Pastoral Letter in time of Covid Δ 2021, 19 Sept Trinity 16

 

St Barnabas Anglican Church,  Warrington, New Zealand

Pastoral Letter in time of Covid Δ

2021,  19 Sept    Trinity 16

Blessings and prayers for Hilary, Rosalie, Carolyn, Claire, Kieran and Casey and the greater Ireland family.

 

Readings:

Proverbs 31:10-31

Ps 1

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

Mark 9:30-37

³⁰ They went on from there and passed through Galilee.  He did not want anyone to know it; ³¹ for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.”  ³² But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.  ³³ Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”  ³⁴ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest.  ³⁵ He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them,  “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”  ³⁶ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

 

 

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

 

Grace and peace to you from God.

 

I’m blurring the boundaries between Sundays, or perhaps connecting them up.

Please try this little prayer from the very beginning of the Anglican church.

 

THE COLLECT for Trinity 16, by Thomas Cranmer,  1549

Lord, we beseech thee, let thy continual pity cleanse and defend fend thy congregation; and, because it cannot continue in safety without thy succour, preserve it evermore by thy help and goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

This prayer was changed a bit by the editors of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

Archbishop Cranmer rendered ecclesiam as "congregation."  The 1662 revisers substituted "Church" because of how the Puritans had used the former term.  "Church" is also used in the Scottish Prayer Book of 1637.  I only mention that because it didn’t stop Jenny Geddes from throwing something at her minister.  Might have been her prayer book; might have been her seat.  Not the sort of thing we want in St Barnabas anyway.

 

In the collect Cranmer understands the Church as enduringly fragile:  "... it cannot continue in safety without thy succour."  So he prays that the congregation of Christ would be cleansed, defended, and preserved.  So maybe I was a bit rash in saying Christ must be daft trusting us to keep the good news going.  We’re not on our own.  Nothing survives without God’s help.

 

A hard point for us is the link between God's pity and God's cleansing.  People sometimes say, "I don't want your pity."  It hurts our pride.  "Pity" here, in the Collect, refers to God's compassion, passion, His disposition and temperament of mercy that is continual, unchanging.  This compassion has the strength to cleanse.  We can liken it to that power of tender empathy for us in our need that is able to reduce us to tears.  The empathy of another who truly loves me moves me.  Christ's pity on the Syrophoenician woman, the man born blind, pathetic Zacchaeus, Mary Magdalene, Bartimaeus at Jericho, you and me:  This can touch us our lives.  The emotional encounter of being loved in our real state, as our real selves, cleanses us.

 

Let His continual pity cleanse and defend us evermore.

 

 

I’m always getting caught out by my clerical colleagues who remember saints’ days, whereas I’m hard put to remember the saints, never mind their anniversaries.  This week has just been full of ones I know.  On Friday, I’m sure you remembered Hildegarde of Bingen a polymath and eccentric nun who is, perhaps kindly, remembered as a mystic.  We played some of her music to celebrate.  Thursday was Ninian.  Ninian, c. 432, was the first Christian missionary who is known to have reached the place now called Scotland.  History from that time is confused, but some people belief St Patrick, a 3^rd generation Christian, went in the opposite direction quite soon after.  My connection with Ninian is that my primary teacher took us to his church.  Now, I don’t mean a church dedicated to him, I mean the church he built, called ‘candida casa’ because it was whitewashed.  It’s much smaller than St Barnabas

 

Going back to my childhood raises in my mind these complicated issues of identity.  I was listening to an academic on the radio before lockdown.  She was complaining vigorously about government forms that, in their efforts to collect statistics, have ‘Pacific Islander’ as an ethnicity.  “Nobody,” she said, “is a Pacific Islander.  You’re a Tongan, perhaps a Samoan, or Fijian, and so on.”  Your identification is with your island home, not someone else’s catalogue of races.  Although generally unsympathetic with academics’ imagined complaints I understood and sympathized.  Entirely selfish of course,  I too was never, in real life, described as I am on NZ forms.  I might on occasion relax enough to describe myself as ‘British’, but never as European.  But what or where is my identity?  And why is it sliding away?  Is it in my childhood?  And disappearing because I’m growing old?  Is it in Scotland?  And fading because I am here?  In Britain this weekend, they will celebrate the Battle of Britain: the first block to the Nazi ambition of a world dictatorship.  The RAF Fighter Command stopped them from invading Britain.  The details these days are packed into quotes from Winston Churchill as he rallied the nation, to work together.

“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

“I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

“This was their finest hour.”

 

But before then, before the battle started, he sought to define what it was all about.  Did he appeal to national identity? To democracy?  To international law? To good and evil? 

What he said was “… the Battle of France is over; the Battle of Britain is about to begin.  Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilisation.”

