Northcote Takapuna Methodist Parish
Welcome
If you are a new comer, please make yourself known. Morning tea will be served after worship and you are invited to share. Parish Superintendent Rev Peter Norman Phone 442 1945 Email: pete.norman@xtra.co.nz Mobile 027 378 7042 **Please note the Minister has Friday off. Office also closed Fridays.**
Takapuna Church
Corner Lake Road & Tennyson Avenue PO Box 331013, Takapuna, Auckland, 0740
Sunday Worship, 10am Parish Stewards Richard Biddle Ashleen Theunisen
Phone 022 018 6968 Phone 479 7969
Email: richardbiddle@gmail.com Email: ashleen.j.t@gmail.com
Church Office Jan Tasker & Cathy Fraser
Phone 489 4590 Office Hours:
Email: takapunamethodist@xtra.co.nz Monday to Thursday 9am – 12 noon
St Lukes Church
16-20 Greenslade Crescent, Northcote, Auckland, 0627
Sunday Worship, 9.30am Parish Stewards Etta Spence Pat Carroll
Phone 418 4288 Phone 480 8389
Email: ettaspence@xtra.co.nz Email: patcarroll17@icloud.com
Church Office/Room Bookings
Phone 489 4590
Email: takapunamethodist@xtra.co.nz
Pentecost 25
22 November 2020
Pentecost 25 Sunday 22 November 2020
Welcome
Worship Leaders: Rev Barry Jones and Lorraine Parker Organist: Ian Ayers
Call to Worship Leader: Welcome to all who are weary, tired or burned-out. All:
We come to be refreshed and renewed in God’s presence.
Leader: Welcome to all who are anxious, worried, or burdened. All:
We come to be calmed and comforted by the Spirit.
Leader: Welcome to all who feel complacent, comfortable or detached. All:
We come to be stirred by Christ’s message for us.
Leader: All are welcome here. Come as you are. All:
Together, we will rest in God’s presence, be calmed by the Spirit, and be stirred by Christ’s message. Together we will welcome one another as we gather for worship.
Leader: Loving God, you graciously welcome and love each of us exactly as we are, and you model how we should be with each other. All:
May you be patient with us and help us as we seek to understand what your true welcome and your hospitality really means for how we should be in our communities. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Lighting the Candle We light this candle remembering that Jesus said he was the light of the world. May the light of his teaching and example guide us in our living and loving. Amen
Heritage Hymn:
When morning gilds the skies
1.
When morning gilds the skies, my heart awaking cries: May Jesus Christ be praised! alike at work and prayer to Jesus I repair: May Jesus Christ be praised!
2.
To God, the word on high the hosts of angels cry: May Jesus Christ be praised! let mortals, too, upraise their voice in hymns of praise: May Jesus Christ be praised!
3.
Let earth's wide circle round in joyful notes resound: May Jesus Christ be praised! let air and sea and sky, from depth to height, reply: May Jesus Christ be praised!
4.
Be this, when day is past, of all my thoughts the last, May Jesus Christ be praised! the night becomes as day, when from the heart we say: May Jesus Christ be praised!
5.
Be this while life is mine, my canticle divine, May Jesus Christ be praised! be this the eternal song through all the ages long, May Jesus Christ be praised!
Opening Prayer
WOV 151
Edward Caswall
Leader: God of every moment and every day, you are more real to us than our breathing, more constant than our heartbeat, more present to us than our senses,
People: yet more mysterious than we can comprehend. Dare we ask that your presence be known among us? In justice, fairness and goodness, and where wrongs are put right we know you are near. Leader: Love and gentleness, kindness and courage imprint your image on every part of life, and we know you are near. All: We praise you. We listen for you. We attend to your pulse in the whole of life. Amen. The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil for the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.
Sharing the Theme with the Young People Song:
Small things count so Jesus said 1.
Small things count, so Jesus said; cups of water, crumbs of bread, small things done because we’re kind count as big things in God’s mind.
2.
Small things make the big things grow: grains of yeast inside the dough, puffs that fill a big balloon, notes that make a happy tune.
3.
Every hair that’s on our head, every sparrow, Jesus said, God takes care of, counts and knows, God loves us from top to toes!
AA 123
Shirley Murray
Question Time Readings
Jewish Scriptures Christian Scriptures
Psalm 100 Matthew 25: 31-46
Sermon:
By what criteria are we judged?
