August Magazine
Trinity 8
Trinity 8
A short service of Morning Prayer, two readings, a hymn and some thoughts on it.
As we are freed from the confines of Covid restrictions, this will be the final Worship and Homily I will put on the site for now. Most of you are now back in church and for those who for other reasons feel unable to come, Stilman has set up a link to a Daily Service that you can access through the website.
With every blessing
Mary Tucker (Rev’d)
This is the day that the Lord has made,
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Let’s sing together,
In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone! – who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied –
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand:
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.
Together we confess our sins and are forgiven
Have mercy on us and redeem us, O Lord
for our merits are your mercies
and in your judgement is our salvation
Happy the one whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered,
. . . You surround me with songs of deliverance.
Thank you.
Amen.
Let us pray in the words of St Benedict,
Gracious and Holy Father,
give us wisdom to perceive you,
diligence to seek you,
patience to wait for you,
eyes to behold you,
a heart to meditate on you
and a life to proclaim you,
through the power of the Spirit
of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Readings
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
Psalm 23
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
Some thoughts on the Hymn and Readings
It’s dangerous isn’t it? to decide what your favourite hymn is. Different ones I suppose speak to us at different times, but the one we’ve just sung to ourselves or read (and I’m sorry if you aren’t very familiar with it) is one that has always spoken very powerfully to me.
It’s one of those all-embracing hymns which manages to combine the sweep of Jesus life with its enormous significance for us. It’s a song of praise and rejoicing combined with a thumbnail sketch of the basis for our confidence in salvation. I’ve loved it ever since I was first introduced to it at college when I was training for priesthood.
It moves me so much that, when we’re allowed to sing, I can’t help bellowing it out and on more than one occasion have done so with tears of grateful joy streaming down my face, with the obvious consequence of wobbles and croaks and cracks as I sing. But I don’t care.
Imagine then my surprise, and to some extent disappointment, when I discovered a fellow student whose amazing mind I was totally in awe of, couldn’t stand it – wouldn’t sing it! Her problem was with a single line, and yet it seemed to her a very big problem, it comes in verse 2 . . .
“Till on that cross as Jesus died,” it goes “The wrath of God was satisfied.”
And that’s the one she had a profound and fundamental disagreement with.
And so in awe of her mighty intellect was I, that for a while I allowed myself not to enjoy the hymn myself. Her explanation does make sense in light of the readings we’ve shared this morning describing God as a caring shepherd and Jesus giving rest to his disciples and selflessly pouring out of love and healing on all who came.
Her explanation of her dislike was that the picture painted by the words, “The wrath of God was satisfied.” was not one which fitted with the God she loved and knew and was loved and known by. It spoke to her of a vindictive spirit determined on revenge for sins committed and careless of who paid the price; a merciless tyrant sticking to the letter of the law whatever the cost. And as I said, I allowed myself to go with that for quite a while, singing the hymn somewhat guiltily, mumbling that line and thinking, ‘But God’s not like that – is he?’
However as the years have gone on and as, I suppose, my own little understanding has begun to grow, I have been enabled to return with joy to the words of this modern Psalm, partly because, as my knowledge of the Bible, and particularly Old Testament texts has grown I have been forced to face the idea of the wrath of God which appears there so often.
But just because we’re uncomfortable with something doesn’t make it wrong, rather it should make us look more deeply. And to start that process I will use the words of a truly great mind, Paul Tillich ,who says,
“The idea of divine wrath has become strange in our time. We have rejected a religion which seems to make God a furious tyrant, an individual with passions and desires who commits arbitrary acts [but] this is not what the wrath of God means.”
Ours, I’m relieved to say, is not a God of revenge, he is a God of love, total love, and love cannot and will not accept sin of any sort – the two things cannot exist together. His intention and purpose for his world, and that includes us, is perfection, love and joy. And if he were a God who would simply give in and just accept that the world and humans in particular are imperfect and sinful, the hope to which we all cling (that things in the end, whether in our life or beyond it, will be made right) would be in vain and hopelessness would reign.
No, that is not what our God is like. He will be satisfied with nothing but the best. And if we stopped there things would be just as bad, we would know our doom was sealed and that the righteous wrath of God would mean we would never be partakers of that perfection.
But the story of course does not end there. In fact it ends where this hymn begins,
“In Christ alone my hope is found.”
