| 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. |
 |
| 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. |
13-19 November
Matthew 25: 14-30
(Sermon 2:
“Risk it, for God’s Sake!”)
1 Thessalonians 5:
1-11
Judges 4: 1-7
(Sermon
1: “Formidable Women”)
Psalm 123
PREPARATION
Christ Jesus, the joy of loving hearts, be with you all!
And
also with you.
Whenever you come to worship God, give it your best!
For our praise can never be high enough,
our songs never sweet enough,
our prayers never loving enough,
to be worthy of that spine-tingling, love-beauty
which belongs to the God of Christ Jesus.
Holy, holy holy, is the God of Hosts!
The whole universe is
aflame with the glory of the Lord.
Hallelujah!
OR
We come before God not fearfully but adoringly,
we worship not as a slavish duty but with delight.
God has not marked us for punishment
bit for
salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lift up your eyes beyond anxieties and ills
to God whose glory exceeds the starry skies.
building
each other up in faith and joy
PRAYER OF APPROACH
Holy Friend, glorious above
comprehension, gentle beyond comparison, and intimately present within each
moment, we come to you with wonderment. That we are allowed to actually speak
with you is amazing! That you are ready to be lovingly involved in our joys and
sorrow is a sublime marvel! Help us to embrace this time of communal worship.
Let us savour the minutes and embark with joy and gratitude on flights of
thanksgiving and praise. Through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen!
CONFESSION
AND ASSURANCE
My friends, it is impossible for us to objectively assess our own moral and spiritual success or failure. What we can do is to willingly place ourselves under the judgement and mercy of God, who knows us as we are without any doubt or mistake.
Let us pray.
Merciful God please investigate us in our role as family members and as those who have a circle of friends.
Sift our thoughts and our behaviour,
Eradicate the sinful
and sick things and bless the all that is good and healthy.
Merciful God, please investigate us as those who work alongside others, some of us directing their tasks and some being directed by them.
Sift our thoughts and our behaviour:
Eradicate the sinful
and sick things and bless the all that is good and healthy.
Merciful God, please investigate us in the way we use our spare time, spend our money,
and use the special talents we have been given:
Sift our thoughts and our behaviour:
Eradicate the sinful
and sick things and bless the all that is good and healthy.
Merciful God, please investigate us as members of the community, with our political preferences and our social responsibilities:
Sift our thoughts and our behaviour:
Eradicate the sinful
and sick things and bless the all that is good and healthy.
Merciful God, please investigate us as members of the church of Christ Jesus, in the way we deal with one another and the hopes we have for our congregation:
Sift our thoughts and our behaviour:
Eradicate the sinful
and sick things and bless the all that is good and healthy.
Merciful God, please investigate us as members of the world family, the degree of our concern for all who endure poverty, oppression, war, or homelessness:
Sift our thoughts and our behaviour:
Eradicate the sinful
and sick things and bless the all that is good and healthy.
Most loving and determined Friend, by the love of Christ Jesus please forgive us our sins and restore our peace and joy in your salvation. Enable us to repair damage where that is possible, and to leave the seemingly irreparable to your formidable providence which can make all things new. For your love’s sake.
Amen!
FORGIVENESS
It is written: “Where sin abounds love much more abounds.” In that abounding love we are a forgiven church!
Amen!
The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be always with you!
And also with you!
PRAYER FOR CHILDREN
Dear God,
some other kids
might be smarter than us,
or better looking,
or good at sport.
But we thank you
for what we are,
with our sort of abilities
and our very own smiles
and hands to help others.
Please teach us
to make the most
of what are
and what we have,
so that you can feel proud
for making us this way.
Amen!
PSALM 123
I lift my eyes to the skies at night
and try imagine you, God,
your throne set in eternity
more
glorious than a billion suns!
As the eyes of the apprentice
watch the hands of the master,
as the eyes of medical students
watch the hands of the surgeon,
So our eyes are fixed
on you, God,
looking for
your saving love.
Have pity on us, loving God,
please have pity on us,
for we have had enough,
more than
our fill of shame.
Our spirits have been
trashed
by the
scorn of the self-satisfied,
and with
the contempt of the proud.
I lift my eyes to the skies at night
and trust my cause to you, God,
to your throne set in eternity
more
glorious than a billion suns!
© B.D. Prewer 2001
MY TALENTS?
Matt. 25: 14-30
How much wealth
has the master given
to my trust?
Where best
can it be put to work
at a profit
as faith must?
How many gifts
are now employed
for his gain?