Helen Beckingsale
Affirmation of Faith: In response to the Word, let us affirm our faith: We believe in God, whose prime concern is for the least, the last and the lost. Who calls those who have more than enough to share with those who haven’t enough. We believe in Jesus who went out of his way to engage with those who were overlooked and marginalised, the poor, the sick, the alien. We believe in the Holy Spirit whose energy empowers us to feel the despair of the poor, the apprehension felt by the sick, the loneliness of the stranger, the vulnerability of the homeless and the isolation of the prisoner. We believe that poverty, homelessness and suffering are not unalterable conditions of life. We believe they can be overcome if we co-operate with other people of faith and goodwill. Hymn:
When I needed a neighbour were you there? 1.
WOV 558
When I needed a neighbour, were you there, were you there? When I needed a neighbour, were you there? And the creed and the colour and the name won't matter, were you there?
2.
I was hungry and thirsty, were you there, were you there? I was hungry and thirsty, were you there?
3.
I was cold, I was naked, were you there, were you there? I was cold, I was naked, were you there?
4.
When I needed a shelter, were you there, were you there? When I needed a shelter, were you there?
5.
When I needed a healer, were you there, were you there? When I needed a healer, were you there? And the creed and the colour and the name won't matter, were you there?
6.
When they put me in prison, were you there, were you there? When they put me in prison, were you there?
7.
Wherever you travel, I'll be there, I'll be there, wherever you travel, I'll be there.
Sydney Carter
Dedication of the Offering Jesus draws our attention to the needs of “the least” in our community. May these, our offerings to support the work of our Faith Community, remind us of “the least” who need our support as well. Community Time
Prayers for Others Hymn:
These hills where the hawk flies lonely 1.
These hills where the hawk flies lonely, Beaches where the long surf rolls, Mountains where the snows meet heaven, These are our care. Pastures where the sheep graze calmly, Orchards where the apples grow, Gardens where the roses cluster, These are our prayer. 2.
Forests where the tree ferns tower, Rivers running strong and clear, Oceans where the great whales wander, These are our care. Race meeting race as equals, Justice for age-old wrong, Worth for ev’ry man and woman, These are our prayer.
FFS 63
3.
Cities where the young roam restless, Lives brought to deep despair, Homeless and powerless people, These are our care. Places where the Word is spoken, Hands held in serving love, Faiths of our many cultures, These are our prayer.
4.
All that the old world gave us, All that the new world brings, Language, ideas and customs, These are our care. Life finding joy and value, Faith seeking truth and light, God heard and seen in all things, This be our prayer.
Colin Gibson
Sending Forth Leader: People:
May we respond to basic needs of life: food, water, shelter, love; and offer nourishment, warmth, shelter, protection.
Leader: People:
May we recognize the stranger, and offer friendship, kindness, and welcome.
Leader: People:
May we recognize the sick, and offer comfort, peace, and patience.
Leader: All:
May we recognize the imprisoned, and offer time, graciously, out of concern and love. May our gifts meet the longings of your people. Amen.
Blessing:
“The Lord Bless you and keep you” sung by the Batavian Choir
Acknowledgements: Hymns printed by permission from CCL—Copyright Number 110126
Sermon: Text: Theme:
Matthew 25: 31 – 46 By what criteria are we judged?
