Author: Mary Tucker

Posted on

Sunday 15 November 2020

Worshipping Together – Apart – Again!

Dear All,

Here we are again, unable to be together in church and, as we did last Spring, thanks to the technical expertise of Stilman, at least able to ‘Worship Together – Apart’ on this our church website. The service today is one I used just before lock-down on a silent retreat with a community down near Exeter. You will be amused to know that I was housed in a little self-catering ‘shed’ which had been adapted from an old henhouse and was called ‘The Perch’ – it was the first of many merry laughs God and I had together in the course of a silent week!! So thank you to the Sheldon Community for permission to use parts of their Morning Prayer for Sunday. I have of course included the readings for this Sunday and added some thoughts to ponder.

With every blessing
Keep separate, keep safe
Mary Tucker

A Service to say at home

Opening Prayer

This day Lord, may I dream your dream,

This day Lord, may I reflect your love,

This day Lord, may I do your work,

This day Lord, may I taste your peace.

Hymn – Sing something you enjoy!!

Canticle

In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house

will be established as the highest of the mountains.

It will be raised above the hills

and all the nations will flock to it.

Many peoples will come and they will say,

let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob,

that we may be taught the ways of the Lord

and may walk in the right paths.

From the mountain of the Lord shall go forth the law

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

The Lord will judge between the nations

and settle disputes for many peoples.

They shall beat their swords into ploughshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation

nor ever again prepare for war.

Come, O house of Jacob

Let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Bible Readings for the Second Sunday before Advent

Zephaniah 1:7 & 12-18

7 Be silent before the Sovereign Lord, for the day of the Lord is near. The Lord has prepared a sacrifice he has consecrated those he has invited. 12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.’ 13 Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished. Though they build houses, they will not live in them; though they plant vineyards, they will not drink the wine.” 14 The great day of the Lord is near — near and coming quickly. The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter; the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry. 15 That day will be a day of wrath – a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness — 16 a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers.

17 “I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath.” In the fire of his jealousy the whole earth will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth.

This is the Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

Psalm 90:1-8

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
    throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
    or you brought forth the whole world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You turn people back to dust,
    saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
4 A thousand years in your sight
    are like a day that has just gone by,
    or like a watch in the night.
5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
    they are like the new grass of the morning:
6 In the morning it springs up new,
    but by evening it is dry and withered.

7 We are consumed by your anger
    and terrified by your indignation.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins in the light of your presence.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen

Matthew 25:14-30

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

This is the Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

Some Thoughts on the Reading

The joy of Jesus’ parables, and sometimes their challenge, is that he leaves it to us to draw our own conclusions. In almost every case when telling these stories, Jesus tells the tale to his listeners (and that includes us of course), smiles, gives us a meaningful look, (possibly eyebrows raised implying ‘Yes, you DO know what I’m saying’) and steps back, leaving us to ponder. And what he is saying to us may well vary from person to person and from time to time. Or, of course, it is perfectly possible that there is more than one message for us in his words.

There is, of course, what we might call the straightforward message. We have all been gifted with talents. In fact our English use of the word to describe our gifts, strengths and abilities comes from this parable

A talent was actually a significantly large sum of money in those days and in that place and simply knowing that begins to give us a first way into this parable.

As soon as I mention gifts many of us, in our typically British self-deprecating way, look at our feet, shake our heads and mumble, ‘Well I don’t really have any talents, and certainly not what I’d call gifts.’

It isn’t true of course. Our problem is, I fear, our tendency to compare ourselves to others. I can bellow out a hymn (when COVID restrictions allow!) but I’m never going to be on ‘X factor’! I can snap my fingers to a beat and even make some show of jigging about a bit but no one’s going to put me on ‘Strictly’! And so on and son on and more of the same. But if we refuse to accept our talents because others have more, or apparently more exciting ones, we immediately start to fall into the likeness of that sulky third servant.

I can almost hear him as he digs. ‘Huh! Why do I only get one? They’ve got far more. They’re obviously better than me. There’s no point in me trying, I’ll just keep my head down and take it easy.’

And yet what the parable is saying is that we’re all different. It’s what Paul later re-writes in several of his letters when he likens us, the Church, to a body.

We all have different strengths and functions and if we happen to be something mundane and unexciting so be it.

But it doesn’t let us off the hook as the reaction of the returning master makes plain. He is angry and disappointed. He wasn’t expecting great things. He knows his servants. He’d have been quite happy if the servant in question had just done his best, even if that ‘best’ was wading through the complexities of the banking system and getting the thousand pounds or so he’s been trusted with into an interest bearing account.

So it is with us. We have all been gifted with skills or abilities. They are many and varied, we may not even value them, but they are gifts from God and we are required, yes – required, to use them for him.

We spend a lot of time in church thanking God for his love and his willingness to forgive, and that is right and proper, and this parable takes none of that away, but it does remind us that God, like any good parent, can and will be angry if we need it. It is the anger of a Father who sees his child ignoring or squandering his talents. It is righteous anger, and it may well be directed at us.

