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The Epistle of James
The Epistle of James
Dear Friends,
I hope the reflections on difficult times I put together over the last two weeks have stimulated thought as we ponder how to navigate the times in which we live. It’s been good to hear so many responses from you.
We now turn to the Epistle of James. James is known as a general epistle – ie not sent to a particular congregation – and one of the 21 epistles in the New Testament. It was written originally in Greek. James 1:1 identifies the author as “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” who is writing to “the twelve tribes scattered abroad”. Traditionally, the epistle is attributed to James the brother of Jesus, and the audience is considered generally to be Jewish Christians, who were dispersed outside Israel.
Framing his letter within an overall theme of patient perseverance during trials and temptations, James writes in order to encourage his readers to live consistently with what they have learned in Christ. He condemns various sins, including pride, hypocrisy, favouritism, and slander. He encourages and implores believers to live humbly by godly, rather than worldly, wisdom; he encourages prayer in all situations.
Martin Luther considered the epistle to be among the disputed books because his teaching of salvation only by faith is somewhat undermined by James’ theology. Luther sidelined it to an appendix, although he cited it in his Large Catechism. Of course, Luther’s views were a propaganda gift to Catholics who felt it rather undermined his views on the supremacy of Scripture!
The epistle aims to reach a wide Jewish audience. Many find James a gripping read and a powerful corrective to theologies which underplay the importance of how we live and behave in our Christian discipleship.
Happy reading!
With every good wish
Andy
The Rev’d Andy Braunston
Minister for Digital Worship
Daily Devotion for Saturday 19th October 2024
Psalm 146
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.
Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith for ever;
who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The Lord will reign for ever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!
Reflection
Over the last two weeks we’ve thought about the various facets of our fast changing contemporary society with mass movements of people, untrustworthy sources of news, financial upheaval coupled with increasing job insecurity. No wonder that people turn to politicians with easy answers which pit us against each other as a distraction from those who cause the problems in the first place! People vote in all sorts of ways for all sorts of reasons; and the Church has, over the centuries, had to cope with all sorts of governments of all sorts of ideologies.
Our distinctive contribution as Christians, however, is rather more basic. Our Psalmist today warns us not to put our trust in mortal rulers who will, like us, one day head for the grave. Instead, we are told to trust in God. I think this is the basis behind Jesus’ admonition to Pilate that His Kingdom is not of this world; not that we should divorce ourselves from a world heading to Hell but that, as Paul VI once wrote, every political ideology no matter how close it might be portrayed to Christian values, has within itself the seeds of its own destruction unless it is an articulation of Jesus’ good news.
As the Psalmist notes God sets prisoners free, gives sight to the blind, lifts the oppressed, loves the righteous watches over strangers, and upholds the rights of those on the edge. These other worldly values are ones we might wish to see in our politicians and we can rejoice when their policies seem to come close to these things. We always remember, however, not to place our trust in mortals “in whom there is no help” but instead trust only in God, our rock and redeemer.
Such trust is the only sure way to navigate the difficult times in which we live and reject the siren voices that tempt us to despair.
Prayer
God, our guide,
calm our anxieties,
strengthen our resolve,
and increase our trust in You,
that we may no longer put our trust in mortals,
who offer nothing but division and discord,
that we may proclaim and welcome
Your coming Kingdom,
Amen.
Daily Devotion for Friday 18th October 2024
Philippians 3:17 – 21
Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation so that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.
Reflection
When the Church becomes too close to the realms and regimes, ideas and ideologies of the State, corruption sets in.
In Henry VIII’s England, Parliament declared him “Head of the Church” and went on to regulate worship and seize Church land against resistance that ultimately came to little. In 1930s Germany the “German Christians” won power in church elections and sought to accommodate Christianity with Nazism. Those who tried to stay faithful to the Gospel adopted the Barmann Declaration which proclaimed the Church’s freedom in Jesus Christ who is Lord of every area of life. As God’s Word, Jesus determines the Church’s order, ministry, and relationship to the state; the Church was not to be a mere State agency. It was heady stuff but allowed faithful Christians to organise and avoid Nazi corruption. This declaration inspired contemporary Orthodox theologians to condemn the “Russian World” teaching prevalent in some sections of Russian Orthodoxy. This teaching includes ideas such as the nations of Ukraine and Belarus are not legitimate (and should be seen as extensions of Russia), that the Church is the soul of the nation and so intimately bound up with it, and subordinates Christian faith to national interests.
