… as you pour from the jug into the cup/glass, say
When Jesus was abused, he did not return abuse,
when he suffered, he did not threaten…
by his wounds, we have been healed;
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood; Jesus said
do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me
Sharing and Drinking: Drink with remembrance
Jesus invites us: “Drink from it, all of you.
SILENCE
Prayers
Let us Pray:
Generous and welcoming God,
in Jesus Christ
you desire to embrace all.
Grant us of your own
generous Spirit
that we might speak
words of invitation
and practice actions of welcome
in a Spirit of hospitality
to bring all within your embrace.
May they and we enjoy feasting
at your table,
revelling in your gracious gift
of abundant life,
to the praise and glory of your name. AMEN
FLVL 2009
WE GO TO SERVE AS OUR WORSHIP
We Sing TIS 537 LET US TALENTS AND TONGUES EMPLOY
- Let us talents and tongues employ,
reaching out with a shout of joy;
bread is broken, the wine is poured,
Christ is spoken and seen and heard.
Jesus lives again, earth can breathe again,
pass the Word around: loaves abound!
- Christ is able to make us one,
at the table he sets the tone,
teaching people to live to bless,
love in word and in deed express.
Refrain - Jesus calls us in, sends us out
bearing fruit in a world of doubt,
gives us love to tell, bread to share:
God-Immanuel everywhere.
Refrain
Frederik Herman Kaan
1929– Words by permission Stainer & Bell, London. THROUGH CCLI LICENCE NO. 266946
Sending Out
We go as a people freed from all that would enslave us,
and healed from all that would diminish us,
We go to follow the good shepherd
to enjoy, and share what is offered,
with glad and generous hearts.
Blessing (Hebrews 13.20)
Now may the God of peace,
who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great shepherd of the sheep,
by the blood of the eternal covenant,
21 make you complete in everything good
so that you may do his will,
working among usthat which is pleasing in his sight,
through Jesus Christ,
to whom be the glory for ever and ever.
Amen.
# these quotes are from
THE ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITING CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA 03/04/2020
# Guidelines: Online Gathering for Worship with Holy Communion
# Resource for Theological Discernment
Online Gathering for Worship with Holy Communion
[1] The New Jerusalem Bible. (1990). (Ps 23:title–6). New York; London; Toronto; Sydney; Auckland: Doubleday.
Service for Sunday 24th July 2022, which was conducted by Mr Geoffrey Webber 
Service for Sunday 15th November 2020, – Rev Louis van Laar 
Service for Sunday 30th August 2020 – Mr Geoffrey Webber 
Service for Christmas Day 25th December, which will be conducted by Mr Geoffrey Webber 