Where best
to use each aptitude
though it may bring
cost and pain?
How much time
have I to spend
sharing love?
Before
the master comes again
with expectation
on his face?
© B.D. Prewer 2001
COLLECT
Loving God, giver of every
useful and beautiful gift, you have made us shareholders in the Spirit and
investors in the Gospel of Christ. Encourage us to so speak and act and pray,
that all we hold in trust may be used more wisely than our own wisdom could
direct, and more lovingly than the small resources of our compassion would
allow. Through Christ Jesus, your true Child and our Lord.
Amen!
SERMON 1:
FORMIDABLE WOMEN
Judges 4: 4-5
Now Deborah, a
prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel
at that time. She used to sit under the palm tree (which became named the “Palm
of Deborah”) between
Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the people of Israel came
to her for judgement.
Today I wish to speak about formidable women. Deborah was a formidable woman.
By “formidable” I do not mean aggressive or ruthless. I mean a person to be reckoned with. Someone who creates profound respect. A formidable friend is a wonderful friend, but certainly never a sycophant. We worship a formidable God and follow a formidable Christ.
Such a person was Deborah, a formidable woman. Her story occurs in the Book of Judges.
DEBORAH IN SITU
This is a period of Hebrew history when there was no centralised government. The twelve clans were independent yet sometimes banded together for military defence, and at times for reprisals.
Increasingly people wandered from their worship of Yahweh and embraced the old idols of
the land.
From time to time an important figure with the Spirit of God in them would come to the fore, to call the tribes back to the faith. These figures were called judges; a kind of mix between prophet, warrior, and chief justice. In a most unsettled period Deborah became a judge of Israel.
I would like you to form a mental picture of this era. Turbulent social and political times. Twelve clans. Many enclaves of non-Jews. Frequent uprisings. Incursions by foreign raiding parties. Times when a Caananite King would gather support and reconquer some Jewish territory. Sometimes most of the Israelites would be subjugated.
There was not much holding the people of Israel from disintegration, and absorption into the religious and social decadence of the land, except for one woman and her God. Picture a large palm tree in the hill country. Under it sits Deborah while tough and cunning men from various tribes come to her for judicial rulings on many family, social, property, political and religious matters. Her word is law.
Now Deborah, a
prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel
at that time. She used to sit under the palm tree (which became named the “Palm
of Deborah”) between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the
people of Israel came to her for judgement.
What a remarkable person! What a formidable woman!
A RARITY: EGYPT AND ISRAEL
Not many women, living in what was overwhelmingly a man’s domain, came to that kind of position. It was not impossible but it was rare. Deborah must have been a truly exceptional person.
Down south in the complex civilisation of Egypt, in about 1579 BC, a formidable woman came to be the mighty Pharaoh. Hatshepsut. She ruled that kingdom for twenty two years. But she had a big start on Deborah. Hatshepsut was the daughter of a Pharaoh and the wife of his successor– the great Tuthmoses II who had re-established the unity of the kingdom. She also had the loyalty of the army (with whom she had daringly gone in to battle against the ferocious Mitanni warriors) to protect her against the scheming of the sour men, especially the priests, who resented taking orders from a woman. Without doubt, Hatshepsut was an exceptional person. But she had the advantage of good royal credentials and powerful back up.
Compared with Egypt, the twelve clans of Israel were “small time.” But I reckon Deborah was a more remarkable women that the Egyptian. She lacked royal blood and training. The Bible describes her as “the daughter of Lappidoth,” a non entity. [By the way, I find it salutary that in that male dominated world even a remarkable judge like Deborah was still identified in the records by linking her name with that of her father.] Deborah had to establish her own credibility without royal parentage or army allegiance. She became a prophetess, a judge, and a military adviser. She had to do this at a time when the Israelites were under the boot of a Canaanite king called Jabin. For twenty years they had been oppressed.
The story is intriguing. Deborah tells a warrior named Barak that it is the right time for him to take his soldiers and attack the Canaanite army with its nine hundred chariots of iron. Barak says: “Heh! That’s a big ask. But I’ll do it on one condition: that you come with me. Without you. I will not do it.” How about that? He was not game to move without the presence in battle of this formidable woman. Deborah’s answer was: “Sure! No fret! I’ll go with you.” She did, and with some careful military tactics, including Deborah choosing the best terrain on which to fight an opponent who possessed the super-weapon of iron chariots, the Israelites conquered and threw off the oppression of two decades.
