EASTER 3 APRIL 26^TH

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.’

Greeting:

the Lord is risen HE IS RISEN INDEED

this risen Lord be with you AND ALSO WITH YOU

We Focus on God     Psalm 116 selected verses…

I love the Lord, because he has heard
    my voice and my supplications.
2 BECAUSE HE INCLINED HIS EAR TO ME,
    THEREFORE I WILL CALL ON HIM AS LONG AS I LIVE.

5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.

   PRAISE THE LORD!

We Sing: TIS 132 HOLY, HOLY, HOLY…

Prayer

Companion God,

we claim to come into your presence

when really we ought to open ourselves

to your constant presence with us…

Through your Spirit may our hearts burn with excitement

and be calmed with Christ’s peace,

as we focus on your written word

to learn how to live as disciples of him,  who is the Living Word…

that as we practice your word of truth to truly love,

we might reflect the kingdom of heaven,

for which our Lord prayed and worked…

Followed by the Lord’s Prayer

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

1 PETER 1. 13-23

¹³ Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. ¹⁴ Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. ¹⁵ Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; ¹⁶ for it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’

¹⁷ If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. ¹⁸ You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. ²⁰ He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. ²¹ Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.

²² Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. ²³ You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God

Reader:

In this is the Word of the Lord

WE HEAR AND REJOICE, O LORD

LUKE 24.13-35

¹³ Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven milesfrom Jerusalem, ¹⁴ and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, ¹⁶ but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷ And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸ Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ ¹⁹ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰ and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. ²¹ But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. ²² Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, ²³ and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. ²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.’ ²⁵ Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! ²⁶ Was it not necessary that the Messiahshould suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ ²⁷ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

²⁸ As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. ³² They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within uswhile he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ ³³ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. ³⁴ They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ ³⁵ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Reader:

This is the Gospel of our Lord

PRAISE TO YOU LORD JESUS CHRIST

Prayer of Confession: (Isaiah 55.8,9; 1 Peter 1)

Holy God,

whose ways are not like our ways,

whose thoughts are not like our thoughts,

nevertheless you have called us to be holy,

to live as a newborn people

through your living and enduring word:

we come confessing how difficult we find it

to be obedient to the truth to have genuine mutual love

when constantly other voices urge us to distrust and despise even

those who differ from us in race, or religion, or nationality or politics…

LORD HAVE MERCY

we come confessing how difficult we find it

to truly trust you, and place our hope in you, 

who raised Jesus from the dead

when constantly other voices call us

to trust national and international leaders,

to place our hope in scientists and tech wizards

all of whom show themselves as fault riven as we are…

CHRIST HAVE MERCY

we come confessing how difficult we find it

to love and care for others deeply from our hearts

when self care and family responsibilities in uncertain times

seduce us into closing our minds and hearts to the needs of others

SPIRIT HAVE MERCY

Declaration of Reconciliation (from 1 Peter 1)

Holy God,

we thank you that your way is the way of reconciliation and transformation,

that your word urges us:

set all your hope on the grace

that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed.

You know that you were ransomed

from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors,

not with perishable things like silver or gold, 

¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ,

like that of a lamb without defect or blemish

so that your faith and hope are set on God.

therefore  we say with peace 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  106 NOW THANK WE ALL OUR GOD

Contemporary Word

COMMUNION IN A CORONA VIRUS ENVIRONMENT

The story of these two disciples returning

to their home village of Emmaus

weary of heart and empty of hope

resonates with many of us

at particular times in our discipleship journey.

Stuff happens which shakes us to our core,

and we sense only an absence of God…

Even so, we cannot truly fathom the depths of their despair, however,

for we have a history of over 2000 years informing us

of the resurrected Jesus to counter any impact of the story of his death;

Two thousand years of the testimonies of multitudes

spanning fifty or more generations of people like us

who affirm: the LORD is risen, HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Not so Cleopas and his companion…

Their pre-occupation was the death of Jesus,

and the death of any hope for God’s messiah to transform their world.

They had heard the initial reports of a resurrection,

but the text leaves ambiguous any trust in the truth of this news.

