Helen
welcomed us all and the notices were given. These included a notice of an
evening at the Edgerton's home, on May 13th, to share ideas about the future of
MRUC. This was followed by the
Call to Worship,
reminding us
of God's love for all His creation, in which he delights and among which He has
no favourites because He doesn't just love all, He is love.
Hymn TIS 232 "O the deep, deep love of
Jesus" Deep, vast, boundless, all around us, everlasting. Our haven -
Jesus' mighty love for us.
Scripture Reading John 5: 1 - 18. Elaine
delivered the story of Jesus visiting the pool, Bethzatha, where there were
many invalids, waiting to be healed by being lowered into the water when it
started to stir. Jesus approached one man, and after questioning him, told him
to, "Stand up, take up your mat and walk" and the man did just that.
However it was the Sabbath, so the Jews became angry with Jesus, and began to
seek Him out to kill him. Two thoughts occur to me: the importance we can place
on certain things and the priorities by which we can order a range of things,
is sometimes more in keeping with what makes us feel safe rather than with what
God would intend. Secondly, perhaps we hobble along spiritually, because we
don't fully believe we will make it when we get the command to stand up and
walk (in the spiritual sense). Maybe it's safer for us to remain crippled,
because, in that state, we get ask to be served, not serve.
Reflection "Undeserved Grace"
Helen directed our attention to the first words of the Gospel of John: "In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God." She then went on to say that John spent the rest of the gospel
showing how that was so. That is, that Jesus and God are one.
The
healing by the pool in today's reading, is one of the focusses John uses to
prove what was said in the first lines.
The Bible
says different things to different people at different times. The Holy Spirit
uses scripture to teach and guide. But then Helen confessed to getting a bit
cranky with this reading. Why would Jesus ask the man if he wanted to be
healed? The poor man had been waiting by the pool for decades. But then Helen
said she had thought about it again. What is the message to us? It was that
sometimes we are happy the way we are - it's safe. Change means uncertainty and
for this reason we are not quick to change even when it's clear that it is for
our own good.
Then the
next thing that made Helen cranky was the response of the authorities. Did they
rejoice because a cripple was walking? No! All they could think about was that
he was healed on the Sabbath, breaking ones of their many, many rules. We do
that today. We get bogged down in the trivia of our rules and regulations,
instead of rejoicing at a clear sign of God at work. Then to make matters so
much worse, those same authorities started to plot to kill Jesus. Hang on.
Isn't here a commandment, "Thou shalt not kill" ?
Further,
Helen didn't like the healed guy much either. When Jesus asked if he wanted to
be healed, you would expect a "Yes" or at least a "No" but
he starts on with excuses. He doesn't ask who Jesus is, and goes to the Temple
and dobs with no record of his even thanking Jesus.
The
Festival that was happening at the time was a device to remind the Jews of what
God had done for them. Which is exactly what this story is for us. It is a
picture of God at work. The amazing grace of God, shown in Jesus.
"And
the Word was God"
Hymn TIS 129 "Amazing Grace (how sweet
the sound)". "I once was lost, but now am found," So why do we
keep behaving as though we are lost?
Freewill Offering "Generous God, you give
us so much, and yet we keep gazing at the empty gap, and not the gift. We have
a little that we give to your work, believing, knowing from experience, our
little in your hands changes lives. Amen
Time for Quiet Reflection
Prayer for Others and the
Lord's Prayer
Nerida prayed that, as we from our comfortable lives are unable to comprehend
the tragedy and destruction around us, God will support the many aid groups who
give help to all without favour, showing His love to the world. She then prayed
for our country and our leaders and then for those close to members of the
congregation, and also asked that as we shared the bread and wine, that we
should be aware of the spirit within.
Someone like me A story by John Harvey from Iona. Fire and Bread p247. Helen told
this humbling story of three groups spending two weeks at Iona. There was a
group of young men who were prisoners from the gaol, a group who suffered from
cerebral palsy and another group of teenagers who were under the care of social
workers. The weeks were more than successful and culminated in a communion
service, which included the Passing of the Peace. After the service, one of the prisoners
was found sobbing. It was thought he was dreading the return to prison but that
was not it. He was brought undone because he thought that no one in a church
would ever want to shake the hand of someone like him. Then Helen exhorted us to
pass to each other that friendship and love that prisoner received, as an echo
of God's gift of Grace to us.
Passing the Peace The peace of the Lord be with
you
And also
with you.
Hymn TIS 655 v1+ chorus Through this hymn we prayed
that God "will descend upon (our lives) and make (us) whole"
Prayer of Confession Helen prayed for all of us,
asking forgiveness for our lack of care for each other, for our unpleasantness,
for our focus on ourselves and our blindness to the God who lives and
transforms.
Words of Assurance We were directed to focus on
the communion elements.
The body
of Christ, broken for you.
The Blood
of Christ, poured out for you.
Whatever
we are like-however pathetic our behaviour. We are loved and cherished.
Hymn TIS 655 v2 + chorus With this assurance, we acted
out our belief and sang with conviction, "O come and sing this song with
gladness."
Communion we recalled the actions of
Jesus and the events during the Last Supper and then prayed, asking God's
blessing on the elements, that we would be reminded of God's grace. We asked
for each of us to receive God's Spirit and be challenged by God's presence. Of
course, we can look away and make excuses but that would be missing a great
opportunity.
The Distribution
Prayer after Communion "We are children and
people of God. We give thanks that he is good and God's love is now and
forever.
Hymn TIS 531 "Sent forth by God's
blessing" "His grace shall invite us, his love shall unite us"-
that will only happen when we keep our focus on Him. As soon as we revert to
putting ourselves first, it follows that we will lose direction.
Prayer of Departure
Into our
streets and homes we go
Living our lives in God's love
Into our
joys and sorrows we go
Living our lives in God's love
Blessed
with the friendship of God we go
Living our lives in God's love.
It really
doesn't work very well any other way.
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