INTERMISION
Pause. Look, I’m no war monger. I’m not wallowing in the militarism of the Old Testament. But oppression was the real situation in which Deborah and the Israelites had lived, and if they wanted freedom they had to fight for it and be ready to die for it. Think of the East Timorese in our era, and what they were prepared to suffer for their freedom! That is and was the reality.
I am going on about Deborah’s involvement in the fight for freedom to underline what a formidable woman Deborah was. She chose the best time for battle, devised the tactics for the battle, and went with Barak into its terrible dangers. Her faith was in God, and she was guided by her God. When God had called her to be a prophet he chose a person of formidable capability. Following her intervention, we are told that the land enjoyed peace for forty years.
Which was a long period of rest in those days.
WHERE ARE THE WOMEN?
At this point I want you to look openly at another question: Why are there so few women mentioned in the Bible? You can practically number those who are given more than one line on the fingers of your two hands.
Were they less wise, less faithful, less loving, and less courageous than the great male heroes of faith? I doubt that. My unavoidable conclusion is that the ancient stories, poems, letters , laws and wisdom were collected, treasured and past on by men in what was nearly always a male dominated society. Men selected what interested them. That is true of most historical material up to recent times. The stories are the memories of men. This is not being negatively critical of the Bible: It is just facing the reality. How can we understand and interpret the Bible in a way that honours and glorifies God without acknowledging this truth about the records we have? They are only half of the story. The male story.
Suppose you and I go to a BBQ, maybe a reunion event. Watch the Aussie males start to gather in groups while the females gather in their groups. Listen in to the folk stories and memories that are told and retold, often with much humour, in those respective groups.
In the men’s groups you will hear men’s stories; their childhood pranks, football stories, reminiscences of times of glory or of embarrassment, and current happenings. That’s how it is; men’s business!
But in the women’s groups you will hear women’s stories: things that happened to them at school, their escapades, their laughter and tears, their love affairs and marriages, their pregnancies and operations, their careers and joys! This is how it is; women’s business!
In societies where only men have access to methods of recording these stories, which are the stories that survive? With a few exceptions, it will be the stories of the men. That is what we have in our religious records: mainly the faith stories of men. They are wonderful stories. Much of it is inspiring, life challenging stuff. But it is one sided. I cannot fail to sometimes mourn the loss through long millennia of rich faith stories concerning remarkable women.
SOME WHOM WE CAN CELBRATE
Of course I am grateful for the few stories of woman-faith what we have received from the past. Thank goodness we at least have these.
We see the figure of Sarah in the background of Abraham. Behind Moses we sense the shadow of his charismatic sister Miriam. Deborah emerges because of her sheer importance in most difficult times for the faithful of Israel. Lovely, formidable Ruth appears and enchants us; (although she has been recorded, I suspect, because she was an ancestress of King David.) The formidable Esther forces herself on to the stage by saving the Jewish people from religious persecution.
Faithful Elizabeth is there as the mother of John the Baptist. Mary is formidable in her acceptance of God’s strange purposes and is honoured as the mother of our Lord. Mary Magdalene stands out as a close friend of Jesus. A few women, like Lydia, incidentally appear in the writings of St Paul. Later, Monica who was a formidable woman in her own right gained a niche in history because she was the mother of the influential St Augustine. The wonderful St Claire has been treated like an adjunct to St Frances. The wonderful Kate Luther is remembered as the treasured wife of Martin Luther. Details of the brilliant scholar Susannah Annesley are embedded in history because she was mother of John Wesley.
How many other wonderful women of faith were there? Formidable women whose brilliant thoughts and courageous deeds have been utterly lost to us? Why? Because their woman stories could not hitch a ride on the back of some man whose story (often a lesser one) was remembered and recorded by men.
Don’t get me wrong. I am grateful for precious stories that have survived. But how much richer our heritage would be if women had also been the writers and custodians of the Jewish and Christian story. If only they were among the writers! If only we had the Gospel according to Elizabeth or the Epistles of Martha!
THE CRDLE OF CHRISTIANITY
Jewish women were not scribes. Everything was against their stories surviving the rolling centuries. Regrettably the great Rabbis poured scorn on the thought of teaching a woman. One even said it was better to teach a dog than try to instruct a woman. That was the cultural cradle in which Christianity began.
Boys were taught to read and write and to understand the Scriptures and to learn a trade. Girls were taught to cook, spin, weave, mend, launder, dust and sweep, and on the Sabbath to sit demurely apart from the men at the back of the synagogue, or in some cases behind a lattice. Women were treated as second class human beings.
