Father George’s Weekly for 26 June 2022

Dear People of God

Grace and peace to you.

REMINDERS

Next Saturday is the Thornton Market Day. Strong and willing helpers are required to help set up and put away and to marshal traffic for people coming to layout their goods. Setting up starts around 6:30am and putting away when traders cease from about 12:30 pm

GAIL’S ORDINATION is next Wednesday, 29 June at 6pm in the Cathedral. If you have reserved space on the bus, it will leave St Paul’s at 4:30. Tickets are $10 each: please have the cash ready at boarding.

PARISH LUNCH

This Wednesday in the Beresfield hall. If you haven’t already registered, please do so now without delay or you might find yourselves like the foolish bridesmaids of the parable who neglected an important element of the job and found themselves locked out! And when you are there, don’t eat too much or you may find yourself going to sleep during Gail’s ordination!

SOMETHING TO THIK ABOUT

“Science” vs “Religion”

In popular thought some people see a conflict between “Science” and “Religion”. They say that “Science proves that the world was created from the Big Bang, and therefore the “religious people” have got it all wrong.

Scientists describe a universe in terms of a series of formulae and interconnections between physical matters to create a developing cosmos.

Religious faith says “In the beginning, God spoke the Word, and Creation was set in motion”, evolving from nothingness into an ever-developing Creation.

Two ways of describing the same thing.

No conflict.

Science says “how”; religion says “why”.

From the series “Something to think about”, a developing series of information leaflets written by me

The Lord be with you

Fr George

gmainprize@bigpond.com 0410 586 119

COLLECT and READINGS for Pentecost 3 (Trinity 2, Ordinary Sunday 13)

Sentence

Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for Jesus sake will find it (Mt 10:39)

Collect

O God, the light of minds that know you, the life of souls that love you, the strength of thoughts that seek you: help us so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may truly serve you, whose service is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 Elijah ascends to heaven

Psalm 77: 1-2, 11-20 In the midst of our trouble, God remains faithful

Galatians 5:1,13-25 We are freed from the old Law and live under the freedom of Christ

Luke 9:51-62 A Samaritan village refuses to accept Jesus

SERMON (Fr George)

In the Name of God, Amen

It is easy to get rather confused about the way the gospels are put together: at first sight there is little consistency as to what exactly happened and when, and the differing accounts of what was actually happening at any given time. To make matters worse the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, all have the ministry of Jesus condensed into a one-year program, whereas John has a three-year ministry and a more orderly sequencing of events. Mark appears to be very rushed, with frequent use of “immediately” when describing a sequence of events.

Think of the difference we find between witnesses to the same event, say a motor vehicle accident. Lawyers are very careful in selecting their witnesses, depending on whether their client is the prosecution or the defence, between two people who might have rather different recollections of the same event, even if their statements were taken immediately following the happening. The Evangelists have the same issues. The Synoptics make the early appearances: they have access to common sources but they also have their own sources. The writings we know as the Epistles were the first documents to appear, the Gospels following rather later and the Gospel according to John was the last to appear, when the writer had opportunity to reflect at depth on Jesus’ ministry and to draw out its implications. Luke, a disciple of Paul, is writing principally to mix of Jewish and Gentile audiences: Matthew may have been one of the band of twelve apostles and is writing a rather Jewish compilation: Mark appears to have been recording the preaching of Peter and is perhaps more directly concerned with the Jewish/Jerusalem community although there is evidence that he was fairly well-travelled. They all, nonetheless, hold the same theme of the uniqueness of Jesus, his relationship with the Father, his crucifixion and resurrection. They draw on the long tradition of Jewishness and the way it transmits the stories of the faith.

So we have collections of parables and miracles, not because they necessarily happened in that order but rather because it suits to editorial style of the evangelist or his editors to position them thus.

