| New Book now Available Here is an anthology of over 1100 brief prayers and thought-starters, for each day of the year, with almost 400 original prayers by Bruce Prewer. Included is both a subject index and an index of authors-- an ecumenical collection of about 300 different sources. |
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| Title: Brief Prayers for Busy People. Author: Bruce D Prewer ISBN 978-1-62880-090-6 Available from Australian Church Resources, web site www.acresources.com.au email service@acresources.com.au or by order from your local book shop or online on amazon. |
Year C, SUNDAY 15
July
10-16
Luke 10:25-37
(Sermon
1: “Joyful Practitioners”)
(Sermon
2: “Self Recognition?”)
Colossians 1: 1-14
Amos 7: 7-17
Psalm 82
PREPARATION
Perfect
worship is beyond us.
No church or
cathedral can be beautiful enough,
no hymn can
be joyful enough,
no
congregation can be loving enough,
to do
justice to that wonderful God
‘who has
delivered us from the province of darkness and transferred us
into the
light of his dear Son.’
Does this
mean we shake our heads and give up trying to worship?
Not at all!
God wants our sincerity, not some perfect performance.
It is when we realise that God is too majestic for
us,
that holy awe takes over and genuine worship begins.
Let everyone praise God.
The Lord’s
name be praised.
OR -
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all.
And also with
you
.
Give thanks to God who has qualified you
to share in the inheritance of the saints
in the realm of light.
You shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all
you soul,
and with all
your strength,
and with all
your mind,
and your
neighbour as yourself.
Let us worship this God with loving and thankful
hearts.
PRAYER OF APPROACH
God of unspeakable love, we praise you for the holy Beauty which
awakens our worship, and takes us from dullness to wonder, from timidity to
trust, and from human ignorance to the divine light of your Christ. Please
bring into focus all our thoughts, feelings and faith, as we bow before you. To
the glory of your name.
Amen.
CONFESSION AND ASSURANCE
We come to God, not to justify ourselves but to
repent and trust the saving grace of Christ Jesus.
Let us pray.
Look upon us, loving Saviour, sift our thoughts
and assess our feelings.
Deal firmly with those things that have inhibited
our love
and diverted our energies.
Loving God,
whatever you see -
as self righteous, censure,
as twisted, straighten,
as heartless, soften,
as fruitless, prune,
as infected, cleanse.
Flood your
relentless Spirit through our whole being,
sweeping away guilt and its
lethargy,
and by the saving grace of Christ
Jesus,
heal the hidden springs of our
personality.
Thank you, Holy Friend, for answering our prayers
before we get round to asking them,
and for doing much more than we ask or think.
Through your Son and our Saviour;
Amen
ASSURANCE
In Christ Jesus we are a radically renewed community.
Thanks be to
God!
Old things are done away with, all things become
new.
Thanks be to
God!
We are agents of grace and reconciliation.
Thanks be to
God!
With every step or stumble, Christ will be with us.
Thanks be to
God!
PRAYER FOR CHILDREN
Thanks For Winter
God, thank you for giving us winter;
snow coating the mountains,
rain washing streets and highways,
streams swelling the reservoirs,
winter sunshine and frosty mornings,
for the garden quietly enjoying a rest,
and fruit trees saving energy for spring.
Thanks for steaming drinks and hot meals,
heated homes and warm clothing,
winter sports and cheering crowds,
and hot showers and cosy beds.
Thank you God for all the seasons
and for bodies and minds
to enjoy them all.
Amen!
PSALM 82
God alone takes the chair
in
the high court of the angels.
In the midst of the children of God,
The
verdict is declared on earthlings.
“How long will you people pervert justice?
How long will you favour the
powerful and rich?
Give some justice to the weak and
the fatherless,
stand up for the persecuted and the
destitute.
Rescue the powerless and the impoverished.
liberate them from the clutches of
the wicked.
Your decision-makers have not got a
clue,
they have neither understanding nor
empathy.
They strut about in the darkness
while the foundations of the world
are shaking.
I tell you this: You were meant to
be gods,
children of God all of you!
But you shall all die as earthlings,
you shall fall and crumble, one and
all.”
Please God, please rise up and judge us all,
for all nations are under your jurisdiction!
Ó B. D. Prewer 2006
THE SAMARITAN
As I was coming home through life
some
muggers hit me hard,
they stripped me of the things most dear
and
left me by the road.
