"The Tapestry of Life"

It could be considered to be “by chance” that the church service last week (10^th May) inspired me to centre my reflections upon the expressive impact of hymns as an integral part of our Worship.  However, having followed those thoughts I was stumped when considering a response to the Rev. John’s online service this week in which his thoughtful sermon turned our minds to poetry in the Bible reading from Acts 17; 22-31.  We know that many of the hymns we love were written as poems before being put to music and becoming hymns, so here I am sitting at my computer, wondering where will my mind go from here?

Just one interesting thought to share here is the comparative ease for most people to learn and remember the words of a song or a hymn, paralleled with the difficulty for many in retaining in their brain the words of a poem ready for instant recall.  When I was young I was extremely lucky to be able to easily learn and recite the poems that I loved - yet often by the time I had listened to my brother repeating the poems he had to learn for homework, I would despair about his lack of progress.  

The difference here was that my brother did not feel the poetry like I did and his heart did not motivate the poetry “centre” of his mind to remember and love the words of the poem.  So for him, learning poetry by rote, with no effort to demonstrate or teach the relevance of the imagery of poetry was like saying dismissively to him that he should ‘Find a bridge and get over it!’  However, my brother John could discover what made anything work and he enjoyed working in the mechanical and engineering fields his whole life.  His memory for details about the cars and trains he kept working perfectly and the achievements and statistics of his competitive bicycle racing was excellent.  I soon learned that my brother, like many others, had no wish or need to be able to recite the endless verses of “The Highwayman” or “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner”.

I have looked for ways to express why some of us turn to poetry when we need to express deep or important thoughts and feelings.  I certainly do not consider myself as a poet, yet sometimes I feel compelled to disregard my lack of understanding of the rules and approved techniques for writing genuine poems, to present my special thoughts or feelings to a friend or someone who needs encouragement or consolation in this very personal way.  

In trying to answer this question of why poetry touches my heart, I discovered there are many very satisfying definitions of what poetry is; however, I find that I can’t go past the definition given by William Wordsworth who wrote; "Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity".  Just think daffodils here!

Thirty years ago a talented friend wanted to share her love of stitching Tapestries with people who had not had the opportunity to learn this craft, so she wrote and published a small book called “Tapestry made Easy”, which was richly illustrated with photos of beautiful finished and framed Tapestries that had been worked by herself, her mother, her father and even her husband.  Her family had a small supper party to “launch” the book and several families from Marsden Road Church and other special friends attended the celebration. 

I had been seeing and admiring these beautifully executed tapestry works hanging in our friend’s home for many years; so I was inspired to write a poem to celebrate her achievement in writing the book.  Although I am sure the poem that I wrote breaks many “rules”, the imagery of one’s life as a finished tapestry pleased me and was appreciated by my friend.  Her father who was a perfect gentleman asked me if I would agree to the poem being printed in his church’s magazine and of course I agreed.  It was later printed in a copy of the “Marsden Missive”, so my apologies if you have already seen the poem.  This has become the inspiration for my personal “Tapestry Tales”, a collection of stories and anecdotes of my life and my family, which have been written over a period of 20 years. 

Tapestries worked by Glenys Gillard
Photos by Dayen Grujovic

The Tapestry of Life

Life is a tapestry worked over the years;

It’s a blending of threads stitched with laughter and tears.

By our Lord the pattern was printed and trammed -

Much richer and fuller than man could have planned.

The technique and tension are for us to decide

and the standard of work is our personal pride.

While enjoying support from our family and friends -

On our stitching and texture the canvas depends.

The rows that we work with painstaking care

may be less than perfect - we see here and there.

With a little more Faith, more Hope and more Love,

while asking for help from our dear Lord above

We’ll be shown the best way to choose the right threads;

Sometimes with our hearts; and at times with our heads.

We’ll learn new techniques to embellish our work;

and we’ll stitch through the rows where anxieties lurk,

If we create a true Masterpiece - a real work of art

It will prove that we’ve lived - of this life been a part.

When our tapestry is finished and we reach the hour of death,

We will meet the Master Planner as we draw our last short breath,

Then for uneven or imperfect work, we surely won’t be blamed,

As in the memory of our loved ones - our tapestry is framed.

