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SUMMARY:Sunday 20th October Holy Eucharist for 21st Sunday after Trinity 1
 1.30am
DTSTART:20241020T103000Z
DTEND:20241020T113000Z
DTSTAMP:20260926T032100Z
UID:11023582024-10-20 10:30:00+00:00achurchnearyou
CATEGORIES:
DESCRIPTION:An uncomfortable gospel reading this morning. Jesus is on his 
 way to Jerusalem. And he finds himself embroiled in a really stupid\, inap
 propriate argument about greatness and authority. Yet again\, his disciple
 s have utterly missed what he was trying to say. \n\nAnd as he talks of hi
 s imminent demise – the mockery\, the spitting\, the floggings\, the pai
 n\, the shame - so the mother of James & John\, her name was Salome\, sidl
 es up to him and asks a question about the top table in the kingdom of hea
 ven. It was almost as if not only had they not understood his message\, bu
 t they simply didn’t care - except about themselves. \n\nAnd what she wa
 nted to know was whether she could secure the best seats\, the places of g
 reatest authority\, in the kingdom of God\, for her two sons – one on th
 e right hand and one on the left of Christ. \n\nBut Jesus doesn’t say Ye
 s\, and he doesn’t say No: instead he brings in a different kind of argu
 ment: yes\, they can live as members of the church\, sharing the cup of co
 mmunion and the waters of baptism. In other words they can go a long way w
 ith Christ\, they can even be his presence in the world\, and that’s a h
 ugely important and powerful thing…. \n\nBut it’s not the same as what
  they were asking. What they were asking for was position\, for class\, fo
 r status – that goal which was so important to the world around them\, t
 hat prize that would really make following Christ worthwhile: big\, posh\,
  grand\, real greatness!.......\n\nSo two rival & opposite perspectives on
  authority\, meet head on. On the one side that of Salome\, James & John\,
  that which the world knew then\, as the world knows now\, that authority 
 which draws to itself a status and a power and a pride\, that authority wh
 ich oversees\, and looks down on\, like the rulers of the Gentiles who lor
 d it over their subjects\, and their high officials in all the authority t
 hey exercise over them.\n\nAnd on the other side\, an authority gained by 
 exactly those things of which Jesus was speaking\, those things so missed 
 by his disciples in their blind and self-centred ambition: that authority 
 validated by the quality of his suffering\, his passion & his death on the
  cross.\n\nWhere do our priorities lie. Are we looking for status\, for po
 sition\, or are we looking to share in the authority of Jesus – through 
 service and engagement with those in need?
GEO:-4.407165;36.721145
LOCATION:St George's Church\, Málaga
URL:https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/8530/service-and-events/events/1
 102358/
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