Hearing the Shepherd's Voice

John 10:22-30

My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.

The image of sheep hearing a shepherd’s voice doesn't make much sense to us living in modern 21st century Australia. However, this imagery was made much more tangible to me by a member of a previous congregation, Burt. He served in World War 2.

But was stationed in Egypt and was sitting by an Oasis. As he sat there, he observed shepherds bringing their flocks in for water. Burt had come from the country so as he watched the shepherds, he was a little bit perplexed by what he saw. As the sheep came into the oasis, they all mingled together. What Bert then saw gave him a new insight into this biblical passage. As each of the shepherds began to leave, they would call out, each in a distinctive way. As they called out the sheep that belonged to that shepherd came out and followed the shepherd.

It was this story that gave new meaning to this imagery for Bert and then by association to me. ‘My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.’

 As I contemplated this phrase during the week ‘my sheep hear my voice’ I was led to wondering about the idea of whether we continue to listen for the shepherd's voice in our own midst and why we might even think we should do this. Why would we want to listen for Jesus’ voice?

The answer to this could be the whole sermon but I'm going to restrict it to a short answer as to why we would want to listen to Jesus’ voice. And, to do this I'm going to give two quick references from the Bible reading.

In the last words of the reading, Jesus declared, “The Father and I are one.” This claim of Jesus has echoes of the beginning of the gospel of John, in which the author makes the claim that Jesus was present at the time of creation. If Jesus is, as John claims, one with the creator of all things when we listen for Jesus, we are listening for the voice of the one who is the origin and destination of all things. Listening for Jesus’ voice we are listening to the one who created the pastures of this universe and this world in which we live.

We are listening to Jesus’ voice because it is a voice that gives to us hope in a world where there is so much suffering and pain and death. He says of his sheep, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.”

The promise of eternal life is a complex concept. Just last week a member of the congregation asked me what I thought internal life was. I am not going to dedicate this whole sermon to answering that question, but I'll make just a few comments. Why do we listen to Jesus’ voice? Because in his voice we hear teachings about what it means to live as the people of God, on earth as it is in heaven, as people of the reign of God, or the Kingdom of God encountering God's love now with the hope that the one who exists outside of time gives to us a future beyond time ourselves.

Why do we listen for Jesus’ voice? Because he gives to us hope in things not seen. This brings me back to the suitcase and the question how we go about listening for Jesus’ voice?

I have three items in my suitcase which represent 3 approaches to us thinking about how we listen for Jesus’ voice.

The first is a photo of my mother, the second is a Bible, and the third is a pile of orange and blue cards. These three objects represent how the shepherd may speak to us through personal relationships, through the lens of scripture and tradition, and within the context of the community of faith.

I decided to include a photo of my mother because I have a conviction that for many of us, we hear the shepherd's voice through other significant people in our lives. I'm not sure I would specifically say that I heard Jesus speaking through my mother but her example of faith I think contributes to who I am today.

There may be some among you on this Mother's Day who might reflect on teachings of your own mother around faith and spirituality and conclude maybe Jesus was speaking to you through her. However, as I've already indicated earlier in the service not everyone has had a great relationship with their mother.

Nevertheless, it is often through a personal interaction that many of us discover that Jesus is speaking to us. If not your mother, may be your father, or maybe it was a brother or sister or a friend, maybe it was a Sunday school teacher, I use group leader, or even a minister! Maybe it was someone who's not even a Christian. Jesus’ voice can come to us through anybody. This is a very personal thing, but I would encourage you not to think of it as a private thing.

Let me expand a little on what I mean that these experiences are personal but not private. The way that we discover whether it may be Jesus’ voice saying something to us is by engaging in conversations with those who have a depth of understanding of their own faith. We move our personal experiences of hearing Jesus’ voice into conversations with others so that we might grow. As your minister I maintain a relationship with a spiritual director with whom I have such conversations. As you reflect on how you think Jesus may be speaking to you personally my question for you would be who you are testing that idea with. Who is your spiritual director?

