15th Sunday After Trinity Readings: Isaiah 35v4-7a; Psalm 146; James 2v1-17; Mark 7v24-end. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word: In the book of the prophet Isaiah we hear the prophecy about the signs that will be seen when God’s promised Messiah would be revealed. For, as Isaiah foretold, God promised to save his people and when the saviour arrived: the blind would see, the speechless speak, the incapacitated leap; and the wilderness deserts made into lagoons of water. In the gospel of Mark, we hear that the people of Tyre and Sidon were witnesses to these signs being fulfilled in their sight. First the Gentile woman’s daughter was delivered from evil; and later the friends of the man unable to hear or speak were granted their request for the man to be given hearing and speech. Both of these signs were interesting because in the first, the gentile woman was initially refused and in the second the healing took place in the context of rituals and prayer. As we ponder the wonders and mysteries of the promised signs of the Messiah in Isaiah and the miracles performed by Jesus in the gospel, we are called to make a decision. Do we dare to suspend our understanding of the way that nature and science usually work and focus on the ancient promises and the witness of those who saw the promises fulfilled; or do we bury our heads in the sand and try to justify disbelief? I for one, have suspended what I know of science and nature, and have come to believe that the signs foretold in ancient times were fulfilled by Jesus. Being able to make this leap of faith has made me glad and revealed the wonders contained for us in the Bible. For as the psalm says: we have a God who made the heavens and the earth; a God who keeps his promises for ever; a God who gives justice to the wronged and food to the hungry; a God who sets the bound free and lifts up the oppressed; a God who gives sight to the blind and takes care of the stranger, the widow and the orphan; a God who loves the just and turns the ways of the wicked upside down. A surprising God who delights in giving good things to his creation, a God that James in his letter declares: is a God who has chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith and the heirs of his kingdom; a people who should not be treated with disapproval or narrow-mindedness. For if we do, we shall find ourselves so treated by God when the time comes for us to be judged, for the poor and needy are a people that God expects us to treat with respect and care for whilst we are in this world. This is the calling of all God’s people, a calling that is difficult to deliver when our world is so full of people who are out to scam and trick us. A calling that we need to discern with care – so we act justly, sensibly and in line with God’s expectations. Let us pray: Loving Lord God Almighty, generous and merciful to all of your creation. Teach us how to eagerly follow your teaching, inspire us to understand your what you need us to do in the world, help us to discern your calling with accuracy, then send us out into active service in the world, living honourable lives as shining examples, pointing ever towards your salvation. Amen Thank you for joining us.
14th Sunday After Trinity Readings: Deuteronomy 4v1-2&6-9; Psalm 15; James 1v17-end; Mark 7v1-8&14-15&21-23. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word: In the book of Deuteronomy, a book from ancient times, we hear Moses telling the people of Israel to: keep God’s instructions, not add nor take anything away from them, keep them in mind every day and not forget them, and to teach them to their children and their children’s children. For Moses says that if we follow God’s instructions carefully and live the way we are asked to then we will learn to live wisely and with good judgement. Sadly though, down the ages, we people have made all kinds of religious errors and mistakes: by misinterpreting God’s meaning; or by either adding or taking away from the commands that were given to us. For example, as we hear in the gospel of Mark, Jesus is pointing out to the Pharisees that they had missed the point of God’s instructions and become obsessive about keeping human rules and traditions rather than doing what God intended. This is important for us in our day because the Pharisees were not bad people, they were simply people who were so devoted to God and passionate about obeying God’s instructions, that they had slipped into error. For, as Jesus reminds, the prophet Isaiah foretold that it is all too easy to worship God with our lips rather than our hearts, to abandon God’s guidance by blindly following human traditions, and then to teach human rules to others and incorrectly call them God’s instructions. Jesus calls this way of living out their faith as phoney and false because religious handwashing rituals cannot defile nor corrupt the human heart, for only wickedness can do that. I believe that the scriptures give us a message that we should take to heart and act on by learning what God really wants of us; then living the way that God asks; and in so doing we will become able to accurately teach what God asks of us all to the next generation. The psalm tells us that: all those who truly worship and serve God - are a people who do what is right. This includes: speaking the truth, being honest, keeping our word, lending without charging interest, not taking bribes, staying out of the company of wicked people, not ridiculing nor doing evil to others and respecting all people who worship God. The letter from James tells us that to live God’s way and be blessed by God we must: study God’s word and persevere in doing what God instructs. This includes: being quick to listen and slow to speak, to prevent our anger taking control of us, to care for people in need and to welcome the word that has the power to save our souls. For James says that if we dedicate ourselves to this way of living, we will become: a people who are doers of God’s word, a people who turn away from wickedness and vice, a people who will become in God’s eyes - a pure and undefiled people. Let us pray: Loving Lord God Almighty, source of all truth and love, we thank you for your son who opened up for us a new and living way to come into your presence. We ask you to grant us pure hearts and the devotion we need to worship you in spirit and truth. Keep us faithful to the teaching and fellowship of the apostles so we can be one in joy, one in simplicity of heart, one body united in prayer and one body in the breaking of bread. Thank you for joining us.