In this pre-Advent season there is a lot of talk of judgement. That reading from Zephaniah can have left us in no doubt about that

‘The great day of the Lord is near,near and hastening fast;the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;

A day of wrath is that day,a day of distress and anguish,a day of ruin and devastation,a day of darkness and gloom,a day of clouds and thick darkness,

I will bring distress on mankind,

because they have sinned against the Lord.’

This isn’t the sort of reading we like. Surely as we’ve just said we believe in a loving, forgiving God, revealed in his giving, loving, forgiving Son Jesus who died to release us from our sins. Surely we are not in danger of his wrath?

But that very giving, loving, forgiving Son, Jesus is telling us the parable of the talents. He is describing God’s anger and disappointment. Suddenly we find ourselves in the shoes of the disciples who, in another place and at another time, found themselves facing just such words of apparent doom from their loving leader.

‘Well in that case who then can be saved?’ they cried, for they, like we, know that with the best will in the world our sinning continues. His answer was . . . well we’ll come to Jesus’ answer in a moment. First let’s just pop back to the gloomy, doomy prophet Zephaniah for in his words there is an interesting detail of just what it is that God is so angry about, so disappointed with, in verse 12 we find these words:-

‘At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,and I will punish the menwho are complacent,those who say in their hearts,‘The Lord will not do good,nor will he do ill.’

and there is the clue. As we quiver and quail and wait to have all our sins revealed as the ones that cause God’s wrath what we hear is that it is complacency that is the big problem. A complacency apparently based in a belief of the weakness and irrelevance of God, a God who these people really can’t be bothered with, who

‘. . . will not do good,nor will he do ill.’

How well this fits with the parable, with the lazy servant who really couldn’t be bothered, who completely misunderstood the sort of man he was working for.

So what of us? Take heart. We DO have a loving, giving and forgiving God who knows our capacity to sin. And who, as we come to him each time in our sorrow, failure and repentance forgives and releases us from all the just wrath and judgement that should be ours. Who in fact came down as a man and took all that wrath and judgement upon his own shoulders as he hung, weighed down by our sins upon the cross.

BUT – and it’s a big but and it’s what both Zephaniah and Jesus are talking about today, if we misjudge God, if we are complacent and can’t be bothered, if we don’t take the gifts we are offered and use them and, most importantly of all, if we don’t regularly accept the gift of his death and resurrection and come to him positively in repentance confessing our wrongdoing, then nothing can be done for us. We have to ask. We have to accept.

In this life we will never be perfect, as Jesus said in reply to his disciples all those millennia ago

‘For us it IS impossible . . . ’, but as long as we are not complacent, as long as we don’t fall into the trap of resting on our laurels saying, ‘Oh, it’s OK I can do as I like, I’ll be forgiven.’ As long as we continually strive, try, do our level best, confess, repent and try again then all will be well for as Jesus continued, ‘. . . but with God ALL things are possible.’

Prayers

In this continuing time of crisis, give us the courage to give up our preoccupation with ourselves and to give time to your mission in the world.

Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.

May the blood and water flowing from the side of Jesus bring forgiveness to your people and help us to face the cost of proclaiming salvation as we work together and apart in your damaged world.

Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.

Give your world the courage to give up war, bitterness and hatred, and to seek peace and healing for each other.

Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.

May the shoulders of the risen Jesus, once scourged by soldiers, bear the burden of our times.

Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.

Give us the courage to give up quarrels, strife and jealousy in our families, neighbourhoods and communities.

Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.

May the presence of the risen Jesus, his body once broken and now made whole, bring peace and direction as we live with one another. Give us the courage to give up our selfishness as we live for others, and to give time, care and comfort to the sick in ways that are safe for them and for us.

Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.

May the wounded hands of Jesus bring his healing touch to all who suffer, and the light of his presence fill their hearts and homes.

Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.

Give us the courage to give up our fear of death and to rejoice with those who have died in faith. May the feet of the risen Lord Jesus, once nailed to the cross, walk alongside the dying and bereaved in their agony, and walk with us and all your Church through death to the gate of glory.

Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer here and in eternity. Amen.

We pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us,

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.

Amen

Closing Prayer and blessing

May the love of God sustain us this day,

May the light of Jesus radiate our thinking and speaking,

May the power of the Spirit penetrate all our decisions,

And may all we do this day witness to your presence in our lives.

Amen

The Lord bless us and keep us,

The Lord make his face shine upon us and be gracious to us,

The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon us,

And give us peace.

The Lord bless us.

Amen

Posted on

Easter 6

Worshipping Together – Apart

Dear All,

Here we are again – my turn to put something on the website (or rather to give Stilman something to put on it) that we can use to worship ‘together but apart’ this, the sixth Sunday of Easter. Today’s service is an Iona Communion Service which is very easy and appropriate for us all to use on our own homes, another ‘kitchen table Eucharist’ and as usual I’ve inserted one of this week’s Bible readings and some thoughts on it. Think of me as you celebrate and be sure I will be thinking of all of you.

With every blessing

Keep separate, keep safe

But remember you are never separated from the love of God or from the prayers of us all

Mary Tucker


A Service to say at home (adapted from the worship of the Iona Community)


Gathering Prayer

Creator of the cosmos,

Of eternity and time:

Be with us in this time.