Our culture tends to tell us that matters of spirituality and faith should be kept to ourselves – to be kept private. However, discerning what Jesus is saying to us is a communal activity, but it means taking a step of vulnerability to share our personal stories.

This brings me to speak about the place of the scriptures in the process of working out what Jesus is saying. As people of the Uniting Church, we have a heritage in a tradition that teaches us that revelation comes to us through the Bible. At the time of the Reformation, around 500 years ago, the reformers sought to ground the authority of their teaching in the biblical witness. They used the phrase sola scriptura or be scripture alone.

Part of the reason for the appeal to the Bible was a rejection of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. However, we should not be naive the reformers had specific ways in which they were interpreting the text of the Bible. The Bible is a complex series of books that presents us with challenges when we seek to read it. In her book Even the Devil Quotes Scripture Robyn J. Whitaker reminds us, “Being able to quote the Bible does not guarantee that one has heard its message or attempts to live out its overarching ethic.” p.12

Whitaker Encourages us to “take the Bible seriously, not literally.” P.11 Taking the Bible seriously means recognising that when any of us come to reading the scriptures we are engaging in interpretation that is based upon the influences that have acted on our lives. Being conscious of the bias that we bring is important and she like other theologians and biblical scholars would encourage us to use the key lens through which we interpret the scripture to be love. In the lasty chapter of her book she says, “If our interpretation does not lead to love, we have, frankly, missed the point.” P.179

Again, whilst we can read the Bible for ourselves on a personal level as a church we are encouraged to read and interpret the Scripture together. In the Basis of Union of the Uniting Church it says:

“The Word of God [Jesus] on whom salvation depends is to be heard and known from Scripture appropriated in the worshipping and witnessing life of the Church. The Uniting Church lays upon her members the serious duty of reading the Scriptures and commits its ministers to preach from these.” (Paragraph 5, Basis of Union)

This brings me to the third item from the suitcase. During the week we saw how the cardinals of the Catholic Church demonstrate their process of discernment through a series of votes. White smoke indicated that they had selected Cardinal Robert Prevost. He has taken the name Pope Leo XIV. For the Uniting Church we use the blue and orange cards to demonstrate our discernment. We use a process of consensus when we are seeking to make decisions together. In congregation meetings, at Presbytery meetings, at the Synod meeting which begins this week, and in the National Assembly we use these blue and orange cards to indicate what we believe God is leading us towards.

Many people mistakenly believe that the Uniting Church is some form of representative democracy. However, when I go to Presbytery, Synod or Assembly or when I meet as a member of the church council my task is not to represent the interests of my congregation all my personal biases but to ask myself how I am hearing in Jesus the Good Shepherd speak to me in this issue. When I hold up a blue card in a meeting, I am indicating that I am not discerning and thinking that I can hear Jesus leading us in this direction. When I hold up an orange card, I am saying that I feel warm to this idea and that maybe Jesus is speaking to me in an affirmative way around this issue.

In seeking to make decisions as a church our primary approach should be one of prayer and deep listening. In our discernment we pray that we are making decisions together you and I are being asked to think about how we have heard the shepherd's voice. Of course, there are times that we disagree, and this is difficult for us be cause for those who agree or disagree both believe they're being led by the Holy Spirit. As fallible human beings we do the best that we can do as we honour the voices around us and as we listened to one another in the hope and prayer that we've heard Jesus speaking to us. When we seek to listen for Jesus’ voice collectively, we bring to bear all our personal experiences of faith, alongside our understanding and interpretation of scripture, help us in our deliberations.

Why? Because we believe that the God who is beyond us and beyond the creation and who is the origin. and the destination of all things cares about us and came to be with us in Jesus.

My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.

