God of Kiwis and Kangaroos - an order of service for prayers for Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia

The prayers in this order of service were written by Lucy D'Aeth. The service was led by Jill Hawkey and the preacher was Peter Prove. I particularly love the God of Kiwis and Kangaroos in the final blessing.

Morning Prayer at the Ecumenical Centre
Monday August 9th
Ecumenical Prayer Cycle: Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia

Welcome

Gathering
L: In the name of the Creator, the fountain of life,
the name of Christ, the pulse of life,
and the name of the Spirit, the breath of life. Amen

People: Holy! Holy! Holy! Earth is filled with God’s presence.

L: Christ, we come into your presence today
To worship in this sanctuary called Earth

P: A planet filled with your presence,
quivering in the forests,
vibrating in the land,
pulsating in the wilderness,
shimmering
in the rivers.

L: God, reveal yourself to us in this place
and show us your face in your creation.

Song: Where mountains rise to open skies (see sheet)

Reading: Hebrews 11: 1-3: 8-16
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a long time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith, he received power of procreation, even though he was too old- and Sarah herself was barren-because he considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore, from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore”.

All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed he has prepared a city for them.

Reading: Luke 12: 32-40
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes: truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour”.

Song: Tama Ngakau Marie (Thuma Mina, No 47)

Reflection

Intercessions
Creator God,
We thank you for this new day and this new week. As we meet together on this summer morning, we remember our sisters and brothers across the globe in their winter evening and we thank you for the beautiful lands of Aotearoa and Australia – for the mountains and rivers, forests and beaches, the unique creatures and plants which shout the promise of these distant lands.
We remember before you all who call these lands ‘home’, that you may work through them to transform histories of suffering, violence and exile into communities of justice and peace.
God, in your mercy : Hear our prayer

God of justice and power,
We ask your blessing on all who make decisions about land use and resource management. We pray for politicians, business leaders, tribal elders, researchers and all who shape our planet’s future. Forgive us for our violent denial of indigenous wisdom, which taught us to treat our lands as our nurturing mother. Challenge the greed and despair which leads to the rape of this fragile planet; inspire us all to reverence and awe, that we may know your Spirit enlivening us as we journey into your promised land of justice and hope.
God, in your mercy : Hear our prayer

Gentle and surprising God,
Appearing when we least expect you, holding us in your web of love; weaving our diversity into your wholeness; we offer you our working week – our comings and goings, our deliberations and our efforts, that all may work to your glory. We pray for our colleagues, our families and our neighbours – all who make up the fabric of our daily lives. We pray for people of faith throughout the world, that through us, you may bring your promise of justice and joy, healing and hope to the whole world.
We ask all prayers in the name of Jesus Christ, our brother and our saviour.
Amen

Song: When the road runs out (see sheet)

Blessing
May the God of Abraham and Sarah bless us with hope,
May the God of kiwis and kangaroos surprise us into creativity,
May the pulsating, shimmering God, ever old and ever new, be with us, breathe through us, inspire and guide us, this and every day.
Amen

An order of worship for New Zealand and Australia

Worship in the Ecumenical Centre, August 10 2009

In the week the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle remembers Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia
This order of prayer was prepared by Peter Prove, Emma Halgren and Michael Wallace

Call to worship
I runga i te ingoa o te Matua, te Tama me te Wairua Tapu.
(In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit)
Amine

Grace to you and peace from God our Creator, the love at our beginning and without end, in our midst and with us.
God is with us, here we find new life.

God of holy dreaming, Great Creator Spirit,
from the dawn of creation you have given your children the good things of Mother Earth. You spoke and the gum tree grew. In the vast desert and dense forest, and in cities at the water’s edge, creation sings your praise. Your presence endures as the rock at the heart of our land.

When Jesus hung on the tree you heard the cries of all your people and became one with your wounded ones: the indigenous people, the convicts, the hunted and the disposed. The sunrise of your Son coloured the earth anew and bathed it in glorious hope.

In Jesus we have been reconciled to you, to each other and to your whole creation.
Lead us on, Great Spirit, as we gather from the four corners of the earth.
Enable us to walk together in trust from the hurt and shame of the past into the full day which has dawned in Jesus Christ. Amen

Song These hills by Colin Gibson
Verses 1, 2 and 4

Confession
God of all life, in love you made us, in grace you sustain us; but we have failed your sacred trust.

Lost in the worship of ourselves, lost in greed and lost in power we are destroying your sacred gifts to us.

All that lives, the earth, the sea and the sky; we are choking them all.
God of grace, forgive us our greed, forgive us our carelessness, forgive us our faithlessness.
Restore to us a new spirit and open us to your leading towards a new way of being. In the name of Christ we pray. Amen.