Saviour of the world,

Healer of the nations:

Be with us in this place.


Breath of all that lives,

Of people near and far:

Stir within our lives.


Creator, Son, Spirit

God of here and now:

Be present in our worship

That we may find new ways

Of being present in your world.


(Hymn/Song – Sing something you enjoy!!)


Bible Reading – Acts 17:22-31

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’

Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”


This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.


Some Thoughts on the Reading


I want to tell you two stories.


One is from an old TV series, penned by a favourite writer of mine Alan Plater, the other is the story from Ancient Greece which explains that altar ‘to an unknown God’ mentioned in today’s reading from Acts.


First the Greek legend.


Once there was a terrible plague in the city of Athens. All attempts to please and appease their many gods had no effect. One of the wise men of the day had an idea. He took a flock of sheep to the top of Mars Hill and released them. In each place that the sheep stopped an altar was set up and a sheep was sacrificed to an unknown god. This course of action was apparently effective and the city returned to health.


Now the Alan Plater one.


A man went walking in a forest. Suddenly he came upon another man who was totally naked except for a bowler hat.

‘Why are you walking about naked?’ asked the first man.

‘Well nobody ever walks in this part of the forest.’ replied the other.

‘Then why are you wearing a bowler hat?’ retorted the first.

‘Well – you never know.’ said the man.


What links these two tales? I think ignorance and insurance!


Some people interpret Paul’s speech to the Athenians around that, now famous altar, as an encouragement to the Greeks. It appears to some readers that he is saying to these pagans,

‘You’re doing all right, accidentally you’re worshipping the right god and that’s fine, well done!’


But the tone in the original language is quite different. It is challenging and critical. Even Paul’s use of the word ‘religious’ at the beginning, when he may seem to be congratulating them on how religious they are, is actually using that word the way it is sometimes used to us when, in a slightly shocked or sneering tone, someone says, ‘Oh – are you religious then?’


Paul is not, in fact, impressed by this altar. What he sees is foolish superstition – like letting sheep make decisions and then, the equally foolish linking of the eventual, and probably natural, cessation of the plague

to the actions of these animals. You could, with some excuse, call this ‘ignorance’.


It’s as daft as a man who claims to believe the forest will be empty but makes himself look even more stupid

by wearing his ‘insurance policy’ in the form of a bowler hat, a hat to be whipped off and used to cover his . . . embarrassment (!?!), just in case.


Ignorance and insurance.


Would you call yourself ‘religious’? And if you would claim that title are you ignorant of what this perhaps unknown god you claim to believe in is like? Or is your ‘religion’ an insurance policy – just in case?


My saying that to you feels quite uncomfortable. It is challenging and perhaps critical and not what you might expect to hear from me. Perhaps what you really want is encouragement, someone to say,

‘You’re doing all right. That’s fine. Well done!’ and I’m not saying it at the moment as you are probably gathering by now. With Paul, I’m in critical, challenging mode and we’re going to continue for a little on the dual themes of ‘ignorance’ and ‘insurance’. The only thing I will add, is that anything I say to you I am also saying to myself and to most Christians for all of us are on a journey to glory, and few of us are very near perfection yet!


Let’s do insurance first.


Now unless you are one of those few very lucky Christians who never has doubts you, like me, probably have to admit to a bit of ‘treating our faith as an insurance policy’ from time to time.


In the times when, perhaps, we seriously begin to doubt whether all we’ve believed about Jesus and about God can actually be true, we are like the naked man in the bowler hat. For a while, maybe, we seriously waver in our belief, yet, our prayers continue and/or we keep going to church. Our ‘bowler hat’ is our keeping up the outer show while the inner faith is in turmoil. It’s insurance – just in case we’re wrong, and it all turns out to be true after all.


And at last I’m going to say,

‘Well done! That’s OK.’ especially if we’re being honest with ourselves and, paradoxically enough, honest with the God, even if we’re having doubts about him.

‘It’s OK. Well done!’ Keeping going, even if we feel it’s just an insurance policy. It may not be particularly admirable but it’s better than nothing and, I believe, that even this is used by God.


So am I criticising you, me, us, for the times we use God as an insurance policy? Well no and yes.


No, because anywhere and any way we let God into our lives is good and will be used by him, but yes, if we allow ourselves to become spiritually lazy, and let that insurance policy, background type of faith remain the only link we have with him.


Which brings us neatly onto ignorance!


Those poor Greeks. Not knowing which way to turn, which god to placate, depending, despite all their famous intellectual learning, on a flock of silly sheep to solve their problems. At least they had ignorance of the truth about the one true God as an excuse.


We do not. If we are ignorant of God and what he is like and what he is desiring for us and asking of us it may be partly our own fault.


Someone said to me the other day, ‘You’re always banging on about Bible reading and prayer!’


Well yes I am, and to add to it I’ll bang on about regular church attendance too, ready for when we all get back to normal.


