5 February 2012Reaffirming God’s Covenant With Humankind This morning in our worship we will be reaffirming God’s covenant with humankind, and renewing our own covenant commitment to God, the source of life and love for ourselves and all creation. In the 16th & 17th centuries English Puritans had the custom of making personal covenants with God. In Congregationalism, during this period, the custom of covenanting was broadened to include a Church Covenant that focussed on the relationship between members forming a congregation. During this same period the name ‘Covenanters’ was also given to several bodies of Presbyterians in Scotland who bound themselves by religious oaths to maintain the cause of their religion. There was a strong element of repentance and desire for personal reformation behind these oaths. John Wesley was strongly influenced by the devotional Puritan practices of his parents and the ‘Renewal of the Covenant’ became a distinctive feature of the Methodist revival within the broader ‘Dissenting movement’. For Wesley the Covenant was a solemn reaffirmation of the one covenant which binds people to God in Christ and to each other. As we gather this morning we stand in a long tradition of faithful people who have both understood, and wished to reaffirm, the centrality of Christ in their lives, and the ways in which God – the source of life and love – has and will continue to sustain all creation. God has established the covenant with all humankind and our act of renewing the covenant this morning is a response to that gift of grace and love. So then, as we begin a new year together let us reaffirm our commitment to God and one another; that as the Body of Christ in this place we may give practical expression to God’s grace and love in our world. 29 January 2012Creating epiphanies of beauty Consider the craft of the potter as expressed by Cecilia Davis Cunningham:
“It is every artisan’s hope that what is produced will be considered beautiful both in its function and in its being. For the potter who creates the most utilitarian of objects – cups, vases, bowls, teapots – there is a constant challenge (and opportunity) to put beauty into work. This is our modest way of reaffirming the beauty of the larger creation. ‘Beauty will save the world,’ says father Zosima in The Brothers Karamasov, and in that rather large task of world salvation the artist plays a modest but real role: to create epiphanies of beauty in the mundane surroundings of everyday life.”
Our green banners in church this morning remind us we are in the season of Epiphany. The word ‘epiphany’ means to experience a manifestation of the divine in the context of ordinary human existence; that our world can be touched by the sacred.
We may not be potters able to transform ordinary pots or bowls into things of beauty, but we do have imaginations that enable us to perceive the presence of the sacred in simple acts of kindness, the squealed delight of a child or blue haze of the distant Brindabellas.
So then, in our worship this morning and in every moment of our lives, may we be open to the small epiphanies of joy and life and hope around us; that we too may touch the sacred presence of a reality greater than ourselves.
22 January 2012Forty years on... Do you recall what happened on 26 January 1972, forty years ago next Thursday? Four young Aboriginal activists, who coalesced around Chicka Dixon, set up camp on the lawns in front of Parliament House and established an embassy from the Aboriginal nation, implying Aboriginal people felt strangers in their own land.
In the Canberra Times last week, recalling the event, Jack Waterford wrote: “One did not have to look at the colour of their skin. They could be identified, then and now, as the group with the worst health, the worst education, the highest unemployment, the poorest housing, lowest income, most pauperised, most jailed, most institutionalised, and most bossed around by the welfare system. In 1972, in two-thirds of geographic Australia, one in every four Aboriginal babies was not making it to age one. Now it’s one in 40, one rare statistic that is better, if still five times worse than the rest of Australia.”
I mention this today to draw your attention to celebrations being organised by Aboriginal people, but open to all, on the lawns before Old Parliament House this coming Thursday, Australia Day. The opening ceremony is at 11.00 am (advertised overpage). As Waterford suggests the ‘Tent Embassy’ belongs not only to Aboriginal history but the general history of our nation.
I was in Canberra in 1972 as a young economics graduate in the Department of Trade & Industry but did not get involved with the embassy, something I now regret, although having participated in earlier land rights’ demonstrations in Melbourne. However 40 years on there is opportunity to redress earlier inaction. Little has improved. There is as much need as ever for all Australians to acknowledge and seek justice for the original inhabitants of this land.
I believe Waterford is right in suggesting we avoid the issue of justice for Aboriginal Australians “on the comfortable premise – now effectively a federal and state premise – that the problem is Aborigines themselves.”
I was silent then but, forty years on, this coming Thursday have an opportunity to lend my voice to the continuing conversation seeking justice for all peoples in the land I call home.
