Wednesday, September 26, 2018

from our Islands of Birds, we give you praise O Lord... A Prayer of thanksgiving


A Bell bird ruffles its feathers on a cold winter morning 

As Part of the seasons of creation this sunday is animal Sunday, but wanting to give it a Kiwi twist I've decided to focus on Birds. New Zealand is a land of Birds and so it seem appropriate to give praise for them and join them in giving praise and thanks to God... It is partly a prayer I wrote a few years ago and I have to admit parts of it come across as a bit forced and laboured. It isn't really poetry but it is written in seven line stanzas with a refrain between.

As per usual please feel free to use any part or line you like or the whole thing or non of it.

On the dense bush clad hills

Across Rich pasture land, vineyard and orchard

In the Hedge rows and specimen trees of suburbia

And the single concrete encased trees of city centres

At even the faintest hint of light they raise their voices

Our land of birds sings its dawn chorus, praise to you O God

And we join our voices to theirs to thank you Lord



From our islands of birds, we give you praise O lord



We praise you for the wonder of our seabirds

The long alone glide of Albatross over stormy Southern Ocean

The graceful flight, sudden plunge and splash of Gannet

The long journey back to clifftop homes, for roost and rest

The demanding harsh squawk of gull, tern and skua

The purposeful low tide wade of spoonbill, oyster catcher and heron

And Dotterel dance on sandy shore



From our islands of birds, we give you praise O lord



For the bush dwellers, unique to this place we thank you

The rare night time screech of kiwi, and satisfied morepork

The lonely kakapo boom, and cheeky antic of kea and kaka

The day time tunes of bell bird and tui, saddle back and robin

For fan tail flit and the beating air of Kereru swoop  

The seemingly effortless circle of watchful Falcon and Hawk

Pukeho and Weka strut, and welcome surprise of Takahe in tundra,



From our islands of birds, we give you praise O lord



For the birds that have come and made their home with us

Sparrow chirp, thrush and black bird in garden perch

The coo and the pooh of urban dwelling pigeon

The dazzle of red with rosellas in the park

Magpie in misty field, geese guarding and black swan gliding

Hen cluck and rooster call, duck waddle with pond and river grace

Pets of Parakeet, budgie and Cockatoo to talk to you



 From our islands of birds, we give you praise O lord



We join them to praise you for the wonder of your creation

The night sky, galaxy and star, that point us to eternity

The beauty of land and sea, flora and fauna

We join them to acknowledge your provision

That every good gift comes from your hand

You make the crops to grow and the earth to bear fruit

Gave us gift and talent to make it grow and to earn our keep



From our islands of birds, we give you praise O lord



We join them to praise you for your grace

You sent your son Jesus to be our way, our light

His death, our forgiveness, and being raised ,our new life

God, who knows even when a sparrow falls to the ground

Fill us afresh with your spirit, we pray

That we may know you more and more, tell your truth

That we may Love people, care for creation, and live for your glory



From our islands of birds, we give you praise O lord

Native birds at the zoo.

Just a couple of photos that I'm proud of at Auckland Zoo. A couple of A kea  (the kea is a New Zealand mountain parrot) and a shoveller duck (kuruwhengi) who seemed to be very upset I took a photo while he was a sleep and of course a couple of a New Zealand dotterel and Kereru or wood pigeon. 













Monday, September 24, 2018

Encountering God on the Mountain top and the Valley Floor ( a survey of mountains in scripture) Isaiah 2:1-5 and Matthew 17:1-23



There is something about being on a mountain top that fills you with awe and wonder. The sense of having achieved something, reaching a goal,  the wonderful view and vista, a chance to have a different perspective on what is around you. Even Auckland City looks great from Waiatarua. Mind you as I’ve got older that sense of wonder is usually that I’ve made it to the top, and the view for the first ten minutes is my knees and feet as I bend over and try and catch my breath.