For these are the places of learning, the places of listening, as well as the places of praise and consolation, and if we can’t be bothered to do anything about our ignorance (and we’ll remain at least partially ignorant

until that great day when we walk into heaven) we are deserving of criticism, for we are failing God and importantly also failing ourselves, failing to take up wholly the new life he died to give us.


So get dressed and hang up your bowler hat. Put the sheep back in the field where they belong and venture out into the forest of life with prayer, Bible reading and fellowship as your guides (even if it’s via computer, radio or TV at present) And there, our known and still partly unknown God will meet you in his Spirit, will walk with you in the forest, will protect you on the hillsides and be beside you in all the plagues (literal and metaphorical) that life may throw at you



Prayers

We pray to the Lord for courage as we continue to walk, together but apart, along the road of life.

In this difficult time, give your Church the courage to give up her preoccupation with herself and to give time to your mission in the world. Lord, help us to recognise you in our lives, give us strength and hear our prayer.

May the blood and water flowing from the side of Jesus bring forgiveness to your people and help us to face the cost of proclaiming salvation as we work together and apart in your damaged world. Lord, help us to recognise you in our lives, give us strength and hear our prayer.

Give your world the courage to give up war, bitterness and hatred, and to seek peace and healing for each other. Lord, help us to recognise you in our lives, give us strength and hear our prayer.

May the shoulders of the risen Jesus, once scourged by soldiers, bear the burden of our times. Lord, help us to recognise you in our lives, give us strength and hear our prayer.

Give us the courage to give up quarrels, strife and jealousy in our families, neighbourhoods and communities. Lord, help us to recognise you in our lives, give us strength and hear our prayer.

May the presence of the risen Jesus, his body once broken and now made whole, bring peace and direction as we live with one another. Give us the courage to give up our selfishness as we live for others, and to give time, care and comfort to the sick and those who care for them in ways that are safe for them and for us. Lord, help us to recognise you in our lives, give us strength and hear our prayer.

May the wounded hands of Jesus bring his healing touch to all who suffer, and the light of his presence fill their hearts and homes. Lord, help us to recognise you in our lives, give us strength and hear our prayer.

Give us the courage to give up our fear of death and to rejoice with those who have died in faith. May the feet of the risen Lord Jesus, once nailed to the cross, walk alongside the dying and bereaved in their agony, and walk with us and all your Church through death to the gate of glory. Lord, help us to recognise you in our lives, give us strength and hear our prayer, here and in eternity. Amen.

We pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.

Amen


A Home Communion

(use some bread or a plain biscuit, some wine or juice)


What we do here in our own homes today, we do in imitation of what Christ first did.

To his followers in every age, Jesus gave an example and command

rooted in the experience he shared with his disciples in an upstairs room in Jerusalem.


So now we do as Jesus did.

We take this food and drink, the produce of the earth and fruit of human labour.

In these, Jesus has promised to be present, through these, Christ can make us whole.

Eucharistic Prayer

The Lord is with us,

And with all those with whom we worship, together but apart.

We lift our hearts together.

We lift them to the Lord.

We give thanks together to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.


It is indeed right, for you made us,

and before us, you made the world we inhabit,

and before the world, you made the eternal home

in which, through Christ, we have a place.


And so we gladly join our voices to the song of the Church,

to those from whom we are separated

on earth and in heaven:

Holy, holy, holy Lord,

God of power and might,

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.


And now,

lest we believe that our praise alone fulfils your purpose,

we fall silent

and remember him who came because words were not enough.


Setting our wisdom, our will, our words aside,

emptying our hearts and bringing nothing in our hands,

we yearn for the healing, the holding, the accepting, the forgiving

which Christ alone can offer.


(we pause quietly for a moment)


Merciful God, send now, in your kindness

your Holy Spirit on this food and drink

and fill them with the fullness of Jesus.


And let that same Spirit rest on us,

converting us from the patterns of this passing world,

until we conform to the shape of him whose food we share.

Amen.


Sharing God’s Gifts

Among friends, gathered round a table,

Jesus took bread and broke it, and said,

‘This is my body, broken for you.’


Later he took a cup of wine and said,

‘This is the new relationship with God

made possible because of my death.

Take it, all of you, to remember me.’


He whom the universe could not contain is present to us in this food.

He who redeemed us and called us by name now meets us in this cup.

So we take this food and drink.

In them God comes to us so that we may come to God.


(Eat, drink, share the food and drink you have prepared and prayed over)


The Peace

(We bring to mind all those with whom we would usually share this moment,

holding them on our hearts.)


Christ who has nourished us is our peace,

strangers and friends, male and female, old and young, near and far away,

Jesus has broken down the barriers to bind us to him and to each other.


The peace of the Lord be always with you.

(and also with you)


Concluding prayer

In gratitude, in deep gratitude for this moment, this meal, these people,

we give ourselves to you.

Take us out to live as changed people

because we have shared the living Bread and cannot remain the same.

Ask much of us, expect much of us, enable much by us,

encourage many through us.


So, Lord, may we live to your glory,

both as inhabitants of earth and citizens of the commonwealth of heaven,

knowing that we do so with your blessing

Father, Son and Holy Spirit

this day and for ever more.