A news crew found me all bloodied,
the
cameras zoomed in near;
“That’s great TV” a fat man said,
and
left me lying there.
A Senator saw the film crew
and
spied me in the ditch:
“Of course we’d like to help” he said,
“but
budgets will not stretch.”
A young preacher came down that way
and
knelt to succour me.
The muggers moved in mercilessly
and
hanged him on a tree.
COLLECT
God of love, the word and way of your true Son has
revealed all that is required of us, and supplied all that is deficient in us.
Trusting in his saving grace, and relying on the guidance of your Holy Spirit,
may we love our neighbours wherever we encounter suffering and neglect. For the
healing of humanity and the glory of your name. Through Christ Jesus our
Redeemer.
Amen!
SERMON 1: JOYFUL PRACTITIONERS
Luke 10: 25-37
Two questions:
Who is my
neighbour? Luke 10:29
Who proved to
be a neighbour? Luke 10: 36
TWO GULFS
In this interchange between Jesus and an
ecclesiastical lawyer, two gulfs are exposed. One is between theory and
practice, and the other between law and grace. These are gulfs which are a
cause of soul searching by sincere believers, and the ground for debate among
those who are trying to minimise their responsibilities.
A first year university student thought he would
major in philosophy. That intent did not last for long. He changed direction.
As he explained it to me: “I did not feel like spending so much energy among
teachers who were keen to talk but very slow to act.” His judgement was no doubt unfair to some of
the teaching staff. On the other hand, it was possibility an accurate
assessment of certain academics. The young are quick to spot insincerity. When
one is eighteen years old, and the world seems to be in a mess, and you are
keen to make a difference, theory which does not involve action can seem like a
cowardly cop out.
The sad fact is, most of us who have bumped around
in life for a while, and gathered significant bruises and abrasions, become
more willing to talk about issues than making commitments. We tend to become
theoreticians rather than practitioners.
Jesus was a young man who looked for commitment, for
action. The church lawyer wanted a
debate, an exhilarating game; a kind of mental tennis match.
MIND GAMES
The lawyer served first with a fast, curving ball: “ Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal
life?”
Calmly Jesus patted the ball back to him: “What is written in the religious law? What
do you read there?”
The fellow had no alternative than to return the
ball down the centre of the court: “ You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your strength, and with all your mind, an love your neighbour as
yourself.”
He was astute. He did make the connection between
loving God and loving others. He was well aware that love of God and love of
your fellows, were inextricably bound together. Truly loving others brings you
nearer to God, and truly loving God must bring you nearer to others.
He has got the theory right. There is no room for
argument here.
Jesus returned this shot back to the lawyer’s feet: “ Right. Do this and you will live.”
See how the young teacher forces the theory back to
action? “Do this!” Jesus is not
interested in unproductive words games. He wants commitments. Loving is his
thing, and he knows there are plenty of ways of loving for those who are
willing to commit.
Our friend the lawyer thinks he sees his opening.
Action? Now that does open a whole can of worms. So he rushes to the net and
volleys at Jesus: “Ah! But who is my
neighbour?” .
To argue this point of who is my neighbour, for whom
should I accept responsibility, can keep the rally going for ages. And this
‘legal eagle’ enjoys long rallies; he is smart; in the past he has played many
and won most.
Is my neighbour the person next door? Or someone
from my town? Or those who are a righteous Jews? Or maybe any Jew, whether good
or bad? And then there is the question
of dispensations: When dealing with the law of God, there are numerous
exceptions, caveats that a sensible person must consider. Life is not black and
white. So it was with satisfaction that the lawyer put a deep ball back in
Jesus’ court. “Return this one if you can.”
Jesus surprises him by going for a very high lob. He
tells a story about a bloke who gets mugged and robbed, and about three men who
come by.
THE STORY
Notice how the man who happens to be travelling from
Jerusalem to Jericho, is not given a clear definition Jesus says “A certain man. He is not given a
name or a race. Just “A certain man”.
Neither rich nor poor, Jew nor Greek, religious nor irreligious, young nor old;
neither a Peter, nor a Giovanni, nor a Boris. It could be any person. It could
be you, it could be me.
Notice too that this is a chance happening. “By
chance, a certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho” It could be any person, at any time. It
could happen to you. It could happen to me. It is as open as life itself.
What happens on the road to Jericho is well known.