We use the metaphor of mountain tops to talk of spiritual experiences, encounters with God and high points in our lives. I recently went out through the Waitakere’s to Karekare with a friend and found myself reminded of hills and high places that had been special to me. The hill top just above the Arataki Information centre, where you can look down at the bush.  I had gone to pray when I had to choose between staying in Auckland and heading down to St John’s in Rotorua and receiving very clear guidance from a bible passage in Marks gospel, “a prophet is without honour in their own town”,  that it was time to move away from Auckland my home that sprawled below me. 

The craggy rock over the river at the north end of  Karekare, where you could climb up to the lifeguards platform. I’d originally had my twenty first out at Karekare and had left the party and found this place to be alone. One night I had sat there for hours, praying and praising God, singing at the top of my voice, knowing I couldn’t be heard by anyone but God over the pounding surf.  Away from the lights of Auckland the stars shone bright and the milky way arched overhead, in the warm late summer evening the waves glowed with fluorescence as they struck the sand. Maybe it would have been easy to think that spiritual experience was just being in such an awesome place at night, but in the middle of that I sensed God’s presence and he spoke to me and asked me to renounce involvement in astrology. I didn’t under stand it at the time, but I did it, and it wasn’t till years later walking and praying in Rotorua that God reminded me of that night and that as a child I had worn an Aquarius medallion round my neck, a bit like a lucky charm. Just something that needed to be worked out spiritually, as involvement in that occult  stuff can be a source of spiritual problems.

In the scripture mountains are see in two ways, firstly there is the link with encounters with God, but they are also used as a metaphor for the challenges and difficulties we face in life. In the passage from Matthew’s Gospel we see it used both ways. Firstly on the mountain the disciples have this amazing encounter where Jesus is transfigured before them, they see him in his glory, along with Moses and Elijah, that represent the law and the prophets, then as they have come down the mountain they find themselves right bang in a messy situation, a demon possessed boy, the disciples can’t seem to help.  Jesus rebukes them about their faith and talks of a mustard seed faith being able to move a mountain.

Its mountain Sunday in the season of creation and what I want to do today is do a quick survey of mountains in the scriptures, that speak of spiritual experiences and encounters with God and what they have to say to us about those experiences and how they relate to the valley floor of everyday life, the inevitability, that is says in Matthew 17:9 and they were coming down the mountain”

In Genesis 22 there is the mountain in the region of Moriah, where Abraham is tested and in obedience with what he hears God say, takes his son Isaac and is about to offer hm as a sacrifice. Then we have the God encounter and God provides a ram for Abraham to sacrifice in Isaacs place. This passage has always been pointed to as showing Abrahams faith, but it is a worrying story, because while Abraham has great faith and is wiling to obey what he hears God say, it also is a test of relationship, how well did Abraham know God, to think that God would want child sacrifice. But on this mountain which some suggest is the same mountain on which Christ was crucified we encounter God’s mercy and love for us, that God provides the sacrifice and of course we look forward from there into the new testament to see the death of Jesus on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. I think the Abraham story speaks to us that we need to wrestle with our mountain top experiences with God to fully understand them and know what they mean when we go down from the mountain. We should look at them from what we know of God, God is knowable, God has revealed God’s nature through scripture.

At the beginning of Exodus, we have Mt Horeb or Sinai, where in Exodus 3 Moses encounters God in the burning bush. It’s a story of God’s compassion for his people and of calling. God calls Moses to lead his people out of Israel, so they can worship him at this mountain.  That mountain top encounter with God is not always about us and God, but to strengthen and call us to go and serve and care for God’s people. Well see it again and again, genuine encounters with God result in service and the furthering of God mission in the world, and Moses is sustained by this encounter through a very difficult and trying time.

As the people come out of Egypt Moses again encounters God at Horeb, and is given the law, the ten commandments, and meets with God. Only Moses and his aid Joshua go up, the rest of the people remain behind, God is too holy and awesome for them to meet as Moses does. Moses is transformed by his encounter and for forty days after he shines with this glory from meeting with God.  Spiritual encounters and mountain top experiences can leave us basking in their glory, but again the reality of a spiritual encounter is like with Moses at Horeb, that we catch a revelation of what God wants and like with the law was intended it results in a way of life that reflects the God whom we have encountered. At Horeb the people of Israel receive the law, how as this new people of God they are to live that will reflect God’s justice and mercy. Because of that other hill of Calvary we don’t have to hang back at the foot of the mountain but we are all invited to meet with and encounter God, not just at the mountain but in our every day.

