This week’s Readings and Sermon for the 8th Sunday after Trinity
The Collect for This Week
Almighty Lord and everlasting God, we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern both our hearts and bodies in the ways of your laws and the works of your commandments; that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever, we may be preserved in body and soul; 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. Amen
The Post Communion Prayer for this week
Strengthen for service, Lord, the hands that have taken holy things; may the ears which have heard your word be deaf to clamour and dispute; may the tongues which have sung your praise be free from deceit;
may the eyes which have seen the tokens of your love shine with the light of hope; and may the bodies which have been fed with your body be refreshed with the fullness of your life; glory to you for ever. Amen
Psalm 50, verses 1 to 8 and 22 - 23
The mighty one, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. 2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth. 3 Our God comes and does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, and a mighty tempest all around him. 4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people: 5 ‘Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!’ 6 The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. 7 ‘Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. 8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt-offerings are continually before me.
22‘Mark this, then, you who forget God, or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver. 23 Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honour me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God.’
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 from the book of the prophet Isaiah, Chapter 1, verses 1 and 10 to 20
The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11 What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; 13 bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation— I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. 14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
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 the Hebrews, Chapter 11, verses 1 to 4 and 8 - 16
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, ‘as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.’
13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, 14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel according to St Luke, Chapter 12, verses 32 to 40
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Luke Glory to You, O Lord
32 ‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
35 ‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; 36 be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
39 ‘But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to You, O Christ
The reading for this week’s sermon on the topic of “Feuds and Fallouts” is taken from the Letter of St Paul to the Colossians, Chapter 3, verses 13 to 14
13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord[f]has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God.
The sermon this week is delivered by Pam Bateman
13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Colossians is generally attributed to Paul but there is some debate about this because it is written to combat a form of Gnosticism that became common towards the end of the first century and ongoing through the second century. Basically Gnosticism encouraged the belief that Jesus was not unique in His Divine nature because He was not God but merely one of Gods mediators. They believed that there was an hierachy of celestial powers (perhaps angels) who were more important than Jesus. Thus the Trinity, as we know it, consisting of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit didn't exist. Salvation was achieved through the acquisition of knowledge, and not through faith. They believed that sin resulted from lack of knowledge. Salvation could be achieved through this knowledge being imparted by a series of rituals and ascetic practices. So St. Paul examined what false spirituality looked like and then what Christian spirituality is in the church, in the home and the world. I have to admit that feuds and fallouts in the family has been a very difficult topic for me to consider. So what I have done is utilise Laura's approach last week to consider it.
Last week Laura looked at what Spirituality is like in the individual, prioritising our choices day by day. Today, hopefully, we will explore one aspect of what spirituality looks like in our relationships with each other. This is problematic in that you and I are parts of two distinct communities, the world around us and being part of the people of God. Laura linked into this conflict as she considered the priorities we use in the choices we make during our every day life. Whether we put God's priorities first or our own. She closed by saying 'If we're going to trust Jesus, we need to start challenging our [outlook] our first thoughts... consider... when we think of God's growing kingdom – of having to listen and adapt to make space to welcome new people into God's family … are our FIRST thoughts of God and His inclusive, all compassing love OR are they of our fears and wants? When new mission opportunity arises... are our FIRST thoughts of opportunity to join in the work of the Holy Spirit as it moves? … When a change or a sacrifice is to be made … are our FIRST thoughts of God and His provision?'
How is this relevant to spirituality and conflict? Modern thought held by such as Hannah Arendt holds that 'the essence of a healthy political community is the provision of public spaces...to allow differences to be aired, explored and negotiated creatively' (Arendt H2005, The promise of politics, Shocken Books, pp 14-15). Whereas Pauline thinking indicates that although conflict still exists, as a Christian, our approach is based on our Saviour' approach, which is based on 'humility, dependence, sacrifice of self and trust in the sheer gift of the grace that enables community'.(Redfern A,Community and conflict; A Christian Contribution, ISPCK p9). Baroness Cox, founder of the organisation called Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust tells of the witness of some school children in Afghanistan where children in a school taken over by the Taliban lined up the children who claimed to be Christians and demanded them to to convert to Islam or have their right hands cut off. They refused to do so and the Taliban cut off their hand. In a liberal and post modern world one would want to talk, discuss perhaps compromise. But our Lord Jesus and His uncompromising sacrifice for you and me was necessary and an example for us to follow.
Now I don't know about you, but I find that hard to deal with. I am not naturally humble. sacrificial or trusting. I sat in on numerous Trade Union and management discussions when an RCN steward in London. I might not have been as confrontational as some of the Union representatives, but I could certainly put my pennyworth in. But that was then. Like all of us, God teaches or brings us through life learning different lessons at different times. During our lives God enables us, if we are willing, to develop layer upon layer of growth through submitting to God and His lessons in and through good timess and bad. The world that we live in demonstrates the wrongness of the combativeness of our attitude to each other and those around us, but it is so hard to trust and follow our Lord and Saviour in this matter.
The question for us is how do we develop that God based approach which emulates Jesus, that enabled Him to be the Lamb, the sacrificed one, who died and then rose in triumph over death? Paul proposes that we trust enough and hope enough to show Patience and Forgiveness and then 'over all these virtues put on Love, which binds them together in perfect unity'.
So, the next time we are challenged as to our 'rights', our 'beliefs', our 'actions', are our FIRST thoughts of God and His inclusive, all compassing love OR are they of our fears and wants? The next time someone pushes in front of us in a queue, or a neighbour park thoughtlessly blocking our drive, or cuts in as we drive towards the traffic lights is our FIRST thought of God and His inclusive, all compassing love OR are they of our fears and wants? What about at that meeting discussing outreach, church ordering, children's work, or joining with other churches? What about a local council decision on allowing the building of a synagogue or mosque in Rawtenstall or sharing our church buildings with another faith or denomination? I find this contentious and difficult to deal with. How about you? Is our FIRST thought of God and His inclusive, all compassing love OR are they of our fears and wants?