We sense only overwhelming emotions of loss and grief…

Then Jesus engages with them, exclaiming at first, ‘

Oh, how foolish you are,

and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 

²⁶ Was it not necessary that the Messiahshould suffer these things

and then enter into his glory?’ 

He then expands on this declaration with more focussed teaching,

obviously stirring something within them

for when approaching the village, he turns to leave, as if to go on…

they urge him to join them for the night,

so Jesus does… following which we read:

When he was at the table with them,

he took bread,

he blessed and broke it,

and gave it to them…

then their eyes were opened, and they recognised him… (Luke 24.30f)

Whilst we might not be able to enter truly into their despair,

we certainly yearn for such a moment of recognition

that we are in fact not alone…

(the book-end message of Matthew, remember? see 1.23 and 28.20)

I suggest this especially describes our desire

when we meet for Communion as a gathered congregation…

to have our eyes, our awareness, opened to the present Jesus.

At its best, the prescribed elements of the Communion Liturgy

open us to the Presence of Christ,

however this Presence may be understood

within the different expressions of Christianity…

Roman, Orthodox, Protestant…

Think for a moment, (and one can take as long as is necessary

in this way of worship,)

of your own experience of the ‘Sacrament of The Lord’s Supper’

as Holy Communion is also called in Uniting in Worship 2.

# Can you recall moments of such awareness of the present Christ during Communion?

# Did the words of the litanies (responsive prayers) assist?

# Was it in the act of eating the bread, drinking the cup?

# Does anything else come to mind that makes Communion

engaged in as a gathered congregation, a moment of grace to you?

# Finally, how does not meeting for Communion impact on you?

Churches around the world have been faced

with determining how to have believers

receive the benefits of Holy Communion

without being able to gather face to face to do so,

face to face with an ordained person,

or one otherwise authorised to celebrate communion…

For those folk within churches which offer holy communion weekly,

even daily for those so inclined,

because of the sacramental conviction

associated with such an act,

-namely that God imparts grace through participation-

the inability to meet collectively

creates an incredible sense of loss and grief…

as well as challenging millennia held Dogma.

I have read a number of articles delving into the theological underpinnings of established Communion liturgies and practices.

Especially how the enforced practice of isolation impacts on

what is theologically argued to be of necessity a community act!

Including guidelines provided by our own Assembly,

the National Council of the Church within the Uniting Church in Australia

responsible for guidance and direction re doctrine and liturgy.

A quick and apparently simple approach would be to follow the guidelines

and stream a communion service.

Make use of the technology available to bring a virtual community together, seems to be the way many congregations go.

Excuse me! I want to yell out!

Our congregation consists of just under 30 households,

only 17 of whom have Internet access!

Are we, as a church,

to exclude the 13 households who do not have Internet access 

from participation in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper?

(Of course the number right across the UCA will be much larger than this!)

This seems so counter to Paul’s injunction in his instructions to the Corinthian church concerning the Lord’s Supper… (1 Corinthians 11:29)

²⁹ For all who eat and drink without discerning the body,

where I agree with those who argue ‘body’

includes the meaning of the gathered people of God…

within the context of earlier verses

 ²⁰ When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s supper.

 ²¹ For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. …

We miss the significance of communion

if we ignore the situation and needs of all the members of the body,

thereby excluding some!

Other voices echo this concern that creating virtual communities

excludes significant numbers from participation.

In fact, in Africa, it would exclude huge numbers of believers,

Stan Chu Ilo is a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Awgu (Nigeria)

and research professor of World Catholicism and African Studies

at DePaul University in Chicago (USA). He writes:

But many (Africans) have no electricity in their homes, televisions or internet connection. If the virtualization of the Eucharistic celebration, whether in the Global North or in the Global South becomes a trend in this era of COVID-19, it could widen the gulf between the poor and the rich. It could limit the Church’s chosen means for encountering God to only those who are able to afford the only gadgets that make this possible for now.

Can the God who chose to step into the chaos of our human lives and meet us in our actual conditions be so confined by the Church?

Rather than quickly merely grabbing a technology fix,

globally the Church may need to rethink what till now have been

unassailable dictums concerning

how we understand and celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

It is of course, the Lord’s Supper.