 

There is my identity.  There is my cultural heritage.  The ideas, the ideals that shape our society, our relationships with the state and with society are defined by the heritage of our Christian civilisation.

 

There is even more than that.  I have been made in God’s image.  The more I claim my identity as my property, the more I push myself from God, and the more lost I am.

 

 

Jeremy

 

Rev Dr JJ Nicoll,                                            0274 361 481

Priest-in-Charge

St Barnabas, Warrington, NZ

 

 

Collect:

Holy God,

in your economy 

the last will be first and the first will be last;

help us to step aside,

and grant us such humility that we may recognise and welcome all your children

with open hands, warm hearts and generous minds, 

with your hospitality and grace. 

Through Jesus Christ our Liberator,

who is alive and reigns with you, 

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

 

Psalm 1

¹ Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,

or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;

² but their delight is in the law of the Lord,

 and on his law they meditate day and night.

³ They are like trees planted by streams of water,

which yield their fruit in its season,

and their leaves do not wither.

In all that they do, they prosper.

⁴ The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

⁶ for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

Glory to the Father and to the Son;

And to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning is now

And shall be forever.  Amen

 

The Comfortable Words.

Hear the words of comfort our Saviour Christ says to all who truly turn to him:

Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest.                                                                      Matthew 11.28

 

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,

that whoever believes in him should not perish

but have eternal life.                                                                           John 3.16

 

Hear what Saint Paul says:

This saying is true, and worthy of full acceptance,

that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.                      1 Timothy 1.15

 

Hear what Saint John says:

If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father,

Jesus Christ the righteous;

and he is the propitiation for our sins.                                               1 John 2.1,2

 

Confession

Father eternal, giver of light and grace,

we have sinned against you and against our neighbour,

in what we have thought,

in what we have said and done,

through ignorance, through weakness,

through our own deliberate fault.

We have wounded your love

and marred your image in us.

We are sorry and ashamed

and repent of all our sins.

For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,

who died for us,

forgive us all that is past

and lead us out from darkness

to walk as children of light.                Amen.

 

 

Absolution

May almighty God have mercy on us,

forgive us our sins,

and bring us to everlasting life.                      Amen

 

Yes, there will be a Service at St Barnabas Church this Sunday, 12 September @ 9.30am

  Please remember to bring your mask and observe a two metre distance from other parishioners.

Pastoral Letter in time of Covid Δ 2021, 12 Sept Trinity 15

St Barnabas Anglican Church, Warrington, New Zealand 

Pastoral Letter in time of Covid Δ 2021, 12 Sept Trinity 15 

Blessings and prayers for Hilary, Rosalie, Carolyn, Claire, Kieran and Casey and the greater Ireland family. 

Readings: Proverbs 1:20-33 Psalm 19 James 3:1-12 Mark 8:27-38 

²⁷ Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” ²⁸ And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” ³⁰ And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. ³¹ Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” ³⁴ He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. ³⁶ For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? ³⁷ Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? ³⁸ Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 

Dear Sisters and Brothers, 

Grace and peace to you from God. 

It’s been a hard week, with the saddest of landmarks in the history of St Barnabas. On Tuesday we laid to rest Basil who must surely be the greatest servant in the history of our little church. I say that not only for the length and quantity of his service, but also for its significance in preserving the church. The stand out quality of Basil is not his dedication but the strength and purity of his faith. Amid the complications and distractions of human interactions, what mattered to Basil was the good news of Jesus Christ. 

Basil has been laid in the place Hilary and he picked back in 1981. It was a beautiful morning, warm and sunny, the graveyard at its best and the trees full of birds. I am struck by the fact that while Basil knew for 40 years where he would go, God knew from the creation that Basil’s service would bring him there. 

Nature has its own balance and Rowena has a new granddaughter. Mother and child are doing well, and granny floating on air. Blessings to Erica and all her family. 

Peter is progressing well and has moved to ISIS. I admire his fortitude, and thanks to Helen Beamish and Louise for the news. 

Ray has had a busy week, struggling against nature, technology, and Diocesan paperwork. I admire his persistence and am grateful for what he has achieved. I will attach the Covid plan approved by the Bishop, not only for your entertainment (or to help you sleep) but so you can see Ray’s efforts. 

I am saddened by all we have lost to Covid. One of the things we can see in the Auckland delta outbreak is the nature, the character, of a church. Where has Covid been transmitted from one person to another? Within ‘bubbles’, mainly families, sharing a home, sharing a family. Early on the authorities were worried about the social life of the young people who were infected: sports teams, pubs, night clubs and the casino. But we don’t hear of these places now. Loud and full of alcohol perhaps, but not so significant for human contact. Nearly half of the infections came from a church. We speak of ourselves as a family, I call you ‘Sisters and Brothers’, so I should not be surprised to find proof of this in infection rates. What we share, the body of Christ, is special. We cannot turn the clock back, but our fortitude now in keeping the work of church alive, will bring rewards in time. Jesus walked a hard road with hardly a complaint in order that we have church. 

