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22 09 11 The Blessed Virgin Mary Eucharist v2

The Readings

2 Corinthians 4.16-5.4

So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling— if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

Luke 1.39-47

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’
Mary’s Song of Praise
And Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour'

The Sermon

By Canon Dr Alan Billings

Our service today has more than one focus and as a result it produces in us a mix of emotions.

In the normal course of things, this would simply have been our patronal festival. We would be celebrating and giving thanks for the one to whom our church is dedicated – Mary, the mother of our Lord. But this week our Queen died and we have a new King. So celebration, but sorrow too. Let’s try and bring these emotions and themes together – reflecting on two lives and two mothers, starting with Blessed Mary.

The gospel reading this morning speaks of a young woman who is pregnant, Mary. She has just been told by the angel that she will give birth to the Son of God. She now goes to visit her much older cousin, Elizabeth, who is also pregnant.

So the life of Jesus Christ begins and ends with this young woman, Mary, his mother.

And Mary learns very early on what it means to be a mother, a parent – which is that the more you love your children, the more vulnerable you make yourself if they come to grief.

Shortly after Jesus is born, she goes with her husband, Joseph, from Nazareth to Jerusalem to present the young child to God in the Temple. They are met there by an old man, of deep faith, Simeon. He tells Mary that her son will grow up to have a significant impact on many people’s lives.

I think Mary would have heard those words with some nervousness, but mainly with pride. What mother wouldn’t be pleased to hear that her son’s life would be meaningful and worthwhile?

But then Simeon says: But a sword will pierce your own heart.

A sword will pierce your own heart. Why? Because the more she loves him, the more she can be hurt by him and what happens to him. His life will bring her joy, yes, but grief also. This is the vocation of parenthood, of motherhood. Vulnerability.

We can only guess at what those moments of anxiety might have been as the child grows up. Though we are given a glimpse of one such. We are told, you’ll remember, that Mary and Joseph return home from a visit to Jerusalem on one occasion and realise that Jesus, now twelve years old, is not with their friends and neighbours. I expect many of us have experienced one of those heart stopping moments when we have looked around for our child – on the beach, at the shops - and they seem not to be there.

But the final piercing of Mary’s heart will come at the end of her son’s life. He will die before her. And she will have to stand helplessly by as he is put to death publicly and in the most cruel and barbaric way.

The more you love, the more you can be hurt. A sword will pierce your own heart.

I have found those words popping into my head several times over the last couple of days as we have all been coming to terms with the death of Queen Elizabeth, and reflecting on her life.

For years we have been sharing her life – not only as head of state but also as a wife and mother – because she was the first monarch of the television age and the age of the mobile phone... and that has brought her into our homes in a way that never happened before.

We have watched how she has borne the ups and downs of family life - as we all do – though she has had to do all that publicly. And some of the griefs and sorrows have been particularly painful. A sword will pierce your own heart.

We have also realised something else in these last few days. When she dedicated her life – ‘whether it be long or short’ as she said - to one of service to us, we became, as it were, her extended family.

So that what happened to us, her extended family, also affected her deeply – whether that was the troubles in Northern Ireland, the Grenfell Tower fire or the Manchester arena bombing. A sword will pierce your own heart.

And she made her concern clear by visiting people and places in times of tragedy or broadcasting to us in times of anxiety, offering reassurance.

As Anglicans, we know that each Sunday our late Queen, the Supreme Governor of our Church, was in church listening to the same passages of scripture as us, drinking from the same spiritual well as us. What shapes our character as Anglicans, as members of a parish church, also shaped the way she understood her role as Queen – to look away from ourselves, to be of service to others.

But these roles – parent, mother, monarch, church member – require an emotional investment. And that make us vulnerable to that sword that pierces the heart.

This is what we saw in our queen and this is what we remember and thank her for today.

The Prayers

Prepared by David.

As we pray to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we say with Mary:
Lord, have mercy on those who fear you.
Holy is your name.

Your prophet of old foretold a day when a virgin would conceive
and bear a son who would be called God-with-us.
Help us to look forward to your deliverance
and to seek the fullness of your kingdom.
Lord, have mercy on those who fear you.
Holy is your name.

Your angel declared to Mary that she was to be
the mother of the Saviour.
Help us all to be open to your word
and obedient to your will.
Lord, have mercy on those who fear you.
Holy is your name.

Mary rejoiced with her cousin Elizabeth and sang your praise,
‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.’
Help us to live joyful lives that sing your praise.
Lord, have mercy on those who fear you.
Holy is your name.

Mary bore a son of David’s line,
a king whose reign would never end.
Bless all the nations of the world with Christ’s gift of peace.
Lord, have mercy on those who fear you.
Holy is your name.

The child Jesus grew in wisdom and stature
in the home of Mary and Joseph.
Strengthen our homes and families,
and keep under your protection all those whom we love.
Lord, have mercy on those who fear you.
Holy is your name.

The apostle John saw a vision of a woman in heaven,
robed with the sun.
Bring us with Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Shaun and all those who have died in the faith of Christ
to share the joy of heaven with Mary and all the saints.
We give you thanks:
for her love of family and her gift of friendship;
for her devotion to this nation and the nations of the Commonwealth;
for her grace, dignity and courtesy;
and for her generosity and love of life.
We praise you for:
the courage that she showed in testing times;
the depth and of her Christian faith;
and the witness she bore to it in word and deed.
Lord, have mercy on those who fear you.
Holy is your name.

At the foot of the cross of Christ stood his mother,
and from the cross she received his lifeless body in her arms.
Give comfort and healing to all who suffer
and all who watch the suffering of those they love.
We pray for our Sovereign Lord the King
and all the Royal Family,
that you might reassure them of your continuing love
and lift them from the depths of grief
into the peace and light of your presence.
Lord, have mercy on those who fear you.
Holy is your name.

Almighty and everlasting God,
your handmaid Mary magnified your name
and rejoiced in your saving love:
trusting in that same love,
we ask all these our prayers
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

To download a copy of the order of service, please click here:

22 09 04 The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity Eucharist

To watch this week's service on YouTube, please click here:

https://tiny.cc/walkleystmary-youtube

Image © The Rev’d Sarah West | visiolectio.com

The Readings

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 Beth

Out of the impossible, the possibility of new life begins.

Jeremiah is sometimes, unfairly l think, known as the moaning prophet, the prophet who weeps and mourns. The prophet who see disaster coming, warns of the impending doom, and then is there to remind people just exactly why it happened, when it did, and who was to blame. Definitely a cup half empty kind of a guy.

