WE GATHER IN GOD’S PRESENCE:
Lighting the Candle (John 12:46,47) –
Jesus said: 46 I have come as light into the world,
so that everyone who believes in me
should not remain in the darkness.
47 I do not judge anyone who hears my words
and does not keep them,
for I came not to judge the world,
but to save the world. –
Let us be mindful of each other as we engage in worship,
those who worship at home
and those who worship in the chapel:
Greeting:
The Lord be with you AND ALSO WITH YOU
We Focus on God
The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
2 THE LORD IS GREAT IN ZION;
HE IS EXALTED OVER ALL THE PEOPLES.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name.
Holy is he!
4 MIGHTY KING, LOVER OF JUSTICE,
YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED EQUITY;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
5 EXTOL THE LORD OUR GOD;
WORSHIP AT HIS FOOTSTOOL.
HOLY IS HE!
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
They cried to the Lord, and he answered them.
7 HE SPOKE TO THEM IN THE PILLAR OF CLOUD;
they kept his decrees,
and the statutes that he gave them.
8 O LORD OUR GOD, YOU ANSWERED THEM;
YOU WERE A FORGIVING GOD TO THEM,
BUT AN AVENGER OF THEIR WRONGDOINGS.
9 Extol the Lord our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
FOR THE LORD OUR GOD IS HOLY.
We Sing: TIS 132 HOLY,HOLY,HOLY! LORD GOD ALMIGHTY
Prayer
Holy and gracious LORD,
we offer you our worship
and our allegiance during this sacred time.
Through your Spirit,
grant us clarity of thought
and strength of conviction
so that we hear only your voice
above the cacophony of voices
demanding our attention and obedience!
You only are the One,
our creating, redeeming and transforming God,
worthy to receive the praise and adulation
of all and everyone,
even creation itself…
therefore we pray as our Lord taught us to pray:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is 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 LISTEN FOR A WORD FROM GOD
Scripture
Prayer for Illumination
HOLY AND MERCIFUL GOD,
THROUGH YOUR HOLY SPIRIT
INSTRUCT US
THAT WE MIGHT RIGHTLY UNDERSTAND
THE WORD OF TRUTH
AND FIND OURSELVES AS PEOPLE
WHO REFLECT THE LIVING WORD,
JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, AMEN
Romans 12:17-13:10
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ 20 No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
13 1Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgement. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; 4 for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. 6 For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is due to them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honour to whom honour is due.
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
In this is the Word of the Lord WE HEAR AND REJOICE, O LORD
MATTHEW 22:15-22
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. 20 Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ 21 They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ 22 When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
This is the Gospel of our Lord PRAISE TO YOU LORD JESUS CHRIST
Prayer of Confession
Holy LORD, whose holiness is defined by your mercy,
we approach you only too conscious of our need
for your eternal compassion
and gracious encouragement:
Creating and sustaining God,
our indebtedness to you is such
we can never repay it…
and therefore you urge us to merely trust you
with our future;
forgive us when we fall into the error
of believing that somehow what we do
cancels what we owe…
Lord have mercy LORD HAVE MERCY
Redeeming Lord,
our obligations towards our neighbours
are such that only love which has its source
in your divine love for us
can recognize what is needed to meet these;
forgive us when we fall into the error
of trusting mere regulations and human authority
to enforce what needs to be done…
Christ have mercy CHRIST HAVE MERCY
Transforming Spirit,
who gives birth to true community,
even the State, as servant of God, is obligated
to refrain from the idolatry
of turning itself from being part of the created order
into being on par with the Creator;
forgive us when we expect the State
to take that vengeance and retribution of evil with evil
from which we know we must refrain individually.
Lord have mercy LORD HAVE MERCY
Declaration of Reconciliation:
God has declared through scripture, (Romans 3:23/4)
since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
they are now justified by his grace as a gift,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
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 Sing: TIS 268 JOY TO THE WORLD 3vv
Contemporary Word
Paul, it may surprise us to realise,
would be more familiar with life as living under the rule
of a Dictator, such as North Korea, or Syria…
or being governed by an oligarchy, such as Russia or China
(in spite of the trappings of a ballot box),
than being a citizen in a country with democratically elected
Presidents, e.g. USA or governments, such as us Aussies.
