PENTECOST THREE 21ST JUNE 2020:
WE GATHER IN GOD’S PRESENCE:
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.’
Let us be mindful of each other as we engage in worship,
those who worship at home
and those who worship in the chapel:
We also recall how on June 22nd 1977,
the Uniting Church in Australia came into being…
Greeting:
The Lord be with you AND ALSO WITH YOU
We Focus on God PSALM 33
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous.
Praise befits the upright.
4 FOR THE WORD OF THE LORD IS UPRIGHT,
AND ALL HIS WORK IS DONE IN FAITHFULNESS.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
8 LET ALL THE EARTH FEAR THE LORD;
LET ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD
STAND IN AWE OF HIM.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
OUR SOUL WAITS FOR THE LORD;
HE IS OUR HELP AND SHIELD.
21 Our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22 LET YOUR STEADFAST LOVE, O LORD, BE UPON US, EVEN AS WE HOPE IN YOU.
We Sing: TIS 59 ALL PEOPLE THAT ON EARTH DO DWELL
Prayer (from Uniting in Worship)
Creating, redeeming and sustaining God,
Our land is alive with your glory;
desert sands hum and gum trees dance.
Brown grasses sing
and mountains breathe their stillness.
All created things add their rhythms of delight
and even stones rap out their praise.
Our voices mingle with those of the earth;
our hearts join the beat of her joy,
for our triune God is with us:
our Creator surrounds and upholds us.
Christ Jesus walks beside and before us.
The Spirit moves within and between us.
Blessed be God, our wonder and delight,
we worship in awe and with joy!
Prayer of Adoration
From Cape York to Port Arthur
MAY GOD BE PRAISED.
From Norfolk Island to Port Headland
MAY GOD BE PRAISED.
From coastal beaches to the red centre
MAY GOD BE PRAISED.
By people of every race and tongue
MAY GOD BE PRAISED.
By all in heaven and on earth
MAY GOD BE PRAISED.
One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
creating, redeeming and sustaining
your world and your church;
to you be all honour and worship,
glory and power, now and for ever.
meanwhile, we also 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
NEHEMIAH 8:5-12
NEHEMIAH 8
5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen’, lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7 Also the Levites helped the people to understand the law, while the people remained in their places. 8 So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. 10 Then he said to them, ‘Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ 11 So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, ‘Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.’ 12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.
ROMANS 1:8-17
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world. 9 For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, 10 asking that by God’s will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish 15 —hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’
In this is the Word of the Lord WE HEAR AND OBEY, O LORD
MATTHEW 10:24-31
MATTHEW 10
24 ‘A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; 25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
26 ‘So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
This is the Gospel of our Lord PRAISE TO YOU LORD JESUS CHRIST
Prayer of Confession (from Uniting in Worship)
Let us confess our sin before the God of mercy.
Silence
Despite your faithfulness, O God,
despite the loving care
You have showered upon us,
despite countless gifts of grace,
we have sinned.
Lord have mercy LORD HAVE MERCY
We have heard your word,
but done little in response.
We have blinded ourselves
to the needs of others,
or helped
while remaining in comfort.
Christ have mercy CHRIST HAVE MERCY
We have lifted our voices
to praise your name,
while speaking to the hurt
of our brothers and sisters.
Forgive us for what we have not done,
and for the wrong we have done.
Lord have mercy LORD HAVE MERCY
Declaration of Reconciliation
be not ashamed of the Gospel;
it is the power of God for salvation
to everyone who has faith,
therefore our heart is glad in our LORD,
because we trust in his holy name.
22 let your steadfast love, o lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
Silence
If we confess our sins,
he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness… 1 John 1:9
in Christ all is forgiven us,
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 459 IN CHRIST THERE IS NO EAST OR WEST
Contemporary Word CELEBRATE THE GOSPEL
The pandemic sweeping across the world,
yes it is still sweeping across vast swathes of the globe,
inhabited by millions of people,
has those of us who live in the Western developed world,
which we do, though ‘down under’ …
turning to science and technology for salvation.
