大象传媒

OPENING ANNO

大象传媒 Radio4 and now time for Sunday Worship which comes live from St. John鈥檚 College in Durham. The preacher is the Principal of the college, the Revd Professor David Wilkinson and the service is led by the college Chaplain, the Revd Susie Thorp.

Welcome to the Chapel of St Mary the Less, here at St John鈥檚 College in the heart of the University city of Durham.听 So many people right across the country have been deeply shocked and affected by the murder of the MP Jo Cox on Friday. It seems doubly tragic that a life which was so dedicated to justice and helping the most disadvantaged here in the UK and across the world should have been cut short. We mourn with her community, members of parliament and most of all with her husband and family. In a moment we will light a candle as we pray for Jo and all those who have lost their lives this week.听听

Introit
1 God be in my head,
and in my understanding;

听(John Rutter)

Susie 听听

听Let us pray
Eternal God, source of all blessing,
help us to worship you
with all our heart and mind and strength;
You formed each one of us in the womb and know every hair of our heads.
You know our coming and going, our thoughts and regrets, our joys and our sorrows especially at this time.
For you alone are God,

(strike a match)
We light this candle in memory of Jo Cox and all who have been caught up in recent violence.

SILENCE AND INTO BE STILL MY SOUL

Hymn BE STILL MY SOUL

厂耻蝉颈别听
When tragedies occur it is often difficult to come to terms with how or why. No amount of academic study can serve to comprehend the human emotions which we all encounter in such circumstances. Here at the university of Durham we exist 鈥� like all places of study 鈥� to make some kind of sense of the world around us, whether it be through the study of the arts or the sciences or through our faith and beliefs.听 Many here within the scientific community are people of faith; a fact that might be surprising to some as there is a common perception that the two are entirely incompatible.听 Our preacher, the Revd Professor David Wilkinson now reflects on an encounter in his own life when this disconnect was all too apparent.

顿补惫颈诲听
A little while ago I was on a train from Durham, when the person beside me introduced themselves and said 鈥榃hat do you do?鈥櫶� I said I鈥檓 a theologian and a Methodist Minister.听 Now I鈥檓 always hesitant about saying that to people because you never quite know what people鈥檚 reaction will be.听 This man鈥檚 eyes seemed to fill with fear as he thought to himself , 鈥極h no, all the way to London beside this religious fanatic鈥�.听 So he quickly tried to change the topic of conversation.听 He said 鈥榃hat did you do before that鈥�.听 I said I did research in theoretical astrophysics.听 This time his eyes glazed as he thought to himself what on earth does he mean by that, but he knew it was something to do with science and so he said to me 鈥楬ow can you be a scientist and a Christian?鈥櫶�

厂耻蝉颈别听
So many people see science and religion as barely co-existing, but there are many in our scientific community here in Durham who see them shedding light on and enhancing each other.听 There are so many ways to explore the world;听 in times of tragedy and uncertainty we鈥檙e often left with so many unanswered questions 鈥� or even unanswerable questions. The roles of the various academic disciplines can lead us so far but to truly encompass the entire gamete of human experience we鈥檙e often left searching for more.听 We hear now from three of the university鈥檚 top scientists about their own quest for meaning and truth.听

[Interviews with those involved in sciences]

厂耻蝉颈别听
Over the past few weeks our news has been dominated by violence, human bringing听 suffering to fellow human because of political, religious, sexual or national differences.听
Human sin disfigures the whole creation,
which groans with eager longing for God's redemption.
We confess our sin in penitence and faith.

Lord God, our maker and our redeemer,
this is your world and we are your people:
come among us and save us.
We have wilfully misused your gifts of creation;
Lord, be merciful:
forgive us our sin.

We have seen the ill-treatment of others
and have not gone to their aid;
We have condoned evil and dishonesty
and failed to strive for justice;
Lord, be merciful:
forgive us our sin.

We have heard the good news of Christ,
but have failed to share it with others;

We have not loved you with all our heart,
nor our neighbours as ourselves;
Lord, be merciful:
forgive us our sin.

