Dear friends,
Welcome to this week’s update. If you would like to receive this update via email please send your email address to [email protected].
Please find below the text of today’s sermon at St Thomas in Glaisdale, the readings we had, and a reminder of our services and events coming up across our Middle ESK Moor church communities.
I do hope you find this update useful. Please do let me know.
With prayers and all good wishes,
Reverend Anthony
Church Services and Events Coming Up
Saturday 16 September – 10:00 am to 4:30 pm at Goathland, St Mary, Heritage Open Day
please support this if you can, there’ll be lots of information about St Mary’s Church, refreshments and a chance to ring the bells, but additional volunteers would be most welcome to help.
Contact Brenda Lielman if you can help on [email protected] or 01947896400.
Sunday 17 September – 10:30 am at Egton, St Hilda, Holy Communion
& 10:00 am to 4:30 pm at Goathland, St Mary, the second Heritage Open Day
Friday 22 September – 7:00 pm at Grosmont, St Matthew, ‘Around the UK in Classic Railway Posters’
An illustrated talk by Jane Ellis. Tickets are £3 including refreshments, available on the door.
Sunday 24 September – 10:30 am at Grosmont, St Matthew, Holy Communion.
Thursday 28 September – 2:00 pm at Glaisdale, St Thomas, Harvest Festival in partnership with Glasidale School.
Friday 29 September – 2:30 pm at Egton, St Hilda, Harvest Festival in partnership with Egton School
& 6:00 pm at Goathland, St Mary, Harvest Festival in partnership with Goathland School.
Sunday 1 October – 10:30 am at Goathland, St Mary, Holy Communion and Harvest Thanksgiving
Friday 6 October – 6:00 pm at Grosmont, St Matthew, Mel Supper and Harvest Thanksgiving
With pie and pea supper and entertainment from the Hawsker Village Band. All are invited from across Middle ESK Moor (and beyond)!
Contact Tammy to reserve food on [email protected] or 01947895309.
Saturday 7 October – 12 midday to 5:00 pm, Egton Village Hall, ‘Where next? Charting the future’
A time to reflect on where we are and imagine what a sustainable Middle ESK Moor family of church communities might look like in 2030. Please come to this if you can – it will be an important event in the development of our church communities.
There will be a bring-and-share lunch – if you are planning to come, please would you let us know.
Contact Anthony to confirm on [email protected] or 01947899843.
Sunday 8 October – 10:30 am at Lealholm, St James, Holy Communion
*every Thursday* – 10:30 am to 3:00 pm at Grosmont, St Matthew’s, Community Café
Supporting the wonderful charity, Farming Community Network – please support this if you can, there’s a selection of delicious sandwiches, cakes and drinks to buy, and additional volunteers would be most welcome.
*every other Tuesday* (12 September, 26 September, 10 October…) – 10:00 am to 12:00 pm at The Village Hall, Goathland, Community Space
With special guest speakers and more delicious treats and refreshments to enjoy – again, please support this if you can.
Readings for Sunday 10 September, the 14th Sunday after Trinity
Romans 13:8-end
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Matthew 18:15-20
[Jesus says to the disciples,] ‘If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’
Sermon for Sunday 10 September at St Thomas, Glaisdale
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts together be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock, and redeemer. Amen.
Last week I was talking about anger, that it’s OK to get angry. Jesus got angry at Peter, but that helped Peter to see the bigger picture and to face the reality of Jesus’ journey towards the cross. I was also talking about restraining factors in our church communities, holding us back, and the need to acknowledge the understandable anger and frustration those have caused. But Jesus’ anger in last week’s Gospel reading reinforced his message of hope. It got everything out into the open and helped focus minds. So, let’s acknowledge that, yes, it’s OK to get angry about something; to be angry with someone. This week’s reading follows on from last week’s, showing us how best to channel the anger we naturally feel, for the good of the whole church community.
Imagine you lend one of your treasured possessions to someone, perhaps a special book that means a lot to you. The book gets damaged. When it’s eventually returned to you, the person you’ve lent it to doesn't seem to realise how special you thought that book was. They seem really quite casual in their apology, and they don’t seem to care. But, you say to yourself that you're a Christian, so through gritted teeth and with a forced smile you say, "Never mind, it doesn't matter."
But, of course, it does matter! You feel angry and resentful whenever you think of that book. That resentment simmers away until one day the person asks if they can borrow something else. Suddenly you flare up and make it clear to them, in no uncertain terms, that you won't lend them anything again after what happened last time! But that person is then taken aback by your reaction. They go away to nurse their very own new grievance against you. Relationships are damaged by such incidents and by others that are much more extreme. Simmering feelings of resentment and grievance can be toxic to any community, and certainly that applies to Christian communities as much as any others. But do we, as Christians, need to be realistic about this? Loving others as ourselves doesn't mean pretending we never hurt or upset each other, that we never argue, that we always live peacefully together. It would, of course, be wonderful if we could nurture a way of living together that eradicates hurt and upset. Let’s have a good go at doing that here in Middle ESK Moor; it’s a good goal to aim for! But we haven’t quite managed that yet in the Church of England as a whole! Seriously though, I think Jesus anticipated that would be the case, not just in the Church of England, but across all parts of the church he tasked Peter to build. Jesus anticipated that feelings of anger, resentment and grievance would continue to be part of our lives together. There would and will be conflicts.