Introduction: There is a golden rule in public speaking which says never begin an address with an apology. Well, I want to start this morning’s sermon with an apology of sorts. Perhaps it’s more of an explanation than an apology. Here’s the point. Six weeks ago, I preached on the theme “Can you be wealthy and a disciple of Jesus?” The sermon explored the account of a wealthy man asking Jesus what he needed to do to experience life to the full. Jesus told him to sell all he had and give the proceeds to the poor. This morning’s Gospel reading set down for worship is the parable of Jesus about the sheep and the goats; a parable about the distinction made between those who compassionately fed the hungry, gave them drink, took strangers into their homes, clothed them, tended them in their sickness and visited them in prison, and those who made no response to the needs of the least in their midst. All that I can say is that the Lectionary, which is the list of Jewish and Christian Scripture readings for each Sunday in the year, ensures that we preachers don’t dodge the hard sayings of Jesus and settle for the easy ones! Am I apologising or am I making an explanation as to why we are engaging with yet another body of teaching from Jesus which focuses on the “duty of care” to the last, the least and the lost? You be the judge! At the end of World War 11 there were two Military Tribunals established. One based in Nuremburg in Germany, and the other in Tokyo, Japan. These tribunals were appointed to pass judgment on members of the German and Japanese High Command for crimes against humanity. A reminder that all our actions have consequences and at times judgement is passed by others on the consequences of our actions. By the way, judgements don’t always address evil and moral lapses. Take for example the Nobel prize. It is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that according to Alfred Nobel’s 1895 will, are awarded “to those who during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.” The Nobel prizes make a judgement call on which people deserve to be honoured for their contributions to peace, science, and literature. Before we engage explicitly with the parable of the sheep and goats, there are a couple of questions we should ask. Firstly, is the prime focus of the parable on rewards and punishments? On the surface it might look that way. But consider this. Who really is the focus of the parable? Isn’t it the hungry and thirsty, the homeless, the destitute, the sick and the imprisoned? Jesus commends those who without any thought of reward met the needs of the last, the least and the lost.
Secondly, is the parable suggesting a moral example that we should follow? I think that is a fair conclusion to make. Jesus affirmed those whose generous compassion made life bearable for those facing hard times. Now let’s engage with the detail of the parable; The Jesus scholar, Dominic Crossan classifies the parables of Jesus into three categories; Riddle parables, example parables and challenge parables. There is no doubt that the parable of the sheep and goats is a challenge parable. Verse 31.”And when the Son of Man comes as king with all his angels with him, he will sit on his royal throne and the people of all nations shall be gathered before him. Then he will divide them into two groups, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,” At the time of Jesus there were strongly held beliefs about the coming end time, when everyone would get what they deserved. It is a belief that has little currency in the 21st Century western world. Instead of judgement being saved up for the so called ‘end of the world’ we are more likely to recognise that judgements are being made all the time. The recent General election was a judgement of sorts on all the political parties seeking re-election on the basis of what they were promising to do for the country and we its citizens. The Courts are continuously passing judgment on those who have violated the law. Verse 34 “Then the king will say to the people on his right, ‘You’re the people God has been planning the New World for since the beginning of time. You can join me there. I remember when I was starving you gave me a meal; I remember when I was thirsty and you bought me a drink; once I was a social outcast, and you invited me to your home; when I had nothing decent to wear you kitted me out; when I was unwell, you looked after me, and when I was in prison you visited me.”
Of course, those in the ‘sheep group’ have difficulty recalling when they fed, housed, clothed, and visited the King when he was sick and in prison! Kings don’t manifest any of the signs of the poor and marginalised. They protest; “When did we ever feed you when you were hungry, and thirsty, a social outcast and we made you welcome. When did we provide you with the clothes you needed and support you when you were sick and visit you in prison? It is after these protests that the king reveals the criteria for his judgment. “When you did those things for the least important of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me.” Consider where the emphasis lies in this sentence. It’s on those three words “the least important.” Caring for the least important is the criteria by which God judges us. Sydney Carter put the parable of Jesus into song.
“When I needed a neighbour, were you there, were you there? When I needed a neighbour were you there? And the creed and colour and the name won’t matter, Were you there? It has been said that one criterion for judging the merits of a country, is by assessing how it treats its prisoners! John Howard was a wealthy 18th century English gentleman. Following the Lisbon earthquake in 1755 he travelled by ship to Portugal. En route the ship he was sailing in was captured by French privateers and he was imprisoned in France. He was later released in exchange for a French officer held by the British. His imprisonment engendered an ongoing concern to improve prison conditions, not only in Britain, but also in Europe. It is estimated that he travelled 68,000kms visiting prisons in Europe and the United Kingdom and pressing for more humane living conditions for prisoners. His legacy is the “Howard League for Prison Reform” which has branches in the United Kingdom, America and here in New Zealand. Edmund Burke, the 18th Century statesman and philosopher wrote this of John Howard, “He visited all Europe – not to survey the sumptuousness of palaces, or the stateliness of temples; not to make accurate measurements of the remains of ancient grandeur, not to collect medals or collate manuscripts – but to dive into the depths of dungeons and plunge into the infections of hospitals; to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain; to take the gauge and measure of misery, depression and contempt; to remember the forgotten, to attend the neglected, to visit the forsaken, and compare and collate the miseries of all men in all countries.” While visiting a prison in the Ukraine, Howard contracted typhus and died. He was sixty-three. “ I was sick, and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.” Few passages so disclose the mind of Christ as this one – none teaches more clearly that Jesus cares supremely for the last, the least and the lost. John Wesley was fond of saying, “Go to those who need you. Go to those who need you most.” J.C.Fenton points out that the expectation of the imminent end is used in Matthew to urge people to act with charity. But the command to love one another is not dependent upon a belief that the world is coming to an end soon. It is interesting to notice that somewhere else, about the same time that Matthew was writing his Gospel, another Christian or group of Christians were producing the Gospel of John and the letters of John in which the end of the world plays very little part at all, but charity is one of the key words. “We know that we are living a new quality of life because we love one another.” It is sobering for Christians to realise that the criteria used in this parable to assess what choices we make in life do not include things like what we believe or how faithful we have been in church attendance. It is not our faith that is the criterion, but our acts of compassion that matter.
