Mailout for 12 March (Lent 3, Year A)

Dear People of God

Grace and peace be with you

REMINDER

Next Sunday, 19 March, is the AGM and there will be ONE service in the parish at 9am in St Paul’s. Not the compromised time: Thornton people can sleep in for an hour, Beresfield people will have to get up 30 minutes early!

I have a standard joke for weather such as we have been experiencing recently. “Hot? If you think this is hot, if you don’t repent it will be like this for all eternity!” OK, it’s meant as a joke but, given the content of my sermons lately about repentance, as we approach the NSW Election in a couple of weeks it might be a good time to examine our consciences about how we exercise our vote. We are one of the only two democracies in the world where voting (more correctly, attendance at a polling place and having our names marked off the Electoral Roll) is compulsory. Ask yourselves “Am I voting the way I have always done, out of habit, or am I voting in a manner according to my conscience and faith?” Voting is a privilege and responsibility denied to most people I the world, which is all the more reason for us, as people of faith, to exercise it according to our faith. I am not urging a vote for any particular party: that’s a matter between you and God.

Fundraising, and Community Engagement. The Thornton Market last week raised $844.10 and great thanks are due to everyone who assisted the venture in any way. (Where did that 10 cents come from?) I spoke to many or most of the stall holders and several of their customers: the sellers enjoy the market, some coming from as far afield as Sydney, and the event provides an opportunity for us to do some gentle evangelism b careful conversation. By the time most of you read this the meeting to discuss future directions for the Market will have happened, but just remind you, we will be meeting in the Thornton Hall at 2pm on Saturday. All contributions welcomed.

Our congratulations go to Gabby and Mel who “tied the knot” last weekend. Some of you may have seen their photos on line.

Annual Meeting. Nomination forms are available at the entry to the churches and must be returned from to the start of the AGM which is, I remind you, on next Sunday 19 at 10:30am, after the one service in the Parish for that day.

The Lord be with you

Fr George

gmainprize@bigpond.com

0410 586 119

PROPERS for Lent 3

Sentence

God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinner Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Collect of the Day

O God, the fountain of life, to a humanity parched with thirst you offer the living water that springs from the Rock, our Saviour Jesus Christ: stir up within your people the gift of your Spirit, that we may profess our faith with freshness and announce the joy and wonder of your love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Collect of Lent

Holy and eternal God, you hate nothing that you have made and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent, create in us new and contrite hearts that we, lamenting our sins and acknowledging our weakness, may obtain from you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Readings

Exodus 17:1-7 Water from the Rock

Psalm 95 Rejoice in the rock of our salvation

Romans 5:1-11 Living in harmony with God

John 4:5-42 Jesus and the woman of Samaria

SERMON (Deacon Gail)

In the Name of God Amen

I want you to imagine the scene that is unfolding in this passage:

It is high noon in the high, rocky desert region of Samaria. The arid landscape is practically shimmering beneath the burning sun. Jesus and his disciples, weary and thirsty from a day’s journeying, stop outside the city of Sychar. Jesus sends his disciples into the city for food and waits for them in the withering heat, taking a seat near the town’s well – the one made famous by ancestor Jacob. He notices a lone woman emerge from the city gate and make her way towards the well. She is carrying a large earthenware jug balanced on her shoulder. Jesus knows what an odd thing this is. Ordinarily women come to the well early in the morning, when the day was still cool to draw water for the day – and of course, to socialize and gossip.

I know that like me you have probably heard sermons preached that go on to highlight the fallen nature of the woman and the reasons for her being excluded from polite society”. We have nothing in the writing of John to indicate that this is so. In one of the commentaries that I was reading this week: it was suggested that she could have been trapped in the custom of the time, that states when a woman’s husband dies, she must marry the dead man’s brother, and to put it plainly the last male in the family line may have refused to marry her!! She more than likely came to draw water at this time to simply not have to put up with the glances and disparaging remarks that were directed at her. She probably had just given up on trying to fit in and had resigned herself to being the subject of everyone’s gossip. She was in fact marginalized, an outsider and John goes on to point out that she was a Samaritan – a marginalized group to the Jews. Whatever the reason for her current situation the fact that Jesus knew this and was able to talk to her in this way helped her to engage with him in a meaningful conversation.

Another point that needs to be made is that the Samaritans and the Jews did not engage due to a long history of conflict along religious and racial lines. The Jews did not like the Samaritans due to their inter marriage of nations and the belief that they were therefore an impure society. The religious aspect was that since the death of Solomon when Samaria became the capital of the kingdom that seceded from Judah, the Jewish people considered their northern neighbours as people who had renounced the true faith. This highlights why the woman, and the disciples were shocked at Jesus talking to her and engaging in a detailed conversation.

The woman comes to the well to draw water to meet her physical needs, but we see as the story develops that she was thirsty for something else as well. John is pointing out to us in the way that he describes the conversation that this was a spiritual encounter for her. When she hears what Jesus tells her, she is immediately ready to receive the gift that he offers. I wonder whether Jesus enjoyed this conversation as well, he must have appreciated the opportunity to share his true identity with someone and also to share God’s presence with God’s people.

The fact that Jesus engages with a woman in deep conversation highlights the importance of women to him. He not only engages her in conversation but as a result her faith deepens, and she acknowledges that he is the Messiah. If you notice he acknowledges this and actually tells her that he is, in response to her question. This is in fact the only time that he states this in any of the gospels. Jesus then tells her to “Go “. She does, like many disciples before her, leave earthly responsibilities where they lay and run to share her experience. She also becomes an apostle to the village revealing the news of the one who is coming!! Jesus once again shatters social conventions and incorporates both a woman and a Samaritan into his ministry.