Humans seem to have a natural inclination to collecting mementoes of our lives. In my bachelor days I used to get a coffee mug everywhere I went. When we were engaged and I had to reveal my faults to her before she found out the hard way, I showed her not just a few dozen on shelves, but 3 tea chests that I still had to unpack. Happily, it didn’t faze her at all. Indeed, she accurately predicted that it was the least of her problems. The medieval church was desperate for souvenirs, and churches used to fight for bones of saints or fragments of the true cross. Material connections to God. Jesus left us nothing like that. He didn’t write a book, conquer the Romans or establish a Christian state. 

Jesus left us ourselves. We have a sacrament, the breaking of bread, and ourselves. He must have been daft. It’s so important. The good news that God loves us and can give us eternal life, if we can only complete the training course that will make us more than we are, more than we can ever be if we have only ourselves for strength. Yet He only left us ourselves. No tools, no magic spells, no comfort blankets. He left us ourselves and told us to create God’s world. 

Will we stick at it till we do it? 

I look forward to seeing some of you tomorrow. Many will be unable to come and I commend to you not only the prayers below, but also the Bishop’s Morning Prayer service which you can join from the Diocese web site. (Calledsouth.org.nz) God’s blessing to you all, and to all in need at this time. 

Jeremy 

Rev Dr JJ Nicoll, 0274 361 481 Priest-in-Charge St Barnabas, Warrington, NZ

Collect: 

Almighty God, 

you are Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, 

the Word made flesh. 

Grant us the courage to take up our cross, 

and bear it gladly for the sake of the gospel, 

risking mockery and rejection, 

following the example of Jesus. 

Through Jesus Christ our Liberator, 

who is alive and reigns with you, 

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

one God, now and for ever. Amen 

Summary of the Law 

Our Lord Jesus Christ said: 

The first commandment is this: 

‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. 

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 

with all your soul, with all your mind, 

and with all your strength.’ 

The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ 

There is no other commandment greater than these. 

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 

Amen. Lord, have mercy 

Proverbs 1:20-33 

²⁰ Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice. 

²¹ At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: 

²² “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? 

²³ Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you. 

²⁴ Because I have called and you refused, have stretched out my hand and no one heeded, 

²⁵ and because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, 

²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when panic strikes you, 

²⁷ when panic strikes you like a storm, and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. 

²⁸ Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but will not find me. ²⁹ Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, 

³⁰ would have none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof, 

³¹ therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and be sated with their own devices. 

³² For waywardness kills the simple, and the complacency of fools destroys them; 

³³ but those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.” 

Intersession 

In the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ, let us pray to the Father. 

Almighty and ever-living God, who by thy holy apostle hast taught us to make prayers and supplications, and to give thanks, for all men: we humbly beseech thee most mercifully to receive these our prayers, which we offer unto thy divine majesty; beseeching thee to inspire continually the universal Church with the spirit of truth, unity and concord; and grant that all they that do confess thy holy name may agree in the truth of thy holy word, and live in unity and godly love. 

We beseech thee also to lead all nations in the way of righteousness and peace; and so to direct all kings and rulers, that under them thy people may be godly and quietly governed. And grant to all that are put in authority, that they may truly and impartially administer justice, to the punishment of wickedness and vice, and to the maintenance of thy true religion and virtue. 

Give grace, O heavenly Father, to all bishops, priests and deacons, especially to thy servant Steve our bishop, that they may both by their life and doctrine set forth thy true and lively word, and rightly and duly administer thy holy sacraments. Guide and prosper, we pray thee, those who are labouring for the spread of thy gospel among the nations, and enlighten with thy Spirit all places of education and learning; that the whole world may be filled with the knowledge of thy truth. 

And to all thy people give thy heavenly grace; and specially to this congregation here and scattered, that, with meek heart and due reverence, they may hear and receive thy holy word, truly serving thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life. And we most humbly beseech thee of thy goodness, O Lord, to comfort and succour all them who in this transitory life are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity. And we commend to thy gracious keeping, O Lord, all thy servants departed this life in thy faith and fear, beseeching thee, according to thy promises, to grant them refreshment, light and peace. And here we give you most high praise and hearty thanks for all your saints, who have been the chosen vessels of thy grace, and lights of the world in their several generations; and we pray that, rejoicing in their fellowship and following their good examples, we may be partakers with them of thy heavenly kingdom. 

Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake, our only mediator and advocate. 