We have said often that Jesus came to show us what God was like and yet he was willing to have to do with us sinners. How does that fit with the picture of a God who is incapable of accepting anything but perfection? And there is the answer, he does not accept it, but in not accepting it he does not reject us in all our imperfection. Instead he finds a way to sort out the problem himself. He is the way, he is the truth that lies behind the truth of a God who cannot accept sin. There is, as C S Lewis puts it in his famous Narnia book – ‘The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe’,
“A deeper magic.”
Imagine it, if you will, (and this will be easier for those of you who are parents or grandparents) one of your children is in deep trouble. In trouble so deep it can only end in tragedy. Your child, because he or she is imperfect, is open only to wrath and destruction. You would do anything to save them, even give your own life instead of theirs.
‘Ah ha!’ I hear you say, ‘that’s is where she’s going with all this, God dying instead of us, for us, as we say regularly.’
You’re right but I want to add another layer to this, a picture which can only increase our wonder and amazement at the pain and sacrifice made by God in saving us from the wrath that was, and is, our just desert
I’ve asked you to put yourself in his place as a parent. And I think we can all imagine that we might, possibly would, be willing to die for our child. But what about this? What if the price to pay was not you yourself dying but instead another child of yours – and you would have to watch your best beloved, your first born, die? And you would look on and let it happen in order that all the others might be saved.
We regularly thank God for his mercy and his sacrifice in dying for us in the person of his son, but there is a deeper layer of sacrifice which should make us even more grateful, even more amazed.
God was both Father and Son. God died himself and God watched in agony the agony of the death of his best beloved.
I’m not sure there is any deeper way in which God could show us his love, show us himself, than to put that self through two parallel and ultimate pains.
“An on that cross as Jesus died the wrath of God was satisfied . . . for every sin on him was laid, here in the death of Christ I live.”
And a few words from St Anselm
‘Jesus, like a mother you gather your people to you, you are gentle with us as a mother with her children. Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness, through your sweet goodness, through your gentleness we find comfort in fear. Your warmth gives life to the dead, your touch makes sinners righteous. Lord Jesus in your mercy heal us, in your love and tenderness remake us, in your compassion bring grace and forgiveness and for the beauty of heaven may your love prepare us.’
Final words and a blessing
The Lord bless us and keep us,
the Lord make his face to shine upon us and be gracious to us,
the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon us and give us peace
And the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be with us this day,
with those we love and those we pray for.
Amen
Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
in the name of Christ
Amen
Trinity 7, Sea Sunday
Sea Sunday
Thoughts words and worship for Sea Sunday
Sea Sunday is when we have the opportunity to remember and pray for seafarers, their families and all who support them. It is a day of remembrance, prayer and celebration, and an opportunity to think about and thank those seafarers who work tirelessly throughout the year bringing us goods we often take for granted.
There is no better opportunity than Sea Sunday to pause for thought, to remember the men and women who crew the ships that serve us all. And there is no better time to remember those many Mission teams around the world who work so hard to address their needs and share God’s love in so many different ways.
“Sea Sunday is a day set aside, usually in July, each year for the past 170 years to give thanks to the seafarers (1.6 million today) who quietly, and often anonymously, transport up to 95% of the world’s goods. Seafaring can be a dangerous, lonely and demanding job, with little in the way of official support for the workers who keep the global economy afloat. The Mission to Seafarers was set up to cater for the welfare and pastoral care of seafarers, and Sea Sunday is one of the most important dates in our calendar. It represents a chance to bring seafarers and sea-faring ministries into the heart of our communities, and for us to celebrate all they do for us.” Mission to Seafarers
Readings
Part of Psalm 107
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered from the lands,
from east and west, from north and south.
23 Some went out on the sea in ships;
they were merchants on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the Lord,
his wonderful deeds in the deep.
25 For he spoke and stirred up a tempest
that lifted high the waves.
26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;
in their peril their courage melted away.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards;
they were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper;
the waves of the sea[b] were hushed.
30 They were glad when it grew calm,
and he guided them to their desired haven.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
and praise him in the council of the elders.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever.
Amen
John 6
16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18 A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” 21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.
Mark 4
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.
Thoughts for Sea Sunday Today is Sea Sunday so I have dug out the last talk I gave at the Sea Sunday Service at the Coastguard Station at Sharpness back in 2013 to share with you today.
It was 1979, our first holiday, I don’t know why we chose it but we set off on a small 30 foot narrow boat called Daisy into a passion for life.
I’d been brought up in the Midlands, ‘The Black Country’, famous for having more canals than Venice, but they were just the back drop to our mining communities, little used, mucky, rat infested.