However there seems to be a conscious mirroring of the major prophets when the ministry of Jesus is being outlined. Elijah, the great prophet who confronted the prophets of Ba’al and who called down fire from heaven not only on the sacrifice he offered in the contest with the followers of Ba’al but also on the two squads of soldiers sent to bring him in, in succession rather than simultaneously, is mirrored in the disciples suggestion to Jesus that he call down fire from heaven on the Samaritan town which declined to welcome Jesus, but the difference here is that Jesus not only declined the suggestion but rebuked those who made it. Jesus is not only a “great prophet” but he has compassion even on those who reject him. Something greater than Elijah is here (as Jesus, in another place said about John the Baptist.

The short exchanges that Luke records with the would-be followers of Jesus serve to underline Jesus’ sense of urgency about the mission of which he was engaged. Ordinary human concerns are of no moment when the Kingdom of God is at stake. He has set his face to Jerusalem and has no illusions about what awaits him at the end of that particular journey. He is going to confront power, and power has a habit of dealing severely with dissenters, as modern-day events in Ukraine and Russia demonstrate. John gives Jesus the three-year ministry which involved a couple of trips to Jerusalem: the synoptic gospels magnify the urgency of the mission by condensing it to one year.

The urgency with which Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God, in the immediate present, is no less real today than it was in first-century Palestine. Jesus was surrounded by self-seekers in positions of power who used their position to their own advantage: power from Rome was a heavy burden on the occupied people and which also used a series of puppet rulers throughout the empire. So what’s so different today? I’m not so sure about demon-possessions but we are certainly surrounded by the tempters who offer us great deals, saying “you deserve this” or “you have earned that”: just look at the advertising supplements in our newspapers (does anyone other than me still read them?) or the endless commercials that interrupt our television programs. Too many people get sucked into those “easy pay” plans and find themselves in deep trouble. The ever-increasing size and cost of houses and access to cheap finance leads to financial disaster as interest rates return to more normal levels (I worry about mortgage stress just over the horizon in the new housing developments surrounding us in this place).

Who was Jesus and what was he about? It’s a question with which the Church has struggled with for twenty centuries. For Moslems he’s a great prophet; for Jews he’s a rabbi gone wrong; for Christians he’s the Incarnate Word of God, but even as Christians we can’t agree on precisely what is happening here. And we still struggle with how to proclaim the Gospel in a society that by and large in concerned only with its own immediate welfare and hang the consequences.

Jesus leaves us no easy answers, but he invites us to travel with him at whatever the cost, offering us the strength of God to deal with whatever comes our way. He’s as relevant today as he was 2000 years ago, and his mission is no less difficult, even in societies where Christianity in one of its many forms is prominent.

May God continue to renew us with the power of his sanctifying Spirit the BE the mission in this place.

Amen

INTERCESSIONS (APBA and biddings)

Let us pray for the preservation of the earth

That we may turn away from all practices destructive of the environment; from destruction of habitat of marine and terrestrial life; for a celebration of beauty and wonder of God’s Creation

We give thanks for the beauty and abundance of the earth. Give us and all people grace to live in harmony with your creation, wisdom and generosity in our use of its bounty.

Let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy

Let us pray for peace and shared prosperity

For the people of Ukraine and Russia, especially those whose lives are being stolen from them by aggression and violence: for an approach to economic management that looks to the welfare of all people in society and the preservation of community: for integrity and compassion in our foreign aid programs

We give thanks for leaders who serve the common good. Give wisdom to those who have responsibility and authority in every land, that we may share with justice the resources of the world and work together in trust

Let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy

Let us pray for our nation

For Anthony our Prime Minister, Dominic our Premier, for all Ministers of the Crown and all Members of Parliament and Local Government: for the leaders of industry and employee associations; for all who offer employment; and all community and relief workers; for all people in their daily work, paid or unpaid.

We give thanks for this land the diversity of its peoples. Grant that we may so honour one another that all nay be enriched by our common heritage and freed form despair, poverty and exclusion.