Attempts to blur the boundaries between our earthly and heavenly citizenship always end badly – whether that’s the upheaval of the Reformation era, Nazi attempts to subjugate the Church, or Russian attempts to baptise imperial ideology. Paul reminds us, in an age where Roman citizenship was prized and valuable, that the only citizenship we should care about is that of Heaven.
Henry Tudor is mere dust in his grand grave, the German Christians did not succeed in their demonic despotism and, one day, Kirill and his perversion of Orthodoxy will stand condemned as will all attempts to make the Church a useful idiot. Above it all stands Christ, the Lord who calls us to follow him rejecting all that corrupts the Gospel and offering us hope and guidance in difficult times.
Prayer
God our Guide,
remind us always of our true heavenly citizenship,
that the values of Your coming Kingdom,
will help us be better citizens of our earthly realms,
and more faithful disciples. Amen.
Daily Devotion for Thursday 17th October 2024
Thursday 17 October 2024
Reflections on Difficult Times 10 – My Kingdom is Not of This World
St John 18: 28-37
Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to them and said, ‘What accusation do you bring against this man?’ They answered, ‘If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.’ The Jews replied, ‘We are not permitted to put anyone to death.’ (This was to fulfil what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.) Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’ Pilate replied, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?’ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’ Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’
Reflection
The temptation to power, explored yesterday, means that the Church has, for most of its history, put aside Jesus’ Kingdom values. There’s a tension here – of course we want to work for a better world, where the homeless are housed, the sick healed, the poor enriched, the outsiders and strangers welcomed. These are all political imperatives which concern God’s Kingdom and the State. There’s a difference, however, between taking the values and priorities of the Kingdom and yearning for political power.
Mediaeval popes proclaimed themselves with ever more grand titles and held land known as the papal states. Late 19th and early 20th century popes sulked when these states were incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy. Luther needed Protestant princes to safeguard the freedom of his followers (and the suppression of those who continued as Catholics). Zwingli died in battle – an odd way for a pastor to end his days showing a questionable allegiance to values of God’s Kingdom!
A growing critique of American evangelicalism – from within that movement* – is about how political power has become the prime goal. The offer of policies, and judges, which appeal to some Christians around abortion, immigration, and lgbt issues has trumped the moral failings of those who offer these inducements. Instead of seeing proclamation, service, and persuasion as the Church’s mission, sections of the Church have become corrupt seeking to win a culture war. These folk are useful to the political leaders who feed them their red meat but there’s no happy marriage in the pursuit of political power.
At the supreme moment of crisis and temptation Jesus offers Pilate hard words. With some defiant self confidence Jesus told Pilate what’s what. If He had been interested in political power a mob could have been raised, angels dragooned, and the Romans defeated.
Yet, for Jesus, power is seen in weakness, strength in service, faithfulness in care. Can it be those things for the Church too?
Prayer
Lord Jesus,
crowned not with gold but thorns,
enthroned not in glorious state but on a shameful cross,
inspire Your people to use power wisely;
enable Your Church to see power in weakness
and give up the desire to rule.
Amen.
Daily Devotion for Wednesday 16th October 2024
St Luke 4: 1 – 13
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.”’
Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,
“Worship the Lord your God,and serve only him.”’
Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you”,
and
“On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”’
Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Reflection
Sadly the Church, unlike Jesus, hasn’t resisted temptation. It’s understandable really. An emperor came along winning a battle through, he bizarrely believed, Christ’s help and suddenly Christianity was decriminalised. People came in droves seeking baptism to curry favour with the new regime. The emperor cast his lot with this new religion to replace Rome’s old tired gods. But there was a heavy price for this partnership; the emperor meddled in Church affairs; the Church found it had to guard its tongue.
Some may look back at Constantine’s patronage of the Church as a good thing, ensuring our survival down the centuries. Our privileged place at the heart of European civilisation means that, at least, our culture is influenced by the Gospel. Others may look at the compromises which blunted our message as ecclesiastical mouths were stuffed with gold, prophets silenced, and power concentrated in the families who ended up running both Church and state.
Even now we seek to try to cling on to the trappings of power and influence. The Church continues to be tempted to support politicians who use us; Mr Trump in America, Mde Le Pen in France, Mr Orbán in Hungary. One suspects the Jesus revealed in the Gospels would have harsh things to say about both our political leaders and the compromises we make with them.