Mt Horeb appears again in 1 Kings 19 right after another mountain top experience on Mt Camel, where Elijah has a competition with the prophets of Baal about who is the real God. It’s interesting in this encounter that the prophets of Baal may have outwardly been seen to have a more ecstatic experience, they dance and sing and cut themselves, hoping their God will answer them. But with Elijah it almost seems mundane, he builds an altar pours water over it and at the right time for evening sacrifice prays and God answers. Boom, we can get caught up in the externals and the exciting and different and the ecstatic and think that’s where we encounter God  and not realise that its often in the personal rhythm of worship and devotion and prayer that we meet with God. I’ve found that the more regular and regulated my emotional life the more God seems to speak to me through the scriptures.  At the bible course of Tuesday, we talked about the fact that the prophets of Baal were killed by the people of Israel and it seemed bloodthirsty and violent. As I’ve re red for this sermon, the thing that sticks out is the prophets of Baal and jezebel were systematically seeking out and killing the prophets and people faithful to Israel’s God, so it becomes more of a justice thing, than vengeance or simple brutality, maybe a bit like the Nurnberg trials after the second world war

But back to Horeb, Elijah is afraid because jezebel the queen threatens revenge, she puts out a hit on Elijah, if this was a gangster movie… Elijah demoralised after that flees. His encounter on Horeb when he sees God passing by encourages him, gives him a new perspective on the awesomeness and power of God, but also on God’s love and care. God speaks not in the earthquake or hurricane but in the stillness. The mark of this genuine encounter with God is Elijah comes away encouraged and with a definite plan and a way forward. He is given someone to walk the path with him in Elisha. When we are discouraged and well facing mountains that genuine encounter with God, provides clarity and ways forward, not a way out, but a way through, with Christ’s abiding presence.

Mt Zion, the city of Jerusalem, was where David established his capital and where Solomon built the temple and bought the focus for the worship of God to that specific hill.  In the reading we had from Isaiah chapter 2 we see how the city is to be a place where God’s kingdom is established, people are to be drawn to that place because of God’s mercy and justice. It here of Course that Christ comes and is crucified, it is here when the promise of the Holy Spirit is poured out on all those who believe. At the end of acts 2 we have this wonderful picture of the new people of God, the church, living out that hope of peace and justice, they are a people dedicated to knowing and learning what it means to be God’s people, they devote themselves to prayer and scripture and the teaching of the apostles. They practise hospitality and generosity, and live in harmony so that none of them is said to be in need, and they experience the power and presence of God in miracles and in people coming to know Christ, they enjoy the goodwill of the people: people see how they live and it draws them in. It is a pattern and a hope for us the church, that in us people might glimpse that rule and reign of God, that will make them want to change and put aside war and conflict.

A minister who lead a Christian community in west Auckland once talked about the marks of true revival, he said that you know the geniuses of that encounter with God when it results in a hunger for God’s word and prayer, a desire for Christian unity, hospitality and generosity, a care for the poor, and a heart for seeing people come to know Jesus.  Yes miracles and all that stuff goes along with it, but at its heart is the kingdom of God.

The mount of ascension outside Jerusalem is where the gospels finish and the book of acts kicks off. It is a place where the disciples see Jesus taken up from them into heaven. It would be easy to finish the story with them gazing off into the sky, simply waiting for Jesus to come back to them. To sit and wait for that vision of Isaiah to come to being, but that is not what happens they are told by angels, to go back down and wait in Jerusalem for the power of God and then be Jesus witness to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.  That is the challenge of the mountain top that we come back down and get on with making what we have encountered of God a reality where we live.