This Sunday morning (17^th May) the Rev. John made reference to the way “St. Paul gives us a good example of the productive process of building bridges because Christians are all, or should all be, disciples.”  He reminded us that, “Bearing witness and spreading the Word is the business of every Christian and finding bridges between the teaching of scripture and the outside culture is necessary to aid that process.”  So, perhaps as expressed in the Rev John’s words “In an age in which the Bible is under fire, poetry might serve as a good place to build a helpful bridge from the Bible to the surrounding culture of today.”

"How Great Thou Art"

When I sat down at my computer to reflect on the Rev. John’s Sunday online church service I clicked on a Youtube link for the first hymn “Tell out my Soul” which was written by Rev. Timothy Dudley-Smith who has been writing hymn texts for more than 50 years, and still writes 6 or 8 new hymns each year. He has written over 430 published hymns and this is one of his hymns of adoration which always stirs me.  As I listened, my mind immediately turned to the expressive impact of hymns as part of Worship that has always been for me important as a source of prayer, deep thought, comfort, assurance and delight. 

  

Church was always an important part of my family life and upbringing as the daughter of an Anglican minister and his wife.  My parents met as children at Sunday school and church and my father’s “call” to the ministry came during the singing of the wonderful hymn; “When I survey the Wondrous Cross” when a visiting evangelical minister made a call for people to come forward and give their life to God.  So consequently, for me there was no amazing moment that I can recall when God became the cornerstone of my life – and this has sometimes been a cause of reflection about religion as sometimes an “accident of birth” versus religion as a matter of choice. 

I have often found the stories of some of the writers of our amazing and inspirational hymns to be some of the best life lessons when looking for the “meaning of life.”

My father’s ministry was diverse and his “parishioners” during my childhood and youth were struggling farming families during his time as a Bush Church Aid Chaplain when I was born in Victoria - and then as an army and navy chaplain until I was an adult.   Although this meant that the people attending his service were sometimes reluctant and less than receptive worshippers; my father and other chaplains saw their wartime and service life as being “Full of opportunities for a Chaplain”.

In December 1943 my father joined with a fellow chaplain with whom he had shared his ordination service 10 years earlier and in his letter home he wrote; “Tonight Bill and I combined in taking a service with an Infantry Battalion in an open clearing in the jungle (New Guinea).  The troops were drawn up on two sides and the officers on the third side with the chaplains on the fourth side of the square. The service concluded just as dusk was falling, with the singing of “Abide with Me”.  This time 10 years ago we were in a retreat together in preparation for our ordination.  It is a far cry from then to the jungle and from those days of peace to these days of war.  You never know what lies ahead and we did not dream in our wildest moments that we would even be chaplains in the army on active service in times of war and that 10 years hence we would be combining for a service in the heart of the jungle and with men who have been in action on the front line.”

The piano in our home was not played often, but my father would sometimes sit down for a while on Sunday evenings and play “by ear” from his small repertoire of hymns.  Even today I can never hear “The day though gavest Lord is ended” or “Abide with me” without returning in my heart to those far off days and feeling myself standing by my father and looking over his shoulder as we sang those hymns together. “Abide with me” is for me a hymn of hope and supplication, while “The day though gavest Lord is ended”, is more about hope, thankfulness and benediction.

If you have time on your hands for reflection you may spend many happy hours wandering through the pages of the website https://hymnary.org/ where you can learn all about the hymns and their writers and the important place they play in our Worship and become part of our life and our understanding of God’s love and our opportunities to share that love.. 

My favourite hymn of all is, “How Great Thou Art” and one memorable day in Norway I turned to my husband and began to softly sing the words of this wonderful inspiring hymn and said; “Surely those words were written by someone who had stood on a mountain peak in Norway!”  Perhaps I was close to the truth; because Carl Gustav Boberg (16 August 1859 – 7 January 1940) was a Swedish poet, best known for writing the Swedish language poem of "O Store Gud" (O great God) from which the English language hymn "How Great Thou Art" is derived.  The hymn of adoration we sing today was translated from the Swedish poem in 1949 by Stuart K. Hine who was born in 1899 in Great Britain. He and his wife were missionaries in the Western Ukraine of Russia, where they evangelized as Christian workers and singers.  In 1931, Stuart and his wife returned to Britain and conducted gospel campaigns throughout Great Britain.

“O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the works Thy hands have made,

……………

When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,

And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!”

