Sunday 28th August, 2011 Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Sentence
If you want to become a disciple of Jesus, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him.
Matthew 16: 24-5
Collect
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things, graft in our hearts the love of Your name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of Your great mercy, keep us in the same, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Old Testament Lesson Exodus 3: 1 – 15
Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, "I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up."
When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." He said further, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the LORD said, "I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt."
But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" He said, "I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain." But Moses said to God, "If I come to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you': This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.
Psalm 105: 1 – 6 & 23 -26
Praise the Lord; O give thanks to the Lord for He is good: and His mercy endures for ever
Who can express the mighty acts of the Lord: or fully voice His praise?
Blessed are those who act according to justice: who at all times do the right
Remember me O Lord, when You visit Your people with Your favour: and come to me also with Your salvation
That I may see the prosperity of Your chosen: that I may rejoice with the rejoicing of Your people, and exult with those who are Your own.
We have sinned like our ancestors: we have acted perversely and done wrong
At Horeb they made themselves a calf: and bowed down in worship to an image
And so they exchanged the glory of God: for the likeness of an ox that eats hay
They forgot God Who was their saviour: that had done such great things in Egypt
Who had worked His wonders in the Land of Ham: and His terrible deeds at the Red Sea
Therefore He thought to destroy them: had not Moses His servant stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath from destroying them.
Epistle Romans 12: 8 – 21
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 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." 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." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
GOSPEL Matthew 16: 21 – 28
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."
© New Revised Standard Version of the Bible Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved
NOTES ON THE READINGS
Old Testament
If this passage is not read in today’s service, then it is a matter of very great pity. Of all the passages in the Old Testament, this one is most formative. Not only does it tell of the call of Moses, but it also provides the closest you will ever get to the name of God.
I guess you are aware of the fact that wherever in (most) Bibles, you find the word LORD in capital letters, it translates the Divine Name often translated these days as Yahweh –JHWH using the Hebrew consonants without vowelling. No Jewish person will ever utter that Hebrew – all manner of periphrases will be used instead, for the Divine Name is so holy. It is totally beyond useage.
I am Who I am; I will be Who I will be; I was Who I was. You will be more familiar with the old ending to the psalms: Glory to God, Father Son and Holy Spirit (as in the beginning, so now and ever after shall be ….)
Who was and Who is and Who will be. John in Revelation has a subtle variant on that formula – look it up and see for yourself. Notice then, in the Gospels, Jesus’ use of the ‘I am’ statements, referring to Himself, and actually claiming divinity for Himself.
Psalm
‘The mighty works of the Lord’ are often mentioned in psalms and other parts of Scripture. And well they may be. The interesting history of Israel is often invoked by the prophets in particular, as source of grounds for learning quite something of the nature of God. Speaking of ‘nature,’ that tends to be a rather secondary source of information about God for Israel, in spite of the Creation story being at the forefront of the Biblical narrative.
What is also basic to Israel’s understanding of God – and itself - is that awareness of sin, stupidity and damage in failing to follow its own vision.
Epistle
I have referred, recently and often, to the sorts of contrary comment by atheists and others against religion and superstition. Please just read through this passage again, and see if you can find the slightest thing to disagree with, unless of course you are a self-obsessed, self-driven egoist. As Paul put it, against love there is no law. If people even began to live along the lines Paul enumerated, life and relationships would be so much better and stress-reduced.
Gospel
And because people will take no notice of the Gospel way of life, and never have, what Jesus anticipated in today’s passage was and remains necessary. Here is the lead-up to the remedy for human evil, and even that is disregarded by the majority of humans who inhabit this planet. What fools we mortals be!
Peter’s determination to stop Jesus in His tracks stemmed from the long-held perception that the Messiah would not / could not die. What sort of a victorious person could he be if death lay in front of him? So triumphalist was the old Jewish perception of Messiah (and far too often, the more populist view of the Christian Faith) that it took a long time to bury – and is still above ground in some Jewish and Christian circles.
Notice too how Jesus underlines in red that His followers needed to same commitment as He showed. This was no single-handed rescue bid. This is a way-of-life business, make no mistake.
NOTES FOR A SERMON
I have been reading a very large tome illustrating the history of Australia over the 20th Century, and a fascinating book it is. Based on newspaper reports of the period, it underlines so much of what had happened over that century. Quite a lot of the material was known to me, in spite of my life spreading only over 2/3 of that period. But there is one thing that recurs constantly, whether it has to do with matters political, social or normal. The extent to which various people and nations strove for the right things in ways and means totally immoral is utterly astounding. For instance the moral rage after World War 1 that led to the terribly punitive reaction on Germany was advised against by a few moderates of the time, one of them a cousin to my grandfather. Moral indignation (or immoral egoism) overruled them. The result was Hitler’s regime – and the world could have done without that!!!
That, of course, was just one example from the enormous list of folly perpetrated on people all over. The Russian Revolution did not bring about the just outcome it promised, but rather a far more severe and dishonest regime that cost the lives of millions. On and on the list goes ….. It is not as if there had been no precedent to go by. All of human history has been marred by wars, revolutions, control freaks and such like. And each time a crisis has arisen there has been someone who was prepared to take up arms or other power means to suppress and destroy whoever dared to raise their head in disagreement.
Even as I write this, recent days (June, 2010) have seen the removal of one Prime Minister and replacement with another in this country of ours. Political execution is as damaging as physical execution, and it was preceded by and based on similar dishonesty that is passed over as expediency. It is expedient that one man dies rather than all the people perish. That was one of the justifications for the crucifixion of Jesus, you may recall. And as a sort of exercise for us this morning, I offer a simple comparison between today’s Epistle and today’s Gospel. I think you will find it to be remarkably powerful ……..
Let’s start with the Epistle. Paul to the Romans. Having offered his magnum opus on the Faith and the reasons for his acceptance of it, the author goes on to list the points, purposes and values of Gospel living.
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
You are free to read on this rather interesting if exhaustive list of ways to operate as a disciple of Jesus. I challenge anyone to come up with anything that is disagreeable in this passage, anything that is likely to hurt or damage another person. It is a rather moving, sometimes challenging path to travel, even to the extent of its pacific approach to gainsayers. (I would find it difficult to bless persecutors, but partly because I have not had a lot to cop from them.
Perhaps the hardest part, and apparently so for those of Christian Faith who seem to regard themselves as activators of vengeance, is to leave the outcome to God. ‘Vengeance is mine, says the Lord’ tends to be somewhat invisible, partly because we do not agree with God’s idea of vengeance. He tends to be too soft on people, does He not?
Now it does not take a lot of imagination to see how, if and when people operate in this sort of way, that life would become, suddenly and remarkably, peaceful. Stress levels would drop dramatically, and so would that eternal gap between rich and poor. Old ills would disappear because all would be well-fed, loved, and looked after. And self esteem would rise geometrically.
So who ever could have a fight with such a way of living?
And the answer is there before I get the question written down.
And there is a precedent for that sort of response. It is there in the Gospel for today. Jesus knew, right from the outset that He was fighting an uphill battle, because He was a realist, and was painfully aware of the basis of the human condition and the human dilemma. Plain ordinary sin and selfishness would not deign to listen to what He had to offer. He was as aware of the cost to Himself of offering such an option, as He was aware of the cost to whoever dared to follow in His footsteps.
The best way to destroy a dangerous idea is to murder the messenger. How often has that happened in human history? Even the Church attempted that path time and again! Remember Galileo?
Whilst contemporary Jewish theology said that the Messiah could not, would not be killed, our Lord was painfully aware otherwise. And He also knew that any attempt to avoid such a harsh response from leaders would mean the end of the dream, the end of the Gospel.
Ponder that a moment or two.
Give thanks that you have a Lord Who was made of sterner stuff.
And then see the path that lies in front of you, here and now.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Newsletter
SUNDAY 29th August, 2010
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Our Celebrant and Preacher today is Fr. Warren Huffa
WELCOME
Please join us for breakfast in the hall after the 8am service or for morning tea after the 10am service.
At 10am you will find all the service and hymns projected onto the sanctuary walls.
There is Sunday School at the 10 am service during School term times.
THE PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord of all power and might, the Author and Giver of all good things; graft in our hearts the love of Your name; increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of Your great mercy keep us in the same, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
TODAY’S Readings Jeremiah 2: 4 – 13 & Hebrews 13: 1 – 8 & 15 -16 read by Margaret P
GOSPEL Luke 14: 7 - 14
PRAYERS FOR THE PEOPLE led by Sue D-T
We pray for those in need: Warren and Thea, Ron Teague, Michael Boere.,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sarah Browne and Alychia McKinnon
HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARY – Anne & Marcus Cooling
YEAR’S MIND: Elizabeth Lapedus (1991) and Freidrich Seith (1989)
PREPARATION FOR NEXT SUNDAY – Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Readings: Jeremiah 18: 1 - 11 and Philemon
Gospel Luke 14: 25 - 35
Refer Fr Ron’s Notes available at http://www.anglican-belair.blogspot.com/
POWERPOINT ROSTER –
This Week Craig Deane or Don Caddy
Next Week Ron Keynes or the Araki family
We are looking for someone to go on to this roster: please get in touch with Fr. Ron if you are available.
REGULAR GROUPS AND BOOKINGS
PRAYER CIRCLE meets noon on the 2nd Tuesday each month at 36 Penno Parade North
THURSDAY Morning Eucharist 9.30am and evening Meditation at 7 pm and discussion at 7.30pm
BIBLE STUDY 10am every Wednesday at 378 Main Road Coromandel Valley
Special Note: From Monday evening, there will be a Ministry Group meeting at the Rectory from 7.45pm to look at ways of serving Church and community. All interested people are welcome to attend and join in.
COMING EVENTS
The Church complex has been booked for 1st September from 8.30am to 4.30pm
Back to Church Sunday 12th September
Baptism on 31st October William Garnett
HELPLINE
Part of being a Christian community is the support offered to each other in times of need. We offer short-term delivery of food where needed, local transport, phone calls, visits and other types of assistance. Call Christie Hodgson on 8370 3260 or Caroline Sweet on 8278 3058
TOY APPEAL
Our Anglican Toy Appeal will be held as usual in November, See ‘Joyce Arnold for details - phone 83702779’
On Friday 10th September, St. John’s Grammar will be holding a concert in the Church from 7.00pm. The School will also be using the Hall in preparation from 12.30am on that day.
We are planning a special session for children on September 12th when a treasure hunt will be all the go. However we need some specific items, asking if you could supply:
* some water-worn stones * some (chook) feathers * a sign post * some seeds
We will be looking at the Mary Jones and her Bible story – which might explain the above.
The children enjoyed making - and eating! - the Passover wraps last Sunday. And great thanks go to those who support our ministry so generously; it does not go unnoticed.
And in the light of numbers increasing, there will be a second group formed from 29th August, so that older children can have a group for themselves.
Also, there is a need for about 40 plastic bags (with handles) – is there anyone who could provide these for September 12th – Back to Church Sunday?
ABM Lamingtons - Your orders may be collected from the hall on Sunday morning 28 August. Thank you all for your support for ABM.
.
Items for the Newsletter need to be sent to Fr. Ron at 8298 7160 or ronpkeynes@internode.on.net or
60a Davenport Terrace, Seacliff Park SA 5049 by Tuesday nights, please
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Our Celebrant and Preacher today is Fr. Warren Huffa
WELCOME
Please join us for breakfast in the hall after the 8am service or for morning tea after the 10am service.
At 10am you will find all the service and hymns projected onto the sanctuary walls.
There is Sunday School at the 10 am service during School term times.
