| 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 21
Aug 21-27
Luke 13: 10-17
(Sermon
1: “Compassion not Kudos”)
Hebrews 12: 18-29
Jeremiah 1: 4-10
(Sermon
2: “To be Called”)
Psalm 71: 1-6
PREPARATION
If you come in here today knowing that you are a
flawed creature, sometimes smart yet often foolish, especially in hindsight,
then you are in the right place.
If you come feeling insignificant and inadequate in
the presence of an awesome God who deserves the highest and most perfect
praise, then you are in the right place.
If you have come wanting to rest your weariness or
shabbiness in the arms of an unconditional Love, then you are in the right
place.
The joy of the Lord Jesus Christ be
with you all.
And also with you.
OR
In you, loving God, we seek and find refuge,
please never let us
be ashamed.
Be to us a rock under our feet
and like a
fortress of salvation.
For you alone, loving God are
our hope,
from our childhood
you have been here for us.
Let everyone praise the Lord!
The Lord’s name be praised.
PRAYER OF APPROACH
Majestic, Awesome God, our great Friend, save each
of us from taking part in public worship yet not worshipping. Awaken the love
and wonder within us, until our cup is running over with a praise which flows
deeper, and rises higher, than anything else we experience. Through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen!
CONFESSION AND ASSURANCE
Let us throw ourselves on the abundant mercy of God.
Let us pray.
On the timid who will not dare to be strong, and on
the strong who refuse to acknowledge their many weaknesses: have mercy, saving
God..
With you,
loving God we seek refuge,
let us never be put to shame.
On the foolish who cling to their ignorance, and on
the clever who act with arrogance and despise the slow witted: have mercy
saving God.
With you,
loving God we seek refuge,
let us never be put to shame.
On the half-hearted who ignore new opportunities,
and on the impatient who rush in where angels fear to tread; have mercy: saving
God.
With you,
loving God we seek refuge,
let us never be put to shame.
On the people with few gifts who waste what they
have, and on the very gifted who over-stretch themselves with trying to do too
much: have mercy, saving God.
With you,
loving God we seek refuge,
let us never be put to shame.
On the wilful who cling to their favourite sins, and
on the over zealous who try to be more religious than Jesus was: have mercy,
saving God.
With you,
loving God we seek refuge,
let us never be put to shame.
Holy and loving God, we know that it is not your
will that anyone should destroy themselves, but that all should turn to you and
be saved. Have mercy on us and your erring children everywhere. Bring us to a genuine
repentance and restore us to your good health. Through Jesus
Christ our Redeemer.
Amen!
FORGIVENESS
“God did not send his Son to condemn the world, but
that the world through him might be saved.” My Friends, now is the time to put
the past behind you. The word of Christ can be trusted to forgive and reclaim
you. Take up your salvation and live with the peace and joy which nothing can
take from you.
Amen!
PRAYER FOR CHILDREN
Kids
That Look Different
Loving God,
we know that you love everybody.
Whenever other children at school
look different,
speak with a funny accent,
wear unusual clothes
and are called hurtful names
by kids who are cruel,
please help us to stick up for
them.
For your name’s sake.
Amen!
PSALM 71:1-6
I stake my life on you, God;
don’t let me ever be ashamed of it.
With the unique justice of grace, deliver me;
turn my way and heal me.
Be like a rock shelter in a storm,
to which I come for relief.
You really are my rock shelter,
the fortress of my being.
My God, save me from the hands of rogues,
from the grip of the cruel and unjust.
You are the only hope I have,
my safety from teenage years.
I’ve leaned on you since my birth,
when you were my soul’s midwife.
You drew me from my mother’s womb;
your praise is my constant theme song.
©
B.D.Prewer 2000
POEM: UNBENDING
That she was bent for eighteen years,
not many cared.
Some wondered what her sin had been
and others sneered.
Face to the ground she came to church
all on her own.
No one shook hands and steadied her,
she stood alone.
That she was bent for eighteen years,
He really cared.
He did a thing that ‘was not done’,
this man they feared.
With gentle strength he straightened her,
with a wide smile.
He shamed the men who never went
the second mile.
Some enemies were made that day
by what he dared.
There were a few who wept with joy;
some women cheered.
His work was done yet not complete
in that small town;
There was an hour that must be faced
with a thorn crown.
