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:

Greeting:

The Lord be with you

AND ALSO WITH YOU

We Focus on God     Psalm 85

Let us hear what God the Lord will speak,
    for he will speak peace to his people,
   TO HIS FAITHFUL,

TO THOSE WHO TURN TO HIM IN THEIR HEARTS.
⁹ Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him…

¹⁰ STEADFAST LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS WILL MEET;
    righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
¹¹ FAITHFULNESS WILL SPRING UP FROM THE GROUND,
    and righteousness will look down from the sky.
¹² THE LORD WILL GIVE WHAT IS GOOD…
    ¹³ Righteousness will go before him,
    and will make a path for his steps.

WE SING: TIS 136 THERE IS A WIDENESS IN GOD’S MERCY 

Prayer

Gracious and Holy LORD,

we enter into your presence

overawed by your mercy gifted to us,

You did not walk away from us,

turn your back on us,

or simply ignore us;

You could have let us stew in our own self-focused juice,

instead you choose to reach out to us

through an ancient called people

charged to be a light to the nations,

one of whom would be

Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles;

Above all, you reached out to us

through your Son Jesus Christ,

whose faithfulness to you

and to your desire for reconciliation

between yourself and us

even as it took him down the road to death,

undid the consequence of our disobedience.

Therefore we raise our hearts in praise

and offer ourselves as a thanksgiving sacrifice

which is our reasonable worship!

Bless us in this time,

guide us in our worship and service,

even as 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

ROMANS 12:1-16

12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

³ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴ For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, ⁵ so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. ⁶ We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ⁷ ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; ⁸ the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

⁹ Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; ¹⁰ love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. ¹¹ Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.

In this is the Word of the Lord   WE HEAR AND REJOICE, O LORD

MATTHEW 21:23-32

²³ When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’ ²⁴ Jesus said to them, ‘I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ And they argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?” ²⁶ But if we say, “Of human origin”, we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.’ ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And he said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

²⁸ ‘What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” ²⁹ He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I go, sir”; but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax-collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

This is the Gospel of our Lord  PRAISE TO YOU LORD JESUS CHRIST

Prayer of Confession (Matthew 21:30, Romans 6:13, 12:1,2).

Holy and compassionate LORD,

guard us from that complacency

which has us mouthing words of assent,

yet taking no action to offer our members

to you as instruments of righteousness ().

Lord have mercy   LORD HAVE MERCY

Gracious Lord,

guard us against that complacency

which has us uncritically take on board

whatever new and wonderful thought espoused by the world

without doing the hard work of a transformative mind!

Christ have mercy   CHRIST HAVE MERCY

Spirit of Community,

guard us from that complacency

which has us so self-focussed

we overlook our need for others

even in discerning your will for us!

Lord have mercy   LORD HAVE MERCY

Declaration of Reconciliation

Those whom God calls, God enables:

through our baptism we have received

the new life through a resurrected Jesus;

we can discern what is good, acceptable and perfect!

More than that, 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:  THE STEADFAST LOVE OF THE LORD  MISSION PRAISE 666

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,

His mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning,

new every morning:

great is Thy faithfulness, O LORD,

great is Thy faithfulness.

Contemporary Word  

David knew he had done wrong!

He had ordered a census taken of the men able to bear arms.

In Israel,he learned, these numbered 800,000; in Judah 500,000.

The reason for this conviction of having done wrong we do not know;

certainly God had commanded a census on previous occasions…

but this particular time, it was wrong… 

perhaps because David took the initiative,

presuming to order that which only God could command;

perhaps because it showed a lack of trust in God,

instead relying on his own might of arms…

whatever the reason, David, we read in 2 Samuel 24:10f

was stricken to the heart because he had numbered the people.

David said to the Lord, ‘I have sinned greatly in what I have done.

But now, O Lord, I pray you, take away the guilt of your servant;

for I have done very foolishly.’

God answered through the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,

¹² ‘Thus says the Lord: Three things I offer you;

choose one of them, and I will do it to you.’ 

¹³ So Gad came to David and told him; he asked him,

‘Shall three years of famine come to you on your land?

Or will you flee for three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land?

Gad urged David, Now consider,

and decide what answer I shall return

to the one who sent me.’

So, which of the options do you think David chooses?

David chose the third… pestilence…

Note especially the reason:

‘I am in great distress;

let us fall into the hand of the Lord,

for his mercy is great;

but let me not fall into human hands.

Brueggemann comments:

” We are not told that David makes his choice

because the time of suffering is shorter.

Rather he makes the choice

because pestilence comes directly from YHWH.