THE PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord of all power and might, the Author and Giver of all good things; graft in our hearts the love of Your name; increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of Your great mercy keep us in the same, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
TODAY’S Readings Jeremiah 2: 4 – 13 & Hebrews 13: 1 – 8 & 15 -16 read by Margaret P
GOSPEL Luke 14: 7 - 14
PRAYERS FOR THE PEOPLE led by Sue D-T
We pray for those in need: Warren and Thea, Ron Teague, Michael Boere.,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sarah Browne and Alychia McKinnon
HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARY – Anne & Marcus Cooling
YEAR’S MIND: Elizabeth Lapedus (1991) and Freidrich Seith (1989)
PREPARATION FOR NEXT SUNDAY – Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Readings: Jeremiah 18: 1 - 11 and Philemon
Gospel Luke 14: 25 - 35
Refer Fr Ron’s Notes available at http://www.anglican-belair.blogspot.com/
POWERPOINT ROSTER –
This Week Craig Deane or Don Caddy
Next Week Ron Keynes or the Araki family
We are looking for someone to go on to this roster: please get in touch with Fr. Ron if you are available.
REGULAR GROUPS AND BOOKINGS
PRAYER CIRCLE meets noon on the 2nd Tuesday each month at 36 Penno Parade North
THURSDAY Morning Eucharist 9.30am and evening Meditation at 7 pm and discussion at 7.30pm
BIBLE STUDY 10am every Wednesday at 378 Main Road Coromandel Valley
Special Note: From Monday evening, there will be a Ministry Group meeting at the Rectory from 7.45pm to look at ways of serving Church and community. All interested people are welcome to attend and join in.
COMING EVENTS
The Church complex has been booked for 1st September from 8.30am to 4.30pm
Back to Church Sunday 12th September
Baptism on 31st October William Garnett
HELPLINE
Part of being a Christian community is the support offered to each other in times of need. We offer short-term delivery of food where needed, local transport, phone calls, visits and other types of assistance. Call Christie Hodgson on 8370 3260 or Caroline Sweet on 8278 3058
TOY APPEAL
Our Anglican Toy Appeal will be held as usual in November, See ‘Joyce Arnold for details - phone 83702779’
On Friday 10th September, St. John’s Grammar will be holding a concert in the Church from 7.00pm. The School will also be using the Hall in preparation from 12.30am on that day.
We are planning a special session for children on September 12th when a treasure hunt will be all the go. However we need some specific items, asking if you could supply:
* some water-worn stones * some (chook) feathers * a sign post * some seeds
We will be looking at the Mary Jones and her Bible story – which might explain the above.
The children enjoyed making - and eating! - the Passover wraps last Sunday. And great thanks go to those who support our ministry so generously; it does not go unnoticed.
And in the light of numbers increasing, there will be a second group formed from 29th August, so that older children can have a group for themselves.
Also, there is a need for about 40 plastic bags (with handles) – is there anyone who could provide these for September 12th – Back to Church Sunday?
ABM Lamingtons - Your orders may be collected from the hall on Sunday morning 28 August. Thank you all for your support for ABM.
.
Items for the Newsletter need to be sent to Fr. Ron at 8298 7160 or ronpkeynes@internode.on.net or
60a Davenport Terrace, Seacliff Park SA 5049 by Tuesday nights, please
Saturday, August 21, 2010
RonBlog
Sunday 22nd August 2010 Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Sentence
You, O Lord, are my hope, my trust from my youth. Upon You have I leaned since my birth.
Psalm 71: 5-6
Collect
Creator God, You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in You: teach us to offer ourselves in Your service, that here we may have peace, and in the world to come may see You face to face, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Old Testament Lesson Jeremiah 1: 4 – 10
Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy." But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a boy'; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you, Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD."
Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, "Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."
Psalm 71: 1 – 6
To You, Lord, have I come for shelter: let me never be put to shame
In Your righteousness, rescue and deliver me: incline Your ear to me and save me
Be for me a rock of refuge, a fortress to defend me: for You are my high rock, and my stronghold
Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked: from the grasp of the pitiless and unjust
For You, Lord, are my hope: You are my confidence O God, from my youth upward
On You have I leaned since my birth: You are He that brought me out of my mother’s womb, and my praise is of You continually.
Epistle Hebrews 12: 18 – 29
You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. (For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death." Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear.")
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven." This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of what is shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a consuming fire.
GOSPEL Luke 13: 10 – 17
Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day." But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?" When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.
© New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved
NOTES ON THE READINGS
Old Testament
It is interesting to note that we now have had three of the major prophets tell of their call to serve, and each call tends to echo quite something of the other. Probably the main focus of each call has been the fact that each prophet has been called to stir up the people of their respective days. Here has been no sinecure offered, but a very rough path to travel. Jeremiah, in particular, would be threatened within an inch of his life several times over.
Like Aaron, Jeremiah pleaded immaturity but the plea was disallowed. And thank heaven it was, for the world would be far poorer without these prophets, would it not!
Psalm
Before you write this psalm off as the sad pleading of an insecure person, please understand the situation rather better. Because you may never have lived under the threat of powerful and evil people, you may not understand the need for support for such a one as this. Here is the clear recognition, as with Jeremiah, that the strength one needs in such times of crisis, comes from Israel’s God Who is Himself the guarantor of all that is just and true. In other words, evil will not win the final battle, and that gives this petitioner the strength to keep going in the face of huge threat.
Epistle
It may be rather confusing to many readers, but can you follow what I offer as the old author compared the OT fear of God Who seemed to have all the reins of life and death over His subjects, to the NT picture. Mind you, one needs to recognize that there are no escape clauses here either; however the focus has long turned from fear to responsibility. That marks a huge step forward. For too many centuries, Christians have continued on the fear of hell line, and punishment, and the human outcome is control by the ‘shaman.’ Time passed and the emphasis is far more significant. I am responsible for my actions, -- and in spite of today’s attempts to avoid such a view of life, without responsibility my humanity and yours is reduced to pathetic sub-human proportion. This surely is part of the line between animals and humans.
GOSPEL
Contrast all that with this marvellous little cameo. Whereas Jesus’ antagonists wanted to retain control over people and even over God, in their imposition of the ‘rules,’ Jesus took the far more significant path of seeing the person as far more important than the rule, and far more important than to be controlled by purveyors of a rather false religion.
There is a huge development and evolution of the Faith as Jesus came on the scene, pointing in a far more creative direction – and presenting as significant a shift as those to which the prophets had pointed some centuries before.
NOTES FOR A SERMON
The further I go and the older I get the more I am appalled at the gross distortions of the Faith that have been promulgated over the centuries. It is not just the emergence in recent decades of a strange distortion emanating from enthusiastic but unaware people, but the constant failure of the Church to preach the Gospel as the Scriptures have it.
I have just been reading a book on the history of the English language, where the story has been told again of the huge effect on the British Isles with the coming of the Normans. That rather brutal suppression of the locals by French interlopers (and my family was numbered amongst those interlopers!) was aided and abetted by the Roman Church, whose abuse of power meant not only the suppression of people but the utter distortion of the Faith. Small wonder that very many people turn their back on Church and Gospel. People were held in fearful thrall through threat of eternal damnation, and extorted for no other reason than to enrich the Church. The real faith is light-years away from such rubbish! Small wonder that these days fewer people take notice of the real thing!
Oddly enough, for anyone searching for the truth – about life and about themselves – the first place to look is inside. I recall hearing a strongly atheist lady on radio, several years ago, saying how she brought up her children not to listen to advertisers and other prompts to find where to head and what to choose. She encouraged them to look inside, to ponder the options from where they were, and to be true to their intuition. No doubt that lady would have been surprised to hear of me supporting her in that emphasis, but that is exactly the way I encourage, not only my children, but all those with whom I come in contact. That lady and I would use different names to describe the process, but that does not make any real difference.
‘Our hearts are restless till they find their rest in You’ comes from St. Augustine of Hippo about 1,700 years ago. Christian people often speak of a God-sized hole in them, but you do not have to be Christian to be aware of that deep-seated need and search for truth. I don’t care what you call it: it is the most effective way to go. And the Scriptures are full of examples of people who responded to such deep urges to find answers that stand up to real life and harsh experience. This is not a matter of dogma; it is far more a matter of experience.
And who would be a prophet? Anyone with any sense would respond as did Jeremiah, so many hundreds of years ago. (About 26 centuries actually!) I find it fascinating that, is our recent lectionary, each of the three major prophets have reported their call to that ministry, and while none of it shows any sign of being odd or fairy-like, each of the candidates expressed hesitancy (as did Moses, donkey’s years before,) for each of them had a fairly clear idea that they would be expected to ‘push wind uphill’ as the saying goes. (Perhaps one of the reason that so much distortion has marred the history of the Church is the expectation that most people really did not want to know what the Faith is pointing to.)
The closing lines of today’s Old Testament passage actually puts it into words: ‘I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down; to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.’ Again it is the old story of being unable to make omelettes unless you break some eggs! Anyone who has the temerity to suggest, even demand change, is in for a long and tedious task to get people to follow.
And yet, although many fail to see it, the Faith once delivered, and that includes Hebrew as much as Christian Faith, is designed to offer sound solutions to all of the problems and difficulties that face the human race. Mind you, neither synagogue nor Church seem to have kept their eye on the ball, so to speak. As today’s Gospel reading makes clear, even in Jesus’ day those old Jews them saw the rules before they saw the patient. That makes for little other than perpetuating the power game. The outcome of that path is diametrically opposed to the direction to which Jesus pointed, and lived.
Sentence
You, O Lord, are my hope, my trust from my youth. Upon You have I leaned since my birth.
Psalm 71: 5-6
Collect
Creator God, You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in You: teach us to offer ourselves in Your service, that here we may have peace, and in the world to come may see You face to face, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Old Testament Lesson Jeremiah 1: 4 – 10
Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy." But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a boy'; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you, Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD."
Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, "Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."
Psalm 71: 1 – 6
To You, Lord, have I come for shelter: let me never be put to shame
In Your righteousness, rescue and deliver me: incline Your ear to me and save me
Be for me a rock of refuge, a fortress to defend me: for You are my high rock, and my stronghold
Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked: from the grasp of the pitiless and unjust
For You, Lord, are my hope: You are my confidence O God, from my youth upward
On You have I leaned since my birth: You are He that brought me out of my mother’s womb, and my praise is of You continually.
Epistle Hebrews 12: 18 – 29
You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. (For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death." Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear.")
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven." This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of what is shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a consuming fire.
GOSPEL Luke 13: 10 – 17
Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day." But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?" When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.
© New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved
NOTES ON THE READINGS
Old Testament
It is interesting to note that we now have had three of the major prophets tell of their call to serve, and each call tends to echo quite something of the other. Probably the main focus of each call has been the fact that each prophet has been called to stir up the people of their respective days. Here has been no sinecure offered, but a very rough path to travel. Jeremiah, in particular, would be threatened within an inch of his life several times over.
Like Aaron, Jeremiah pleaded immaturity but the plea was disallowed. And thank heaven it was, for the world would be far poorer without these prophets, would it not!
Psalm
Before you write this psalm off as the sad pleading of an insecure person, please understand the situation rather better. Because you may never have lived under the threat of powerful and evil people, you may not understand the need for support for such a one as this. Here is the clear recognition, as with Jeremiah, that the strength one needs in such times of crisis, comes from Israel’s God Who is Himself the guarantor of all that is just and true. In other words, evil will not win the final battle, and that gives this petitioner the strength to keep going in the face of huge threat.
Epistle
It may be rather confusing to many readers, but can you follow what I offer as the old author compared the OT fear of God Who seemed to have all the reins of life and death over His subjects, to the NT picture. Mind you, one needs to recognize that there are no escape clauses here either; however the focus has long turned from fear to responsibility. That marks a huge step forward. For too many centuries, Christians have continued on the fear of hell line, and punishment, and the human outcome is control by the ‘shaman.’ Time passed and the emphasis is far more significant. I am responsible for my actions, -- and in spite of today’s attempts to avoid such a view of life, without responsibility my humanity and yours is reduced to pathetic sub-human proportion. This surely is part of the line between animals and humans.