What an astounding idea! That Jesus might speak to us but as you have heard me say before, in the act of preaching my task is to faithfully unpack in the best way I can the ideas that have come to me during the week. Your task is to listen for what Jesus Christ might be saying to you as his sheep. The Basis of Union it reminds us “Christ who is present when he is preached among people is the Word of the God who acquits the guilty, who gives life to the dead and who brings into being what otherwise could not exist.” (Paragraph 4)

At the end of each sermon, I invite you to think about what is the one thing that you believe Jesus might be speaking to you today. It may have been something that I said, or it might be an image or an idea that has come into your head as you have been listening. It could have been a feeling or a fleeting thought. In any of these moments the Holy Spirit may have been articulating Jesus’ voice to you.

My encouragement is, as it has been throughout this sermon, that you see this revelation of the one thing as a personal but not private matter. In other words, that you take the opportunity to have a conversation with someone else about that one thing and in doing so to explore what it means for your life that God has brought this idea or this one thing into your mind and into your heart. So as always, I'm now going to leave a moment silence an ask that question what is the one thing that God is saying to you today? And encourage you to think about who you might share that one thing with.

The cloaks that didn't make the road

This Palm Sunday I revisited in a fresh way an old theme. Whilst many greeted Jesus coming into Jerusalem there were many who did not or could not. Which leads to asking the question did Jesus enter Jerusalem for them as well? Whilst I refreshed the message here is one with a similar theme from a few years ago. A different heresy: The cloaks that didn't make the road.

God is no-thing?

Induction of HA to Hospital Chaplaincy

Isaiah 43:1-3a, 16-21

“I am about to do a new thing. Now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?”

So writes the prophet Isaiah over two and a half thousand years ago.  How do we understand his prophetic words on this day?

It would be the easy option for me this morning to sentimentalise the words of the prophet Isaiah into this moment in HA’s life.

“God is about to do a new thing in HA’s life.”

“God is about to do a new thing in St Andrews.”

“God is about to do a new thing in UnitingCare.”

Such sentimentalising of the reading would feel nice and recognise a simple truth that is occurring – HA is about to start work in a new placement. I think that the poem that HA has chosen for us to listen to as part of this liturgy taps into the human everyday fear and excitement of starting something new. But such a focus would reflect the domestication of the scriptures to the individualism of our era and pull our human activity to the centre of the sermon rather than who God is and what God has done.   

Such sentimentalising also helps us to step around the complexity of the context of Isaiah’s prophecy as we think about his broader message. Whilst the words we read from the prophet today have an uptick of hopefulness they are set against a much bigger picture. The ancient geopolitical implications of the prophet’s words have an undertone of violence and war between Israel and its neighbours, particularly the Babylonian Empire. The vision of God’s involvement in setting aside patches of land for chosen people are still being played out in our contemporary world. Not simply for Israel but for those who see such visions might justify the concept of a Christian nation. Stepping into this complex space feels inappropriate for today’s sermon but needs to be acknowledged.

As Christians hearing this text I wonder if it might be helpful to dwell on the following phrase a bit more deeply:

Do not remember the former things

or consider the things of old.

 It seems ironic to say do not remember the former things when we are seeking wisdom from something from ‘of old’. It is an ancient text. Still, the promise of God doing a new thing, and perceiving what that might be, challenges us to read the vision of Isaiah with fresh eyes. As Christians we are invited to wonder what is the new thing that God is doing.

As I contemplated this question, I began to wonder how God even perceives doing something new. In his book The Afternoon of Christianity Tomáš Halík reminds us of this confronting insight from the mystical traditions into the mystery of God. God is nothing. Let me say that a little differently.

God is no-thing. In other words, the concept of substance or matter is irrelevant to God’s existence. God is utterly transcendent and beyond our human comprehension.

To push this mystery a little further of God is no-thing then we should also then contemplate the possibility that God is also no-where. Prior to the creation, if prior is even a relevant category, there was nothing and nowhere and maybe even more baffling is the idea God is no-when. The physicist who later became a theologian Victor Pannenberg explores in depth the complex relationship of linear historical time with the eternity of God.

So how do we make any sense of God who is no-thing, no-where, and no-when doing something new within created reality. How can there be new or old if space and time are irrelevant.