Certainly the book of Jeremiah, as we find it in our bibles, does contain all that. It begins before the great exile into Babylon with warnings of impending doom. But then the book of prophecy travels with those into exile and explores how faith continues in a foreign land. And then moves, to look to a future, when the people of God are restored.

The book of Jeremiah that we have inherited is one of the more contested books of the bible. Thousands of hours have been given to the study of Jeremiah, and thousands of pages of commentaries set out the case for who this eccentric prophet was. When did he live, where did he live, can we actually know who he was prophesying to?

Now the trouble with the book of Jeremiah, as we find it in our bibles, is that it seems to be a collection of manuscripts from different ages and places. For all the study, and there has been a huge amount, for all this study, theologians and biblical scholars have not come to any clear agreement about who Jeremiah was because, it seems like either Jeremiah was not actually one individual, or he had the ability to travel across time, or wrote texts in such a weird and disparate way so as to make it look as though they were not written in remotely the same location or time frame.

In the place of these disagreement, scholars have moved on from asking, who was this one person Jeremiah, and where and when did he live? To instead asking the question, what is this book of prophecy telling us? Why have these seemingly disparate texts been brought together to form one book under the name Jeremiah?

Perhaps, there is something about Jeremiah, something perhaps in the words of his calling, and the words of prophecy God gives him, that meant later manuscripts, which followed the same were gathered and edited together under the book of his name.

Almost as though the later history of God’s work, during the exile and beyond, was understood through the words of the original Jeremiah, who had seen and told, and prophesied what would happen all those years earlier. And so, scholars have moved to read the book of Jeremiah, not as a story of that one single prophet, but as a story of God’s word to his people through exile and beyond.

And so, we need to turn to the beginning. The book of Jeremiah begins with a dramatic telling of Jeremiah’s calling to be a prophet. In chapter 1 it says
9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,
‘Now I have put my words in your mouth.
10 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.’

This is Jeremiah’s call. If you want to sum up the prophetic ministry that God gave Jeremiah this is it. This is the word given to Jeremiah as a child, and this is the word repeated throughout his ministry. You can see these words repeated throughout the book and as we just heard they appeared in our reading today.

Jeremiah’s call at the start of the book is constructed from six infinitives, set out in pairs:
to pluck up (lintosh) and to pull down (lintots),
to destroy (leha’abid) and to overthrow (laharos),
to build (libnot) and to plant (lintoa).

Four of these six Hebrew words, the ones translated as, to pluck up and pull down to build and to plant sound similar in Hebrew. They create a kind of rhyme, a wordplay, a memorable phrase. These four verbs are then repeated throughout the book of Jeremiah, in different contexts and times, to reinforce and remind the people of God about the Jeremiah prophecy; to pluck up and pull down to build and to plant.

Let’s be clear, the image here is not one of digging up a plant and moving it to a different or better position. This is not about transplantation, if it had been about transplantation different Hebrew words would have been used.

It is the image of something ending and something else beginning. Interestingly, although this prophecy is repeated throughout the book, only repetitions of pluck up and pull down, build and plant are included. The verbs ‘to destroy and to overthrow’ are not echoed throughout the book in the same way. Leading some scholars to believe that later editors may have added these verbs later on. Perhaps they saw the need to reinforce that something was definitely ending and not just moving or being transplanted elsewhere.

Whether they did this, or why they did this, we cannot know. Perhaps they felt the extra words were needed as an antidote to our human compulsion to move on too quickly to the building and planting phase. The temptation to focus our attention and energy there, whereas this word of prophecy, properly understood, was always as much about endings as it was about beginnings. It was never about struggling to hold on to what was and rebuild as soon as possible. Rather it spoke of a God who works newness out of nothingness.

Out of the impossible, the possibility of new life begins.
In our reading this morning the image of breaking down and remaking is depicted in the image of the potter at his wheel, taking the spoiled vessel, breaking it down and reworking it into a new vessel.

Some of the language in our reading can seem troubling. The voice of God appears to state that God is the primary mover, actively bringing judgement and destruction, or turning back and instead choosing to bring blessing. To our ears it can sound like a whimsical God, unconcerned with the plight of humans, a mythical God turning his power to annihilate without care. Do the sins of the people deserve this treatment? And is this judgement the cause on the oncoming doom.

Throughout the book of Jeremiah this phrase, to pluck up and pull down, to build and to plant, is repeated. It is returned to and grappled with and understood in different ways in different places and with different people.
These repetitions act as reminders within the text, as the people try to make sense of what is happening and where God is in that.

We can see this phrase repeated chapter 12, then in chapter 17, in chapter 18 (which we just read) then in chapter 24, 31, 42 and finally in chapter 45. In most cases these sections offer images and descriptions of what is ending, and what possibility lies open for the future. What is also clear in each of these passages, is that in all that is ending, and in all that may come to pass, God is present.

Present in difficulty, present whether they had brought the difficulty on themselves or not, present even when their wrongdoing had left them in the wrong place, present in exile, present in hoping and longing for something different, present in restoration and future growth.

Out of the impossible, the possibility of new life begins.

How hard it was for them to hear that. And so they reminded themselves what Jeremiah had said. That God would pluck up and pull down, and that God would build and plant. It was not one or the other, it was both.

How hard it is for us to hear that.
Much has changed in our culture over the last 40 years. Various Christian commentators have talked about our post Christian, post Christendom culture being akin to the experience of exile.

Across our country we see communities divided, our politics are in turmoil, hate crimes figures are on the increase, and climate change threatens to have devastating effects on the world in coming years.

On top of this perhaps things in our own lives, with illness and unexpected events, have also left us feeling out of control.

What would Jeremiah want to say to us?
Out of the impossible the possibility of new life begins

How hard it is for us to hear that.
And yet we hear this same pattern again and again not just in Jeremiah but across the stories of our faith.
Out of chaos God creates
After flood God renews
In slavery God builds a nation
In exile God forms new communities of faith
Jesus jokes that we must die and be born again, and it is a joke, because even if it was possible, no adult would choose to make themselves that powerless, taking on the nature of a fetus, putting themselves in the control of others.
New life comes from God, and God alone. We cannot make new life happen ourselves. Only God brings life from death and creates out of nothing.

Our faith has always been as much about endings as beginnings. Christ calls us to remember him in the breaking of bread, his body broken. And as we gather around Christ’s table today, we gather around the one who shows us that however impossible it seems, this is the place where new life begins.

The Prayers
Prepared by Veronica

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

Lord our God, we pray for all people in need at this time, remembering especially the people of Ukraine still under attack, and those in Pakistan suffering horrendous floods. We pray that international organisations and national governments will do everything possible to support and help them at this time. We have also become aware that many of our fellow citizens are suffering great hardship at this time, and ask that their basic needs will be met by all those helping to run Foodbanks and Clothing banks, as well as help from our government.

Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We pray for the Church worldwide that all Christians may work together to show your love and care for all your people. We give you thanks for our partnership with St John’s and St Mark’s, and for all who assist with our worship and work to maintain St Mary’s as a living active church, serving our community.

Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We pray for our City and community of Walkley, giving you thanks for the resumption of the annual Horticultural Show held in our hall yesterday, bringing many people together to show off their produce and other skills. We pray for the work of Regather who will be distributing the fruit, vegetables and other food to those in need.

Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We pray for all who are ill at this time or drawing close to death, also for those caring for them, whether family members, care workers or hospital staff. We give you thanks for their devoted work. In a moment of silence we remember those known to us in special need of our prayers and entrust them to your comfort and healing grace…………….

Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.

We commend to your tender mercy all who have died, those we have known and loved many years ago, and those who have died recently. We pray for all who mourn the loss of family and other close friends, and in silence remember those we have lost and continue to miss………..

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Rejoicing in the fellowship of Mary, John, Mark and all your saints, we dedicate ourselves to your service and commend ourselves to your unfailing love.

Merciful Father,
Accept these prayers                                                                                                          
for the sake of your Son,                                                                                                                                                            
our Saviour Jesus Christ.                                                                                                                                              
Amen.

To download a copy of the order of service, please click here:

22 08 28 The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity Eucharist

To watch this week's service on YouTube, please click here:

https://tiny.cc/walkleystmary-youtube

Image © The Rev’d Sarah West | visiolectio.com

The Readings

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 Dr Alan Billings

Surely, everyone in the country was utterly shocked last week when we heard about the shooting of nine year old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in Liverpool.

You’ll remember the circumstances.

On Monday evening, Olivia’s mother, Cheryl, heard a commotion in the street outside and went to the front door to see what was happening. Her daughter followed her into the hall. In the street, a man, called Joseph Nee, who was out of prison on licence, was being chased by a gunman.

Nee saw Cheryl opening her front door and made a dash for it, pushing his way inside the house. The gunman followed and fired fairly indiscriminately. One bullet struck Olivia’s mother in the wrist, passed through her and went into Olivia’s chest.

The man whom the gunman was trying to assassinate was wounded and, shortly after, two of his friends took him by car to hospital, ignoring Olivia and her mother. The little girl died later from her wounds at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

That was last Monday.

The following day the chief constable of Merseyside, Serena Kennedy, spoke at a press conference and her words captured very well, I think, the shock, disbelief, distress and sheer revulsion everyone was feeling.

She made a direct appeal to the community to tell the police what they knew and do the right thing. And she included in that members of the criminal community – gang members – and those close to them. Someone, knew something – so do the right thing.

If you think about it, this seems rather strange. The chief constable was making a moral appeal to people whose whole way of life revolves all the time around violence. The most likely explanation of what happened is that this is some sort of dispute between rival organised drug gangs. They have no inhibitions when it comes to the use of force, including lethal force, as they seek to defend their markets or settle some score or other.

So why did the chief constable think for one moment that her appeal to the criminal community, and those who mix with them, to do the right thing, would work?

I’ll come back to Liverpool in a moment, but you’ll have noticed that doing the right thing has been the theme of almost all our gospel readings over the last few weeks. We have followed Jesus round the towns and villages of Galilee as he has set out for a believing people what doing the right thing, the morally right thing, means for them in the circumstances of their lives. We have it illustrated again today.

There is first a piece about good manners and not making a fool of yourself – which is not particularly a moral issue. If you are invited to a smart dinner party, says Jesus, don’t take the best seat in case someone more important than you arrives and you get asked to move. Then Jesus says but if you give a dinner, think about those who are struggling, the poor and sick, and invite them. That would be a morally right thing to do.

Now we don’t go in for this kind of social, villagey entertaining in this country, so perhaps the moral equivalent now might be something like this: when you go to the supermarket for the weekly shop, spare a thought for those who are struggling in our society and buy an extra tin of beans for the S6 food bank. Do the right thing.

But when the chief constable told the criminal community of Liverpool to do the right thing, she was raising the moral stakes to an altogether different level. She said that the wanton murder of this little girl ‘crossed all boundaries’. In other words, even among people who would be untouched by normal moral standards, who lie and cheat and thieve, could still be affected by a moral appeal in certain circumstances.

However brutal and brutish their way of life, however self-regarding and selfish they might be, something could penetrate their hearts however hard, something could make them feel, think and even act differently - and that was the death of an innocent child.

In a way, what the chief constable was doing was pointing to what Christianity has always understood about how a heart of stone can be turned into a heart of flesh. The whole basis of our faith lies here: that in the end, what can penetrate our hard shell of selfishness, snap us out of our bad and evil ways, is when we see the endpoint of human sinfulness.

Jesus Christ crucified. The victim of human rage and spite. There we see it. A nine year old girl. Victim of someone’s wanton and reckless behaviour. There we see it. Heart-breaking, innocent suffering.

Is this ultimately then the only way we can be jerked out of our destructive ways of living and do the right thing?

The Prayers
Prepared by David

We come boldly to the throne of grace,
praying to the almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
for mercy and grace.

Father of heaven, whose love profound
a ransom for our souls has found:
We pray for the world, created by your love,
for its nations and governments …
Extend to them your peace, pardoning love, mercy and grace.
Lord, hear us,
Lord graciously hear us.

Almighty Son, incarnate Word,
our Prophet, Priest, Redeemer, Lord:
We pray for the Church, created for your glory,
for its ministry to reflect those works of yours …
Extend to us your salvation, growth, mercy and grace.
Lord, hear us,
Lord graciously hear us.

Eternal Spirit, by whose breath
the soul is raised from sin and death:
We pray for families and individuals, created in your image,
for the lonely, the bereaved, the sick and the dying …
Breathe on them the breath of life
and bring them to your mercy and grace.
Lord, hear us,
Lord graciously hear us.

Thrice holy! Father, Spirit, Son,
Mysterious Godhead, Three in One:
We pray for ourselves,
for your Church, for all whom we remember before you …
Bring us all to bow before your throne in heaven,
to receive life and pardon, mercy and grace for all eternity,
Merciful Father,
Accept these prayers
for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England, material from which is used here is copyright (c) The Archbishops' Council 2000.

To download a copy of the order of service, please click here:

22 08 14 The Ninth Sunday after Trinity Eucharist

To watch this week's service on YouTube, please click here:

https://tiny.cc/walkleystmary-youtube

The Readings

Hebrews 11.29-12.2

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.

