{"id":292,"date":"2020-05-17T01:10:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-17T01:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.heuristika.co.uk\/lfgdiscussion\/?p=292"},"modified":"2020-05-16T22:53:39","modified_gmt":"2020-05-16T22:53:39","slug":"292","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heuristika.co.uk\/lfgdiscussion\/2020\/05\/17\/292\/","title":{"rendered":"Easter 6"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Worshipping\nTogether – Apart<\/B><\/P>\n

Dear All,<\/P>\n

Here we are again –\nmy turn to put something on the website (or rather to give Stilman\nsomething to put on it) that we can use to worship ‘together\nbut apart’ this, the sixth Sunday of Easter. Today’s\nservice is an Iona Communion Service which is very easy and\nappropriate for us all to use on our own homes, another ‘kitchen\ntable Eucharist’ and as usual I’ve inserted one of this\nweek’s Bible readings and some thoughts on it. Think of me as\nyou celebrate and be sure I will be thinking of all of you. \n<\/P>\n

With every blessing<\/P>\n

Keep separate, keep\nsafe<\/P>\n

But remember you are\nnever separated from the love of God or from the prayers of us all<\/P>\n

Mary Tucker<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

A\nService to say at home <\/U><\/FONT><\/STRONG>(adapted\nfrom the worship of the Iona Community)<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Gathering\nPrayer<\/U><\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/P>\n

Creator of the cosmos,<\/P>\n

Of eternity and time:<\/P>\n

Be with us in this\ntime.<\/I><\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Saviour of the world,<\/P>\n

Healer of the nations:<\/P>\n

Be with us in this\nplace.<\/I><\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Breath of all that\nlives,<\/P>\n

Of people near and far:<\/P>\n

Stir within our\nlives.<\/I><\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Creator, Son, Spirit<\/P>\n

God of here and now:<\/P>\n

Be present in our\nworship<\/I><\/P>\n

That we may find new\nways<\/I><\/P>\n

Of being present in\nyour world.<\/I><\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

(Hymn\/Song<\/B><\/U>\n– Sing something you enjoy!!) \n<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Bible Reading<\/B><\/U>\n– Acts 17:22-31 <\/B>\n<\/P>\n

Then\nPaul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I\nsee how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went\nthrough the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship,\nI found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an\nunknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I\nproclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he\nwho is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by\nhuman hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed\nanything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and\nall things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the\nwhole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the\nboundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would\nsearch for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though\nindeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live\nand move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets\nhave said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’<\/P>\n

Since we are God’s\noffspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or\nsilver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of\nmortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now\nhe commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a\nday on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man\nwhom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by\nraising him from the dead.”<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

This is the Word of the\nLord. Thanks be to God.<\/I><\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Some Thoughts on\nthe Reading <\/B><\/U>\n<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

I want to tell you two\nstories.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

One is from an old TV\nseries, penned by a favourite writer of mine Alan Plater, the other\nis the story from Ancient Greece which explains that altar ‘to\nan unknown God’ mentioned in today’s reading from Acts.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

First the Greek legend.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Once there was a\nterrible plague in the city of Athens. All attempts to please and\nappease their many gods had no effect. One of the wise men of the day\nhad an idea. He took a flock of sheep to the top of Mars Hill and\nreleased them. In each place that the sheep stopped an altar was set\nup and a sheep was sacrificed to an unknown god. This course of\naction was apparently effective and the city returned to health.<\/I><\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Now the Alan Plater\none.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

A man went walking\nin a forest. Suddenly he came upon another man who was totally naked\nexcept for a bowler hat.<\/I><\/P>\n

‘Why are you\nwalking about naked?’ asked the first man.<\/I><\/P>\n

‘Well nobody\never walks in this part of the forest.’ replied the other.<\/I><\/P>\n

‘Then why are\nyou wearing a bowler hat?’ retorted the first.<\/I><\/P>\n

‘Well –\nyou never know.’ said the man. <\/I>\n<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

What links these two\ntales? I think ignorance and insurance!<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Some people interpret\nPaul’s speech to the Athenians around that, now famous altar,\nas an encouragement to the Greeks. It appears to some readers that he\nis saying to these pagans, \n<\/P>\n

‘You’re\ndoing all right, accidentally you’re worshipping the right god\nand that’s fine, well done!’<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