At the beginning of John’s gospel, we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being … and the Word became flesh.”

In Christ, God who is a mystery utterly beyond us and transcendent, becomes entirely immanent. In Jesus we discover this utterly perplexing and amazing revelation:

God is some-thing (or some-one). God is some-where. And God is some-when.

Pannenberg wrote, “Only in the history of Jesus of Nazareth did the eschatological future, and with it the eternity of God, really enter the historical present.”[1] This event of God doing something new within the creation has an effect that ripples back and forth through time and space and touches the whole cosmos. As Paul later wrote to the Corinthians, “In Christ God was reconciling the whole world to himself.” (2 Cor 5:19)

The incarnation has cosmic implications as the transcendence of God intersect with created reality and invites all things to find their home with God as God finds a home with us. The breaking down of the barrier between the creator and the creation is symbolised as Jesus dies. Mark tells us that “The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom,” (Mark 15:38)

This tearing of the temple curtain as a sign of God’s presence in the world is made clearer as the resurrected Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on the disciples and later, on the day of Pentecost. The particularity of the incarnation as the meeting place between the divine and human finds its universal expression through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit God is in everything. God is everywhere. And God is everywhen.

Paul theologises Jesus’ presence in the world when he writes to the people at Ephesus. “God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.” (Ephesians 1:22-23)

In the book of Lamentations we hear those well-worn words, “God’s mercies … are new every morning.” God who relates to us from beyond time now comes to us within time, in all things and in all people. Each and every moment a moment in which the eternal life of God the resurrection hope is present. This is the good news which we carry and offer to others, and which takes me back to where I started.

“I am about to do a new thing.

Now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?”

The new thing that God is doing is being in the world and in our lives through the eternal Word and the power of the Holy Spirit. Pastoral Crae takes on fresh meaning for us when we embrace this truth. In pastoral care our sentimentalising and our practical responses to people’s pain and suffering is done in the context of knowing that God is already there. We are there to point beyond ourselves and whatever is occurring to this presence of God which is the hope by which we live.

There is an image from the Easter stories which I think might be a helpful story as we contemplate our place in all of this. Maybe the best that we can say as people who seek to do pastoral care is that we wait alongside those who are suffering, sick, or sorrowing outside an empty tomb. We stand with them longing to hear Jesus’ reassuring voice speak our name just as he spoke Mary’s. For it is in this moment of hearing his voice that we truly know that we are not alone. We know that God is with us. Sometimes it is through our voice as carers that God’s presence becomes known. And sometimes it is through the voice of those we care from that we come to know God’s presence as we hear our name spoken.

HA. May the mystery of the transcendent and immanent God found in Jesus be with you in your personal pastoral encounters as you share in the hope of a God’s whose love knows no bounds and touches all things.

Amen

---

[1] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, vol. 3, 604; cf. Theology of God’s Kingdom, 133.

Reconciling the whole world to himself!

 “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ.”

Paul’s claim that the reconciling work of God occurs in and through the whole life of Jesus Christ is astounding. His claim takes us beyond the cross and into the mystery of the incarnation. It centres our faith squarely in the person of Jesus and pushes us beyond our contemporary individualism.

For we who belong to the Uniting Church in Australia the significance of this passage from Paul is heightened. In the Basis of Union, which was the founding document that brought the three churches together, there is only one direct Biblical quote. It is from this passage by Paul and is in the third paragraph of the Basis which bears the title ‘Built upon the one Lord Jesus Christ’. It begins with these words:

Paragraph 3 Built upon the one Lord Jesus Christ

The Uniting Church acknowledges that the faith and unity of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church are built upon the one Lord Jesus Christ. The Church preaches Christ the risen crucified One and confesses him as Lord to the glory of God the Father. In Jesus Christ "God was reconciling the world to himself" (2 Corinthians 5:18 NRSV). In love for the world, God gave the Son to take away the world's sin. (Basis of Union)

In his commentary on the Basis J. Davis McCaughey, who was one of the chief architects of the document, explained that this Paragraph was the most fundamental Paragraph in the whole Basis. 

