This week’s Prayers and Readings
The Collect for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
Almighty God, whose only Son has opened for us a new and living way into your presence: give us pure hearts and steadfast wills to worship you in spirit and in truth; 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 Sunday
Lord God, the source of truth and love, keep us faithful to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, united in prayer and the breaking of bread, and one in joy and simplicity of heart, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 15
O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? 2 Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart; 3 who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbours; 4 in whose eyes the wicked are despised, but who honour those who fear the Lord; who stand by their oath even to their hurt; 5 who do not lend money at interest, and do not take a bribe against the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be moved.
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 Lesson for this Sunday is taken from the Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 4, verses 1 & 2 and 6 to 9
So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God with which I am charging you.
6 You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!’ 7 For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? 8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?
9 But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children
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 James, Chapter 1, verses 17 to 27
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 In fulfilment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
19 You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; 24 for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25 But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.
26 If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
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 Mark, Chapter 7, verses 1 to 8, 14 to 15 and 21 to 23
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to John Glory to You, o Lord !
Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2 they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4 and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) 5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not live[d] according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?’ 6 He said to them, ‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
“This people honours me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.”
8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord Praise to You, o Christ !
The sermon this week is delivered by Lorraine Ashworth
Today, our readings have been about following instructions. The Psalm that we haven't read says “walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from [your] heart; don't slander, don't do evil things,” The Old Testament reading says “keep the commandments of the Lord your God” The New Testament reading includes these words: “be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger” and in our Gospel reading Jesus says “Listen to me, all of you, and understand”.
So today Im going to look a bit closer, but firt, I have some jobs for you. I'm going to need some people to help me – I need 2 or 3 people who know how to follow instructions.
Turn this glass of water into wine.
Go and take a selfie photo by the sphinx – and be back in under a minute
Turn a penny into a pound.
Plait your hair so that the plait reaches your knees.
Ok, so those instructions were a bit hard to obey. No they were impossible to achieve. Our volunteers listened to the instructions, they understood them but they couldn’t carry them out.
Let’s try some different instructions!
Blow a kiss to Chich
Unfasten your shoes.
Put your jumper/cardigan/jacket on inside out.
Sit on the floor with your legs crossed.
Thank yourselves with a clap and return to your seats.
This time they have heard, understood and carried out the instructions. But sometimes even though you have heard the instructions and understand them and are able to carry out the instructions, you don’t, you hear what is being said and choose to ignore it don’t you? Can you give me an example?...
I know for me, at work it has been “use a different password for every system you use”. As a lay leader, I'm instructed to use only the forms of service which are authorised and allowed by Canon but sometimes I choose to create different ways of services of worship.
In the New Testament reading from James it says ‘Be doers of the word and not merely hearers’. The word is the word of God. So what sorts of things do you think we should be doing? …
In our reading today James also writes: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
When you read the rest of the letter from James it tells us as Jane Williams describes: that God is unchanging, that his Character is always holy and yet loving, that “nothing can make God act in a way that is not characteristic”...and that James is exhorting us to imitate God, looking at Him, growing to become more like him.
We are instructed to tell the truth, to be honest, to respect others and care for them. These are the sort of things that God gave us in his laws; and we summarise the laws in the 10 commandments. Just a quick reminder...
You shall have no gods before me.
You shall not make any idols to worship.
You shall not take the Lord's name in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
Honour your father and your mother.
You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness.
You shall not covet your neighbour's goods.
The Jewish people had more than just the 10 commandments to follow though, there were rules about what to eat, rules about making yourselves ritually clean, rules about who you could mix with, rules about sacrifices – so many rules, and in the reading from Mark’s Gospel the leaders of the Jewish faith were concerned that Jesus and his disciples were breaking the law by not washing their hands before they ate. But Jesus said that even if something dirty goes into our bodies, it doesn’t make us bad people! (Of course that doesn’t mean that we should eat with dirty hands because that might make us ill!)
Jesus was telling the Pharisees and scribes to be less concerned with keeping traditions than in keeping true to God’s laws of how to be. What makes us bad people is by saying horrid things, being mean, hurting other people.
Each of us here has heard how to act. How to live our lives as Christians. We understand it. But do we act on it?
We can all come to church to worship God on Sunday and other days – if we don’t have something better to do,
We can all read the word of God - if we aren’t too tired
We can all say our prayers every day – if we remember.
We can all treat people kindly – as long as they don’t interrupt what we are doing.
We can help others – as long as it doesn’t put us out too much.
We can show love to others – as long as they agree with what we believe.
But I think we need to do more. We need to do all this without any of the conditions. God gave his Son to die for us, showing us unconditional love! Jesus didn't say, I'll die for your sins only if I can be sure that you'll follow me, he gave his life and we can choose whether to follow him or not.
If we choose to follow Jesus, we need to worship God, to hear or read his word, to talk to God regularly, to treat people with kindness, to help those in need, and to show love to all we meet.
God isn’t like me, giving impossible tasks to His people, for with God, all things are possible. He asks us to love him with all our hearts because if we do that, then the rest will fall into place. We might have to work at it a bit, but after all, we always want to please the people who love us, and God loves us and cares for us completely. So let us all listen to the word that God speaks to us and please, let's act on it. Be doer’s of the word and not merely hearers. Amen
The Collect and Readings for next Sunday, 8th September, the Fifteen Sunday After Trinity
The Collect for the Fifteenth Sunday After Trinity
God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit upon your Church in the burning fire of your love: grant that your people may be fervent in the fellowship of the gospel that, 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.
Amen
The Psalm for the Fifteenth Sunday After Trinity is Psalm 146
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! 2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long. 3 Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. 4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish. 5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith for ever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; 8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. 10 The Lord will reign for ever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord!
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 Less for the Fifteenth Sunday After trinity is taken from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, Chapter 35, verses 4 to 7
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
‘Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.’
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The New Testament reading for the Fifteen Sunday after Trinity is taken from the Letter of St James, Chapter 2, verses 1 to 17
My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favouritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, ‘Have a seat here, please’, while to the one who is poor you say, ‘Stand there’, or, ‘Sit at my feet’, 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonoured the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? 7 Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?
8 You do well if you really fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ 9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11 For the one who said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’, also said, ‘You shall not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgement will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgement.
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The Gospel reading for the Fifteen Sunday after Trinity is taken from the Gospel according to St Luke, Chapter 15, verses 1 to 2 and 11 to 32
Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’
11 Then Jesus said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’” 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21 Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” 22 But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.
25 ‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27 He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” 28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29 But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” 31 Then the father[e] said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”’
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God