May God who loved the world so much
that he sent his Son to be our Saviour
forgive us our sins
and make us holy to serve him in the world,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Susie
Our College Chapel lies in the shadow of Durham鈥檚 Norman Cathedral, the final resting place of two local saints, Bede and Cuthbert.听 Bede, known as the Father of English History, took great delight in education and learning and the words of our anthem with music by Arvo Part, are taken from the prayer that can be found above his tomb, a prayer of hope: 鈥淐hrist is the morning star, who when the night of this world is past brings to his saints the promise of the light of life and opens everlasting day鈥�
Anthem
听听
Christ is the morning star, who when the night of this world is past
brings to his saints the promise of the light of life and opens everlasting day.
(笔盲谤迟)

Reading -

A Reading from Exodus Chapter 31 beginning at the first verse.

The Lord spoke to Moses: See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: and I have filled him with divine spirit, with ability, intelligence, and knowledge in every kind of craft, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, in every kind of craft. Moreover, I have appointed with him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have given skill to all the skillful, so that they may make all that I have commanded you: the tent of meeting, and the ark of the covenant, and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand, and the finely worked vestments, the holy vestments for the priest Aaron and the vestments of his sons, for their service as priests, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the holy place. They shall do just as I have commanded you.

This is the word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.

Psalm (sung chant)

Psalm 8

听

听

Reading

A reading from Paul鈥檚 letter to the Colossians Chapter one beginning at verse 15

Colossians 1:15-20

Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers鈥攁ll things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in[i] him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him鈥� provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Sermon

Just a few weeks ago, in this University a physicist embraced me with tears in his eyes.听 This doesn鈥檛 often happen and rarely with physicists!听听 It was the day of the announcement of the detection of gravitational waves by the Advanced Ligo experiment.听 Neither of us had any involvement in the discovery, but as scientists and fellow Christians we shared a sense of awe at this.听 A hundred years ago Albert Einstein in his suggestion that the space and time of the universe should be seen rather like a stretchy fabric, suggested that an event where large masses merged should send out ripples across this space-time 鈥� but then said it would be almost impossible to detect.听 Yet by using lasers we detected the merging of two black holes by seeing a ripple of the stretching of space equivalent to a fraction of the diameter of a proton!

Einstein himself once said, 鈥楾he most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible鈥�.听 Why does the mathematics of our minds resonate with the mathematics of the universe in such a powerful way? This kind of question does not prove God but raises the possibility of a deeper story to the universe.听 It is not the only one which connects with theology and philosophy 鈥� why for example is our universe so right for life to exist, what Paul Davies calls the 鈥楪oldilocks Enigma鈥�, or why do we encounter such a sense of awe that under the complexity of the universe are such simple and elegant laws?听

This conversation between science and the big questions of existence is a far cry from popular pictures of science and faith in conflict.听 Simplistic presentations of Galileo and Darwin attacking the Bible or being attacked by the church may be widespread but do no justice to the complexity of the long history of the way science and faith have both enriched and questioned each other.听

In this morning鈥檚 Bible readings we get a glimpse of the affirmation of science and technology as a gift from God.听 The ability and intelligence to be artistic in the craft of producing the ark of the covenant is given by God.听 The psalmist observes the night sky and this leads to big questions of human existence in the light of a Creator God, big questions that have had a particular focus over the last few days when we have seen such senseless tragedy and waste and when life seems particularly uncertain and insecure.听

It was in part this affirmation of technology and observing the universe that God had created that led to a rich seam of Christian involvement with science.听 Here in the north east of England, the Venerable Bede was not only a skilled biblical scholar and historian of the church, but also made valuable contributions to early astronomy in the 8th century.听听 His interest in the regularity of the natural world is evident in much of his writing, His book 鈥淥n the Reckoning of Time鈥� is the earliest comprehensive treatment of measuring time and constructing a calendar. He included an explanation of how the Earth was a sphere and how this influenced the changing lengths of daylight.听听听 Perhaps this fascination with the natural world underlies his ability to use it in speaking about Jesus Christ, beautifully portrayed in his poem 鈥楥hrist is the morning star鈥� we heard in a setting by the Estonian composer Arvo Part.

The same fascination has been seen in many scientists in history and today whose Christian faith shaped their view of the world and encouraged their science. From Galileo to Michael Faraday, to the likes of the theoretical physicist John Polkinghorne their faith in a Creator God encouraged them to observe and experiment with the universe.听 This basis of empirical science came from the humility that as God was free to create as God wished, then the only way to find out how he had created was to observe it.听 But they also had confidence that behind the complexity and sometimes confusing nature of the universe were some comprehensible and universal laws which reflected this one God鈥檚 order and faithfulness.

