Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:5 Luke 18: 1-8Poor old Hamlet. He is standing there musing over a problem. He has a question and is seeking an answer. “To be, or not to be”. Way back in 1600, as a result of the playwright William Shakespeare putting pen, or quill, to paper, actors playing the part of Hamlet have stood on the stage and asked that question. In the 425 years from the time that the words were first spoken who knows just how many times those words have been uttered.Let us now look at the gospel reading. A judge is in a predicament. Being a judge he should be above temptation, he should be strong enough to avoid corruption, he should be a person without blemish, a model citizen, one people could rely upon and trust. It is likely that he was not a Jew. Any court dispute would have had three judges. One chosen by the accuser, one by the accused, and one appointed by Herod or the Romans. However, those, such as this last one, were notorious for being open to bribery.The judge possibly feared for his safety. Physical violence was possible, even from this lady who was a widow. By being bothered, or by repeated visits from the widow, the judge feared being worn out. This could be translated as exhausted or even being given a black eye. The means of receiving the expected exhaustion or black eye could be by assault and battery or by wearing him to sleep. Either way he feared for his safety and gave in to the demands of the widow.Jesus is saying that God will grant justice to those who call upon him. This is where we must look at how we contact God. A letter is no good and the phone is neither. We have to use prayer. The ideal is to find a quiet place and to speak to God, allowing him time to speak back to us. Bring before him your wants and needs, your fears and worries, and also your thanks and gratitude. Lay all of these before him so that he may act. Then listen. Use your every senses to allow God to make contact. And, as it says on the tube of toothpaste, repeat (adding that one word doubled sales in an instant, so the story goes).We are encouraged to contact God regularly, pray to him regularly. It is right to ask for the same things, to give thanks for the same things. God receives all of our petitions. He also acts upon them all. But, not necessarily as we might expect. It is often quoted that a parent, may say no to a child wanting to do something, especially if there is an element of danger involved. We cannot always expect that for which we are asking. Often a father has to refuse the request of a child, because he knows that what the child asks would hurt rather than help. That is just how God is. We cannot expect to know what will happen in the next hour or day or week. God knows what is good for us. For this reason we should not give up in prayer.At the end of the reading the question is asked, “will faith be found on Earth?” If we continue to speak with God, if we regularly pray to him, our faith will grow. Then, at the time when the Son of Man comes, he will find faith and love. Like Hamlet, we need to continue to ask our questions. We, however, ask of God, placing before him our needs. And then to remember, “Thy will be done”.Collect for the Eighteenth Sunday after TrinityAlmighty and everlasting God,increase in us your gift of faiththat, forsaking what lies behindand reaching out to that which is before,we may run the way of your commandmentsand win the crown of everlasting joy;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.
Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity 1 Timothy 6.6-19, Luke 16.19-endToday’s gospel reading relates the fate of someone who lived a life surrounded by riches. Not only his clothing was out of this world, but his food too. I can imagine that after spending two or three days staying at a place where the food was not just first rate but of gourmet standard I would be more than ready to pop down to the local chippy or burger outlet to have some ‘real food’, food that was not over spiced but just straight and plain.Watching MasterChef on the television almost every plate of food is accompanied by cries of more spices, more spices. The original tastes are hidden by mountains of this extra taste and that one.In contrast we also read of Lazarus, a poor man. His diet would have been, at best, the scraps of food left at the chippy, for the main part.Both men died and passed from this world. Lazarus was carried by the angels to be with Abraham whilst the rich man ended up in Hades. There he saw his predicament and wished to warn his family against the possibility of them joining him in Hades, the halfway place for those awaiting judgement. He could see where he went wrong.But seeing where we go wrong is not always good enough. For the rich man, he was in Hades and there was no possibility of him leaving there. But, to warn his family, that would be a good thing to do. He was not to be offered that option.Throughout his life the rich man had had opportunity to change his lifestyle. The teachings of the prophets, the words from Moses, all of these were there to give him the opportunity to change the path that he had set before him to travel along.In our own life we are surrounded by advice, by teachings. Our libraries are full of books giving us, not only entertainment, but also knowledge, and importantly teaching. These resources all help us plan our life. But, above all, there is God’s Word.It is all right sitting in church and, when the vicar stands to deliver his address, listen attentively to his every word. I have known one organist actually take a book to read during the sermon! However, we go to church to get to know God, to bare our soul as we confess our sins, our wrongdoing. We go to receive Absolution and to sing God’s praise. We hear the Word of God. All of this helps us to fashion our lives. To decide just what we are going to do and how we are going to do it.At the heart of this passage is the way one leads one’s life. Or what we do with it. The rich man ended up in Hades, a place of suffering, because of what he did not do. All about him was the teaching of the prophets. Examples that were placed before him which he chose to neglect. He did not live a life of cruelty, one where he would go out of his way to inflict punishment upon others. That was not his sin. Instead, his sin was one of not doing anything. About him was poverty and want, pain and hunger.In those days one did not wash one’s hands after eating greasy food, for instance. Normally the practice was to wipe the hands on bread and throw the bread to one side. This was the type of food scrap that Lazarus was looking for. If the rich man had opened his eyes to see about him the need then those scraps would have been given rather than discarded. Here was his sin. He did not see about him the need.It was this neglect that cast him into Hades. Heedless of the teachings available to him, closing his mind to the evidence of his eyes, this was the evidence that convicted him to Hades.It would have made no impression on the rich man had someone come back to warn him. He was so blinded by his own lifestyle. Sending someone to warn his family would possibly have some effect but if they too ignored the teachings around them, they probably would take little notice, preferring to continue their exorbitant way of life here on Earth.We have mountains of teaching available to us. We have churches where we can hear for ourselves God’s Word. We have the media bringing before us the need in the world. If we close our eyes and shut our ears, then we too run the risk of being condemned to Hades. The time to act is now, not to moan when it is too late.Collect for the Fifteenth Sunday after TrinityGod, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spiritupon your Church in the burning fire of your love:grant that your people may be ferventin the fellowship of the gospelthat, always abiding in you,they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service;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.
