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The Readings

James 4.7-8

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Mark 6.25-33

Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, ‘I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.’ The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.

Scripture Quotations are from: New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

The Sermon
By The Revd Canon Dr Alan Billings.

Jesus and his followers are on the road. They are making a journey from the
north of the country – up near present day Lebanon - to the south.

They stop at the different small towns and villages on the way, and Jesus
speaks to the crowds that gather in each place, gives his message, heals the
sick. Its an exhausting time, constantly on the move. The final destination will
be Jerusalem.

If you want to get some idea of the terrain they were travelling through, next
time you see television pictures from the West Bank, that is largely the land
through which Jesus passes. Its hot. Its dry. Its dusty. Its hilly. The land is
hard to cultivate. The few trees there are – mainly olive trees – are often
stunted and brown.

Jesus speaks to people about how to live the good life, a morally good and
worthwhile life. However tough just living may be, this is how to do it well, to
do the right things, so that at the end of your life you can say to yourself, not ‘I
did it my way’, but ‘I did it the right way’; I did it well.

As he journeys, between villages, there is plenty of time for the men and
women who go with him to talk among themselves. And on the occasion we
have just heard about in the gospel, Jesus asks his followers what they have
been talking about.

At first they are silent – and we can soon see why. Because when they do tell
him, it must have made him quite depressed.

They could have been talking about some of the weighty matters he had been
speaking to the crowds about. They might even have had some cheerful
gossip.

It’s none of these. They’ve been discussing which of them is the greatest.
Who is the greatest!

The people they have been meeting in the towns and villages of the Galilee
want help. Their lives are hard. Getting a living is hard. They want to live a life
that will seem good and worthwhile, in their own eyes and in God’s. And all
the disciples seem bothered about is deciding who is the greatest.

It’s depressing. Will they never learn? Will they never understand what the
mission is?

Somehow he has to break their way of thinking before it becomes a habit.
He calls to his inner circle, the twelve.

He tries again. Don’t bother talking about who will be the greatest because in
the world as he envisages it, the first will be last. And if you want to be first
then you must learn to be last, by being the servant of all others.

That is the message. But how do you get people to hear that message? How
do you help them to understand, to see things differently?

Wherever Jesus goes, there are always men and women, and people of all
ages, including little children. We know that people often wanted to bring their
children to him because once the disciples tried to stop them and he has to
tell them off. Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them.

On this occasion he sees a child and leads him into the middle of the twelve.
Then he takes the child into his arms. ‘Receive this child’, he says.

It’s an invitation for them to reorder their thinking.

Receive is another way of saying welcome. Welcome this child. How do you
welcome him? You welcome the child by doing things that will be in his best
interests.

Welcome this child, welcome all children. Change your perspective on things.
Put him and his well-being at the centre. Ask yourself how you have to
behave so that he can live well, live securely, live the kind of life that God
would want for him.

Jesus picks a child out because children are often among the least in society,
often overlooked, not taken into account. But you must receive children,
welcome children.

Whatever that requires the disciples to do, it doesn’t start with a discussion
about who is the greatest. In fact, there is no place for that kind of thinking at
any point.

Is this a lesson for all time? How would our perspective on life shift if we
heard Christ saying to us now, Receive this child? Welcome this child. If we
heard him saying it in the land where he first said it?

We have to think differently if we are to act differently. And the way Jesus
banishes all the silly talk about who is the greatest is to set a little child in the
middle and say, Start here. Start with this: receive, welcome the children.

The Prayers
Prepared by Veronica. 

In the power of the spirit and in union with Christ, let us pray to the Father.

Oh God, you sent your Son to teach us how to live according to your will. Help us to listen to his
teaching. May we respond to the needs of all people whether at home or abroad, especially where
there is real suffering. We think today especially of your children in need. We pray you will guide the
leaders of the rich world to reach out to all who suffer at this time.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We pray for the church worldwide, for our bishops Pete and Sophie, and for all Christian leaders of
whatever denomination, that they may work together in accordance with the teachings of Christ.
We thank you for the many Christian organisations which work for the greater good of all people.
We thank you for our partnership with St John’s and St Mark’s which enables us to continue to serve
our area of Walkley.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We pray for our city of Sheffield, that it may continue to be a City of Sanctuary, and make all who
arrive in our city welcome. We pray for all the students at our two universities, some of whom mat
be leaving home for the first time.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We pray for all who are ill at this time, and think also of all who are in special need of your comfort.
We thank you for the work of doctors, nurses and carers. We ask you to give them strength in their
work. In a moment of quiet we remember by name those known to us in need of your saving grace
at this time.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We remember before you all who have died recently. We ask for your comfort for those who mourn
their loss. We think of those we have lost and see no more.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Rejoicing in the fellowship of Mary, Mark and all your saints, we commend ourselves and the whole
creation to your unfailing love.
Merciful Father,
Accept these prayers
for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ our lord. Amen.

Common Worship: Times and Seasons, material from which is used here is copyright (c) 2010 The Archbishops' Council

Hymn verses copyright (c) of their respective owners.