When we set off, from a more rural spot near Stafford, things had begun to change due to the efforts of a growing band of enthusiasts who became the Inland Waterways Association, and to British Waterways (now transformed into the Canal and River Trust). Narrow canals had begun to be rescued from the brink of destruction.
Round here, of course, things were different, though we didn’t know it up there in the ‘far north’, bumping our way between the floating oil drums, filling bits of canal between locks as we went where local youths had drained them. In Gloucestershire you still had a viable commercial waterway. I remember well, in the early eighties, our shock when we first made it down to the Gloucester Sharpness, on another little hire boat called Muttley, at meeting huge heavily laden barges, carrying oil still I think. And others plying the canal from Gloucester to Purton, dredging out the mud from the city docks and squirting it back into the Severn from an amazing structure which has only relatively recently been taken away from the Purton canal bank by the cottages.
In those days, in most places, the world turned its back on the narrow canals. They were fenced in, walled off and this was part of their charm.
Though central Birmingham, for example, has now embraced its waterways heritage and surrounded it with development making it a tourist attraction, there was something very special about mooring up in Gas Street basin amongst the old working boats along the Worcester Bar, a silent and smoky haven right in the centre of the city, knowing that no one knew you were there.
There was a certain pioneering spirit still that meant we were the only hire boat to make it all the way up to Ellesmere Port on the Mersey for an early Easter gathering of working boats. We were welcomed and included and began to feel what we have felt ever since, that we are part of this gypsy community, a travelling band, who may meet only rarely but who remember the name of the boat or the type of engine rather than the names of the people, but who always, without fail, greet each other with a cheery wave. A vagrant community, who warn each other of problems ahead, who share tall tales of the exciting things they’ve had caught round their propellers. Our two top ones actually are 30 feet of polythene that had been used to wrap a carpet and a length of the thick wire used to strengthen reinforced concrete structures – that was fun – not!
Of course all waterways are potentially dangerous places as the canal and Severnside communities know to their cost. On only our second trip, we arrived at a broad section of canal called Tixall Wide. to find the police divers frantically looking for the body of a father lost overboard trying to save his son. And in one of the more recent flood years we became trapped by waters filling and overflowing canals and rivers down in Oxfordshire whilst boats nearby were deposited in car parks and a woman in Banbury was swept away when her boat became trapped against the uprights of a bridge.
Here in our own docks down at Sharpness, as in many other places on the system, those who have reached the end of their tether have chosen to find a watery grave to the huge distress of those who have to deal with the consequences. And only two years ago, on our annual two month holiday we met staff of The Canal and River Trust at Stourport, having to deal with the tragedy of a child drowned in one of their locks.
The joy of the canals, however, is that still they are a place set apart, a place where the pace of life is slower, a place where different communities of boaters, walkers, cyclists and fishermen find a respite from what they might call real life or in these last 18 months from lock-down.
But everywhere real life goes on, even on the waterways, and it is the strength of these communities, however dispersed, that they offer mutual support in times of distress. I wonder if we realise just how fortunate we are around these particular waters to have specialist teams available to pluck us from the jaws of disaster – voluntary organisations like SARA who have been around for years and whose availability and heroism gives me confidence every time we set out onto the unpredictable waters of our local and potentially most dangerous river.
I wonder as well if those from time to time propose to save money by cutting back on coastguard services and CRT lock and bridge personnel, understand the safety net of huge local expertise they provide for those who ply waterways and coastal areas for work or for leisure.
Whether they realise it or not I want now to offer a vote of thanks to all those people, SARA, our coast guards, our dock authorities and workers and all who work for The Canal and River Trust as well as the volunteers and members of local preservation and restoration groups.
Now given my role in the Benefice you may be waiting, with baited breath or some other feeling, for the moment when God comes into this. Well – he doesn’t ‘come into it’ at all, rather he is, and always has been, an integral part of all that I have been saying.
It is the love of God which inspires and sustains all communities, including the transient water people; that moves people, whether they realise it or not, to serve and support one another in selfless and sometimes sacrificial ways. It is his creation that we celebrate as we gaze on the glorious countryside, wonder at the size of the huge lazy carp in the Marina or battle through the horizontal rain and gale force wind high on the embankments of the Shropshire union canal. It is his creativity, reflected in the engineering feats of humanity that amaze us as we pass, incredulous, across the Llangollen aqueduct 150 feet above the River Dee whose Welsh name I won’t even try to spell or pronounce. And above all it is his generosity, reflected in the generosity of spirit of so many of you, especially the other members of this ministry team, that allow us, Paul and me, a time set apart to take our boat and once again to take to the waterways to refresh our jaded spirits and come back renewed and refreshed to the daily life of this place.