15 January 2012Being receptive to God’s call on our lives Just two weeks ago last night members of the Toe Talatalanoa Congregation gathered in this church, and members of the Canberra Tamil Christian Fellowship in the Riley Hall, to welcome in the new year in their annual watchnight service, or Po L’eo. The twofold purpose was to give thanks for the past year and to commit ourselves anew to God as we entered the joys and challenges of the new.
Being at night it was also an opportunity to sit quietly, receptive, and reflect on the passing of time and the journey of life. I was reminded of the watchnight service by this morning’s reading from the Hebrew Scriptures (1 Sam 3:1-10) in which the young Samuel is wakened from sleep in the temple. Without fully understanding, he becomes attentive to the silence of the night such that he hears the voice of God calling to him. He responds with those beautiful words of both commitment and trust: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”
In our Christmas Eve service, just three weeks ago last night, we reflected on a poem by Ross Langmead called ‘Night Watch’. On night watch at sea the poet finds the ‘chance to lean and think and contemplate the sky’. The poet muses: Some peace here Lord, I know.
Some quiet…
Even so, I’m not at rest,
I must concern myself with cares:
Of home, of life, of ladders of success…
Lord, I know I need them not,
And yet…
Help me to take the silence of this night
Into my soul,
And trust, in peace, until the coming of the Light.
As we stand at the beginning of this new-year may we be open and receptive to what the spirit of Christ may be saying to us both in our personal lives and the life of our congregation. 25 December 2011Santa Claus, God’s shill Do you know what a ‘shill’ is? I certainly didn’t until recently when preparing our Advent studies on John the Baptist. A ‘shill’ is a ‘decoy’ or ‘accomplice’ working with someone selling a product or service who pretends to be an enthusiastic customer. The shill’s task is to encourage others present, unaware of the set-up, to purchase the product. Every year, it seems, someone suggests Christmas has become too commercialised and questions whether or not the Church should include Santa Claus in its celebrations. But what if, as Jesuit Fr John Shea suggests, Santa is God’s shill generating a spirit of generosity and giving among people. Creating an atmosphere of peace and joy – for children especially – Santa stimulates our imagination to the great mystery that surrounds us all, preparing the way for the coming of Christ. Gift-giving also generates a sense of connectedness with those around us as Christ sought to do. Would Christmas be Christmas without Santa Claus and gift-giving? “Of course it would,” argues Shea, “but it would not be as wonderful a party as it is with them.” Christmas is a time to celebrate the eternal mystery of how the Spirit of Christ can permeate and transform our world, entering into our world in vulnerable human form as a baby. The Spirit of Christmas is one of conversion and transformation; that things can change, that greed can give way to generosity, that self-interest can give way to compassion, that fear can give way to love, and war to peace. And for the Spirit to permeate our world we need to create hearts and minds receptive to that transforming possibility. Perhaps then, we ourselves can become God’s shill and prepare the way for the coming of Christ this Christmas. Will we allow ourselves to recapture the spirit of Christmas’ past; the joy we felt as children in giving and receiving gifts, a sense of this day being different from all other days, a day for optimism in the family of humanity, a day when things can be turned upside down and new life, new hope rekindled. Perhaps today we can be God’s shill
Happy Christmas, Ivan Roberts 8 December 2011Consent As I reflected this week on Luke’s account of the annunciation by the angel Gabriel to Mary, I was reminded by a ministry colleague of the following poem ‘Consent’, by Denise Levertov: This was the minute no one speaks of,
when she could still refuse.
A breath unbreathed,
Spirit,
suspended,
waiting.
She did not cry, “I cannot, I am not worthy,”
nor, “I have not the strength.”
She did not submit with gritted teeth,
raging, coerced.
Bravest of all humans,
consent illumined her.
The room filled with its light,
the lily glowed in it,
and the iridescent wings.
Consent,
courage unparalleled,
opened her utterly. Mary is often portrayed passively in nativity dramas, the humble girl who meekly offers herself up to God’s plan. But Levertov gives us insight into what it means to intentionally commit ourselves to God’s calling. Mary may not have been ‘powerful’ in the way the world measures power but, as a conscious act of self-will, she chose to be an agent of God’s love and, in that moment, found the strength to do so.
Even though at times we may doubt our own ability to do much when intervention is needed – either in personal or social relationships or to challenge the injustice we see around us – like Mary we too may discover within ourselves the capacity to become catalysts for change in our world. In the act of consent, we too may be ‘opened utterly’ through the creative spirit of Christ at work in our lives.
