For the past three Sundays we've been journeying through the book of Jonah—a piece of literary genius telling the story of Jonah the reluctant prophet who runs away from God and seems utterly surprised that God would pursue him. The writer uses irony and satire to draw us into the story, to laugh at Jonah, and realise that we are being invited to laugh at ourselves, as again and again Jonah misses seeing God active in his life and in the world. In the last chapter we, like Jonah, are given another invitation—to recalibrate ourselves to who God is, to get a fresh perspective, and to wonder at the mercy of God.
Sermons, Artspace and Headspace
This morning Karen Lau will continue our reflections on the Book of Jonah. Jonah Chapter 3 challenges our idea of justice and retribution. The image on the front of the newsletter is purposely provocative, just as the story of Jonah in Nineveh would have been to the original audience. The large billboard up the road from Central tells us to stop worrying because there’s probably no god. The Atheists and Humanists are clearly reacting to the image of a stern and punitive Deity. But the God who commissioned Jonah to preach to the evil citizens of Nineveh is shown to be anything but punitive.
In many ways all of us are like Jonah who, in the end, can only wonder at the mercy of God.
This morning we continue our journey through the Book of Jonah.
This morning we start a journey through the Book of Jonah. Many will immediately picture Sunday school plays featuring large cardboard cut-outs of whales, and blue bed sheets doubling as dramatic waves as they are shaken enthusiastically by children at either end—it puts a smile on the face—and the Book of Jonah is designed to do the same thing—to make us smile, even to laugh at the hapless Jonah. With great literary skill the writer of Jonah uses irony and satire to tell the story of Jonah, the reluctant prophet who runs away from God and seems utterly surprised that God would pursue him. And as we laugh at Jonah we realise that the writer has skilfully encouraged us to laugh at ourselves—to see that in many ways all of us are like Jonah who, in the end, can only wonder at the mercy of God.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, Your God Reigns. Isaiah 52:7
Today we start a three week focus on Prayer and Self-Denial for the work of Tranzsend, the global Mission arm of The Baptist Churches of New Zealand. The theme this year is God’s Messengers: making the good news known. Since 1885 New Zealand Baptists have been involved in mission work outside of New Zealand, and this year’s prayer and self-denial season celebrates the 125 years of global mission.
This morning Karen Lau is co-ordinating our service drawing on the stories sent by Tranzsend’s overseas workers recounting how they have seen God active in their lives over the past 12 months. If you are interested in praying during the week for the work of Tranzsend you can find more information on their prayer blog.
For the past two Sundays we have followed the Christian calendar reflecting on Ascension Sunday and Pentecost. Today is Trinity Sunday when we acknowledge the mystery of the relationship between the Three in One: Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit. Hopefully every service is a celebration of the Trinity—on this Sunday however we focus particularly on the mystery, power and beauty of the triune God.
The word ‘Trinity’ does not feature in the Bible- but the reality of the trinity is woven into the fabric of the Biblical story. At Jesus’ baptism there is a wonderful glimpse into the community of the trinity—the Spirit, like a dove, descends on Jesus, and a voice from heaven says “You are my Son whom I love” (Matt 3:17). It is only a glimpse—but even in that brief moment we are witness to the love that exists in the Three in One.
Glimpses of the Trinity are all we are afforded. Donald Miller in Blue Like Jazz says “When we worship God we worship a Being our life experience does not give us the tools with which to understand. If we could, God would not inspire awe.” May we be filled with awe as we dwell on the mystery of the Trinity this morning.
We are mid-way through a focus on days of significance in the Christian calendar. Last Sunday we celebrated Ascension Sunday—acknowledging that Christ represents humanity in the presence of God. Next Sunday, Trinity Sunday, we’ll look more at the mystery of the relationship between the three in one: Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit.
Today is Pentecost; according to the Book of Acts ten days after the ascension of Christ, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the fledgling church in dramatic ways empowering the Christ followers to bring good news to the world.
Pentecost is about celebration: celebrating the work of the Holy Spirit—in humanity, in creation, in the church; celebrating that the Holy Spirit reveals the truth about God; and celebrating the invitation we have to join in with what the Spirit is doing in the world.
The Youth group have been in Manners Mall this weekend, living in ‘the cage’, raising awareness and funds for World Vision—a great example of joining in with what the Spirit is doing in the world.
Over the next three Sundays we will be celebrating the Christian calendar as we acknowledge Ascension, Pentecost and Trinity Sundays- days that are full of theological significance and rich in history and tradition.
On Ascension Sunday—Ascension Day was on Thursday, forty days after Easter—we consider the significance of the day Jesus, in front of his disciples, ascended to heaven. Humankind is taken into the presence of God, through the humanity of Christ. Ascension means that in heaven there is one, who knowing firsthand the experience of suffering and temptation, prays for us and perfects our prayers.
Ascension also anticipates Pentecost - when the Spirit of Christ was given to the fledgling believers on the day of Pentecost, an event we’ll consider next Sunday.
Today we continue our focus on Fairtrade to coincide with Fairtrade Fortnight that runs from 1st -16th May. Fairtrade’s theme this year is “the Big Swap”, encouraging people to swap one item we regularly buy to a Fairtrade equivalent to bring about a fairer deal for disadvantaged farmers and workers.
Last Sunday we set the scene, looking at the call to the people of God to demonstrate justice and fairness. We considered the imbalance in the distribution of the world’s wealth and heard how Ant and Steph’s commitment to fair trade influences the choices they make. We saw how Freeset is bringing freedom to women in Calcutta by providing training and fair pay in their bag and clothing manufacturing business (there’ll be more Freeset bags available for purchase today).
This morning we hear from Matt Lamason, founder of Peoples Coffee, a Wellington business established on fair trade principles. Peoples Coffee sources its coffee from co-operatives formed by coffee bean farmers. The farmers receive a fair price for their coffee and determine for themselves how profits are distributed. Welcome Matt, thanks for telling us your story.
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