© B.D. Prewer 1998
COLLECT
Loving God, you are more ready to hold out your hand
to us than we are ready to grasp it. By the encouragement of your Spirit, help
us to overcome reticence or fear, and step forward to receive blessings
appropriate to our true need. Then, made whole by your grace, may we become a
blessing to those who lives impinge on ours. Through Christ
Jesus our healer and liberator.
Amen!
SERMON 1: COMPASSION NOT KUDOS
Luke 13: 10-17
When Jesus was
teaching in a synagogue, there was a woman who had been afflicted for 15 years
with a curved spine; bent over so that she could not straighten up at all.
Jesus noticed
her, called her and said: “Dear woman, you are now liberated from your
affliction.”
He laid his
hands upon her and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
But the ruler
of the synagogue was indignant because Jesus had dare
to heal on the Sabbath day. He said: “There are six days on which all work
should be done. Come of those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath day.”
Doing the right thing will not always bring you
kudos.
But that is the way Jesus went. The right thing was
the most loving thing, and the most loving thing would prove to be the most
dangerous thing.
Luke sets the story of a handicapped woman in the
context of Jesus resolutely making his way towards Jerusalem. He is on his way
to a fateful confrontation that will end with his execution.
It would be tempting for Jesus to go softly at this
stage, to not upset his angry critics. But as always with Jesus, the call on
his compassion overrode everything else. Here in the synagogue on the Sabbath
day, was a woman with extreme curvature of the spine; bent towards the ground,
unable to look directly into the eyes of anyone except maybe, the eyes of
little children.
A JEWISH VERSION OF KARMA
You have seen such unfortunate people. You have
looked on them as Jesus did. But you most likely do not share the harsh
attitude which was common in Jesus time: Such affliction was thought to be the
result of sin; either hers or her parents. She had it coming to her. It was
divine judgement. A Jewish version of the Indian “karma.”
Stuck fast in the minds of many was the notion that
God always rewards the good and punishes the wicked in obvious ways. If
misfortune comes to you, it is your own fault. If you are repentant the
punishment will stop. If you stay unrepentant the punishment remains.
It was this same doctrine against which the
magnificent Old Testament book of Job rebels. In his day, good health and
prosperity were seen as the valid reward for righteousness; poverty and
suffering are the punishment for evil. Job fiercely contested this view of
things. This way of thinking also accounts for the bewilderment in some of the
heart-rending cries that we read in the Psalms, were good people lament their condition.
By this version of karma, victims of disaster were
made victims twice over: They bore the affliction plus the distaste and scorn
of those who were living comfortable lives. (It has echoes in those who blame
the unemployed for being unemployed, or the deserted spouse for being deserted,
or the refugee for being refugee.)
It was (and in some quarters still is) a cruel
doctrine.
STRIKE ONE
Jesus, the person of supreme compassion, at every
opportunity challenged this way of thinking and acting.
As he does in the synagogue
on this occasion. He refers to the woman not a s a sinner but
as a daughter of Abraham; which means a faithful Jew. He sees the affliction not as a judgement of
God but as an evil: “this woman, a
daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years.” Daughter of Abraham?
Affirmation for a Jew does not get much better than that.
These words and actions are enough to annoy the Head
Man of the synagogue. He is typical of those for whom rules are more important
than love. It also offended some of the other pious men who were present and
watching his every move, so that they could report it to headquarters in
Jerusalem.
In their judgement, his attitude was dangerous. It
was a case of strike one.
STRIKE TWO
But wait, there is second offence. The healing deed
was done on the Sabbath day.
Work, even the most simple task, was forbidden on the Sabbath. As
little as lighting a lamp or a fire, or cooking a meal, was seen as forbidden
work. Lawyers could not deal with clients, doctors
could not treat patients on the Sabbath. By their understanding, Jesus was
certainly breaking the Sabbath when he healed the handicapped woman.
There are six days on which work should be
done. Come for healing on those days, not
on the Sabbath.
Jesus must have expected this reaction. He knew what
he was doing. He knew his critics were following him. I suppose he could have
been discreet and asked the woman to see him privately after church, or maybe
in that evening after sunset, when the Sabbath would have expired. (I have a
sneaking suspicion that I might have tried something like that. To be more,
shall we say, discreet.)
But Jesus? No way. He cared too much to be silent. As far as he
was concerned, this woman had already suffered too long. Now was the time for
compassion. Now was the opportune moment. Now was the hour of liberation.
He knew that one more strike and he would be out.
Yet none of the retribution that would befall him mattered as much as this
person’s immediate need. If it meant one more nail ready for the cross, so be
it. Love came first, now.