This is important to keep in mind as we reflect on his advice!
A common factor with life under a dictator or dictator like oligarchy,
is being scrutinized by the ruling power’s officials
and informants…
The language used by Paul in 13:1-7
echoing that of the vocabulary of Hellenistic administration,
suggests he is talking about such local officials,
and the power they wield…[1]
not just, or even, the Emperor…
Paul’s missionary journeys as recorded in Acts
illustrate only too well the importance
of not disturbing local sensibilities…
as much as it lies with you, live peaceably with all!
Paul, as a Jew, would understand such life only too well,
even though he had the privilege of being a Roman citizen.
Those in Rome who were Jews
also understood the precarious nature of living as Jews.
Twice Jews had been expelled from Rome,
under Tiberius, in 19 C.E. and under Claudius, in 49 C.E.
The second expulsion without doubt included Jewish Christians.
Following the poisoning of Claudius on 13th October 54
by his niece/wife Agrippina, Nero her biological son,
whom Claudius had adopted, became emperor.
He rescinded the expulsion order.
The Roman Christian groups would include a fair number of these
exiled twice, and returned twice, Jews.
Refugees these would have been,
expelled from home and livelihood!
Anti-Jewish sentiment was rife
because of what people generally saw as an unfair tax regime for Jews
when compared to their own, affirmed by Augustus.
Only twenty years before Paul wrote to Rome
the Greek residents of Alexandria rioted against the Jews there,
because of this perception of tax injustice,
killing, burning, destruction, looting…
Claudius apparently held the Jews responsible
for this pogrom conducted against them![2]
Such a general anti-Semitic mood would ensure the loss of much,
if not everything, each time the Jews fled Rome.
Re-establishing themselves would not be easy.
(Just as today many small businesses, especially in tourism,
in hospitality and educational providers for overseas students,
to name some, will not resurface successfully
following the pandemic border closure
and other social distancing measures.
It will take years for employment to be back where it was
prior to the pandemic!)
Paul will offer pastoral suggestions later
to guide care towards each other
when Christian groups contain struggling and well-to-do members.
The key point for us to remember is that Paul is writing
to specific people living in specific circumstances!
Romans is not written as an academic tome,
but presents the truth of the Gospel of God
applied to the life situations of the Romans Christians!
Paul also hopes that recognizing the benefit
of the gifted reconciliation between God and humanity,
and the graced Spirit’s transforming influence
to live as a resurrection people
identified with Jesus in baptism
anticipating the new life,
the Roman Christians will agree to support him
and fund his mission to Spain…
His advice on how to apply the thesis
‘as much as it lies with you, live peaceably with all’ (12:18)
to living under the scrutiny of local Roman authorities
actuality reflects commonplace assumptions
within Diaspora Jewish thought about how to get along
with the various secular authorities to which the Jews were subject[3].
Paul is not writing a theology of church and state!
He offers pastoral advice to Christians living in uncertain times!
The Nero who allowed Christian Jews to return to Rome,
as Jews, of course…
burned and persecuted Christians after the fires of 64,
Paul is not writing a treatise on political government,
nor is he giving a command for all times and all places.
He certainly could not have anticipated forms of government
that were to arise in later centuries,
especially because he expected the eschatological fulfillment of God’s reign to happen very soon (13:11-14).
Professor Lancaster states:
“Paul is writing to followers of Jesus in Rome
about how they ought to live in Rome in the early years of Nero’s reign. This matter was of enough concern to him
to give direct instruction about it.
The question that readers who live in very different circumstances
must ask is what they can learn theologically
(and, I would add, pastorally),
from what Paul says
that can inform their own reflection
on how to live faithfully in their own circumstances”.[4]
Another clue that Paul is not writing a theology text book,
intentionally that is, but rather a pastoral letter,
is the positioning of these seven verses;
they are clearly part of a larger whole of pastoral advice!