Mindful then of the teaching of Jesus, we must conclude that people of other Living Faiths, or of no faith, who practise compassion are judged favourably also. I Googled “Muslim Aid and Development Agencies” and a whole raft of Muslim agencies around the world popped up. A sobering reminder that we Christians haven’t a mortgage on humanitarian aid. We are aware of Christian World Service, World Vision, Save the Children, The Tear Fund, all doing a great job bringing relief to needy people around the world. But there are other religions and non-religious agencies that are doing the same too. In 2007, Karen Armstrong, a renowned religious author, won the notable Technology, Entertainment and Design award (TED). The award, which carries a prize of US$100,000 is given to people whom the TED foundation believes have ideas worth spreading. At the award ceremony in February 2008, Karen Armstrong asked TED to help her create, launch and propagate a Charter of Compassion that would be written by leading thinkers from a variety of major faiths, and would restore compassion to the very heart of religious and moral life. After canvassing contributions from thousands of people throughout the world a “Council of Conscience” met in Switzerland in February 2009 to compose the final version of the charter. The Charter begins with these words; Compassion compels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect. The Charter then went on to call upon all women and men To restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion. To return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or distain is illegitimate. To cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings even those regarded as enemies. The Charter of Compassion is powerful affirmation of the teaching of Jesus, that caring for the last, the least and lost is the epitome of responsible living. Points to ponder on: 1. Can we think of instances when we were disappointed in ourselves, not because of what we did to others, but because of what we failed to do for them? 2. Can we readily identify who are the ’least’ within our neighbourhood?
3. Have we ever experienced hunger, thirst, homelessness, social ostracism, sickness, and imprisonment? If we have, who responded generously to meet our needs?
Notices 22 November 2020
Church and Family Happy Birthday to Gil Salvador for Monday 23 November, to Lily Fifita for Tuesday 24 November and to Kiyan Akarsha for Friday 27 November. Today
Morning Worship Rev Barry Jones and Lorraine Parker
10.00am
This service will be live streamed from TMC at: https://takapuna.methodist.org.nz/live-stream from 10am and can also be watched at any time during the week.
This Week Thurs 26 Nov Sun 29 Nov Coming Events Tues 1 Dec
Development Team Back of church
7.30pm
Morning worship Rev Peter Norman First Sunday of Advent
10.00am
Pastoral Committee
9.30am
Fri 4 Dec
Family Carol Service at TMC Helpers needed—please see clipboard
4.00pm
Sun 6 Dec
Holy Communion Rev Peter Norman 10.00am Ice Cream Sunday –buy an icecream after Church and we’ll walk down to the beach for some fun! Bring any food for sharing.
Sun 13 Dec
Morning Worship Rev Barry Jones
10.00am
PARISH TELEPHONE DIRECTORIES We are currently updating the Telephone Directory. Please give to Jan -or you can email the office, takapunamethodist@xtra.co.nz - if you have changed your address, email or phone numbers. If you have a mobile we would appreciate that as well. We hope to have the new directories ready for distribution on 29 November. Your quick response would be very helpful. TMC Roster for next Sunday 29 November Worship Leader: Rev Peter Norman Organist: Norman Firth Welcomers: Suzy Biddle Readers: Suzy Biddle Morning Tea: Mervyn and Pamela Dine