And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, without us, be made perfect.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Luke 12.49-56

‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

He also said to the crowds, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, “It is going to rain”; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, “There will be scorching heat”; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

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 Joe P

“…some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”
When I read today’s Gospel reading again to prepare for this sermon, these words came into my mind. Given that this is a quote from one of the Batman films describing the villainous ‘Joker’, it felt rather blasphemous for me to consider Jesus’s words in the light of this statement.
Until recently I had problems with this reading. After all, I think we want to think of the coming of the Kingdom of God as an intensely joyous event. When we hear Jesus say :
“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.”
It’s something of an ‘Oooer’ moment – a statement that brings us up sharp. One that made the quotation above spring into my mind.
When a Gospel reading brings us up short, it’s an indication that we need to take a good look at it, as it’s often something that is speaking very personally to us, or it’s saying something that at first glance appears to go against the very nature of the teachings of Jesus.
For me, both of these statements are true; in recent years I’ve experienced the sort of division that Jesus talks about in my own life, and the fact that Jesus is saying that he will cause such division seems to be so contrary to what we might think of Christ’s teachings that we might have a ‘What the heck?’ moment.
In such moments I fall back on the basic elements of our faith. God is our loving father; Jesus is our shepherd who guides and guards all of His sheep, and who will lay down his life for all of us. Jesus also reminds us of the two essential commandments of his teachings; Love God, and love one another.
The words of today’s Gospel, when taken in the context of what we know of our faith, and of Jesus, cannot be taken as the ramblings of a narcissistic madman who is purely trying to cause trouble. There is something more.
Jesus is not out to sow discord for the sake of it.
He is simply pointing out to us what will happen when we start truly taking on His teachings, becoming more Christ-like in our own lives, and allowing Jesus’s teachings and our faith in God to shape our behaviour, character and very identity.
I call myself a ‘practising Christian’ – but occasionally – and only semi-jokingly – add the words ‘-and one day I might get it right’. And the reason I say this is that there are lots of influences in my life that distract me away from truly following Christ in everything I do. In recent weeks we’ve seen glimpses of these distractions in other Gospel readings.
Remember the visit that Jesus made to Martha and Mary? Martha was run off her feet, distracted by the business of running the house and preparing food. In other words, she was being a ‘good woman’ according to her cultural norms. Mary, on the other hand, took time out to seek God’s word by listening and spending time with Jesus – something that was rather unusual.
And the man who asked Jesus to give him time to bury his dead father? Jesus’s response – let the dead bury their own – sounds heartless until we remember that it was most likely the ‘second burial’ that took place a year after the death of the parent. In other words, Jesus is encouraging the man to make a decision between following custom or following Him.
In each case, it’s easy to see that the people making the decision to not dedicate their time at that moment to Jesus are not bad people. They’re normal folks, obeying the cultural norms and ‘family rules’ of their day. It’s also easy to imagine the ructions that would be caused within the family of the young man, for example, had he chosen not to complete the requirements of the burial rituals and had chosen to drop everything and follow Christ.
Following Jesus would indeed, for him, have placed him at odds with his family. The division of which Jesus speaks in this Gospel reading would be present.
From our perspective, we can look at this and say ‘Well, that’s just their culture getting in he way; I follow Jesus whole-heartedly.’
But do we? I know I don’t; I might justify myself by saying ‘I do the best I can.’, but that’s a lie to make me feel better. I actually follow Jesus as far as I can without it hurting my day to day life TOO much, and doing our best to abide by the commandments – sort of following the letter, but not the spirit.
I think we’re all rather like this, and I believe that this is what Jesus is warning us about in the Gospel. We have many loves in our lives, and all of them influence our behaviour and build our character and personality in various ways. We prioritise them; typically a spouse ranks higher than someone you meet once a month for a game of darts in the pub, for example. If we are to wholeheartedly follow the teachings of Jesus, then it follows that the teachings of Jesus should have the most influence on our lives. This means that the priority we give to His teachings, and hence our love for him, should be higher than the priority we give to the other influences in our lives.
And this could lead to those divisions between family members, where we find that the priorities and beliefs of our family and friends may be perfectly legal and within cultural and societal norms – but that may conflict in some way with the teachings of Christ.
Can we resolve this? The capability of human beings to love is a rather wonderful gift. We can love many people and things in our lives, and – either consciously or unconsciously – we priorities that which we love and that which matters to us. Those priorities reflect on our character.
To follow Christ – with the risk of division and dispute in our lives as part of the cost - we’re being asked to prioritise Christ’s teachings and our love for him over all our other relationships. It’s not easy.
Perhaps we can start – and make a great amount of progress towards resolving this problem – by regarding our love for Christ and his teachings as being the all-encompassing guidance within which all our other relationships can rest, and hence develop and mature. Within our love for Christ, we can bring the Gospel to those around us, and bring them in to that same relationship that we have with Jesus.
And it is hard; I know I haven’t managed it yet – but I’ll keep at it.

The Prayers

Prepared by Catherine

Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England, material from which is used here is copyright (c) The Archbishops' Council 2000

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22 07 31 The Seventh Sunday after Trinity Eucharist

Image © The Rev’d Sarah West | visiolectio.com

The Readings

Colossians 3. 1 - 11 

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

Luke 12. 13 - 21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’

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 David, Reader at St Mary's.

“You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’

These words which end our Gospel reading are hard hitting. They can be thought of as a bad news text. One which will challenge us and provoke us to reassess our own priorities and life choices. It’s definitely an uncomfortable text to hear, particularly if we are one of the barn owners.

The acquisition of wealth is a defining human characteristic. We are beings who need material things to survive. Food, drink, clothing, shelter. All of these are essential to life. Because we need them we are naturally concerned about where they are coming from. When is our next meal? Do we have clothing to wear? Will the roof over our heads survive the coming weather? All of this is perfectly natural, especially when we have others depending on us. But we as a species, and particularly in western culture, have a tendency to take this to extremes.

The rich fool in our Gospel passage is a prime example. He clearly has enough for his needs, so much so that he cannot store it. We are told his land produced abundantly. Which is interesting. His land produced abundantly. Not him, his land. The implication here is that he wasn’t particularly involved in ensuring his land’s productivity. Perhaps it wasn’t through his own hard work that he was rich, but due to the luck of owning the right sort of land.

Land doesn’t tend to produce abundantly without some care. We aren’t told if he employed other workers, but given he already had more than one barn, I don’t expect he did all the work himself. There will almost certainly have been hired hands and day labourers. Worth remembering in a time of increasing wage disparity within organisations and with the increasing prevalence of the gig economy.