So to you all and to God I offer my sincere and hearty thanks.
Prayers
Lord God, creator of all that is, Hear our prayer.
Gracious God, today, on Sea Sunday, we offer our prayers for those whose lives are affected by the sea. We pray for people whose work takes them to sea; for those in the different branches of the navy; for those who transport goods by ship; for those who catch fish for their living. Be with them as they work and keep them safe when the weather is bad and seas are rough.
Lord God, creator of all that is, Hear our prayer.
We pray for those who give help when people get into difficulties on our waters. For the lifeboat service, and for air-sea rescue; for coast guards, for lifeguards and for inland waterway rescue services. We thank you for their courage, and ask that you will guard and guide them as they work for others in need.
Lord God, creator of all that is, Hear our prayer.
Lord, our waterways and the sea are places full of beauty, but have also been damaged by our greed and by our selfishness. People are not always careful about how they treat the waterways and the sea; poisons are allowed to seep into them; rubbish endangers the plants and creatures that live in them. Be with those whose special work it is to make them clean, and show us how we can share these wonderful resources.
Lord God, creator of all that is, Hear our prayer.
We pray for those who are going on holiday to the seaside or on the waterways, especially those from our own congregations and communities. Keep them safe on the beaches, in the sea and on their boats. May they come back refreshed, and ready for new work and activity.
Lord God, creator of all that is, Hear our prayer.
We pray now for ourselves. As we think of the sea and our waterways, we ask that you will help us to value these wonderful resources, and to play our part in caring for them, so that those who come after us may also have their lives enriched by all that they can offer.
We offer these our prayers in the name of Jesus who called fishermen to be his friends, and who preached from a boat on the Sea of Galilee.
Amen
Blessing
May the Spirit of God, who is above all and in all and through all, fill you with the knowledge of God’s presence in Earth and Sea.
And the Blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you, those you love and those you pray for, this day and for evermore.
Amen
Trinity 6
Trinity 6
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 Readings
Psalm 123
1 I lift up my eyes to you,
to you who sit enthroned in heaven.
2 As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till he shows us his mercy.
3 Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us,
for we have endured no end of contempt.
4 We have endured no end
of ridicule from the arrogant,
of contempt from the proud.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
12 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Mark 6:1-13
6 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.
Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Some Thoughts on the Reading
In my weakness I am strong
And on Sunday he (or she) began to teach in the church and many who heard her (or him) were astonished saying, “Where did this man get all this? What wisdom has been given to this woman? Isn’t this just the man from up the road? We know him of old. She lives just round the corner. We know a lot about her. Who does he think he is?”
They may have gone on, “This church in the centre of our village is a picturesque place but, well, not relevant anymore really. The people who go there, the people who preach there, who think they can tell us what to do, they’re no better than us!”
Is it possible that in this sort of weakness the church is strong?
And every day in the street, in the workplace, on the radio, on the TV, where people stand up and begin to talk about God people are astonished, nay outraged. “Who do these people think they are, with their holier than thou attitude? We know them of old. And some at that point call us hypocrites and quote the things we’ve said and done that we would be the first to admit have not been very Christian. And yet, and yet perhaps even in this weakness we, as Christians, are strong.
For a start when this sort of thing happens the first thing it should do is turn our eyes, with the eyes of the psalmist, to God.
“Have mercy on us.” we cry, and this isn’t a cry against God’s anger it’s a request for his ongoing, generous grace to us though we are, and are often seen as undeserving, without real merit. We have had more than enough of contempt, yet, in our weakness we are strong. Strong because of God not because of ourselves.
Jesus, returning to his home town, isn’t even heard by his old neighbours they’re so full of their amazement and indignation, at the cheek of this mere Carpenter’s son in coming to this place and preaching to them. Who did he think he was?
But is he weak? He’s saddened, but weakness doesn’t seem to come into it. Yet strangely neither does obvious strength.
There are evangelists, and we’ve all heard them or heard of them, who beat people, metaphorically, about the head with their religion, with their own strength and often with their own supposed righteousness.
Jesus however, as he sends out his first batch of evangelists, insists on weakness, even neediness. They are not to take anything, no money, no food, not even a change of clothes, they will be utterly at the mercy of those to whom they go. They will offer the word but if it and they are not accepted they will walk away. In their weakness they will be strong.