The New Testament is not exempt .Some people think Paul was a misogynist. I would rather suggest that he was merely typical of the rabbinical schools that had trained him as a Pharisee. Therefore, when he was trying to deal with issues in the emerging church, if he did not have access to teaching that came directly “from the Lord himself” (to use his own phrase) he fell back on his training as a Pharisee. That rabbinical training had women slotted into clearly defined subservient roles. In theory Paul says that “we are all one in Christ Jesus,” yet in practice he fell back to his academic origins.
A BREAK THROUGH: SOME GLIMPSES
However, there are tantalising glimpses in the New Testament and other early Christian writings that suggest some women played larger part than has been generally recognised. Those glimpses raise questions.
Why did Jesus flout social and religious conventions by having women among his travelling companions on his preaching tours?
Why did Jesus commend Mary for sitting at his feet like a disciple while Martha was busy preparing food in the kitchen?
What Christian role did the women have whose names are mentioned by Paul; like Eunice and Lois, Priscilla; or Lydia who seems to have been an independent business woman?
And why does Paul think it necessary come out against women preachers unless some were in fact already preaching?
Why does Mary Magdalene feature so prominently as a leader in some non-Biblical writings of early Christianity?
Why does the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas have her as a close confident of Jesus and a leader who is at times in conflict with Peter?
Why are there some second century records that make is appear that at least some women headed churches and a few may even have been bishops?
These are only questions. Yet it does seem to me obvious that a rich part of our Christian story may have been lost to us because the people who chose the stories, wrote them down, and collected manuscripts in libraries, were nearly always men; men who were by nature mainly interested in “men’s business.”
Among the outstanding characters of the Hebrew-Christian stream there surely were thousands more formidable women than the few whose names, and in a few cases their deeds, have found their way into written records.
WHERE ARE THE ROLE MODELS
Where is all this leading? Putting it quite simply, I believe we need to recognise the lamentable gaps in our Christian faith-stories. These gaps tend to perpetuate the problem by not providing a variety of historic role-models for Christian women today. We know a little about later formidable women, like Hildergarde of Bingen, Mechtild of Mardeburg, St Theresa of Avilla, Julian (I like to spell her Julie-Anne!) of Norwich, and a few others. But so few until recent times!
On the other hand, men have hundreds of role models from the stories of formidable Christian men.
Women have a tiny pool from which to draw inspiration. We need to face this deficiency and eradicate any false deductions made from the silence. Women are not left out of the record because they were less significant than the men of their era; they were left out because they were not the recorders of history.
A WORD TO MEN
For a minute I want to speak directly to you men here with me now.
Christian women over the last fifty years have been attempting to find a way towards an appropriate Christian life style for women; a style which fully respects their dignity as daughters of God and co-heirs with Jesus the Christ. They have tried to do so without the resources and role models which we men have been lucky to enjoy. It has been an exciting but difficult process for Christian women. In some cases it has led to what appears to some observers to have been extreme positions. In other cases it has seen some women anxiously retreating back into old stereotypes.
I want to say to you men: For Christ’s sake, show some empathy. We should not, and cannot, try to do the task for them; that would presumptuous in the extreme! But we can encourage, support, and above all respect the journey on which Christian women have embarked.
Now to you women of faith, what can I say? Perhaps I should just shut up? Those who know me well will realise that is hard! Maybe I need to say this: By the love of Christ Jesus continue on being formidable. You won’t be always applauded, and often you will be misunderstood, but together you are finding the way ahead. Even those men who love your dearly, will not always understand. Be patient with us. The women’s movements of the last fifty years or so have shaken or confused all men some of the time, and some men all of the time. Please forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Thinking back to Deborah: I would wager that she had to put up with a lot of flack. Numerous men would have resented her intensely as she took her place under the palm tree and dispensed wisdom and justice. I wonder what rumours were spread, what discontent was stirred up? And maybe there were even women who resented Deborah for daring to be and do much that they were afraid to do. It is sadly true that some of the harshest critics of formidable women have been among the unformidable women; those who lacked enough faith, hope and love to be true to themselves.
A GOOD TIME TO BE ALIVE
The contemporary world is a both an exhilarating and unsettling time in which to be a member of the church.
I treasure those formidable women, both ordained and lay, who are showing us some of the steps that lead to an appropriate twenty-first century expression of faith. We still have our Deborah’s; in fact we may have more than at any other point in our Christian story. Thanks be to God!
SERMON 1: FORMIDABLE WOMEN
Judges 4: 4-5
Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth,
was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm tree (which
became named the “Palm of Deborah”) between Ramah and Bethel in the hill
country of Ephraim; and the people of Israel came to her for judgement.
