8th after Trinity Readings: Genesis 15v1-6; Psalm 33v12-end; Hebrews 11v1-3&8-16; Luke 12v32-40. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word: In the readings today we hear the call to show that we believe and trust in God by daring to follow his call to live our lives by trusting in him and his promises. In Genesis we learn about a time early in the life of Abraham, when he was still called Abram. Abram is speaking with God and complaining that he is childless. In response God, promises that one day Abram will have not only have an heir of his own, but also will have as many descendants as the number of the stars he could see in the heavens. Abram believed what God was promising him, so God counted Abram’s faith as righteousness. If you read on in Genesis, you will hear that God fulfilled his promise by giving Abram and his wife Sarai a son named Isaac. It was because Abram believed and trusted in God that he was renamed Abraham, the forefather of the Israelites and everyone who has faith in God. In Hebrews we hear about the remembrance of Abraham. Abraham is remembered for trusting God so much that he followed God’s call to go and live in another place. Abraham is remembered for trusting God’s promise to give him a child and many descendants. Abraham is remembered for his faith and trust in God that God counted to Abraham as righteousness. The faith and trust that Abraham had in God is important because in the psalm we hear that God watches over everyone who puts their trust in him. For we have a God who pours out his loving kindness on his people by delivering their souls from death, that is by counting their faith to them as righteousness. In Luke, we hear Jesus asking his disciples to put their faith and trust in God by selling what they have without fear and giving the money they raise to support charities. For Jesus wants them to store up treasure for themselves in heaven because wherever their treasure is, is the place that their hearts will be found. Jesus then goes on to use a parable to explain that believing and trusting in God is the way we are all called to live each and every day of our lives. For we are to be just like the servants in his story. Servants who are always up and ready for the master’s return. Servants who will be blessed when the master returns, if they are up and ready when he comes. For the master will return and can do so at any time. Let us Pray: Almighty Lord, everlasting God, strengthen us for your service. Guide us so we can dedicate our hearts, souls, minds and bodies to the task of following the ways set out in your commandments. Protect and defend us from the deceit and noise of this world. Under your protection, we ask you to set us free to sing your praise and glory, with honesty; and to live lives refreshed with the fullness of your life. Amen Thanks for joining us today.
7th after Trinity Readings: Ecclesiastes 1v2&12-14 and 2v18-23; Psalm 49v1-12; Colossians 3v1-11; Luke 12v13-21. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word: In the readings today we are challenged to consider our lives and prompted to take action to avoid living pointless lives and to live lives with purpose. In the book Ecclesiastes, we hear all sorts of pessimistic thoughts about the way we humans live. We hear how pointless it is to pursue all of the things we spend so much time chasing after. For it is so easy to set our sights on gaining wealth, possessions and an expensive lifestyle. However, as the writer tells us, in the end all of the effort we put into getting and gathering proves to be futile, empty and meaningless. For whatever we gather and gain will one day belong to someone else. I believe that this reading is a clear warning that all of this pursuit of things is all quite pointless. This reading also offers us a challenge to question what we spend our lives doing and to avoid all that is empty and meaningless. For surely there must be something that gives point and purpose to our limited lives here on earth! The pessimistic message of Ecclesiastes is echoed in the psalm. For it reminds us that there is nothing that we can give to pay God the ransom required to redeem our souls. A message that applies to all people: the rich and the poor, those low and high born, the foolish and the wise. For one day every person will die and only those with redeemed souls will go on to live forever. The psalm is a warning to us telling us that our souls need to be rescued. It also tells us quite clearly that there is nothing that we can do or give to redeem our souls. I believe that this plain and clear message is a challenge to look to God who is the only one who can rescue our souls. For, if we do, we will not only be looking beyond ourselves but also finding real meaning and purpose for our lives. In Luke, we hear Jesus teaching the same message heard in Ecclesiastes and the psalm. For his parable shows us that we are wasting our lives if our only concern is to selfishly gather an abundance of what we need and want for ourselves. For, as the parable makes plain, no matter how hard we work in life, one day everything we have striven so hard to gather and possess will have to be given up on the day that we die. I believe that this parable is a warning to avoid being self-interested and greedy. For, as Jesus tells us, we are to store up treasure for ourselves in heaven. In Colossians we hear an echo of Jesus’ teaching. For Paul says we are called to set our minds on things of heaven and to put to death all earthly things. Paul says this because we have a new life in Jesus and have been clothed with a new self. I believe that this teaching points us to the place where we can find the inspiration we need to find better ways of living. For, if we look to heaven, we can learn about Godly ways of living. Then, if we live our lives following Godly ways of living, then our lives will have purpose and meaning, I believe that this is what Jesus was telling us about when he taught that we are to store up treasure for ourselves in heaven. So today, we are called to open our eyes and see our lives as God sees them. We are called to open our minds and take stock of how we have lived our lives so far. We are called to ask God to help us understand how we are using our lives. For it is only in doing all of this that we can adjust our lives by avoiding the temptation to run after a pointless life and choose to live with Godly purpose; and, in so doing, find ourselves redeemed by God and given a place in heaven. Let us Pray: Lord of all power and might, whose son is the source of life; make us perfect in his love so we may share in his glory. Graft into our hearts the love of God and increase in us true worship, for the sake of Jesus who died for us. Amen Thanks for joining us today.