That brings us back to the gospel reading we had today and the mount of transfiguration. The three disciples closest to Jesus have this amazing encounter, their eyes are open and they are able to see the reality of who Jesus is, a real glimpse beyond the veil to the spiritual realm. Jesus is totally human, but there is a glimpse of this glorified body, conversing with Moses and Elijah and the first instinct they have is that they want to stay there and they want to build an altar and shelters a structure to enshrine this experience. Let us build a shelter for each of you… that’s a very human reaction, a very human response to such a spiritual experience. A lot of our church traditions and expressions and denominations even are built to preserve hopefully a new truth about God, but they want to encapsulate a spiritual experience.  But Jesus is not having any of it. He is suddenly just plain ol Jesus and thy go down the mountain, back into the difficulties and metaphor mountains of trouble they have left behind. But they Go back down… but down there Jesu is also with them. The disciples had tried to cast out a demon and they couldn’t do it, but as Jesus is with them and he is able to do it, and teaches them how to do it, how to have faith in facing mountains. It’s not the mountain top experience where we know God and his presence, its where we glimpse the reality of the God who is with us on the valley floor, who we can trust and put our faith in as we face those other mountains.
The mount of transfiguration is book ended by looking forward to another mountain, Golgotha or Calvary as Jesus speaks of his death and resurrection, and it is this mountain that enables us to know God’s presence with us on the mountain high and valley low. It Jesus giving his life for us and being raised to life again, that does not mean we need to go to the physical mountains to see and know him. Rather he is with us. In John4 Jesus has a discussion with a Samaritan women about which mountain is right to worship God on… Jesus response is to tell her that there is a time coming when we will worship God not on the mountain but in Spirit and truth, that is the hope and the reality that we have among our mountains… 


Maungarei, Maungakiekie, Mt Hobson, Hamlin hill,  and beyond… as we face the mountains of aloneness, searching for meaning and purpose, pain, family struggles, caring for friends facing oppressive social mountains or a whole range of personal mounds… Mountain top encounters are great and helpful and draw us on, but we have the assurance that Christ has come down the mountain with us and dwells with us on the valley floor, the up and downward trek, wanting to see his kingdom and justice and love make that Mt Zion vision a reality

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Prayer of thanksgiving for Mountain Sunday based on Psalm 25:2


As I was putting together the service for the season of creation's mountain sunday. I though it would be easy to focus on the majestic Southern Alpes in the south Island (they do get a mention) or the really  big impressive mountains overseas. But New Zealand is a land of a whole lot of different islands and Auckland a city surrounded by hills and mountains on all sides (even ones sticking out of the ocean to our east) and our city sits on a series of about forty or more volcanic cones... So Just as Jerusalem is surrounded by hills so are we and just like the psalmist uses it to remind the people of Jerusalem that God is with them so these mountains remind us of the same thing. 

Some of the imagery and stuff in this prayer may be a bit foreign to many of my readers... But hopefully you'll get the gist of it...  here are a couple of explanations. The Bryderwyn's are the hills I remember going over on our way to northern holidays and when we got to the top and saw the ocean and the Whangerei heads it felt like you were finally away from Auckland and on holiday. The summits of the volcanic cones in Auckland have recently been given back to the local Maori tribes... The Bombay's are a very fertile piece of land and provide most of the market gardening for the Auckland region, but because of the sprawl of the city there is competition between food production and housing. 