That memorable day in 1982 we had travelled by tour bus through wild and spectacular countryside on a road that constantly turned back on itself in a series of sharp hair-pin bends; a journey not for the faint-hearted.   In the region known as Jotunheimen, or “Home of the Giants” we made our way to the top of Mount Dalsnibba where we were met by a fierce, cold inhospitable wind and a view to take our breath away.  We felt like we were in heaven with the world at our feet.

Then we moved on in the bus to the next vantage point and from there we could look across at Mount Dalsnibba and down into the little town of Geiranger nestling near its beautiful Fjord.  We were standing in the clouds and for a few magical moments we had a clear view of the fjord below with two luxurious ships at anchor.  Suddenly a white blanket of cloud made it all disappear like the theatrical magic of Brigadoon vanishing in the mists of time.

When we reached our hotel in Geiranger we set off for a walk in drizzly rain following a very steep road to a beautiful little church perched precariously on a ledge overlooking the fjord.  Through the little churchyard we went, and out the gate, before clamouring down the slopes and tracks to the path that followed the edge of the fjord.   It was no longer raining and we walked for at least an hour enjoying the grandeur of the snow-capped mountains with countless waterfalls rushing down to the fjord that had been formed during the ice-age when the valleys were scraped out by the ice and the sea came in.  The waterfalls thundered and foamed over rocks and bushes until they tumbled into the fjord that was so deep and so still they were stopped in their tracks and created hardly a ripple.

Following along the path we experienced a peace and beauty impossible to describe in words; it was felt as much as it was seen; then suddenly the silence was shattered by the siren of one of the ships as it slipped out of the fjord towards the open sea.  Soon it was joined by the other ship that almost mysteriously vanished as we walked around a bend on our way back to the hotel.

We lingered again in the churchyard of the little church that clung to the steep slope and I thought I could find no more beautiful place to be for all eternity.  There were small flowers growing wild among the grass between the gravestones and God’s hand was everywhere.

After dinner we settled down in front of our window at 10.30pm to watch the coming of twilight.  The reflections of the quickly moving clouds changed constantly in the deep still water of the fjord, and last year’s snow glistened on the mountain peaks.  Soon little farm houses and small villages turned on their lights in expectation of a darkness that never really came. 

Across the fjord it looked like a twinkling star was moving back and forth across the mountain between the trees as a lone car climbed the steep road with its dozens of sharp hair-pin bends.  The sky changed ever so slowly from a soft blue to a deeper velvety shade and our eyelids became heavy so we left our twilight scene and went to sleep thinking of both the magnitude and perfect detail of God’s Creation.

The Church is not a Building - You are the Church!

I have been a bit disorganised in my thinking this week and perhaps there was a little bit of creative avoidance as I pondered the theme of the online service last Sunday.  

Experience the Living Christ – Acts 2.42-47

The Rev John said; “Give thanks for your church and your place in it. There is no better place to find what you are looking for, which is the touch of the “Master’s” hand in your life. I know because I have experienced it. Thanks be to God for church!” … Ultimately the Christian faith is about living in relationship and community.  The Easter legacy is the church of Jesus Christ”.

Instead of my heart hearing the strong messages about “The Good Shepherd” that should have brought quiet assurance, I have been grappling for several days with the whole idea of “the church”.

Yet here we all are not able to go to “the building” or even meet with “the community of faith” and every day seems the same – a bit like that old movie “Ground Hog Day”!   It’s enough to stop anyone in their tracks.  With the endless talk of being “locked down”, has been a feeling of loss about many aspects of our old lives - yet being locked out of our churches has been something quite foreign to us in our country where religious freedom is embraced.

As the cloud lifted in my mind I began to remember a familiar statement that I really like; “The church is not a building – You are the Church”.   At Marsden Road Church we have used that phrase often in our invitations and letterbox drop material. 

These words in the Rev John’s Reflection can turn on a light for us all during these dark days. “Come in, all who are tired and thirsty. The Good Shepherd leads us to grassy meadows and restful waters. Come in, all who are anxious and afraid. The Good Shepherd protects us and leads us through dark valleys. Come in, all who are empty and exhausted. The Good Shepherd fills our lives with goodness and faithful love. Come in, to be refreshed, to rest, and to receive. The Good Shepherd has brought us here.”

Whoever would have imagined that almost everything we know would change so much almost overnight and we would be required by law to draw back even from those we love and deny them a hug or even a handshake.  Of course it was important and just plain necessary, yet I found it worrying to stand back and make no contact with the people in the church as we “passed the Peace” that final Sunday in March when we were able to go to “the church”. 