But the tone in the\noriginal language is quite different. It is challenging and critical.\nEven Paul’s use of the word ‘religious’ at the\nbeginning, when he may seem to be congratulating them on how\nreligious they are, is actually using that word the way it is\nsometimes used to us when, in a slightly shocked or sneering tone,\nsomeone says, ‘Oh – are you religious then?’<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Paul is not,<\/U> in\nfact, impressed by this altar. What he sees is foolish superstition –\nlike letting sheep make decisions and then, the equally foolish\nlinking of the eventual, and probably natural, cessation of the\nplague<\/P>\n

to the actions of these\nanimals. You could, with some excuse, call this ‘ignorance’.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

It’s as daft as a\nman who claims to believe the forest will be empty but makes himself\nlook even more stupid<\/P>\n

by wearing his\n‘insurance policy’ in the form of a bowler hat, a hat to\nbe whipped off and used to cover his . . . embarrassment (!?!), just\nin case.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Ignorance and\ninsurance.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Would you call yourself\n‘religious’? And if you would claim that title are you\nignorant of what this perhaps unknown god you claim to believe in is\nlike? Or is your ‘religion’ an insurance policy – just in\ncase? \n<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

My saying that to you\nfeels quite uncomfortable. It is challenging and perhaps critical and\nnot what you might expect to hear from me. Perhaps what you really\nwant is encouragement, someone to say,<\/P>\n

‘You’re\ndoing all right. That’s fine. Well done!’ and I’m\nnot saying it at the moment as you are probably gathering by now.\nWith Paul, I’m in critical, challenging mode and we’re\ngoing to continue for a little on the dual themes of ‘ignorance’\nand ‘insurance’. The only thing I will add, is that\nanything I say to you I am also saying to myself and to most\nChristians for all of us are on a journey to glory, and few of us are\nvery near perfection yet!<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Let’s do\ninsurance first.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Now unless you are one\nof those few very lucky Christians who never has doubts you, like me,\nprobably have to admit to a bit of ‘treating our faith as an\ninsurance policy’ from time to time.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

In the times when,\nperhaps, we seriously begin to doubt whether all we’ve believed\nabout Jesus and about God can actually be true, we are like the naked\nman in the bowler hat. For a while, maybe, we seriously waver in our\nbelief, yet, our prayers continue and\/or we keep going to church. Our\n‘bowler hat’ is our keeping up the outer show while the\ninner faith is in turmoil. It’s insurance – just in case we’re\nwrong, and it all turns out to be true after all.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

And at last I’m\ngoing to say, \n<\/P>\n

‘Well done!\nThat’s OK.’ especially if we’re being honest with\nourselves and, paradoxically enough, honest with the God, even if\nwe’re having doubts about him.<\/P>\n

‘It’s OK.\nWell done!’ Keeping going, even if we feel it’s just an\ninsurance policy. It may not be particularly admirable but it’s\nbetter than nothing and, I believe, that even this is used by God.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

So am<\/U> I\ncriticising you, me, us, for the times we use God as an insurance\npolicy? Well no and yes. \n<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

No, because anywhere\nand any way we let God into our lives is good and will be used by\nhim, but yes, if we allow ourselves to become spiritually lazy, and\nlet that insurance policy, background type of faith remain the only\nlink we have with him.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Which brings us neatly\nonto ignorance!<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Those poor Greeks. Not\nknowing which way to turn, which god to placate, depending, despite\nall their famous intellectual learning, on a flock of silly sheep to\nsolve their problems. At least they had ignorance of the truth about\nthe one true God as an excuse.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

We do not. If we are\nignorant of God and what he is like and what he is desiring for us\nand asking of us it may be partly our own fault.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Someone said to me the\nother day, ‘You’re always banging on about Bible reading\nand prayer!’<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Well yes I am, and to\nadd to it I’ll bang on about regular church attendance too,\nready for when we all get back to normal.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

For these are the\nplaces of learning, the places of listening, as well as the places of\npraise and consolation, and if we can’t be bothered to do\nanything about our ignorance (and we’ll remain at least\npartially ignorant<\/P>\n

until that great day\nwhen we walk into heaven) we are<\/U> deserving of criticism, for\nwe are failing God and importantly also failing ourselves, failing to\ntake up wholly the new life he died to give us.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