The robbers ambush the traveller, leaving him half dead. The Priest and Levite (no personal names,
just categories) see the victim but pass by without helping. They are in fact
within their rights: they are following
the regulations for ritual purity; they
cannot risk touching a dead body. They put their version of godliness above
human compassion. The Priest and Levite are in that dangerous territory where
love of God is deemed more important than love of humanity. This attitude it is
a tearing apart of what God has inextricably bound together.
Then arrives the villain: A fellow on a donkey comes
by. He is a Samaritan- a mixed blood mongrel. One
of those no-hopers who denied much of the Scriptures, kept their own heretical,
sectarian beliefs, and made their own blood sacrifices on Mt Gerizim. As Jesus
told this story, I wonder how many good Jews in the listening crowd spat into
the dust when the Samaritan was mentioned.
Yet it is this despised character who runs to the
aid of the victim, tends his wounds, places him on his donkey and delivers the
poor fellow to a hotel, where he pays for his upkeep. At no stage does the
Samaritan stop and ask the legal question: “Is this fellow my neighbour?” He
lives not legalistically but with the liberty of grace.
BACK TO THE MATCH
Back to the drama of the contest between Jesus and
the lawyer. The lawyer had plenty of time in which to see the lob from Jesus’
racket curling over his head. As he ran to retrieve it, Jesus’ voice followed him: Who do you think was a neighbour to the man
who fell among robbers?
The lawyer’s return was the only face-saving one in
the circumstances: “The one who showed
mercy on him.” This ball fell short in mid-court. Jesus replied: “Go and do likewise.” A clean winner.
Game set and match.
In the whole encounter, Jesus has kept to the point
of doing the right deed rather than trying to define the boundaries of love’s
operation.
In doing so he discards the theoretical question of “But who is my neighbour” and applies
the practical: To whom can I be a good
neighbour. Who or what the other
person is, does not in any way define the boundaries of loving. Their race,
gender, marital status, skin colour, education, political preference, religious
affiliation, age, are all irrelevant.
All that matters is that there is fellow human being
in need.
To whom can I be a good neighbour as I travel the
road of life? Will I be a person of grace, like the Samaritan?
In fact, the Samaritan is like God. He can be
rightly called a child of God.
The Priest and the Levite, were not like God. The
lawyer is too focussed on calculating the obligatory duties that will fulfil
righteousness, to be anything like God. The God of Jesus does not calculate his
mercies. God’s loving is like the sun and the rain which fall on good and bad
alike. Grace is unearned and unmeasured. Grace is outflowing generosity.
GENEROUS PRACTITIONERS
Jesus was a generous practitioner. His Samaritan
character was a generous practitioner.
That must have stuck in the gullet of the lawyer.
When Jesus put the question: Which of these
three men was neighbour to the man who was set upon by robbers? the lawyer could not bring himself to use the
word “Samaritan’. His reply was: “The man who showed mercy on him.” I reckon he was seething that Jesus dared make
up a parable with the Samaritan as the hero. He was not going to utter the
words: “The Samaritan who showed mercy on him.”
To morally erect people, who are proud of their own
hard won goodness, it is a scandal that some outsiders are more gracious than
they are. What is more, for some of them it is offensive that God dares to be
more gracious than they are. God has no right to be that forgiving and
merciful!
As one highly moral churchgoer commented: “The Lord
Jesus was, I am afraid, far too permissive!”
Like the parable of the Prodigal Son, this good
neighbour story is also about grace in action. The Samaritan in the person of
grace in the story.
Grace is a scandal to some, a foolishness to
others, but to those who dare to accept
it and share it, it is a liberty of spirit which makes life more like a
celebration than a responsibility.
Christ’s best practitioners are joyful characters.
Thanks be to God!
SERMON 2: SELF RECOGNITION
Luke 10: 25-37
One of the ‘cool’ things about Jesus’ parables
is that we recognise the characters- even after 2 millennia since he told these
stories. Often we recognise ourselves. In story form Jesus reveals what is
going on both around us and in our own hearts. Parables opens up a window for
self-recognition. We find that we too are the parable people.
That’s how it is with the parable we know as “The
Good Samaritan.”.
It is about caring for one another in this world.
Real people. Real events. It asks us whether we pass the caring test or flunk
it.
Today I will, attempt to help you recognise yourself
and others
in the story by dealing (very simply) with three
types of attitude and action that occur in the parable. The robbers, the priest
and Levite, and the Samaritan..