Paul shifts his guide to Christian living
from living in community with other Christians,
to living in community generally,
to living with the authorities within a community, society even…
N.T. Wright echoes those scholars who see 13:1-7
as part of a unified whole, chapters 12 and 13…
rather than a ‘cuckoo’ in the nest of Romans,
but in fact it goes very closely with the preceding passage.
He sees 12:14–13:7 at the centre of the chapters,
dealing from two different angles
with the problems of living as citizens of God’s kingdom
(see Phil 3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven,
and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ),
while also continuing to live in the “present world”
with its various challenges.[5]
Note the verse quoted in both chapters 12 and 13,
half in chapter 12, the other half in chapter 13, Leviticus 19:18:
18 You shall not take vengeance
or bear a grudge against any of your people,
but you shall love your neighbour as yourself:
I am the Lord.
Paul states in 12:19, never avenge yourselves
and in 13:9, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.
The material in between seems like an exposition of that Leviticus text;
Furthermore, Wright suggests that the whole pastoral note
is larger than 12:1–13:14 (35 verses);
it flows into 14:1–15:13 (36 verses).
the first part being more general and the second more specific;[6]
I read there, in the 14:1-15:13 section
Paul providing specific opportunities
in which to avoid vengeance,
and to show love of neighbour.
Before we wonder ‘whatever happened about renewal of the mind,
and do not be conformed to this world”?
the grand thought at the beginning of chapter 12,
with this advise ‘submit to the authorities’ ?
take note of a very subversive claim by Paul!
Professor Jewett explains it well:
The key to understanding the revolutionary implications
of this argument is the twice-repeated formula,
“from/by God” in v. 1b-c, echoed and reinforced by 1a,
for there is no authority except from God,
and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.
(see also v.4a & d,
and v. 6b referring to governmental agents as servants of God).
That all such officials are divinely appointed
needs to be understood rhetorically.
The range of interest of the Roman audience
would not have extended to the question
of whether officials beyond the boundaries of the empire,
or whether governments arising in later centuries,
were appointed by God;
the relevant question was the status of the Roman government.
The issue usually not raised in the scholarly discussion
is precisely who this God is.
The relevance of this question is most easily grasped
when one compares Paul’s statement with the Roman civic cult
and takes account of the twelve chapters of argument
that precede these verses.
The God who grants authority to governmental agencies
in Paul’s argument is not Mars or Jupiter, as in the Roman civic cult;
nor is he represented by the pantheon of Greco-Roman deities
that had been assimilated into the civic cult since the time of Augustus.
The God of whom Paul speaks here is the same
as announced in chapter 1, whose righteousness was elaborated
for the next twelve chapters;
it is the God embodied in the crucified Christ that is in view here,
which turns this passage into a massive act of political co-optation.
If the Roman authorities had understood this argument,
it would have been viewed as thoroughly subversive.
That the Roman authorities were appointed
by the God and Father of Jesus Christ
turns the entire Roman civic cult on its head,
exposing its suppression of the truth.
Its involvement in the martyrdom of Christ,
crucified under Pontius Pilate,
cannot have been forgotten by the readers of chapter 13,
who knew from firsthand experience of the Edict of Claudius,
the hollowness of Rome’s claim to have established a benign rule of law. The critique of the law in all its forms
in the first eight chapters of this letter cannot have been forgotten,
which explains why the proudest institution of the Pax Romana,
the rule of law, goes unmentioned here.
Nothing remains of the claim in Roman propaganda
that its law-enforcement system was redemptive,
producing a kind of messianic peace
under the rule of the gods Justitia and Clementia.
Christ alone is the fulfillment of the law (10:4),
not the emperor or the Roman gods.
And nothing remains of the specious claim in the civic cult
that the empire had been given to Rome
because of its superior virtue and piety,
a matter that had been demolished by 1:18–3:20.
