Mailout for 5 March (Lent 2, Year A)

Dear People of God

Grace and peace be with you

It was an “interesting experience” to be at Morpeth last Sunday. Every parish tends to do things a little differently and I hope that I didn’t disgrace myself too much by tending to go “the Beresfield way”. This being the Lower Hunter there are bound to be people in any Anglican congregation whom I know from way back. The longest acquaintance was a person whom I have known for 76 years when I was aged three and my parents moved to Kotara and lived two doors up from her family!

Commencing from my next preaching Sunday I intend to make some changes in the way in which I present material. Rather than put the full text of my sermons in print I want to try putting a series of short points on which I will elaborate in sermon presentation. I am much happier to preach, if not “off the cuff”, but in a style more in keeping with my general speaking manner: my “sternest critic” tells me that the content gets stilted when I read. I know that the full text is valued by a number of people who either cannot be in church week by week or who want to go away and reflect on what I have had to say. I’d very much value your feedback on the matter.

And on the subject of feedback… At the end of Eastern Summer Time (OK Daylight Saving) we are scheduled to go back the a 5:30 Saturday Eucharist on the first Saturday of the month. It does give us the opportunity to have slightly less dark and cold for the service, but I’d like your comments, please, on your preferences as soon as possible, please.

By the time most of you are reading this, the March Thornton Market will have come and gone. There is, as I remind you, a meeting next Saturday at 2pm at Thornton to discuss matters relating to the continuation of the Market. If you have any ideas, please come along to share them. Do we make it a “community-organised” event? Do we have “street entertainers” wandering among the people? Do we have a social occasion for stall-holders to encourage some deeper association with the church? Do we have an informal community church service or some other deliberate opportunity to make it clear that this is a church-sponsored event and we are in the business of respectful evangelism? Do we have a “combined churches stall” and if so, which churches do we engage? Everything is open for discussion.

The Annual Meeting is almost upon us. Nominations for Wardens (2), Synod Reps (3) Incumbency Board reps (3) and Parish Councillors close at the prior to the start of the meeting. In writing, please: more information available from Gail.

The Lord be with you

Fr George

gmainprize@bigpond.com 0410 586 119

PROPERS for Lent 2

Sentence

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

Collect of the Day

God of mercy, you are full of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in mercy, and always ready to forgive: grant us grace to renounce all evil and to cling to Christ, that in every way we may prove to be your loving children’ through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Collect of the Season

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

Readings

Genesis 12:1-4 The call of Abram

Psalm 121 Help comes from the Lord

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 The example of Abraham

John 3:1-7 Nicodemus visits Jesus

SERMON (Fr George)

In the Name of God, Amen

You may have heard me say once or twice before (or even more often) that “sin” is not to be thought of as list of “dos and don’ts” but rather as the idea of aiming for a target and missing. The aim, for us, is God and when we inevitably miss the target there is the nature of sin. And sin is not to be thought of exclusively as individual. The Old Testament prophets continually spoke of Israel’s collective sin in turning away from God and, as they put it, “whoring after strange idols”. When Jesus was accused of sin in breaking the Sabbath by healing, plucking grain to satisfy hunger, or by telling a man who had been healed to “take up your mat and walk” and thereby encouraging that man to break the strict Sabbath rules, he very rightly pointed out that the whole notion of sin had been perverted to become a series of minutiae which made God-focussing almost impossible.

In Lent we rightly turn to focus on selflessness. That is not to be thought of in terms of putting oneself down but by aiming for the selflessness we see modelled in Jesus. “Not my will, but yours be done”. A truly God-centred life is the opposite of self-centredness.

No surprises there.

But I want to emphasise that “sin” and “self-centredness” is far more than an individual matter. It affects every aspect of our lives, particularly so in a society driven by consumerism and the profit motive. Corporate sin is perhaps even more invidious than individual wrong-doing.

Think for a while about the sort of world in which we live. Would a dispassionate observer really describe it as anything other than “self-centred”? I suggest that, with the best will in the world our Australian society is one of the most self-centred ones there is.

Start with the news media. I don’t know about you, but every Saturday I buy the “Sydney Morning Herald”, although I generally regard it as the “Harvey Norman Gazette” since a large proportion of it is given over to full-page, wrap-around advertisements for that retail institution. (Remember too that this is one of the organisations that took millions of dollars in government assistance to keep the business going during the most severe stages of the Covid lockdown, increased its profits substantially, and declined to return the subsidy). The advertisements generally promote the idea that “you deserve this”, whether it be stoves or indeed any other household item. You are encouraged to get rid of, say, your old stove which may be as old as 20 years and invest in a totally new item costing as little as $7500 . Perhaps I exaggerate: it might be only $5000.