THE ROBBERS:
“A man was
going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and he fell among thieves.”
The robbers,
anonymous in the story apart from their evil trade,
represent all those who basic attitude to their fellows is: Yours is mine if I can get it.
They apply this robber mentality towards
money and possession, towards time, abilities and
jobs. In fact, this attitude underlines much of that which is corrupt in our
society. “Yours in mine of I can get it.”
Twice my wife and I have had our home broken into by
thieves.
Once in Adelaide and once here in Sunbury. What hurt
most was not the loss of a few possessions, not even the loss of family
heirlooms which could not be worth much to the robbers. What hurt most was the
sense of violation, and the loss of the feeling of security in one’s own home.
If we have to, we could do without many of our possessions. The loss of
security is more disquieting.
Robbery is widespread.
Your job is mine of I can get it. Your investment is
mine of I can plunder it. Your abilities are mine if I can exploit them to my
advantage. Your company is mine if I can take it over. Your time is mine if I
can get some hold over you. Even your health is mine if I can make you a slave
to the inducement of promotion in my firm.
“A man was
going down from Sydney to Melbourne and he fell among thieves.”
It is the same in the international scene.
What holds for the affluent and powerful within our
nation also holds for wealthy and
powerful among nations. The cant about economic “level playing fields”
is music in the ears of the strong and the ruthless. The strong ruthlessly suck
dry the resources of the weak.
No wonder there is bitterness and anger.
No surprise the fabric of society is cracking. While
many of those who break into our houses, or hold up service stations, or rob
banks, get caught and sentenced to gaol, they see nearly all of the big players
in business and politics not only avoid the courts but receive applause and
massive life pensions. Little nations who get caught in similar “daylight robbery” get condemned in
international courts. Powerful nations thumb their noses at such councils or
courts.
wly countries is not hard to find.
“Yours is mine if I can get it” is a code which is
now rampant.
As a society we have substituted greed for ideals,
and legality for morality, and are paying a heavy price for it. As a world we
are now paying a costly price for it. We
may yet pay a higher price.
“A man was
going down from New York to Damascus to Sydney to Tokyo and he fell among
thieves.”
THE PRIEST AND LEVITE
“Now by
chance. a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on
the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him,
passed by on the other side.”
These are not robbers. They are self protectors.
The attitude is: Mine is my own if I can keep it. What I have I will hang on to.
The priest and Levite were cautious;
they saw the man who had been bashed, but would not
risk stopping and helping. What if the robbers were still nearby? What if
helping the victim will involve them in some financial cost, or a delay in
their plans for the day. There is no law saying they must help. Why take the
risk?
This way of life is also rampant in our society
these days.
Caring for the neighbour is relegated to the pretty
ideas file. People don’t want to get involved. They will neither risk losing
time, effort, and certainly not money.
As citizens we are likely protest
if a hostel is planned in our neighbourhood for
Down’s Syndrome people. Our comfortable neighbourhood is ours of we can keep
it. If taxes increase to enable the government to minister more effectively
among the poor and disadvantaged, we then raise political mayhem. Our present
affluence is ours of we can keep it. We go to devious lengths to stop desperate refugees coming to
our country and settling. Our country is ours, just as it is right now, if we
can keep it.
Like the priest and Levite we are biased towards
selfishness.
Of course we may sometimes permit ourselves to get
sentimental
about those unfortunates who “fall among thieves” on
their journey through life. Current affairs programs specialise in making us
shed a few tears for a few of the disadvantaged who are seen to be such “nice,
respectable folk.” Perhaps we have our pet charities. We may make a few
donations that don’t really cost us much; being especially generous when it is
income tax deductible gifts.
I suspect that for Christians the temptation to be
like the Priest and Levite
is far greater than the temptation to be like the
robbers. The Priest and the Levite are very much with us. I have both of them
tucked away inside me. They are rarely allowed to make public appearances but
they offer me plentiful advice. Very
talkative and plausible characters they are. And exceedingly respectable!
Some self recognition? I am not alone in this, am I?
Mine is my own if I can keep it.
THE GOOD SAMARITAN
“But a
Samaritan who was making the journey came upon him, and when he saw him he had
pity. He went to him, bathed his wounds with oil and wine and bandaged him. The
he lifted him on his own ass and brought him to an inn, and looked after him
there.”
The Samaritan, despised by righteous Jews,
is the unlikely saviour in this parable. His
attitude is: “Mine is yours if you need
it.”