Going back to the agency of the rich man, his ability to make his own choices, we can see how he views himself. “What should I do?” “I will do this” “I will pull down” “I will store” “I will say to my soul”. His is the will which will decide what is to be done. At no point does he enter dialogue with anyone other than himself. He exists as an island apart. In doing so he believes that, through his own will and acts, he has control over the path his life will take. He believes he has complete agency. He is, as we hear in the Gospel, mistaken. In this respect it is a parable tailored for our times.

That we have complete agency is the modern world’s biggest lie. We cannot control everything that happens to us. Even the most powerful of us. None of us is completely self-reliant, we are interdependent and exist best when in community with God and each other. The complete opposite of the rich fool who doesn’t engage in dialogue with God or other humans.

Being in community with God and one another is the answer to our natural inclination to acquire more and more things to keep us fed, safe and sheltered. God calls us to remember that provision is made for us as it is for the lilies of field and birds of air. Our fellow humans in community remind us to not draw inward and become self-absorbed. Instead, we are drawn into dialogue with each other.

The outworking of this process is that we do not store up treasures for ourselves, but are instead generous towards God and those around us. As Jesus said, when asked which of the commandments is the greatest responded with “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

What does this generosity and love towards God and our neighbours look like? Well, it depends. Each of us has different gifts, different talents, different amounts of time or money. But we all have something to be generous with, even if we haven’t discovered what it might be yet.

We are called to spread this generosity widely, not just exercise it with in the church, though there is work to be done here. We are called to join with God in the world to generously share his love with those we meet, to enter dialogue with them and learn from them. For “When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.”

Amen.

The Prayers
Prepared by David.

Holy Trinity, one God, in you we live and move and have our being.

God the Father, your will for all people is health and salvation.
You are the Lord who does mighty wonders.
Restore to wholeness whatever is broken by human sin,
in our lives, in our nation, and in the world.
Grant to all who minister to those who are suffering
wisdom and skill, sympathy and patience.
Hear us, Lord of life:
heal us, and give us rest.

God the Son, you came that we might have life,
and might have it more abundantly.
Grant to all who are lonely, anxious or depressed
a knowledge of your will and an awareness of your presence.
Mend broken relationships, and restore to those in distress
peace of mind and serenity of spirit.
Sustain and support those who seek your guidance
and lift up all who are brought low by the trials of this life.
Hear us, Lord of life:
heal us, and give us rest.

God the Holy Spirit, you make our bodies the temple of your presence. Lord, grant your healing grace to all who are sick or injured, that they may find peace.
With you, Lord, is the well of life.
Grant to the dying peace and a holy death,
and uphold by the grace and consolation of your Holy Spirit those who are bereaved.
Intercessor Hear us, Lord of life:
All heal us, and give us rest.

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

To watch this week's service on Youtube, please click here:

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To download a copy of the order of service please click here:

22 07 24 The Sixth Sunday after Trinity Eucharist

The Readings

Colossians 2.6-19

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.

Luke 11.1-13

He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.’

And he said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.” And he answers from within, “Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.” I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

‘So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’

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 Kath Boyd

It may sound like a strange and possibly shocking thing for a lay minister to say but I quite often struggle with prayer and find it difficult. So much so that a few years ago I made the decision to come off the intercessions rota. In all honesty I found writing prayers, that were to be shared in public, more demanding and stressful than writing sermons. It wasn’t an occasional feeling either; if it had been then I’d have found a way to get past it, but as it persisted I decided, ironically after much prayer, to bow out of that particular rota. It was quite a relief, I felt as if a great burden had been lifted from me. If things are right, surely prayer shouldn’t be a burden and I certainly didn’t want to feel that way about it.

Personal prayer had never been a problem, or so I thought. Each day I would take time to focus and say my prayers but also, throughout the day much of what I was thinking would feel like an ongoing process of me chatting away to God and taking him with me wherever I was going and whatever I was doing. I’m not sure how much of a chance he’s ever had to get a word in by way of a reply but I’ve always trusted that he’d find a way when he wanted to.

My more “formal” prayers, ie more structured would include saying thank you for the new day and for the many gifts I have benefitted from, prayers for the world and all that are part of it, prayers for individuals and groups who are ill or struggling or in need, prayers for the resolution of bad situations, for loved ones, friends and community and finally for personal guidance, support and forgiveness. I still think all these are good things to pray for but my desire to make sure I didn’t leave anyone or anything out led to my prayers getting longer and longer and more convoluted and again they were beginning to feel like a chore. Again this wasn’t how I wanted to feel about prayer. So often it would feel like going through a sort of shopping list, which neither God nor I needed, because both he and I knew who and what was on it, but somehow it felt like I had to do it or I’d be failing the people and the situations, not doing it properly. That said, just occasionally I would feel that I’d really connected with God in my prayers and I noticed that this tended to be when I let go of the “all inclusive” structure and just let the thoughts and the words flow.
What became apparent was that most of the time I’ve been getting in my own way by trying to include too much, but how to change? This is difficult when you’re doing the best you know how.

In our passage from Luke’s Gospel we hear Jesus’ disciples asking him to teach them how to pray and his answer is what we know as The Lord’s Prayer. It’s actually very uncomplicated and succinct but it covers everything that is really important and it’s a prayer we can all use. We don’t have to be experts in religious knowledge or masters of complex language to understand it and it’s fairly easy to learn by heart. Alongside this wonderful prayer we can say other prayers if we wish and I really do feel that our thoughts and concerns, especially for others, are part of our prayers because prayer isn’t separate from life but is part of it, permeating our minds, shaping us and how we live.

In the little story that Jesus uses after teaching the basics of prayer he gives us something else too and that is encouragement to keep on asking God for what we feel we need. Our prayers may not be answered straight away or in quite the way we had imagined or hoped for but we are assured that they are heard. I’ve often found that it is with the benefit of hindsight, sometimes many years later, that I can see how my prayers have been answered. Probably differently to what I’d asked but more often than not I can see that it’s in a way that is ultimately better.

Going back to my difficulties with prayer. I had discussed them with a friend who has been very caring and supportive. He recently sent me an article about prayer which has helped me a lot. There were contributions from several people that were all good but the one that stood out to me was from Dom John Chapman, “Pray as you can and do not try to pray as you can’t “. Although some people are called to specific kinds of prayer such as intercessions for individuals and others are gifted in writing very eloquent prayers, although we can learn from them it doesn’t mean that we all have to try to do the same. Not being able to do so doesn’t mean that we care less or that our prayers are of less worth. We’re all different and what we bring to God in our prayers is unique. So to quote John Chapman again, “Pray as you can and do not try to pray as you can’t”. I’ve found it to be very good advice.