I know a young woman who lives alone who rang her sister and asked if she could drop by and hug her family’s dog.  It has been reported that all the animals at the animal shelters have been “snapped up” by people seeking company.  I just pray that these pets will all be loved and cared for when the world changes again and their humans are no longer in need of their love and warmth.

In this current climate of sickness and death for many thousands of people around the world there are huge health and financial worries; people are being almost “held in custody” at home or in an hotel room or a nursing home or cruise ship and it can be difficult for us to find our community, peace, joy or hope.   Jobs lost, shops closed, operations cancelled, doctors unable to let patients into their surgery.  At our doctor’s surgery, the doors were locked and we were “told” via gestures to go walk down the driveway and wait.  To our surprise the nurse emerged and there on the driveway we were quickly given our annual flu vaccination and the nurse immediately disappeared inside. 

Life is confusing - even the politicians are agreeing with “those on the other side” some of the time! 

It seems the world has almost stopped and there is no other news than the corona virus – we see pictures of places like the Spanish Steps in Rome without a single person in sight!  London is deserted along with every other tourist hot spot in the world.  It is hard for our minds to process these sights and accept the awful news that each morning 700 or 800 or more people have died from COVID-19 in some countries in the world, in the short time since we went to sleep last night.

However, that sense of community that is the church still shines through and we can see and feel that “The Christian faith is about relationship, it is about love and compassion. In the midst of the comings and goings of our lives, the risen Christ appears, community happens, and the church takes shape.”

It has been on my daily walk every afternoon that I have found “the church” as I have encountered much greater numbers of people who want to interact in some small way.  Families are out in huge numbers every day; walking, riding bikes and scooters, walking dogs, laughing, waving to strangers, and enjoying their restricted lives within the new limitations and ever changing rules.

Now I have found many new acquaintances and we look out for each other and say “Hello, how are you today?”  The Dalmar Heritage Drive is such a wonderful place to walk with the huge 92 year old trees lining the driveway like sentinels as they provide dappled shade and a safe place for children to ride and play.  About 18 years ago I interviewed a lovely lady who was taken to live at Dalmar Childrens’ Home in July 1928 and she told me that when she and her mother arrived, Hazelwood’s Nursery people and some of the Dalmar boys were planting those “tiny trees” along the Driveway. 

The Dalmar Heritage Drive runs into a circular area in front of the original Dalmar Childrens' Home

It is a joy to "walk in the country" each day in 2020 and remember the children who found a good Christian Home there at Dalmar and were made welcome at the Marsden Road Church and Sunday School

In recent weeks, children have been drawing and writing in chalk on the Dalmar drive and in a little lane nearby and one day as I walked I saw a lovely new hopscotch game had been added to the Easter Bunnies, Easter Eggs, Mermaid and writing of encouraging “wise sayings” on the drive and pathways.  Of course I felt I just had to hop along as well as I could and the kids all smiled at the old lady trying her best to jump.  I said “Oh dear! I can’t jump properly any more I am too old” and one dear little boy of around 7 or 8 very sincerely said; “I am really sorry that you cannot jump anymore.”

Yesterday I discovered new messages in the lane after the rain had washed away the originals; perhaps my favourite was; “No matter what people tell you words and ideas can change the world.”

I just love it as the kids sail past on their bikes and wave and smile.  I have a chance meeting almost every day with an elderly Indian lady who wears beautiful bright flowing saris and talks on her phone as she walks; but she always pauses in her conversation to say hullo as she nods her head and smiles. 

People who walk dogs are often ready for a chat about their dog for a moment or two and I sometimes wonder if all the dogs are wondering why they are suddenly being expected to go for a long walk every day.  There is one lady whose dog is usually stopped and refusing to move as I pass and his owner is trying to coax him to move again.  We always laugh as she tells me how many times he has refused to move that day!

Grimes Lane that runs between Alan Walker Village & Rayward Lodge

One day as I walked along Grimes Lane, a walkway which runs between the Alan Walker Village and the Raywood Lodge Nursing Home, I saw a heart-breaking sight as I paused to say a little prayer for the people locked inside and restricted in their visits and I noticed an elderly man standing on the highest piece of grass he could find and straining to look through the window as he spoke on this mobile phone.  Inside there was a lady (almost certainly his wife) talking on a telephone and waving to him.  If a large family of Kookaburras in the magnificent tall gum trees on the other side of the lane had not chosen that very moment to join in laughter with other groups in trees in the surrounding areas, I may well have cried.  Instead I hoped that the laughter of the birds had brought comfort to them as it had to me.  I stopped and looked up and looked around and was amazed by the perfection of the blue sky and the height and the groupings of the trees - and then I moved on.

