Twenty-first Sunday after TrinityHebrews 5: 1-10Mark 10: 35-45At the end of September Gill and I went to Lincoln for the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Lincoln Theological College. It has now closed but it was where I trained for the ministry. The festivities were being held in Lincoln Cathedral with a Festive Choral Evensong followed by a reception in the Chapter House. All went swimmingly until we arrived at the cathedral to find it surrounded by cobbles. Cobbles and wheelchairs do not go happily together.After the service we went to the Chapter House to find that many had beaten us there and the place was full of clergy. Gill dumped my in my wheelchair in the middle of a fairly crowded area whilst she went to get some drinks. In her absence a bishop saw me ‘dumped’ and came running across asking if he could get me some cake. How kind, so I said, ‘yes please’. He was the only person there who came to my aid.Jesus was with his disciples, and James and John were asking for special favours over and above any granted to the other disciples. They wished to be seated next to Jesus, positions given to special guests when seated at a table for a feast. Jesus called them to him and explained how Gentiles may make great play on privilege and station in society, but among themselves that was not the case. Any who may be seeking positions of grandeur must firstly be prepared to cast such thoughts to one side. They must be prepared to ‘roll up their sleeves and dig in with everyone else’. In other words, be prepared to be with everyone else and serve others.We ought not to think highly of ourselves. As mentioned in last week’s homily it is not up to us to judge ourselves. We may place ourselves on a high pedestal for all about us to look up to us in our splendour. We may bask in the comments that we may hear about how grand we are, about how we engineered such and such an happening or event. All very nice it may be but, when we enter the kingdom of heaven, things may be not quite as we expect. It is God who will judge us and look at what we have done.Jesus is teaching that greatness comes at a price, and that price is service and humility. He taught, “whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” Greatness comes through service.One of the things that we are taught in Theological College is that the first order of the ministry, the diaconate, is that of Deacon. Once you are ordained as a deacon then you are a deacon for life. The position of deacon is that of service. They serve others and care for their needs. The word deacon means ‘servant’. And so Jesus is teaching that the disciples must be servants first and foremost. He, as the Son of Man, came to serve. He was not there to be served, casting orders here and there, but he came to roll up his sleeves and get in there serving others. His ultimate act of service was to give up his life that many could be saved.That Sunday afternoon in Lincoln Cathedral a bishop, who is still a member of the diaconate, still a deacon, saw a need. He figuratively rolled up his sleeves, came running across, and offered to serve me by meeting my needs and getting me, not one but two pieces of cake. He embodied the teaching of Jesus by casting to one side his position as a senior clergyman and came over and served me. Thank you, bishop. Gill, she had to get her own! Well, she had disappeared.Collect for the Twenty-first Sunday after TrinityGrant, we beseech you, merciful Lord,to your faithful people pardon and peace,that they may be cleansed from all their sinsand serve you with a quiet mind;through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever.
Sixth Sunday after Trinity2 Corinthians 12:2-10 Mark 6:1-13Quasimodo, a person popularised in a film and The Hunchback of Notre Dame also made popular, both share a deformity which sets them apart from society. In some ways they have been given a roguish character as we observe them going from one scenario to another. Yet all through the ages people have cropped up with disfigurement or deformity setting them to one side of society or placing them in a position with instant recognition.In the epistle reading from one of Paul’s letters to the Church in Corinth we are given a picture of Paul. He is ministering and having to manage a ‘weakness’ as he does so. The nature of his disability is not made clear by him although he does describe it as a ‘thorn in the flesh’. We can imagine what it must be like to have an actual thorn constantly digging in day after day. It would serve as a constant reminder of some accident or misfortune of birth. However, Paul looks upon his deformity in a positive way.Various possible states have been proposed as to the nature of his ‘thorn’, from epilepsy to any number of illnesses. In tackling whichever is his complaint he uses it in a positive way, to stop him from being too excited in his ministry. Instead, he claims to be content with his weakness, a weakness which he does not allow it to make him step back from his ministry, his proclaiming of his love of Christ.Paul, like many quite possibly, prayed to God to take his disability away. God always answers prayers but not always in the way that we would expect. In Paul’s case God did not remove his disability but instead gave him the power and the strength to bear it. This is often the way that God works. We are not spared that which is troubling us but he gives us the power to conquer them.It has been said before how one can gain strength from another. In the church congregation this is very true. It is possible to attend a church service feeling quite low and despondent. The last thing that you wish to do is to get involved, but here you are in church. Maybe it was habit that brought you here. Looking around you smiling faces can be seen. Ok, there may be the odd grumpy one, but they are always around. By being there you gain a spiritual strength so that by the end of the service you will be found in a lighter mood.In a similar way those around a disabled person can gain strength to handle their own problems by drawing upon the way that the disabled person handles theirs. Paul managed his own problems in the power of Christ. No matter what insults, persecutions, hardships, and so on, he continued and gained strength. So too can we, gaining strength through hardship and difficulties. Look again at Quasimodo and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, house names almost and uttered with not a little affection.Collect for the Sixth Sunday after TrinityMerciful God,you have prepared for those who love yousuch good things as pass our understanding:pour into our hearts such love toward youthat we, loving you in all things and above all things,may obtain your promises,which exceed all that we can desire;through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever.
