Long enough, God—
    you’ve ignored me long enough.
I’ve looked at the back of your head
    long enough. Long enough
I’ve carried this ton of trouble,
    lived with a stomach full of pain.
Long enough my arrogant enemies
    have looked down their noses at me.

Take a good look at me, God, my God;
    I want to look life in the eye,
So no enemy can get the best of me
    or laugh when I fall on my face.

I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms—
    I’m celebrating your rescue.
I’m singing at the top of my lungs,
    I’m so full of answered prayers.

PsalmImmersion

Richard Bruxvoort Colligan reflects on Psalm 13 as a Psalm of Lament, you can access his great reflection on the Pulpit Fiction Podcast, Episode 384, Time: 36:37: Reflection on Psalm 13 by Richard Bruxvoort-Colligan

Psalm 13 in Song

Action:

Rewrite the words to Psalm 13, if you’d like to share them send them to us at minister@gungahlinuniting.org and we’ll share them with the community.

A Personal Meditation

Pentecost 3A [Ordinary 13A] or [Proper 8A] 2014

Source: The Timeless Psalms

Psalm 13

I find waiting for something or someone a very difficult challenge, as I like
to know where I am going, and what I need to do next.

If I am challenged by an issue or a problem, after prayer and very careful thought about what I believe is needed to achieve an agreed outcome, I like to act as quickly as possible to bring that project to fulfilment.

Yet, however carefully I pray and plan; however diligently I research issues and community challenges – that does not mean I am right! I have discovered this painful lesson several times, and waiting for the “dust to settle” is especially hard, and can be very isolating.

I think the Psalmist felt something of this pain as he sang: “…How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand…?” Whilst “enemy” may a strong word in my personal experiences, active negativity can wear away patience, and even any hope for a better outcome! So, I need to learn the
secret of faithful waiting, of trusting waiting to allow the opportunity for growth of new insights and discernment, as I wait on God for guidance and blessing.

Creative pause: Learning the secret of faithful waiting, of trusting waiting…

In the silence and isolation of my waiting, it has been very easy to forget that I do not wait alone. Because I initially received no answers to my prayers or my meditations, it was very easy to imagine that God was not there beside me in my waiting. After waiting with all the patience I could muster, with an active hope that my waiting will not be in vain, it was amazing how many new blessings awaited me just around the next corner of my life! At my age, you would think I had learned a lesson or two about waiting and leaving God to open doors for me!

And what amazing doors they have been, which led into most unexpected and unexplored horizons. The words of the Taizè chorus have been a blessing to me: “Wait for the Lord: keep watch, take heart!”1 So I am learning to patiently wait…

Creative pause: “Wait for the Lord: keep watch, take heart!”1

The tone of the Psalm changed after the anguish of isolation and waiting, and the pain of apparent separation from God, and yet it proved to be the best long-term result for the author. With a renewal of confidence in God and in his own abilities, and a change of direction, he could sing: “… But I trust… I will rejoice… I will sing…. because….”

That was both the Psalmist’s and my own experiences!

I could again trust and accept the guidance I had been given; I could hope in the new direction in my life; and I could finally leave the past behind, having learned a lesson from it, because God had been so very good to me again, and yet again.

Creative pause: The joys of confidently trusting in God’s unfailing love.

This piece invites us to enter the reading from the perspective of the Servants, Isaac and Abraham. Perhaps you might want to take the opportunity to write your own piece for Sarah, or God, or rewrite one for the other characters.

The Servants 

Source: Spill The Beans Issue 24

We do as we’re told.
We always do as we’re told. We’re servants
and servants do as they’re told. 

It was early in the morning,
very early,
when Abraham our master called us 

and told us we were going on a journey. 

There was us and Abraham
and Abraham’s son Isaac
and a donkey.
Abraham’s wife Sarah stayed at home. 

We took wood with us, 

wood for an offering. 

Abraham our master 

is very religious. 

It was a long journey.
It took three days.
We had to camp each night,
us, Abraham, Isaac and the donkey 

On the third day Abraham said to us

“Stay here with the donkey.
Isaac and I will go and worship
and we will come back to you.” 

Abraham took the wood from the donkey’s back 

and gave it to Isaac to carry,
and Abraham took fire from the fire
we’d made to keep ourselves warm 

and he took a knife 

and he and Isaac 

walked on together up a mountain. 