The Prayers
Prepared by Veronica

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

Lord our God, we pray for our world which we have failed to care for by burning fossil fuels. We have been warned this past week by excessive heat and forest fires all over Europe that we must take action to ensure we can pass on this beautiful earth to future generations. Give wisdom and resolution to all governments that they may take the action required, and also to work for peace in Ukraine, Yemen, Afghanistan and all other places where there is conflict.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.

We pray for the Church worldwide, that all Christians will work together for peace and for a better world in accordance with your will. We pray for our bishops Pete and Sophie, for our parishes of St John’s, St Mark’s and St Mary’s, and all the clergy and lay people who enable us to maintain our regular worship here at St Mary’s. Help us to witness faithfully to your love within our parishes.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.

We thank you for our community of Walkley and for all its organisations and artistic talent, which makes it such a wonderful place to live in. We pray also for our local schools as they start their summer holidays, and for all families who are finding life a struggle at present. We thank you for the work of the S6 Foodbank supporting people in need, and the Langsett Advice Centre also supporting and helping people struggling with life.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.

We pray for all who are ill at this time, for all suffering in the new wave of Covid, and also for all NHS and care staff who have worked so hard for so long to look after people, and now face a big backlog of other patients. We pray for them all, especially for those known to us at present….
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.

We pray for all who have died recently, and those we remember from many years ago, family members and former members of this congregation. In a moment of silence we commend them to your love..………… Grant us with them a share in your eternal kingdom.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.

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

To watch this week's service on Youtube, please click here:

https://tiny.cc/walkleystmary-youtube

To download a copy of the order of service please click here:

22 07 17 The Fifth Sunday after Trinity Eucharist.docx

The Readings

Colossians 1.15-28

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him— provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Luke 10.38-42

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’

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 Canon Dr Matthew Rhodes

My wife Cathy spent much of her childhood In Iran where her parents were missionaries. She was friends with the daughter of the Bishop of Iran. Her name was Guli Dehqani and she is now the Bishop of Chelmsford. At her diocesan synod last month, Bishop Guli questioned some of the language that is popular in the Church of England at the moment. Words like vision and strategy and growth. Many of these words come from business. Bishop Guli warned that this language risks missing the many blessings that are to be found in the small, the vulnerable and the marginal. Places where Jesus was often to be found. Bishop Guli warned that our current orthodoxies risk putting too much emphasis on our human powers – that if only we try hard enough and pull together well enough and all follow the same programme… we can ensure the future survival of the Church.
I have to confess that I do sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that if only I could try harder, do more, then the church would flourish more and God’s kingdom would come closer. And I’m afraid that the writings of St Paul are not always helpful. For all his talk of grace, he was a man of action, a doer, a servant, a sufferer. And he sometimes leaves me feeling rather inadequate.
But then I read today’s Gospel and breathe a small sigh of relief. The story of Martha and Mary. Martha the home maker. The cook. The provider of hospitality. The doer. And Mary, the disciple, the dreamer, the woman of faith. Who just wanted to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen.
I’m afraid I tend to be like Martha rather a lot of the time. Keeping busy. Feeling restless. I come from a long line of Marthas. But I know in my heart that the Marys have the better part. They know themselves to be justified by grace, not by what they do. They are prepared to sit and be. To listen. To give time to others. To receive.
We all need to cultivate our inner Marys and particularly perhaps at the moment when the weather is so hot and we really shouldn’t be rushing around doing things. Perhaps there is a seasonal quality to the Mary and Marth thing and this time of year is a time for us to be like Mary. A time for holidays and relaxation. A time for reflection when we can recharge our batteries.
The Marthas of this world are to be commended but they are not always easy to live with. Sometimes they find themselves running on barely repressed fury. You can hear that fury in Martha’s words to Jesus. They are often stressed. Anxious. Distracted. And they can be hard to be around. And a church that is anxious is not all that attractive either. We live in anxious times and people come to church in search of something different. They come in search of grace, beauty, transcendence and hope.
Bishop Guli is not the only bishop to encourage others to look beyond the language of targets and strategy. Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York, spoke at our Diocesan Conference at Swanwick last week. He was very open about not having a plan, a strategy for the church in the northern province. I heard him again at General Synod. My wife Cathy was elected to the Synod last year. She is the Diocesan Environment Officer and she was making her maiden speech, encouraging the synod to reduce its carbon footprint. Our busyness as human beings is often detrimental to our planet. For the sake of creation we need to slow down, travel less and live more simply.
At the opening of the Synod, Archbishop Stephen gave the presidential address. He didn’t talk about Mary specifically but he did call on us to be more like her. To be. To spend time with the Lord. To meditate and pray. He said this:
Writing to the saintly Bishop Edward King in 1861, his predecessor as Principal of Cuddesdon, H.H. Swinny wrote this on the importance of meditation –

‘We all try to do too much and don’t give enough time to earnest quiet thought… Somehow even my prayer, and Divine Service within God’s congregation, lose much of their reality without this deliberate bringing of the Unseen into sight, and basking in the light and warmth of it for a little season. We shall accomplish more by attempting less.’

And Edward King himself persistently maintained that our first priority must be to ‘secure our own individual reunion with God through Christ, nurtured in those times apart, in solitude and silence.’

‘Oh, blessed are the poor in spirit’, says Jesus, ‘theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ (Matthew 5.3)

At the heart of what it means for us to be a Christ centred Church is this renewal of prayer and spirituality, the disciplines of contemplation, the pursuit of holiness, the recognition that we don’t have all the answers, a poverty of Spirit which is a richness in our need of God’s mercy and redemption, the ‘deliberate bringing of the Unseen into sight’, that even a so-called vision and strategy is simply a call - a call to God, a call from God, to centre our lives in Christ and then a few questions that we think are worth addressing and around which we will order our priorities.

So how can we grow younger and more diverse?

And how can we create new pathways of belonging for those who don’t yet know Christ, revitalising the parishes and chaplaincies of our Church and expanding our vision to create new communities of faith and see more people come to faith in Christ?

And how can we learn to be disciples of Jesus ourselves?

Archbishop Stephen’ answer was this. He quoted Psalm 27, verse 4. Gladden your hearts with the sight of the Most Fair. Be constantly renewed and resourced by the beauty of Christ, the beauty of worship, the beauty of scripture. One thing I ask of the Lord. This I seek. To live – to find my life - in the house of the Lord… to behold God’s fair beauty. Amen.