He prefers direct action from YHWH

rather than famine

that will no doubt feature the effect of human advantage for some

at the expense of others,

…

He chooses direct action from YHWH rather than war,

for he knows from experience how brutal human war can be.

By contrast—note well!—

David anticipates that in the midst of pestilence

from YHWH he may receive mercy.

He will take his chances on YHWH

rather than to fall into human hands!

YHWH’s mercy is great (24:14)![1]

God’s thoughts are not like ours!

The divine nature and thoughts

are so different from human nature and thoughts.

David here anticipates correctly an essential characteristic of the LORD,

compassion, mercy… 

as God exclaims later through Hosea (Hosea 11:8,9)

How can I give you up, Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, O Israel?
…My heart recoils within me;
    my compassion grows warm and tender.
⁹ I will not execute my fierce anger;
    I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and no mortal,
    the Holy One in your midst,
    and I will not come in wrath.

Paul, trained in the scriptures as he was,

understood this only too well!

When Moses asked of the LORD (Exodus 33)

¹⁸  ‘Show me your glory, I pray.’ 

the LORD replied thus:

¹⁹ And he said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you,

and will proclaim before you the name, “The Lord”;

and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious,

and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 

Goodness and mercy…

God’s goodness equates with God’s grace and God’s mercy!

Mysterious though the ways and mind of God may be,

as Paul exclaimed at the conclusion

of his Lament concerning non-responsive Israel,

ultimately Paul entrusted himself and them and Gentiles,

each and everyone of us humans,

to the mercy of God

For God has imprisoned all in disobedience

so that he may be merciful to all (11:32).

Therefore he continues his teaching to the Christians in Rome

with: I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters,

by the mercies of God, 

to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,

holy and acceptable to God,

which is your spiritual worship. 

Our experience of God’s mercies

evokes from within us a merciful life,

a life within which we, in turn, offer to others

both within our community,

and to those beyond it,

the practical expressions

of the mercy we have received.

This Paul hinted at earlier when he stated:

Note then God’s kindness towards you,

provided you continue in his kindness (11:22)

which includes the thought,

provided you perpetuate God’s kindness…

Paul’s request that the Roman Christians

order their lives according to the pattern of Christ

is based on everything that has gone before,

particularly God’s covenant faithfulness to Israel

by means of the inclusion of the Gentiles in the covenant promises.

What Paul urges them the Roman Christians to do

reflects his assumption

that they have become affiliated with Jesus Christ

through baptism into his death

and are no longer enslaved to Sin,

which leads to Death,

but now are slaves of the obedient righteousness

that leads to resurrection life in the Spirit. [2]

 ¹³ No longer present your members to sin

as instrumentsof wickedness,

but present yourselves to God

as those who have been brought from death to life,

and present your members to God

as instruments of righteousness.

(6: 16– 23; 8: 4– 6).

In particular, the opening verse indicates

that the foundation of all Christian obedience

is that those in Christ, indwelt by the Spirit,

are to offer to God

the true sacrificial worship

to which that offered in the Jerusalem Temple had all along pointed.

Romans 12:1 does with temple worship,

in other words, what 2:25–29 did with circumcision,

²⁹ Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly,

and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—

it is spiritual and not literal.

Such a person receives praise not from others but from God.

Later on, Paul will envisage Jew and Gentile

alike joining in worship

of the true God under the lordship of the Messiah.

This can hardly be overemphasized.

Paul has spoken of the “worship”

that was one of Israel’s privileges (9:4);

now he makes it clear,

as with the other elements in that list,

that this worship is now offered by all Christians,

Jew and Gentile alike (see also 10:9–13).^[3]

Many Jews of Paul’s day and before,

not to mention the post-70 rabbis,

spoke of nonsacrificial forms of worship

as the equivalent of temple worship.

This goes back, indeed, to the psalms themselves (Ps 141:2).

I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me;
    give ear to my voice when I call to you.
² Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
    and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.

Paul does indeed imagine the sacrifices in question as being physical, indeed animal; but the animals are human,

and they are not to be ritually slaughtered

but “presented”, that is offered to God, still alive.

What are to be presented are the “bodies” of Christian worshipers.

The word “body” enables Paul to look in two directions;

at the Christian still living within the world of space, time, and matter,

as here,

and as living within the multiple pressures and temptations

that this places upon us…

Here as there, however, the point of “body”

is not that it refers to one part only of the human totality,

but that it refers to the complete person seen from one point of view:

the point of view in which the human being

lives as a physical object within space and time.

This whole self is to be “presented”—

the word itself carries sacrificial overtones—to God;

this implies that we should expect Christian worship

to have an emphatically bodily character,

however much it is also true that worship must be,

in the language of John, “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23).

