Kaikorai Presbyterian Church

Today is just 5 days after the devastating earthquake that rocked Christchurch on Tuesday 22nd February. We gathered to worship in the midst of confusion, questioning, doubt, fear and fragile faith. What follows is based upon what was not a sermon but a series of reflections on Psalm 46 which was bracketed by congregational sharing and prayer.

Psalm 46:1-3

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Comforting words from the psalmist but somehow a little empty for those in the midst of suffering right now. Oh it’s sufficient for most of us for we are removed just enough from the pain, the despair, the death.

So while the words themselves may not quite cut it for those in the thick of it I believe the truth of these words still needs to be claimed and held onto.

The un-named poet who penned these words knew God well, and I suspect is writing from experience rather than mere head knowledge: here we have a strong proclamation of hope in the face of trouble – that no matter how bleak the day, how devastating the earthquake there is hope because the triumph of God’s kingdom is certain.

We who stand this side of the resurrection of Jesus have even greater assurance of this – for it’s in the cross of Jesus that we see God’s answer to suffering.

As Jason Goroncy of the Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership recently wrote:

In resurrection God has acted with more than words he has declared clearly, decisively and finally that life is stronger than death, that hope remains, that God’s kingdom will triumph.

So back to the psalm where we are reminded that while all else is crumbling – in situations that confound and terrify us God is our refuge. It may not always feel like it but that does not alter the truth of his triumph – God is our refuge and strength, when in trouble, when searching for answers, when overwhelmed, even when the earth quakes, our cathedrals break, and our neighbours and loved ones are taken from us – God is our refuge, his love, his wisdom, his triumph proclaimed from the cross.

During the second world war, more than six million Jews were killed in concentration camps. Those who survived the Holocaust witnessed countless atrocities, and many were tortured and left to starve to death. When Auschwitz was liberated at the end of the war, the following words were found written on one of the walls inside the compound:

In the midst of immense suffering, the woman or man who wrote these words held onto faith in God, even when it seemed that God had disappeared. At times like this it is not about what we feel – it is about what we know or better said it is about who we know.

Psalm 46:4-7

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

⁷ The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

These few verses reassure the hearer of God’s constant presence and goodness – just as Jesus declared ‘I am with you always, to the very end of the age’ (Mt 28:20), and Romans 8:38 reminds us that ‘neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So here the Psalmist declares God is present and more than present active pouring forth goodness and grace.

Jerusalem doesn’t have a river yet here in the psalm it has been given one – rivers in ancient society are an image of goodness, providence, supply – this river carries the grace of God, his goodness, and supply to the people.

Originally this psalm would have been sung: probably in two parts, with the congregation singing the opening verses (1-3) the leader responding with verses 4-6, then we imagine the congregation drowning the leaders voice as they sing the affirmation of verse 7:

The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Let us be still and ponder the goodness of our God.

Psalm 46:8-11

⁸ Come and see what the LORD has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

God is our refuge and strength, God does provide for his people – these are assurances the psalmist brings because he knows it to be true. It is not emotion or feelings that get us through hard times – it is knowledge, even flimsy knowledge, holding on by our finger-tips knowledge will do.

We can have confidence when we know God and know his saving actions – that is why it is good to treasure your knowledge and personal experience of God, if you don’t feed your memory banks in the good times then in the hard there is nothing to grasp hold of.

When we have this knowledge then even in the bleakest of times we can draw near to God, trusting in God, and be still.

These are not times for many words – rather these are times when we need to come before God with our questions, our pain and confusion, these are times to let God know how we feel and then to still ourselves in God’s presence and to there find refuge and strength.

Introduction

Since completing an initial CPE programme over the 1998-99 summer I had always intended to complete a second programme. The first time I found CPE to be by far the single most important aspect of five years of preparation for ministry, a second CPE I believed would build on and embed the benefits of the first. In this report I outline a little of the background of CPE, and give you a look into what I have been doing these past few months (15th Nov to 15th Feb). Read the rest of this entry »

From an article by Chloe Axford of Engage Worship. (http://engageworship.org/ideas/The_Church_in_Shadow_art_reflection)

Paperback: 224 pages                                Publisher: HarperCollins

The Insatiable Moon (1997) by controversial one time Baptist pastor, and Catholic layman, Mike Riddell is sure to provoke reaction. I read the book some may prefer to watch the movie  of the same name. The film is directed by Rosemary Riddell and starring Rawiri Paratene, Sara Wiseman and Ian Mune.