He is the good guy.
This detested, mongrel-blooded, Samaritan “Wog” had
an approach to life which is risky but wonderful. He knew he could be set upon by the same robbers if he tarried on
the road. There was the risk he could end up like the victim. Or the delay
might have upset his whole travelling itinerary, or made him miss an important
business deal. This Samaritan could have counted the cost and worried about his
budget, his health, or his life.
Instead he gave the most practical help and footed
the bill.
I like that bit where he says to the inn keeper, “Whatever else he costs, I’ll pay you on my
return journey.” That was risky. Unpretentiously he accepts responsibility
for a wounded stranger to whom he willingly become a good neighbour. Mine is
yours if you need it.
But…as Christians we are not called to be puppets of
other people’s wants. There will always be selfish folk who will take every
opportunity to make demands on our time, our money and our energy. In truth
such people have never grown up. They will not accept responsibility for their
own lives. What is more, they never will as long as they can find kindly
‘suckers’ to manipulate and use up. There are enough genuine neighbours in
need, without wasting our precious energies on manipulators.
We need to make a sincere estimate of our resources,
both personal and financial, and decide how best they can be used in the
ongoing ministry of Christ. We can only do this by limiting ourselves. To say
no as well as yes, is a sign of Christian maturity. This applies to both
individuals and churches. We should never try to do it all. Tough decisions
have to be made, just as Jesus had to make the tough decisions.
“Mine is
yours if you need it” remains the challenge for all who follow Jesus. To whom
can we and should we be a good neighbour? How willing are we? This Good Samaritan parable lies close to the heart all that Jesus believed and practised.
ETERNAL LIFE?
-- Yours is mine if I can get it. The robbers.
-- Mine is my
own if I can keep it. The priest and Levit.
-- Mine is
yours of you need it. The Samaritan.
Let me remind you how this parable was born.
A lawyer had asked Jesus; “What must I do to inherit
eternal life.” The parable flowed from this starting point. Eternal life means
the limitless life that God wants for his earth children. An abundant life that
starts here and now.
Eternal life is not found by exploiting, cheating
and robbing others.
The fullness of life does not come to those who
clutch things selfishly to themselves. It comes to the good Samaritan and
people of like generous spirit. Christ is the good Samaritan par excellence. We
are his agents, and the participants in eternal life.
“Mine is yours if you need it” is God’s thing;
it is characteristic of the abundant generosity of
God’s dealing with us. It is sharing in
the divine life of the Holy Trinity..
I BELIEVE
I believe we are here because of the eternal
generosity of that Holy Lover whom we call God.
Because God is,
there is an abundant universe; galaxies, sun, moon, and the green earth.
Because God is,
there are mountains and plains, streams and seas, forests and
grasslands,
Because God is,
there are living creatures; seagulls and wallabies, parrots and
butterflies.
Because God is,
we are breathing, thinking, feeling, self-aware creatures, asking deep
questions and lifting up our hearts in prayer.
Because God is,
we are made for loving, and by the grace of our Brother Jesus, we find
the liberty to be people of uncalculating compassion.
Because God is, we have a Spirit-Friend who inspires
and counsels, comforts and gives new life to both young and old.
I believe in “God in three Persona” who is shaping
my soul and has far more to make of me yet, until I can look on the face of my
Lord in the land of the living.
Amen!
INTERCESSIONS
Let us unite our small, human compassion with the
compassion of God.
Let us pray
for other people.
Hidden yet ever-present God,
always loving, never tiring,
we seek your aid.
You see the unrelieved suffering
of innumerable souls,
and hear the raw weeping
of countless of your children.
O let your breath be upon all you see,
your hands upon all disease,
your arms around all distress,
and your kiss on all tormented minds.
Hidden yet ever-present God,
please do for us those things we cannot do for
ourselves,
yet make us bold to do what we can do.
For the healing of your world
and the glory of your name.
Through Christ Jesus our Redeemer.
Amen!
SENDING OUT
Ahead of you is the expanse of a new week where as
yet no one has yet trodden
with either anxious or arrogant feet.
Take your lead from Jesus; tread softly but boldly,
knowing that he is at your side with grace, mercy
and peace.
Your God is abundantly resourceful!
The blessing of God:
Loving Parent, Brother and
Sister,
Creator, Saviour and Helper,
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
will be with you now and
always.
Amen!
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