Eagerly we pause to absorb any suggestion of a breakthrough
in the development of life saving treatment;
(note the excitement concerning the national medical expert panel approving the use of dexamethasone in Australia as a COVID-19 treatment).
or better, much better still, the discovery of a vaccine
so we can protect ourselves against this Covid19 virus.
Not so in ancient days,
in the days of the Apostle Paul, for example.
People lived in constant tension:
there were the mundane tasks
as well as delights of ordinary day by day living
on the one hand,
with simultaneous uncertainty about that life, on the other!
The Empire, its subservient nations, cities- including Rome itself,
families, households, both noble and common,
devoted time, energy and resources to minimizing such uncertainty
as much as possible through appeasing
a variety of the gods and goddesses of their belief systems!
These divine beings were capricious,
unpredictable, at times wise in what they revealed
through augers,
at other times behaving like irresponsible callous brats
delighting in playing pranks on each other,
with total disregard to the effects on an anxious people,
or worse still, targeting a people to be scapegoats for their amusement.
When pestilence struck,
it was to their divine pantheon that people turned
for aid and succour.
Offerings and sacrifices abounded to turn aside the disaster,
to appease angry divinities,
or calm down over excited playful capricious gods and goddesses.
The Romans (and Greeks) attributed to their deities
the whole range of human emotions
and character and personalities,
only these divinities were so much more powerful.
Occasionally a man would be so powerful that divine status
was attributed to him;
he was added to the host of heavenly beings
to be worshipped and appeased.
Emperors of the Roman empire had such power
and were offered homage as to a god!
The Roman Empire existed through its use of power!
Military might, and the fear such power produced.
A visible exercise of that power were the crosses
with their human carrion attached to them.
The practice of crucifixion was designed
to keep a conquered people in their place.
(a Roman citizen could not be crucified,
tradition has it that Paul was beheaded, having such citizenship,
unlike Peter, who, tradition has it, was crucified upside down.)
One could always see these poles along roads
decorated with disobedient slaves and insurrectionists…
No death was more excruciating,
more contemptible, than crucifixion.
To be hung naked, ‘long in agony,
swelling with ugly weals on shoulders and chest’,
helpless to beat away the clamorous birds:
such a fate, Roman intellectuals agreed, was the worst imaginable.[1]
In Rome thus was the punishment reserved for slaves.
So argues Tom Holland, historian.
He makes no claim to being a believer,
even though he examines the radical influence
of Christianity on Western Europe.
He presents, as far as I can tell,
very impressive summaries of Christian theologies,
convictions and practices over the centuries
following the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
He begins his analysis of Christian influence,
not surprisingly, with Jesus, crucified;
claimed by his followers to be resurrected,
and acknowledged as god.
Then he exclaims his utter wonder at the audacity of such proclamation: That a man who had himself been crucified
might be hailed as a god could not help
but be seen by people everywhere across the Roman world
as scandalous, obscene, grotesque.[2]
This is the social milieu within which Paul brazenly claims to be:
a slave of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,
set apart for the gospel of God,
This gospel of course, included the information
concerning Jesus Christ as crucified, resurrected and ascended.
Paul boldly states: For I am not ashamed of the gospel;
it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed
through faith for faith;
as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.
He knows how the crucifixion of Jesus, of anyone,
is interpreted by those in Rome, especially in Rome!
Remember, he could say:
For the message about the cross is idiocy
to those who are perishing,
reiterating its horror to the people of his time:
but we proclaim Christ crucified,
a stumbling-block to Jews and idiocy to Gentiles,
(I Corinthians 1:18-25).
Paul though boasts, I am not ashamed of the gospel!
He does not stop there of course;
he goes on to explain why…
it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed
through faith for faith;
We have to attempt to understand
the reality of the divide between Jew and non-Jew, i.e. gentile, Greek.