His critics were ready: There are six days on which work should be done. Come for healing on
those days, not on the Sabbath.
There is frustration and anger in Jesus’ retort: You hypocrites! Each of you on the Sabbath
will untie his ox or his ass and lead it to the water. Should not this women, a daughter of Abraham, who has been bound by
Satan for eighteen years, be loosed from her bondage on this Sabbath day?
These words arise out of burning love. There are
appropriate occasions for such anger.
The New Testament tells us to be
angry and sin not. Jesus managed it.
With Jesus, anger and compassion came from the same source; love. We are not so
good at picking the right situation or the right moment for anger. Our anger is
not always the flipside of compassion.
Of course such burning love proves costly. This good
anger of Christ was no doubt like ordering a couple more nails for his own
cross; but for Jesus one suffering woman was worth it.
THE COMMON PEOPLE WERE THRILLED
We read : By
saying this, his critics were publicly shamed; but all the common people were
thrilled with the wonderful things Jesus had done.
The impressed people, those who became excited, were
the ordinary folk; those whom the righteous men of Jerusalem despised as the amme ha aretz, the
people of the land.
It is significant that the despised people recognise
the hand of God at work. Their despisers, the godfearing
men, do not. It is rather like what is predicted in Mary’s song of joy, the
“Magnificat”: those who are hungry are
satisfied with good things; the rich go empty away.
(Do you ever feel bit uneasy wondering whether this
is still the case today? Do the common people recognise the hand of God where
the more sophisticated among us only see something that might threaten or annoy
us?)
OUR OPPORTUNITY
Now let’s focus on ourselves for a couple of
minutes.
Here we are in church, our version of the synagogue.
Here with us is by his Spirit is Christ Jesus, unseen but intimately present as
he promised. Now is the opportune moment when he wants to share his compassion.
He calls to us. Do we come forward to him?
I don’t know what are your deep
needs. You do. I don’t know what fears or shame may hold you back. He does. I
don’t think our Lord wants to put off helping you until there is a more
discreet time. Now his compassion flows. Now his hands want to rest on you. But
you must, in your mind and heart, come forward to him.
God does grant us opportune moments.
As you try to picture Jesus dealing with this
unfortunate woman, what is his posture? I’ll tell you my vision of him: As the
woman timidly comes forward, I picture him bending, looking up into her eyes,
and reaching his hand up to her.
You see, he comes not as an overpowering authority
from above, but as one of us, looking into our eyes. He hand does not come down
with a patronising gesture for above, but it moves towards us on our level. It
rests gently but firmly on us, at the very spot where we most need loving.
But only if you wish it.
SERMON 2:
TO BE CALLED
Jeremiah 1:
4-6,9 :
Now the word
of the Lord God came to me saying: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before your were born I consecrated you. I
appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”
Then I said: “ O no, Lord God! Look at me, I am
not a public speaker, for I am only a youth.”
Then the Lord
put out his hand and touched my mouth, and said to me: “Look, I have put my
words in your mouth.”
God called Jeremiah to be a prophet.
To be called by God comes as a shock.
It is one of the most surprising and awesome things
than can happen to a mere earthling. A sense of divine vocation is remarkable.
To be selected and asked to do a task for the Creator of the immense yet intricate
universe, is the highest honour, deepest privilege, and at times the heaviest
responsibility. It may seems preposterous. At first
when others mock the idea, there is a tiny voice inside ourselves
that joins the mirth.
“O no, Lord God. You must be joking. Look at
me, I am just another human being!”
These days, far fewer people claim to have a sense
of vocation.
That is especially so in the Protestant churches.
When we speak of being called, many suppose it only applies to being called to
be a minister, priest, or deacon. Or maybe a missionary nurse, evangelist,
teacher or agriculturalist. Or perhaps to work as administrators or secretaries
in the administration of the church.
But what about other
vocations?
It is rare in this twenty first century to encounter
men and women who say they are called by God to work in the secular world as a
doctor, engineer, teacher, hairdresser, carpenter, lawyer, nurse, police
officer, social worker, farmer. The lay folk who still
express this sense of call, seem to be found mainly (although not exclusively)
in the Roman Catholic Church. Even there, not as many express themselves this
way as they did fifty years ago. The sense of vocation appears to be missing,
and the community is poorer because of it.
Jeremiah, as a mere youth, as he describes it,
experienced the call.