We thank you for the mountains of our land

Volcanic cone and bush clad range

North islands winter snow capped spine

The Southern Alpes, soaring grandeur 

Rolling hills in farmland green

Beach end heads, ramparts of land against sea

Thank you for these mountains of home



Like Jerusalem we are surrounded by mountains

congregation: We too are surrounded by God’s great love

Hills that seem so solid and unmovable

Congregation: God is with us now and we with him forever more  



Here we look to the west and see the rugged Waitakere

They stretch from wild Manukau mouth to Kaipara head

Plummeting steeply to pound of Tasman wave  on iron sand

They stand tall and mysterious against sunset sky

Bush blanketed and tipped by the regrowth of forest giant

Rain drenched, providing lush growth and city water to drink

Thank you for these mountains of home



Like Jerusalem we are surrounded by mountains

We too are surrounded by God’s great love

Hills that seem so solid and unmovable

God is with us now and we with him forever more  



To the north the Bryderwyns stand, little more than a speed bump

Once over these we feel as if we’ve gotten away on holiday

Coming home, we have one last glimpse back to refreshing ocean blue,

To the south Hunua range and Bombay hills,

Rich fertile soil, market gardened and grazed pasture land

Stalked by the ever-nearing urban, suburban sprawl

Thank you Lord for these mountains



Like Jerusalem we are surrounded by mountains

We too are surrounded by God’s great love

Hills that seem so solid and unmovable

God is with us now and we with him forever more  



To the east, A harbour guarded by volcanic cone and tide lapped hill

In the distance the barrier islands and coromandel’s

Living lifeboats for native bird, ramparts against pacific swell

In our midst the long sleeping of volcano vent

Our city weaving between these cratered hills

Summits sacred and now to iwi returned

Thank you for these mountains of home



Like Jerusalem we are surrounded by mountains

We too are surrounded by God’s great love

Hills that seem so solid and unmovable

God is with us now and we with him forever more  



Behind us the blood-stained cross and hill of Calvary,

Where in Christ’s death we are forgiven and restored

The source of new life , of fresh and true insight

Before us the hill of ascension, where Christ went away

We don’t stand there longingly gazing skyward

We have hope as we walk through this life, spirit filled

That as he left, Christ will return again, creation to renew

Thank you for these mountains of home 


Like Jerusalem we are surrounded by mountains
We too are surrounded by God’s great love
Hills that seem so solid and unmovable
God is with us now and we with him forever more

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

New Zealand Dotterels (Tuturiwhatu) on Karekare beach

Like many birds the New Zealand Dotterel (Tuturiwhatu) is an endangered species. They are a member of the plover family and their nesting  habitat, rugged New Zealand beaches and sand dunes makes them very susceptible to both introduced predators and also casual beach uses with dogs or even feet disturbing their nesting sites.

recently I've started to see these birds in different places. One on the Manukau harbour at Onehunga and a couple of them out on Karekare beach on the west coast... Hopefully its a sign that they are making a comeback... mind you it could just be I've been in the right place at the right time... Here are some photos.






Monday, September 10, 2018

What The Genesis Creation Narrative tells us about Humanities Relationship with Creation... (Genesis 1:25-28, Psalm 103 103;13-18)


The first chapters of Genesis act like the opening scenes of a movie. The creation narrative in genesis chapter 1 is like the establishing shot, You might not be into film making or its terminology but I guarantee you know what I mean… the sweeping shot to give you the big picture and set the scene. The aerial pan over the city at night, setting the police drama in its urban environment, the slow pan across the grandeur of monument valley, with it’s towering Mesas in a John Ford western, or that floating through the vastness of space at the start of a science fiction epic. In the case of Genesis it is a series of shots, a montage, increasingly full of life and colour and movement and vitality, with ellipses of darkness between to denote the passing of time. It tells the story of God creating it all, painted large, filling the formlessness void, in a series of days. There is no sound track to set the mood of awe and wonder, rather the creation itself gives praise to its creator at the end of each of those days we hear the refrain “and it is Good” and the final refrain of “and it is very good” as we get a long shot of humanity.

Then Genesis 2 and beyond zooms in on the action and story that is going to play itself out in what is to come. In the films genres we saw before it  would be that we see the police car on a stake out, the lone rider heads into the small western town, or a battling space ships comes into shot. In Genesis Creation is narrowed down to a personal event, painted not on the canvas large, but in the confines of a garden, in a set geographic area, the main character of the whole epic which we call history is God, who is there at the beginning and it is going to be about God’s relationship with humanity, represented by the character of Adam and Eve. The tension and conflict in the story is introduced as these people break the relationship with God, we see the consequences of that and are invited to journey and see how that will be resolved. What we call salvation history.