So get dressed and hang\nup your bowler hat. Put the sheep back in the field where they belong\nand venture out into the forest of life with prayer, Bible reading\nand fellowship as your guides (even if it’s via computer, radio\nor TV at present) And there, our known and still partly unknown God\nwill meet you in his Spirit, will walk with you in the forest, will\nprotect you on the hillsides and be beside you in all the plagues\n(literal and metaphorical) that life may throw at you<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Prayers<\/B><\/U><\/P>\n

\nWe pray to the Lord\nfor courage as we continue to walk, together but apart, along the\nroad of life.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>\n

In\nthis difficult time, give your Church the courage to give up her\npreoccupation with herself and to give time to your mission in the\nworld. <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>Lord,\nhelp us to recognise you in our lives, <\/B><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>give\nus strength and hear our prayer.<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/P>\n

May\nthe blood and water flowing from the side of Jesus bring forgiveness\nto your people and help us to face the cost of proclaiming salvation\nas we work together and apart in your damaged world. <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>Lord,\nhelp us to recognise you in our lives, <\/B><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>give\nus strength and hear our prayer.<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/P>\n

Give\nyour world the courage to give up war, bitterness and hatred, and to\nseek peace and healing for each other. <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>Lord,\nhelp us to recognise you in our lives, <\/B><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>give\nus strength and hear our prayer.<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/P>\n

May\nthe shoulders of the risen Jesus, once scourged by soldiers, bear the\nburden of our times. <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>Lord,\nhelp us to recognise you in our lives, <\/B><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>give\nus strength and hear our prayer.<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/P>\n

Give\nus the courage to give up quarrels, strife and jealousy in our\nfamilies, neighbourhoods and communities. <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>Lord,\nhelp us to recognise you in our lives, <\/B><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>give\nus strength and hear our prayer.<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/P>\n

May\nthe presence of the risen Jesus, his body once broken and now made\nwhole, bring peace and direction as we live with one another. Give us\nthe courage to give up our selfishness as we live for others, and to\ngive time, care and comfort to the sick and those who care for them\nin ways that are safe for them and for us. <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>Lord,\nhelp us to recognise you in our lives, <\/B><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>give\nus strength and hear our prayer.<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/P>\n

May\nthe wounded hands of Jesus bring his healing touch to all who suffer,\nand the light of his presence fill their hearts and homes. <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>Lord,\nhelp us to recognise you in our lives, <\/B><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>give\nus strength and hear our prayer.<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/P>\n

Give\nus the courage to give up our fear of death and to rejoice with those\nwho have died in faith. May the feet of the risen Lord Jesus, once\nnailed to the cross, walk alongside the dying and bereaved in their\nagony, and walk with us and all your Church through death to the gate\nof glory. <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>Lord,\nhelp us to recognise you in our lives, <\/B><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>give\nus strength and hear our prayer, here and in eternity. Amen.<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/P>\n

We pray with confidence\nas our Saviour has taught us<\/P>\n

Our\nFather, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom\ncome.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us\nthis day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we\nforgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into\ntemptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the\nkingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. \n<\/P>\n

Amen<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

A Home Communion<\/B><\/U><\/P>\n

(use some bread or a\nplain biscuit, some wine or juice)<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

What we do here in our\nown homes today, we do in imitation of what Christ first did.<\/P>\n

To his followers in\nevery age, Jesus gave an example and command \n<\/P>\n

rooted in the\nexperience he shared with his disciples in an upstairs room in\nJerusalem.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

So now we do as Jesus\ndid.<\/P>\n

We take this food and\ndrink, the produce of the earth and fruit of human labour.<\/P>\n

In these, Jesus has\npromised to be present, through these, Christ can make us whole.<\/P>\n

Eucharistic\nPrayer<\/B><\/U><\/P>\n

The Lord is with us,<\/P>\n

And with all those\nwith whom we worship, together but apart.<\/I><\/P>\n

We lift our hearts\ntogether.<\/P>\n

We lift them to the\nLord.<\/I><\/P>\n

We give thanks together\nto the Lord our God.<\/P>\n

It is right to give\nour thanks and praise.<\/I><\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

It is indeed right, for\nyou made us,<\/P>\n

and before us, you made\nthe world we inhabit,<\/P>\n

and before the world,\nyou made the eternal home<\/P>\n

in which, through\nChrist, we have a place.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