Jason Goroncy, senior lecturer at Whitley College, the University of Divinity, Melbourne, reminds us of more than this.

He reminds us that only in Christ is our existence preserved.

This echoes the sentiments of the writings of Peter …

‘through him you have come to trust in God…

so that your faith and hope are set on God’… 

and ‘you have been born anew,

not of perishable but of imperishable seed,

through the living and enduring word of God’.

Jason uses this truth to suggest it worth imagining

different ways of celebrating the Eucharist.

My reading of his essay (maybe not at exactly what he means)

informs me that our approaches don’t bring Christ to us,

rather the Christ who holds us

meets us however we approach and practice the Lord’s Supper,

whatever constraints our situation and circumstances

place on traditional understandings and practices.

The Emmaus Road encounter clearly illustrates,

maybe even teaches this!

It is Jesus joins the two travellers,

initiates the conversation,

offers them teaching,

and accepts their offer of hospitality;

then he turns the tables on them, and becomes the host!

and in the actions of

he took bread,

he blessed and broke it,

and gave it to them…

their eyes were opened, and they recognized him…

Almost all is the initiative of Christ!

The approach, the conversation and teaching, the hosting, the revealing!

What the two pilgrims initiated was the offer of hospitality!

Having offered hospitality to a stranger,

they found themselves hosted by the risen Messiah

whose actions in sharing the bread

brought to remembrance past similar actions…

at the feedings of the multitudes?

perhaps in more private gatherings of disciples and others?

they observed the actions and awareness was granted!

This illustrates the remembrance Paul pointed to

when he passed on to the Corinthians the words of Jesus

passed on to him concerning communion:

Do this for the remembrance of me

followed by the distribution of the bread,

Do this for the remembrance of me

followed by the distribution of the cup.

Another aspect of communion common to the Emmaus story

and the instructions Paul gives concerning communion,

is the meal!

This should not surprise us,

as the Gospel accounts clearly indicate Jesus is at table

eating with his disciples

when he breaks bread and then shares the cup

attaching a new significance to them…

We can easily forget this, because our celebration of the Last Supper

is rather far removed from being within the context of a meal…

I became friends with the Salvation Army captain when in Shepparton,

and we would spend many hours chatting about theology…

I asked him why the Salvation Army did not have Communion…

I was a Churches of Christ minister then,

and communion each Sunday

was a very much treasured experience;

As I recall, his answer was: but we do…

Each meal is an opportunity to pause,

to break bread, then remember,

to drink and then remember…

I took him at his word, as I still do after nearly 50 years,

by which I mean I never bothered to research further

Salvation Army sacramental theology…

It occurred to me then, as it still does,

that the act of remembrance as part of a meal certainly echoes

the context of the first ‘Lord’s Supper’.

Where is Louis heading with all this? you might well wonder…

I am attempting to deal pastorally

with any impact on believers

due to the absence of celebrating

the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper as a gathered congregation 

whether in our chapel, or even online,

in the form prescribed and authorized by the UCA…a form

which includes an authentic gathering of the community,

in which the Sacrament is offered alongside a Service of the Word

and where a Minister or duly authorized Lay Presider will lead the liturgy.

I am suggesting, based on my earlier comments,

that there are devotional approaches available to all of us

as we travel on the road, metaphorically speaking,

which might open us up to the awareness that Christ is with us!

It is Jesus who invites us to eat and drink with him, after all.

²⁰ Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking;

if you hear my voice and open the door,

I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me (Rev. 3.20)

We can turn an ordinary meal into such a time…

One can read aloud the text,

and say simply, enter Lord…

and pull out a chair from the table, then replace it…

as a sign of the ‘unseen guest’ …

Next Sunday is the first Sunday in May,

traditionally for us a Communion Sunday…

I will provide some prayers and suggestions

to use as devotional practice

to enrich our journeying with Jesus

to aid our remembrance of him in breaking of bread

and drinking of the cup…

If you are open to engaging with this,

I suggest you have ready bread

and a glass with some juice or wine…

This time of crisis brings temporary restrictions,

preventing us from doing

what we are accustomed to doing in much of our life,

including church life!

