9.00 am Holy Communion (BCP) (said)

10.00 am Holy Communion (BCP) (sung)

Jesus and the mind-gym of his parables

Just as we settle into the metaphors of the kingdom of God being like practices associated with wheat harvest, another set comes thick and fast: mustard seeds; yeast; hidden treasure; pearls; a fishing net. This is quite a mental workout.

New Testament scholars agree that Jesus really did say these things. After all, analogy is a good method of teaching, and Jesus is referred to as ‘teacher’ or ‘rabbi.’ There is also agreement that these ‘sayings’ were not necessarily delivered in this order, and in the same place. Remember that the evangelists were not biographers concerned with the strict chronological order of events. The picture they draw, literally the meaning of ‘biography’ (Greek bios ‘life’ and graphein ‘to draw’) relies on careful editing of the material available to them, and they had to squeeze it all in somewhere to get the message across to their intended audiences. Matthew wrote with a ‘Jewish’ audience in mind, so, what do you know, in Ch 13 there are seven parables depicted in what appears as a single occasion. In Israelite culture, seven was a number of completeness and perfection.

However, the work isn't all done for us. These parables make the brain cells fizz, as we work out what they mean. The value is in the seeking more than the finding, and the journeying rather than the arrival. The more we ponder, the more amazing the Kingdom of God becomes both in our imaginations and in reality as we become more able to ‘evidence’ it in our lives.

Fr A

Music before the service

Folk Tune Percy Whitlock

Introit Hymn

1 Alleluia, Alleluia!
hearts to heaven and voices raise;
sing to God a hymn of gladness,
sing to God a hymn of praise:
he who on the Cross a victim
for the world's salvation bled,
Jesus Christ the King of glory,
now is risen from the dead.

2 Christ is risen, Christ the first-fruits
of the holy harvest field,
which will all its full abundance
at his second coming yield;
then the golden ears of harvest
will their heads before him wave,
ripened by his glorious sunshine,
from the furrows of the grave.

3 Christ is risen, we are risen;
shed upon us heavenly grace,
rain and dew, and gleams of glory
from the brightness of thy face;
that we, with our hearts in heaven,
here on earth may fruitful be,
and by angel-hands be gathered,
and be ever, Lord, with thee.

4 Alleluia, Alleluia,
glory be to God on high;
Alleluia to the Saviour,
who has gained the victory;
Alleluia to the Spirit,
fount of love and sanctity;
Alleluia, Alleluia,
to the Triune Majesty.
Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1885)

The Collect

Grant to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as be rightful; that we, who cannot do any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle

Romans 8. 26-39

26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Gospel

Matthew 13.31-33, 44-52

31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:

32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:

46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,

50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

51 Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.

52 Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.

Cycle of Prayer

Our bishops: David, Mark and Matthew
The Anglican Communion
The Anglican Church of Tanzania
Porvoo Communion
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania
Church of Ireland: Diocese of Derry and Raphoe
Schools and Colleges
All Saints; St Wilfrid’s; Briscoe Lane Academy; Christ the King; Co-op Academy Broadhurst;
Oldham Blue Coat; Trinity High School; Bowdoin College, Maine; Churchill College, Cambridge; University of Coventry; Edge Hill University; University of Leeds; Loretto Sixth Form College; Oldham Sixth Form College.
Parish
Oldwy Walk, Orford Road, Otterham Walk, Paddington Avenue, Partington Street, Peckford Drive.
Book of Remembrance
Alan Stirrup; Lucy Cunnigham; Thomas Johnson; Inex Brooks; Mavis Matthews; William Atherton; Herbert Jones.

Hymn after Communion

1 Sweet Sacrament divine,
hid in thine earthly home,
lo, round thy lowly shrine,
with suppliant hearts we come;
Jesus, to thee our voice we raise
in songs of love and heartfelt praise:
sweet Sacrament divine.

2 Sweet Sacrament of peace,
dear home for every heart,
where restless yearnings cease
and sorrows all depart;
there in thine ear all trustfully
we tell our tale of misery:
sweet Sacrament of peace.

3 Sweet Sacrament divine,
earth's light and jubilee,
in thy far depths doth shine
thy Godhead's majesty;
sweet light, so shine on us, we pray,
that earthly joys may fade away:
sweet Sacrament divine.

Words and music: Francis Stanfield
Tune: Divine Mysteries

Hymn

Alleluia, sing the Jesus!
His the sceptre, his the throne;
alleluia, his the triumph,
his the victory alone:
hark, the songs of peaceful Sion
thunder like a mighty flood;
Jesus out of every nation
hath redeemed us by his blood.

Alleluia, not as orphans
are we left in sorrow now;
alleluia, he is near us,
faith believes, nor questions how:
though the cloud from sight received him,
when the forty days were o’er,
shall our hearts forget his promised,
‘I am with you evermore’?

Alleluia, bread of angels,
thou on earth out food, our stay;
alleluia, here the sinful
flee to thee from day to day:
Intercessor, Friend of sinners,
earth’s Redeemer, plead for me,
where the songs of all the sinless
sweep across the crystal sea.

Alleluia, King eternal,
thee the Lord of lords we own;
alleluia, born of Mary,
earth thy footstool, heaven thy throne,
thou within the veil hast entered,
robed in flesh, our great High Priest:
thou on earth both Priest and Victim
in the eucharistic feast.
William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898)
Public Domain

The Blessing

Voluntary

Fugue in G BWV 541b J.S. Bach

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