Candle Lighting

We light this flame to affirm that new life and light
is ever waiting to break through to enlighten our ways:
that new truth is ever waiting
to break through to illumine our minds,
and that new love is ever waiting
to break through to warm our hearts.

May we be open to this light,
and to the rich possibilities that it brings us. 

Call to Worship

Yesterday is no longer in our hands, but belongs to our history as individuals, and to the history of humankind.

We remember the past with thanks for all goodness, with sorrow for our failures and missed opportunities and with joy for our achievements and all love.

Tomorrow is not yet ours; it belongs to a future for which we work and plan, but can never possess as it is always unfolding.

We look forward to the future with hope for the possibilities, with some hesitations about its uncertainties and with anticipation for the new horizons it will open.

The time we have is now, our time to be fully alive, to celebrate life, to enjoy and use the gifts of God, to allow grace to shape our hearts and lives until we reflect the fullness of God’s love.

We welcome this day with all it brings, ready to live as the people of God and grow into the likeness of Christ in this place and for these times.

Let our lives become a continuous flow of worship as we live awake to the glory of God in each moment.

Poetry for the soul

The Real Work by Wendell Berry

It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.

The impeded stream is the one that sings.

The Lord’s Prayer (translated from Aramaic)

O Breathing Life,

your Name shines everywhere!

Release a space to plant your Presence here.

Imagine your possibilities now.

Embody your desire in every light and form.

Grow through us this moment’s bread and wisdom.

Untie the knots of failure binding us,

as we release the strands we hold of others’ faults.

Help us not forget our Source,

Yet free us from not being in the Present.

From you arises every Vision,

Power and Song from gathering to gathering.

Amen – May our future actions grow from here!

Scripture reading: Matthew 13:51-52

⁵¹ ‘Have you understood all this?’ They answered, ‘Yes.’ 

⁵² And he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.’

Reflection

So, first of all, let’s unpack a key phrase from these two verses – the scribe of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus refers to the scribes who are trained for the kingdom of heaven as the ones who bring out the new and old treasures from the storehouse. In Jesus’ time, the scribes were the ones who were immersed in the law and in the commentaries on the law. They were the ones who were experts in deciphering and applying the scriptures. So whenever there was a question about what is right for the people of Israel, the people of Yahweh, anyone could go to a scribe and ask how they interpreted the laws in the light of what the prophets said and in the context of the moment.

You are probably aware that most of Jesus’ interactions with scribes were less than positive, and he had some pretty harsh criticism for them and the way they carried out this role. Which makes it interesting that here he takes that title and role and uses it in a way that implies there is something different about how interpretation of tradition and application of scripture is meant to happen among disciples of the kingdom of heaven.

Through the gospel stories we can see that Jesus was training the disciples. He sent them out on preaching journeys, he taught them to pray, he showed them how to teach and to heal, how to tell stories and ask questions. If he was training his disciples to be scribes of the kingdom of heaven, what was the difference between the way the scribes and Pharisees carried out that role and the way that Jesus was teaching the disciples?

I think there are two images that help us understand this.

The first is the veil in the temple that kept the holy of holies separate from the inner sanctuary – the veil that Matthew tells us was split in two at the moment of Jesus’ death on the cross. There is no separation. God is not an object for our worship or even our love. God is love, inseparable from our loving, part of every loving encounter, every loving intention and expression no matter how incomplete and flawed – God is present and knowable as love. This is a knowing that is not about belief or expertise in Greek and Hebrew. This is a knowing that is open to all, whether we are highly educated or illiterate; whether we enjoy full mental functioning or are differently abled or experiencing declining mental capacity.

We know love. We don’t need a PhD to know love.

And since there is no separation, since God has made it possible for anyone and everyone to experience and receive the fullness of life through the fullness of love, we don’t need a special expert to tell us what love is, or to tell us how love loves, how grace flows, how Spirit moves. Each of us is equally able to let scripture speak into the depths of our hearts and slowly, gently but inevitably break us open to greater capacity. Slowly we are able to receive more love, more grace, more wisdom and we are able to allow the flow of grace to move through us.

