This week’s Readings and Sermon for the 18th Sunday after Trinity
The Collect for This Week
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us your gift of faith that, forsaking what lies behind and reaching out to that which is before, we may run the way of your commandments and 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. Amen
The Post Communion Prayer for this week
We praise and thank you, O Christ, for this sacred feast: for here we receive you, here the memory of your passion is renewed, here our minds are filled with grace, and here a pledge of future glory is given, when we shall feast at that table where you reign with all your saints for ever. Amen
Psalm 66, verses 97 - 104
97 Lord, how I love your law! All the day long it is my study. 98 Your commandments have made me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. 100 I am wiser than the aged, because I keep your commandments. 101 I restrain my feet from every evil way, that I may keep your word. 102 I have not turned aside from your judgements, for you have been my teacher. 103 How sweet are your words on my tongue! They are sweeter than honey to my mouth. 104 Through your commandments I get understanding; therefore I hate all lying ways.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and shall be forever. Amen
The Old Testament Reading for this Sunday is taken from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, Chapter 31, verses 27 to 34
27 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. 28And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. 29In those days they shall no longer say: ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ 30 But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.
31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The New Testament reading for this Sunday is taken from the Letter of St Paul to Timothy, Chapter 3 verse 14 to Chapter 4, verse 5
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, 15 and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: 2 proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. 5 As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel of St Luke, Chapter 18, verses 1 to 8
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Luke Glory to You, o Lord !
1Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” 4For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” ’ 6And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to You, o Christ !
Note :All readings are shared from the Church of England Lectionary App and are subject to copyright . © The Archbishop’s Council
The sermon this week is delivered by Rev. Chich Hewitt
I have told the story before of the man who walked out of a church, knowing that he had not been welcomed. There was another man sitting on the steps. The man on the steps spoke: ’Why are you looking so sad?’ ‘I do not feel that the church wants me to be there’ was the response. ‘I am Jesus,’ said the man on the step, ‘and I have been trying to get into that church for ages!’
‘The one who welcomes the stranger welcomes me’. Jesus said in Matthew Chapter 25, the parable of the sheep and the goats. In the story, the righteous were puzzled. ‘When did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or in prison?’ ‘When you did this for the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it for me’, was the response.
It is the task of a congregation to be welcoming, and that was our experience of this congregation some four years ago. We had recently moved to Goodshaw, and decided to begin here, as we looked for a spiritual home. We looked no further as we were made to feel very welcome, and that is how it should be.
Yet not all churches have welcomed the stranger for a variety of reasons. Over recent decades the church has had to deal with issues of racism, gender, and sexuality, where the response has been varied, but where the issues are being acknowledged. Disability is a remaining issue which has still not fully come onto the radar. In exploring this issue as part of a task group in the Diocese, we have been met, not with hostility, but indifference, and we are not unique. We have found that until the issue of Disability has been experienced personally, either directly by an individual or through a family member, little thought has been given to the issue.
I, too, have had to learn, and so do not speak as an expert. In my last ministry in South Africa, and in my first parish in Radcliffe, I thought that if we provided wheelchair access, and had a hearing loop our task was complete. In the production of a weekly news sheet I was so intent on getting as much on it as possible, that I would reduce the font, never giving much thought to whether people could read it, until it happened to me. It is important to provide large print for those who can manage it, and to mark steps. I was very grateful to Mike who so quickly saw the need, and responded to it. I am still learning; some years ago I provided input for a group of readers and was aware that there was a person who was profoundly deaf, but did have a signer. I reckoned that if the signer did not quite keep up, all would be well as I provided full notes of the content; I did not realise that some who have never had hearing, might not be proficient in reading. The same is true for those born blind who can type but might not be able to write. Why learn to shape letters you cannot see? And with regard to the deaf community, its members see this not as a disability but as a language issue, for most hearing people cannot communicate by signing.
Fear is one reason by we might finding it difficult to welcome someone different from ourselves. Last week Lorraine addressed the subject of leprosy in her challenging talk on giving thanks, in the case of 10 men made whole. We can find it challenging facing someone with a disability which challenges our skills to communicate, and which reminds us of our own vulnerability. In the case of leprosy there is and was the fear of infection. Leprosy is infectious but not as much as is feared. As an aside, do read the amazing story of Father Damien and his life on the island of Molokai where those with leprosy had been sent to die.
There are many kinds of Disability. Two Christian charities are involved with these. The first is Torch Trust, involved primarily with sight-loss. Then there is Through the Roof, which addresses all kinds of disability, and has named itself after the story told by both Mark and Luke of the paralysed man being let down through the roof to gain access to Jesus, which resulted in a healing.
There are many kinds of Disability other than the obvious ones of being blind, deaf, or being a wheelchair user. These include dyslexia, learning difficulties and autism. I am on a learning curve myself with all these, and I am learning a lot about autism. There is a man in this diocese who describes himself as autistic and is presently involved in doctoral studies at Aberdeen University with a very respected former nurse and now professor, John Swinton.
There is a huge amount to be said, far more than in the scope of an address like this, and a seminar on the subject would be helpful where people could ask questions. On the negative side it is important not be to be insensitive. We can all make mistakes, but we should try not to do things which are thoughtless or can cause hurt. An obvious one we are prone to do is to talk over wheelchair users, or to assume that people cannot understand what we are saying. Once Gill and I were out walking in Bolton, and passed some young people. ‘Why is he using that stick?’ said one, to which Gill replied, ‘ask him.’ There is a book written recently, called ‘At the Gates’, by two authors, Naomi Lawson Jacobs and Emily Richardson, which makes uncomfortable reading. in the first part. It is about the ways churches react badly to this issue of Disability, for instance using an accessible toilet as a storeroom, and offering disabled access where there it is not truly accessible, to the embarrassment of users.
Torch Trust recommends that we ask those with any disability, whether they require any assistance, rather than assuming we know what their needs are. Peter White, the blind radio presenter whose weekly programme, ‘In Touch’, is always worth hearing, has spoken of being propelled through a rotating door which he had no intention of entering, by a keen member of the public. Let me conclude with a plan devised by Through the Roof, where Gill and I are contacts for the North West. They have an ABC plan. A stands for access; B for belonging, and C for commission.
A is about a congregation accepting an individual into its midst, rather than making that person feel he or she does not belong. B is a further stage where the person is included in the life of the community, such as being a member of a Bible study group. People in this situation have sometimes been told that they don’t have to do anything, which suggests that they may not have any skills or gifts to offer. Commission is overcoming this barrier, so that the person with a disability is not only fully included, but able to contribute fully to the life of that community. I think of a person with Down’s Syndrome involved in sharing the Lord’s Prayer using Makaton.
I have heard some refer to themselves as ‘not yet disabled’, reminding us all of our vulnerability. What we can do is to pray for each other, with or without disability, and recognise that each of us is equipped by God in the power of the Spirit to serve Christ, and so let all participate to their full ability. We can also pray for, and support organisations like Torch Trust, and Through the Roof, as well as local organisations which have similar aims. Finally, pray also for Lee Longden, who has recently been appointed as Disability Officer for the Diocese.