I feel that I have been “going to church” on my walk every day and as the Rev John has said; “So just pause and reflect for a moment. Easter has come. The tomb has been emptied. The Lord has appeared to his disciples, and the announcement has gone forth: “He is alive!” Jesus is alive! Where do we find him for ourselves?”  Yes, perhaps sometimes it is harder to find Jesus than usual, but if we listen and encourage each other things will improve in time. As the lovely children wrote on the footpath;”It is the little things that matter” and “No rain no flowers” and “You are so lucky to be YOU”. 

The sun always shines, even on the darkest of days

Because the Rev John, and others from our Marsden Road Church have been eager and worked hard for everyone to be able to have access to a weekly church service, it is now posted in full on the Marsden Road Website, with cross links to Rev John’s weekly blog and Margaret’s “Reflections on Sunday Morning” blog, but even more importantly there is a “team” of people who email, print, post or personally deliver both the church service and the weekly newsletter to anyone who wants to receive it, in the manner most appropriate to their needs or wishes. 

For some weeks now the Rev John and his wife Wendy have invited people to join them for a “virtual” and safe meeting in their home, via the miracles of modern digital technology.  This works well for those people who have a computer or a device with the right program, a camera and a microphone and who have already felt the need to have embraced a technology that the majority of people today consider to be absolutely necessary. However, those who do not need or choose to become involved in this different way of communicating can remain fully involved in life.  We must be careful to remember that people who have not become too engrossed in the “new” way of communicating online are often more observant and careful when making “real” connections with other people.   Personally, I feel it is well worth stopping often and slowing down to listen, share and communicate in the old ways.

Margaret has asked me to “mind” her blog while she is recovering from her operations and I feel that in the present situation when so much effort has already been put into making the Sunday Service available to everyone, I might share some “Random Reflections” and thoughts provoked by the Sunday service with her followers.

There are many people all over the world at the moment who are struggling to cope with the situations they find themselves having to face each day – who among us would have believed that we would be faced with so much change, sadness and worry when we began to think about the dawn of the year 2020?

We will need all our Faith in God to live by that new “Easter Perspective” the Rev John spoke about on Sunday morning and to “Dare” to “love one another deeply from the heart” (1 Peter Chapter 1 verse 22).

Yesterday morning I felt the impact of the Call to Worship very strongly as my husband and I joined the Marsden Road Church Service via ZOOM (a new computer program) as we sat in our pyjamas at the computer in our study.   We don’t have a camera or a microphone on our computer so the little screen that appeared with our name to show that we were present was black & blank and we were unable to contribute to the conversation!   I was aware that, although there were about 20 familiar faces rolling across the top of the computer screen, there were many dear people “missing” as the service was about to begin.  It was a wonderfully comforting thought that in other homes and retirement villages around the local suburbs some of those “missing” people were also able to share in the service when they chose to do so. 

As those of us with ZOOM “gathered” there was, as is usual, a bit of friendly chatting before the Rev John called us to begin the service.  While listening to the chatter we became aware of the friendship and phone calls that had been shared among those of is “at church” and those friends not on our screens, yet in our thoughts and prayers during the previous weeks. That was a really good feeling.

Call to Worship

Walking down the road of life, how often do we meet Christ in a stranger? Chances are good we won’t recognize him, even though our hearts may burn within us. Chances are even better he will move on to bless another unless we offer hospitality to our fellow travellers. Walking down the road of life, look for Christ . . . and be prepared to find him in a stranger.

That has always been a concept that I love and value!  Have you ever felt uncomfortable as you walked past a homeless person on the steps of a grand city church; have you wondered was it God sitting on those steps dressed in rags?  Did God wonder why people went inside to look for Him?  Did he wonder why we walked by without stopping to help?

Have you ever felt that God “used” you when you were able to help a lonely or worried person as you passed by?  I believe God sometimes prods us and raises our awareness to step up and engage with a stranger.  Walking down the opposite side of a wide corridor in a hospital I surprised myself when I saw a lady with her head down and looking close to tears and without even consciously thinking, I found myself stopping and gently asking; “Do you need a hug?”  She held out her arms to me and sobbed.  She told me she had just learned that her mother would not be able to recover and was close to death - I knew that God had given me the mission to comfort her before she went out to her car to begin a lonely and sad drive home. 