GOSPEL
Contrast all that with this marvellous little cameo. Whereas Jesus’ antagonists wanted to retain control over people and even over God, in their imposition of the ‘rules,’ Jesus took the far more significant path of seeing the person as far more important than the rule, and far more important than to be controlled by purveyors of a rather false religion.
There is a huge development and evolution of the Faith as Jesus came on the scene, pointing in a far more creative direction – and presenting as significant a shift as those to which the prophets had pointed some centuries before.
NOTES FOR A SERMON
The further I go and the older I get the more I am appalled at the gross distortions of the Faith that have been promulgated over the centuries. It is not just the emergence in recent decades of a strange distortion emanating from enthusiastic but unaware people, but the constant failure of the Church to preach the Gospel as the Scriptures have it.
I have just been reading a book on the history of the English language, where the story has been told again of the huge effect on the British Isles with the coming of the Normans. That rather brutal suppression of the locals by French interlopers (and my family was numbered amongst those interlopers!) was aided and abetted by the Roman Church, whose abuse of power meant not only the suppression of people but the utter distortion of the Faith. Small wonder that very many people turn their back on Church and Gospel. People were held in fearful thrall through threat of eternal damnation, and extorted for no other reason than to enrich the Church. The real faith is light-years away from such rubbish! Small wonder that these days fewer people take notice of the real thing!
Oddly enough, for anyone searching for the truth – about life and about themselves – the first place to look is inside. I recall hearing a strongly atheist lady on radio, several years ago, saying how she brought up her children not to listen to advertisers and other prompts to find where to head and what to choose. She encouraged them to look inside, to ponder the options from where they were, and to be true to their intuition. No doubt that lady would have been surprised to hear of me supporting her in that emphasis, but that is exactly the way I encourage, not only my children, but all those with whom I come in contact. That lady and I would use different names to describe the process, but that does not make any real difference.
‘Our hearts are restless till they find their rest in You’ comes from St. Augustine of Hippo about 1,700 years ago. Christian people often speak of a God-sized hole in them, but you do not have to be Christian to be aware of that deep-seated need and search for truth. I don’t care what you call it: it is the most effective way to go. And the Scriptures are full of examples of people who responded to such deep urges to find answers that stand up to real life and harsh experience. This is not a matter of dogma; it is far more a matter of experience.
And who would be a prophet? Anyone with any sense would respond as did Jeremiah, so many hundreds of years ago. (About 26 centuries actually!) I find it fascinating that, is our recent lectionary, each of the three major prophets have reported their call to that ministry, and while none of it shows any sign of being odd or fairy-like, each of the candidates expressed hesitancy (as did Moses, donkey’s years before,) for each of them had a fairly clear idea that they would be expected to ‘push wind uphill’ as the saying goes. (Perhaps one of the reason that so much distortion has marred the history of the Church is the expectation that most people really did not want to know what the Faith is pointing to.)
The closing lines of today’s Old Testament passage actually puts it into words: ‘I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down; to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.’ Again it is the old story of being unable to make omelettes unless you break some eggs! Anyone who has the temerity to suggest, even demand change, is in for a long and tedious task to get people to follow.
And yet, although many fail to see it, the Faith once delivered, and that includes Hebrew as much as Christian Faith, is designed to offer sound solutions to all of the problems and difficulties that face the human race. Mind you, neither synagogue nor Church seem to have kept their eye on the ball, so to speak. As today’s Gospel reading makes clear, even in Jesus’ day those old Jews them saw the rules before they saw the patient. That makes for little other than perpetuating the power game. The outcome of that path is diametrically opposed to the direction to which Jesus pointed, and lived.
Newsletter
SUNDAY 22nd August, 2010
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Our Celebrant today is Fr. Warren Huffa and Guest Preacher is
Archdeacon Paul Mitchell
Welcome to Xavier and Lucy, being baptized at the 10 am Service
WELCOME
Please join us for breakfast in the hall after the 8am service or for morning tea after the 10am service.
At 10am you will find all the service and hymns projected onto the sanctuary walls.
There is Sunday School at the 10 am service during School term times.
THE PRAYER FOR TODAY
Creator God, You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in You; teach us to offer ourselves to Your service, that here we may have peace, and in the world to come, may see You face to face, through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen
TODAY’S Readings Jeremiah 1: 4 – 10 and Hebrews 12: 18 – 29 read by Paul H
Gospel Luke 13: 10 - 17
PRAYERS FOR THE PEOPLE led by Wendy M
We pray for those in need: Warren and Thea, Ron Teague, Michael Boere.,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Wayne Parham. Margaret Carruthers and Eric Downes
HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARY – Wayne and Sue Parham and Eddie and Chris Barber
YEAR’S MIND: Win Lamden (!992) Thyra Chester (1996), Rosemary Mayne (2005) and Donald Cameron (2002)
PREPARATION FOR NEXT SUNDAY – Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Readings: Jeremiah 2: 4 – 13 & Hebrews 13: 1 – 8 & 15 -16
GOSPEL Luke 14: 7 - 14
Refer Fr Ron’s Notes available at http://www.anglican-belair.blogspot.com/
POWERPOINT ROSTER –
This Week Barb Capon or Luke Vanderpeer
Next Week Craig Deane or Don Caddy
REGULAR GROUPS AND BOOKINGS
PRAYER CIRCLE meets noon on the 2nd Tuesday each month at 36 Penno Parade North
THURSDAY Morning Eucharist 9.30am and evening Meditation at 7 pm and discussion at 7.30pm
BIBLE STUDY 10am every Wednesday at 378 Main Road Coromandel Valley
HELPLINE
Part of being a Christian community is the support offered to each other in times of need. We offer short-term delivery of food where needed, local transport, phone calls, visits and other types of assistance. Call Christie Hodgson on 8370 3260 or Caroline Sweet on 8278 3058
TOY APPEAL
Our Anglican Toy Appeal will be held as usual in November, See ‘Joyce Arnold for details - phone 83702779’
FORTY HOUR FAMINE Today, 22nd August, Ross Hill-Brown will finish his 40 Hour Famine at 12.00 pm. Pledges/donations may be made on 22nd or at any time before 6/09/10. As a way of celebrating the end of the Famine fund raiser, at 7.00 pm at the Blackwood Hills Baptist Church, Coromandel Parade there will be ‘Famine Breakers - a Community Celebration Event. It features stories from the ‘front lines’ - Sue's Story - The inspiration behind Bono, U2- and Mon’s Story - Surviving the Killing Field of Cambodia. Also there will be Georgia Germein - Singer/Songwriter/World Vision Ambassador. Please come along and there should be an opportunity to donate to World Vision if you have not already done so. There is supper afterwards.
Meeting for Sidespeople - repeat notice:
Firstly, thank you all very much for your work as Sidespeople. It is very much appreciated. There will be a meeting of Sidespeople on TODAY at 9.30 am prior to the 10am service. The meeting will run through the procedures for counting and recording the collection and answer any queries that you may have.
Thank you - John Forster (Sidesperson Co-ordinator) Yvonne Caddy (Treasurer)
MOTHERS’ UNION Two items of interest:
MU Film Morning at the Capri Cinema Goodwood. On Friday 27th August from 10.00am there will be the screening of Invictus, the story of Nelson Mandela. Tickets from MU Branch or at the door at $10. .Morning Tea at 10, Organ Recital at 10.30am and film at 11am. Also the next MU Belair meeting is set for Thursday 19th September at 2.00 pm at the Church. This will include the deferred AGM. Margaret Pressley
On Friday 10th September, St. John’s Grammar will be holding a concert in the Church from 7.00pm. The School will also be using the Hall in preparation from 12.30am on that day.
"The 10th Annual Gathering of the Biblical Storytellers (Australia & NZ) will be held at the Nunyara Confrence Centre Adelaide from 24th-26th September. It includes various workshops. Flyers will be available in the foyer but further details are available from Marnie Agnew (8279 1671 agnew05@bigpond.net.au or Sarah nbssouthaustarlia@gmail.com or from the blog http://nbssa.blogspot.com "
Sunday School News
We are planning a special session for children on September 12th when a treasure hunt will be all the go. However we need some specific items, asking if you could supply:
* some water-worn stones * some (chook) feathers * a sign post * some seeds
We will be looking at the Mary Jones and her Bible story – which might explain the above.
The children enjoyed making - and eating! - the Passover wraps last Sunday. And great thanks go to those who support our ministry so generously; it does not go unnoticed.
And in the light of numbers increasing, there will be a second group formed from 29th August, so that older children can have a group for themselves.
ABM Lamingtons - Your orders may be collected from the hall at any time after 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon August 27 . For those not able to collect them earlier, they will be available on Sunday morning 28 August.
Thank you all for your support for ABM.
.
This is the last chance to join the Archbishop's Youth Pilgrimage group travelling to Africa in January! If there is anyone who is thinking about joining the trip now is the time to do something about it while there are still places left. There will be an information meeting on WEDNESDAY 25th AUGUST at 6:30pm at St Matthew's Kensington.. If there is anyone in your community who is 18-25, please pass on the invitation to have the experience of a lifetime in Africa! Anyone who is interested about finding out more about what the trip is about and how to go about applying should come to this meeting or contact one of the leaders by email or phone: Bronwyn: bronwyn.lucas@student.adelaide.edu.au or 0423 349 450 Brad: bhenley@adelaide.anglican.com.au or 0423 035 660
Items for the Newsletter need to be sent to Fr. Ron at 8298 7160 or ronpkeynes@internode.on.net or
60a Davenport Terrace, Seacliff Park SA 5049 by Tuesday nights, please
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Our Celebrant today is Fr. Warren Huffa and Guest Preacher is
Archdeacon Paul Mitchell
Welcome to Xavier and Lucy, being baptized at the 10 am Service
WELCOME
Please join us for breakfast in the hall after the 8am service or for morning tea after the 10am service.
At 10am you will find all the service and hymns projected onto the sanctuary walls.
There is Sunday School at the 10 am service during School term times.
THE PRAYER FOR TODAY
Creator God, You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in You; teach us to offer ourselves to Your service, that here we may have peace, and in the world to come, may see You face to face, through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen
TODAY’S Readings Jeremiah 1: 4 – 10 and Hebrews 12: 18 – 29 read by Paul H
Gospel Luke 13: 10 - 17
PRAYERS FOR THE PEOPLE led by Wendy M
We pray for those in need: Warren and Thea, Ron Teague, Michael Boere.,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Wayne Parham. Margaret Carruthers and Eric Downes
HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARY – Wayne and Sue Parham and Eddie and Chris Barber
YEAR’S MIND: Win Lamden (!992) Thyra Chester (1996), Rosemary Mayne (2005) and Donald Cameron (2002)
PREPARATION FOR NEXT SUNDAY – Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Readings: Jeremiah 2: 4 – 13 & Hebrews 13: 1 – 8 & 15 -16
GOSPEL Luke 14: 7 - 14
Refer Fr Ron’s Notes available at http://www.anglican-belair.blogspot.com/
POWERPOINT ROSTER –
This Week Barb Capon or Luke Vanderpeer
Next Week Craig Deane or Don Caddy
REGULAR GROUPS AND BOOKINGS
PRAYER CIRCLE meets noon on the 2nd Tuesday each month at 36 Penno Parade North
THURSDAY Morning Eucharist 9.30am and evening Meditation at 7 pm and discussion at 7.30pm
BIBLE STUDY 10am every Wednesday at 378 Main Road Coromandel Valley
HELPLINE
Part of being a Christian community is the support offered to each other in times of need. We offer short-term delivery of food where needed, local transport, phone calls, visits and other types of assistance. Call Christie Hodgson on 8370 3260 or Caroline Sweet on 8278 3058
TOY APPEAL
Our Anglican Toy Appeal will be held as usual in November, See ‘Joyce Arnold for details - phone 83702779’
FORTY HOUR FAMINE Today, 22nd August, Ross Hill-Brown will finish his 40 Hour Famine at 12.00 pm. Pledges/donations may be made on 22nd or at any time before 6/09/10. As a way of celebrating the end of the Famine fund raiser, at 7.00 pm at the Blackwood Hills Baptist Church, Coromandel Parade there will be ‘Famine Breakers - a Community Celebration Event. It features stories from the ‘front lines’ - Sue's Story - The inspiration behind Bono, U2- and Mon’s Story - Surviving the Killing Field of Cambodia. Also there will be Georgia Germein - Singer/Songwriter/World Vision Ambassador. Please come along and there should be an opportunity to donate to World Vision if you have not already done so. There is supper afterwards.