It must also be stressed that, though the primary worship,

the primary “presentation” that Paul envisages,

is the obedience of the whole person to the commands that follow,

it may well also include the actual occasions

of formal and informal worship when the person is physically present

and performs physical actions in the course of that worship…

standing, kneeling, raising hands,

moving forward to receive communion and so on.^[4]

However Paul certainly implies that obedience of life,

rather than specific ritual gestures,

constitute for believers the true essence of worship.

These sacrifices are “holy” i.e. “dedicated”),

and “well-pleasing to God.”

Paul, unusually, repeats the word “well-pleasing” in the very next verse, making it clear that for him at least what a Christian does,

in Christ and by the Spirit, gives actual pleasure to God.

Paul insists in several passages that Christian worship and obedience, holiness and unity do indeed please God.

Note though, that “pleasing God”

is not to be confused with any action on our part

which might confer God’s righteousness!

The righteousness granted us by God

evokes the life which pleases God!

A useful metaphor for the living sacrifice

is to think not in terms of sin or guilt offerings so much

as an offering of thanksgiving for well-being (Leviticus 7).

¹¹ This is the ritual of the sacrifice of the offering of well-being that one may offer to the Lord. ¹² If you offer it for thanksgiving, you shall offer with the thank-offering unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes of choice flour well soaked in oil. 

¹³ With your thanksgiving sacrifice of well-being you shall bring your offering with cakes of leavened bread.

²⁸Any one of you who would offer to the Lord your sacrifice of well-being must yourself bring to the Lord your offering

from your sacrifice of well-being.

Paul has articulated quite clearly that Jesus

through his faithfulness to God even to death,

has dealt with human guilt and sin’s power over us.

It seems only appropriate that now, in response,

we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice of thanksgiving!

This requires rigor!

A reversal of the mindset which Paul described in Romans 1,

a life style which displayed the wrath of God (1:24)…

Paul completes the picture of Christian life

as lived sacrificial consecration to God

by indicating how believers are to know what it requires in practice.

So Paul urges us:

 ² Do not be conformed to this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your minds,

so that you may discern what is the will of God

—what is good and acceptable and perfect. (12:2)

Negatively (v 2a), it means not being conformed

to the pattern of this world.

Presupposed here, as throughout Romans,

is an understanding that the Christian life

is lived in the “overlap” of the ages.

The new age inaugurated by the resurrection of Christ

has become palpable in the experience of the Spirit,

attesting a new relationship with God (cf. 5:5; 8:23).

But the conditions of the sin-laden old era endure for the time being

and will continue to do so till Christ’s victory is complete

(cf. 1 Cor 15:23–28).

In our bodies we believers feel and suffer the onslaughts of the old era.

We have to live out the values of the new

—especially in relation to God and fellow human beings—

in the conditions of the old.

Hence, on the negative side, our “worship”

involves a constant resistance to the “pull” of the passing age

upon our mortal existence.

More positively (v 2b), we must allow our “minds” [5]

to undergo the renewal of existence

that life in the new era involves.

“Mind” (nous) for Paul denotes the thinking,

discerning aspect of the human person.

As such, it is morally neutral:

it can sink to the level of the fallen age (cf. 1:21, 28)

or, as Paul here requires, it can partake of the new.

What is striking is the way Paul insists that the new moral life is something that proceeds from this renewed inner faculty of discernment. In no sense does it involve simple conformity

to a blueprint provided by external law or sanction.

It is something that is to proceed from the inner moral core

of the person, now capable of discerning (dokimazein) the “will of God.” (The use of the second person plural, you,

suggests that this is more than simply an individual’s discernment;

it is a community understanding).

Significantly, then, Paul’s fundamental principle of moral discernment, laid down here prior to any concrete norms or maxims,

is that Christian obedience involves a constant quest for God’s will

in the confusing and difficult circumstances

of the present, “overlap” time.

He displays a remarkable confidence in the capacity

of the “renewed mind” to determine God’s will

and so arrive at behavior which, in conventional terms,

is “good, pleasing and perfect.” [6]

The principle set out here stands in sharp contrast

—in all likehood intentional—to what he had written earlier on, lampooning the claim of the Jewish teacher to “know the will (of God) and discern (dokimazein) what is essential,

as one instructed by the law” (2:18).

Believers have no need to be instructed by such a law,

just as they have no need to go to a temple to offer sacrifice to God. Their “renewed mind” creates in them the capacity to discern

what is required to live according to God’s will.

Their active obedience flowing from that discernment

makes their lives a continual “sacrifice” pleasing to God.^[7]

Brendan Byrne concludes:

These two sentences contain a spirituality

and a theory of ethical discernment

that is both suggestive and open-ended.