Amen.

Posted on

Worshipping Together – Apart

Dear All,
Here then is this week’s Bible Reading and some thoughts on it. You will see that once again I have placed it in the centre of an informal Service of Eucharist which you can use at home, alone or with your family – wherever you do it you will in fact be worshipping together (with so many others) though apart. On Easter Sunday morning many of you will have seen or heard the Archbishop of Canterbury celebrating the Communion with his wife in their own kitchen so have no qualms about doing so yourself today in yours. I used a Poppy and Sesame cracker as my ‘bread’ and had a slurp of the Bucks Fizz with which I was celebrating the end of the Lenten fast as my ‘wine’ on that day. There are no rules, use what you have to hand, make your kitchen table your altar and following Christ’s instruction to remember him in this way you will find that, perhaps unexpectedly you too ‘recognise him at the breaking of the bread.’
With every blessing
Keep separate, keep safe
But remember you are never separated from the love of God or from the prayers of us all
Mary Tucker

A Service to say at home
Call to Worship

The Lord be with you
And also with you
God in Jesus has revealed his glory
Come let us worship together
From the rising of the sun to its setting
The Lord’s name is greatly to be praised

(Hymn – Sing something you enjoy!!)

Prayer of Confession

Holy God we bring you ourselves
All that we are and all that we long to be
Our weakness, our failures, our sinfulness and our brokenness

Son of Mary Have mercy on us
Carpenter of Nazareth Have mercy on us
Healer of the sick Have mercy on us
Bringer of light Have mercy on us
Saviour of the poor Have mercy on us
Bread of life Have mercy on us
You who call us sister, brother, friend Have mercy on us
Your body and Spirit with us
Holy God we bring you ourselves
All that we are and all that we long to be
Our weakness, our failures, our sinfulness and our brokenness
Have mercy on us

Bible Reading – read Luke 24:13-35
The Walk to Emmaus

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Some Thoughts on the Reading

Recognising Jesus at the Breaking of the Bread

Many years ago now we were staying in a posh hotel down in Devon, very near the place where they were shooting the film, ‘Ladies in Lavender’, with Judy Dench and Maggie Smith, a most unlikely place for us to be it has to be said.

We, along with the rest of the family, had been summoned, in an ‘Agatha Christie like’ way, to this cliff top venue by my Mother in Law (long gone now but much loved and missed.)

It’s OK, no one was actually murdered (though I do remember a few tense moments as she ordered us about with the authority of the one who was paying the bill), but something extremely embarrassing did happen.

Dressed to the nines, and most uncomfortable, my husband and I were proceeding through the grand entrance hall towards the dining room when, coming towards us, I spied a familiar face. The trouble was,
that, though I knew I knew him, for the life of me I couldn’t think who it was! As we closed on each other
I did what I always do on these increasingly frequent occasions (I think it’s an age thing), I smiled broadly and confidently, exuding, I hoped, absolute certainty of who this was and, as we drew near to each other said what I always say in these situations, “Hello! How nice to see you. How are you?”

I was aware of two things immediately. One was a strange gasp from my husband at my side, the other, a momentary look of confusion on the face of my approaching friend. “Ha!” I thought, “It’s not just me!” I thought. Put someone in the wrong environment and we can all find it difficult to place them. He pulled himself together quickly however, and as we passed, smiled back with equal confidence and replied, “I’m fine thanks and how are you?”

As neither of us had received the necessary clues to identity we perhaps hoped for and which would have enabled us to chat further, we both kept moving, passed, and continued on our opposite courses, me still wracking my brains to place my associate.

My thoughts however were rudely interrupted by the hoarse and embarrassed whisper of my long suffering spouse who, red in the face and horrified, said, “What did you do that for?”

I started to explain about my ‘not being able to place a friend in a strange place’ technique but, before I could go on, he said, “But you don’t know him, it was Charles Dance, he’s a famous actor!”

Well how was I supposed to know the cast of the film were staying there? I’m just relieved it wasn’t Maggie Smith! Who’d want to be on the receiving end of one of her Downton-esque put downs?!

When I read today’s Gospel passage, the thing that really struck me was the weirdness of the two disciples not recognising the man they’d been with for the last days, weeks, possibly years. It didn’t seem to make sense.

In the BBC series ‘The Passion’, made in 2010 I think and watched by me again this last Holy Week, they had the risen Jesus played by a different actor on the road at the beginning of this story and then changed him back to the original one at the breaking of the bread.

That, I have to say, just didn’t feel right to me and I continued to worry away at how on earth they couldn’t have recognised him when the true tale I’ve just told you came to mind.

Walking through that hotel foyer, I was so taken up with not making a fool of myself by admitting to someone I thought I knew that I couldn’t for the life of me remember who they were, that actually, really and truly, my ‘eyes were closed’, I was ‘kept from recognising’ a really famous face I knew well, and ended up making an even greater fool of myself!

