Showing posts with label Epiphany 6. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Epiphany 6. Show all posts

Saturday, 15 February 2025

Service 16th February 2025, Epiphany 6, Luke 6v17-26, 2025 年 2 月 16 日嘅崇拜, 路加福音6v17-26, Servicio 16 de febrero de 2025, Lucas 6:17-26



 
There is courage here
We will support it
There is humanity here. 
We will enjoy it
There is a voice calling beyond the chaos 
We will follow it
There is a Spirit moving. 
We will embrace it
 
Song  “Will you come and follow me” https://youtu.be/o469PRLdbHU?feature=shared
 
Prayer of confession-We are sorry…
 
We say the Lords Prayer in our own language
 
Reflection on Luke 6v17-26 
 
After a time of prayer Jesus calls the twelve disciples to follow him. He goes down to a flat area. People have come from over forty miles to hear Jesus teaching and to be healed. Those with mental health problems (called unclean spirits) wanted to be delivered. He taught them;
 
Blessed are the poor because yours is the kingdom of God
Blessed are the hungry because you will be filled
Blessed are those who weep-for you will laugh
Blessed are the persecuted, picked on for Gods sake because you will be rewarded in heaven
Woe to you who are rich-for you have had your lot!
Woe to you who are laughing now because you will mourn and weep
Who to you who are popular now because you that’s what they did the false leaders in the past.
 
Luke tells us of four beatitudes (vv. 20-22) and corresponding woes or warnings of deprivation in the age to come. Some are blessed or happy by being included in the kingdom that Jesus brings. 
 
The warnings are prophecies or cautions. The pairs are:
•   the “poor” (v. 20) and the “rich” (v. 24);
•   the “hungry” (v. 21a) and the “full” (v. 25a);
•   the sorrowful (v. 21b) and the joyous (v. 25b); and
•   the persecuted (v. 22) and the popular (v. 26).
 
There's two categories of people addressed; the multitude and the disciples. The disciples are those who believe, while the multitude are curious. 
  
The fourth blessing and woe have to do with the social element in these things. Rich and poor, hungry and well-fed, weeping and laughing all have social consequences, particularly in first century Palestine. To be poor, hungry, suffering meant that you were out of favour with God then, because the old moral economy was based on a divine reward system. When Jesus forgave and healed these outcasts, it had enormous social consequences too.
 
Jesus uses this word blessed in a totally different way. It is not the elite who are blessed. It is not the rich and powerful who are blessed. Rather, Jesus pronounces God's blessings on the lowly, the poor, the hungry, the crying, and the hated. Jesus turns it all upside-down. The elite in God's kingdom, the blessed ones in God's kingdom, are those who are at the bottom of the heap of humanity.
 
Jesus speaks a woe to the rich in this upside down kingdom. Luke's audience included rich people and his gospel has by far the most challenges to disciples about material possessions. Their wealth is a woeful stumbling block to opening themselves to God's new way of being. 
 
Wealth and poverty are relative situations both within the human world order based on credit and debt. God's reign is about the release from debt, the forgiveness of sin. The word forgive in the Greek, aphiemi, means to release, let go, used of both sins and debts. The world of keeping debts goes far beyond economics. Every manner in which we hurt one another as human beings marks another debt for which vengeance is the pay-back. Forgiveness breaks that cycle of inflicting hurts by releasing the debt. The human world order is based on keeping debts, vengeance; God's world is based on releasing debts.
 
The mandate for those who want to follow Jesus in the 21st century is to be concerned with those who are on the bottom of the pile, those who are poor, hungry, unhappy, reviled. Beware of material riches because it will not bring you closer to God, in fact it may well prove a stumbling block in your relationship with God. God is closer to the poor! In Latin America in the 1960s peasants, people who lived in the favelas the shanty towns got together to read the gospels. They found it revolutionary. It spoke of them the poor and of justice. They took heart, they claimed land. They fought the land owners who were exploiting them for profit. In my country the rich exploit the poor mercilessly. There will be a leveling. The word used for consolation in the text is financial.
 
Who are the poor around us? Are we good news for the poor who may include us! This is Gods mission. This is our calling! Amen
 
Our prayers for our world, our communities, our families and friends and ourselves.
 