Granted the vast cultural and historical gap

between the ancient world and our own,

scripture provides little concrete guidance

for the ethical dilemmas of modern life.

The abiding values of the gospel have to be discerned

and lived out in totally different circumstances,

with science and technology, in particular,

modern political and economic ideologies and structures also,

throwing up ethical challenges unimaginable in the biblical world.

In these circumstances,

Paul’s stress upon the capacity of the “renewed mind” to discern,

his sense of the need to test

(allowing for some measure of trial and error),

his readiness to speak in the language of the surrounding secular world (“good and acceptable and perfect”)

offer contemporary moral theology an important biblical charter

as it confronts the issues of our time.

WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD

We Sing: TIS 472 FATHER OF MERCY, GOD OF CONSOLATION

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

God our Saviour, may these prayers which we offer you

be also a renewing of our mindfulness

to love one another even as Jesus has loved us.

We pray for the end of bitterness and violence in its many forms.

Bless all peacemakers:

those who negotiate between nations,

or arbitrate within commerce and industry,

adjudicate in family courts,

defuse tensions in school grounds,

and counsel conflicting parties

within church denominations.

 Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER

We pray for the effective, compassionate care

of all who are ill, maimed, or severely handicapped,

including ailing members of this congregation.

Bless all who offer care through home based support agencies.

Bless all who work in clinics and hospitals: surgeons, physiotherapists, nurses, physicians, oncologists, psychiatrists, dieticians, social workers, dentists, pharmacists and the staff of hospices for the dying.

Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER

 We pray for the feeding of the hungry,

the clothing of the destitute,

the housing of the homeless,

the reformation of prisoners,

and the rehabilitation of those

who have been addicted to drugs.

Bless every agency, church or government,

which is dedicated to the care

of our disadvantaged sisters and brothers

 Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER

We pray for the provision of systems of justice

that that are truly fair.

Whether they are within our homeland,

in other nations,

or international courts of justice,

may those who are brought to court

find equality before the law.

Bless with insight and integrity

each barrister and judge,

work in the mind and soul of every juror,

that the innocent may be exonerated

and the hearts of those sentenced

turned towards repentance and regeneration.

 Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER

 We pray for the church,

for all denominations large or small,

that we may love one another in practice

as well as in prayer. 

Bless all joint initiatives in worship, fellowship

and service to the community.

May the world know

that there is a grace at work in us which is not our doing

but a gift from a Lover who outstrips all other.

Through Christ Jesus our humble Lord.

Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER  AMEN!

WE GO OUT TO SERVE GOD

We Sing: 596 FILL THOU MY LIFE, O LORD

Sending Out

We go as a people asked by our Lord

to work in his vineyard,

We go committed to act…

We go as a people empowered by our Lord

to rethink and reshape our mind set and priorities,

we go determined to reset our mind…

Yes, in thanksgiving to the God of our salvation.

we go as a people

offering ourselves as a living sacrifice

Blessing

Continue your journey of faith,

with the great love of God implanted in you,
the perfect love of Jesus Christ

blossoming within you
and the enduring love of the Holy Spirit

keeping you true and strong.

AMEN,  AMEN,  AMEN

---

[1] Brueggemann, Walter. 2020 Virus as a Summons to Faith: Biblical Reflections in a Time of Loss, Grief, and Uncertainty (p. 23). Cascade Books, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition.

[2] Grieb, A. Katherine. (2015) The Story of Romans (pp. 117-118). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.

^[3] Wright, N. T. (1994–2004). The Letter of the Romans. In L. E. Keck (Ed.), New Interpreter’s Bible (Vol. 10, pp. 703–704). Nashville: Abingdon Press.

^[4] Wright, N. T. (1994–2004). The Letter of the Romans. In L. E. Keck (Ed.), New Interpreter’s Bible (Vol. 10, p. 704). Nashville: Abingdon Press.

[5] Jewett, R., & Kotansky, R. D. (2006). Romans: A commentary. (E. J. Epp, Ed.) (p. 733). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.  The word “mind” is used here in the singular, parallel to the expression “reprobate mind” in 1:28*, implying a complex of assumptions and mental abilities characteristic of a group rather than an individual

[6] “the good and acceptable and perfect” should not be understood as three attributes of the will of God but rather as an apposition (closely related check list) providing traditional guidelines to evaluate alternate courses of action as consistent or inconsistent with the divine will. ^. Jewett, R., & Kotansky, R. D. (2006). Romans: A commentary. (E. J. Epp, Ed.) (p. 734). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.

^[7] Byrne, B. (1996). Romans. (D. J. Harrington, Ed.) (Vol. 6, pp. 364–365). Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press.