Philemon 1-21 Luke 14.25-33Hate, or dislike, is such an emotive, sentimental, or controversial word. We associate it with a complete rejection of all that is being referred to. To hate something is to wash one’s hands of the object or idea. To harbour a complete dismissal. Is this what Jesus meant when he said, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple”? to turn one’s back on one’s family is a massive step. It leads to complete abandonment of all of our roots. Doing so would effectively cast us adrift from everything. We would be like a single occupant of a small boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. A position that many of us would find hard to contemplate.Of course, Jesus did not have this interpretation of his words in mind. Again, we need to remember that the language in the East used to be ‘flowery’. Many words would be used to describe something rather than just one. A concept or idea could be paragraphs long with many adjectives, adverbs, and much more being used to bring forward a point that just two or three well-chosen words would suffice.Jesus had many followers. At this time, whilst travelling to Jerusalem, he knew that he was heading towards the Cross. His followers, however, believed that he was about to enter that great city and take on the mantle of ruler, take on an empire. They were so wrong. Jesus had to put it to them in a way that they would understand and remember just how misled they were.Those who stood up and avowed their determination to follow him must be ready to sacrifice everything. They were not going along a path that would bring them all sorts of earthly power and glory, riches beyond imagination, standing in society well above all others. They must be prepared to endure suffering like no other. Suffering as that experienced by one upon a cross.Does this help us in our understanding of those words of Jesus? Probably more explanation is required here. It all centres around love. There are many different forms of love. For example, I have a love for ‘bread and butter’ pudding. It beats apple pies, treacle tart, what we used to know as ‘spotted dick’ at school but probably better associated with stodge pudding. That love is totally different to that in which I hold the members of my family.The love that Jesus is telling us that we must have is so very much different in every way possible. We must love him in a totally different way, a love which is complete and which cannot be compared. It is possible to follow Jesus. It is possible to do this without having to pin on oneself a badge saying disciple. It is like being a follower of some great football team without actually attending a game at their home ground. You follow their progress, discuss their game play with other devotees.Even in the church we see something similar. We see those who belong but take it no further. Those who are devout and earnest followers of Jesus but who do not progress that emotive connection any further. For many it is not for them. To progress makes high demands. Those demands are daunting. There is a steep road ahead. But we can take heart. High demands they may be but we are not left alone to meet them. We are called by Jesus to travel along that road yet we can take heart because Jesus will be there every step of the way. When we reach journey’s end Jesus will be there, ready to meet us.Collect for the Twelfth Sunday after TrinityAlmighty and everlasting God,you are always more ready to hear than we to prayand to give more than either we desire or deserve:pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy,forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraidand giving us those good things which we are not worthy to askbut through the merits and mediationof 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.
Eleventh Sunday after TrinityHebrews 13.1–8, 15–16 Luke 14.1, 7–14How do we see ourselves in our own imagination. Do we consider that we are part of the pinnacle of society, one that many people can look up to and say ‘he or she’ has done well with their life. They've surrounded themselves with all manner of luxury items. They have finances such that they have no worries. They can dress up in some of the trendiest of fashions. To live like that can be both a blessing and a curseJesus used the example of a meal. Guests had been invited to dine with others. When you are invited to such a meal do you find that as you enter the dining room you first look to see if there is a seating plan prepared and if so you locate your position.If you cannot find there is a seating plan you then go to search out your friends, people you know, aiming to sit at table near to them. But you may find that they are busily engaged in a conversation that does not involve you, or for some reason your presence is not possible because you cannot get near them before the dinner gong sounds. Disaster, all the seats around your friends have been taken. The other possibility is that you feel that you ought to be near the top of the table, to be as near to the host as you can, so that you may be noted.However, our standing in society is not for us to judge or assess. Especially our financial standing. It should not be used to work out our social standing. In the letter to the Hebrews which we heard from today, we're warned keep our lives free from the love of money. To be content with what we have. Jesus will never leave us. We may be standing in the middle of a deserted beach with sands stretching out far away from us, and not another soul in sight. Standing there with nothing in our pockets and no bags we are totally alone, and with no possessions. If we have a problem we wish to talk about, a subject we wish to discuss, or something we wish to try to resolve, being in a wilderness is probably the last place to be. I refer to the poem ‘Footprints’. It tells of how a single set of footprints in the sand belong to the one who is supporting you in your life. Jesus will not forsake us, or abandon us, no matter what condition we may find ourselves in. Jesus is always there. He, no matter how far away he may seem to be, is there for us.We are told “the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?” Have trust in the Lord and accept the position that you have. At the meal table let the host determine where you should sit and accept that position with grace.We're told to look towards our leader. Here we're looking at our spiritual leader, the one who speaks the word of God to us. In the person of our spiritual leader we should be able to understand their teaching. The Word of God is of little use to us if we do not understand its content. Similarly in all other matters if we do not hear what they say or obey their instruction, then we are in a position of not improving ourselves.Back to the controversial meal. It is not up to us to decide where we sit based upon how we feel ourselves to be in society. God is our judge. God is the only one who can judge us. Our place in society is known to God alone. However, in God’s eyes we are all equal. We are all his children. One is no better than another. So, if we view each other as God views us, We see each other as pure equals.Collect for the Eleventh Sunday after TrinityO God, you declare your almighty powermost chiefly in showing mercy and pity:mercifully grant to us such a measure of your grace,that we, running the way of your commandments,may receive your gracious promises,and be made partakers of your heavenly treasure;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.