6th after Trinity Readings: Genesis 18v20-32; Psalm 138; Colossians 2v6-19; Luke 11v1-13. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word: In the readings today we learn much about prayer. In Genesis we hear that God spoke to Abraham about what he was going to do because of the evil done by the people who lived in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Being a kind and caring man, Abraham was unhappy that God might destroy innocent people who might still live in those cities, so he challenged, questioned and argued with God. We know that God heard what Abraham had to say because God promised that he would not destroy those cities, even if only 10 good people were to be found there. Sadly, later scriptures tell us that these cities were destroyed, which tells us that God did not find even 10 innocent people living in them. What we learn from this encounter between God and Abraham is that God does listen to our prayers. God is also willing to hear what we have to say, even when God knows much better than we do. For God cares about what we think and what we want, even when we are mistaken or in error. In the psalm we hear a song of praise and thanksgiving for all that the Lord has done. For we have a Lord who is praised by the rulers and leaders of the earth for being faithful and loving by answering prayers and strengthening our souls. For we have a Lord who watches over the fearful. A Lord who walks with us in times of trouble. A Lord who protects and saves us from our enemies. A Lord who has plans for those he saves. What we learn from this is that down the ages many people have learnt about God’s interventions in the lives of prayerful people. For God hears what we ask, and God draws close to us when we pray, and God does what is best for us in answer to our prayers. In Colossians we hear that we are to live lives rooted and built up by our faith in Jesus. For God has made us alive through Jesus. For through Jesus’ death on the cross our sins have been forgiven and we have been raised to a new life in Jesus, through Baptism. For Jesus has set aside the old laws and nailed them to the cross. So now there is nothing and no-one who can condemn us and nothing that can disqualify us from belonging to Christ. What we learn from this is that God wants to save us so much that everything we need to be saved has been done for us by Jesus, no matter who we are or what we have done. In Luke we hear the disciples asking Jesus to teach them how to pray. In reply, Jesus gave the prayer we call “The Lord’s Prayer”. A prayer that focuses first on giving glory to God, then praying for God kingdom to come, before asking God to meet our needs for food, forgiveness and protection from evil. Jesus also taught that his father hears our prayers and answers them by giving us what we really need as well before reminding us that what we really should be asking for is the gift of the Holy Spirit. What we learn from this is that the Lord’s prayer embodies what all who follow Jesus should be praying for. Jesus’ guidance also teaches us that God’s replies to our prayers will always be the best answer for us, no matter what we think of God’s reply. From these readings we learn that like Abraham we can argue with God in our prayers. We also learn from the psalm that God will always answer our prayers with what is truly best for us. Then in Luke, we learn what God encourages us to pray for the Holy Spirit and in Colossians we learn that no matter what we think of God’s replies to our prayers that God’s love for us is so great that Jesus died for us. Let us Pray: Merciful and ever loving God, we thank you for all the good things you give to us. We ask you to lead us in the pilgrimage of life. We ask you to refresh and sustain us with your living water for our onward journey. We pray you will pour into us such love for you that we love you beyond all things. All this we ask in the name of your son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen Thanks for joining us today.