Paul too, and heaven knows he was possibly the greatest teacher, preacher, theologian, missionary, and had every excuse to claim strength, declares that it is only in his weakness that he has ever achieved anything.
It seems that he has been blessed with some amazing out of body experience, vision, revelation of God that few of us are ever likely to have this side of heaven. But even having had this he realises that to harp on about it will only drive people away.
For those who are open to God, to his word, to Jesus, then and now are often those who are beginning to realise that in all their relative wealth, their good jobs, their houses, cars and families there is something missing – there is a weakness at the centre of their lives.
Or they are those who are right at the bottom of the pit of life, for whom everything has fallen apart, who have lost or never had anything to hold dear, everything is missing, there is total weakness at the centre of their lives and if we are to witness to people in either of these states or to any in between our best starting point, paradoxically, is not a total brave certainty, is not in strong confident assertions but is in sharing our own weakness.
Then the cry of, “But this is only the man/woman up the road, we know him/her of old, s/he’s far from perfect.” will actually be a cry of relief because if we are just the man or woman up the road with all our imperfections on display. Only then it will be clear how much we rely in all that imperfection on a perfect God. We are no threat, quite the reverse. If we can turn to God for strength then so can they. We might just be the beginning of the way out of the pit, for in our weakness we are strong. Perhaps it is through our weakness but also our willingness to expose that weakness that we, or actually God, is strong and his strength becomes available to others.
Prayers
We pray to the Lord for courage and to give ourselves to him.
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
this day and for evermore.
Amen
Trinity 5
A short service of Morning Prayer
This service is adapted from one used at Sheldon Retreat Centre, Doddiscombesleigh, Devon.
In the name of the Father,
And of the Son,
And of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Opening Prayer
We come to the presence of the one who is making us,
We come to the presence of the one who is healing us,
We come to the presence of the one who is guiding us
We come with love and trust.
The Song of the Church – Te Deum
We praise you O God
we acclaim you as Lord.
All creation worships you
the Father everlasting.
To you all angels, all powers of heaven
cherubim and seraphim, sing in endless praise.
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
The glorious company of apostles praise you,
the noble fellowship of prophets praise you,
the white robed army of martyrs praise you.
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you,
Father of majesty unbounded.
your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit our advocate and guide.
When you became incarnate to set us free,
you humbly chose the Virgin’s womb.
You overcame the sting of death
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God’s right hand in glory,
we believe that you will come and be our judge.
Come then Lord and help your people
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints to glory everlasting.
Save your people Lord, and bless your inheritance,
govern and uphold them now and always.
Day by day we bless you,
we praise your name for ever.
Keep us today Lord, from all sin
have mercy on us Lord, have mercy.
Lord show us your love and mercy
for we put our trust in you.
In you Lord, is our hope,
let us not be confounded at the last.
Bible Readings
Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24
13 God did not make death,
and he does not delight in the death of the living.
14 For he created all things so that they might exist;
the generative forces[a] of the world are wholesome,
and there is no destructive poison in them,
and the dominion of Hades is not on earth.
15 For righteousness is immortal.
Lamentations 3:22-33
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for one to bear
the yoke in youth,
28 to sit alone in silence
when the Lord has imposed it,
29 to put one’s mouth to the dust
(there may yet be hope),
30 to give one’s cheek to the smiter,
and be filled with insults.
31 For the Lord will not
reject forever.
32 Although he causes grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33 for he does not willingly afflict
or grieve anyone.
Mark 5:21-43
21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. 22 Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23 and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” 24 So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years. 26 She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” 29 Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 He looked all around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
35 While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38 When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. 43 He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
Thoughts on the Readings
Perhaps it was because I started this sermon on the day I was to take a friend’s funeral that the words of Wisdom and Lamentations spoke so powerfully. Both were ‘alternative’ readings but seemed to sing out on a day of hugely mixed emotions. In fact, the first two verses of the canticle from Lamentations are familiar simply because of their regular use at funeral services.
Both of the Old Testament passages have a message we might find it hard to believe, living as we do in a world where pain and death can sometimes seem to blot out the joy and life, but they are clear and I make no apology for borrowing heavily from the commentary written by Professor Gordon McConville on Lamentations (his lectures on Isaiah during my training left a permanent legacy).
Our God is a God of steadfast love and compassion. In Lamentations, which is really an extended poem, the poet has just finished a section cataloguing his own not inconsiderable afflictions and suffering when he turns suddenly, and perhaps unexpectedly, to expressions of faith.
