Lament & Hope

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Voice and Words by Jon Swales

Father of Creation,

God of Beauty,

You have created a world of wonder,

And you declared it to be good,

And it is good.

To you be all praise and glory.

The earth was formless

And Void,

The Wild Goose of Love hovered over the waters of the deep,

And you spoke and light and life was brought into being, 

And on the fifth day, 

You created every kind of bird that flies in the sky,

To you be all praise and glory. 

And birds join the symphony of praise,

That reaches to your throne.

They open their beaks,

Flap their wings,

& Perform waltz of wonder.

And birds join the symphony of praise,

The reaches to your throne 

Singing ‘Holy, Holy, Holy

Is the Lord God almighty 

Who was, and is, and is to come.’

The Swallow and the Seagull,

The Parrot and the Peacock.

Flap their wings in reverent praise.

The Heron and the Hornbill,

The Condor and the Cuckoo,

Open their beaks to praise your name.

The Dove and the Duck,

The Sparrow and the Stork,

Flap their wings in reverent praise.

The Nightingale and the Nighthawk,

The Flamingo and the Falcon,

Open their beaks to praise your name.  

Father of Creation,

God of Beauty, 

We thank you for our feathered friends, 

Our co-worshippers,

For the joy and delight they bring,

For the role they play in balancing ecosystems. 

To you be all praise and glory.

Father of Creation,

God of Mercy,

We have entered the Anthropocene,

In which human activity affects

Global temperatures, 

Seasons, and

Weather systems.

We have betrayed our calling to tend and keep,

And instead in our arrogance and greed,

We have forsaken Eden and instead built Babel,

We confess our failings.

Lord have mercy.

Father of Creation. 

God of Justice,

Our behaviour not only jeopardises our futures

and the lives of the world's most vulnerable,

But it also has devastating effects on,

The Birds,

Our feathered co-worshippers. 

Lord have mercy. 

We lament and grieve that 

One in Eight bird species are threatened with extinction,

We lament and grieve that 40 % have declining populations

For those critically endangered 

Herald Petrel 

 Orange-bellied Parrot,

 Round Island Petrel,,

King Island Scrub Tit

Spotted Quail-thrush 

Yellow Chat  

Lord have mercy

For the many more endangered and vulnerable

Lord have mercy

Father of Creation, 

God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ,

Your Spirit descended as a dove,

To call and equip your Son to his kingdom witness,

So may we to filled with your Spirit,

So that in these difficult and dark days,

Of climate breakdown, ecological collapse and existential threat,

We would be those who support the lives and well-being creation,

The worlds most vulnerable,

And the Birds

For this is their home, this is our home,

An intricate web of beautiful biodiversity.

....

And birds join the symphony of praise,

The reaches to your throne 

Singing ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’

Os the Lord God almighty 

Who was, and is , and is to come.’

Amen

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Words and Voice- Jon Swales
Cello and Piano Music (Royalty Free) - Blue Nights by Juan Sánchez ðªð

Father of Creation,

God of Beauty,

You have created a world of wonder,

And you declared it to be good,

And it is good.

To you be all praise and glory.

The earth was formless

And Void,

The Wild Goose of Love hovered over the waters of the deep,

And you spoke and light and life was brought into being, 

And on the fifth day, 

You created every kind of bird that flies in the sky,

To you be all praise and glory. 

And birds join the symphony of praise,

That reaches to your throne.

They open their beaks,

Flap their wings,

& Perform waltz of wonder.

And birds join the symphony of praise,

The reaches to your throne 

Singing ‘Holy, Holy, Holy

Is the Lord God almighty 

Who was, and is, and is to come.’

The Swallow and the Seagull,

The Parrot and the Peacock.

Flap their wings in reverent praise.

The Heron and the Hornbill,

The Condor and the Cuckoo,

Open their beaks to praise your name.

The Dove and the Duck,

The Sparrow and the Stork,

Flap their wings in reverent praise.

The Nightingale and the Nighthawk,

The Flamingo and the Falcon,

Open their beaks to praise your name.  

Father of Creation,

God of Beauty, 

We thank you for our feathered friends, 

Our co-worshippers,

For the joy and delight they bring,

For the role they play in balancing ecosystems. 

To you be all praise and glory.

Father of Creation,

God of Mercy,

We have entered the Anthropocene,

In which human activity affects

Global temperatures, 

Seasons, and

Weather systems.

We have betrayed our calling to tend and keep,

And instead in our arrogance and greed,

We have forsaken Eden and instead built Babel,

We confess our failings.

Lord have mercy.

Father of Creation. 