In the opinion of the framers of the Basis this is the heart of the Christian faith: that in Jesus Christ "God was reconciling the world to himself". There is a universalism to God’s work in Christ. Furthermore, the line following the quote echoes this universality as it connects to John 3:16 and John 1:29, “In love for the world, God gave the Son to take away the world's sin.”

This wide-sweeping claim of God’s gracious action reconciling the world to himself challenges any form of exclusivist or exclusionary behaviour by Christians. God's reconciling work is for the whole cosmos from the big bang to whatever ending there might be for the universe. This claim invites us to share in witnessing to this reconciling work of God as good news.

McCaughey in his commentary goes on to say this. We are simply people who name and articulate what God has already done for the whole world in Jesus Christ. 

This kind of universal view of God’s work in Christ is not simply the province of the Uniting Church. The Orthodox theologian Kharalambos Anstall reminds us of this in his reflections about the concept of atonement. 

He says: “Despite the presence of ethnic, creedal and "colour" variances that may often give rise to widely diversified cultural expressions, Holy Scripture informs us that all of humanity is created uniquely in the likeness and image of God, whose universal love knows no discrimination.” (Stricken by God?: Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ Kindle Locations 6104-6106. Kindle Edition)

This week we invited the S. family to choose a song for worship today and explain its meaning for them. Mum chose ‘Come as you are’ and in doing so unknowingly chose a song intimately tied to the theme of this sermon. The Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways. If we mean the words that we sing ‘come as you are’ then we are offering a universal invitation for all people to come into this place as already accepted and loved by God. This song reflects how God’s reconciliation of the world might be played out in our midst. As Paul puts it “we regard no one from a human point of view” but through the eyes of God’s reconciling and unconditional love.

This means that when a person walks into this congregation or someone you know understands that you are a person of the Christian faith you automatically become an ambassador for Christ. What you say and what you do represents to that person who Jesus Christ is. It is little wonder that Paul goes on to say to the people in Corinth “since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” However, the reality is that we are flawed and fallible humans and we struggle in our role as ambassadors.

As I contemplated this difficult role that we play representing Christ I was drawn back to the artwork on the cover of John Carroll’s book Humanism: The Wreck of Western Culture. The artwork often goes by the title ‘The Ambassadors’ and was painted in 1533 by Hans Holbein. The reason I was drawn back to this image is that depicts these two scholarly men at the height of their intellect but when we look closely beset by issues. The painting is laden with meaning. 

Between the two men the shelves contain items of science and culture representing the heavenly sphere and the earthly realm. According to experts the latest scientific instruments are set incorrectly, the mathematics text is open on a page about division, the lute string is broken and there is a Lutheran hymn book. The distorted image that floats between them is a human skull painted in a style that means you must stand at the correct angle to see it clearly. Finally, hidden in the top left corner partially hidden by the curtain is a crucifix.

There is a great deal of speculation about the meaning that Holbein was trying to convey in this painting. But, for us today, it serves as a simple reminder that having glimpsed Jesus in our own lives whilst we might try to do our best to be ambassadors, but our task is fraught with difficulties. Nonetheless as followers of Christ we try and consider what it means to be ambassadors of God’s reconciling work in Christ. I want to share a few glimpses of the work of reconciliation that we are called to.

In Australia the word reconciliation is laden with political meaning related to our relationship with First Nations people. In 2024 the National Assembly recognised the 30th anniversary of the Covenant with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Congress. Rev Mark Kickett, a Noongar man, and the National Chair of the UAICC, reminds us that 

"The Covenant helps to express the relationship we have as one church. (It) expresses a determination and a desire for the people of God, both black and white, and everyone else that comes in thereafter, to be committed to one journey and it's a journey of justice, and a journey of oneness, with a common goal." 

As a congregation we are invited to be ambassadors of the reconciling work of God in Christ as we seek deeper reconciliation with First People.

