Pentecost-7A-2020.07.19.Pdf
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
1 St Michael’s is a unique church. We are proud of our independent spirit; seeking continually to discover new ways to understand faith and to demonstrate it in our lives, and in the heart of the city. As part of the Uniting Church in Australia, St Michael’s is committed to involvement in social and national affairs. We hold foundational Christian values of the importance of every human being, the need for integrity in public life and concern for the welfare of the whole human race irrespective of race, creed, gender, sexuality, status or age. Chair of Congregation: Ian Smith Deanery III: Contact and Care Church Council Chair: Laura Beckett Dean: Lyndell O’Brien Treasurer: Ian Cox Deputy Dean: Joy Arnot Secretary: Maree McDonald Deanery IV: Programs Deanery I: Household Dean: Lorraine Woolley Dean: Peter Anderson Deputy Dean: Val Gill Deputy Dean: Jack Morgan Deanery II: Church Services Culture of Safety Contact Person Dean: Graeme Adamson (Keeping Children Safe) Deputy Dean: Albert Phillips Val Gill Organist & Manager of Music Rhys Boak 2 St Michael’s is a vibrant, progressive, inclusive church with a long tradition of nurturing the spiritual well-being of the human person and working for the common good in society. ♥ Our buildings may be closed, but our hearts are open. ♥ During the COVID-19 virus pandemic, we are offering Sunday Gatherings online – Reflections by our minister Rev Dr Margaret Mayman; biblical and contemporary readings from congregation members; beautiful music by organist, Rhys Boak and guest musicians; and prayers for these challenging times. A video of this service will be available on the website and YouTube on Sunday. http://www.stmichaels.org.au/ https://www.youtube.com/user/StMichaelsChurch/videos Jerome, 4th century bishop "The words the Lord spoke--'Lest gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them'--leave room for repentance. We are advised not to be quick in cutting off a fellow believer....'" Georgia Harkness, 20th century "The tendency to turn human judgments into divine commands makes religion one of the most dangerous forces in the world." Sarah Owens, Sourdough: Recipes for Rustic Fermented Breads, Sweets, Savories, and More, 21st century “If weeds constantly overrun your garden rows, ask yourself what those are and why they are growing there. Put down the hoe long enough to consider what the weeds are telling you.” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956 "If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" Charles Dickens, 19th century "I hope that real love and truth are stronger in the end than any evil or misfortune in the world." Albert Camus, 20th century "I shall tell you a great secret my friend. Do not wait for the last judgment, it takes place every day." Vincent Van Gogh – Wheat Field with sheaves Welcome to our online gathering at St Michaels Uniting Church in Melbourne. I’m Margaret Mayman, minister at St Michael’s. Wherever you have come from, wherever you are going to; whatever you believe, whatever you do not believe; you are welcome. For thousands of years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have walked in this land. People participating in St Michael’s gathering today stand on the lands of the First Peoples of many nations. I invite you to name, the people on whose land you live or work. We honour the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, on whose land St Michael’s Uniting Church was built. We acknowledge that land was taken from Indigenous people without their consent, treaty or compensation. We honour their elders, past, present and emerging and join in prayers for justice and reconciliation. In Melbourne, we are in the living through our second level 3 lockdown We experienced the end of social isolation. The threat of the pandemic had been dissipating, and then in what felt like an instant the new beginning was gone. Vulnerability and anxiety are back for some. Boredom and irritation at the limits are back for others. I know how much people miss gathering together, for prayer and bread and wine, for conversation and coffee and tea. This is a challenging time – a time of wrestling with meaning for churches, communities, cities, and nations. Even before COVID many of the challenges that face us were already there… in the fabric of creation, weakened and frayed, by the human activity of consumption. in the injustice of racism, which is both structural and personal, not just a problem far away in America, but right at the heart of who we are in Australia. We can stay with our analysis of wrong, we can let our fears define our future, or we can be part of the listening, the responding, the opening that will move us to a new way of living, a new way of being, that will not come to pass by judgement of one another but by holding a vision, and hoping for its becoming, no matter how small the flickering candle that lights the way may be. This time in the church’s year is the season of Pentecost. We sing songs of the spirit. We tell of the vision of another world, a vision that Jesus called the kingdom of God. 4 In the Spirit, and with that vision, after his death, the friends of Jesus, women and men, outsiders, and dissidents, fearful and brave knew the Power of Presence and the Promise of Peace. What they knew is offered to us, so that even now, as we feel whatever we feel in the midst of lockdown 2.0, we take time to celebrate this life, and the love the sustains us and never leaves us alone. In the name of our God who shares divinity with us. In the name of the Risen One who shares humanity with us. In the name of the Spirit who disturbs and inspires us. We gather apart and yet together honouring each other and the One who meets us here. A hymn from our tradition reminding us to focus on the vision that our faith sets before us: the vision of the commonwealth of God. Let us sing “Be thou my vision.” Be thou my vision, the joy of my heart; nought be all else to me save that thou art. Thou my best thought, by day or by night, waking or sleeping, thy presence my light. Be thou my wisdom, the lamp to my feet; thy word, like honey, to my lips is sweet; thou my delight, my joy, thy command; my dwelling ever, be the palm of thy hand. Riches I heed not, nor seek human praise; thou mine inheritance, now and always; thou and thou only, first in my heart, high God of heaven, my treasure thou art. 5 High God of heaven, my victory won, may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s sun! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, still be my vision, O ruler of all. Gaelic 8th Century Adapted Tune: Slane Irish Traditional Melody harm. David Evans (1874-1948) To the God above god...we turn our thoughts in meditation. To the God above the god of any single nation, who unites the people of the world in the bonds of kinship and peace; To the God above the god of any single ideology, who knows that one human life is more valuable than all the systems in the world; To the God above the god of any single religion, whose goodness and inspiration are the possession of people of all faiths; To the God above the god of power who brings humility to our minds and reverence to our hearts... we dedicate ourselves in gathering together And we breathe in this God, and share it with all that lives and breathes with us… A time of silence Peace be within us and among us. God, you are life for us, holy be your name. Your new day come, your will be done, On earth as in your vision. Give us this day our bread for the morrow; And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Strengthen us in the time of test, and deliver us from evil. For the power and the splendour and the fulfilment are yours, now and forever. Amen. May the peace of Divine Presence be with you! And also with you! People are invited to send peaceful thoughts to members of our community. 6 Jesus presented another parable to those gathered: "The reign of God may be compared to a farmer who sowed good seed in a field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. The farmers workers came and asked, “Did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?' The farmer answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The workers in turn asked, 'Then do you want us to go and pull them up?' But the farmer replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the harvesters to collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, then to gather the wheat into my barn.'" Then Jesus left the crowds and went into the house.