11 December 2011A Christmas Bowl Story from Gaza I recently read the autobiography “I Shall Not Hate” by Palestinian Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Izzeldun Abuelaish who shows a remarkable ability to forgive, despite three of his daughters and a niece being killed by an Israeli tank shell during the Israeli incursion into Gaza in January 2009. Despite his generosity of spirit I sometimes despair there can ever be peace in the land of Jesus’ birth. But just when I feel powerless to do anything, a story such as the following from the Christmas Bowl renews my hope: “My name is Dina and I am eight years old. I am in the third grade and I live in Al Mashahra neighborhood in Gaza. I have lots of brothers and sisters and before there were seven of us, but my brother died of cancer and now there are six. I am very sad and I miss him. The social worker at the family centre told my mother about the psychosocial program and so my mother registered me there. I like all of the activities there, but I wish that they could include computer games in the program. In my spare time, I like to jump the rope and play with the wheel with my friends, and I like to swim and paint. When I grow up I want to become a teacher. I was very happy when we went to the beach. This was the first time I’ve been on a trip and it was one of the best days of my life. We played, and there were games and prizes for winners as well! We also receive medical services. I was very happy to participate in the program as I got to know many new friends. I will keep participating in the program all year. Thank you friends at Act for Peace!” It is difficult to imagine what life is like living under military occupation. But for the families of Palestine, and especially Gaza, there is often no memory of anything else. Children are particularly vulnerable, and many do not have the chance to play freely and enjoy a healthy, happy childhood. Act for Peace’s partners provide not only life-saving medicine for malnourished children, but also psychosocial programs, as above, which help children cope with the stress and anxiety they experience in daily life. At times the task can seem overwhelming, but where will our world be if we ever lose hope and trust in the power of God’s transforming love and compassion. As we share in our family service today, and delight in our children’s presence, let us thank God for the Christmas Bowl and other agencies which nable us to express, in practical ways, our commitment and desire to help heal and renew our world. 4 December 2011Lament is the start of renewal A few weeks ago in church we were led through the dramatic story song “Gifts of the Furies” exploring the contemporary crisis of global climate change. Part One set the scene where all life is endangered because of disharmony between nature and culture. Ethos, the divinity of civilised wisdom, warned that unless we acknowledge this discord there can be no healing, concluding with the words: “Lament is the start of renewal” I was reminded of the “Furies” by this morning’s Gospel where John the Baptist comes proclaiming “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Repentance literally means to ‘turn around’ or discover a whole new orientation for life. But such radical change also necessitates an honest appraisal of our selves, what is important to us, and an acknowledgement of where there may be need for healing in our lives or relationships. That is the role of the prayer of confession as part of our weekly worship. It is a time for acknowledging our humanity, human frailty, and those things in our lives that may prevent us from embracing life as fully as we would wish. Lament is not only the start of renewal between ourselves and all creation, but also the renewal of our lives and relationships with one another. When we dare to appear clearly to ourselves in the act of prayer, we may experience a sense of release and renewal through the loving acceptance of God who understands our humanity. As we journey through Advent may we be open to the possibility of repentance, a whole new orientation in our lives and relationships, daring to believe the love and grace of God can heal and transform. For lament is the start of renewal. 27 November 2011Learning the Lesson of the Fig Tree This week as I reflected on today’s Gospel reading, couched in apocalyptic first century language about the ‘end times’, I was heartened by Jesus’ gentle lesson from the fig tree: “as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he (the Son of Man) is near, at the very gates.” Jesus certainly lived through tumultuous times, as did Mark when he wrote his Gospel, scholars believe, around 68-70 CE. The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70CE by the Romans, and Israel ceased to exist as a nation. It is therefore not surprising that Jesus, and Mark after him, used alarming language to alert those who listened of the need for radical change in their lives and society. But there amidst all the cataclysmic language is Jesus’ ‘tender’ image of the fig tree that put out its shoots to welcome the summer. For those who can read the signs, the future is not to be feared but embraced as the context in which we can work with Christ to make the ways of God – compassion, justice and peace – a reality in our world. It reminded me of a prayer by Australian cartoonist and poet Michael Leunig from his “Common Prayer Collection”: “Dear God, we celebrate spring’s returning …. Let us be moved by this vast and gentle insistence that goodness shall return, that warmth and life shall succeed, and help us to understand our place within this miracle. Let us see that as a bird now builds its nest, bravely, with bits and pieces, so we must build human faith. It is our simple duty; ……our natural and vital role within the miracle of spring: the creation of faith.” So then, as Advent people, let us not fear the future but read the signs of summer in a budding fig tree, nurturing faith within ourselves, one another and the wider community in which we live. As the church, may we be a people large in hope that never lose faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ to heal, restore and transform the world in which we live. Amen 20 November 2011Thanks and Yes Today we celebrate the Festival of Christ the King – acknowledging Christ as our Lord – on the last Sunday of the Church year. Next Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent as we begin a new year anticipating Christ’s coming into our lives and our world on Christmas Day. Such occasions prompt us to reflect on the past year as we prepare for the new. As I think back over the last twelve months I remember some notable occasions such as the opening of our refurbished Early Morning Centre, our Caring for Creation month with excellent speakers and performance of ‘The Gifts of the Furies’, our involvement in the SIEV X memorial anniversary, the establishment of the student house in Campbell and a wide range of social and Bible study activities that strengthened our sense of community. There were also sad occasions such as the passing of Enid Chapple, Dorothy French, Dulcie Selvanantham & Hilary Webster, yet even these were times of thanksgiving for lives well lived. Despite our continuing concern for Brendan and family, as we look back we have much to be thankful for and it is therefore not surprising that Psalm 100 should be set down in the Lectionary for today. It is a summons to come into the ‘Temple’ with joy, to: Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
Go into his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him and call upon his name. Indeed it is right that we should offer thanks for what has been as we move into the new. I am reminded of the short but profound prayer that Dag Hammarsjold, former UN Secretary General, once offered: For all that has been, Thanks.