Now we may not be used to thinking of Genesis through the lens of a camera or cinema, we are more used to trying to see it through the lens of a microscope trying to make it into a science text book. But as they say in the bible course, that does not do it justice, Genesis does not address that set of questions of how and when, rather it seeks to address the questions of why? The purpose of creation, the presence of good and evil, and in terms of the bibles story itself why would God make a covenant with us, Israel? It sets the scene for the larger question of why Jesus Christ came? It also invites us to ask where do we fit into this narrative?

That’s the establishing shot for this message today let’s get on with the action and I promise it’s not an epic. It’s the season of creation, a chance to celebrate what God has made and look at the challenge of environmental issues, and its Humanity Sunday, where we celebrate us as human beings in all our diversity and potential and ability and acknowledge our brokenness and need for new creation. I just want to take some time today to look at the question what does the Genesis narrative tells us about humanity and our relationship with creation?  I’m not going to have all the answers but hopefully it will give us some perspective and underpinning biblical theology that will allow us to frame our thinking and our actions, in terms of the environment.

The first thing the Genesis narrative tells us is that God is the creator and creation is God’s and creation is good. It is easy to think that we are centre and focus of the world and that the world is ours but the Genesis narrative tells us up front, that is not the case. Kris and I are part of that growing demographic in New Zealand we are renters, while we speak about our place and our home, the reality is that it belongs to someone else. We have rights as tenants but equally we are responsible to the owners for how we treat the property we live in, and we don’t have the right to change it to suit ourselves with out reference to the wishes of the landlord.

It is a result of the fall but we have a tendency to think that we are God, that we can do what we like and one of the things about the ecological issues of today, like climate change is that we just may not really know what we are doing. The balance and harmony and connectedness of things in our plants ecosystem are part of God’s design and gift to the life God created here. In Psalm 104 the Psamist well before the advent of environmental science, wonders at the way in which God has given each animal a habitat for it to survive and thrive in, how it’s need are provided in those places. People see evolution as an argument against creation, and I’m no scientific genius or even theological thinker but I sense that evolution just maybe a sign of God’s providence and care for his creation.

The other think that says to us is that we are to worship God not creation, it all finds it meaning and purpose in relationship with God. The biblical narrative is that we are called  to join the whole of creation to worship our creator.

That lead on to the second thing that the Genesis narrative tells us about humanity. We are created, we are creatures. We were made part of the world around us and are connected and reliant on it. We are part of our physical world. In the genesis 2 narrative that connection with the earth is made even more God forming Adam out of clay and breathing life into him. We are of this earth and we return bodily  to it.

It’s humbling at least it should be to consider that. In one novel I read it mentions a Jewish rabbi who said it is humbling to think that even the nit and the flea came before us in the created order. Humanity is a late comer, we don’t appear in the creation story till Friday afternoon. It’s challenging because we are at the mercy of the environment about us. I think it something that we are once again becoming all so aware of, the fragility and smallness of our own technological achievements in the face of storm and rising tide. 

The section of Psalm 103 we had read this morning tells us that God remembers it even if we don’t and that that makes us fragile and fleeting, finite and mortal. That may be a consequence of the fall, but it is our reality as humanity. It’s very humbling to be compared to the transient nature of flowers on roadside weeds and grasses. (the Image that goes with the service this week is one I took of small yellow flowers growing as weeds at the car park in Muriwai Beach. There was the grandeur and permanence of the ocean and sky and its greys and silvers, the only splash of vibrant colour amidst the greyness was these flowers here today and gone tomorrow).  In psalm 8 the psalmist stands staring off at the mountains or the vast ocean or the immenseness of space and asks the question who is humanity that you should even think of us, who are we? The comforting and amazing reality is that God does think of us, God does care and God does want relationship with us.

That moves us on to the next thing that Genesis tells us about humanity, we were made in the image of God, in the likeness of God. Both male and female.  We are creatures tied and connected to this earth, but set aside from the rest of creation by being made in God’s image. At The Bible course we had a discussion about what it means to be made in God’s image.  Scripture tells us that God is Spirit, and we cannot imply that physically we look like God. In Greek mythology and in our own minds we might see that perfect body toned or rippling with muscles statuesque and perfectly proportioned as being God or goddess like, but it goes beyond that. When In Christ God steps into the created world, it is not like that but as a servant and willingly gives up his life for us… Humans are made for the capacity for relationship with God, to care and to love and create and value and comprehend eternity. We were created for relationship with God, as the genesis narrative says God breathed life into us, spiritual life as well physical life. That spiritual life is the thing that dies with the fall, and is made alive again in Christ, it’s the abundant and eternal life we receive in Christ.