2 Corinthians 8: 7-end Mark 5: 21-endYou are sat on a chair in the middle of a hall. Around you, in a ring, are other young people sitting there as quiet as mice. You are blindfolded and an object is placed under the seat of the chair. In the silence the leader points to one youngster and they begin their journey of stealth. The object – to remove the object from under your chair without you pointing to where you think that the nominated youngster happens to be. Your ears are finely tuned to the slightest noise. It can be made harder by either one of the ring of youngsters coughing, or by the nominated one creating a diversion.In Mark’s gospel we read of a similar technique, one of diversion. One of the synagogue leaders, Jairus, fought his way through the crowd and approached Jesus. He was on a mission. His daughter was seriously ill. Could Jesus come and lay his hands on her to make her well? All this happened whilst Jesus was surrounded by a crowd.On the edge of the crowd was a woman who had been ill for many years. Her aim was to just touch the cloak of Jesus for in doing so she would be healed. Here was the perfect opportunity. She had a diversion presented to her on a plate. The crowd were so engaged with the synagogue leaders’ call on Jesus that they would not notice her working through the crowd towards Jesus. She was also quite probably well known for her illness which had made her unclean, and one to be avoided, least you also became unclean. But she failed in her mission to remain undetected. For Jesus was aware that someone, this woman, had touched his cloak. The diversion had provided her with the ideal method to approach Jesus. It had enabled her to come to Jesus but the game was up when she touched him.There are times in life when we seek some form of diversion in order to shoot forward from one condition to a more favouring set of conditions. The diversion may be one of our own construing or it may be the result of series of conditions all meeting together to make a perfect chute for us to slip along.I am reminded of a diversion that had been applied to the roads in the part of Scotland that Gill and I were traveling along. A road accident had closed the road ahead of us. Together with other travellers we started the diversion with heavy hearts for it was 100 extra miles to add to our journey.Life is like that. Opportunities pop up as we travel our path. Due to the misfortunes of one we may find ourselves propelled forward much to our own advantage. It could also be the case that by us causing a diversion of our own making we move forward.Diversions have been contrived and used all through history. From in times of war when one side attempts to mislead the enemy into thinking a tactic to be employed is in fact coming from a different direction, to a serious game of chess where a playing piece is sacrificed in order thar an advantage can be gained in your own strategy enabling you to win the game.Jesus was not fooled by the diversion, accidentally happening as it was, enabling the sick woman to be healed. The sick child was also restored to good health even though Jesus had to fight through a crowd and ‘clear the decks’ before he could reach her. Here we learn that Jesus cannot be fooled. We may try to ‘sneak up’ behind him to try to gain an advantage but Jesus will know that we are there. We may be some distance from Jesus, too far away , we think, for him to act, but act he will. Jesus will not leave us at the side. He will call out to us, reach out to us, hold us.Collect for the Fifth Sunday after TrinityAlmighty and everlasting God,by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified:hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,that in their vocation and ministrythey may serve you in holiness and truthto the glory of your name;through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever.
First Sunday after Trinity2 Corinthians 4: 5-12 Mark 2: 23 - 3: 6I remember how, many years ago, there was great debate about working on Sundays. It was at this time that supermarkets opened their doors for Sunday shopping. ‘Why was it needed at all’ was the argument. ‘Surely we can go one day without having to go shopping?’ Yet, today, it is almost second nature for many people. Almost anything can be purchased on a Sunday for by going one step further 24-hour shopping is readily possible on the internet.In the gospel reading the disciples of Jesus were plucking heads of grain to nibble. This was not allowed on the sabbath. Many Jewish laws regulated about what could, or could not, be done on the sabbath. It was evident that here the disciples were in the wrong. The Pharisees who witnessed this event challenged Jesus because he did not try to stop this blatant breach of the law. In reply Jesus said that ‘the sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath’ and this was the basis for his defence.But we need to look at ourselves here. We profess to be Christians, to love God and to follow and obey his Son Jesus Christ. As we follow our Christian path we encounter various rules and regulations which govern our Christian living. Sunday, and our observance of Sunday, is important. But there is much more than Sunday observance. If we were to abstain from work, attend church, say our prayers, read our Bible, and not indulge in any pleasures, being a Christian would be very easy.Being a Christian is far more than observing just a few hard rules. Observing them involves setting to one side love, forgiveness, and service. This would bring our faith into a decline. Just mentioning service makes me think of the service industries that we rely upon for health, safety and welfare, let alone the TV.Reflecting upon the laws and the can do’s and the cannot do’s, it is possible that by looking at Christianity and our Christian living, it comprises of far more doing’s than refraining’s. To do things in the cause of mercy and necessity is to do things for God. We must not stop helping others, in whatever way, in the name of religion. For to do so is not religion at all. People, wherever, matter far more than rituals and systems. The best way to worship God is to help humankind.This is where the importance of the sabbath lies. In much of what we do we worship God, through our actions and interplay. To set aside some time, anytime, to remember God, to reflect upon his grace, love, and mercy, to read a passage of the Bible, and speak to him, all of these things mark us out as Christian, as believers in God and followers of his Son. In all of these things we also help our fellow humans. Rules and laws are there to be followed and observed, so too is the love that we hold for our fellow humans.Collect for the First Sunday after TrinityO God,the strength of all those who put their trust in you,mercifully accept our prayersand, because through the weakness of our mortal naturewe can do no good thing without you,grant us the help of your grace,that in the keeping of your commandmentswe may please you both in will and deed;through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever.