Today I wish to speak about
formidable women. Deborah was a formidable woman.
By “formidable” I do not mean
aggressive or ruthless. I mean a person to be reckoned with. Someone
who creates profound respect. A formidable friend is a wonderful friend,
but certainly never a sycophant. We worship a formidable God and follow a
formidable Christ.
Such a person was Deborah, a
formidable woman. Her story occurs in the Book of Judges.
DEBORAH IN SITU
This is a period of Hebrew history
when there was no centralised government. The twelve clans were independent yet
sometimes banded together for military defence, and at times for reprisals.
Increasingly people wandered from
their worship of Yahweh and embraced the old idols of
the land.
From time to time an important figure
with the Spirit of God in them would come to the fore, to call the tribes back
to the faith. These figures were called judges; a kind of mix between prophet,
warrior, and chief justice. In a most unsettled period Deborah became a judge
of Israel.
I would like you to form a mental
picture of this era. Turbulent social and political times.
Twelve clans. Many enclaves of
non-Jews. Frequent uprisings. Incursions by foreign raiding parties. Times
when a Caananite King would gather support and
reconquer some Jewish territory. Sometimes most of the Israelites would
be subjugated.
There was not much holding the people
of Israel from disintegration, and absorption into the religious and social
decadence of the land, except for one woman and her God. Picture a large palm tree in the hill country.
Under it sits Deborah while tough and cunning men from various tribes come to
her for judicial rulings on many family, social, property,
political and religious matters. Her word is law.
Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth,
was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm tree (which
became named the “Palm of Deborah”) between Ramah and Bethel in the hill
country of Ephraim; and the people of Israel came to her for judgement.
What a remarkable person! What a
formidable woman!
The story is intriguing. Deborah
tells a warrior named Barak that it is the right time
for him to take his soldiers and attack the Canaanite army with its nine
hundred chariots of iron. Barak says: “Heh! That’s a big ask. But I’ll do it on one condition:
that you come with me. Without you. I will not do it.”
How about that? He was not game to move without the presence in battle of this
formidable woman. Deborah’s answer was: “Sure! No fret! I’ll go with you.” She
did, and with some careful military tactics, including Deborah choosing the
best terrain on which to fight an opponent who possessed the super-weapon of
iron chariots, the Israelites conquered and threw off the oppression of two
decades.
What a remarkable person! What a
formidable woman!
WHERE ARE THE WOMEN?
At this point I want you to confront
another question: Why are there so few women mentioned in the Bible? You can
practically number those who are given more than one line on the fingers of
your two hands.
Were they less wise, less faithful,
less loving, and less courageous than the great male heroes of faith? I doubt
that. My unavoidable conclusion is that
the ancient stories, poems, letters , laws and wisdom were collected, treasured
and past on by men in what was nearly always a male dominated society.
We only have half of the story. The male story.
Suppose you and I go to a BBQ, maybe
a reunion event. Watch the Aussie males start to gather in groups while the
females gather in their groups. Listen in to the folk stories and memories that
are told and retold, often with much humour, in those respective groups.
In the men’s groups you will hear
men’s stories; their childhood pranks, football stories, reminiscences of times
of glory or of embarrassment, and current happenings. That’s how it is; men’s
business!
But in the women’s groups you will
hear women’s stories: things that happened to them at school, their escapades,
their laughter and tears, their love affairs and marriages, their pregnancies
and operations, their careers and joys! This is how it is; women’s business!
In societies where only men have
access to methods of recording these stories, which are the stories that
survive? With a few exceptions, it will
be the stories of the men. That is what
we have in our religious records: mainly the faith stories of men. They are
wonderful stories. Much of it is inspiring, life challenging stuff. But it is
one sided. I cannot fail to sometimes mourn the loss through long millennia of
rich faith stories concerning remarkable women.
SOME WHOM WE CAN CELBRATE
Of course I am grateful for the few
stories of woman-faith what we have received from the past. Thank goodness we
at least have these.
We see the figure of Sarah in the
background of Abraham. Behind Moses we sense the shadow of his charismatic
sister Miriam. Deborah emerges because of her sheer importance in most
difficult times for the faithful of Israel. Lovely, formidable Ruth appears and
enchants us; (although she has been recorded, I suspect, because she was an
ancestress of King David.) The formidable Esther forces herself on to the stage
by saving the Jewish people from religious persecution.