What this passage is actually saying is that as disciples of Jesus we are called to be witnesses. We are asked to give testimony. If we look at the story the woman goes to the city and gives a testimony to the rest of the village – she simply states what she knows and then leaves it for the rest of her friends to come and see for themselves. It is then up to them to make the decision whether they believe or not.

We are encouraged through this passage to be a witness as well. We are told to go and share what we know with others. Once we encounter the truth and love of Jesus, we then need to have the courage to go out and share what we know as witnesses to his amazing grace which is shared with us.

I want to finish today by repeating a phrase that was very popular a few years ago: “ What Would Jesus Do?” Here in this story we have a clear example of what Jesus did do, and it is a powerful and challenging model for us. Let us use this passage to give us the courage to go out, meet people where they are, and invite them into our fellowship with him with no strings attached.

Amen

INTERCESSIONS

Let us pray for the preservation of the earth

For grace seriously to lay to heart the perils we face due to our inaction on climate change; for the right use of natural resources of earth, air and sea; for a deepening sense of your lordship of all Creation and our role as stewards of your bounty

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

Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer

Let us pray for peace and shared prosperity

For a deepening respect for all people regardless of creed, colour or social status; for the will to work across national boundaries for an end to war and other acts of aggression; for mutually beneficial and just trade arrangements; for respect for those who work in small enterprises

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.

Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer

Let us pray for our nation

For those who lead in government and politics, in commerce, industry and society; for diplomats, policy developers and public servants; for our Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and all Members of Parliament; for our Premier, state members, Local Government Mayors and Councillors

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

Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer

Let us pray for the Church and its mission

For the Christian communities separated from us by sinful division, that we may be drawn closer into the unity for which our Lord prayed; for the Christian community in the land of the Holy One; for the Religious Society of Friends (The Quakers); Anglican Church throughout the world, and for Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury, the Church of North India, and for the National Aboriginal Episcopate; in this Diocese for Peter our Bishop, Sonia and Charlie the Bishops Assisting, and for Lakes Anglican Grammar School; the parishes of Dungog and Gresford-Paterson their clergy and people.

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.

Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer

Let us pray for ourselves and for our community

In this community of faith for our clergy George and Gail and for their families; for our Home Groups and Bible Study groups for our own growth in faith; for the ministry of the Thornton Markets; for the Salvation Army community and; in the business community for Curley’s Service Station, Dr Johnson the Dentist, and the Child and Family Health Clinic

We give thanks for the fellowship of our community of faith and for 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.

Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer

Let us pray for those in need

For all those deprived of meaningful work; for those whose work is underpaid or is destructive of their humanity; who those who do not have sufficient income to live with dignity; for the sick especially those who have sought our prayers ………………., whose needs are immediate or continuing; those who mourn,

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 to those who care for them wisdom, patience and gentleness and, to us and all your people, give peace.

Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer

Let us give thanks for the faithful departed

Rejoicing in our fellowship with Mary the Blessed Mother, Paul our Patron; Patrick of Ireland and with prayers for Alice Appleby, Neil Pierpoint, Harold Humbles and Darrel Cook, whose year’s mind falls at this time,; and we commend into your loving care those who have died in these past days.

We give you thanks for your faithful servants in every age. Grant that we, with those whom we have named before you and all your saints may be brought to a joyful resurrection and the fulfilment of your kingdom.

Holy God you have promised to hear our prayers. 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

17 Patrick, Bishop, Missionary (460) A Romano-Briton captured by Irish pirates, taken to Ireland and sold as a slave he escaped after several years and returned to his family: later trained as a priest, made bishop and returned to evangelise Ireland. According to legend he confronted the High King on major religious festival, lighting a fire which was the prerogative of the king and, going to the confrontation is said to have “strapped on the breastplate” of a poem often sung today as “St Patricks Breastplate” …”I bind unto myself this day the strong name of the Trinity….”

In the last few weeks we have commemorated two of the great Celtic and Anglo-Briton saints: David of Wales and Patrick of Ireland. We cannot underestimate the great legacy of the Celts to the Christian Church and their mark is indelibly left on the British Isles and Ireland. Celtic prayers (and there are some very collections around) have prayers for almost every moment of the day: on rising, noon and evening, working, especially with animals, on stages of life from birth to death. They were immensely attuned to the rhythm of the season and the “borders with the infinite” which we refer to as “thin spaces” on shorelines, inter-tidal spaces, “holy wells and so forth. The Celtic church spread in Great Britain from Iona, where Columba was banished after starting a minor war, across what we know as Scotland and well into northern England. Their liturgy and customs, and their calendar, clashed with the Roman tradition which was re-estabished with Augustine after the Romans had left and the Anglo-Saxons established in England (Angle-land), and northwards from Canterbury. At the Synod of Whitby, presided over by the formidable Abbess Hild (Hilda) on 664 the Celts agreed to harmonise with the Roman system. Apart from the Roman Catholic churches with large numbers of patronages of Patrick or Brigid, there were or still are quite a number of Anglican churches in our diocese under the patronal care of Celtic saints: Chad, Columba, Drostan, Ninian, …

(Iona was also the burial place of a number of Scottish kings, including Macbeth, who was a popular and greatly respected king. Shakespeare was a great dramatist, but a lousy historian…Macbeth, Richard III both testify to this!)