Song “Blessed are you”  https://youtu.be/xQhGYj4WBs0?feature=shared
 
The cross we will take it
The love we will give it
The blessing we will share it
 
Pat Nimmo and ©Iona community adapted
 
呢度有勇氣
會支持
呢度有人性。
會享受
混亂之外,有一個聲音度叫你
會跟住
有一個靈動緊。
會擁抱
 
歌曲「你會唔會嚟跟我」https://youtu.be/o469PRLdbHU?feature=shared
 
表白祈禱 - 好對唔住 ...
 
用我自己嘅語言講主禱告
 
反思路加福音6v17-26
 
祈禱一段時間之後,耶穌叫十二個門徒跟住落去一個平坦嘅地方。人由四十多英里嚟聽耶穌教導同埋得到療癒。有精神健康問題嘅人(叫做唔潔淨嘅靈魂)想被分娩。咗佢哋
 
窮人有福,因為你嘅係神嘅國
餓嘅人有福,因為你會飽肚
為你哭泣嘅人有福啦,佢哋會笑
受迫害嘅人有福,因為神而被挑選,因為你天堂得到報應
有錢嘅人好慘,因為你已經有你嘅命運!
而家笑緊嘅人好慘,因為你會哀傷同喊
而家受歡迎嘅人係邊個,因為你,就係佢哋過去對假領袖所做嘅
 
路加話我知四個幸福(20-22節)同埋相應嘅災難或者未來嘅時代被剝奪嘅警告。有人因為被包含耶穌帶嚟嘅國度入面而得到祝福或者開心。
 
警告係預言或者警告。呢對係:
  • 「窮人」(20節)同「富人」(24節);
  • 「餓」(21a節)同「飽」(25a節);
  • 悲傷者(21下節)同歡樂者(25下節);同
  • 受迫害嘅人(22節)同受歡迎嘅人(26節)。
 
有兩個類別嘅人會處理;群眾同門徒。門徒係信嘅人,而群眾就係好奇。
 
第四個祝福同災難係同呢啲嘢入面嘅社會元素有關。有錢同窮、餓同飽、喊同笑都有社會後果,特別係一世紀嘅巴勒斯坦。窮、餓、受苦,即係話你當時唔受神喜愛,因為舊嘅道德經濟係建立神聖嘅報酬制度上面。當耶穌原諒同治癒呢被遺棄嘅人,亦都帶嚟巨大嘅社會後果。
 
耶穌用呢個祝福呢個詞嘅方式完全唔同。唔係精英先有福。唔係有錢有勢嘅人先係有福嘅。相反,耶穌宣布神對卑微嘅人、窮人、餓人、喊叫同被憎恨嘅人嘅祝福。耶穌將所有都倒轉。神國入面嘅精英,神國入面嘅有福嘅人,就係人類堆底嘅人。
 
耶穌對呢個倒置嘅國度入面嘅富人講一個災難。路加嘅聽眾包括有錢人,而嘅福音對門徒嚟講係對物質財嘅挑戰最多。佢哋嘅財富係開放自己去接受神嘅新存在方式嘅一個可悲嘅絆石。
 
財富同貧窮係基於信貸同債務嘅人類世界秩序入面嘅相對情況。神嘅統治係關於釋放債務,赦免罪。希臘文入面,赦免呢個詞 aphiemi ,意思係釋放、放手,用嚟形容罪同債務。守債嘅世界遠遠超越經濟學。我作為人類互相傷害嘅每一種方式,都標誌住另一種債務,而復仇就係回報。原諒會透過釋放債務,打破造成傷害嘅循環。人類世界秩序係基於守債、復仇;上帝嘅世界係建立釋放債務嘅基礎上。
 
21世紀嗰啲想跟隨耶穌嘅人嘅任務係要關心嗰啲喺堆底嘅人,嗰啲窮、餓、唔開心、受辱嘅人。小心物質財富,因為唔會令你更加親近神,事實上,可能會證明你同神嘅關係係一個絆石。上帝距離窮人更近!1960年代嘅拉丁美洲,農民,住貧民窟同棚屋鎮嘅人聚集埋一齊睇福音書。佢哋覺得呢個係革命性嘅。講到佢哋係窮人同正義。佢哋心,佢哋要求土地。佢哋同剝削佢哋獲利嘅地主打交。我嘅國家,有錢人無情噉剝削窮人。會有一個平衡。文中用嚟安慰嘅字係財務。
 