5th after Trinity Readings: Genesis 18v1-10a; Psalm 15; Colossians 1v15-28; Luke 10v38-end. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word: In the readings today we learn about the tradition of welcoming others. In Genesis we hear about the ancient tradition of those who lived the nomadic life. For when they met other travellers, they offered the gift of welcome. This included a place to stop, a place to rest and a place to take refreshment. This is what we are hearing about as Abraham goes out to greet the three men, as Abraham bows down as a sign of friendship, and as Abraham invites them into his camp. Then, after the invitation was accepted, Abraham, his wife Sarah and their servant got on with preparing food and drink for their guests. Later, when the visitors were eating with Abraham, one of them told him that when they next met that his wife Sarah would have a son. Later scriptures tell us that even though Abraham and Sarah were very old that Sarah did go on to have a son and that son was named Isaac. It is from this account and others like them that the custom of always welcoming strangers, because they just might be angels is based. For to Abraham, these three men were angels who came with a message from God. A message that was fulfilled even though it seemed impossible. A message that God had many years before promised to Abraham, when God foretold that he and Sarah would be the parents of as many descendants as the stars in the night sky. In Luke, we hear about another time of welcoming visitors. This time it is when Jesus and his disciples were visiting Jesus’ friends: Lazarus, Martha and Mary. When they arrived, Martha got on with the work of fulfilling all that was expected of her in the welcoming of visitors. Meanwhile, Mary sat listening to what Jesus was saying. This so upset Martha that she complained to Jesus and asked him to send Mary to help her, but Jesus did not. Instead he told Martha to stop fussing because Mary had chosen the better thing. This reading has often made me wonder about the tradition of welcoming others in Jesus’ time. I wonder whether it had become a complex and onerous task. Maybe like having to put on, at the last minute, an unplanned and unexpected feast? I also wonder if Jesus’ instruction to stop fussing was simply telling Martha that she was doing too much? Maybe Jesus expected her to do less so she could sit down with her guests? These thoughts about what Jesus meant have been the inspiration for me to do simple things when unexpected guests arrive. Such as giving cold water or diluted squash with ice in it on hot days or a warm drink of whatever is to hand on cold days. With a few light snacks made up of anything we have available at the time, maybe a few biscuits, a sandwich or even a fruit salad made up of the fresh fruit left over in the fruit bowl. This custom of welcoming is one that continues to be a part of the work of the church . For not only can we offer some of what we have to hand, but we can also fulfil what is says in the psalm. For in our dealings with others, we must always: do the right thing, speak the truth, not mislead others, do no wickedness, not ridicule others, not go back on what we say we will do, not take bribes to harm the innocent and also lend to others without charging interest. For in doing these things, I believe that the psalm is simply asking us to act in ways that are kind to others and avoid doing them any harm. A way of behaving that the psalm tells us is a pure way of living, a way of behaving that honours the Lord, a way of behaving that saves a place for us in God’s kingdom. For even though we are a flawed and sinful lot, God wants us to join Him in His kingdom. For as Paul explains in Colossians, through Christ’s death on the cross there is a way back to God for sinners. For all sinners can be presented before God as righteous and innocent, because of all that Jesus has done. But in order to benefit from the cross of Christ, Paul says we must stay loyal to the faith, steadfast in hope and dedicated in the love that has been shared with us. For Christ is: the image of God, the firstborn of all creation, the creator of all things, the head of the Church, the first born from the dead, the one in whom the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and the one through whom God reconciled all things to himself. Today as we do what we can to welcome visitors and share what we have with them, I pray we will keep in mind that Christ is the centre of our faith, our hope and our love because he has opened the way for us to be presented to God in heaven. Let us Pray: Almighty and eternal God, who governs and blesses the Church, may your world be governed by leaders obedient to you and your ways, so that your people may serve you in sacred tranquillity. We pray that all your people will fulfil the vocation to which you call them. May your people accomplish the ministry to which you have appointed them. Help your people to serve you with sincere devotion and true integrity, so your name is glorified in worship throughout the whole of the earth. Amen Thanks for joining us today.