In many ways the world has been turned upside down by the overwhelming speed of the continuing development of digital technology.  In many ways it has also become an impediment to actual communication which requires stopping to speak and more importantly to listen to all the people we meet “walking down the road of life”.  

As Rev John stressed this morning, “That is, we must put on our new Easter glasses and live “as if” the world has more love than it does, “as if” there is more hope than people are willing to embrace, “as if” the kingdom of God can reign on the earth today.”   Our Easter glasses also give us the holy boldness to ask, “What if?” What if every child had a warm, safe place to sleep? What if there was enough food for every person on this earth? What if we all lived from a sense of abundance rather than scarcity? What if today all the killing of all the wars stopped?”

The sun always shines, even on the darkest of days

I feel that I am truly blessed that I can always “Look for the Silver Linings” and see they are there somewhere, even on the darkest of days.  For me the sun is always shining someplace.  Sometimes I ask myself why I have been so blessed and why I can hang on during a storm and wake the next day ready to go on.  I understand and care deeply for those who are unable to wake each day with a strong feeling of hope for the day.

It doesn’t seem fair when I see the struggles of others and inexplicably; some who struggle the most, appear on the surface to have “golden” lives.  However, we can never really know about the deepest troubles and the struggles, real or envisioned, that plague the minds and lives of other people - even our closest friends and sadly, sometimes family.  Yet, some people seem to have every reason in life to feel ignored or targeted by an unconcerned society, or feel depressed and marginalized by circumstances not of their own making.  The fortunate ones have a mystifying gift, which I can only think of as optimism. Some alternative words for optimism are hopefulness, cheerfulness, sanguinity, confidence, buoyancy and brightness. 

No wonder this gift allows people to go on and find those silver linings and hopefully share them with those whose joys are lost in dark clouds.  

Sunday Service Marsden Road Uniting Church 19 April 2020

 

I am facing a complicated spinal surgery next week and then another about eight weeks later.

It is a difficult time now for me, anticipating what is to come and it will be even more difficult during the recovery time later.

My daughter sent me a piece of writing by John Donne which outlined his thoughts when he was very ill and which initiated his well known “No man is an iland”. He said “As sicknes is the greatest misery, so the greatest misry of sicknes, is solitude.”

And so, at this time I, like Donne, have to face these surgeries alone. No person in my family or my circle of friends can accompany me through or lift any of the burdens I must carry during the time to come.

Or do I? 

I don’t need to face these coming experiences alone. God has promised to be with me at all times.

And sometimes I believe that, like now when I am considering the possibility, and opening my heart and head to the promise that God will be with me at all times.

But then My faith fails me and belief leaves me and I feel so alone.

In Rev. John’s sermon on Sunday he spoke about doubting Thomas and his experience of being utterly overcome with belief as he faced Jesus personally.

He then pointed out that “according to Paul Tillich, doubt isn’t the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.” He advised us to explore our doubts and let that exploration set us on a path of finding the depths of our faith.

That seems to me to be very good advice: advice I intend to follow. Each time I do anything related to my relationship with God, God is generous in responding to even the weakest of my calls. I am aware of God’s benevolent warmth issuing out upon me. I don’t even need to be reaching out to God or asking for God’s help. Any time my head or heart stirs a little in the area of God-thought there is a response that totally overshadows the effort I am making and I am swept away by God’s willingness to embrace me in response to the slightest flicker of belief.

I don't pretend to understand what Paul Tillich meant or what he intended we should do. I just know that as soon as I “look” in the general direction of God, there is the most magnanimous response and my faith is restored.

That is why it is so important to keep up fellowship with other Christians, keep reading the Bible, keep reading the words of Christian writers and most importantly, keep praying. Not fine-sounding prayers but true, from the heart, honest about our needs, prayers.

As I said, I am facing surgery and I’m not sure when I will be writing next. Until then, God’s peace and blessing be yours.

Margaret

Marsden Road Uniting Church 12 April 2020

Easter Sunday 12th April 2020

Marsden Road Uniting Church Carlingford

 

 

“A Candle can be lit and placed somewhere near where you are worshipping” signifying the light Jesus brought into the world. His unflinching defiance of the powerful and their evil intentions. But also His defiance of the evil we all commit when we cling to our selfish ways and the paths that lead to darkness. The candle signifies the other path to light

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Christ is risen indeed!