Reading 2 Corinthians 9: 6-10
The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. As it is written,
‘He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.’
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

Hear what the spirit is saying to the church
Thanks be to God

Song Tama ngakau marie Traditional Maori hymn
Verses 1, 3, 5

Reading John 12: 24-26
Jesus said, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.’

Hear what the spirit is saying to the church
Thanks be to God

Reflection by Michael Wallace, General Secretary of the World Student Christian Federation

Affirmation of faith He tikanga whakapono
(Michael Wallace warns that this English translation is rather approximative and a different translation will be added at a later date. The confession of faith was chanted in Maori by teh worship leader with the congregation joining in with those parts in bold - very powerful stuff)
Ko koe, e te Atua tapu, te tino Atua You are God, holy, truly God
Nou te mana, te ihi, te wehi Yours is the honour, the essential spirit, the awe
Nou to ao, te mauri, te ora Yours is the world, life
Nau te katoa, i te rangi, i te whenua Everything is yours, the heavens, the earth
Ko koe tonu te Atua You are God

Ko koe te maramatanga o te ao You are the meaning of the world
I tiaho ra koe i te pouri You shone in our darkness
Kia puta ake tau Tama ko Ihu Karaiti You gave us your son Jesus Christ
Hei pou tokomanawa mo te ao. To be the centre pole supporting the world
Ko koe tonu te Atua You are God

Ko koe te Wairua Tapu You are Holy Spirit
Ko koe taku rakau You are my tree
Ko koe taku tokotoko You are my rod/support
Ko koe taku oranga ngakau e You are the life of my heart

Ko koe tonu ra te Atua. Kororia ki a koe. You are God, glory to you

Intercessions
God of Justice and of Hope, we bring before you today those who welcome us into their midst and those who turn us away, those who travel with us, and those we cannot reach, those who share our struggle and those who ignore it.
God of Justice and of Hope, be our Pilgrim God.

You are there with the indigenous people of our lands who suffer from centuries of oppression, and continue to struggle under often harsh policies. And you are there with all those who work for healing and reconciliation.
You stride before us into communities devastated by grief after this year's bushfires in southern Australia in which hundreds of lives, and whole towns and villages, were destroyed.
God of Justice and of Hope, be our Healing God.

You are there on the road with us — at the dawn, as we head out to be with your people in their place. In the blaze of the midday sun, as we meet with traditional elders or work side by side with a farmer to repair a windmill, and in the evening, as we come home into the setting sun.

You are beside and beyond us as we settle our thoughts for the night, as we bring before you the needs and cares of those we have met (and even of those we have not). And as we gather our strength for tomorrow you are there to meet us, to inspire and refresh us, when we step out to do it all again.
God of Justice and of Hope, be our Pilgrim God.

We give you thanks for the trust you place in us — to do Your will, to be Your presence, in this Your land. We give you thanks for the courage you give us —
to say and to do the right thing at the right time and to know what matters most for these Your people.

And we give you thanks for being with us — at the day’s beginning as we go about Your business and at journey’s end.
God of Love, sustain each one of us.

God of Justice and of Hope, we bring before you today a world at odds, nations riven by inequality, peoples struggling for reconciliation.

You stride before us showing us the way to engage with each other in peace,
showing us the way to embrace justice and to love one another.

We ask you for the strength to be agents of your peace, we ask you for the fortitude to make justice reality and we ask too for your living, loving example –
that we may know again how to love one another as you have loved us.
God of Justice and of Hope, Pilgrim God, let your love live within us as we journey with you on the road. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Concluding prayer
Most loving God, creator and redeemer, we give you thanks for the life of St. Laurence and for all Saints, Martyrs and Prophets who have lead, loved and inspired your people.
Guide and enliven your church in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand and all your people that we may be salt of the earth and light to the world.

Through Christ and with all your saints we offer ourselves and our lives to your service. Send us out in the power of your Spirit, to stand with you in your world. We ask this through Jesus Christ, the servant, our friend and brother. Amen

The Lord be with you
And also with you

Kia tau mai ano ki a koutou, nga manaakitanga a te Atua Kaha Rawa, a te Matua, a te Tama, a te Wairua Tapu.
(May the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be with you all)
Amine

Go now to love and serve the Lord. Go in peace.
Amen. We go in the name of Christ.

Song For you deep stillness by Julie Perrin

Anzac biscuits
We've heard about the role of Australians and New Zealanders in World War I, and the enduring effects of the Gallipoli campaign on the national psyche in both countries.

While hundreds of thousands of Australians and New Zealanders were at war, women in both countries were creating a cultural and culinary symbol.

ANZAC biscuits were made by Australian and New Zealand women for the ANZAC soldiers during World War I and were reputedly first called soldiers biscuits, then renamed ANZAC biscuits after the Gallipoli landing. These biscuits remain very popular national symbols in both countries.