The story is a story of Ponsonby undergoing gentrification, a story of the ‘least of these’, of the unravelling of certitude.

The central character is Arthur, a Maori living in Bob’s boarding house in Ponsonby, along with a number of other undesirables: alcoholics, a paedophile raked by guilt, loonies and various others battered and rejected by society.

It is this society that has put this group together under the guise of government policy to de-institutionalise the mentally ill and to allow them to live a normal life in the community. Possibly a good policy if the community actually cared but as is highlighted in the Insatiable Moon the community cares more for their own comfort and property values and would rather not have their nice tidy world disturbed by the likes of the men living at Bob’s; as in many communities the well-to-do know what is best for Arthur and his mates and that simply entails being elsewhere.

Arthur has no desire to be ‘elsewhere’ and he is not one to be easily ignored. He is in his own words the ‘second son of God’ sent to complete the work of the first son whose message of love has been ignored for too long by virtually all people, including the church.

Arthur’s mission is to let people know that judgment is close and to find the Queen of Heaven and when he does to woo her and impregnate her, thus ensuring the birth of a ‘special child’ who will be the one.

Across town Margaret lives; a housewife and mother of two, whose tubes have been tied. Margaret has long lost zest for life – she appears to be on autopilot, yet she is, unknowingly, ready to be the fulfilment of Arthur’s plans.

Many other characters cross Arthur’s path; notable among them are Kevin, a jaded vicar whose calling is re-awakened by Arthur and Karen, TV reporter, cynical, condescending – who after a bit of mischief from a pair of roguish angels has a conversion experience that confounds and convicts her.

A number of things cause me to struggle with the story: Karen’s conversion experience coming about by the application of an angelic potion; the same experience described as ‘being ‘fucked’; and on a similar theme the portrayal of the angels who as well as being rogues are highly sexually charged and become distracted from their duties when they get it off with each other.

Likewise I struggled with the concept of the adultery between Margaret with Arthur being the vehicle of redemption – yet biblically I know this was how it was for David and Bathsheba and how it ‘looked’ for Joseph and Mary.

However with David and Bathsheba there is no hint of divine approval whereas here there seems to be widespread approval and even delight as expressed by the watching angels.

Positively I was reminded that we are involved in something bigger than we can appreciate, and that we are called to do what we can, but we are not called to do it all. That calling involves serving ‘the least of these’ and that through the ‘least of these’ God often speaks to and challenges the comfortable. I am appreciating the way God shows up amongst the psych patients, rejects of society, of how it is often ones such as these who show us what love and faith really mean because here grace and truth abound (yes they also have problems), and the pompous and self-satisfied are left without any answers.

The Insatiable Moon contains a powerful reflection on the problem of suffering; and a prophetic call to stand against the social injustice that is often the reality for those least able to stand by themselves.

Reading this book I am sure Mike Riddell’s pastoral work in Ponsonby Baptist saw him walking the streets, cleaning up the vomit, holding the dying and standing against apathy, hypocrisy, and the smugness that can so blind people to the least of these in their midst. His characters are warm and believable, and the story despite great tragedy speaks of life and love, hope and faith.

Arohanui

Ian

A sermon delivered by Brendon Lee – Youth leader, Sunday 23rd January 2011. Please read Luke 15:11-24.

For those who don’t know I am Brendon Lee a varsity student and recently I have accepted the role as youth leader. I regularly play some smooth bass up here.

I’m going to start with an unusual question but with the help of my assistant you will get a reward just to motivate you.

So can you tell me stories in the bible of deceit of betrayal or on those lines?

We look at the book of Genesis, the first book of the bible, the start and we have stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel and even Joseph and his brothers. This is book one and there’s deceit and betrayal even against God. The first book!

Now here’s another question. Did God still love these people? Enough to forgive them?

I’ve been told that the sermon is to challenge you to make you think so I’m going to make it really obvious on what my sermon is to make you think about and it’s this one question.

How well do you know God’s love? Read the rest of this entry »