Meeting for Sidespeople - repeat notice:
Firstly, thank you all very much for your work as Sidespeople. It is very much appreciated. There will be a meeting of Sidespeople on TODAY at 9.30 am prior to the 10am service. The meeting will run through the procedures for counting and recording the collection and answer any queries that you may have.
Thank you - John Forster (Sidesperson Co-ordinator) Yvonne Caddy (Treasurer)
MOTHERS’ UNION Two items of interest:
MU Film Morning at the Capri Cinema Goodwood. On Friday 27th August from 10.00am there will be the screening of Invictus, the story of Nelson Mandela. Tickets from MU Branch or at the door at $10. .Morning Tea at 10, Organ Recital at 10.30am and film at 11am. Also the next MU Belair meeting is set for Thursday 19th September at 2.00 pm at the Church. This will include the deferred AGM. Margaret Pressley
On Friday 10th September, St. John’s Grammar will be holding a concert in the Church from 7.00pm. The School will also be using the Hall in preparation from 12.30am on that day.
"The 10th Annual Gathering of the Biblical Storytellers (Australia & NZ) will be held at the Nunyara Confrence Centre Adelaide from 24th-26th September. It includes various workshops. Flyers will be available in the foyer but further details are available from Marnie Agnew (8279 1671 agnew05@bigpond.net.au or Sarah nbssouthaustarlia@gmail.com or from the blog http://nbssa.blogspot.com "
Sunday School News
We are planning a special session for children on September 12th when a treasure hunt will be all the go. However we need some specific items, asking if you could supply:
* some water-worn stones * some (chook) feathers * a sign post * some seeds
We will be looking at the Mary Jones and her Bible story – which might explain the above.
The children enjoyed making - and eating! - the Passover wraps last Sunday. And great thanks go to those who support our ministry so generously; it does not go unnoticed.
And in the light of numbers increasing, there will be a second group formed from 29th August, so that older children can have a group for themselves.
ABM Lamingtons - Your orders may be collected from the hall at any time after 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon August 27 . For those not able to collect them earlier, they will be available on Sunday morning 28 August.
Thank you all for your support for ABM.
.
This is the last chance to join the Archbishop's Youth Pilgrimage group travelling to Africa in January! If there is anyone who is thinking about joining the trip now is the time to do something about it while there are still places left. There will be an information meeting on WEDNESDAY 25th AUGUST at 6:30pm at St Matthew's Kensington.. If there is anyone in your community who is 18-25, please pass on the invitation to have the experience of a lifetime in Africa! Anyone who is interested about finding out more about what the trip is about and how to go about applying should come to this meeting or contact one of the leaders by email or phone: Bronwyn: bronwyn.lucas@student.adelaide.edu.au or 0423 349 450 Brad: bhenley@adelaide.anglican.com.au or 0423 035 660
Items for the Newsletter need to be sent to Fr. Ron at 8298 7160 or ronpkeynes@internode.on.net or
60a Davenport Terrace, Seacliff Park SA 5049 by Tuesday nights, please
Saturday, August 14, 2010
RonBlog
Sunday 15th August, 2010 Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Sentence
‘Is not My word like fire,’ says the Lord, ‘and like a hammer that breaks rocks in pieces?’
Jeremiah 23: 29
Collect
Everliving God, Your son, Jesus Christ, gave Himself as living bread for the life of the world; give us such a knowledge of His presence that we may be strengthened and sustained by His risen life, to serve You continually; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever Amen
Old Testament Lesson Isaiah 5: 1 – 7
Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!
Psalm 80: 1 – 19
Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, You that lead Joseph like a flock: You that are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine out in glory
Before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh: stir up Your power and come to save us
Restore us again, O Lord of Hosts: show us the light of Your countenance and we shall be saved.
O Lord God of Hosts: how long will You be angry at Your people’s prayer?
You have fed them with the bread of tears: and given them tears to drink in good measure.
You have made us the victim of our neighbours: and our enemies laugh us to scorn
Restore us again, O Lord of Hosts: show us the light of Your countenance and we shall be saved.
You brought a vine out of Egypt: You drove out the nations and planted it in
You cleared the ground before it: and it struck root and filled the ground
The hills were covered with its shadow: and its boughs were like the boughs of the great cedars
It stretched out its branches to the sea: and its tender shoots to the Great River
Why then have You broken down its walls: so that every passer-by can pluck its fruit?
The wild boar out of the woods roots it up: and the locusts from the wild places devour it
Turn to us again, O Lord of hosts: look down from heaven and see
Bestow Your care upon this vine: the stock which Your right hand has planted.
As for those who burn it with fire and cut it down: let them perish at the rebuke of Your countenance
Let Your power rest on the man at Your right hand: on that son of man whom You made so strong for Yourself
And so we shall not turn back from You: give us life, and we will call upon Your Name.
Restore us again, O Lord of Hosts: show us the light of Your countenance and we shall be saved.
Epistle Hebrews 11: 29 – 12:2
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace. And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets-- who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented-- of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
GOSPEL Luke 12: 49 59
Jesus said, "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!
Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."
He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, 'It is going to rain'; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? Thus, when you go with your accuser before a magistrate, on the way make an effort to settle the case, or you may be dragged before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you in prison. I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny."
© New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved
NOTES ON THE READINGS
Old Testament
If this passage is not well known to you, then it ought to be. Not only does the passion of Isaiah come through, and the passion of God, but there is the added and very clear position of why God does not do all sorts of things for people and nations. There is so much drivel preached about how God operates, and sadly people ignore the fact that the Scriptures have made it clear from a very long time ago. The ancient Israelites were far from stupid as they drew their theology from observation in the real world. And here is the result of some of that.
If you ponder this passage (and much more of Scripture,) it becomes clear that God expects people to take responsibility for their actions, and to face the consequences of their folly! As has been indicated before in these notes, God is like any sensible parent: He expects people to learn from their mistakes, and not to blame anyone or anything else. This is the only way to develop maturity in anyone!
Psalm
Here may well be one of the ‘exercises’ that led Israel to consider deeper as they looked at their history. On the one hand, there was the clear perception that God had chosen them. For some, that seemed to mean a protected future without any input from themselves. Such thinking is disastrous in any situation. So if God is not some great protector, then what is going on? And there can only be two directions emerging from such a search: either God is a figment of imagination or He is doing something fairly serious!
Epistle
This letter to the Hebrews is not the most easily understood of the NT books, and that is partly because it is so very Jewish in its presentation. In this long passage, one of the main issues is the nature of faith (or read faithfulness!) as people commit to loyalty and responsibility as People of God. There was little expectation of any easy life, or disappointment at violent reactions to their faithfulness. So there is the long-term living out of what they saw to be as their true faith – and thank God for them. Many more could have been listed, as one might imagine.
GOSPEL
If anyone ever had the misconception that the Christian Faith was all about being lovey-dovey, and God making sure that everything went smoothly, then that one would need to look again at passages like this. There has never been, in Biblical literature, the slightest semblance of ‘nice, soft, getting on together, feel good’ stuff.
Jesus was always quite aware of the fact that His ministry would produce a rather violent reaction from those whose concern was to maintain the status quo. ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth’ is an unequivocal statement; there are no signs of spin or latent falsehoods here. It may seem rather ironic that He Who came to offer reconciliation is also the ‘cause’ of division. But note that such division stems, not from what the Gospel offers, but from people’s refusal to see what is true and real, and to turn away from it. The choice belongs to each person.
Perhaps it is surprising that Jesus seems to make it quite clear that any person is able to read ‘the signs of the times,’ in order to establish what is true and what is false. While that may not be exactly so, it is certainly indicative. For instance, anyone who said that the recent Global Financial Crisis took them by surprise has to be blind and foolish. All the evidence was there, and in most cases, continues to be because no one seems ready to learn from the experience. Greed is always destructive; the only question is the extent.
NOTES FOR A SERMON
‘Is not my word like fire?’ says the Lord.
What a grand starting off point for a pulpit-thumping sermon to make everyone sit up and take notice. Sadly, such jumping up and down does little but to raise the hackles or the goose pimples of people. There is rarely much in the way of solid response. But then, that is humanity – never really wanting anything but to be left in peace, even if that is the peace of death.
Because of that refusal, not many people learn a great deal from life’s ups and downs. Although that is a generalisation, it has to be said that some exceptions to that rule were visible in Israel’s history and especially in their growing understanding of God. They observed ordinary life and they pondered: they worked on the principle that what happened in real life was an indication of what was important and what not. We need to grab more of that attitude ourselves. Failure to do so is to miss the important aspects of life and of living.
I am rather proud to be linked, however tenuously, to one of the world’s great economists who, despite other faults and failings, had a clear grasp of what was important. John Maynard Keynes, cousin to my grandfather, was not only the person who offered the world a long hard way out of the Great Depression but did something far less well known in the Versailles Meetings after World War One. Those who were party to the demand for reparations from Germany, generally, were determined so to depress Germany by vast demands, that they would have destroyed the nation entirely. Along with one other, Maynard Keynes pressed for far less demands, precisely on the grounds that to continue in the current path would lead, quite precipitately to another World War. So few listened that Keynes resigned from the Conference, for he could see no other path. Sadly, Keynes was quite correct in his prognostications, and –as they say – the rest is history. The world could have done without the scourge that was Adolph Hitler, could it not!
Responsibility, not doom, is the keynote. And responsibility is the recurrent theme in Scripture, Old Testament and New. This is part of the Gospel, and is very much part of the Old Testament theology as well. One cannot play fast and loose with issuers of justice and truth, and expect to win the day or last for very long. Chickens come home to roost, as they say; what goes round comes round; and people these days talk a lot about karma as if the concept is something new. It is not.
I am in fairly constant correspondence with people of atheist conviction, not because of their views, but because of their strange misconception of religious people being superstitious. However, my point is not to convert said atheists but draw their attention to the fact that superstition has little room in the Biblical faith. The real issues there are about justice and truth and integrity, not in life to come but in the right here and now. In most cases, those to whom I have spoken are somewhat surprised for their conception of the Faith has stemmed, largely but not entirely, from false information. Sadly there are those who claim to be Christian who are rather more close to superstition.
Sentence
‘Is not My word like fire,’ says the Lord, ‘and like a hammer that breaks rocks in pieces?’
Jeremiah 23: 29
Collect
Everliving God, Your son, Jesus Christ, gave Himself as living bread for the life of the world; give us such a knowledge of His presence that we may be strengthened and sustained by His risen life, to serve You continually; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever Amen
Old Testament Lesson Isaiah 5: 1 – 7
Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!
Psalm 80: 1 – 19
Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, You that lead Joseph like a flock: You that are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine out in glory
Before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh: stir up Your power and come to save us
Restore us again, O Lord of Hosts: show us the light of Your countenance and we shall be saved.
O Lord God of Hosts: how long will You be angry at Your people’s prayer?
You have fed them with the bread of tears: and given them tears to drink in good measure.
You have made us the victim of our neighbours: and our enemies laugh us to scorn
Restore us again, O Lord of Hosts: show us the light of Your countenance and we shall be saved.
You brought a vine out of Egypt: You drove out the nations and planted it in
You cleared the ground before it: and it struck root and filled the ground
The hills were covered with its shadow: and its boughs were like the boughs of the great cedars
It stretched out its branches to the sea: and its tender shoots to the Great River
Why then have You broken down its walls: so that every passer-by can pluck its fruit?