And so we gladly join\nour voices to the song of the Church,<\/P>\n

to those from whom we\nare separated<\/P>\n

on earth and in heaven:<\/P>\n

Holy, holy, holy\nLord,<\/I><\/P>\n

God of power and\nmight,<\/I><\/P>\n

Heaven and earth are\nfull of your glory.<\/I><\/P>\n

Hosanna in the\nhighest.<\/I><\/P>\n

Blessed is he who\ncomes in the name of the Lord.<\/I><\/P>\n

Hosanna in the\nhighest.<\/I><\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

And now, \n<\/P>\n

lest we believe that\nour praise alone fulfils your purpose,<\/P>\n

we fall silent<\/P>\n

and remember him who\ncame because words were not enough.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Setting our wisdom, our\nwill, our words aside,<\/P>\n

emptying our hearts and\nbringing nothing in our hands,<\/P>\n

we yearn for the\nhealing, the holding, the accepting, the forgiving<\/P>\n

which Christ alone can\noffer.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

(we pause quietly for a\nmoment)<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Merciful God, send now,\nin your kindness<\/P>\n

your Holy Spirit on\nthis food and drink<\/P>\n

and fill them with the\nfullness of Jesus.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

And let that same\nSpirit rest on us, \n<\/P>\n

converting us from the\npatterns of this passing world,<\/P>\n

until we conform to the\nshape of him whose food we share.<\/P>\n

Amen.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Sharing God’s\nGifts<\/B><\/U><\/P>\n

Among friends, gathered\nround a table,<\/P>\n

Jesus took bread and\nbroke it, and said,<\/P>\n

‘This is my body,\nbroken for you.’<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Later he took a cup of\nwine and said,<\/P>\n

‘This is the new\nrelationship with God<\/P>\n

made possible because\nof my death.<\/P>\n

Take it, all of you, to\nremember me.’<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

He whom the universe\ncould not contain is present to us in this food.<\/P>\n

He who redeemed us and\ncalled us by name now meets us in this cup.<\/P>\n

So we take this food\nand drink.<\/P>\n

In them God comes to us\nso that we may come to God.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

(Eat, drink, share the\nfood and drink you have prepared and prayed over)<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

The Peace<\/B><\/U><\/P>\n

(We bring to mind all\nthose with whom we would usually share this moment,<\/P>\n

holding them on our\nhearts.)<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Christ who has\nnourished us is our peace,<\/P>\n

strangers and friends,\nmale and female, old and young, near and far away,<\/P>\n

Jesus has broken down\nthe barriers to bind us to him and to each other.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

The peace of the Lord\nbe always with you.<\/P>\n

(and also with you)<\/I><\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

Concluding prayer<\/B><\/U><\/P>\n

In gratitude, in deep\ngratitude for this moment, this meal, these people, \n<\/P>\n

we give ourselves to\nyou.<\/P>\n

Take us out to live as\nchanged people \n<\/P>\n

because we have shared\nthe living Bread and cannot remain the same.<\/P>\n

Ask much of us, expect\nmuch of us, enable much by us,<\/P>\n

encourage many through\nus.<\/P>\n


\n<\/P>\n

So, Lord, may we live\nto your glory,<\/P>\n

both as inhabitants of\nearth and citizens of the commonwealth of heaven,<\/P>\n

knowing that we do so\nwith your blessing \n<\/P>\n

Father, Son and Holy\nSpirit<\/P>\n

this day and for ever\nmore.<\/P>\n

Amen.<\/P>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Worshipping Together – Apart Dear All, Here we are again – my turn to put something on the website (or rather to give Stilman something to put on it) that we can use to worship ‘together but apart’ this, the sixth Sunday of Easter. Today’s service is an Iona Communion Service which is very easy … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Easter 6”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heuristika.co.uk\/lfgdiscussion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heuristika.co.uk\/lfgdiscussion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heuristika.co.uk\/lfgdiscussion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heuristika.co.uk\/lfgdiscussion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heuristika.co.uk\/lfgdiscussion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.heuristika.co.uk\/lfgdiscussion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":298,"href":"https:\/\/www.heuristika.co.uk\/lfgdiscussion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292\/revisions\/298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heuristika.co.uk\/lfgdiscussion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heuristika.co.uk\/lfgdiscussion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heuristika.co.uk\/lfgdiscussion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}