What remains is the simple fact of divine appointment,
a matter justified not by the virtue of the appointee
but by the mysterious mind of God
who elects whom God wills as the agents of divine purpose
(9:14–33; 11:17–32).
Submission to the governmental authorities is therefore
an expression of respect not for the authorities themselves
but for the crucified deity who stands behind them.[7]
Nor is Paul’s encouragement to be subordinate to the authorities
meant to be read as a call for absolute obedience to governments
in anything and everything.
Christians remembered Jesus’ words also… (Matthew 22:21)
‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s,
and to God the things that are God’s.
The aged bishop of Smyrna, Polycarp
provides the earliest example available to us,
of implementing Paul’s advice;
he states to the Roman proconsul who will when he is finished
sentence him to death in the arena,
we have been taught to show appropriate honour
to the principalities and powers ordained of God
if that does not compromise us…
Another martyr, Donata, cries out,
honour Caesar as Caeser, but fear God!
yet another, Apollonius declares that: Jesus taught us…
to obey the laws of Caesar and to honour him;
however, to worship and adore God alone, the immortal one.[8]
I was asked by a small group of young men to facilitate them
in studying the meaning of the Roman’s text and the Matthew story…
with some additional material from Revelation!
It was the year 1969,
and these young men were deciding their response as Christians,
to a possible call-up for National Service, determined by a birthday ballot,
as you may recall.
As I recall the options available to them were:
to simply turn up, if called up,
to request deferral if engaged in university studies,
to request non-combative roles
because of conscientious objection to killing,
to request registration as a conscientious objector
to participate in any sort of military service
because of religious convictions.
These study times were intense and reflective,
they were not looking merely for information,
but for strength to make
what would be an appropriate decision for each of them.
And there were different decision made!
However, underlying each decision was a common agreement
that there would be a ‘submission’ to the authorities.
There would be no attempt to hide, to leave the country…
They would report, state their case, and take the consequences.
For one, whose conscientious objector request was denied,
it meant time in goal instead of in service…
He drew a line in the sand
as to what the authorities could demand of him,
yet remained true to his understanding of being Christian,
in Paul’s words, owing no one anything, except love…
loving neighbour as himself,
interpreting Jesus’ words to mean,
not surrendering to Caesar that which belonged to God.
He treasured an ancient interpretation of this text when asking:
what does belong to Caesar, and what belongs to God?
Some early interpreters looked to the image on the coin,
and answered that coins—bearing Caesar’s image—belong to Caesar;
and human beings—bearing God’s image—belong to God.
Thus Tertullian, writing early in the third century,
said, “Render to Caesar Caesar’s image, which is on the coin,
and to God God’s image, which is on man (and on woman).”[9]
WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD
We Sing: TIS 629 WHEN I NEEDED A NEIGHBOUR 7vv
We Bring Our offering to God
setting aside our gifts to support the local and wider work of the church
and bless our gifts in an act of praise…
We Share Our Community Life
Prayers of the People
Almighty LORD,
whose word effects who rules
and the course of nations…
We pray for those who rule over others
as dictators or members of a privileged group
by means of force and coercion.
Grant your Spirit to direct such rule
as to bring peace and well being to those thus ruled…
Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER
We pray for those who rule over others
as elected representatives of their society,
accountable to rule of law and the voters.
Grant your Spirit to influence their governance
so as to bring peace and well being for all,
not merely a privileged few.
Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER
We pray for ourselves
and all who bear the name of Christ;
Grant us your Spirit’s guidance and courage
to practise discernment and tolerance
within the democratic processes
that undergird our political and social well-being.
Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER
Lord, Father of our human family,[10]
you created all human beings equal in dignity:
pour forth into our hearts a fraternal spirit
and inspire in us a dream of renewed encounter,
dialogue, justice and peace.
Move us to create healthier societies
and a more dignified world,
a world without hunger, poverty, violence and war.
Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER
May our hearts be open
to all the peoples and nations of the earth.
May we recognize the goodness and beauty
that you have sown in each of us,
and thus forge bonds of unity, common projects,
and shared dreams. Amen.
Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER
Lord of your church,
as you ministered to those who were ill
during your time as one of us,
so we pray you to minster
to those whom we know and who are dear to us…
we name them aloud, or in the silence of our minds…
as you prayed, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do
so we pray for those who wish us ill and harm,
those with whom we are in conflict…
we name them aloud, or in the silence of our minds…
Grant all we have named the grace of your peace
Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER
These petitions we bring to you
in the name of Christ Jesus AMEN
WE GO OUT TO SERVE GOD
We Sing: TIS 681 LORD LET ME SEE, SEE MORE AND MORE 5vv
- Lord let me see, see more and more,
see the beauty of a person, not the colour of the skin,
see the faces of the homeless with no-one to take them in,
see discouragement because she’ll never win:
see the face of our Lord in the pain:
Lord let me see. - Lord let me hear, hear more and more,
hear the sounds of great rejoicing, hear a person barely sigh;
hear the ring of truth, and hollowness of those who live a lie;
hear the wail of starving people who will die;
hear the voice of our Lord in the cry:
Lord let me hear. - Lord let me care, care more and more,
care for those who feel the loneliness, for those who have no say,
care for friends who have no job and find it hard to face the day,
care for those with whom we sing and work and pray:
and in care Jesus Christ will be found:
Lord let me care. - Lord let me learn, learn more and more,
learn that what I know is just a speck of what there is to know;
learn from listening to my neighbour when I’d rather speak and go;
learn that as we live in faith and trust we grow;
learn to see, hear and care, with our Lord:
Lord let me learn. - Lord let me love, love more and more,
love the loveless and the fragile, help them be what they can be,
love the way that I would like them to be looking after me;
for to know you is to love them and be free,
and in love Jesus Christ will be found:
Lord let me love.
Ross Langmead 1949–
Words and music from On the Road 16 Songs by Ross Langmead 1981 Used with permission Words: additional permission required. Available from LicenSing & CCLI & Word of Life
Sending Out
We go as a debt-free people,
God having cancelled whatever we owed God;
We go as an indebted people,
owing neighbour above all else, love!
We go as a generous people,
offering with gratitude back to God
all that we have received from God…
Blessing
May the grace of Christ, which daily renews us,
and the love of God, which enables us to love all,
and the community of the Holy Spirit, which unites us in one body,
make us eager to obey the will of God until we meet again,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. —echoing 2 Corinthians 13:13
AMEN, AMEN, AMEN
[1] Kasemann, Ernst. 1980 COMMENTARY ON ROMANS (p.353) Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans.
[2] Elliott, Neil. 1994 LIBERATING PAUL (pp. 221-225) Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Press.
[3] Grieb, A. Katherine. 2015 The Story of Romans (p. 124). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.
[4] Lancaster, S. H. (2015). ROMANS. (A. P. Pauw & W. C. Placher, Eds.) (First edition, pp. 219). Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
[5] Wright, N. T. (1994–2004). The Letter of the Romans. In L. E. Keck (Ed.), New Interpreter’s Bible (Vol. 10, pp. 702–703). Nashville: Abingdon Press
[6] ibid.
[7] Jewett, R., & Kotansky, R. D. (2006). Romans: A commentary. (E. J. Epp, Ed.) (pp. 789–790). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
[8] Elliott, Neil. 1994 LIBERATING PAUL (p. 225) Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Press.
[9] Eastman, S. G. (2011). Exegetical Perspective on Matthew 22:15–22. In D. L. Bartlett & B. B. Taylor (Eds.), Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A (Vol. 4, p. 193). Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
[10] this and the next paragraph, taken from: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html this document, by Pope Francis, is generally a fine declaration of how humanity can live in harmony with creation and amongst itself.
Service for Sunday 29th March (Prepared by Geoffrey Webber) 
Service for Sunday 11th February, which was conducted by Mr Geoffrey Webber 
Service for Easter Friday 7th April 2023, which was conducted by Mr Geoffrey Webber 
Service for Sunday 10th January 2021 – Rev Louis van Laar 
