大象传媒

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This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors that were corrected before the radio broadcast.

It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.听

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大象传媒 RADIO 4 SUNDAY WORSHIP 18 MAY 2014

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Radio 4 Continuity:

Now it鈥檚 time for Sunday Worship which comes live from King鈥檚 College Chapel in the University of Aberdeen, with the Director of the University鈥檚 Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability, Professor John Swinton, and the Chaplain, the Reverend Easter Smart.

EASTER:

I warmly welcome all of you to our worship here in King鈥檚 College.听听听听

This sacred University Chapel is an intimate place, adorned with latticed wood carved over 500 years ago, and bathed in coloured light through听the stained glass.听 In the ante-chapel is a听book of remembrance which听records our students lost in two world wars.听

But the concerns of today鈥檚 world lie听at the heart of this place also.听 As this week three hundred messages of compassion, hope and prayer were tied听and stringed around the Chapel for the safe return of the kidnapped Nigerian听schoolgirls. And听 this morning we听remember听in prayer the injured and bereaved in the mining tragedy in Turkey.

The theme of our service today is human healing and wholeness.听听And we acknowledge that we ourselves, as well as the world at large are in need of healing and wholeness.听 And so we sing a hymn of the Iona Community, 鈥榃e cannot measure how you heal, or answer every sufferer鈥檚 prayer.鈥�听听

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MUSIC :听 Hymn 鈥� WE CANNOT MEASURE HOW YOU HEAL (Tune: Ye banks and Braes)听听听 Choir + Congregation + Organ + Fiddle played by Ronnie Gibson听

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JOHN:听听 PRAYER of invocation and confession

Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus, we come before you in awe, wonder and hope. You are the saviour of the world; the Son of the Holy God and our peace and our comforter in times of difficulty. We worship you. We are gathered together in the power of your Holy Spirit to listen carefully to the word that God gives to us.听 Lord,听we are indeed grateful to you.

As we come close to your beauty and begin to experience your love, we recognise that we are in need of forgiveness and reconciliation. As we gaze upon the cross and reflect on the wonderful gift that is given to us in the death and resurrection of Jesus, so we are humbled; brought to a place of humility and faithfulness; washed of all sin through your death and placed now in a space within creation where we have no right to be. And yet you pick us up and carve out a unique place for each of us within your plan. You truly are a wonderful听God. And so now, as we come together to worship we place our lives and our futures in your hands. And together we are moved to speak the prayer that you gave to us when you prayed:

Our Father, who art in Heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy Kingdom come

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

For thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory forever

Amen听

EASTER:

Now we sing a hymn of prayer for God鈥檚 healing light on all those who suffer in mind and body:听听鈥淕od Whose almighty Word.鈥澨�

MUSIC: Hymn 鈥撎鼼OD WHOSE ALMIGHTY WORD (Tune: Moscow)

Choir + Congregation + Organ

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SCRIPTURE READING 鈥� SARAH LEBROCQ (Luke 19: 1-8)

Our first reading this morning is from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 19.

Listen now for the Word of God.

19听Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 听听A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 听He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 听听So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

听When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, 鈥淶acchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.鈥� 听So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

听All the people saw this and began to mutter, 鈥淗e has gone to be the guest of a sinner.鈥�

听But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, 鈥淟ook, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.鈥�

听Jesus said to him, 鈥淭oday salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10听For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.鈥澨�

Thanks be to God for this reading from his Holy Word.

听EASTER:听听 Meditation on Zacchaeus

I was with a friend the other day and I commented on her glamorous high-heeled shoes, and she confessed that as a very petite lawyer she feels she needs for听the extra height when she goes into meetings with tall people.听听 I laughed, I understood.听听Most of听you can鈥檛 see me but 听I am quite short.听 And I used to say I was five feet but I鈥檓 probably on the underside of that and my twelve year old son and all his friends are overtaking me.听

But today I want to talk about another petite person. Little Zacchaeus was听not a glamorous or charming 听like my friend because he worked in a contemptible job;听听 He was a tax collector for Rome.听 And who was to know if he fiddled the sums and took a little extra for himself.听 听He could hit people for money to the hilt.听听

We can sympathize with the crowds who were not happy when Jesus called up to this 听pawn of Rome and said, Zacchaeus come down from that sycamore tree because I am coming to YOUR house. 鈥�The house of a sinner?听 Really Jesus? 鈥�

I wish that I could have been there as a fly on the wall listening to what Jesus said, and to see how he looked at Zacchaeus 鈥� how the power of his love challenged and moved Zacchaeus to turn his life around.听