Faithful Elizabeth is there as the
mother of John the Baptist. Mary is formidable in her acceptance of God’s
strange purposes and is honoured as the mother of our Lord. Mary Magdalene
stands out as a close friend of Jesus. A few women, like Lydia, incidentally
appear in the writings of St Paul.
Later, Monica who was a formidable
woman in her own right gained a niche in history because she was the mother of
the influential St Augustine. The wonderful St Claire has been treated like an
adjunct to St Frances. The wonderful Kate Luther is remembered as the treasured
wife of Martin Luther. Details of the brilliant scholar Susannah Annesley are embedded in history because she was mother of
John Wesley.
How many other wonderful women of
faith were there? Formidable women whose brilliant thoughts and courageous
deeds have been utterly lost to us? Why? Because their woman stories could not
hitch a ride on the back of some man whose story (often a lesser one) was the
one that was recorded.
How much richer our heritage would be
if women had also been the writers and custodians of the Jewish and Christian
story. If only they were among the writers! If only we had the Gospel according
to Elizabeth or the Epistles of Martha!
A BREAK THROUGH: SOME GLIMPSES
However, there are tantalising
glimpses in the New Testament and other early Christian writings that suggest
some women played larger part than has been generally recognised. Those
glimpses raise questions.
Why did Jesus flout social and
religious conventions by having women among his travelling companions on his
preaching tours?
Why did Jesus commend Mary for
sitting at his feet like a disciple while Martha was busy preparing food in the
kitchen?
What Christian role did the women
have whose names are mentioned by Paul; like Eunice and Lois, Priscilla; or
Lydia who seems to have been an independent business woman?
And why does Paul think it necessary
come out against women preachers unless some were in fact already preaching?
Why does Mary Magdalene feature so
prominently as a leader in some non-Biblical writings of early Christianity?
Why does the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas
have her as a close confident of Jesus and a leader who is at times in conflict
with Peter?
Why are there some second century
records that make is appear that at least some women headed churches and a few
may even have been bishops?
It does seem that a rich part of our
Christian story may have been lost to us because the people who chose the
stories, wrote them down, and collected manuscripts in libraries, were nearly
always men; men who were by nature mainly interested in “men’s business.”
WHERE ARE THE ROLE MODELS
Where is all this leading?
Putting it quite simply, I believe we
need to recognise the lamentable gaps in our Christian faith-stories. These
gaps tend to perpetuate the problem by not providing a variety of historic
role-models for Christian women today. We know a little about later formidable
women, like Hildergarde
of Bingen, Mechtild of Mardeburg, St Theresa of Avilla, Julian (I like to spell
her Julie-Anne!) of Norwich, and a few others. But so few until recent times!
Women have a just a tiny pool from
which to draw inspiration. We need to
face this deficiency and eradicate any false deductions made from the silence.
Women are not left out of the record because they were less significant than
the men of their era; they were left out because they were not the recorders of
history.
A WORD TO MEN
For a minute I want to speak directly
to you men here with me now.
Christian women over the last fifty
years have been attempting to find a way towards an appropriate Christian life
style for women. In some cases it has led to what appears to some observers to
have been extreme positions.
I want to say to you men: For
Christ’s sake, show some empathy. We should not, and cannot, try to do the
task for them; that would presumptuous in the extreme! But we can encourage,
support, and above all respect the journey on which Christian women have
embarked.
A WORD TO WOMEN
Now to you women of faith, what can I
say? Perhaps I should just shut up? Those who know me well will realise that is
hard!
Yet I will say
this: By the love of Christ Jesus continue on being formidable. You
won’t be always applauded, and often you will be misunderstood, but together
you are finding the way ahead.
Even those men who love your dearly,
will not always understand. Be patient with us. The women’s
movements of the last fifty years or so have shaken or confused all men some of
the time, and some men all of the time. Please forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Thinking back to Deborah: I would
wager that she had to put up with a lot of flack. Numerous men would have resented her
intensely as she took her place under the palm tree and dispensed wisdom and
justice. I wonder what rumours were spread,
what discontent was stirred up? Even worse, there would have been even women who
resented Deborah for daring to be and do much that they were afraid to do.
It is sadly true that some of the harshest
critics of formidable women have been among the unformidable
women; those who lacked enough faith, hope and love to
be true to themselves.
A GOOD TIME TO BE ALIVE
The contemporary world is a both an
exhilarating and unsettling time in which to be a member of the church.
I treasure those formidable women,
both ordained and lay, who are showing us some of the steps that lead to an
appropriate twenty-first century expression of faith. We still have our
Deborah’s; in fact we may have more than at any other point in our Christian
story.