Being made in the image of God is what gives humanity its dignity and value, there is an ethical element to it which means all human beings are to be valued, respected and cared for.. In James 3:9, James sees being made in God’s image as a why we should not curse or put down or denigrate another human being, how can we worship God and then curse those made in God’s image… It is the basis of the Christian faiths rejection of racism, the dehumanising and denigrating and hating of another race or ethnic group, we are all made in God’s image. Jesus when talking of taxes asks Peter whose image is on the coin, and concludes render to Caesar what is Caesars but to God what it God’s, challenging us that being made in the image of god calls us to put that relationship first in our lives.

Along with being made in that Image, humanity is given a task, that is to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and to subdue it and rule over it. Many have pointed to these as causes of a misunderstanding of humanities relationship with creation.  That we have complete authority over it, the right to abuse and exploit and overuse, over consume. Once again maybe that is part of the brokenness that comes in the fall where humanity finds itself out of harmony and at odds with creation, but we can forget that that ruling was always intended to be in relationship with God. It is not a high point for humanity, but an acknowledgment that we are God’s servants. In the ancient near east great kings gave lesser kings the right to rule their patch, but it was that they did it as an extension of the King they served. Being in the likeness of God says that is with the care and concern and compassion of God for his creation. In Genesis 2:15 that ruling over is reshaped as being put into the garden to work it and care for it. It is very much a servant role, we might think being a gardener is a demeaning role, but in John 14 Jesus uses the metaphor of God as the gardener to talk about finding life and fruitfulness in Christ. “I am the true vine and my father is the gardener, the tender of the vine. It is not a position of privilege but one of service and caring for. In olden times it would have been being a Stewart of someone’s property, from which we get the word stewartship, to look after and use wisely. Again we see the example of our Lord and King Jesus Christ who came not be served but to serve.

Sadly, as a result of our fallenness we have seen that calling and gifting from God as privilege and licence. Part of humanities fallenness has been a disregard for the created world, we have seen the fulfilling of our wants and needs as paramount. Even Christianity down through the ages, with noticeable exceptions has been at the forefront of progress in the west and a disregard for its impact on creation.  Sadly it is still a challenge for the church today as well… I’ve heard sermons that environmental issues have no place in the gospel, the idea of Jesus return seems to give some the licence to think they can use up this planet and its resources because well God is going to give us a new one. We’ll be air lifted out… But it hard to be reconciled and in relationship with our creator and have such a distain for his creation… seeing it only as for our benefit, when the genesis narrative tells us its primary purpose is to worship and give praise to its creator… The promise of a new creation is not an escape plan from a dead used up planet, it is a call to radically engage and be about new creation in peoples lives, through evangelism, in society by seeking justice and peace and in creation through the idea of stewardship and creation care. They are interlinked.

Well the end of the story maybe a riding off not into the sun set but with the risen Son but that is not where we have got in the story. In Paul’s letter to the Romans he talks of the whole of creation groaning, like in labour pains waiting for the children of God to be revealed. There is a sense that as we are being made new and restored to that right relationship to God in Jesus Christ, that an outworking of that is to develop and grow in a right relationship with the created world around us.  God’s call to love him calls us to creation care, God’s law and Christs command to love our neighbour, calls us to consider how we use and treat and use the environment and the Genesis narrative reminds us that creation is Gods good gift, that we ourselves are creatures and people of the dust and that being made in God’s image is not a privileged position but one that calls us to serve and care. The scene is set for us to step in to the picture and  to live out the kingdom of God and rule of God in the created realm in which we live.