So, we arrive at our Gospel reading this morning. It shows us a loving way to deal with conflicts and disputes in our relationships with our brothers and sisters in our church communities. Matthew writes about the guidance Jesus gives for managing arguments and conflict. The first step, Jesus says, is to try and sort out the problem with the other person directly, without involving anyone else. If that works, then the relationship begins to heal and there are no ripples that cascade from the dispute to reach out and hurt others. That would be the ideal outcome, I think. Speaking to the person who has hurt or upset us, and having a frank discussion, is the place that Jesus says we should start. It’s about having an open and honest conversation; clearing up misunderstandings; seeing and understanding where each person is coming from.
If that first step doesn't help, then Jesus is clear that we should persevere. He suggests that we should try again but with one or two other people present who can listen to what’s being said. That might then lead to a reasonable resolution, possibly nurturing an element of compromise: the other parties bringing a more objective view, a source of wisdom from outside the apparent conflict. If handled well, such an approach to ‘dispute resolution’ can bear fruits. But, of course, that might not work.
It's only when the conflict persists that the wider Church community needs to be involved: policies and procedures kick in, investigations are undertaken, evidence is gathered, resolutions are carefully proposed and agreed more formally. The collective wisdom of the community, through having dealt with similar problems in the past, is brought to bear on the situation. Hopefully that resolves the dispute in a way that both parties can live with. But if that doesn’t work, as a last resort, Jesus tells us that the offending person, who has obviously caused serious issues, should be treated as a "Gentile and … tax collector." But, even then, we do know that Gentiles and tax collectors, those generally despised and excluded, were the very people that Jesus used to hang out with. Jesus thought of them as sinners, but in terms of them being like lost sheep who needed to be found, forgiven and healed with love and compassion. As Paul reminds us in our first reading, each of us needs to love our neighbours as ourselves: ‘Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law,’ Paul explains.
So, if we’re going to follow Jesus’ example, we need to remember that we should continue to love those that we no longer have fellowship with, those we have excluded, and we need to give them a route back into fellowship. We need to leave the door open. There must always be a path towards forgiveness and reconciliation: exclusions must only be temporary. But if so much anger and resentment has been caused, how can we walk that path towards forgiveness and reconciliation? Well, let’s not forget that Jesus promises that whenever any of his followers meet together in his name, even if it's only two of them, he will be there with them. Remembering that Jesus is alongside us when we try to resolve difficulties in our relationships is a powerful reminder that we need to love one another, seeking the path towards peace and reconciliation whenever there is conflict between us. When we speak to the person who has hurt or upset us, when we have that frank discussion, that place where Jesus says we should start, we need to ensure we acknowledge Jesus is there with us. We need to ask him for help. We need to pray.
I wonder if you would prefer to avoid conflict or confrontation? I certainly would. Perhaps we might feel guilty about being angry with someone we think we ought to love. Perhaps we feel we should "forgive and forget" a hurt or a wrong done to us. Maybe. But the problem is that if anger and resentment are stored up, they can eat away at us and become very destructive to our own peace of mind and our relationships with others. The process that Jesus describes in today’s Gospel reading is the way towards reconciliation with others and restoration of our own peace of mind. It’s the way that’s healing and life-giving, and it’s the way that God relates to each of us, wanting us to live in hope rather than us refusing to accept God’s forgiving grace.
The way that Jesus describes is costly. It requires honesty and humility, the willingness to admit to our own failings and faults, and the determination to reach out in love to those who have hurt us. The way that Jesus describes can be lonely when we approach someone to seek reconciliation only to be faced with a closed door. But this is the way of the Cross, and perhaps when we feel most alone, rejected and hurt, that’s when Jesus is closest to us, keeping his promise to be with us for ever.
When we meet in the name of Jesus to seek peace between ourselves, the Holy Spirit moves among us to bring us that peace, a peace that transcends all understanding, a peace the world cannot give.
Amen.
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these two books, edited by Jane Williams, are very helpful with planning my sermon writing:
Williams, J (2009), Ed., ‘Lost for Words, A Sermon Resource for the Anglican Three Year Cycle,’ Redemptorist Publications, Chawton, UK.
Williams, J (2011), Ed., ‘Lectionary Reflections, Years A, B and C.’ Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, UK.
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The Reverend Anthony Bennett
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Interim Minister & Deanery Enabler
Middle Esk Moor | Whitby Deanery | York Diocese
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email: [email protected]
landline: 01947 899843
mobile: 07484 735284
web: middleeskmoor.org