The Prayers

Prepared by Oli G

Lord Jesus, we pray for our world. We pray for the planet as the UK faces the hottest temperatures on record. Help us to act with the urgency and immediacy that the climate crisis demands. We pray you be with all of us as we keep each other safe and cool, and be with the emergency services as they manage the repercussions.
Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Lord Jesus, we pray for the conflict being waged in our world, across our continent, and within our communities. Help us to be peacemakers and to find solutions to conflict. Help us to bring reconciliation where there is division to enable your kingdom of justice, equity and peace to come closer
Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Lord Jesus, as our country’s leadership enters a time of uncertainty, help those responsible for deciding on our future prime minister use wisdom to select a leader with integrity, honesty and who wants the best for all members of our society.
Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Lord Jesus, as we approach the school summer holidays, we pray that families are able to make the most of the time they have together, finding times and places to unwind and relax into a slower pace of life. We pray that with the increased costs of living, families are able to find cheap and free activities to enjoy during this time
Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Lord Jesus, as we enter the season of weddings and marriage, help us to celebrate love in all its forms and affirm all forms of relationships, supporting those who face prejudices as a result of their sexual preferences.
Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Lord Jesus, we ask today that you be with all those who are sick or unwell in mind, body or spirit. We pray too for all those whom we love but see no longer who have joined you in the kingdom of heaven. We pray especially for Kath’s granddaughter Lucy, who would have celebrated her 19th birthday on Monday.
We enter a time of silence to hold those close to us in prayer.
Merciful Father
Accept these prayers
For the sake of your son
Our Saviour
Jesus Christ
Amen

To watch this service on YouTube, please click here:

https://tiny.cc/walkleystmary-youtube

To download a copy of this week's order of service, please click here:

22 07 10 The Fourth Sunday after Trinity Eucharist

The Readings

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 Revd Alan Billings

‘Teacher, what shall I do to be saved?’

This is the lawyer’s question to Jesus in today’s gospel. ‘What shall I do to be saved?’ I
can’t imagine anyone asking anyone else that question today. Even if Jesus came and
stood among us, I can’t think that anyone would say to him. ‘What must I do to be saved?’
We don’t have at the forefront of our minds these days burning questions about life beyond
this one. We don’t fret and worry – at least not often and perhaps not at all – about what
we must do to be saved.

But we might ask other questions which in some ways come to the same thing.

What the lawyer wants to know is how do I live now in a way that would please God. Or to
put it another way, What does a good life – a morally good life, a life worth living - look
like? This is something that we are just as concerned about today, though we might not
always have that Godly reference.

We want to live a good life, a morally good life, a worthwhile life, the sort of life that our
friends or our children or grandchildren might be proud of. We want to be able to say to
ourselves, I lived well; and we would like to believe that is what others think about us also.
There have been times in our country’s history when we have taken this very seriously
indeed. If we’d had the money, we would have made sure that, after our death, everyone
knew what kind of a person we were and what kind of a life we had lived.

At one time in my life I lived in Bristol and just down the road was the town of Bath with its
beautiful Abbey church. If you ever visit Bath Abbey you might want to look at the walls on
which are many eighteenth century memorial plaques that bear out what I’m saying.
Plaques put up to record the lives of worthy deceased citizens.

These are just a few lines from some of those plaques. As you read them you quickly
realise what sort of qualities would qualify as evidence of a good life:

He – the person being commemorated – had ‘unaffected Piety, uniform Benevolence and
Inflexible integrity’.

Another says the deceased had ‘polished Manners, inflexible Integrity, and the warmest
Benevolence of Heart’.

A woman is described in this way: ‘One of the most valuable women that ever lived, whose
principal Happiness consisted (Altho’ she was of some rank) in a real and unbounded
Affection and Tenderness for her husband and children.’

We do something similar today in the tributes people give at funerals. We call to mind all
those qualities which we in our generation think make a life good, morally good, and so
worth living and commemorating.

But we don’t have to die to answer the question, What does a good life – a morally good
life - look like?

People in certain high profile jobs, for instance, as they come towards the end of them, will
often talk about their legacy. How would I like to be remembered? What does a good life, a
morally good life, a life worth living, what does that look like?

I think we saw that this week. When the Prime Minister resigned he recounted in his
speech the things he wanted to be remembered for. His loyal colleagues are even now in
articles in Sunday papers and in radio and television interviews doing the same. They are
trying to secure his legacy. They are answering that question, What does a good life look
like – if you’ve had the best job in the world?

Whether they convince us is another matter. But that is in essence what they are doing.
What must I do to be saved? How should I live?

Of course, if we are to answer that question, we have to be honest with ourselves. We
have to have a willingness to see ourselves as we really are. To see ourselves as others
see us – as Robbie Burns put it. To see ourselves as God sees us. The person who is
saved, who lives well, is the one who has good self-knowledge, who is transparent to
themselves. There is no more tragic a person than the deluded, who cannot see
themselves as God sees.

In today’s gospel Jesus gives a very practical and direct answer to the question the lawyer
puts to him. What must I do to be saved.

I’ll tell you, says Jesus, with a story. And so we have the story of the Good Samaritan.
Live like this, respond to those in need, not on the basis of whether they share your
religion, or your race, whether they are a friend or a relative, but simply on the basis of
what you can do to help someone in need – live like this and you will be saved. Live like
this and you will be living the morally good life, the life worth living, the life that pleases
God.

The Prayers
Prepared by Catherine B

Let us pray to God the Father,
who has reconciled all things to himself in Christ:
For peace among the nations,
that God may rid the world of violence
and let peoples grow in justice and harmony …
We pray for the people of Japan following the violent death of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. We continue to remember the people of Ukraine, Russia, Syria, and Yemen.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

For those who serve in public office,
that they may work for the common good …
We pray for our government following this last week of massive upheaval,
that wisdom may prevail as a new Prime Minister is chosen.
We pray for local politicians and all others working for their own neighbourhoods,
giving thanks for all who worked tirelessly to put on the many enjoyable events that have taken place in this year’s Walkley festival.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

For Christian people everywhere,
that we may joyfully proclaim and live our faith in Jesus Christ …
For all who give their time and energy locally at St. Mary’s, St. John’s and St. Mark’s.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

For those who suffer from hunger, sickness or loneliness,
that the presence of Christ may bring them
health and wholeness …
In a few moments’ silence we remember those known to us especially.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

For all who have died,
and those who mourn the loss of a loved one
thinking of any known to us especially.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Let us commend ourselves, and all for whom we pray,
to the mercy and protection of God.

Merciful Father
Accept these prayers
For the sake of your Son
Our saviour, Jesus Christ
Amen.