We stayed by the fire.
We knew that Abraham was going to make an offering, 

but he had no lamb to offer,
it was all rather odd. 

We waited a long time by the fire. 

We waited and waited.
Abraham had told us to wait,
so we kept on waiting. 

It was getting dark
when we saw them returning in the distance,

 we’d hobbled the donkey
and kept the fire going. 

They both looked very tired,
you could tell something 

had happened to them, 

and there was blood on Abraham’s clothes
but none on Isaac’s. 

They said very little that night.
They seemed wary of each other.
The next morning we packed our things together 

and set off home for Beersheba. 

On the journey home
Abraham and Isaac walked with each other, 

they talked sometimes,
but they were also silent for long periods. 

Something had obviously happened to both of them, 

something important,
something too important to be discussed with servants, 

something that had changed them. 

In the days that followed
rumours abounded.
Sarah seemed really upset about something 

and kept Isaac very close to her. 

People asked us what had happened 

but we could tell them very little.
It was between Isaac and Abraham 

what had happened on the mountain. 

Between Abraham and Isaac 

and that God they believe in. 

Isaac 

Source: Spill The Beans Issue 24

When I think of that day I shudder.
It was years ago
but I remember it as clearly as yesterday 

that trip up the mountain:
me asking questions,
dad strangely silent. 

How would you feel if your dad
for no reason
tied you up 

and picked up a knife
and raised his hand in the air
and you thought he was going to kill you? 

Yes we talked about it afterwards
we talked about it all the way home.
At times he seemed as scared as me about what had happened 

but he still trusted that God he believed in. 

Mum was incandescent
when I told her what had happened. 

She was so angry
she didn’t talk to him for days. 

I was wary of him after that, 

our relationship changed,
it had to really. 

I sometimes hear people talking
about the God of Abraham and Isaac
as if me and dad had the same kind of trust in God

I don’t think we do. 

When I think of that day I still shudder
It was years ago
but I remember it as clearly as yesterday 

that trip up the mountain. 

Abraham 

Source: Spill The Beans Issue 24

When I heard God calling me 

I always answered:
“Yes, here I am.” 

That day part of me wished I hadn’t. 

I will go down in the history of my people 

as the one who was obedient to God,
as the one who God blessed. 

I will also go down
as the one who was ready to sacrifice his son 

when God asked him to. 

Isaac, Isaac
what did I do to you that day? 

God, what was I thinking of? 

God, what were you thinking of? 

God, please never ask me to do anything like that ever again. 

Curated by Margaret Reeson

Welcome to Worship.

Bring a spirit of quietness and attention to this time.
Bring your Bible, and light your candle.

Song of Praise TiS 134

Praise, my soul, the king of heaven;
to his feet your tribute bring;
ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
who like me his praise should sing?
Praise him, praise him, hallelujah,
Praise the everlasting king!

Praise him for his grace and favour
to his people in distress;
Praise him still the same for ever,
slow to chide and swift to bless;
Praise him, praise him, hallelujah,
Glorious in his faithfulness.

Psalm 86

Please listen, Lord!
Answer my prayer for help.
When I am in trouble, I pray,
knowing you will listen.
No other gods are like you;
only you work miracles.
You created each nation,
and they will all bow down
to worship and honour you.
You perform great wonders
because you alone are God

Prayer of confession

It is winter.
Frost edges the grass.
Dead leaves lie underfoot.

We confess that some of us
are living in winter in our spirits.
There is a chill
in our experience of God.
There is an icy wind
where we once felt warmth.
We shiver in isolation,
standing outside in the cold.

We confess that our winter of failure hangs like thick fog.
It is hard to remember the times of hope and life.
It is hard to imagine that this winter of the spirit will ever end.

Forgive us, God of grace,
who created and knows the seasons of life.

Forgive us, Jesus
who loves us even in our darkest moments.

Forgive us, Holy Spirit
who trudges beside us through the muddy puddles of despair.
Melt the frost in our hearts.
Warm us with your love.
Renew your spirit in us,
bringing us to new life and hope.

In the name of Christ, Amen

UCA Anniversary

Tomorrow, 22 June, in the anniversary of the beginning of Uniting Church in Australia in 1977.