The wild boar out of the woods roots it up: and the locusts from the wild places devour it
Turn to us again, O Lord of hosts: look down from heaven and see
Bestow Your care upon this vine: the stock which Your right hand has planted.
As for those who burn it with fire and cut it down: let them perish at the rebuke of Your countenance
Let Your power rest on the man at Your right hand: on that son of man whom You made so strong for Yourself
And so we shall not turn back from You: give us life, and we will call upon Your Name.
Restore us again, O Lord of Hosts: show us the light of Your countenance and we shall be saved.
Epistle Hebrews 11: 29 – 12:2
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace. And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets-- who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented-- of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
GOSPEL Luke 12: 49 59
Jesus said, "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!
Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."
He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, 'It is going to rain'; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? Thus, when you go with your accuser before a magistrate, on the way make an effort to settle the case, or you may be dragged before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you in prison. I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny."
© New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved
NOTES ON THE READINGS
Old Testament
If this passage is not well known to you, then it ought to be. Not only does the passion of Isaiah come through, and the passion of God, but there is the added and very clear position of why God does not do all sorts of things for people and nations. There is so much drivel preached about how God operates, and sadly people ignore the fact that the Scriptures have made it clear from a very long time ago. The ancient Israelites were far from stupid as they drew their theology from observation in the real world. And here is the result of some of that.
If you ponder this passage (and much more of Scripture,) it becomes clear that God expects people to take responsibility for their actions, and to face the consequences of their folly! As has been indicated before in these notes, God is like any sensible parent: He expects people to learn from their mistakes, and not to blame anyone or anything else. This is the only way to develop maturity in anyone!
Psalm
Here may well be one of the ‘exercises’ that led Israel to consider deeper as they looked at their history. On the one hand, there was the clear perception that God had chosen them. For some, that seemed to mean a protected future without any input from themselves. Such thinking is disastrous in any situation. So if God is not some great protector, then what is going on? And there can only be two directions emerging from such a search: either God is a figment of imagination or He is doing something fairly serious!
Epistle
This letter to the Hebrews is not the most easily understood of the NT books, and that is partly because it is so very Jewish in its presentation. In this long passage, one of the main issues is the nature of faith (or read faithfulness!) as people commit to loyalty and responsibility as People of God. There was little expectation of any easy life, or disappointment at violent reactions to their faithfulness. So there is the long-term living out of what they saw to be as their true faith – and thank God for them. Many more could have been listed, as one might imagine.
GOSPEL
If anyone ever had the misconception that the Christian Faith was all about being lovey-dovey, and God making sure that everything went smoothly, then that one would need to look again at passages like this. There has never been, in Biblical literature, the slightest semblance of ‘nice, soft, getting on together, feel good’ stuff.
Jesus was always quite aware of the fact that His ministry would produce a rather violent reaction from those whose concern was to maintain the status quo. ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth’ is an unequivocal statement; there are no signs of spin or latent falsehoods here. It may seem rather ironic that He Who came to offer reconciliation is also the ‘cause’ of division. But note that such division stems, not from what the Gospel offers, but from people’s refusal to see what is true and real, and to turn away from it. The choice belongs to each person.
Perhaps it is surprising that Jesus seems to make it quite clear that any person is able to read ‘the signs of the times,’ in order to establish what is true and what is false. While that may not be exactly so, it is certainly indicative. For instance, anyone who said that the recent Global Financial Crisis took them by surprise has to be blind and foolish. All the evidence was there, and in most cases, continues to be because no one seems ready to learn from the experience. Greed is always destructive; the only question is the extent.
NOTES FOR A SERMON
‘Is not my word like fire?’ says the Lord.
What a grand starting off point for a pulpit-thumping sermon to make everyone sit up and take notice. Sadly, such jumping up and down does little but to raise the hackles or the goose pimples of people. There is rarely much in the way of solid response. But then, that is humanity – never really wanting anything but to be left in peace, even if that is the peace of death.
Because of that refusal, not many people learn a great deal from life’s ups and downs. Although that is a generalisation, it has to be said that some exceptions to that rule were visible in Israel’s history and especially in their growing understanding of God. They observed ordinary life and they pondered: they worked on the principle that what happened in real life was an indication of what was important and what not. We need to grab more of that attitude ourselves. Failure to do so is to miss the important aspects of life and of living.
I am rather proud to be linked, however tenuously, to one of the world’s great economists who, despite other faults and failings, had a clear grasp of what was important. John Maynard Keynes, cousin to my grandfather, was not only the person who offered the world a long hard way out of the Great Depression but did something far less well known in the Versailles Meetings after World War One. Those who were party to the demand for reparations from Germany, generally, were determined so to depress Germany by vast demands, that they would have destroyed the nation entirely. Along with one other, Maynard Keynes pressed for far less demands, precisely on the grounds that to continue in the current path would lead, quite precipitately to another World War. So few listened that Keynes resigned from the Conference, for he could see no other path. Sadly, Keynes was quite correct in his prognostications, and –as they say – the rest is history. The world could have done without the scourge that was Adolph Hitler, could it not!
Responsibility, not doom, is the keynote. And responsibility is the recurrent theme in Scripture, Old Testament and New. This is part of the Gospel, and is very much part of the Old Testament theology as well. One cannot play fast and loose with issuers of justice and truth, and expect to win the day or last for very long. Chickens come home to roost, as they say; what goes round comes round; and people these days talk a lot about karma as if the concept is something new. It is not.
I am in fairly constant correspondence with people of atheist conviction, not because of their views, but because of their strange misconception of religious people being superstitious. However, my point is not to convert said atheists but draw their attention to the fact that superstition has little room in the Biblical faith. The real issues there are about justice and truth and integrity, not in life to come but in the right here and now. In most cases, those to whom I have spoken are somewhat surprised for their conception of the Faith has stemmed, largely but not entirely, from false information. Sadly there are those who claim to be Christian who are rather more close to superstition.
Newsletter
SUNDAY 15th August, 2010
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Our Celebrant and preacher today is Fr. Warren Huffa
WELCOME
Please join us for breakfast in the hall after the 8am service or for morning tea after the 10am service. At 10am you will find all prayers and hymns projected onto the sanctuary walls. There is Sunday School at the 10 am service during School term times.
THE PRAYER FOR TODAY
Everliving God, Your son, Jesus Christ, gave Himself as living bread for the life of the world; give us such a knowledge of His presence that we may be strengthened and sustained by His risen life, to serve You continually; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever , Amen
TODAY’S READINGS Isaiah 5: 1 – 7 & Hebrews 11: 29 – 12:2 read by John F
GOSPEL Luke 12: 49 - 59
PRAYERS FOR THE PEOPLE led by Marg P
We pray for those in need: Warren and Thea, Ron Teague, Michael Boere.,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Wendy Morecroft, Ben Luks, Amelia Hale and Jane Sweet
HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARY – Barb and Mick Capon
YEAR’S MIND: Linda Barber (1990) and Ted Newland (1991)
PREPARATION FOR NEXT SUNDAY – Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Readings Jeremiah 1: 4 – 10 and Hebrews 12: 18 – 29
Gospel Luke 13: 10 - 17
Refer Fr Ron’s Notes available at http://www.anglican-belair.blogspot.com/
POWERPOINT ROSTER –
This Week Don Caddy or Craig Deane
Next Week Barb Capon or Luke Vanderpeer
REGULAR GROUPS AND BOOKINGS
PRAYER CIRCLE meets noon on the 2nd Tuesday each month at 36 Penno Parade North
THURSDAY Morning Eucharist 9.30am and evening Discussion Group at 7 pm
BIBLE STUDY 10am every Wednesday at 378 Main Road Coromandel Valley
HELPLINE
Part of being a Christian community is the support offered to each other in times of need. We offer short-term delivery of food where needed, local transport, phone calls, visits and other types of assistance. Call Christie Hodgson on 8370 3260 or Caroline Sweet on 8278 3058
TOY APPEAL
Our Anglican Toy Appeal will be held as usual in November, See ‘Joyce Arnold for details - phone 83702779’
Meeting for Sidespeople
Firstly, thank you all very much for your work as Sidespeople. It is very much appreciated. There will be a meeting of Sidespeople on Sunday 22nd August at 9.30 am prior to the 10am service. We hope that the 8 am sidespeople can stay a little later and the 10am Sidespeople can come 1/2 hour earlier. Could you please mark this date and time in your diaries and plan to attend. The meeting will run through the procedures for counting and recording the collection and answer any queries that you may have.
Thank you - John Forster (Sidesperson Co-ordinator) Yvonne Caddy (Treasurer)
MOTHERS’ UNION
Two items of interest:
MU Film Morning at the Capri Cinema Goodwood. On Friday 27th August from 10.00am there will be the screening of Invictus, the story of Nelson Mandela. Tickets from MU Branch or at the door at $10. .Morning Tea at 10, Organ Recital at 10.30am and film at 11am.
Also the next MU Belair meeting is set for Thursday 19th September at 2.00 pm at the Church. This will include the deferred AGM. Margaret Pressley
SUNDAY SCHOOL
Robyn and Clare ask interested people to spend a short time after the 10am service this morning to consider initiating a second Sunday School group for older youngsters. As numbers have grown each week, the ladies ask for a ‘brainstorm’ to look at ways of responding to this growth.
Ross Hill-Brown will be taking part in the 40 Hour Famine which be from 8.00 pm on 20/08/10 to 12.00 pm on 22/08/10. Other than for water and fruit juices Ross will have nothing else and he seeks sponsors to take part. The Forty Hour Famine is run by World Vision to raise funds for children from impoverished countries who do not get enough to eat. The area represented by the Mitcham Hills Interchurch Council last year raised enough money to help 600 children for a year and hopes to help 1000 this year. $40 raised helps six children for a month. If you want to know more, in the foyer there is a party pack containing a DVD which you can borrow." To 'break fast' the Forty Hour Famine will conclude at 12.00 hrs on 22/08/10 with a BBQ at the Hewitt Oval, next to the Hills Baptist Church, Coromandel Parade. Proceeds go to the Forty Hour Famine funds. So after your Cream Tea at church come along for a BBQ for your chance to take part in this major event. Pledges/donations for Ross Hill-Brown who is taking part in the famine, can be given to him on 22nd or at any time before 6/09/10."
On Friday 10th September, St. John’s Grammar will be holding a concert in the Church from 7.00pm. The School will also be using the Hall in preparation from 12.30am on that day.
"The 10th Annual Gathering of the Biblical Storytellers (Australia & NZ) will be held at the Nunyara Confrence Centre Adelaide from 24th-26th September. It includes various workshops. Flyers will be available in the foyer but further details are available from Marnie Agnew (8279 1671 agnew05@bigpond.net.au or Sarah nbssouthaustarlia@gmail.com or from the blog http://nbssa.blogspot.com "
Question Time’ event, TONIGHT at 7:30pm – Holy Innocents Anglican Church,
Basically, is God a greenie or does the creator just see the creation as a nice backdrop to the important stuff? Are we free to destroy the world while God looks on? And even if we are - should we? Got a question about God, faith and the environment? Then turn up and ask it! We’re really excited that our speakers will be: Rev’d Dr Lucy Larkin She has a PhD in Eco-Theology Rev’d Paul Hunt an evangelical priest with a biblical view Dr Greg Kerr Behavioural Ecologist & spider-hunter! Come along and listen, then contribute to discussing these questions from your own experience. I’m hoping that we can open up what we know about this in a way that sheds light.
QT happens at the Anglican Church in Belair. It’s an experiment in reaching out to meet the needs of our local community, aimed at discussing the big questions of life, faith and spirituality. It’s for people who like to think about issues and then ask difficult questions.
The ABM Lamington Drive is on again and there is a list in the foyer for names of people requesting orders. These must be in by 20th August, so place your name this week. Lamingtons are $9.00 per dozen.
Brad Henley advises that the next THRIVE Youth event is to be held at St. Martin’s Campbelltown from 6.00pm on Sunday 29th August. All young at heart are welcome. Please bring a donation for dinner.