Amen.

Pastoral Letter in time of Covid Δ 2021, 5 Sept Trinity 14

 

St Barnabas Anglican Church,  Warrington, New Zealand

Pastoral Letter in time of Covid Δ

2021,  5 Sept       Trinity 14

Blessings and prayers for Hilary, Rosalie, Carolyn, Claire, Kieran and Casey and the greater Ireland family.

 

Readings:

Prov 22:1-2, 8-9,  22-23

Ps 125

James 2:1-17

Mark 7:24-37

²⁴ From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre.  He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there.  Yet he could not escape notice, ²⁵ but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet.  ²⁶ Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin.  She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  ²⁷ He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”  ²⁸ But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”  ²⁹ Then he said to her,  “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.”  ³⁰ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.  ³¹ Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.  ³² They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him.  ³³ He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue.  ³⁴ Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”  ³⁵ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.  ³⁶ Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.  ³⁷ They were astounded beyond measure, saying,  “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

 

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

 

Grace and peace to you from God.

I’ve been told the Lectionary is always appropriate to the occasion.  It’s hard to see it when this story comes round, as it does so often.  I have preached on this before, trying to argue that it was less bad than it sounded.  You may remember that Roger took exception to what I said.  I don’t know he wasn’t right.  It seems really awful on any level, and trying to justify it sounds like making excuses for a friend.  (Remember, what a friend we have in Jesus).  My understanding of this narrative is limited.  The only redeeming features are that the woman is not as horrified as we think she should be (presumably she understood better than I) and the child was cured.

Always read the Bible remembering that God and Jesus love us.  I’m not going to put any of my arguments about this story down in black and white.  None are strong enough or consistent enough not to be dismantled if you have time to think, but Jesus travelled all the way to Tyre, and this is what the evangelists remembered afterwards.  It certainly made them think.

 

Psalm 125 A Song of Ascents.

¹ Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,

which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

² As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people,

from this time on and forevermore.

³ For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous,

so that the righteous might not stretch out their hands to do wrong.

⁴ Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,

and to those who are upright in their hearts.

⁵ But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways

the Lord will lead away with evildoers.

Peace be upon Israel!

 

A simple prayer that asks for sinners to be removed from the midst of Zion, so that it may be worthy of the Lord.

 

Proverbs 22

22 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favour is better than silver or gold.

² The rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord is the maker of them all.

 

⁸ Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of anger will fail.

⁹ Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.

 

²² Do not rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate;

²³ for the Lord pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them.

 

It’s not often we read proverbs, and today’s extract is messy.  Three couplets picked out, perhaps the whole proverb would be too much good advice for a single Sunday.

 

 

There is a provisional plan to inter Basil on Tuesday morning at 11am.  Sadly, because of the level 3 restrictions, you can’t be there.  Please remember the family at that time, and give yourself a few moments to remember Basil’s love of Christ and his long service to St Barnabas.  Long ago (1981, I think) Basil and Hilary picked a spot slightly below the church, next to a friend, and in the row below Father Geoff, if that helps you visualise it.

 

God’s blessing to you all, and to all in need at this time.  Please use the prayers and scripture below.

 

Jeremy

 

Rev Dr JJ Nicoll,                                            0274 361 481

Priest-in-Charge

St Barnabas, Warrington, NZ

 

 

 

Collect:

Healing God,

you speak into the hurting and wounded places; 

empower us to speak your vision of wholeness,

and turn us to action in the face of injustice,

that empowered by the Spirit we may be agents of your healing love. 

Through Jesus Christ our Liberator,

who is alive and reigns with you, 

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.                 Amen

 

Summary of the Law

Our Lord Jesus Christ said:

The first commandment is this:

‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

with all your soul, with all your mind,

and with all your strength.’

The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’

There is no other commandment greater than these.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Amen. Lord, have mercy

 

 

The Beatitudes

Let us hear our Lord’s blessing on those who follow him.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness,

for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful,

for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they shall be called children of God.

Blessed are those who suffer persecution for righteousness’ sake,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

 

Confession

Father eternal, giver of light and grace,

we have sinned against you and against our neighbour,

in what we have thought,

in what we have said and done,

through ignorance, through weakness,

through our own deliberate fault.

We have wounded your love

and marred your image in us.

We are sorry and ashamed

and repent of all our sins.

For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,

who died for us,

forgive us all that is past

and lead us out from darkness

to walk as children of light.                Amen.

 

 

Absolution

Almighty God, our heavenly Father,

who in his great mercy

has promised forgiveness of sins

to all those who with heartfelt repentance and true faith

turn to him:

have mercy on us;

pardon and deliver us from all our sins;

confirm and strengthen us in all goodness;

and bring us to everlasting life;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.                       Amen