Perhaps these biscuits are a symbol of alternative nation building: A way of finding national meaning other than through war and violence. The women of New Zealand and Australia used what they could find and used their energies in gathering the wheat and other ingredients to make these biscuits. While the soldiers were at war the women worked on providing nourishment for the hungry, in caring for the poor, the crippled, the blind and the suffering.

We have some Anzac biscuits at the entrance for you to enjoy on your way out of worship today.

A sermon for St Laurence's day preached by Revd Michael Wallace

This reflection for St Laurence's Day was preached by Michael Wallace with help from Emma Halgren. It was part of worship prepared for Monday morning 10 August 2009 as we were praying this week for Australia and New Zealand through the ecumenical prayer cycle. Find the full liturgy here.

Reflection for Australia NZ service August 10th 2009

St Laurence
As you know this week the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle remembers Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. Today we also remember St. Laurence who was martyred at Rome in 258.

In this morning’s Gospel Jesus says, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.’

Through his actions in the face of imperial power and in his death, Saint Laurence bore much fruit for our understanding of what we should value most highly.

One of the seven deacons in Rome during the time of Pope Sixtus the second, Laurence was in charge of distribution of alms to the poor.
In 258, the emperor Valerian put to death numerous priests and deacons. When Pope Sixtus was beheaded in this persecution, the prefect of Rome demanded that Lawrence surrender to him the riches of the Church.
Lawrence asked the prefect for three days to gather together the church’s wealth. He then worked swiftly to distribute as much Church property as possible to the poor. On the third day he presented himself to the prefect, and when ordered to give up the treasures of the Church, he presented the poor, the crippled, the blind and the suffering and said, "Behold the treasures of the Church!"
This act of defiance led directly to his martyrdom on August 10th.
Lawrence defied the oppressive power of his day. In spite of the threat of death he kept his focus on serving Christ and his people. Even though the church lost a deacon it gained encouragement to resist the powers of evil. Laurence is remembered for his courage and his focus on not only serving but also valuing the poor.

Laurence’s life challenges us to ask about our own lives:
Are we clear about our role in caring for the poor and marginalised as the treasures of the church?
Are we prepared to serve and follow Christ even when it may lead us into persecution?

In our times of trial, will we be grains of wheat bearing fruit?

Mary McKillop
In this morning’s reading from 2 Corinthians we heard:
‘The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.’

Emma will now share with us about an Australian woman who sowed bountifully for God amongst the poor and suffering- Blessed Mary McKillop.

Mother Mary MacKillop
On August 8 2009, Christians around the world remembered the life and witness of Mother Mary MacKillop, a woman of Australia who died on this date in 1909. An educator and advocate of children, Mother Mary suffered at the hands of her own church for her convictions about the education of the children committed to her charge. She founded an Australian religious order which was responsible for the establishment of schools, orphanages, and shelters for women. She was beautified by Pope John Paul II in 1995. Today her witness is celebrated by Roman Catholics and beyond, and by the Christian churches of Australia and beyond.


Witnessing to Christ in New Zealand and Australian cultures
In Australia and New Zealand the churches witness to Christ in the context of powerful landscapes and fragile cultures.

In the process of colonisation indigenous cultures have been deliberately wiped out, impoverished, or sidelined. Indigenous people have been persecuted for speaking their languages, holding their beliefs and living in traditional ways. Sacred places have been confiscated and desecrated. The seeds of faith in indigenous cultures were not recognised.

The settler cultures of Australia and New Zealand are fragile too. Colonisation has transplanted European cultures, expectations and religious practices, but left many with shallow roots in both the old world and the new. Systems based on oppressing indigenous people and exploiting Creation have slowly begun to be recognised as unjust and unsustainable.

More than two centuries after it was first introduced by European missionaries, the seed of the Gospel struggles to take root in the hearts and minds of many New Zealanders and Australians.

The fragility of our cultures creates a situation where the demands and values of commerce can override everything else. Commerce threatens to fill the space of culture and religion, and sideline history and shared meaning.

Yet in this context a powerful spiritual yearning still arises. Despite their highly secular worldview and alienation from faith, people want to be part of an heroic and inspiring story, to believe in the kind of self-sacrifice that is displayed in the life of St. Laurence and Blessed Mary McKillop.