To all that shall be, Yes. And so, as we stand between two years, let us be thankful for the ways in which God has been with us in the journey of life and, as we give thanks, let those memories and experiences shape our ‘yes’ or response to the future. On this festival day of Christ the King we acknowledge and give thanks for the claim that Christ has on our lives, and pray that he will continue to protect, guide and challenge us as we move into God’s future. 13 November 2011Risk and opportunity A few years ago I used this morning’s Gospel parable, about the servant who buried his talent in the ground for fear of his master, with a group of high school students. Their immediate reaction was sympathy for the third servant. Not just because of the punishment he received but because they felt he was misunderstood. He was not lazy but feared failure. They could remember times when they had tried something new and feared the consequences. The man in our story was afraid of failing, possibly of looking foolish in the eyes of others. Worse still, he probably doubted his ability to do the job. It is easier to live with a master’s anger than to live with the truth we fear of ourselves. Being human is about doubting ourselves at times. We may try to avoid situations that take us beyond our ‘comfort zone’ but inevitably they catch up with us. We can try to rationalise them away like the man in the story – “my master is only interested in more money, why should I go along with that”, and so on. But doubts grow, we step back, and are left feeling disappointed in ourselves. No doubt we have all experienced such feelings. But anxiety does not disappear by ignoring those doubts, but by accepting them. Until we do our actions are inhibited, the potential within us buried deep in the earth of our soul, and we are diminished. We live in challenging times, not only at the global level, but also in the way people view life and their place in the scheme of things. As the church, we can no longer assume all people are open to the possibility of a religious view of the world. But in his story of the talents, I sense, Jesus is challenging us to step out in faith and venture the untried road. Risking the way of Jesus is to move into the unknown and the untried, to see the opportunities of the new day and to serve our present age with compassion, imagination and courage. 6 November 2011Reciting the Past Psalm 78, set down in the lectionary for this week, was originally used at the commencement of worship in the Temple at Jerusalem, possibly at the time of renewing the Covenant. In singing the psalm people recited the saving acts of God from the past, especially during the Exodus, and were reminded of God’s faithfulness and given encouragement for the future. Traditionally today, the first Sunday in November, is set aside as All Saints Day; a time to remember the faithful witness of those who have served the church in generations past. Psalm 78 appears very appropriate for such an occasion. Today, with members of Blacktown Uniting Church visiting us along with Liva, it will be good to reflect on some of the ‘saints’ from our respective congregations – Canberra City, Toe Talatalanoa and Blacktown – and the formative influence they have had on our church communities. Just as worshippers in the Temple recited stories of God’s faithfulness, so too we seek to discern the spirit of Christ’s presence as members of our congregations recite stories from past generations of our communities. In retelling our stories we are not only giving thanks for the past but offering encouragement to one another as we seek to be faithful in keeping alive their witness in our own time and place. Relating those stories also helps us to understand the ethos that shaped the the life and work of each congregation. Let us then take seriously our responsibility to our children and succeeding generations; to offer the same assurance and hope given to us by the ‘saints’ who preceded us. And so “what we have heard and know, what our ancestors have told us we shall not conceal from their descendents, but will tell to a generation still to come.” | 
The Rev Ivan Roberts is the minister at City Church.