The disciples had a similar reaction once they recognised Jesus and he had gone. They couldn’t believe that they hadn’t known who it was. “Didn’t our hearts burn within us?” they gasped in amazement at their own blindness. But they had been so taken up with their grief and their disappointment at the apparent failure of all they had thought Jesus stood for, that their eyes were closed, they were kept from recognising a really familiar face. I’m sure they too felt really foolish, but that feeling was far outweighed by their joy at the revelation they had received, so much so that they set off immediately on the return walk, of some 15 or 20 miles, to share their new found recognition with their friends. Lack of recognition, we must admit, is not so unusual or so inexplicable as we may at first have thought

The other possible interpretation of the words, “Their eyes were kept from recognising him.” is that this was part of the plan, part of God’s plan and we can empathise with this too. In things that happen in our lives, embarrassing things, unfortunate things, frightening things, even tragic things (and we are experiencing quite a lot of this at present), and whether we want to say they are part of God’s plan or just things that, having happened, are used by God, with hindsight we recognise that we have grown from the experience.

These disciples not only failed to recognise their Lord and leader in the resurrected flesh, but had also failed to recognise in their own scripture, ‘The law and the Prophets’, just what sort of a God they were dealing with. They had failed to recognise in the person of Jesus, through those days, weeks and perhaps years together, what sort of salvation he was going to bring.

Believing in a wrathful God who needed to be placated by sacrifice and careful keeping of the law, expecting a conquering hero who would drive out the Romans and re-establish Jewish supremacy, they could not recognise the ‘suffering servant God’ who loved them, who died to save them and in whose weakness was strength and absolute victory.

No wonder they went racing back! Not only were they taking the news that Jesus truly was alive, but a new understanding that their long talk with the unrecognised ‘stranger’ on the road had given them. And that, I suppose, is the message for us. We may not always be aware that God is at work. We may not recognise that the experiences we have, the people we meet (or pass at a distance!), the things we do, are all part of God’s plan or can and will be used by him in that plan. But it may well be, that in our prayer time in the cool of the evening or on a Sunday morning in the quiet of Church (yes it will come again), in the familiar words and at the breaking of the bread (on altar or kitchen table), things fall into place, our eyes are opened, and we are briefly and strongly aware of the Jesus who has walked with us, sometimes unrecognised but always there, every step, on the road of our lives.

Prayers

We pray to the Lord for courage as we walk, together but apart, the road of life.
In this unprecedented time of crisis, give your Church the courage to give up her preoccupation with herself and to give time to your mission in the world. Lord, help us to recognise you in our lives, give us strength and hear our prayer.
May the blood and water flowing from the side of Jesus bring forgiveness to your people and help us to face the cost of proclaiming salvation as we work together and apart in your damaged world. Lord, help us to recognise you in our lives, give us strength and hear our prayer.
Give your world the courage to give up war, bitterness and hatred, and to seek peace and healing for each other. Lord, help us to recognise you in our lives, give us strength and hear our prayer.
May the shoulders of the risen Jesus, once scourged by soldiers, bear the burden of our times. Lord, help us to recognise you in our lives, give us strength and hear our prayer.
Give us the courage to give up quarrels, strife and jealousy in our families, neighbourhoods and communities. Lord, help us to recognise you in our lives, give us strength and hear our prayer.
May the presence of the risen Jesus, his body once broken and now made whole, bring peace and direction as we live with one another. Give us the courage to give up our selfishness as we live for others, and to give time, care and comfort to the sick and those who care for them in ways that are safe for them and for us. Lord, help us to recognise you in our lives, give us strength and hear our prayer.
May the wounded hands of Jesus bring his healing touch to all who suffer, and the light of his presence fill their hearts and homes. Lord, help us to recognise you in our lives, give us strength and hear our prayer.
Give us the courage to give up our fear of death and to rejoice with those who have died in faith. May the feet of the risen Lord Jesus, once nailed to the cross, walk alongside the dying and bereaved in their agony, and walk with us and all your Church through death to the gate of glory. Lord, help us to recognise you in our lives, give us strength and hear our prayer, here and in eternity. Amen.

We pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.
Amen

A Home Communion

Take bread and wine or juice and pray

Blessed are you O God
For you have brought forth bread from the earth
Blessed are you O God
For you have created the fruit of the vine
Here at your table
You offer us light, bread and wine for the journey
To nourish us as sons and daughters

Jesus took bread, and having blessed it
He broke it and gave it to his disciples saying
Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you
In the same way after supper, he took the cup of wine
And gave you thanks, he gave it to them saying
Drink this all of you, this is my blood of the new covenant
Which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins
So now, following Jesus’ example
We take this bread and this wine and pray

Lord Jesus Christ, present with us now
Breathe your Spirit upon us and upon this bread and wine
That they may be heaven’s food for us
Renewing, sustaining and making us whole
That we may be your body on earth
Loving and caring in the world

Look – The bread of heaven – The light of the world
Here is Christ, coming to us in bread and wine
The gift of God for the people of the world

The table of bread and wine is now made ready
It is the table of company with Jesus
So, come to this table, you who have much faith
And you who would like to have more
You who have been to this sacrament often
And you who have not been for a long time
You who have tried to follow Jesus
And you who have failed
Come – it is Christ himself who invites us to meet him here

Eat your bread and sip you drink and take a moment of quiet before praying

Concluding Prayer

Holy God, we have seen with our eyes
And touched with our hands the bread of life the light of the world
Strengthen our faith
That we may grow in love for you and for each other
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

And may the blessing of God Almighty the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be with us all, those we love and those we pray for. Amen

Posted on

Palm Sunday

Worshipping Together – Apart

Dear All,

Here is the first of a new section of our magazine (it will also be available on our Church Website).