Working in an all-girls school for the last seven years I have become much more acutely aware of the ongoing issues around discrimination and the treatment of women. This afternoon a vigil will be held for a local woman who was murdered last week in our own area. She was killed by her son. Our culture continues to grapple with violence against women, as well as the fair treatment of women and people of different genders generally. As people of faith our reconciling work involves us in this struggle. In 2018 the National Assembly of the Uniting Church out a Statement on Domestic and Family Violence. The Statement reminded us that 

“Every person is of infinite worth and entitled to live with dignity and each person's life and humanity needs to be protected or the human community and its reflection of God are diminished.” It goes on to recognise that “Some violent men who are members and adherents of Christian churches have used phrases in the Bible to reinforce their power in intimate relationships.” This second part is difficult for us to grapple with but also vital for us to deal with.

As a congregation we are invited to be ambassadors of the reconciling work of God in Christ as we seek to name issues of discrimination and violence against women in our society. 

The issue of how we include people of different genders and sexuality has been a pivotal point of discussion for the Uniting Church. Again, at last year’s Assembly, the Assembly resolved to

“invite congregations and councils of the Church to welcome and honour transgender, gender diverse, and intersex people, and the gifts and skills they bring to all aspects of the Church’s life, including worship, leadership, and social justice advocacy.” 

At the Assembly I spoke in favour of this motion. In every congregation that I have worked in there have been members of the congregation, or members of the congregation with family members, who would identify their gender or sexuality in different ways. At the school I worked with students who were trans, and I had a member of my Chapel team who was transitioning to being a male in an all girls school. 

As a congregation we are invited to be ambassadors of the reconciling work of God in Christ as we seek to include and welcome people of diverse backgrounds of gender and sexuality. 

In our personal relationships and approaches as a congregation we always have our own work to do in reconciliation. I recall my father telling a story of two sisters in one congregation who had a disagreement in their teens. One sat at the front of the church, and one sat the back. The barely spoke to one another. They were in their 70s. As individuals in our relationships, we can hold grudges for not just months, but years and even decades.  In every congregation and community in which I have ministered I have heard about divisions and disagreements on a range of issues. The work of personal reconciliation is hard work. At Moreton Bay College they had adopted an approach to Pastoral Care and discipline called Restorative Practice. 

Restorative Practice in schools is based in the principles of Restorative Justice which in its contemporary form largely grew out of the Mennonite community in the 1970s. It is ironic that when I searched for churches of any denomination in Brisbane who were using restorative practice, I could not find any. Church communities often leave conflicts unresolved and speak of forgiving one another but often the hurt and harm is not dealt with. 

As a congregation we are invited to be ambassadors of the reconciling work of God in Christ as we seek ways to resolve our own conflicts in healthy and gracious ways.

We are ambassadors for Christ. 

We are ambassadors of the good news that God was reconciling the world to himself. 

The formation of the Uniting Church was an act reconciliation. This reconciling action also involved repentance. The three churches who came into union recognized their unfaithfulness and that the fragmentation of the church into denominations was a sign of unfaithfulness. We are meant to be the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. As the church we are meant to be witnesses to what God has already done for the whole creation.

“In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ.”

Take a moment to contemplate these questions. 

Who is God calling you to be reconciled with? 

How are you being an ambassador of the idea that in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself.”

 

Of Arameans and Anamnesis

Readings: Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Luke 4:1-13

The title of today's sermon is ‘Of Arameans and Anamnesis’ and by way of introduction I want to explain anamnesis. The word anamnesis sounds a little bit like the word amnesia, but it means the opposite. It means to remember but this remembering occurs within a community.

The symbolism within the story Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge gives to us a helpful way to think about the idea of communal memory. The items bought by Wilfrid to Miss Nancy enabled her to remember things that she had long forgotten. In the process of remembering Miss Nancy experiences a sense of renewal.

Within Christian worship, the word anamnesis is often used in explaining what happens when we share in the Lord's Supper. We remember something as a community that as individuals we might have no personal memory of, yet through this communal remembering and the power of the Holy Spirit, we find a sense of assurance and renewal in our relationship with God as we are drawn into experiencing the event.