Many thoughtful non-Jews were attracted to the God
who had singled out this chosen people, the Jews,
as recipients of his favour,
and guardians of the revelation concerning his nature,
and the invitation to keep the covenant
which governed their unique relationship;
and which offered them salvation in the fullest sense of the word!
This covenant of course set up the divide between Jew and non-Jew;
not simply the obvious requirements to abstain from pork,
and to keep the Sabbath holy…
and the one grown men balked at, circumcision…
more importantly its rules kept even the most sincere ‘God-fearer’
confined to the court of the gentiles in the temple.
It seemed God kept a distance from gentiles,
even those yearning for something deep and meaningful.
Then along comes Saul, (renamed Paul),
Saul, a devout defender of all that is holy within Judaism,
now confidently claiming that this previously rather exclusive God
has called him to be an Apostle to the gentiles!
God has charged him, Paul, to be an ambassador
So we are ambassadors for Christ,
since God is making his appeal through us;
we entreat you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God. (2Corinthians 5)
Ethnic and racial divisions, gender boundaries, social status:
these all wither away as God’s universal focus blazes on humanity!
This is part of the power of God to effect salvation,
that is, to develop the well-being of all…
this is God’s ultimate goal!
As one of the church Fathers put it:
“The glory of God is (man) humanity fully alive.”
Saint Irenaeus, c.130-210
Though not from Gaul, Irenaeus ministered mainly as a bishop there,
in modern Southern France;
his theology was shaped by the preaching of Polycarp,
who was himself a disciple of the Apostle John.
Tom Holland in a discussion with Tom Wright
(being forced to check youtube for hymns
has alerted me to wonderful resources by scholars!)
describes Paul’s own theological vision in the New Testament
as a “depth charge” under the foundations of the classical world
which we are still feeling the ripples of
through Latin Christendom, The Reformation
and The Enlightenment.
He argues that what we take for granted in modern Western society
i.e. concepts of international law, human rights, democracy…
arose from Paul’s writings, not Greek philosophers… [3]
The ripple-on effects of Paul’s teachings (and the four Gospels)
has been the well-being of humanity through successive generations
expanding basic Pauline concepts
and applying them to new emerging awareness,
knowledge and insights.
This is the power of God at work!
Paul might well describe it as the work
of the same power which raised Christ from the dead…(Eph 1:15-22)
One way of imagining salvation is to reflect
on the words of Jesus, (John 10:10)
I have come that they might have life, and have it abundantly!
Describing salvation thus is not to take away its foundational meaning,
in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,
not counting their trespasses against them.
Paul will develop the meaning and work of God’s salvation,
both this foundational aspect and its ongoing consequence,
further within his Roman letter e.g. 5:6-10.
Paul here sets the stage with
For in it (i.e. salvation) the righteousness/justice of God is revealed[4]
Paul uses the righteousness/justice cluster of words,
nouns, adjectives and verbs, some 49 times in Romans!
Fifteen of those are in the verbal form,
to justify, to make right.
Paul uses the phrase “the righteousness of God” explicitly in Romans
(1:17; 3:5, 21–26; 10:3)[5]. The underlying concept of these words is obviously very important to Paul.
Lewis Carroll in his Through the looking Glass has Humpty Dumpy state
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone,
“it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words
mean so many different things.”[6]
Amazingly, one reading of Paul’s exposition
of this cluster of words in Romans seems like
a Humpty-Dumpty-esque use of language…
turning meanings upside down,
to ancient minds as topsy-turvy
as preaching that a man crucified could be God…
Paul impresses the following on his readers,
(most likely hearers, as the epistle was read out aloud,
in the first instance!) Rom.4
5 But to one who without works
trusts him who justifies the ungodly,
such faith is reckoned as righteousness.