God named him to be a prophet. It happened in 626
BC, when a young reformist king, named Josiah, was on the throne. This was a unwelcome calling that came to young Jeremiah. A difficult and lonely calling. To be one who spoke out for
the justice and truth of the living God. (It may come as a surprise to us to
read that God had designated him for this prophetic task from the beginning of
his formation in his mother’s womb?)
SPECIAL CALLINGS AND OUR EXCUSES
It is no surprise to read that Jeremiah was not
impressed.
“Why me, God? Look, I’m too young. And I’ve had no training
in public speaking. You must have the wrong person.”
Many a woman and many a man have responded to God’s
call in that way.
To feel oneself called by
God to a special responsibility within the church or community is usually
scary. To be called from a comfortable secular occupation to a more risky or
demanding one, is not always welcome. Most at first plead that God has got the
wrong person. Some refuse for months and years to hear this call of God to
them.
In my own case, I kicked like the proverbial mule.
The thought of being called to be an ordained
minister was outlandish. God had to pick me up (metaphorically speaking, let me
add!) and hold me upside down until all the fears, excuses, and plausible
reasons fell out of the pockets of my soul.
Special callings can catch the “callee”
off guard, and leave them gasping with incredulity.
By special, I don’t mean “more important” tasks.
By special I mean that God calls some to particular
tasks. Happy is the man or woman who hears that call to a particular service,
and comes to the point of saying “yes” to it.
THE MOST IMPORTANT CALLING
I do not want to diminish the importance of such
“special” callings.
However, I remind you that all Christians are called
people. It is just not missionaries, or ministers and priests, or nuns and
monks.
Each of us who share the name and grace of Christ
Jesus, are called.
Called to the most special mission. We are called to be Christ ‘s person wherever we go and whatever we do. There is
no such thing as a Christian without vocation.
No Christian is exempt from this foundational
calling.
The young and the old, the 5
talent person and the 1 talent person, the person of high IQ or of moderate IQ. We are all called by Jesus
of Nazareth to spread his love in the world. This calling is not, I repeat not, less important than the
special calling that a missionary or a priest has received. In fact this is the most special call, the
most important vocation of all.
LOSS OF THE SENSE OF
VOCATION?
Some people in the church
who worry about the shortage of priests and ministers.
They lament the declining numbers of men and women
who are offering themselves for ordained ministry. Some assert it is a sign of
spiritual poverty in the church, and the hedonism of the young people of this
era.
I am not so anxious on this score.
As I suggested at the outset what concerns me far
more is the apparent loss, or doubting, among many Christians of their sense of
sacred vocation while going about their weekday responsibilities. Now that does
discomfort me.
You may or may not be one of those who feels
personally called by God to a specific job.
Like being a
surgeon, school teacher, primary home carer, plumber, plane pilot, nurse,
jockey, accountant, computer programmer, secretary, politician, business
manager, bus driver, pastoralist, country G.P., wheat grower, or trade union
officer. Some do have, and some do not have, a sense of particular call in
their particular daily work.
There is something more important.
Namely that those of us who
are Christians are called to be Christ’s person wherever they work. Whether it be as surgeon, school teacher, home carer, plumber, nurse,
jockey, country GP, union officer and so on. We are called to honour Christ to
the best of our ability whatever our work or profession.
A SCANDAL
There is one scandal which sometimes afflicts the
church.
It is this: Among those who say they believe in
Christ (including a few who make a big “song and dance” about it) are some who
do not give their best to their work as do many non-Christians.
It is a scandal when a Christian surgeon
exhibits much less concern for a
patient than does an agnostic surgeon.
It is an offence if a Christian police officer
does not work as conscientiously
as does a fellow officer of no religious belief.
It is a shame if Christian school teacher
is known among her colleagues
as one who skimps through on the least preparation as possible, and dodges as
many other campus responsibilities as she can.
It is a disgrace if a Christian mechanic
is less honest when billing a
customer for the cost labour and spare parts than his secular counterpart.
It is a tragedy when a priest or minister,
in counselling situations,
betrays trust placed in them by exacting sexual favours, while an atheist
counsellor exhibits a high degree of respect and care for the client.
It is a scandal when Christian lawyer or accountant
shows
less integrity, or respect for
their client’s blest interests, than do those who have no pretensions of faith.
It is an offence when a Christian plumber
is far less reliable than a
rough-cut plumber who has never been inside a church.
We Christians are a called people. All of us.
No exemptions.
