Family Communion
- Occurring
- for 1 hour, 15 mins
- Venue
- Kidbrooke, St Nicholas
- Address Whetstone Road Kidbrooke London, SE3 8PX, United Kingdom
Family Communion for the eighteenth Sunday after Trinity: celebrant the Revd Tola Badejo.
First reading: James 5: 13-20
Gospel: Mark 9: 38-50
As Mark records them, Jesus's words in the Gospel are characteristically direct. The significant factor is not whether an action is legal, socially acceptable or apparently harmless; it is whether that behaviour creates a barrier between the soul and God, which is what is meant by 'falling into sin'. Conversely, our own actions must not lead others into sin, defined in the same way. These are challenging principles: it would be easier to have a tick-box set of rules that guaranteed salvation, but the spiritual reality is about an honest relationship with God and respect for other people's relationship with him, which may be different from our own.
In the first reading James emphasises the power of prayer and the importance of 'bringing back' the sinner. Again, this is primarily about supporting one another in our relationship with God rather than unilaterally appointing ourselves as referees of other people's behaviour. The image above is a detail from a drawing by the Dutch artist Karel van Mander showing the penitent Manasseh, a king of Israel defeated and humiliated in deserved punishment for his rejection of God (2 Chronicles 33). His sincere penitence, and upright subsequent life, lead to his redemption.
The double image in the attachment reflects two fundamental beliefs of Christianity, though not necessarily in terms we would use today. On the left is an out-of-proportion representation of the medieval 'image' of the universe, distorted through the need to place a 'mappa mundi' at the centre, which was supposed to depict the northern hemisphere seen from above; outside the globe of the Earth, which should be miniscule compared to the rest, are the concentric spheres which each contain the moon, the sun, a planet, or the stars. Beyond this, the whole sphere of the universe is set in motion by the hand of God, underlining our absolute dependence on the Creator. On the right, Adam and Eve, now in a state of sin, are driven from Paradise, but that of course is not the end of the story; they, and all humanity, are in due course to be 'brought back'.