Common Worship, Services and Prayers for the Church of England, material from which is used here is copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2000 - 2005

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22 07 03 Thomas the Apostle Eucharist

The Readings

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 Revd Shan Rush from St Mark's Broomhill

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Thomas. As you probably know, Thomas is often referred to as Thomas the Doubter. It’s not an attribute I’d want to be remembered for in my obituary and yet poor Thomas has been labelled in this way for centuries. In some ways I feel an affinity with Thomas.
I have a very logical mind and often need to work out or have proof of things I encounter that I’ve not experienced for myself. I remember as a child being told not to touch the radiator because it was hot and then putting my hand onto it just to be certain that what I’d been told was true. I suspect that if I had been in Thomas’ shoes on the day of resurrection, I would also have had the title “the Doubter” after my name!

We all have a “Thomas” within us. At times, it is healthy to be sceptical, but alongside this, we also need to be open to what we may not understand. A balance of certainty and doubt is necessary in life which is why I don’t consider that doubt is always a bad thing. To me, doubt opens things up rather than shuts them down. I’ve noticed that when I recognise and acknowledge doubt is present, it means that there is a need for me to ask more questions, of myself and of the situation I find myself in. Doubt can be a protective feeling, helping me to reappraise what I’m doing, so I don’t take inappropriate risks. If I’m trying to cross a busy road where there is no pedestrian crossing, if I have a feeling of doubt that I can cross safely and reach the other side before the approaching car reaches me, I need to listen to that gut instinct. If I believe I can cross safely without listening to my doubts, there’s a risk I could be knocked down. However, If I take things to the other extreme, my sense of doubt could stop me from reaching my objective of crossing the road. So, if a I’ve been stood there a while with no opportunity to cross, I might start to run through some other alternatives in my mind, such as I’d there a pedestrian crossing, traffic lights or bridge further along the road I could use.
This is an everyday example but where does doubt fit in with being a Christian and the idea of having faith?
As a child, I attended a Sunday school. God and Jesus were figures I read about or knew through pictures and stories. There was little to link what I was being taught to my daily life and I certainly did not have a personal relationship with God. My Granny was a devout and faithful Christian.
She did not speak about her faith but there was something about her that meant I knew she experienced something that I didn’t. I desperately wanted to believe in God, but I needed to connect with a living God, one with whom I could have a meaningful encounter.
To me, finding out about a living God from others was insufficient. Like Thomas, it was not enough for me to hear the other disciples experiences. I had many questions and doubts. If there is a God, why would he allow suffering? If God really is alive today, why have I never experienced his presence? Does God really exist? What do people mean when they talk about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist? How do the moral teachings of the Church, on matters like abortion, contraception, marriage or sexuality fit with what’s written in the Bible and my own understanding of life? At that time, my doubts meant I was not open to the things I did not understand and I drifted away from any connection with church. Looking back, I think isolation from other believers initially increased my doubts as I brooded on my questions and became preoccupied with “navel gazing” that acknowledged my negative feelings and left no room for positivity let alone hope.
Fortunately for me, this was not the end of the story. Jesus meets people where they’re at and he transforms them. Just as Thomas’s doubt was transformed into faith as he encountered the risen Christ, so my doubts were put into perspective as I encountered people of faith in my workplace, the Children’s Hospital, and I became more open to exploring the questions that were at the root of my questions. The seeds that had been sown earlier in my life were nurtured by others sharing their faith, and I began to vocalise these questions and explored rejoining a church community. Initially what I was seeking was certainty and I envied my Roman Catholic friends most of whom appeared to accept the teaching they received without question. My initial doubts arose from immaturity and a lack of understanding of faith. I expected God to make himself known to me without me participating. As I started to attend church regularly, the combination of tradition, scripture, reason and experience meant the faith that was already present within me was released and began to grow. With time, I had had my own experiences of the Living God. Sometimes these experiences are hard to put into words to share but they have often occurred at moments when I have been struggling with issues around suffering, bereavement or guilt to name but a few. Before I could find healing, I had to move away from navel gazing and learn to reach out and face the reality of others wounds. Touching another brings into reality a relationship, an association.  It’s given me sacred moments of connection with the wounded Christ and I’ve experienced acts of love and compassion and have led to profound experiences of forgiveness and grace. Thomas reminds us three things:
- that faith does not exclude doubt and questions, nor does it exclude moments when we wonder whether God is really present with us.
- that we receive faith in and through the community of family, friends and church.
• that faith is not simply an assent to doctrines and propositions of faith but a belief in God, revealed through Jesus, prompted by the stirrings of the Spirit.

Christ is always in our midst inviting us to touch him and have faith through word, sacrament and community not just once, but every time doubt threatens our sense of hope and belief. Having been called, we are sent out to enable others to encounter Jesus in a personal and intimate way that evokes trust rather than fear. Jesus did not push Thomas away for having doubts, he drew him closer by offering Thomas a different way to overcome his doubts.
Walkley festival is a perfect opportunity for Christians to reach out to the Community of Walkley and the well dressing is just one way that this congregation can make contact with others, using the beauty of creation to link those who have seen and believed with those who may be searching for something more tangible in their lives, something that takes them beyond the present personal and world crisis. May we who have heard the call to faith, reach out and be a blessing to others, witnesses of Gods living presence in the world today. Amen.

The Prayers
Prepared by David

Encouraged by our fellowship with all the saints,
let us make our prayers to the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Father, your Son called men and women to leave the past behind
them and to follow him as his disciples in the way of the cross. Look
with mercy upon those whom he calls today, marks with the cross
and makes his disciples within the Church.
Lord, in your mercy.
Hear our prayer.

Your Son told his disciples not to be afraid and at Easter breathed on
them his gift of peace. Look with mercy upon the world into which
he sent them out, and give it that peace for which it longs.
We pray for the peoples of Ukraine and Russia.
Lord, in your mercy.
Hear our prayer.

Your Son formed around him a company who were no longer
servants but friends, and he called all those who obeyed him his
brother and sister and mother. Look with mercy upon our families
and our friends and upon the communities in which we share.
We give thanks for our community of Walkley and for the many activities during the festival.
Lord, in your mercy.
Hear our prayer.

Your Son sent out disciples to preach and heal the sick. Look with
mercy on all those who yearn to hear the good news of salvation,
and renew among your people the gifts of healing.
Lord, in your mercy.
Hear our prayer.

Your Son promised to those who followed him that they would sit
on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel and would share the
banquet of the kingdom. According to your promise, look with
mercy on those who have walked with Christ in this life and now
have passed through death.
Lord, in your mercy.
Hear our prayer.

Almighty God,
Grant that your Church
may faithfully hold and make known
the faith that has come to us through the apostles,
that with them and all your saints
we may inherit the glories of eternal life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Merciful Father,
Accept these prayers,
for the sake of your son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.