身邊嘅窮人係邊個?我對可能包括我嘅窮人嚟講係咪好消息!呢個係神嘅使命。呢個係我嘅召喚!阿門
 
為我嘅世界、我嘅社區、我嘅家人同朋友同埋我自己祈禱。
 
歌曲「你有福啦」https://youtu.be/xQhGYj4WBs0?feature=shared
 
會攞十字架
會畀嘅愛
會分享嘅祝福
 
Aquí hay coraje
Lo apoyaremos
Aquí hay humanidad.
Lo disfrutaremos
Hay una voz que llama más allá del caos
Lo seguiremos
Hay un Espíritu que se mueve.
Lo abrazaremos
 
Cántico “¿Vendrás y me seguirás?” https://youtu.be/o469PRLdbHU?feature=shared
 
Oración de confesión: Lo sentimos…
 
Decimos el Padre Nuestro en nuestro propio idioma
 
Reflexión sobre Lucas 6:17-26
 
Después de un tiempo de oración, Jesús llama a los doce discípulos para que lo sigan. Baja a una zona plana. La gente ha venido desde más de sesenta kilómetros para escuchar las enseñanzas de Jesús y ser sanados. Aquellos con problemas de salud mental (llamados espíritus inmundos) querían ser liberados. Él les enseñó;
 
Bienaventurados los pobres, porque vuestro es el reino de Dios
Bienaventurados los hambrientos, porque seréis saciados
Bienaventurados los que lloran, porque reiréis
Bienaventurados los perseguidos, perseguidos por causa de Dios, porque seréis recompensados ​​en el cielo
¡Ay de vosotros, los ricos, porque ya habéis tenido lo que os tocó!
¡Ay de vosotros, los que reís ahora, porque lamentaréis y lloraréis!
¿Y vosotros, los que sois populares ahora, porque eso es lo que hicieron los falsos líderes en el pasado?
 
Lucas nos habla de cuatro bienaventuranzas (vv. 20-22) y sus correspondientes ayes o advertencias de privación en la era venidera. Algunos son bendecidos o felices al ser incluidos en el reino que trae Jesús.
 
Las advertencias son profecías o advertencias. Los pares son:
• los “pobres” (v. 20) y los “ricos” (v. 24);
• los “hambrientos” (v. 21a) y los “saciados” (v. 25a);
• los tristes (v. 21b) y los alegres (v. 25b); y
• los perseguidos (v. 22) y los populares (v. 26).
 
Se habla de dos categorías de personas: la multitud y los discípulos. Los discípulos son los que creen, mientras que la multitud es curiosa.
 
La cuarta bendición y ay tienen que ver con el elemento social de estas cosas. Ricos y pobres, hambrientos y bien alimentados, llantos y risas, todo tiene consecuencias sociales, particularmente en la Palestina del primer siglo. Ser pobre, hambriento, sufriente significaba que uno estaba en desgracia ante Dios en ese entonces, porque la antigua economía moral se basaba en un sistema de recompensa divina. Cuando Jesús perdonó y sanó a estos marginados, también tuvo enormes consecuencias sociales.
 
Jesús usa esta palabra bienaventurados de una manera totalmente diferente. No son los elites los que son bienaventurados. No son los ricos y poderosos los que son bendecidos. Más bien, Jesús pronuncia las bendiciones de Dios sobre los humildes, los pobres, los hambrientos, los que lloran y los odiados. Jesús pone todo patas arriba. La élite en el reino de Dios, los bendecidos en el reino de Dios, son aquellos que están en el fondo del montón de la humanidad.
 
Jesús pronuncia un ay para los ricos en este reino al revés. La audiencia de Lucas incluía a personas ricas y su evangelio tiene, con mucho, el mayor desafío para los discípulos sobre las posesiones materiales. Su riqueza es un lamentable obstáculo para abrirse a la nueva forma de ser de Dios.
 
La riqueza y la pobreza son situaciones relativas, tanto dentro del orden mundial humano basado en el crédito como en la deuda. El reino de Dios tiene que ver con la liberación de la deuda, el perdón del pecado. La palabra perdonar en griego, aphiemi, significa liberar, dejar ir, y se usa tanto para los pecados como para las deudas. El mundo de mantener deudas va mucho más allá de la economía. Cada forma en que nos lastimamos unos a otros como seres humanos marca otra deuda por la cual la venganza es la retribución. El perdón rompe ese ciclo de infligir heridas al cancelar la deuda. El orden mundial humano se basa en mantener las deudas, la venganza; el mundo de Dios se basa en cancelar las deudas.
 