God of Justice,

Our behaviour not only jeopardises our futures

and the lives of the world's most vulnerable,

But it also has devastating effects on,

The Birds,

Our feathered co-worshippers. 

Lord have mercy. 

We lament and grieve that 

One in Eight bird species are threatened with extinction,

We lament and grieve that 40 % have declining populations

For those critically endangered 

Herald Petrel 

 Orange-bellied Parrot,

 Round Island Petrel,,

King Island Scrub Tit

Spotted Quail-thrush 

Yellow Chat  

Lord have mercy

For the many more endangered and vulnerable

Lord have mercy

Father of Creation, 

God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ,

Your Spirit descended as a dove,

To call and equip your Son to his kingdom witness,

So may we to filled with your Spirit,

So that in these difficult and dark days,

Of climate breakdown, ecological collapse and existential threat,

We would be those who support the lives and well-being creation,

The worlds most vulnerable,

And the Birds

For this is their home, this is our home,

An intricate web of beautiful biodiversity.

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Words and Voice by Jon Swales
Music: Used with Permission from Chris Sayburn ' Memory'

Do not run from concrete reality,

Into a world of romanticised abstractions.

Take courage,

The truth at times will hurt.

Do not romanticise reality,

But look it straight in the eye.

And behold the nightmarish evil that many endure.

Don't dodge or look away,

But lament,

And grieve,

The Kingdom is calling.

Don't dodge or look away,

But listen,

And love,

The Kingdom is Calling.

Do not romanticise reality,

But look it in the eye,

Commit yourself to justice and peace.

Hold the hands of the hurting,

Wrap your arms around the broken,

Hold their gaze, and whisper

‘This is not the way it was meant to be’

Speak truth to those corrupted by power,

Stand up for the oppressed,

Hold their gaze and whisper.

‘This is not the way it is meant to be’

Do not  romanticise reality, 

But rest a while in extravagant love.

Bathe in his kindness,

Recieve his healing.

Do not romanticise reality,

But know that hope is on the way.

Reality will be redeemed,

There is not a hurt he will not heal.

Swales 2021

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Sermon by Rev'd Jon Swales, June 2019

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Sermon by Rev'd Jon Swales, June 2019

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Sermon by Rev'd Jon Swales ,  June 2019

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Words and Voice Jon Swales
Music. used with permission from Chris Sayburn 'Distance'

Father of Creation, Turn your face to us, Strengthen us,
So that

We will face what we will face With a firm heart,
Focused mind and resolute will.

Father of Creation,
Turn your face to us,
Strengthen us,
So that we may embody and enact Your mercy and justice

To a dying world.

Father of Creation,
Speak to us,
Strengthen us,
So that we may raise a voice for the world’s most vulnerable, Who are crushed beneath the wheels of climate injustice.

Father of Creation,
Your Son set his face towards Jerusalem, With self-giving sacrificial love,
So too, let us set our face towards injustice.

Let us not look away from the world’s most vulnerable. Let us not look away from sober scientific analysis.
Let us not look away from evil’s empires of exploitation.

The times are desperate,

19: Turn Your Face

And we are desperate.

The world is vulnerable, And we are vulnerable.

Have mercy upon us according to your steadfast love.
Have mercy upon us according to your Son and Our Saviour Jesus Christ.

We pray and petition,
We beseech and entreat,
That the leaders of this world, corporations and mainstream media, Would align themselves with justice.

We give thanks and pray blessing Upon those who enact justice,
Upon those who speak truth.
Upon those who bandage the wounds

of those caught beneath
the wheels of climate injustice.

And we pray for the transformation of society, For repentance and recalibration

in which unrestrained Capitalism

and Consumerism
will be exposed for what they are.

Instead, Father of Creation,
bring about economic and political change

which aligns itself
with justice and righteousness.

As we face what we will face, Grant us peace,

love

and hope.

As we face what we will face, Grant us boldness,

courage
and compassion.

Father of Creation,
We will one day see our Saviour face to face. Tears will be wiped away,

Death will be no more.
And there will be a tree for the healing of the nations. Until that day,
Turn your face to us,
Strengthen us so that
We will face what we will face

With a firm heart, Focused mind,

And resolute will.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May his face shine upon you.
May you know, in these difficult and strange days, His hope, his peace and his joy.

And may the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Be with you,
And remain with you,

Now and always. Amen.

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Words and Voice by Jon Swales
Music : Cello and Piano Music , Blue Nights 

 How long, O Lord,
Will sea levels rise?
How high O Lord,
Will sea levels rise?
Before you step in and save and rescue?

How long, O Lord,
Will temperatures rise?
How much drought? How many famines? Before you step in to save and rescue?