The logo suggests the cross of Christ against a darkened world.
The dove with wings of flame suggests the Holy Spirit.
The incomplete circle reminds us that we are still
in the process of uniting, and have not finished this work yet.

A Scripture for UCA and for GUC

John 17:20-26 (CEV)

I am not praying just for these followers. I am also praying for everyone else who will have faith because of what my followers will say about me. I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.

I have honored my followers in the same way that you honoured me, in order that they may be one with each other, just as we are one. I am one with them, and you are one with me, so that they may become completely one. Then this world’s people will know that you sent me. They will know that you love my followers as much as you love me.

Father, I want everyone you have given me to be with me, wherever I am. Then they will see the glory that you have given me, because you loved me before the world was created. Good Father, the people of this world don’t know you. But I know you, and my followers know that you sent me. I told them what you are like, and I will tell them even more. Then the love that you have for me will become part of them, and I will be one with them.

To ponder:

• What does the idea of ‘uniting’ and ‘being one with each other’ mean for you?
• How realistic is it?
• What do ‘this world’s people’ see when they look at us as a Christian community?
• Is there an action you would like to take?

Message: Moderator’s Anniversary Video 2020

Message: Rev Dr John Squires

Darren recorded John Squires for Project Reconnect (worship materials for smaller communities) Here’s his reflection for this week.

Song TiS 468

Brian Wren

We are your people, Spirit of grace,
you dare to make us, to all our neighbours,
Christ’s living voice, hands and face.

Joined in community, treasured and fed,
may we discover gifts in each other,
willing to lead and be led.

Rich in diversity, help us to live
closer than neighbours, open to strangers,
able to clash and forgive.

Glad of tradition, help us to see
in all life’s changing, where you are leading,
where our best efforts should be.

Give, as we venture justice and care
(peaceful, resisting, waiting or risking)
wisdom to know when and where.

Prayers for Others

Ian Bartholomew

Heavenly Father, we thank You for creating and sustaining the vast expanse of the universe whilst also enabling a deeply personal relationship with each one of us. We are each experiencing unfamiliar times at the moment and we commit to You all those experiencing ordinary and extraordinary times of life within the unfamiliar settings.

We pray for those who are at peace and contentment with life, everyone who celebrates, those who are struggling with physical isolation, and people who have become completely disengaged or bored with their opportunities. We pray for those who are unwell, those walking through the darkest valley, those grieving and those struggling with other concerns. Just as Jesus ministered to all during His earthly life, work directly to uphold, comfort, encourage and confirm a knowledge of Your love.

Eternal God of our Great Southern Land,
You nurtured and sustained our First Peoples, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, the traditional owners and custodians of these lands and waters since time immemorial. The First Peoples encountered You before the arrival of colonisers, the Holy Spirit was already in the land revealing You and the love and grace that was finally and fully revealed in Jesus Christ sustained them.

We acknowledge the pain of our history and the suffering of our First Peoples including through the Stolen Generations, the desecration of sacred sites or the many inexplicable black deaths in custody. We ask for forgiveness and thank You for the survival of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Loving Father,
we give thanks for Gungahlin Uniting Church and Community Centre. We are grateful for all who find their spiritual home with us and for all who we come into contact with each week. Uphold and strengthen all who serve You, including our leaders and those who work behind the scenes to enable us to give glory to You.

Heavenly Father,
we also pray for other faith communities including Northside Salvation Army Church, Cornerstone Christian Church and the Gungahlin Mosque. Thank you for the warm respect and community spirit we share with these groups and we ask that you would present us with new opportunities to work together and enhance our connections within the Gungahlin community.

Wonderful Lord,
we bring these public prayers to You, together with all those unspoken in our hearts,
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Amen

Song TiS 473

Shirley Erena Murray

Community of Christ, who make the Cross your own,
Live out your creed and risk your life for God alone:
The God who wears your face,
to whom all worlds belong,
whose children are of every race and every song.

Community of Christ, look past the Church’s door
and see the refugee, the hungry, and the poor.
Take hands with the oppressed,
the jobless in your street,
take towel and water, that you wash your neighbour’s feet.

Community of Christ, through whom the word must sound –
cry out for justice and for peace the whole world round:
disarm the powers that war
and all that can destroy,
turn bombs to bread, and tears of anguish into joy.