I have written the sermon in a slightly different way which involves a statement and invitation for you to respond at the beginning of each section. There are four sections. 

These are:

Anamnesis in the Ancient Liturgy.  
Anamnesis on Country.
Anamnesis in God’s Faithfulness in Christ.
Anamnesis in the Gap Uniting Church.

I will conclude the sermon with the same refrain.

Refrain

Leader:        A wandering Aramean was my ancestor
                    But I did not know because I did not remember
                    But here we remember together:

Response:       We remember things
                        which we did not know
                        that we had forgotten
                         We remember our past
                        We remember our future
                        We remember our present
                            in God’s presence!

Anamnesis in the Ancient Liturgy

We remember the past
As we remember that Moses
Led the people out of Egypt, then
Wandering for forty years
Before coming to a land
Flowing with milk and honey
 
We remember that
Before entering this land
Moses described a ritual
Which was the work of the people
A liturgy through which they
Remembered their roots
 
We remember that the wandering Aramean
To whom Moses referred
Was Jacob, who married Rebekah
A woman descended from the line of Aram
We remember that
The nomadic roots of God’s people
Stretched long even before
The wilderness wanderings
After escaping from Egypt
 
The people were to remember
The history of God’s faithfulness
By offering the first fruits
Of their harvest
An act that reflected that they were
A settled and sedentary people
Living in the promised land
Where they had the time
To plant and to grow and to harvest
 
We remember that
The fruits that were given
Were to be offered in celebration
And to be shared with all who resided
In the promised land
To be shared with Levite, alien and stranger
 
We remember that they were
Invited to celebrate God’s providence
And generosity, not simply to one nation
But to all people on earth
The chosen people were chosen
To include and embrace
Not to exclude, as some might think.
So that all might know of God’s love
God’s mercy and God’s faithfulness.
 
Refrain
 
Leader:       A wandering Aramean was my ancestor
                    But I did not know because I did not remember
                    But here we remember together:
 
Response:     We remember things
                        which we did not know
                        that we had forgotten
 
                    We remember our past
                    We remember our future
                    We remember our present
                        in God’s presence!
 
Anamnesis on Country
 
We remember the past
We remember these ancient lands
And its ancient peoples, this place
Country for the Turrbal and Jagera peoples
 
We remember that God
Is the God of all peoples
And the God of all places.
And so, we remember that
When Europeans came to this Country
They entered a land
That had been created and sustained
By the Triune God
They knew in Jesus Christ
And they encountered people
Whom God already loved.
 
We remember that many
Of the first Europeans who came
Were coerced and cajoled
And did not come by choice
But we also know
That some came seeking
A new and better life
Many hoped for a promised land
A land flowing with milk and honey 
 
We remember the encounters
Between the First Peoples
And those who came
And how these encounters
Were interpreted differently
Words like colonisation and settlement
For the First nations people felt more like
Violence, invasion and dispossession
A time of sadness and tragedy
That carried forward through the generations.
 
We remember as the colony expanded
Moses, no, not the one from the Bible
But Moses Adsett who lies just yonder
Who established this land
As a place of Christian worship
And whose headstone reminds us
Of a Christian heritage
Begun here over 150 years ago
 
And we remember those
Who lie close by with Moses
Who are encouraging us still
 
We remember the names who have
Given time, talents, and treasures
To build this worshipping community
More than mere names etched in a window
They are the communion of saints
Who gather around us
And who made who we are now
Possible through their generosity
 
Aitkens and Blakes
Bennetts, Bonds and Cowans
Eastons and Earles
Fannings and Finches
Goldburg’s, Harrisons, and Hilders
The list and their legacy goes on and yet on
Too many to name
In this short refrain
 


We remember the days of struggle
For the early years of building this community
For the days of hardship, and depression
We remember the grief and loss of wars
That impacted this community
For those who went away
And came home changed
And for those who left and never came home
We shall remember them
Lest we forget
 