How long, O Lord,
‘Til extinctions cease?
How many will be lost? How many species? Before you step in to save and rescue?

Will Bangladesh be no more? Or will Doha,
Abu Dhabi, and
Bandar Abbas

Be uninhabitable due to extreme heat?

Will the Amazon Rainforest be lost?
Will the Oceans be unable to sustain life?

How long, O Lord,
Will unrestrained capitalism
Rampage and pillage your good world?
How long, O Lord, before you step in and bring it to its knees? Must we wait ‘til mass starvation?
Must we wait ‘til mass migration?

Must we wait ‘til societal collapse?

When will Justice rise up and sweep away oppression? When will Love triumph over selfish individualism? When will Healing spring forth for the nations?
How long, O Lord, how long?

And yet, O Lord, in our lament, we hear a cry.

We hear a cry from the forests, From the oceans and the Arctic

We hear a cry from the vulnerable and the endlings, From the hungry and the refugee.
.
The cry began as a whisper,

Falling silent on a sleepy church.
The cry turned into an echo,
Reverberating through the walls of empty churches. The cry gains strength,
Joining the cry of a myriad of angels.

Come Lord Jesus!,
Let thy kingdom come. Come Lord Jesus!
Drive back the darkness.

I hear a reply from heaven,
From the throne room of the great King.

I hear a reply from heaven,
From the one whose hands were pierced.

I hear a reply from heaven, From the wild goose of love.

Awake O Church!
Let my world be blessed.

Awake O Church! Swing wide the doors.

He speaks,
'You are my hands and feet,
My covenantal kingdom community, You are called to be salt and light.

Execute justice,
stand up for the rights of the oppressed, Afflict not the stranger.’
Blessed are the peacemakers.

And the Crucified and risen King says, ‘Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’

Amen Amen Amen

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A sermon by Rev'd Jon Swales, St Georges's, Leeds
Isaiah 42:1-9
Sunday 4th July

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Words and Voice Jon Swales.
Music Used with Permission from Chris Sayburn  'Mountain Tops'

Father of Creation,
God of Justice,
Your Son proclaimed and enacted the reign of God, He showed us what this looked like.
He healed the sick,
He welcomed the marginalised
He treated the vulnerable with dignity.
To him be all praise.

Your Son performed and participated in the reign of God, He showed us that love looks like something.
A self-giving sacrificial love,
That love is a verb,

That love makes a difference. To him be all praise.

Your Son proclaimed and enacted the reign of God, He knew what would befall the city.
He wept,
He urged repentance,

He promoted peace in a culture of violence. To him be all praise.

Your Son performed and participated in the reign of God, Speaking Truth to Power,
By overturning tables,
Extending tables,

And by being nailed to a cross. To him be all praise.

Father of Creation,God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
We, too, have heard the kingdom call,
A stirring within to live authentically in this culture of denial and despair. We have wept when we have seen what is befalling the world.

As temperatures rise, As sea levels rise, Lord, have mercy.

As crop failures increase,
As conflicts over resources increase, Lord, have mercy.

As anxiety increases, As extinctions increase, Lord have mercy.

Yet, we too have heard the kingdom call, To proclaim and enact the reign of God. May we look to Jesus to look like Jesus, To bring healing to the world,

To welcome the climate refugee,
And to treat the world’s most vulnerable with dignity. Equip and empower us, O Father, to this kingdom calling.

We have heard the kingdom call,
To perform and participate in the reign of God.
May we look to Jesus to look like Jesus.
To live lives of self-giving sacrificial love,
To show that love is a verb,
A love that makes a difference.
Equip and empower us, O Father, to this kingdom calling.

We have heard the kingdom call,

To proclaim and enact the reign of God,
To weep at what is befalling us,
To urge repentance and recalibration from ecological violence,
To be peacemakers in a world of increased militarism and climate conflicts. Equip and empower us, O Father, to this kingdom calling.

We have heard the kingdom call,
To proclaim and enact the reign of God,
To speak truth to the power and politics that plunge us further into climate breakdown,
To have the courage and wisdom to overturn the tables of unrestrained capitalism that oppress the poor. To extend the tables that bridge the walls of climate apartheid.
To take up our cross and follow your Son.
Equip and empower us, O Father, to this kingdom calling.

Father of Creation,
God of Justice,
The miracle of divine grace does not imply passivity. Empower us by your Spirit,
To a holy Kingdom rebellion,
For all that is good, true and beautiful.

Until that day when the end will come,
When unrestrained capitalism and ecological violence will be no more, And the Kingdom will be handed to you.

To him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb,
Be all praise, honour and glory.