El mandato para quienes quieren seguir a Jesús en el siglo XXI es preocuparse por los que están en el fondo de la pila, los pobres, los hambrientos, los infelices, los vilipendiados. Tengan cuidado con las riquezas materiales porque no los acercarán a Dios, de hecho pueden convertirse en un obstáculo en su relación con Dios. ¡Dios está más cerca de los pobres! En América Latina, en los años 60, los campesinos, las personas que vivían en las favelas, los barrios marginales, se reunieron para leer los evangelios. Los encontraron revolucionarios. Hablaban de ellos, los pobres, de la justicia. Se animaron, reclamaron tierras. Lucharon contra los terratenientes que los explotaban para obtener ganancias. En mi país, los ricos explotan a los pobres sin piedad. Habrá una nivelación. La palabra que se usa para consolación en el texto es financiera.
 
¿Quiénes son los pobres que nos rodean? ¿Somos una buena noticia para los pobres que pueden incluirnos? Esta es la misión de Dios. ¡Este es nuestro llamado! Amén
 
Nuestras oraciones por nuestro mundo, nuestras comunidades, nuestras familias y amigos y por nosotros mismos.
 
Canción “Bendito seas” https://youtu.be/xQhGYj4WBs0?feature=shared
 
La cruz la tomaremos
El amor la daremos
La bendición la compartiremos
 


Saturday, 10 February 2024

Epiphany 6, Sunday before Lent, 11th February 2024,



We are called to be God people

To reconcile and make new

To live with respect for creation

To love and serve others

To seek justice and resist evil

To proclaim Jesus crucified and risen

 

Song “I the Lord of Sea and Sky”

https://youtu.be/uZTQF_9D3-Y

 

Reading Mark 9v2-9 

 

Reflection-Preparation for Lent

 

This week we begin the period of time known traditionally as Lent. It is named after the Anglo Saxon word, Lenten meaning the lengthening of days. In the first three centuries of the church a few days were set aside for strict fasting. By the 4th century this preparation time had developed to 40 days, like the 40 years of the Exodus that the people of Israel spent lost in the desert, like the 40 days of fasting of Moses, Elijah and Jesus. 40 days is a long time to go without food and drink. It's really the maximum a body could stand. 

 

Lent is about self-discipline preparing ourselves to be closer to God through fasting and reading the scriptures and meeting together to pray. It has traditionally been seen as a time of personal meditation, a cleansing of the soul and also a time of preparation for those receiving baptism on Easter Sunday. It begins with a time of penitence, of saying sorry, on Ash Wednesday when we receive a cross on our forehead in ash and we say the words “from dust you came and to dust you will return”.

 

In the Roman Catholic Church fasting is still practiced on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday. In the Eastern Orthodox Church not eating eggs, meat and fish is still common throughout Lent, which is why painted eggs are given out on Easter Sunday. 

 

There are spiritual disciplines that can help us in our Lenten journey. Silence, prayer, reading the scriptures, fasting. Ignatian prayer.

 

Our Muslim neighbours celebrate Ramadan with a month of disciplined fasting from dawn to dusk. What about us? How are we going to give this Lent to God, to allow the Spirit of Christ to work something new in us, to learn more about our faith, to seek God in prayer about our life together as a church, a community of God's people? The number 40 represents a change. We have 40 days to reflect and to enact change, with God's help.

 

We may choose to go into a desert or we may be driven there like the Israelites and like Jesus. We may already be in a desert, a Covid wilderness, or on the edge of it. 

 

The Israelites in the Exodus moved from a situation of slavery but where they had food and shelter into a situation of great risk, not knowing where they were going, how they were going to be fed, where they were going...into a desert.

 

God is there through the trauma, through the storm, yet how do we access that spiritual resource, especially now? Circumstances can through unemployment, tough times, cause us to sink into despair, to wish we were back in the old normal days. Will they return?

 

The Christian journey requires we take risks otherwise we stop growing as people of faith. We may move away from being respectable and risks are taken with no guarantee of success otherwise they would not require faith, they wouldn’t be risks. It is easy to trust God when things are going well but when the going gets tough then many of us look down and start to sink.

 

Lent is a journey. It's a journey from the wilderness, to encountering 

God, to the question of identity "Who am I? A journey that takes us 

through to the healing of others, the denial of those called friends, 

accusation, trial, torture and death.....and finally resurrection.  

It's a journey we all can identify with, we can all opt in to one or 

other of the experiences of Jesus. 

 

Can you remember a time when you had a transforming experience that really changed you? Can you talk about it?

 

 Light a candle to symbolize that no corner is too dark for God’s love to reach and one for someone you want to pray for.