Blessing (2 Thess 3:16)

I pray that the Lord, who gives peace, will always bless you with peace.
May the Lord be with you all.

Amen

(Prepared for people in Gungahlin Uniting Church, ACT by Margaret Reeson. This can be printed if you wish)

A prayer from the Corrymeela Community

God we see in familiar faces,
God in the strangers we think we know:
as we meet again and see each other
on the street or on a screen,
give us a moment to look again
and discover how people can change.
There are worlds within
each person we love,
and also within those we don’t,
and steps to take from point a
to point b that we can walk together.
As we set out for the good ahead
may we greet what’s new inside us.
Amen.

This week’s lectionary reading is form Genesis 21:8-21, it’s the story of Hagar and Ishmael being cast out by Abraham and Sarah.

The reading comes to us just as National Refugee Week comes to an end.

I recorded a couple of reflections, I really wanted to reflect on how the story of Abraham and Sarah went from Promise, to Broken Promise, To Promise Fulfilled through Hagar, To Promise Fulfilled through Sarah and finally to Privilege.

Privilege being what Abraham showed when he cast out Hagar and their son, making them refugees, without a home, without a hope…

I wanted to point out my own privilege, that I’ve made choices for the welfare or happiness of my family that have meant others have suffered, been enslaved and died, that has lead to waters rising, wars and more refugees seeking safety.

I wanted to name how I relate to the story of Abraham and Sarah because I too have wielded my own privilege and have participated in structures, abuses and systems that continue to create more Hagars, more Ishmaels.

And for that I need to repent, and am in the process of repenting.

And then…

I decided I’d instead invite you to reflect on Hagar’s story through the story of others, women, Rabbis, Authors, Refugees and Film. We are coming to the end of National Refugee Week and the last thing you all need to hear is from another privileged white male. So, here are some other voices to listen to, perhaps these voices, these stories will help you reflect on Hagar’s story a new way.

The Well, Hagar’s story by Rachel Held Evans.

This is a piece reflecting on Hagar’s story from the beautiful book Inspired by Rachel Held Evans. We’ve got a number of copies for people to borrow if you would like to read it at home, or with others.

Link: The Well (pdf)

Link: The Well (Audio)

Hagar’s Story

by Rev Sarah Agnew

Constance On The Edge

Constance is an old friend of Holly and myself from Wagga Wagga. Some of her story is shared in this beautiful video “Constance on the edge” filmed by Belinda Mason. This video is not free to access, but perhaps you might find the time to watch it with a friend and halve the cost.

Listen to the story of a woman of faith, a refugee, a friend and reflect on the story of Hagar.

Link: Constance On The Edge (documentary)

Common Grace – Refugee Week & BLM

Common Grace hosted a video with Brooke Prentis this week, reflecting on what it means to celebrate Refugee Week in the middle of the global Black Lives Matter moment.

Link: Common Grace – Refugee Week presentation

Link: Daily Interruptions – Daily Reflections throughout Refugee Week

Why We Read Sarah and Hagar at Rosh Hashana: On the Abuse of Power

By Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg

Link: Why we read Sarah and Hagar…

Reconciling Hagar and Sarah: Feminist Midrash and National Conflict

In particular pay attention to :Sarah’s Confession and Mohja Kahf” and “Hagar’s Letter to Sarah” at the end of the article.

Link: Reconciling Hagar & Sarah

When Mary Met Mohammod

This is another beautiful Australian story about refugees. It follows the arrival of Tasmania’s first detention centre through the eyes of local Christian woman and knitting club member Mary and Muslim Afghan Hazara asylum seeker Mohammad, who is detained inside the centre – as they connect through the gift of a knitted beanie.

This, like Constance On The Edge will cost to watch, it’s from 2013 so is dated, but is still a very interesting story.

Link: When Mary Met Mohammad

Our Stories

Our stories is another great resource that invites you to hear the stories of four refugees, on the site you can interact with eh stories of Alpha, David, Aya and Shabnam as they build a new life in Australia.

Link: Our Stories

SBS On Demand – Refugee Films

SBS on Demand has curated a list of films to watch as a part of Refugee week, check out the list on their website here, perhaps you might like to watch one or two of the films online this week.