Paul consistently argues that when we take
the righteousness/justice of God
to mean an attribute, quality of God
we find ourselves at a loss to understand
how it can mean what we think,
because we realise God’s justice, God’s righteousness
has God putting right all wrongs
rather than obliterating the wrong doer!
in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,
not counting their trespasses against them.
Gratuitously…
Unconditionally…
Universally…
God’s way of dealing with the ungodly,
to put right all wrongs,
is both exemplified by,
and accomplished through, Jesus Christ, Rom.5
6 For while we were still weak,
at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—
though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die.
8 But God proves his love for us
in that while we still were sinners, Christ died for us.
10 For if while we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son,
much more surely, having been reconciled,
will we be saved by his life.
11 But more than that,
we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received reconciliation.[7]
God acts out of God’s love,
not because of human appeals,
or sacrifice, or abasement or whatever…
God acts driven by God’s self-motivation
to love creation and humanity,
God is self-motivated towards reconciliation
because of God’s love… God is love!
Paul keeps startling the Romans;
the God he invites us to trust
he presents as the very opposite of those who exercise power,
even ultimate power.
The God made known through Jesus Christ
who is made known through the preaching of Paul
shows his love through death by crucifixion.
This God invites reconciliation through love,
does not demand appeasement from a fearful humanity,
but simply trust in God’s desire for our well-being!
as Jesus says: (Matthew 10:31)
do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows
Please note how Paul concludes his introductory celebration of the Gospel,
For I am not ashamed of the gospel;
it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed
through faith for faith;
as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.
Faith/trust/confidence, pistis in Greek, is another key word for Paul! [8]
He praises the Roman believers for their faith, 1.8,
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you,
because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world.
and informs them he hopes that he and they may benefit in their faith through meeting up in the future. 1.12,
so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith,
both yours and mine.
Paul refers to their trust, their confidence in the God
who has initiated reconciliation with them,
and is now saving them,
that is, bringing life abundant to them…
I return to Tom Holland.
He has an amazing grasp of the facts of Jesus
and especially Paul’s teaching
based on Paul’s own knowledge of the Lord.
He believes of the information he has,
that it is an accurate tradition passed on in written form,
and he has interpreted it with integrity.
However, this belief is not to be equated
with the trust/faith/confidence Paul talks about.
Believing that Christianity
has been a tremendous force for good
does not mean necessarily that you believe that it is true.
On this front Tom Holland says that,
despite being attracted to aspects of Christianity,
he has yet to make the metaphysical step of faith.
In a 2016 conversation
he described his doubts as mainly circulating
around humanity’s relative insignificance
in the face of billions of years of evolutionary history
and a vast universe.
Neverthless he concluded by saying this:
“When I have experience of the sublime,
when I have a sense of something beyond me,
that is Christian…
and there is nothing that I find more moving really,
than the narrative of the Passion and the Resurrection;
and perhaps that is still a faint guttering flame of faith
that is there to be tended
and may become a more fuller flame in due course.”
To all who sense something beyond themselves,
out of love God begs you,
trust me, I am the LORD!
WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD
We Sing: TIS457 THE CHURCH’S ONE FOUNDATION
We Share Our Community Life
Prayers of the People (from Uniting in Worship)
Thanksgiving for the Uniting Church
We give thanks.
For the first people of this land and their ways of belonging in this place,
we lift up our hearts.
God, we give you thanks.
For all those who have come to these shores
from many lands and many traditions,
with the light of the gospel of Christ,
we lift up our hearts.
God, we give you thanks.
For this land of rich or sparse beauty,
its diverse and varied people, and our vocation in this land,
we lift up our hearts.
God, we give you thanks.
For all who have seen your vision of unity
in this country and across the world,
we lift up our hearts.
God, we give you thanks.
For those whose efforts, in the power of the Holy Spirit,
led to the inauguration of the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977,
we lift up our hearts.
God, we give you thanks.
For those you called to lead us
in Assemblies, Synods and Presbyteries and in every congregation,
we lift up our hearts.
God, we give you thanks.