Rather like Job in an earlier book in the Bible and in a way often seen in the Psalms, his mind has begun to turn from present horrors to things of God, to things that he knows, despite everything, ‘are always true about God.’
Love, steadfast love, is his most typical quality. It never fails, he tells us, judgement cannot be God’s last word for his compassion triumphs over it. Suffering, indeed agony, there may well be, the poem continues but what we know is that it has its most profound expression in Jesus’ own suffering on the cross – God’s greatest judgement on sin, visited upon himself, his final self-giving love a gift for humanity.
Because love and compassion are the chief attributes of God, says the author, they are always fresh, ready to be proved and known again. For this reason those who have been afflicted may always put their trust in him again for their acceptance and restoration. God is both faithful and unchanging in this love therefore the poet can be content that God should be his lot, his ‘portion’ as it says in some translations, whatever the circumstances.
This writer is not unrealistic I’m glad to say, since God is like this he knows it is good to seek him. To do so however may be at a cost. For some it may be that the goodness of God will be known during affliction, but for some only after suffering patiently endured.
I find the very last verse of this passage helpful. The poet obviously finds the paradox of a loving and compassionate God who yet allows, possibly even causes grief difficult to deal with. Most of us do too. My personal feeling is that the God I know does not send cancer or earthquakes, death or destruction but is a God who takes these situations, symptoms of a broken world, and in his love and compassion uses them, brings good from them.
That too has a paradoxical side but it seems to me to fit with what I see around me. The final days of the person I was burying and his funeral being a good example. There was huge thankfulness, not just for his life but for the timeliness of his death, for his release from pain. And the outpouring of loving support from the village and wider community was a healing and positive outcome of what was of course a sad occasion.
In the miracle stories we heard in our Gospel a little girl is restored to parents alive and well and hungry and a woman, ostracised and made unclean by her particular affliction, is healed not only of her illness but also of her twelve year isolation from family and friends.
One of the problems people have with healing miracles is that Jesus in his time on earth, though he healed and restored countless numbers cannot have made even a dint in the vast numbers of sick and distressed in his country or in the world – so what was the point?
The point, I think was that these healings arose not from a desire to show off his power (Jesus had already dealt with that particular temptation in the wilderness before his ministry began) but from genuine, overwhelming empathy and sympathy.
Jesus, God made man, showed through this exactly what the poet in Lamentations claims for him, that he is motivated more than anything else by steadfast love and compassion and in raising Jairus’ daughter he demonstrates God’s power over death, the ultimate enemy.
This little girl of course would, we hope, have then lived to a ripe old age but at some point she would have died. It was only with the death and resurrection of Jesus that God demonstrated just what his plan for us after earthly death was. When Jesus rose his body was changed and so, we are told, we too will be changed into immortal beings living in joy for ever.
‘The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end,
They are new every morning
Great is his faithfulness.’
Canticle
Behold God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid,
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and had become my salvation.
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation
and in that day you will say,
give thanks and call upon the name of the Lord.
Make known among the nations what the Lord has done,
proclaim that the name of the Lord is exalted.
Sing praises for the Lord has triumphed gloriously,
let this be known in all the earth.
Shout and sing for joy you people of God,
for great in your midst is the Holy One.
Glory to God, source of all being,
Eternal Word and Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now
and shall be for ever. Amen
Prayers
That this day may be holy, good and joyful . . . we pray to you, O Lord.
That we may offer to you our worship and our work . . . we pray to you, O Lord.
. . . pray for the day ahead, its tasks and possible difficulties
That we may strive for the well-being of all creation . . . we pray to you, O Lord.
. . . pray for the world and its leaders and your own part in its needs
That in the pleasures and pains of life, we may know the love of Christ and be thankful . . . we pray to you, O Lord.
. . . pray for those you know who are unwell or in any kind of trouble
That we may be bound together by your Holy Spirit, in communion with all your saints, entrusting one another and all our life to Christ . . . we pray to you, O Lord.
. . . pray for the bereaved, those you have loved and lost and all who care for the dying
Let us commend ourselves, and all for whom we pray, to the mercy and protection of God.
Amen
Life giver, Pain bearer, Love maker
Source of all that is and shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven;
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe,
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world,
Our heavenly will be done by all created beings,
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we sustain from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever,
Amen
Closing Prayers and Blessings
Almighty and everlasting Father
we thank you that you have brought us safely
to the beginning of this day.
Keep us from falling into sin or running into danger.
Order all our doings and guide us to do always
what is right in your eyes,
through Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
Silence
Let us go in peace to love and serve our Lord
In the name of Christ
Amen