May our worship join with the voices of the First Peoples of this Land.

Call to Worship

Praise the Lord!

God has defeated death. Praise the Lord!

Peace be with us.

Opening prayer

Our Lord and our God, like doubting Thomas so long ago, it is sometimes difficult for us to believe in new life and Resurrection. We ask you to turn our doubts into vibrant faith. We have not seen but help us believe. Amen.

A Prayer of Confession

God of life and love, we rejoice in our own salvation, but find it hard to forgive those who have hurt us.You call us to seek the paths of peace and blessing, to be your face to everyone we meet, but it is easier sticking to well-travelled streets of anger and resentment...Forgive us, Holy One, when we hold on to what we have, rather than share your gifts with the world.

Declaration of Forgiveness

The One whom the prophets foretold, and of whom the Gospels testify, lives among us today. In the love of the Creator; in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ; and in the power of the Holy Spirit, we are forgiven. Alleluia! Amen.

Thanks, be to God!

The Service of the Word

The First Reading: Acts 10: 34-43 This ends so powerfully: All the prophets testify about him

That everyone who believes in him

The Gospel Reading: Matthew 28:1-10. He is risen!

Preaching of the Word –

Rev. John spoke of the life-giving sacrifice of Jesus. It was not anything like giving up chocolate or even eating like the people of Jesus’ day and giving the money saved to the work of God. No, it was bone crushing, muscle tearing pain. All because he would not turn aside from speaking the truth. That truth we all meet when we allow ourselves to be given into the hand of God and be remade in his way. That will cost us, but nothing like the price Jesus paid.

“We really don’t want to go there on Easter Sunday. We much prefer the shiny golden cross, the trumpets, the happy hymns in major keys, the heavily perfumed Easter lilies. We deserve this after all we’ve been through. Holy Week nearly drove us off the rails; worship can’t get more depressing than Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. We need an upper! A shot in the arm! A win for the team!

But if resurrection is really about new life, then it is messy, stressful, and emotional...Of course, there is another side of new life. There are tears of deep joy and surprise, gratitude and wonder. How did this happen? How can this happen? The miracle of life continues to astound and confound us.

Peace be with us.

Sunday Service Marsden Road Uniting Church 5 April 2020

 

Today’s Gospel reading is from Matthew 21: 1-11 and the OT readings is from  Isaiah 50: 4-9.

Perhaps if you read those, you will be prepared for the lessons I learned from the service, particularly the readings and the sermon.

 

The Gospel reading is one we are all familiar with but there’s one reference I find very puzzling. There is reference to a donkey and a colt. Both are covered so Jesus can ride on them. That wouldn’t be an error but I have no idea what the significance is. Perhaps it’s just not the most despised of creatures but also the lesser colt who are both acceptable to carry the Sovereign King referred to in Isaiah.

In any case we are also familiar with one of the ideas circulating throughout the world of Jesus at that time: that an earthly warrior king would come to release the Jews from the latest of their overbearing rulers from an outside force. The Jews had been overrun by one outside force after another throughout history and longed for the King who would release them in a final victory.

We have been doing this throughout our own short history. If we vote for this party or that party, the country will prosper. It won’t and it will never do so, while our yardstick is an earthly one.

Jesus rode in on a donkey to show His Kingdom was not the one which was expected. His Kingdom is of the Spirit.

As Rev. John says, a political victory was never on a Jesus’ radar. He came to free us from ourselves. He came to raise us out of all those things that mire us down in ways of the rest of the world. The nasty stuff like greed. Greed covers so much, because we can be greedy for so many things.

Isaiah may have been overstating his case but he was on the right track when he claimed obedience to the Sovereign Lord. Short of being obedient to the Lord’s command we fail everything.

And we can remember Jesus’ teaching which tells us that we can call on help to obey the Sovereign Lord. The Spirit has been given to us to guide us so that we can think straight and the Spirit can give us the strength we need to be better than we could ever be on our own.

And for those who think God can’t possibly be calling them to build the Kingdom. Remember the donkey and the colt. Remember the humble fishermen. Remember the Woman at the Well.

Take God’s outstretched hand, which is inviting you, first to be raised up from the things that weigh you down and then for you to reach out to others, demonstrating that freedom and wealth are matters of the spirit, not of any material sort.