We remember the days of celebrations
For establishing the first church
For building and rebuilding
For the beginnings of the Uniting Church
We remember Methodist,
Presbyterian and Congregationalist
For joining and openings and new possibilities
Serving the community and the world
For which Christ died
 
We remember the past
And we remember the people
People whom we didn’t know
And those whom we did and still do
People to whose lives we are joined
In the power of the Holy Spirit
The community of Christ
The Communion of Saints
At the Gap Uniting Church
 
Refrain
 
Leader:       A wandering Aramean was my ancestor
                    But I did not know because I did not remember
                    But here we remember together:
 
Response:     We remember things
                        which we did not know
                        that we had forgotten
 
                    We remember our past
                    We remember our future
                    We remember our present
                        in God’s presence!
 
Anamnesis in God’s Faithfulness in Christ.
 
We remember our future
Through anamnesis
As we remember the past
And the incarnation of God
As God’s faithfulness
To all that God has created
 
We remember his birth
And the love of his mother
We remember his growth
And the teaching of his father
 
We remember his stories
And miracles shared
On the journey with disciples
Whom he later called friends.
 
We remember the table
Where Jesus shared in a meal
And dipped his bread in a cup
Shared with a friend
Who became his betrayer
But still promised
To be with his followers
Whenever we gather
And share in the meal
We remember his death
And we remember his resurrection
And we remember his coming again
 
We remember that
He comes to us now from the future
And from outside time itself
Where he, the eternal Word, now resides
In the eternal presence
Of the Divine Creator of all
 
He comes to us now
He comes to us in water
He comes to us through the Word
He comes to us in bread and wine
By the power of Holy Spirit, and
He comes to us in the love that is shared
From one to another
 
He comes to us with assurance
Giving renewal and hope
For in him we are a new creation
Because in him we resisted temptation
And a new future was born
This is the good news
Of God’s faithfulness
A mysterious hope for all
 
Refrain
 
Leader:       A wandering Aramean was my ancestor
                    But I did not know because I did not remember
                    But here we remember together:
 
Response:     We remember things
                        which we did not know
                        that we had forgotten
 
                    We remember our past
                    We remember our future
                    We remember our present
                        in God’s presence!
 
Anamnesis in the Gap Uniting Church.
 
We remember God’s presence
Is with us here now
And that we are his church
And this church is not ours
 
It’s not mine
It’s not yours
It’s God’s new creation
By the power of the Spirit
It is our destination
 
It exists beyond time
It exists beyond space
But here in this place
And now in this time
We are joined into one as
We remember things
which we did not know
that we had forgotten
We remember our present
in God’s presence!
 
We remember all this
as we watch the light play
Through panes of stained glass
Which were placed to help us see
To see new hope
In the movement and life
Of the work of the Spirit
The strands of DNA
The pulse of the universe
The festivity of life
Celebrating our community
And its diversity
And God’s love for all
 
We remember the call
To be his disciples
And we remember the call
To grow his disciples
To go into the world
And to share the good news
Rather than stay cloistered here
In some holy club.
 
We remember as look out the windows
Of this church to see
The community around
To find that God is there
And waiting to be found
In the people we meet day by day
Whose lives can astound
 
God's presence is with us
It goes before us and behind us
Is within us and beyond us
It can be found in all places
And can be met in all people
To whom in love we are called
 
We remember with assurance
that renewal means change
to constantly become
that new creation in him
And that through remembering our past
and encountering our future
to live in the present
And the presence of God
Who is the source of our assurance
And the cause of our hope for renewal.
 
Refrain
 
Leader:       A wandering Aramean was my ancestor
                    But I did not know because I did not remember
                    But here we remember together:
 
Response:     We remember things
                        which we did not know
                           that we had forgotten
 
                    We remember our past
                    We remember our future
                    We remember our present
                        in God’s presence!
 

For Reflection

How has remembering change you today?
What is the one thing which God is laying on your heart?