Thanks be to
God!
SERMON 2: RISK IT, FOR GOD’S SAKE!
Matthew 25: 14-30
The God of the Bible is right into taking risks. That’s obvious, isn’t it? Otherwise we human beings, such unstable creatures, would not have been left in a management position on this precious planet.
The degree of free will God has permitted us is high risk. It means that God is prepared to even place limits on divine power so that we might have such freedom. That was really a dicey decision.
Our God chose to live dangerously in order to open the opportunity for “many earth children to come into glory.”
In dark contrast, the temptation for believers to “play it safe” may be one the smartest items in the old Enemy’s box of tricks.
ABOUT TALENTS
Today’s Gospel reading featured the parable of the talents.
The kingdom of heaven is like: a man going abroad, who called his servants and trusted all his capital
into their hands. To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to
one have gave one talent. To each according to his ability.
Through many generations preaching and teaching has focussed on how well Christians used the gifts God has given them. Stressed our need for good stewardship. The amounts of money, 5 talents, 2 talents or 1 talent, were likened to our special abilities. So the meaning of the word talent changed; no longer does it mean a unit of money but the special gifts a person has been given by God.
What was the value of a talent?
That depends on whether it was in silver or gold. It seems that for the Greeks a talent weighed about 25 kilograms of silver or gold. For the Jews it was about 50 kilograms of either silver or gold.
The point I wish to make is that it stood for a large sum of money. So do not let anyone feel sorry for the servant who was given only one talent. Okay, the others got more to manage. One received 5 talents and the second was trusted with 2 talents. Yet even one talent was a large amount of money. In silver it would be substantial- the equivalent of 15 years wages for a labourer. In gold it would be a small fortune.
Spare you pity for some one who deserves it. Don’t squander it on the disgruntled servant in the parable.
What the master did, before he went away, was to entrust them to trade with these large sums, and to try and make a handsome profit. Wine, oil, grain, textiles, pottery, land, shipping, or whatever. He took the big risk and allowed them to make their own decisions.
He expected them to take a similar risk. They were to put what was entrusted to them to good use. Commerce, like human life itself, can be a precarious business. There is always the possibility of setbacks and loss. Witness the fact that here in Australia, over 40% of those who go into small business ventures, fail within the first two years.
Trading is high risk. But the master knows all about that; he understands. He wants them to try; to give their best. That is what counts.
GOD REALLY TRUST US
I invite you to recognise one key element in this parable: the Lord truly places the responsibility in the hands of his servants. This is not make-believe stuff. . He was serious. He does not even stay in the background, like a back-seat driver, giving gratuitous advice or tut-tutting. Nor is he like a driving instructor with calm nerves yet with a separate brake pedal for him to employ in emergency.
The Lord of the Gospel fully trusts his servants. He leaves his country and travels abroad. It is now entirely up to them whether they succeed or fail. A high risk strategy indeed!
The first two servants honour the trust placed in them. They take some risk and put the money to use. Their talents became highly productive in the commerce of this life. The person with five talents made a profit of another 5 talents. The one with two talents, gained a profit of two more. Not bad at all, a 100% return over the long period the Master is absent overseas.
These two receive the Master’s gratitude.
Well done, good and trustworthy servant. You
have proved yourself in a small way,
now I will entrust you with something big. Come here and enjoy your master’s delight.
Underline this. Those who are faithful receive a two-pronged reward.
1/ Immediately there is the sheer joy of celebrating in the Master’s presence. “Come and enjoy your master’s delight.
2/ Then come more trust and responsibility. Those who do well for Christ Jesus are not given a “golden handshake” and allowed to sit on their butts, preening their pride. No way Jose! They are given larger tasks. I will entrust you with something big. That is a sobering thought.
THE TENSION BETWEEN RISK AND SAFETY
In the many generations since Jesus told this parable, among Christians there has always been a tension between those who want to play things safe and those who a prepared to take a risk in the name of their Master. That is true in the manner we either hoard or share the Gospel with the world.
Some opt for exclusive religion.
Such as groups like the closed Brethren, who quote the text “Come ye apart” and take no risks. They turn in on themselves, maintaining a tight knit fellowship, using their talents for each other, yet never risking them in the evil world.
In contrast, some other churches and individuals are the risk takers.
These quote Jesus saying “go into all the world” or Paul’s “To the Jews I became like a Jew, in order to win the Jews. To win the Gentiles, I made myself like one of them.”