It also brings new ways of doing things, such as on-line education,

shopping, meals delivered to home etc.

Already we are alerted to possible new and enduring ways

of how we will function post- crisis time e.g. staggered work hours,

and other means to avoid clogging up our roads

once economic activity gears up again…

This crisis might well also bring fresh understandings of what is possible liturgically… Certainly Stan Chu Ilo dares to ask the hard questions:

Are there no other ways and means through which God can be fully mediated and present to the people in their domestic churches (homes) outside of the exclusive and remote performance of the cultic acts

of the priest through a virtual Mass?

Are there no other ministries and mysteries

that can be celebrated in the absence of priests?

To answer these questions we will have to discover

new ways of recognizing the gifts and role of the laity

in celebrating the mysteries in their homes,

on the streets and in the many hospitals and sites of pain….

He speaks from within the Roman Catholic tradition of course.

However I believe the same questions must be faced by us,

we who are in the Uniting Church.  

How may God use lay people in this crisis?

The Assembly Theological background paper to the Guidelines

for on-line communion finishes with this statement:

The words of Brazilian theologian and liturgist Cláudio Carvalhaes (Associate Professor of Worship, Union Seminary) also seem particularly apposite. “One thing for me is clear:

if we call the sacraments the gifts of God to the world,

and some will call them even means of grace,

we cannot say “nope you can’t have it now.”

Be it for whatever good and sound theological reason you might have. During a crisis, we are not supposed to protect tradition

but to bless the people.”

Meanwhile, I again invite you

to reflect on your responses to the questions asked earlier

concerning your experience of communion…

not only now, but as you prepare for next week’s service…

Meanwhile we celebrate:  Christ is risen HE IS RISEN INDEED

Quoted Sources:

Stan Chu Ilo

Why I did not celebrate online Mass this Easter Confessions of an African priest  

La Croix International   April 20, 2020

Holy Communion and COVID-19: The Body of Christ in a time of social distancing

Jason Goroncy     Posted Tue 7 Apr 2020, 4:00pm Updated Tue 7 Apr 2020, 4:41pm

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/jason-goroncy-holy-communion-and-covid-19/12129848

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

WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD

We Sing: TIS 524 COME RISEN LORD

We Bring Our offering to God

setting aside our gifts to support the local and wider work of the church

and 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 Share Our Community Life   Prayers of the People

Gracious God,

   we pray for all people adversely affected

by Government restrictions on economic activity:

workers without paid work, business owners without customers,

professionals without clients, investors without returns…

as a nation, help us to bear each other’s burden…

   we pray also for those people unseen by most of us: overseas students, temporary visa workers of whatever category, tourists –

who find themselves stranded without any government support,

desperately looking for ways to return home…

as a nation, guide us to acts of compassion…

   we pray for those who cannot even think of returning home, asylum seekers,

for whom the little they received from communities, rather than government,

is under threat as these communities now struggle to survive,

guide us to be the agents through whom the prayer,

‘give us today our daily bread’ is answered…

   we pray for those at the front line, medical personnel, super market employees, school teachers, and our law enforcement personnel,

as a people grant us patience and tolerance in our interactions with these…

   we pray for those known to us who struggle

with their personal crisis of health and well being…

we pause to name these before you…

grant them the hope grounded in a confidence in you

and the peace of the resurrected Christ, in whose name we pray, Amen

WE GO OUT TO SERVE GOD

We Sing  TIS  611 GOD OF GRACE AND GOD OF GLORY 4VV

Sending Out

We go as a reborn people mandated to love each other

as we ourselves are beloved of God,

we go as a people living each day with a hope

grounded in the God who brought to life the crucified Christ,

we go as a people commissioned to witness

to the resurrected Christ Jesus, present with all…

Blessing

May the always present Jesus

meet us on the road or on the wayside,,

dine and drink with us at our table,

open our eyes to God’s will and purpose,

that love may prevail over all…

The Lord is risen HE IS RISEN INDEED