Jesus said, 鈥淭he Son of Man came to save the lost.鈥澨�听 Zacchaeus was lost and he didn鈥檛 even know it.听He'd been gaining financially but at what cost?听听 In doing so he was losing his humanity.听听We lose our humanity when we forget that we have been made for love; when we treat one another as objects instead of human beings - when we act with apathy, unkindness, hatred or cruelty instead of compassion.听听 Jesus knew that Zacchaeus, in cheating people was giving up his potential as a Child of God.听听

I think I love the story of Zacchaeus a lot because he was the person that people least expected to find wholeness healing and humanity. And I think if there's hope for Zacchaeus there is hope for us all.听听听Nobody is beyond hope.听听 That is why Jesus even tells us to pray for our enemies.听 Even they deserve love, and love transforms us.听听

I know this year has seen so many tributes for Nelson Mandela.听But I love the story that Robben Island kept having to change his prison guards simply because he was听befriending them.听听 He didn鈥檛 see them as white oppressors but as human beings. And one guard who became a lifelong friend,听Christo Brand even managed to smuggle Nelson's granddaughter Zoleka听in so that he could hold his baby granddaughter for the first time because children were not allowed at Robben Island Prison.

Children remind us that we are born into love, and听not hate. And their presence restores our humanity. Even God came in Jesus听as a听baby.听

I think that's why there is so much outrage about the 230听children kidnapped in Nigeria just because they wanted to learn and live up to their potential. This week our听students organized a rally for听Bring听Back Our听Girls听campaign, and the messages of hope, compassion and solidarity were written and stapled to strings across the lawn听before we brought them into Chapel.听听 The messages were in many听languages, and later a student who was returning to Nigeria took them back with him to send them to the families.听Some students prayed; one girl spontaneously prayed for their Boko Haram captors.听听听 鈥淏less them鈥�, she said.听"Help them to recognize their inhumanity.听Let them see, Lord.听Give them back their humanity.鈥澨�听听听

The novelist Lloyd听Douglas wrote about the Zacchaeus story, and like me, I think he wanted to听know what was said.听 In听Douglas' book, Jesus says to Zacchaeus, 鈥淲hat did you see that made you desire to change?鈥澨� "Good Master," he replied, 鈥淚 saw mirrored in your eyes the face of the Zacchaeus that听I was meant to be.鈥澨�听听

JOHN:听 The Chapel has an uplifting ministry of music and we are blessed to have composers writing for our Chapel Choir such as Paul Mealor. Today the choir will sing the famous anthem听that he wrote for the Royal Wedding: 鈥淯bi Caritas- Where there is Charity and Love, God is there.鈥�

MUSIC:听 Anthem 鈥� UBI CARITAS (Mealor)听

EASTER:

The tomb of our University鈥檚 founder, Bishop Elphinstone, rests here at the听front of our Chapel.听In 1495 Elphinstone saw education as a divine vocation.听King James the Fourth of Scotland offered him Twelve Pounds and Six Schillings for听Scotland's first听chair in medicine.听听 And that early commitment to听the betterment of life and health has grown from strength to strength.听For as well as a renowned medical school, we have a Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability and a Centre for Ministry Studies - both directed by our Reverend Professor John Swinton.听John is currently writing a book on mental health听with the founder of L鈥橝rche, Jean Vanier. And we will hear from him again in a moment, but听first we shall follow 听the historic Scottish tradition of singing a metrical Psalm from the 1650 Scottish Psalter.听To the tune St Flavian, we now sing Psalm 116 , 鈥�I love the Lord because he heard my voice鈥�.

MUSIC:听 Hymn 鈥� I LOVE THE LORD (Tune: St Flavian)

Choir + Congregation + Organ

JOHN:听听 Meditation

In his first letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul tells us that 鈥渢he foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.鈥� In Christ, those things that seem normal turn out to be odd, and those things we often assume to be odd, come to be known as normal. The weak are found to be strong, the clever are seen to be foolish and the world as we know it is turned upside down by the love, peace and justice that come to us in Jesus. The power of God is encountered in the gentleness of Jesus.

In Matthew鈥檚 Gospel, Jesus says: 鈥淭ake my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.鈥� 鈥淚 am gentle.鈥� Jesus who is God is gentle. God鈥檚 power is revealed in the gentleness of Jesus. Weakness, foolishness, gentleness. What a strange world we are called into. 听We are not asked to be successful or clever but rather to be gentle and wise. We are not called to act with power and worldly might; winning our battles with force and coercion. Rather Jesus urges us to be weak, foolish, gentle, peaceable. The task of the church is not world transformation, but signalling the Kingdom through small gestures.