That鈥檚 why for those of us who are scientists and Christians the passage from Paul鈥檚 letter to the Colossians is so important.听 Paul says that in Christ 鈥榓ll things cohere鈥� or 鈥榓ll things hold together鈥�.听 This is for me a Christian affirmation of science or as听 my colleague Tom McLeish , Professor of Physics here at Durham, stresses a theology of science.听 It indicates that the scientific laws, however vaguely we understand them, find their origin and continued existence in the creative work of God in Christ.听 The unity and regular patterns we see in the Universe and by which we work with the universe in technology are there as a gift from God. Such order and coherence, as Paul implies in our second reading, stand against the hostility and evil deeds of some of humankind, a senseless and wanton destructiveness as we have seen this week听

That means that to be a scientist or engineer, either in research or teaching, is, for those who are Christians, a Christian calling.听 Too often the Christian church has made the mistake of believing that God only calls people to be missionaries or priests.听 Churches need to rejoice over those students who are studying science, those who teach science in schools or universities and those who are pushing the frontiers of science whether it be in artificial听 intelligence, gene editing or the search for extraterrestrial life.听 Such things may raise important questions for faith, and faith may want to raise important questions back to the science 鈥� but I am convinced the conversation is not to be feared and will be fruitful.

Here at St John鈥檚 College in Durham University we are currently running programmes to support such a conversation from helping senior church leaders to encounter the excitement of cutting edge science to awards to local churches to use the expertise of scientists in their congregations to help church and community engage with big questions.

By these initiatives we want to encourage the church to value science.听 As the great astronomer Kepler once said, 鈥楽cience is thinking God鈥檚 thoughts after him鈥�.听听 The works of Bede were so important that a monk who no doubt rejoiced in the name of听 Notker the Stammerer, wrote that 鈥楪od, the orderer of natures, who raised the Sun from the East on the fourth day of Creation, in the sixth day of the world has made Bede rise from the West as a new Sun to illuminate the whole Earth鈥�.听 We likewise give thanks today for the gift of scientists and science, and indeed for all those whose lives have illuminated, gladdened and bettered human existence in dark and hopeless places, and so brought hope to our lives too.

Hymn听Take my life and let it be

Prayers - Alex Fry and Katie Hickson

Let us pray to God our creator,
who has entrusted this earth to our care
with delight and tenderness.

We pray for our world.听 For those who depend on the earth for their daily needs, and whose future is uncertain.听 We pray for all who through campaigning, action and legislature seek to safeguard the integrity of creation for generations to come.听听听

We pray for the science community.听 Give insight to those in research, and wisdom to know how to use the results for the common good.

Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer

We pray for those whose search for truth, whether in faith or science, has not been successful. For those who continue to live with sickness or disability, and for those who care for them.听

We pray for those caught up in violence remembering and giving thanks for the life of Jo Cox and thinking of her family and all those bereaved and injured as a result of the attack on the gay night club in Orlando, 鈥�(other topic news items)听

Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer

On this Fathers鈥� Day, We pray for all parents, guardians and carers, those who hold the responsibility of bringing up children, especially those raising children on their own听 those who long for the joys of parenthood and those who have chosen a different way to build fruitful relationships.听 May we all follow the example you have set for us as our loving Father as we nurture and care for others.

We pray for all who are held in captivity, to greed, waste or boredom and whose harvest of joy has been choked.听 Turn us from our captivity and restore our vision in your creative goodness.

Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.听

Rejoicing in the presence of God here among us,

As our Saviour taught us, so we pray

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

厂耻蝉颈别听听
听Our final hymn this morning praises the magnificence and majesty of 听God 鈥淗ow shall I sing that Majesty鈥�

Hymn听How shall I sing that Majesty
Words; John Mason, Music: Kenneth Naylor (Coe Fen)

厂耻蝉颈别听听
We go into the world
to walk in God's light,
to rejoice in God's love
and to reflect God's glory.

May God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the source of all goodness and growth,
pour his blessing upon all things created,
and upon you his children,
that you may use his gifts to his glory and the welfare of all peoples;
and the blessing of God almighty
the Father, the Son and the holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always.
Amen.

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