This is the training that will help us become scribes of the kingdom of heaven. But I know that this is not generally how we have been taught to approach scripture. For the most part, we have continued with the same approach as the scribes and Pharisees.

Forgive me if this is not your approach, but this is how I was taught, and it seems quite widespread…. We approach the scriptures as a blueprint for how to live. There are some clear guidelines, some laws that are set in stone (literally!), and some stories with interpretive possibilities and obscurities. We are often aware of some of the aspects of the different culture and context that the stories come out of which can add to their being hard to understand at times. So, understandably,  we look to experts to explain and interpret.

This is where the second image comes in.

I think of the scriptures as more like a plate glass window than a blueprint for how to build a good life, please God and get to heaven When you are out and about and you look into a café or a shop through a plate glass window, and when the light is right, you can see into the shop but you can also see your own reflection. Some of the light particles are passing through the glass, illuminating what is on the other side, and some of the light particles are bouncing off the glass and showing you your own image. This is what happens when we approach the scripture with love, from the heart space, not the head. When we are looking to understand the depths of God and our own life together. When we are willing to look deeply at both at the same time, to see what God sees in us, to let God look on us through the words of scripture and at the same time, to gaze into the heart of God, to open to what God reveals and to receive the grace of this loving exchange.

The training of the disciples to become scribes of the kingdom of heaven is the training to recognise, receive and share love. Everyone who follows is called to this training. Everyone who follows is a scribe and disciple of the kingdom of heaven. Which means that it is worth giving some attention to this training… there is a fundamental transformation we are called to in partnership with God’s saving, loving, healing grace.

It’s a transformation that  happens in the secret chambers of the heart, not the head.

So our training needs to focus on what we hold and treasure in these chambers, not what we can memorise or explain or give justification for.

It’s a process that requires us to trust God and to learn to listen, to trust the Holy Spirit as our inner guide and to trust the Holy Spirit in our communal gathering – to learn to listen and trust together.

Questions for Conversation

I wonder what your response to that different approach to scripture and discipleship is?

I wonder how you feel about trusting God to heal and guide your heart through your deep listening to and wrestling with scripture?

There is training for those who are scribes and disciples of the kingdom of heaven – what has your experience of discipleship training been like?

Have you learned new skills or developed deeper understanding as you have grown as a follower of Jesus ? How do you see the various relationships, activities, obligations, values and commitments in your life reflecting your desire to live as a disciple of Christ?

What are the treasures in the household of your faith? – what are the stories or experiences you cherish, people who you look up to, ideals you aspire to, practices you commit to keeping and deepening?

How do you know what to treasure? How do you discern what has value? What are the values that guide your choice and your discerning whether to conserve and share or whether to let go and shed?

These are questions to journey with, to talk over and maybe to write and reflect upon….

It may help you to consider what troubles you when it is changed/absent/disrespected? It may bother you when the church seating is rearranged, for example. This is a sign of value to you….but what’s the value attached to orderly seating in the ‘usual’ formation?

Conversely, consider what delights you when it is present/ honoured/ celebrated/affirmed? What is the value that you associate with those things? For example, you may love to hear the children’s story and see the youngsters gathering to listen. Is that because it reminds you of the time when you brought your children to church? Is it because it assures you that there is a future for the church in these children? Is it because you love stories? What are you actually valuing?

I wonder if there are others you might ask these questions of?

Prayers of the People

Offering blessing

God, you are good to us, providing all we need for life. God, you are good to us, guiding us in your way of joy. God, you are good to us, restoring us to peace and opening our eyes to abundance.

We offer our lives for your service, our gifts for your blessing and our hopes for your love to be all in all.

Amen.

Blessing