Universities can be quite听stressful places. A student came to me not so long ago and said she was going to pack in her degree and leave the university. She was a PhD student and she had been given quite a tough time in her annual assessment.听She felt that she had let herself down; she felt that she had let everyone down. Now she spoke to me for about听30 minutes. She was clearly lamenting. And then she turned her head and looked above me, out into the beautiful tower that dominates the landscape of the view from my office window.听 She smiled and said, with gentleness:听 鈥測ou don鈥檛 say very听much, do you?鈥� I smiled at her and said: 鈥渨hat do you want me to say?鈥澨� She laughed. 鈥淣othing鈥�.听 She said, 鈥淎ctually I feel better now. Thanks for giving me the time.鈥� She graduated recently with one of the best theses I have seen in a long time. My 鈥減astoral care鈥� in inverted commas听was, well to do nothing. Other than to give her a gift; the gift of time. The gift of time grounded her pain and enabled her to hear her own voice. Her healing came not through the power of my therapeutic skills, if in fact I have any, but through my gift of timeful listening which provided an opportunity for lament. Small gestures have deep power.

For many students university can be a tough place. It鈥檚 a context where your brain is considered much more important than your body! So if you are not perceived as clever, and if you think others don鈥檛 think that you are clever, your world can very easily fall apart. It is not really surprising that the number of university students seeking counselling has risen over a third in the last four years and in some universities听it's doubled. There is a lot of pain around. The question is: where can such pain find resolution? Well, maybe places of learning such as this need to remember to create spaces where small things can be noticed and broken voices can be heard. Indeed, in a world that loves big things, maybe all of us need to create room, small healing spaces where small things become important.

We should bear with Paul鈥檚 words that the power of God is revealed in the small and foolish things of this world. As we notice and respond to the meaningful bodily gestures of someone with advanced dementia as they are moved by a hymn or a prayer, so we are offered an opportunity to bring healing and reconnection when cure may be impossible. As we sit with those who are dying or in deep physical or psychological pain, so we come to recognize their need for healing presence - a healing presence that is willing just to be without doing. And as we encounter those who are dying, the foolish words of the gospel: "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die,鈥� enables hope even听in the midst of deep hopelessness.听 We don鈥檛 need to be cured to be healed. We just need someone to notice the small things and to help us to hold onto ourselves in the midst of our troubles.听 Noticing such small things can seem, well 鈥� foolish. And yet, small gestures have great power.

MUSIC:听 Introit 鈥� GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD (Stainer)

Choir only听听

听INTERCESSIONS With fiddle reprise of 鈥榊e Banks and Braes鈥�

EASTER

Lord God

You are in the midst of us

You who have loved us from the beginning and will love us to the end

For the gifts of life that we have received

For health and strength of body and mind

For creativity of and music which inspire听and uplift

For our loved ones and dearest friends

We give you our thanks听

JOHN

And in offering thanks

For the goodness that has come to us

We pray for those whose听wounds seem neverending

For nations caught in conflicts or disasters

Multiplied and deepened with time and memory

We remember especially Sudan, Syria, Ukraine

For听men, women听and children

Suffering from torn or embittered relationships

And for those whose minds and souls are traumatized

SARAH

We pray for the lost miners in Turkey, for their loved ones

For the school girls听in Nigeria

Lord God we lift our prayers now

For all who are in need

Hear the cry of the poor

The cries of those who can see no real hope

We offer our prayers for your children of our world

In the hope that you will be their refuge in times of trouble

EASTER

Grant comfort听to those who carry the burden of grief

and bring your presence to all who feel the absence of a love-one

And help us all to be awake to your presence in our lives

We pray too for your church in the world, and for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which meets this week.

Lord God, let us never forget

Whose we are

From where we have come and听to whom we are called.听听

In听Jesus's听Name. AMEN.听

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MUSIC:听 Hymn 鈥� LOVE DIVINE, ALL LOVES EXCELLING (Tune: Blaenwern)

Choir + Congregation + Organ

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EASTER:听 Blessing

May the peace of our听Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ听dwell deep within your own hearts, and may the love of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, go with you and all whom you love, this day and forever more.听 Amen.

ORGAN VOLUNTARY J S Bach 鈥� FUGUE ON THE MAGNIFICAT 听BWV 733

听Radio 4 Continuity:

Sunday Worship came live from King鈥檚 College Chapel in the University of Aberdeen, with the Reverend Easter Smart and the Reverend Professor John Swinton.

The Master of Chapel Music was Professor David Smith and the Organ Scholar was John Hudson.听The producer was Mo McCullough.

Next week 听Sunday Worship visits Wrexham.

And you might like to know that on Thursday 29th May, Radio 4 will be celebrating Ascension Day with a service live from the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square.听 The preacher will be Dominican Friar and author, Father Timothy Radcliffe.听

If you鈥檇 like to join the congregation in St Martin-in-the-Fields, the you need to be seated by half past seven.听 Or you can enjoy the service on Thursday 29th May just after the eight o鈥檆lock news.

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