Thursday, September 6, 2018

Prayer of thanks for Creation in an Auckland setting on Humanity Sunday as part of the season of creation


In September at St Peter's we celebrate the season of creation and while there is some good liturgical resources around I find that they often reflect the place they are written and don't always connect with us here in New Zealand and Auckland city. Auckland is  a place of unique beauty an isthmus between the Tasman sea and the pacific Ocean with a harbour on both coast, the coasts or totally different than each other as are the harbours, the land in between is dominated by volcanic cones. with both native flora and fauna and introduced plants and animals. We have an indigenous population, that we are wrestling with what it means to be in partnership with, and we have become more and more a world city with a multicultural population. 

This is a Prayer for what has been called humanity sunday which tries and tie all that together in giving thanks to God our creator. feel free to use some or all or none of it...  

For my overseas readers Tangata whenua is Maori for people of the land and refers to the Maori as the indigenous people of New Zealand. Gannet topped cliffs refers to a sea bird that is part of the Bobbie family , and can only be seen nesting on the mainland in two places in the world, both in New Zealand and one just a short drive from Auckland city at Muriwai beach, thus the image that goes with this post. Kauri, pohutukawa and Rimu and Rata are New Zealand native trees as are manuka  (which is more of a shrub) and flax, used by the Maori in their wweaving (so Bob and Weave is a play on words)… 


Creator God, Who spoke and it came into being

We gather to thank you for who you are

And praise you for the wonder of what you have made

We gather from our busy lives, united in your son our saviour

We come together in this place with its stunning uniqueness



You have made it all

And It is good



Thank you for the awe-inspiring grandeur of our island homes coast

The West coast’s surf pounded Iron sand and steep gannet topped cliffs

The inviting white sand and calmer seas of our eastern shore

Our cities harbours, one sun sparkled and gulf island sprinkled

The other mangrove and mud flat lined, vast and moody…



You have made it all

And it is good



Thank you for the land itself, this isthmus on which we have built,

Western rangers, bush lined and forest giant tipped

Terraced Volcanic cones through which our city swerves 

Rich productive soil, cluggy clay even swampy land

Gentle seaward slope, urban tall, suburban sprawl,  rolling rural farmland



You have made it all

And it is good



Thank you for The christmas red of pohutukawa, for  kauri, rimu and rata

The bob and weave of flax and cabbage trees in stormy wind

introduced specimens that line our suburban street

the fleeting beauty of delicate flower on roadside weed

fruit trees, vegetable patch and taste of herb from which we eat



You have made it all

And it is Good



We praise you for the wonder of animal life,

Soaring bird, dawn chorus chirp and morkpork call at night,

For coastal wader and ocean epic voyagers here to roost and rest

For fish and sea mammal, dolphin leap, seals asleep and whales to watch

For companionship of pet, and provision through farm animal graze.



You have made it all

And it is Good



This humanity Sunday, we thank you for the people around us,

Made in your image, diverse and different, called in your son to be one

Tangata whenua, their language and culture deeply rooted in this place,

People from all over, from way back or not that long who call here home,

With the different insights, delights, flare and fare we bring to the table



You have made them all

And it is very Good



Father God, thank you for your love in Jesus Christ

Because of Christ’s death, we can be forgiven and made clean and new

Because of Christ’s resurrection, we have new and abundant life

Thank you that you have sent your promised Holy  Spirit to dwell in us.

We pray we would know the truth today, we are forgiven and loved

Full of your spirit help us to care for each other and all of creation



You are remaking us all in Christ

You are so Good O God  

Monday, September 3, 2018

Back at Muriwai with the Gannets

A second trip out to Muriwai in a week captured some more photos of these amazing Gannets as they settle in for the breeding season. It is a truly magical place. The council have provided such close up access, with the wonder of Gannets soaring high above you or gliding mere feet above your head as they come into land.
through the sea spray and slight mist the Gannet colony on the off shore Island at Muriwai looks magical in the late afternoon sun. 

testing the wind. 

up close... the startling blue of the eye lids. 

Skybird… 

looking down at the wild waves below. 

A Gannet flies over the colony.

Gannets land on the grassly side of the cliff to gather nesting material.