For every faithful person
who has used the gifts you gave
to serve you and others in quiet and humble places,
we lift up our hearts.
God, we give you thanks.
For people and agencies of the church,
those associated with UnitingCare, such as Blue Care,
and Parish Missions, those small,
and the huge like Wesley Mission,
through whom we minister in your name,
we lift up our hearts.
God, we give you thanks.
For the mistakes through which you have taught us
and the challenges which have stretched our faith,
we lift up our hearts.
God, we give you thanks.
For your readiness to be with us
as our Word, our food, our way, our truth and our life,
we lift up our hearts.
God, we give you thanks.
For your special presence with all in need:
the sick, the grieving and those who lack hope;
the homeless, the hungry and all who seek justice;
we lift up our hearts.
God, we give you thanks.
And with all pilgrim people
who have travelled this life,
as companions with you
and encouragers for us,
we bring you praise and honour,
glory and blessing, now and for ever,
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
We Bring Our offering to God
(this is a retiring offering in our chapel worship)
setting aside our gifts to support the local and wider work of the church
and bless our gifts in an act of praise…
the DOXOLOGY
WE GO OUT TO SERVE GOD
We Sing: TIS 154 GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS
Sending Out (Matthew 10:31, Romans 1:16, Nehemiah 8:10)
Go: Do not be afraid! Do not be ashamed of the Gospel!
Party! Share your food and drink with others,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength!
Blessing
The God who makes right all wrongs,
the Christ who died for the ungodly,
the Spirit who generates new life within us,
The one God protect and sustain you, now and into eternity AMEN
[1] Holland, Tom. Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind (pp. 9,10,). Little, Brown Book Group. Kindle Edition.
[2] ibid p.13
[3] https://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable/Unbelievable-blog/St-Paul-s-depth-charge-.-Why-historian-Tom-Holland-changed-his-mind-about-Christianity this is about four minutes.
The longer discussion on his book (about one hour) is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLXyrrGRdJ8
[4]The word translated from the Greek, δικαιοσύνη dikaiosynē as righteousness, can also be translated with words such as justice, justification, piety, right, and “what is right.” The related adjective dikaios (δίκαιος) means “righteous,” “good,” “just,” “right,” “proper,” “in a right relationship with God,” “honest,” and “innocent.” The verb form is translated as to justify or to make right. The opposite of the term righteousness is unrighteousness (adikia ἀδικία), with the related adjective unrighteous (adikos ἄδικος).
Soards, M. L. (2006–2009). Righteousness in the NT. In K. D. Sakenfeld (Ed.), The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Vol. 4, p. 813). Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
[5] ibid. p.815
[6] Carroll, Lewis. 1995 Through The Looking Glass in THE COMPLETE ILLUSTRATED WORKS p.136 London: Leopard Books
[7] I have omitted v.9 with its ‘wrath’ reference, because next week I examine God’s wrath, Romans 1:18… .
[8] in Greek pistis; and the basic spectrum of its meaning both in wider Greek usage and in the NT in particular is from the sense of subjective confidence in someone/something else, to the objective basis for such confidence: a subjective believing on the basis that the one/object trusted is reliable-“trust, confidence, faith”; and that which evokes trust-“faithfulness, reliability, fidelity, commitment.” The Latin fides has the same basic range-“trust” in a person or thing, and “that which produces confidence or belief, trustworthiness, faithfulness, credibility.” This was the range of sense that use of the word pistis by Paul and others would have evoked among those who heard them. Dunn, J. D. G. (2006–2009). Faith, Faithfulness. In K. D. Sakenfeld (Ed.), The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Vol. 2, p. 408). Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Service for Sunday 30thMay 2021 – Geoffrey Webber 
Service for Sunday 27th February 2022, conducted by Mr Ian Kerr 
Service for Sunday 18th July 2021 – Geoffrey Webber 
Service for Easter Sunday 12th April 2020 – Rev Louis van Laar 