We are no less called than was Jeremiah. No less called than the New
Treatment apostles. No less called than missionaries and archbishops. We are
called by Christ Jesus to honour God through every task we do, and in the way
we treat every person with whom we have dealings. This in our
irrevocable and calling and our lofty privilege.
Never sell your calling short by your daily
behaviour.
CONCLUSION
II will conclude by mentioning the conclusion to a
sermon I experienced long ago.
I heard that famous 20th century preacher of
London’s City Temple, Dr Leslie Weatherhead, when he
was on a visit to Australia. It was in what is now St Michael’s Uniting Church,
in Collins Street, Melbourne, and I was what other university students called a
“log .” That is, a theological student.
Weatherhead told of a
cleaning women at the end of a long night shift;
bone tired from cleaning city
offices in central Melbourne. He spoke of her leaving the last premises on her
duty list, at about 7 00 am , and heading off along
Flinders Street to catch a train home. Although weary, she walked with a perky
step, for she was one of those special people who believed she was called to
Christ’s cleaner in those offices where she spent the long hours of night.
She knew herself as called by Jesus and she hoped
she had done him proud. As she encountered hordes of people disgorging from the
station to start work, many of them impatient, sour and grumbling, she held her
head high with a dignity only the God of Jesus Christ could bestow. She
cherished her vocation..
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Let us give thanks for Jesus the Christ.
Let us pray.
Most remarkable God,
we give you thanks for all
that Jesus was and all that he is.
Precious the fingers that anointed blind eyes,
than hands
that touched the diseased,
the arms
that embraced little ones.
Precious the smile that welcomed outcastes,
the frown
that rebuked the arrogant,
the voice
that told parables.
Precious the courage that led to Jerusalem,
the faith
that agonised in Gethsemene,
the love
that suffered at Golgotha.
Precious the lips that gave the Easter greeting,
the mercy
which restored ashamed disciples,
the Spirit
let loose on the world.
Our gratitude wells up, our praise we attempt to express,
and our complete lives we offer
in a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
Amen!
INTERCESSIONS
We are commanded to love both our neighbours and our
enemies. Let us accept again
that commission, by taking the first step of prayer.
Let us pray.
Today, Divine Healer,
we pray for all the fearful
and sick people
who live around us in this
community and wider world.
The mentally unstable who each day must struggle
against
wild fears and cruel voices.
The accident victims or war casualties who must
endure
months of pain and hard therapy.
The diseased or the grief stricken for whom each day
is now a struggle for light
and lief and peace.
Today, Divine Healer,
we also dare to pray for the
ugly or ruthless folk whom we would prefer to ignore.
Those whose crude speech,
habits and actions disgust us.
The greedy and the powerful who
make the lives of others a misery.
The cruel who bash, rob,
rape or kill without any sign of remorse.
Our personal enemies whose
dislike of us is relentless.
Our national enemies who would like to see us
obliterated from the face of the earth.
God of Christ Jesus, be today with every kind of
person,
be they family, neighbour,
stranger or foe.
May your tough grace be among them
in all misfortune,
or in bad situations they may
have wilfully created.
In every critical need of the human race,
may each soul know both the
fire and the healing
of your Holy Spirit.
For your love’s sake.
Amen!
OR -
God of grace, Friend and Counsellor, we pray for our
sisters and brothers both near and far, named and unnamed, friend or foe.
For the diseased who have no medical care, for the
suffering who fear the long dark night, for the hungry who have no bread to
share, for the guilty who fear the coming light, for the abused who don’t know
where to turn, for the oppressed for whom all hope has fled, for the trapped
who have no more bridges to burn, for the homeless with no place to lay their
head, for the stubborn who don’t know how to bend, for the poor who cannot
escape their lot, for the weary whose toil seems without end, for the addicts
who live for one more shot, and for loners who know not the Heavenly Friend.
God of grace, Friend and Counsellor, touch all these
people with the ministry of your Spirit, we pray, and where it is appropriate , use us to be your angels of light and love. Through Christ Jesus our Redeemer.
Amen!
SENDING OUT
Leave this house of prayer and get ready to serve
the world that God loves.
Enjoy doing the things you are good at,
cheerfully undertake those things that
your find boring,
and courageously tackle those
difficult things you have been avoiding.
Amen!!
The strong arm of the living God be yours,
The strong arm of the living Christ be yours,
The strong arm of the living Spirit be yours,
To
lead and to shield you,
to undergird and enfold you,
this day and ever more.
Amen!
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