13th Sunday After TrinityReadings: Joshua 24v1-2a&14-16; Psalm 34v15-end; Ephesians 6v10-20; John 6v56-69Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.A Word: From the book of Joshua, the words “who will you serve” kept jumping out at me. As we heard in the reading, Joshua, his family and all the people he was addressing declared their reply in the response “we will serve the Lord God”. In the gospel we hear the disciples making a similar declaration. For after some of those hearing what Jesus has to say about himself reject and turn their backs on him, Jesus asks his disciples if they too want to leave him. In response Peter says “Where would we go because you are the holy one of God and have the words of eternal life”.In our generation, all people of all ages, backgrounds, abilities and beliefs have the same question to answer. Who will you serve? For the purpose of the church is to point others and ourselves to God and to his Son Jesus: the bread of heaven; the flesh and blood sent by the father; the one who gives everlasting life; the one that the father draws all he is calling unto. For according to Jesus, only those that the father calls to his son will turn to and follow Jesus. Today as Jesus’ body here on earth, the church is called to serve God and teach the world about God’s salvation plan fulfilled through God’s son Jesus.But this calling is not easy because as we dare to follow Jesus we will find ourselves in a battle, the battle described by Paul. A battle between good and evil. A battle to save the lost souls of this world. A battle against supernatural forces. A battle we must prepare ourselves for by putting on God’s armour: of truthfulness, righteous living, proclaiming the good news of peace between God and humanity, holding on firmly to our faith and learning from God’s word (the bible). And with this armour we are as ready as we can be to search for, serve and offer God’s gift of salvation to those God sends our way.Let us pray: Living Lord we thank you for hearing the cries and prayers of all of your creation. Thank you for calling us to your son and the work, witness and worship of your church. Grant us the grace, courage, compassion and gifts we need to serve in the world through Christ’s body the church. That we will always point others to heaven. AmenThank you for joining us.
12th Sunday After Trinity Readings: Proverbs 9v1-6; Psalm 34v9-14; Ephesians 5v15-20; John 6v51-58. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word: Today’s readings help us to think through how we should live our lives as God’s people. - In the reading from Proverbs we hear that Wisdom is calling out to the world, calling the foolish and sinful to grow up and live intelligently and sensibly. - The psalm tells us to learn how to fear, venerate and revere the Lord: by seeking the Lord; by listening to and learning from God; by turning from evil and doing good; by not speaking evil or telling lies; and by seeking and pursuing peace. - The letter to the Ephesians warns us to be careful how we live and instructs us to: avoid foolishness and drunkenness; and fill our lives with worship and giving thanks to God. - In the gospel of John, Jesus calls us to focus on him, the living bread from heaven, the one who gave his own flesh and blood so that we might live forever, the one who will raise up those who have his life in them on the last day. Today let each one of us take time to think about our lives, to identify what we are doing that is right and to do what we can to correct those things that need to be changed. Let us pray: Dear Lord, thank you for hearing our prayers and thank you for giving us more than we desire or deserve. Thank you for Jesus who came to bring healing into this broken world. Thank you for your mercy and gift of forgiveness so that we can be healed of our sins and made whole through all that Jesus has done for us. Amen Thank you for joining us.