ANZAC Day
A challenging opportunity for Christian witness in our countries today is ANZAC day.
A phenomenon has recently arisen where young New Zealanders and Australians are finding meaning and inspiration in the stories of the Australia New Zealand Army Corps, known as the ANZACS.
Joining forces for the World War One battle of Gallipoli on April 25, 1916, the actions of the young men in the Australia New Zealand Army Corps demonstrated the values of courage, loyalty and self-sacrifice that were to form a crucial part of the self-identity of both countries at a crucial stage of their development as nations.
Reclaiming the heroic stories of their forebears, and filled with a desire for identification with the highest values of those who served, young people in their thousands now come forward to honour the sacrifice of those women and men, indigenous and settler who laid down their lives in the First World War and subsequent conflicts.
Although ANZAC day is a national holiday in both countries, for decades most people avoided ANZAC day observances due to concerns about glorifying war, or because they failed to see its relevance.
As Christians how do we engage with the young people who come to church once a year often at dawn and in bad weather for an ANZAC day service?

How can we connect the spiritual yearning that we see on ANZAC day with the lives of St. Laurence and Blessed Mary McKillop and to point people toward Christ?

Conclusion
How can we preach the gospel in these two countries with their myriad indigenous cultures and 200-year-old settler cultures? How can we preach the gospel in places of suppression of indigenous spiritualities and of transplanted Christianity? Where commerce would take priority over everything else?

What we can do is share the gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that celebrates Creation, that acknowledges the injustices of colonisation, that honours and challenges our fragile cultures, that connects us with inspiring lives like Laurence and Mary McKillop, in a way that gives us the correct perspective on wealth. We need to remind ourselves that God loves us and that we should love one another.

We can remind people that there is meaning to be found on days other than just ANZAC day. We can invite people to offer their lives not for some military gain for a colonial or imperial power, but to gain life in its fullness. We can show that through the love of Christ and service to others we can discover the true value of life.

To lose your life for your country or for your friends is to lose your life heroically, but to lose your life for Christ is to win something far greater than remembrance or identity, it is to become part of the life of God. Eternal life, God’s unlimited love.

‘The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.’

Collect for St Laurence
Almighty God, you called your deacon Laurence to serve you with deeds of love, and to be a wise steward of the treasures of your church; Grant that we, following his example, may fulfil your commandments by defending and supporting the poor, and by loving you with all our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
Amen

Morning Worship in the Ecumenical Centre, Monday, 11 August 2008
This service was put together by Faautu Talapusi for the week in the ecumenical prayer cycle when we pray for Aotearao New Zealand and Australia.

Welcome and Introduction
Call to Worship

God who walks on the water of our fears,
Stretching out a hand to hold us firm,
And telling us not to be afraid:
We come to worship you in faith.

God who speaks to us in story and word,
In each other, and in life itself:
We come to worship you in faith,
For you are our God and we are your people
Amen

Song

Benedicte Aotearoa a version of psalm 148 for New Zealand

O give thanks to our God who is good:
Whose love endures forever.
You sun and moon; you stars of the southern sky:
Give to our God your thanks and praise
Sunrise and sunset, night and day:
Give to our God your thanks and praise
All mountains and valleys, grassland and scree, glacier, avalanche, mist and snow
Give to our God your thanks and praise
You kauri and pine, rata and kowai, mosses and ferns:
Give to our God your thanks and praise
Dolphins and kahawai, sealion and crab, coral, anemone, pipi and shrimp:
Give to our God your thanks and praise
You Maori and Pakeha, women and men, all who inhabit the land of the long white cloud
Give to our God your thanks and praise
All you saints and martyrs of the South Pacific:
Give to our God your thanks and praise

Reading from Genesis
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over, the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters… And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

Reading from Romans
The creation wails in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies

Reflection: I am the Whanua ~ by Faautu Talapusi
NB. Fanua in most Polynesian languages including Maori (whanua), signifies land or placenta

Song

Intercessions
Generous God, we thank you for the wonder of creation Australia and New Zealand. We thank you for those who already live in harmony with creation. Strengthen us as we commit ourselves to be better stewards of your creation.
God of love, hear our prayer.
Loving God, we pray for the people of Australia and Aotearoa. We pray that everyone may know the fullness of life you intend for them, and that your people may live together in justice and peace.
God of love, hear our prayer.
We pray for peace and reconciliation in our hearts, our families, communities and throughout the world. Help us to realize that you use us to bring about peace each time we ask and give forgiveness to one another.
God of love, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who are experiencing despair and hopelessness through loss of identity and separation from family and place of belonging. Help them by your Holy Spirit to be strong and to find love, faith hope peace and happiness in you.
God of love, hear our prayer.
We pray for a better understanding and respect between all peoples of our countries. Help us as we grow to appreciate the diversity of cultures, languages, and backgrounds. Remind us that all people are created in your image, help us to accept and love each person as your creation.
God of love, hear our prayer.

Lord’s prayer (in own languages)

Song

Benediction
The God of love lead you out,
Christ Jesus walk beside you,
And the Spirit be a stream of healing power within and without.
Amen.