Items for the Newsletter need to be sent to Fr. Ron at 8298 7160 or ronpkeynes@internode.on.net or
60a Davenport Terrace, Seacliff Park SA 5049 by Tuesday nights, please
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Our Celebrant and preacher today is Fr. Warren Huffa
WELCOME
Please join us for breakfast in the hall after the 8am service or for morning tea after the 10am service. At 10am you will find all prayers and hymns projected onto the sanctuary walls. There is Sunday School at the 10 am service during School term times.
THE PRAYER FOR TODAY
Everliving God, Your son, Jesus Christ, gave Himself as living bread for the life of the world; give us such a knowledge of His presence that we may be strengthened and sustained by His risen life, to serve You continually; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever , Amen
TODAY’S READINGS Isaiah 5: 1 – 7 & Hebrews 11: 29 – 12:2 read by John F
GOSPEL Luke 12: 49 - 59
PRAYERS FOR THE PEOPLE led by Marg P
We pray for those in need: Warren and Thea, Ron Teague, Michael Boere.,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Wendy Morecroft, Ben Luks, Amelia Hale and Jane Sweet
HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARY – Barb and Mick Capon
YEAR’S MIND: Linda Barber (1990) and Ted Newland (1991)
PREPARATION FOR NEXT SUNDAY – Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Readings Jeremiah 1: 4 – 10 and Hebrews 12: 18 – 29
Gospel Luke 13: 10 - 17
Refer Fr Ron’s Notes available at http://www.anglican-belair.blogspot.com/
POWERPOINT ROSTER –
This Week Don Caddy or Craig Deane
Next Week Barb Capon or Luke Vanderpeer
REGULAR GROUPS AND BOOKINGS
PRAYER CIRCLE meets noon on the 2nd Tuesday each month at 36 Penno Parade North
THURSDAY Morning Eucharist 9.30am and evening Discussion Group at 7 pm
BIBLE STUDY 10am every Wednesday at 378 Main Road Coromandel Valley
HELPLINE
Part of being a Christian community is the support offered to each other in times of need. We offer short-term delivery of food where needed, local transport, phone calls, visits and other types of assistance. Call Christie Hodgson on 8370 3260 or Caroline Sweet on 8278 3058
TOY APPEAL
Our Anglican Toy Appeal will be held as usual in November, See ‘Joyce Arnold for details - phone 83702779’
Meeting for Sidespeople
Firstly, thank you all very much for your work as Sidespeople. It is very much appreciated. There will be a meeting of Sidespeople on Sunday 22nd August at 9.30 am prior to the 10am service. We hope that the 8 am sidespeople can stay a little later and the 10am Sidespeople can come 1/2 hour earlier. Could you please mark this date and time in your diaries and plan to attend. The meeting will run through the procedures for counting and recording the collection and answer any queries that you may have.
Thank you - John Forster (Sidesperson Co-ordinator) Yvonne Caddy (Treasurer)
MOTHERS’ UNION
Two items of interest:
MU Film Morning at the Capri Cinema Goodwood. On Friday 27th August from 10.00am there will be the screening of Invictus, the story of Nelson Mandela. Tickets from MU Branch or at the door at $10. .Morning Tea at 10, Organ Recital at 10.30am and film at 11am.
Also the next MU Belair meeting is set for Thursday 19th September at 2.00 pm at the Church. This will include the deferred AGM. Margaret Pressley
SUNDAY SCHOOL
Robyn and Clare ask interested people to spend a short time after the 10am service this morning to consider initiating a second Sunday School group for older youngsters. As numbers have grown each week, the ladies ask for a ‘brainstorm’ to look at ways of responding to this growth.
Ross Hill-Brown will be taking part in the 40 Hour Famine which be from 8.00 pm on 20/08/10 to 12.00 pm on 22/08/10. Other than for water and fruit juices Ross will have nothing else and he seeks sponsors to take part. The Forty Hour Famine is run by World Vision to raise funds for children from impoverished countries who do not get enough to eat. The area represented by the Mitcham Hills Interchurch Council last year raised enough money to help 600 children for a year and hopes to help 1000 this year. $40 raised helps six children for a month. If you want to know more, in the foyer there is a party pack containing a DVD which you can borrow." To 'break fast' the Forty Hour Famine will conclude at 12.00 hrs on 22/08/10 with a BBQ at the Hewitt Oval, next to the Hills Baptist Church, Coromandel Parade. Proceeds go to the Forty Hour Famine funds. So after your Cream Tea at church come along for a BBQ for your chance to take part in this major event. Pledges/donations for Ross Hill-Brown who is taking part in the famine, can be given to him on 22nd or at any time before 6/09/10."
On Friday 10th September, St. John’s Grammar will be holding a concert in the Church from 7.00pm. The School will also be using the Hall in preparation from 12.30am on that day.
"The 10th Annual Gathering of the Biblical Storytellers (Australia & NZ) will be held at the Nunyara Confrence Centre Adelaide from 24th-26th September. It includes various workshops. Flyers will be available in the foyer but further details are available from Marnie Agnew (8279 1671 agnew05@bigpond.net.au or Sarah nbssouthaustarlia@gmail.com or from the blog http://nbssa.blogspot.com "
Question Time’ event, TONIGHT at 7:30pm – Holy Innocents Anglican Church,
Basically, is God a greenie or does the creator just see the creation as a nice backdrop to the important stuff? Are we free to destroy the world while God looks on? And even if we are - should we? Got a question about God, faith and the environment? Then turn up and ask it! We’re really excited that our speakers will be: Rev’d Dr Lucy Larkin She has a PhD in Eco-Theology Rev’d Paul Hunt an evangelical priest with a biblical view Dr Greg Kerr Behavioural Ecologist & spider-hunter! Come along and listen, then contribute to discussing these questions from your own experience. I’m hoping that we can open up what we know about this in a way that sheds light.
QT happens at the Anglican Church in Belair. It’s an experiment in reaching out to meet the needs of our local community, aimed at discussing the big questions of life, faith and spirituality. It’s for people who like to think about issues and then ask difficult questions.
The ABM Lamington Drive is on again and there is a list in the foyer for names of people requesting orders. These must be in by 20th August, so place your name this week. Lamingtons are $9.00 per dozen.
Brad Henley advises that the next THRIVE Youth event is to be held at St. Martin’s Campbelltown from 6.00pm on Sunday 29th August. All young at heart are welcome. Please bring a donation for dinner.
Items for the Newsletter need to be sent to Fr. Ron at 8298 7160 or ronpkeynes@internode.on.net or
60a Davenport Terrace, Seacliff Park SA 5049 by Tuesday nights, please
Saturday, August 7, 2010
RonBlog
Sunday 8th August, 2010 Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Sentence
Watch and be ready, for you do not know on what day or hour your Lord is coming.
Matt. 24:42
Collect
Kindle in our hearts, Father, the same faith that impelled Abraham to leave home and safety and to pilgrim in a foreign land. May we, like him, look for the city that none but You can design and build; keep us watchful for Your Son’s coming so that we might be faithful stewards of all that You have entrusted to us. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Old Testament Lesson Isaiah 1:1 & 10 – 20
The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and calling of convocation-- I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, let us argue it out, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Psalm 50: 1 – 8 & 23 -24
The Lord our God, the Mighty One has spoken: and summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting in the west
From Zion, perfect in beauty: God has shone out in glory
Our God is coming, He will not keep silent: before Him is devouring fire, and tempest whirl about Him
He calls to the heavens above: and so to the earth, so that He may judge His people.
‘Gather to Me My faithful ones: those who by sacrifice made a covenant with Me
The heavens shall proclaim His righteousness: for God Himself is judge
Listen My people and I will speak: O Israel, I am God your God, and I will give you My testimony
It is not for your sacrifices that I reprove you: for your burnt-offerings are always before Me
O consider this, you who forget God: lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to save you.
He honours Me who brings a sacrifice of thanksgiving: and to him who keeps My way I will show the salvation of God.
Epistle Hebrews 11: 1 – 3 & 8 – 16
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old--and Sarah herself was barren--because he considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, "as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore." All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
GOSPEL Luke 12: 32 – 40
Jesus said, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."
© New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved
NOTES ON THE READINGS .......
A SPECIAL NOTE TO START
You may not be familiar with the rather great dichotomy that seemed to come to the fore in Israel periodically between the performance or apparent uselessness of what commentators used to call the Sacrificial System. That form of worship that entailed the sacrifice of animals was both condemned as mere ritual that avoided involvement, and admired as the epitome of Jewish worship until the destruction of the Temple. Part of the reason for the divided opinion lay in the way in which, as in most cultures, sometimes the rituals are undertaken as little more than ‘going through the motions.’ If and when that approach emerged, the prophets and even psalmists tended to be condemnatory. On the other hand, when it was far more than ritual, it was seen as hugely important as the expression par excellence of Israel’s awareness of itself.
As an Anglican, I would dare to say that the problem was not necessarily Jewish. Sadly, our forms of worship (as with any liturgical Church) can become little more than bland routine. In that case the liturgy (or rather its participants) have failed. Properly expressed and understood, liturgy is designed to express all that needs to be expressed in worship, and to enable the participant to grow in their understanding of God and of the Faith.
Old Testament Lesson
It may be news (but should not be) that there were at least two and possibly three Isaiahs in Old Testament Israel. The first prophet was active in the period leading up to the fall of the Northern Kingdom, and from Chapter 40 it is obviously from 150 years later as the Exile became the harsh experience of Israel. Do not be dismayed by this: there are several conundrums that have arisen since the study of Scripture, OT & NT, arose in the past 150 – 200 years or so, and thank heaven for that.
Isaiah is a stunning example of one of the Major Prophets, and Chapter 6 tells of the man’s call to be a prophet of the Lord. This person who was one of the elite in both religious and political circles of his day was confronted suddenly by the God Whom he had known from youth, but now faced the Reality. It must have been a vast learning curve to move from the ‘spin’ circles of politics to the real and utterly honest world of the prophet.
Part of that transition was the recognition that ‘going through the motions’ of worship was almost as bad as avoiding it. To express one thing in worship and another in real life was tantamount to the blasphemy that affects to much of normal human relationships right up to this day. Mind you, Isaiah saw that if one were to move from the shallow to the real, then all of life could and would be remarkably different, and not just in the religious sense. Notice the great emphasis that the prophet places upon relational matters, especially for those who were the dispossessed of the time. Never overlook the ‘spiritual’ necessity of justice, truth and compassion. What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
Psalm
If you perhaps thought that this psalmist was indulging in spin and propaganda, please think again. What he is saying may sound rather ‘over the top,’ but when you consider that the author was very aware of the fact that the Hebrew perception of God, and of the Divine emphases, you will see that the Jews had the game all sewn up. For them, religion was not a matter of rote or ritual, but a matter that affected every section of human life, especially in the matter of fairness with each other. (Sadly, though, the vision did not often reach the reality. But how could we dare to condemn those ancients? God –as we have known since Jesus – looks for ‘sincerity and truth’ in worship – and we dare not forget it.
Epistle
Perhaps we focus on faith too much, dare I say, in the light of today’s cluster of readings. We may well admire Abraham for his long-lasting acts of faith, but please do see what we are talking about. Here is no starry-eyed religionist, but someone far more virile.
Almost certainly, old Abe began life in the Euphrates Valley as a moon worshipper, coming from a nicely settled, very well off family. So what could possibly have induced the man (and Sarah his wife) to leave the comfort zone and go, literally, to God knows where? The simple answer has to be that for this remarkable and inquisitive, unsettled man, that his old religion did not meet him where he lived, and had no answers for the real issues of life. He must have been searching for a while, and I have a sneaky suspicion that God was looking for someone just like him to tap and the shoulder and say ‘How about it, fella?’ Thank God those two people followed their dream and inspiration. (Who knows how man other Abes God had tapped, without any response, or significant response?)