Whilst we are unable to worship together in church we can still worship together – apart!! Below then is a version of one of our Informal Family Services, some prayers and a short thought on one of the readings for Sunday 5th April – Palm Sunday.

Whilst we are unable to be together there will be one of these from me, Bill or Stilman in the magazine each month and also on the website where there will also be a link to Daily Prayer and readings, as well as information of other places you can find similar resources to ‘keeping you going with God’!

Oh and if some of you are saying about this service, “But it’s a Communion!!!!” Remember that at the Last Supper Jesus instructed us to ‘do this whenever we eat/drink this’, he made no mention of people in dog collars, altars etc – so make your kitchen table your altar and come to the Lord beside us all – worshipping together but apart.

With every blessing
Keep separate, keep safe
Mary Tucker

A Service to say at home

Call to Worship

The Lord be with you
And also with you
God in Jesus has revealed his glory
Come let us worship together
From the rising of the sun to its setting
The Lord’s name is greatly to be praised

Hymn – Sing something you enjoy!!

Prayer of Confession

Holy God we bring you ourselves
All that we are and all that we long to be
Our weakness, our failures, our sinfulness and our brokenness

Son of Mary

Have mercy on us

Carpenter of Nazareth

Healer of the sick

Have mercy on us

Bringer of light

Have mercy on us

Saviour of the poor

Have mercy on us

Bread of life

Have mercy on us

You who call us sister, brother, friend

Have mercy on us

Your body and Spirit with us

Have mercy on us

Holy God we bring you ourselves

Have mercy on us

All that we are and all that we long to be

Have mercy on us

Our weakness, our failures, our sinfulness and our brokenness

Have mercy on us

Bible Reading

If you’ve still got last year’s Palm Cross hold it as you read.

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What will you give me if I betray him to you?’ They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ He said, ‘Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, “The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.” ’ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.

When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating, he said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.’ And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, ‘Surely not I, Lord?’ He answered, ‘The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.’ Judas, who betrayed him, said, ‘Surely not I, Rabbi?’ He replied, ‘You have said so.’

While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’

When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Then Jesus said to them, ‘You will all become deserters because of me this night; for it is written,

“I will strike the shepherd,
   and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.”

But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.’ Peter said to him, ‘Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.’ Peter said to him, ‘Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.’ And so said all the disciples.

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.’ And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.’ Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again he went away for the second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’ Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.’

While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, ‘The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him.’ At once he came up to Jesus and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ and kissed him. Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, do what you are here to do.’ Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. Suddenly, one of those with Jesus put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, ‘Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled, which say it must happen in this way?’ At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, ‘Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But all this has taken place, so that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled.’ Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, in whose house the scribes and the elders had gathered. But Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest; and going inside, he sat with the guards in order to see how this would end. Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said, ‘This fellow said, “I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.” ’ The high priest stood up and said, ‘Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?’ But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, ‘I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said so. But I tell you,

From now on you will see the Son of Man
   seated at the right hand of Power
   and coming on the clouds of heaven.’

Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?’ They answered, ‘He deserves death.’ Then they spat in his face and struck him; and some slapped him, saying, ‘Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who is it that struck you?’

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant-girl came to him and said, ‘You also were with Jesus the Galilean.’ But he denied it before all of them, saying, ‘I do not know what you are talking about.’ When he went out to the porch, another servant-girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, ‘This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.’ Again he denied it with an oath, ‘I do not know the man.’ After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, ‘Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.’ Then he began to curse, and he swore an oath, ‘I do not know the man!’ At that moment the cock crowed. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: ‘Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.

When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus in order to bring about his death. They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. He said, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ But they said, ‘What is that to us? See to it yourself.’ Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, ‘It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money.’ After conferring together, they used them to buy the potter’s field as a place to bury foreigners. For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, ‘And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one on whom a price had been set, on whom some of the people of Israel had set a price, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.’

Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus said, ‘You say so.’ But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. Then Pilate said to him, ‘Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?’ But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, ‘Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?’ For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. While he was sitting on the judgement seat, his wife sent word to him, ‘Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.’ Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. The governor again said to them, ‘Which of the two do you want me to release for you?’ And they said, ‘Barabbas.’ Pilate said to them, ‘Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?’ All of them said, ‘Let him be crucified!’ Then he asked, ‘Why, what evil has he done?’ But they shouted all the more, ‘Let him be crucified!’

So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.’ Then the people as a whole answered, ‘His blood be on us and on our children!’ So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots; then they sat down there and kept watch over him. Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, ‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.’

Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.’ In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, “I am God’s Son.” ’ The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.