Such Christians take many risks. In doing so, maybe at times they relate too closely with the world and its values, so that their losses exceed their gains.
At the present time in the Uniting Church In Australia there are some who feel keenly that in social justice matters we have taken foolish risks, and have been gravely compromised by the world. God alone can judge whether our church has exceeded acceptable risks or not.
WHERE DO WE STAND?
Playing its safe or talking the risk?
For my part, I would always rather take the calculated risk for Christ’s sake. Better that than becoming constricted like that one talent bloke who went and buried his master’s treasure. He is the big disaster.
The temptation for believers to “play it safe” may be one the smartest items in the devil’s box of tricks.Of course we need to minimise the risks, to be wary. In fact all believers are called by Jesus to be “harmless and doves yet as wise as serpents.” We have no commission from the Lord to be foolhardy in the way we use our lives and their gifts, or in the way we employ the treasure of the Gospel.
NO ROOM FOR FEAR
Risk it, for God’s sake! Don’t be afraid.
I guess none of us can look back over the years of our Christian experience and be completely content with how much we have achieved. Most of us have regrets.
But fear is not appropriate. It was the over-cautious servant who was the one to be afraid. “Master, I knew you to be a hard man. You reap where you have not sown/ You gather where you have not scattered. So I was afraid, and I went and hid your gold in the ground.” Yes indeed, one of the three servants does claim to have been ruled by fear. And look where I got him!
Our stewardship of what God has given us, those calculated risks, should never be exercised under the shadow of fear. Ours is a God of perfect love, who is always on our side. Perfect love. No room for fear, please. Because at it says in the first letter of St John: “Perfect love casts out fear.”
The God who is love is a risk taker. We are called to be
like him. For loving is always a risk. Yet it leads to the greatest bonus of
all, immeasurable in the hard currencies of this world:
“Come and enjoy your Master’s delight.”
Trusting the love of God in Christ Jesus, Live dangerously. Risk it, for God’s sake!
CREED
I believe in God who shaped humanity “in the divine
image, male and female they were created, in God’s own likeness were they
formed.”
I believe in Jesus of Nazareth, God’s Son our Redeemer,
who gathered both men and women around him and entrusted to them the
stewardship of the Gospel of peace.
I believe in the God who was “in Christ reconciling the
world unto himself,” breaking down the dividing walls, so that “in Christ Jesus
there is neither Greek nor Jew, servant or master, male or female.”
I believe in the Holy Spirit who with mothering love
gives rebirth to those who are “dead in their trespasses and sins,” and who
gathers the newborn in to the nurturing fellowship of the universal church.
I believe in the God whose likeness is still found when
men and women of all races and classes dwell together in mutual respect,
justice and love.
I believe that such believing is greater than I am; it is
the very gift of the Most High God and will work in us
more glory than we can ever ask or think!
PRAYERS FOR OTHERS
In our prayers today we will especially remember those people whose lives have been warped and stunted by evil.
Let us pray.
Wherever people grow up without the example and encouragement of loving folk who have respect for themselves and others; may your saving love abound.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Wherever people live with a bitterness of spirit which poisons and distresses all those who live around them; may your saving love abound.
Your will be done on
earth as it is in heaven.
Wherever some live greedily, without gratitude or generosity, always keeping a ruthless eye on the happiness and possession of others; may your saving love abound.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Wherever men resort to violence, rape, brutality, terrorism and warfare, spreading immense misery and accelerating hatreds; may your saving love abound.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Wherever women suffer disease, handicap, injustices, exploitation, slavery, or forced prostitution, and have no faith or hope to succour them; may your saving love abound.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Wherever communities of mixed races are torn by rumours, old resentments and new patterns of discrimination; may your saving love abound.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Wherever folk sit with the dying, make funeral arrangements, or spend sleepless nights grieving and fearing; may your saving love abound.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Holy Friend, you cherish every single soul on this planet. Please teach us, slow learners that we are, how to better live together, organise communities, end injustice, and eradicate all those evils that defile the sacred, divine image that resides in us all. Through Jesus our elder Brother and our Saviour.
Amen!
Adapted
for “Australian Prayers” p 119
©
Open Book Publishers:
SENDING OUT
Whenyou leave the house of prayer, do so with a buoyant heart.
There is no difficulty that God has not foreseen,
no error or sin that God cannot ultimately correct,
no suffering where God will make you go on all alone,
and no joy that cannot be enriched by God’s happiness within you.
We can do all things, through Christ who strengthens us.
The love of Christ Jesus,
the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
will be
with you today and forevermore!
Amen!
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