Now, do you see, this is what faith is: not believing some proposition, but sticking one’s neck out to follow wherever truth seemed to be leading.
GOSPEL
And is not this the direction to which today’s Gospel points? Stick your neck out, without reserve and see where that gets you! Be certain that the Lord knows what He is doing, get on side, put your head down and tail up and get on with it. Notice how long it took for Jesus to get that remarkably slow and slow-witted Twelve to get moving. Discipleship is no static business; it is and always will be a pilgrimage. Whenever Israel was on the move, they were learning. However when they settled in their own land, it all became rather too much, and settledness became ennui.
NOTES FOR A SERMON
Stop me if I have told you before of a certain call to the priesthood that happened to me when I was around 17 years of age. After the first thrill of that call, came the realisation that it would ‘condemn’ me to being in Church, for heaven’s sake, and what could be more boring than that? Three or four years’ study on top of that, and then into parish life or whatever. The thought of such boredom became threatening.
To cut a long story short, that boredom never happened, and although part of that nexus was broken by being appointed to a parish half the size of South Australia, I began to learn the lesson of Abraham. It soon became very apparent that, if I stopped pilgrimming in my faith, then both the calling and this person would become boredom incorporated. In reality I needed to explore the Faith as much as I explored the Outback, and I had quite a number of robust men not afraid to tell me if I was talking @#$%^ in sermons, because it would not fit their real life in the open-cut coal mine in the Far North of this fair State. In fact even that Diocese to which I had been appointed, surprised the living daylights out of me. I had been told to expect rather dead High Church clergy who had not a clue. The reality was High Church enough, but the addendum could not have been further from the truth. Those clergy, or most of them at least, were on the same pilgrimage as I, and still are, those who have not passed into the presence of their Lord.
It has been a fascinating business, helping people to see that to follow Christ is not to be dragged down by a series of rules and regulations that take all life out of existence, but quite the opposite. It is to face the harsh and significant realities of life and living and to see what that Lord of ours has in mind for all the creation, human and other. And it all stands up to examination and to life, though it certainly has its risky parts. Never forget that Jesus was executed because He attempted the upset of the status quo, especially when it comes to creative forms of leadership.
There is not a lot of room for complacency or even for going through the liturgy with eyes and ears shut. That is a waste of time, but when you understand, or have someone help you understand where the liturgy is taking you, asking you to ponder, and encouraging you to learn from, boredom disappears, I kid you not.
I remember, as a choir boy, long before all the above happened, singing in the choir at St. John’s Church, Beecroft in Sydney, having recited the prayer of thanksgiving, along with the rest of the congregation, suddenly faced with the fact that I had said it all word-perfect, and not realized what I was doing until the end of it. I doubt very much if God bothered to listen that day! Nor should He have.
So if you find worship a boring experience, (and it still happens to those who do not attend a liturgical Church!) please either get someone to open the door for you, or do some searching for yourself. It will widen your perception to such an extent, I would suggest, that you may never quite be the same again.
Sentence
Watch and be ready, for you do not know on what day or hour your Lord is coming.
Matt. 24:42
Collect
Kindle in our hearts, Father, the same faith that impelled Abraham to leave home and safety and to pilgrim in a foreign land. May we, like him, look for the city that none but You can design and build; keep us watchful for Your Son’s coming so that we might be faithful stewards of all that You have entrusted to us. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Old Testament Lesson Isaiah 1:1 & 10 – 20
The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and calling of convocation-- I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, let us argue it out, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Psalm 50: 1 – 8 & 23 -24
The Lord our God, the Mighty One has spoken: and summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting in the west
From Zion, perfect in beauty: God has shone out in glory
Our God is coming, He will not keep silent: before Him is devouring fire, and tempest whirl about Him
He calls to the heavens above: and so to the earth, so that He may judge His people.
‘Gather to Me My faithful ones: those who by sacrifice made a covenant with Me
The heavens shall proclaim His righteousness: for God Himself is judge
Listen My people and I will speak: O Israel, I am God your God, and I will give you My testimony
It is not for your sacrifices that I reprove you: for your burnt-offerings are always before Me
O consider this, you who forget God: lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to save you.
He honours Me who brings a sacrifice of thanksgiving: and to him who keeps My way I will show the salvation of God.
Epistle Hebrews 11: 1 – 3 & 8 – 16
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old--and Sarah herself was barren--because he considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, "as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore." All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
GOSPEL Luke 12: 32 – 40
Jesus said, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."
© New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved
NOTES ON THE READINGS .......
A SPECIAL NOTE TO START
You may not be familiar with the rather great dichotomy that seemed to come to the fore in Israel periodically between the performance or apparent uselessness of what commentators used to call the Sacrificial System. That form of worship that entailed the sacrifice of animals was both condemned as mere ritual that avoided involvement, and admired as the epitome of Jewish worship until the destruction of the Temple. Part of the reason for the divided opinion lay in the way in which, as in most cultures, sometimes the rituals are undertaken as little more than ‘going through the motions.’ If and when that approach emerged, the prophets and even psalmists tended to be condemnatory. On the other hand, when it was far more than ritual, it was seen as hugely important as the expression par excellence of Israel’s awareness of itself.
As an Anglican, I would dare to say that the problem was not necessarily Jewish. Sadly, our forms of worship (as with any liturgical Church) can become little more than bland routine. In that case the liturgy (or rather its participants) have failed. Properly expressed and understood, liturgy is designed to express all that needs to be expressed in worship, and to enable the participant to grow in their understanding of God and of the Faith.
Old Testament Lesson
It may be news (but should not be) that there were at least two and possibly three Isaiahs in Old Testament Israel. The first prophet was active in the period leading up to the fall of the Northern Kingdom, and from Chapter 40 it is obviously from 150 years later as the Exile became the harsh experience of Israel. Do not be dismayed by this: there are several conundrums that have arisen since the study of Scripture, OT & NT, arose in the past 150 – 200 years or so, and thank heaven for that.
Isaiah is a stunning example of one of the Major Prophets, and Chapter 6 tells of the man’s call to be a prophet of the Lord. This person who was one of the elite in both religious and political circles of his day was confronted suddenly by the God Whom he had known from youth, but now faced the Reality. It must have been a vast learning curve to move from the ‘spin’ circles of politics to the real and utterly honest world of the prophet.
Part of that transition was the recognition that ‘going through the motions’ of worship was almost as bad as avoiding it. To express one thing in worship and another in real life was tantamount to the blasphemy that affects to much of normal human relationships right up to this day. Mind you, Isaiah saw that if one were to move from the shallow to the real, then all of life could and would be remarkably different, and not just in the religious sense. Notice the great emphasis that the prophet places upon relational matters, especially for those who were the dispossessed of the time. Never overlook the ‘spiritual’ necessity of justice, truth and compassion. What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
Psalm
If you perhaps thought that this psalmist was indulging in spin and propaganda, please think again. What he is saying may sound rather ‘over the top,’ but when you consider that the author was very aware of the fact that the Hebrew perception of God, and of the Divine emphases, you will see that the Jews had the game all sewn up. For them, religion was not a matter of rote or ritual, but a matter that affected every section of human life, especially in the matter of fairness with each other. (Sadly, though, the vision did not often reach the reality. But how could we dare to condemn those ancients? God –as we have known since Jesus – looks for ‘sincerity and truth’ in worship – and we dare not forget it.
Epistle
Perhaps we focus on faith too much, dare I say, in the light of today’s cluster of readings. We may well admire Abraham for his long-lasting acts of faith, but please do see what we are talking about. Here is no starry-eyed religionist, but someone far more virile.
Almost certainly, old Abe began life in the Euphrates Valley as a moon worshipper, coming from a nicely settled, very well off family. So what could possibly have induced the man (and Sarah his wife) to leave the comfort zone and go, literally, to God knows where? The simple answer has to be that for this remarkable and inquisitive, unsettled man, that his old religion did not meet him where he lived, and had no answers for the real issues of life. He must have been searching for a while, and I have a sneaky suspicion that God was looking for someone just like him to tap and the shoulder and say ‘How about it, fella?’ Thank God those two people followed their dream and inspiration. (Who knows how man other Abes God had tapped, without any response, or significant response?)
Now, do you see, this is what faith is: not believing some proposition, but sticking one’s neck out to follow wherever truth seemed to be leading.
GOSPEL
And is not this the direction to which today’s Gospel points? Stick your neck out, without reserve and see where that gets you! Be certain that the Lord knows what He is doing, get on side, put your head down and tail up and get on with it. Notice how long it took for Jesus to get that remarkably slow and slow-witted Twelve to get moving. Discipleship is no static business; it is and always will be a pilgrimage. Whenever Israel was on the move, they were learning. However when they settled in their own land, it all became rather too much, and settledness became ennui.
NOTES FOR A SERMON
Stop me if I have told you before of a certain call to the priesthood that happened to me when I was around 17 years of age. After the first thrill of that call, came the realisation that it would ‘condemn’ me to being in Church, for heaven’s sake, and what could be more boring than that? Three or four years’ study on top of that, and then into parish life or whatever. The thought of such boredom became threatening.
To cut a long story short, that boredom never happened, and although part of that nexus was broken by being appointed to a parish half the size of South Australia, I began to learn the lesson of Abraham. It soon became very apparent that, if I stopped pilgrimming in my faith, then both the calling and this person would become boredom incorporated. In reality I needed to explore the Faith as much as I explored the Outback, and I had quite a number of robust men not afraid to tell me if I was talking @#$%^ in sermons, because it would not fit their real life in the open-cut coal mine in the Far North of this fair State. In fact even that Diocese to which I had been appointed, surprised the living daylights out of me. I had been told to expect rather dead High Church clergy who had not a clue. The reality was High Church enough, but the addendum could not have been further from the truth. Those clergy, or most of them at least, were on the same pilgrimage as I, and still are, those who have not passed into the presence of their Lord.
It has been a fascinating business, helping people to see that to follow Christ is not to be dragged down by a series of rules and regulations that take all life out of existence, but quite the opposite. It is to face the harsh and significant realities of life and living and to see what that Lord of ours has in mind for all the creation, human and other. And it all stands up to examination and to life, though it certainly has its risky parts. Never forget that Jesus was executed because He attempted the upset of the status quo, especially when it comes to creative forms of leadership.
There is not a lot of room for complacency or even for going through the liturgy with eyes and ears shut. That is a waste of time, but when you understand, or have someone help you understand where the liturgy is taking you, asking you to ponder, and encouraging you to learn from, boredom disappears, I kid you not.
I remember, as a choir boy, long before all the above happened, singing in the choir at St. John’s Church, Beecroft in Sydney, having recited the prayer of thanksgiving, along with the rest of the congregation, suddenly faced with the fact that I had said it all word-perfect, and not realized what I was doing until the end of it. I doubt very much if God bothered to listen that day! Nor should He have.
So if you find worship a boring experience, (and it still happens to those who do not attend a liturgical Church!) please either get someone to open the door for you, or do some searching for yourself. It will widen your perception to such an extent, I would suggest, that you may never quite be the same again.
Newsletter
SUNDAY 8th August, 2010
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Our Celebrant and preacher today is Fr. Warren Huffa
ELCOME
Please join us for breakfast in the hall after the 8am service or for morning tea after the 10am service. At 10am you will find all prayers and hymns projected onto the sanctuary walls. There is Sunday School at the 10 am service during School term times.