From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, ‘This man is calling for Elijah.’ At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.’ Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’

Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, ‘Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, “After three days I will rise again.” Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, “He has been raised from the dead”, and the last deception would be worse than the first.’ Pilate said to them, ‘You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.’ So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

Matthew 26:14–27 the end

Some Thoughts on the Reading

We are certainly on a strange journey today. One minute triumphantly shouting hosanna, waving our palms and throwing our coats into the road in a carnival atmosphere, the next seeing the face of the ‘triumphant king’ and wondering at the sadness there, wondering at the strange humility.

And by the end of the ‘Passion Gospel’ as it’s called, we are finally faced with the fact that this man is God, but God totally emptied, totally humbled, totally human and afraid. For among the cheering masses he also saw hatred. He knew as no one else did the inevitable outcome of his very public arrival at the Passover feast.

In recent days, not surprisingly, I have become aware again of a need, a message that needs to be given again, a comfort that is cried out for, a fear that needed to be addressed. And it is through this crucial and central story of Christianity that we can all find, and share with others, comfort.

So many people, good people, faithful people, (and Church people!) seem to be living in fear and not just because of our current Health Crisis. They are ‘God fearing’ but their fear is about not being good enough for God and in particular not being good enough for heaven. They are fearful in life but even more fearful when facing the inevitability of death at some point (for most of us not yet we hope).

As I’ve told you before I know, but it’s worth repeating, this fear was summed up for me one day when I was on chaplaincy duty in Tewkesbury Abbey many years ago. A woman of mature years fearfully said, “I’m not as young as I used to be – I need to start earning some brownie points with God.”

The discussion that followed, as we talked about the grace of God, the grace – the free gift – of God’s forgiveness caused such a change in her!

The message was, of course, that God has paid the price of sin, hers and ours, and todays reading, The Passion Gospel, though it is a hard read, a painful read, tells the story of God’s sacrifice through his Son which, after Easter (the next thrilling instalment), brings us the reassurance that, when the time comes, and it may not be for a long time, we may enter heaven, forgiven, not through our own effort but through his.

This should of course, have a knock on effect for us. As Christ paid the price of our salvation by obedience to God, the consequence for us here and now is that we should live our lives in thankfulness and amazement at his generous work. So let us all, as a thank you, live lives of obedience to him as far as is possible for us, dependent on his all saving sacrifice and knowing that he will forgive us and give us a new start every time we confess that we have fallen short.

Prayers

We pray to the Lord for courage and to give ourselves to him this Lent.
In this unprecedented time of crisis, give your Church the courage to give up her preoccupation with herself and to give time to your mission in the world. Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.

May the blood and water flowing from the side of Jesus bring forgiveness to your people and help us to face the cost of proclaiming salvation as we work together and apart in your damaged world. Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.

Give your world the courage to give up war, bitterness and hatred, and to seek peace and healing for each other. Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.

May the shoulders of the risen Jesus, once scourged by soldiers, bear the burden of our times. Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.

Give us the courage to give up quarrels, strife and jealousy in our families, neighbourhoods and communities. Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.

May the presence of the risen Jesus, his body once broken and now made whole, bring peace and direction as we live with one another. Give us the courage to give up our selfishness as we live for others, and to give time, care and comfort to the sick in ways that are safe for them and for us. Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.

May the wounded hands of Jesus bring his healing touch to all who suffer, and the light of his presence fill their hearts and homes. Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.

Give us the courage to give up our fear of death and to rejoice with those who have died in faith. May the feet of the risen Lord Jesus, once nailed to the cross, walk alongside the dying and bereaved in their agony, and walk with us and all your Church through death to the gate of glory. Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer here and in eternity.
Amen

We pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.
Amen

A Home Communion

Take bread and wine or juice and pray

Blessed are you O God
For you have brought forth bread from the earth
Blessed are you O God
For you have created the fruit of the vine
Here at your table
You offer us light, bread and wine for the journey
To nourish us as sons and daughters

Jesus took bread, and having blessed it
He broke it and gave it to his disciples saying
Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you

In the same way after supper, he took the cup of wine
And gave you thanks,
he gave it to them saying
Drink this all of you,
this is my blood of the new covenant
Which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

So now, following Jesus’ example
We take this bread and this wine and pray

Lord Jesus Christ, present with us now
Breathe your Spirit upon us and upon this bread and wine
That they may be heaven’s food for us
Renewing, sustaining and making us whole
That we may be your body on earth
Loving and caring in the world

Look – The bread of heaven – The light of the world
Here is Christ, coming to us in bread and wine
The gift of God for the people of the world

The table of bread and wine is now made ready
It is the table of company with Jesus
So, come to this table, you who have much faith
And you who would like to have more
You who have been to this sacrament often
And you who have not been for a long time
You who have tried to follow Jesus
And you who have failed

Come – it is Christ himself who invites us to meet him here

Eat your bread and sip you drink and take a moment of quiet before praying

Concluding Prayer

Holy God, we have seen with our eyes
And touched with our hands the bread of life the light of the world
Strengthen our faith
That we may grow in love for you and for each other
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

And may the blessing of God Almighty the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be with us all, those we love and those we pray for. Amen