 

Song  “Beauty for brokenness”

https://youtu.be/OaMPE53uP38

 

The cross we will take it

The love we will give it

The blessing we will share it

 

 

Thursday, 13 February 2014

Epiphany 6, John 6v35-40, The bread of life


It is interesting how the crowd, having just witnessed the feeding of the 5,000, asks for a sign. Obviously, the feeding is not proof enough of Jesus' divine authority; they want a true Exodus sign, the sign of manna. In the eyes of the crowd the giving of the manna authenticated Moses' authority and a similar sign would authenticate Jesus' authority.      
The true, the "real" bread from heaven is available now for the eating.

Bread
Bread comes in all sorts of shapes and textures. I like making bread and Im attempting to different breads from around the world. I was brought up on Hovis sliced but now I make my own breads rye, sour dough, pumpernickel, Italian rustic, apple and cinnamon. Some bread is not as good for you as others. And it is the mainstay of peoples diets throughout the world.

Life
Life too comes in all shapes and sizes. Life for a rich North American banker with a range and a yacht is very different than life for an orphaned girl in Sub Saharian Africa, in Tanzania, in the shanty towns of Brazil or Soweto. Education and health, food and family experience will be very different. 

Manna
In the desert the Israelites were given a white substance that was called manna. It sustained were sustained for their journey to the Promised Land them but they were only given enough for one day. Today we have become greedy and want enough for a lifetime, while others starve to death.

Eucharist 
At the eucharist or Lords Table we eat the body and drink the blood of Jesus. This has been highly controversial down the centuries some believing that it is actually Christs body and blood and some that its symbolic. It also suggests sacrifice, the giving of blood. The word disciple means literally martyr.  Jesus relates this to his death on the cross-his sacrifice.
  
The congregation people listening to Jesus 'find it meaningless.
The Jews were arguing, wrangling, quarreling. A very strong word is used "strove". The reaction of the Jews to Jesus' words is understandable. How are we meant to eat his flesh? How can he give us his flesh?
 
Jesus further clarifies how he fulfils the text "I gave them bread from heaven to eat". Whoever eats and drinks of this flesh and blood / whoever believes in this sacrifice, lives forever. Jesus' words at this point cause offence, even with some of the disciples. It seems likely that they understand what Jesus is saying, namely that the messiah must suffer and die for the life of the world. A suffering messiah, even unto death, is a difficult teaching and hard to accept for all of us even today.

Jesus says “Truly truly I say to you”. This was to reinforce the importance of a statement and it is the 4th time the phrase is used in this chapter. 
He restates the necessity of eating his flesh.  Jesus adds that it is necessary to drink his blood, clearly intended to confront his audience, in like manner the kingdom parables draw out the true seeker from the crowd. In this sermon so far, Jesus has made the point that for the people of Israel in the wilderness manna was certainly a miraculous bread, but once eaten, hunger returned, and inevitably death. The heavenly bread that God gives in Jesus, once eaten, results in eternal life. Therefore, a person must eat this bread, that is, "come" to Jesus, "look on" Jesus, "believe" in Jesus. Next Jesus aligns the bread with his flesh. The Jews naturally balk at the image. Now Jesus restates the idea and reinforces it with "drink his blood." Although numerous interpretations have been suggested, especially in relating this verse to the eucharist, "blood" most likely represents "shed blood, and therefore, violent death". So, Jesus is making the point that belief in him entails belief in a crucified messiah. 

He refers to himself as the Son of Man.This messianic title drawn from Ezekiel and referring to the one who receives heavenly authority and rule from the Ancient of Days. 
If we fail to believe in the crucified Christ then we fail to possess eternal life, you have no inner life-the one feeding on, nibbling, munching, gnawing. The verb was originally used of animals eating, later of humans, but of eating in a rough manner. 

"I will raise them up" is a reference to the resurrection in the last day. Note the move from eating the body and drinking the blood to eating "me". 
The manna came down from heaven and this action is compared with Jesus' coming from heaven. This is the tenth reference to such a coming in this chapter. 
"Your forefathers they ate and died".
Jesus was actually in the synagogue when he gave this sermon, in Capernaum. He is local. Some manuscripts add that the instruction was given "on a Sabbath". 

Jesus' discourse on the bread of life, comes to a pointed conclusion in these verses. In the wilderness, the children of Israel ate manna and were sustained for their journey to the promised land. Yet, they all inevitably died. Jesus, on the other hand, provides a food that will sustain to eternal life. 



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