THE PRAYER FOR TODAY
Kindle in our hearts, Father, the same faith that impelled Abraham to set out from his home and to live as a pilgrim in a foreign land. As we, like him, look for the city that none but You can design and build, keep us watchful for Your Son’s Coming, that we may be found faithful stewards of all that You have entrusted to us. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen
TODAY’S READINGS Isaiah 1:1 & 10 – 20 and Hebrews 11: 1 – 3 & 8 – 16 read by Iris D
Gospel Luke 12: 32 - 40
PRAYERS FOR THE PEOPLE led by Ben L
We pray for those in need: Warren and Thea, Ron Teague, Michael Boere.,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mary Cheeseman and Andrew Little
HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARY –
YEAR’S MIND: Dorren Wrightson (1999) Gwladys Currer (2009) and Joyce Hannaford (1998)
PREPARATION FOR NEXT SUNDAY – Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost -
Readings Isaiah 5: 1 – 7 & Hebrews 11: 29 – 12:2
GOSPEL Luke 12: 49 - 59
Refer Fr Ron’s Notes available at http://www.anglican-belair.blogspot.com/
POWERPOINT ROSTER –
This Week Ron Keynes or Barb Capon
Next Week Don Caddy or Craig Deane
REGULAR GROUPS AND BOOKINGS
PRAYER CIRCLE meets noon on the 2nd Tuesday each month at 36 Penno Parade North
THURSDAY Morning Eucharist and evening events
BIBLE STUDY 10am every Wednesday at 378 Main Road Coromandel Valley
HELPLINE
Part of being a Christian community is the support offered to each other in times of need. We offer short-term delivery of food where needed, local transport, phone calls, visits and other types of assistance. Call Christie Hodgson on 8370 3260 or Caroline Sweet on 8278 3058
TOY APPEAL
Our Anglican Toy Appeal will be held as usual in November, See ‘Joyce Arnold for details - phone 83702779’
Ross Hill-Brown will be taking part in the 40 Hour Famine which be from 8.00 pm on 20/08/10 to 12.00 pm on 22/08/10. Other than for water and fruit juices Ross will have nothing else and he seeks sponsors to take part. The Forty Hour Famine is run by World Vision to raise funds for children from impoverished countries who do not get enough to eat. The area represented by the Mitcham Hills Interchurch Council last year raised enough money to help 600 children for a year and hopes to help 1000 this year. $40 raised helps six children for a month. If you want to know more, in the foyer there is a party pack containing a DVD which you can borrow."
Meeting for Sidespeople
Firstly, thank you all very much for your work as Sidespeople. It is very much appreciated. There will be a meeting of Sidespeople on Sunday 22nd August at 9.30 am prior to the 10am service. We hope that the 8 am Sidespeople can stay a little later and the 10am Sidespeople can come 1/2 hour earlier. Could you please mark this date and time in your diaries and plan to attend. The meeting will run through the procedures for counting and recording the collection and answer any queries that you may have.
Thank you - John Forster (Sidesperson Co-ordinator) Yvonne Caddy (Treasurer)
On Friday 10th September, St. John’s Grammar will be holding a concert in the Church from 7.00pm. The School will also be using the Hall in preparation from 12.30am on that day.
This year the Needlework Guild of St Peter’s Cathedral celebrates 125 years of service, not only to the Cathedral, but to other churches in the diocese. It is my pleasure to invite parish members to a Eucharist service in St Peter’s Cathedral on Sunday, August 15 at 3.00pm to commemorate the talents of members past and present, whose ministry has been to provide items for use in the Cathedral for worship and to the glory of God. A display of needlework will be on show in the Cathedral and afternoon tea will be served after the service. If you are able to attend please phone Michelle Brennan on 8267 4551 by Friday 6 August or email office@stpeters-cathedral.org.au
"The 10th Annual Gathering of the Biblical Storytellers (Australia & NZ) will be held at the Nunyara Conference Centre Adelaide from 24th-26th September. It includes various workshops. Flyers will be available in the foyer but further details are available from Marnie Agnew (8279 1671 agnew05@bigpond.net.au or Sarah nbssouthaustralia@gmail.com or from the blog http://nbssa.blogspot.com "
Question Time’ event, on Sunday the 15th of August at 7:30pm – Holy Innocents Anglican Church, 29 Sheoak Rd, Belair
Basically, is God a greenie or does the creator just see the creation as a nice backdrop to the important stuff? Are we free to destroy the world while God looks on? And even if we are - should we? Got a question about God, faith and the environment? Then turn up and ask it!
We’re really excited that our speakers will be: Rev’d Dr Lucy Larkin She has a PhD in Eco-Theology; Rev’d Paul Hunt is an Evangelical priest with a biblical view; Dr Greg Kerr Behavioural Ecologist & spider-hunter. Come along and listen, then contribute to discussing these questions from your own experience. I’m hoping that we can open up what we know about this in a way that sheds light. QT happens at the Anglican Church in Belair It’s an experiment in reaching out to meet the needs of our local community, aimed at discussing the big questions of life, faith and spirituality. It’s for people who like to think about issues and then ask difficult questions.
An opportunity to meet, hear from and question the candidates standing for the seat of Boothby will again be provided for the coming Federal Election on 21st August. These pre-election meetings at Blackwood have proved very popular in the past, with full houses on every occasion. Attendees have been provided with an opportunity to hear policy issues from each candidate and/or to clarify concerns over current issues of local and national interest. The public meeting will be held on Wed 18th August at The Uniting Church hall at the roundabout Blackwood commencing 7.45pm. All parties are fielding candidates for the House of Representatives: Dr Andrew Southcott the current sitting member (Liberal), Annabel Digance (Labor), Fiona Blinco (Greens), Tom Salerno (Democrats) and Meredith Resce (Family First). Dr Clem Macintyre, Politics Department- Adelaide University will again moderate the meeting which is co-sponsored by the Blackwood/Belair and District Community Association and Blackwood Action for World Development, and hosted by the Blackwood Uniting Church. All are welcome.
Items for the Newsletter need to be sent to Fr. Ron at 8298 7160 or ronpkeynes@internode.on.net or
60a Davenport Terrace, Seacliff Park SA 5049 by Tuesday nights, please
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Our Celebrant and preacher today is Fr. Warren Huffa
ELCOME
Please join us for breakfast in the hall after the 8am service or for morning tea after the 10am service. At 10am you will find all prayers and hymns projected onto the sanctuary walls. There is Sunday School at the 10 am service during School term times.
THE PRAYER FOR TODAY
Kindle in our hearts, Father, the same faith that impelled Abraham to set out from his home and to live as a pilgrim in a foreign land. As we, like him, look for the city that none but You can design and build, keep us watchful for Your Son’s Coming, that we may be found faithful stewards of all that You have entrusted to us. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen
TODAY’S READINGS Isaiah 1:1 & 10 – 20 and Hebrews 11: 1 – 3 & 8 – 16 read by Iris D
Gospel Luke 12: 32 - 40
PRAYERS FOR THE PEOPLE led by Ben L
We pray for those in need: Warren and Thea, Ron Teague, Michael Boere.,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mary Cheeseman and Andrew Little
HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARY –
YEAR’S MIND: Dorren Wrightson (1999) Gwladys Currer (2009) and Joyce Hannaford (1998)
PREPARATION FOR NEXT SUNDAY – Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost -
Readings Isaiah 5: 1 – 7 & Hebrews 11: 29 – 12:2
GOSPEL Luke 12: 49 - 59
Refer Fr Ron’s Notes available at http://www.anglican-belair.blogspot.com/
POWERPOINT ROSTER –
This Week Ron Keynes or Barb Capon
Next Week Don Caddy or Craig Deane
REGULAR GROUPS AND BOOKINGS
PRAYER CIRCLE meets noon on the 2nd Tuesday each month at 36 Penno Parade North
THURSDAY Morning Eucharist and evening events
BIBLE STUDY 10am every Wednesday at 378 Main Road Coromandel Valley
HELPLINE
Part of being a Christian community is the support offered to each other in times of need. We offer short-term delivery of food where needed, local transport, phone calls, visits and other types of assistance. Call Christie Hodgson on 8370 3260 or Caroline Sweet on 8278 3058
TOY APPEAL
Our Anglican Toy Appeal will be held as usual in November, See ‘Joyce Arnold for details - phone 83702779’
Ross Hill-Brown will be taking part in the 40 Hour Famine which be from 8.00 pm on 20/08/10 to 12.00 pm on 22/08/10. Other than for water and fruit juices Ross will have nothing else and he seeks sponsors to take part. The Forty Hour Famine is run by World Vision to raise funds for children from impoverished countries who do not get enough to eat. The area represented by the Mitcham Hills Interchurch Council last year raised enough money to help 600 children for a year and hopes to help 1000 this year. $40 raised helps six children for a month. If you want to know more, in the foyer there is a party pack containing a DVD which you can borrow."
Meeting for Sidespeople
Firstly, thank you all very much for your work as Sidespeople. It is very much appreciated. There will be a meeting of Sidespeople on Sunday 22nd August at 9.30 am prior to the 10am service. We hope that the 8 am Sidespeople can stay a little later and the 10am Sidespeople can come 1/2 hour earlier. Could you please mark this date and time in your diaries and plan to attend. The meeting will run through the procedures for counting and recording the collection and answer any queries that you may have.
Thank you - John Forster (Sidesperson Co-ordinator) Yvonne Caddy (Treasurer)
On Friday 10th September, St. John’s Grammar will be holding a concert in the Church from 7.00pm. The School will also be using the Hall in preparation from 12.30am on that day.
This year the Needlework Guild of St Peter’s Cathedral celebrates 125 years of service, not only to the Cathedral, but to other churches in the diocese. It is my pleasure to invite parish members to a Eucharist service in St Peter’s Cathedral on Sunday, August 15 at 3.00pm to commemorate the talents of members past and present, whose ministry has been to provide items for use in the Cathedral for worship and to the glory of God. A display of needlework will be on show in the Cathedral and afternoon tea will be served after the service. If you are able to attend please phone Michelle Brennan on 8267 4551 by Friday 6 August or email office@stpeters-cathedral.org.au
"The 10th Annual Gathering of the Biblical Storytellers (Australia & NZ) will be held at the Nunyara Conference Centre Adelaide from 24th-26th September. It includes various workshops. Flyers will be available in the foyer but further details are available from Marnie Agnew (8279 1671 agnew05@bigpond.net.au or Sarah nbssouthaustralia@gmail.com or from the blog http://nbssa.blogspot.com "
Question Time’ event, on Sunday the 15th of August at 7:30pm – Holy Innocents Anglican Church, 29 Sheoak Rd, Belair
Basically, is God a greenie or does the creator just see the creation as a nice backdrop to the important stuff? Are we free to destroy the world while God looks on? And even if we are - should we? Got a question about God, faith and the environment? Then turn up and ask it!
We’re really excited that our speakers will be: Rev’d Dr Lucy Larkin She has a PhD in Eco-Theology; Rev’d Paul Hunt is an Evangelical priest with a biblical view; Dr Greg Kerr Behavioural Ecologist & spider-hunter. Come along and listen, then contribute to discussing these questions from your own experience. I’m hoping that we can open up what we know about this in a way that sheds light. QT happens at the Anglican Church in Belair It’s an experiment in reaching out to meet the needs of our local community, aimed at discussing the big questions of life, faith and spirituality. It’s for people who like to think about issues and then ask difficult questions.
An opportunity to meet, hear from and question the candidates standing for the seat of Boothby will again be provided for the coming Federal Election on 21st August. These pre-election meetings at Blackwood have proved very popular in the past, with full houses on every occasion. Attendees have been provided with an opportunity to hear policy issues from each candidate and/or to clarify concerns over current issues of local and national interest. The public meeting will be held on Wed 18th August at The Uniting Church hall at the roundabout Blackwood commencing 7.45pm. All parties are fielding candidates for the House of Representatives: Dr Andrew Southcott the current sitting member (Liberal), Annabel Digance (Labor), Fiona Blinco (Greens), Tom Salerno (Democrats) and Meredith Resce (Family First). Dr Clem Macintyre, Politics Department- Adelaide University will again moderate the meeting which is co-sponsored by the Blackwood/Belair and District Community Association and Blackwood Action for World Development, and hosted by the Blackwood Uniting Church. All are welcome.
Items for the Newsletter need to be sent to Fr. Ron at 8298 7160 or ronpkeynes@internode.on.net or
60a Davenport Terrace, Seacliff Park SA 5049 by Tuesday nights, please
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