Let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy

Let us pray for the Church and its mission

For the unity of all Christian people; for the Anglican Church throughout the world and especially for Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Lambeth Conference about to assemble; the Anglican-Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the East; in Australia for the Diocese of Perth and for our partner Diocese of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands; for the Church in the Torres Strait as they celebrate the Coming of the Light; for the Uniting Church in Australia; for our Bishop Peter and the Bishops Assisting, Sonia and Charlie; the parishes of East Maitland and Maitland; our priests George and Sharon and especially for Deacon-Designate Gail as she prepares for ordination this week; for our Parish Councillors

We give thanks for the good news of salvation for all people. Strengthen us for our work in the world, empower your Church to proclaim the gospel in service, word and sacrament. Unite in the truth all who confess your name, that we may live together in love to your glory.

Let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy

Let us pray for ourselves and our community

For Tarro-Beresfield Baptist Church; for Our Lady of Lourdes school; for Newcastle Memorial Park and for Beresfield Hair Centre

We give thanks for the fellowship of the communities in which we live and work. We commend to your keeping ourselves and each other, our families, those with whom we work and learn, our neighbours and our friends. Enable us by your Spirit to live in love for you and for one another.

Let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy

Let us pray for those in need

For healing and strength for all who seek the sacrament of Holy Unction in our services; for those on our prayer list Jenny, Indi, Marilyn, Barbara D, Tom S, Val Frazer, Lynn, Les, Mandy, Ben, Ann, Daphne, Bruce, Noelene, Debbie M, Samuel, Peta S, Kylie S, John J, Tim R, Sarah S, Didi, Peter McC, Susan, Elizabeth, Dawn A, David and Linda, Ken H, Helen W, Joanne, Barry, Mary, Gordon, Abby, and Michelle; for all who are known to us and those who are known to you alone; for those; who mourn especially Wendy Butterworth and her family

We give thanks that you are the God who brings mercy and wholeness. Comfort and heal, we pray, all who are in sorrow, need, sickness or any other trouble. Give those who care for them wisdom, patience and gentleness, and to all of us, your peace.

Let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy

Us give thanks for the faithful departed

In fellowship with Mary the Blessed Mother, Paul our Patron. Cyril of Alexandria, and Irenaeus; we remember before you those whose anniversary of death falls at this time, Pat Sutton, Margaret Townsend, Myra King, Ronald Pepper, Vera O’Meara, William Wightman, and George Wallace, and those whom we have loved and see no more; and we commend into your loving care your priest, Chris Butterworth, who has recently died.

King of saints and angels, bring us all into the joys of your eternity; may the souls of the faithful, through your love and mercy, (+) dwell forever in joy and light.

Holy God, you have promised to hear us: grant that what we have asked in faith we may, by your grace, receive, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

SAINTS and COMMEMORATIONS of the Week.

June 27 Cyril of Alexandria, bishop and teacher (444) as a scholar and senior bishop he was closely involved in the controversies over the person and work of Jesus which came to a head at the Council of Ephesus. He was a passionate defender of orthodoxy

28 Irenaeus of Lyons, bishop and teacher (c.200) as a living link with the apostolic church, having been taught by a first-generation teacher, and as a bishop he defended the “catholic” (ie universal) church against the notion of separate, independent congregations, agued against the “secret knowledge” of the Gnostic heretics, and stressed the importance of Christianity as contrasted to Judaism, taking the church beyond the boundaries of a geographical or tribal faith community.

29 Peter and Paul, apostles and martyrs (we will observe this next Sunday and celebrate our Patronal Festival)

July 1 The Coming of the Light (first missionaries to the Torres Strait 1871) the missionaries from the London Missionary Society who landed at Erub Island in the Torres Strait came without weapons and were warmly greeted by the village elders who listened, were impressed and thus began the profound impact of the Christian faith on the TI communities. Wherever TI communities are found throughout Australia and beyond, this is a great festival in a vibrant church,

6 Thomas More, scholar, and John Fisher, bishop, Reformation martyrs (1535) two of the early martyrs who resisted Henry VIII’s divorce from Katherine of Aragon, largely on legal grounds, and forfeited their lives as a result. (see my sermon note on how power responds to dissent!) They are memorialised, along with many other martyrs of the English Reformation, both Catholic and Protestant, in the Church of St Mary the Virgin, the University Church in Oxford, where they were brought for execution.