The housing estates surrounding our townships are full of large houses on small blocks with maybe four bedrooms, entertainment room/home theatre, several bathrooms…. and massive mortgages. Young families are told “you deserve this” and people wind up in mortgage stress.

Profit-gouging is the order of the day in our large corporations, banks included. Corporations might assert that their role is to make profits for the shareholders; but I’d suggest that their purpose goes much further than this and there are many stakeholders in the corporation beyond the shareholders.

It goes much further than this. Our national life typified self-centredness. We make it almost impossible for “illegals” to settle in Australia, we give preference to highly skilled immigrants, we go for tax cuts and complain that fundamental public services such as Medicare and the NDIS are in financial crisis, we make cuts to what is already a niggardly foreign aid allocation….. should I go on?

Being God-centred means that we need to look at the whole of our life, individual and corporate. Our family and social relationships, our shopping habits, our consumption patterns, the way we vote, may all be examined by asking the simple question “Is God honoured in this?” We might be encouraged to work for radical changes in the structure of our lives and our very society, including the Church because remember that the Incarnate Word did not come to establish a church but to call humankind into a renewed relationship with God.

Lent is a time for wholesale examination and renewal of our lives. May God give us the grace to discipline ourselves and to bear the pain of the process, knowing that we go deeper into the heart of God as we do. All of us.

Amen

INTERCESSIONS

Loving and guiding Heavenly Father in your mercy hear our prayer

Holy God; we come to you in prayer, thanking you for your loving and guiding care for us. We see in awe the wonderful world you created for us, asking that we take care of the environment and all creatures living in this world. We ask also that you will guide and help us to care for all people throughout the world.

We see with sadness the result of people seeking power over other nations causing the destruction of wars in Ukraine and the middle- eastern countries. We ask your forgiveness and wisdom to those desiring to force others to be under their control. We ask you to help bring peace into our world.

We pray today for all people who are suffering from the results of war and natural disasters of earthquake, floods, and fire. We give thanks for those volunteering to help those who have lost loved ones, homes, and all they possess. Please be with us and show us how we can help too.

Loving and guiding Heavenly Father in your mercy hear our prayer

We pray for your worldwide Church, for our sister Diocese of Guadalcanal, the Church of Nigeria and in Australia the Churches of Christ and for the Diocese of the Murray. In our own Diocese we pray for our Bishops Peter, Charlie and Sonia. May they lead us as good shepherds, caring and supporting clergy and all people working for you in various roles.

In our cycle of prayer we pray for Bishop Tyrrell Anglican College and the parishes of The Camden Haven and Wingham and for Thornton Grace church.

Loving and guiding Heavenly Father in your mercy hear our prayer

In our own parish we pray for our Priest-in-charge Fr George and our Deacon Gail and their families. We give you thanks for the blessing of music and for our organists Gabby and Adrian, and for our choir and all singers as we worship you in song no matter how we feel about our voice.

Loving and guiding Heavenly Father in your mercy hear our prayer

Father God, we rejoice with Gabby and Mel who have this weekend exchanged their wedding vows and we pray with and for them that their lives will be deepened and enriched in your loving embrace.

Loving and guiding Heavenly Father in your mercy hear our prayer

We pray for our community; for Coleman’s Group, for Steve’s Barber Shop and Woodberry Community Chemist. We pray for those in need, the lonely, frail and aged, poor, jobless, and those who feel unloved. We pray for those who are sick in body or mind and especially those who have asked for our prayers: Doug and Jenny, Betty, Indi, Barbara D, Val Frazer, Lynn, Betty, Les, Jill, Ann, Daphne, Bruce, Debbie M, Samuel, John J, Merv T, Micole M, Jenny H, Didi, Margaret, Peter McC, Susan, Elizabeth, Dawn A, Heidi, Wendy F, Peter, Vicki L, Laurie, Val, D, Ben, Keith, Sammy Jo and Noah, Stuart McInnes, Keith and Hettie, Hope, Mick Atkins, Derek, Zoe, and Janet R.. In the silence we pray for those who are in need of prayer and known only to ourselves. (pause)

Loving and guiding heavenly father, in your mercy hear our prayer

Rejoicing in our fellowship with all your saints and holy people in their several generations, with Mary the Blessed Mother, Paul our Patron. We commend into your loving care those who have recently died and we pray for those who mourn. At the anniversaries of their deaths we remember before you Edith Robinson, Tom Maloney, Lyall Cameron, Joy Wilson and Joyce Skelton and those whom we have loved and see no more.

Rest eternal grant to them and may light perpetual shine upon them.

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