What, I wonder, would our history have been if we’d declined Constantine’s offer? What if we’d wished him well but kept on with the simple task of proclaiming the Gospel. What if we’d founded small communities which sought nothing more than to worship God through working for the greater good? What if we’d rejected power? Of course this is where we are now – or if not quite there approaching it at speed.
The Faustian pact with the State has not given us what was dreamt of; only from the edge can we see, critique, and tend the world as Jesus does.
Prayer
Table-turning God,
guard us when we are tempted to accept power and glory in Your name,
remind us that the devil’s tools will not build the Kingdom,
You do not bless battles,
and the last and least need Your love, protection, and care,
Amen.
Daily Devotion for Tuesday 15th October 2024
St John 18: 38
Pilate asked Jesus, ‘What is truth?’
Reflection
When I was a child there were fewer sources of news. Just three TV channels – and I’m pretty sure BBC2 didn’t have an early evening news programme. More people read newspapers whose ideologies were memorably satirised by the TV comedy Yes Minister. Fewer read newspapers now and, whilst we have a multitude of TV channels, more and more get their news from social media or TV channels which don’t attempt to be neutral. This can be seen particularly in America where news stations are often partisan in their presentation of politics and even spread, what Mr Trump’s former Press Secretary called, “alternative facts”. These included false numbers attending Mr Trump’s inauguration, stories of faulty voting machines, and a stolen election. These lies led to the insurrection at the US Congress on January 6th 2021 by a mob seeking to overthrow democracy. This summer social media feeds, and some politicians, stoked false news stories which were seen to incite others to riot in England and Northern Ireland. Pilate’s question “What is truth?” rings down the ages.
Truth telling is a hallmark of Christian faith and ethics yet can be incredibly difficult. In an age where people are wedded to conspiracy theories, it’s hard to stand carefully and faithfully for the truth. In an era where institutions are trusted less than ever before, and where the Church’s lies about abuse have been exposed, we may not be seen as the first port of call for truth telling. Yet this shouldn’t stop us trying.
Truth telling takes many forms: reigning in preachers’ stories, exploring different ways truth is made manifest in Scripture, and being honest about our own struggles and failures are amongst them. Truth telling starts in our daily lives, should be seen in our churches, and when we dare to speak to power.
Truth telling leads to trust which our society needs if it is to flourish again.
Prayer
Truth telling God,
help us to recognise and expose lies,
the ones we tell ourselves,
the ones we hear in church,
the ones which infect our news,
that though the gentle telling of truth,
our world might be saved, Amen.
Daily Devotion for Monday 14th October 2024
Monday 14 October 2024
Reflections on Difficult Times 7 – Neither Jew nor Gentile
Galatians 3: 27 – 28
As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.
Reflection
We each have many identities – they make us who we are, and are part of creation’s rich diversity and reflect the very image of God within us. We perceive the world, and our part in it, through those identities even if they involve risk or evoke hatred. In the West the civil rights won, for various social groups, since the 1960s are contested: easier divorce, fairly free access to abortion, decriminalisation of homosexuality, an equal age of consent, the right to legally change one’s gender, the right to marry, alongside anti discrimination legislation, which protects those who are ethnically minoritised, and a range of laws to safeguard women have transformed society. In recent years, however, these hard won rights have been threatened with movements headed by Vladimir Putin, Patriarch Kirill, Herbert Kickl, Victor Orbán, Nigel Farage, Marine Le Pen, and Donald Trump showing varying degrees of hostility to some or all of these changes.
Many in the churches see the undermining of hard won rights as being central to their view of being faithful. Patriarch Kirill, for example, has condemned Pope Francis for his stance on the blessings of same sex couples, compared marriage equality to laws enacted in Nazi Germany, and condemned moves to criminalise domestic violence in Russia.
In Paul’s writing today we see an important part of baptismal theology; distinctions around social status, identity, ethnicity, or sex were all secondary to the primary one of being in Christ. We might add any number of other identities which we recognise in our world. Paul’s words do not minimise those other identities which find their completion and fulfilment in Christ. Our primary, Christian, identity should inform all the others – and those other identities should inform what it is for us to be Christian. Our many identities entwine in symbiotic relationships with each other and shouldn’t be feared as they provide a way to discuss the richness and diversity of our world, our faith, our church and God’s own self.
Prayer
Labouring God, Almighty One,
Merciful and Faithful Protector of Your people,
fierce Mother Bear, Loving Father running to welcome the estranged,
tender teaching Mother Eagle, firm Rock on which we stand,
like a long suffering Spouse You embrace us as Your own
in our various identities and journeys.
Help us to see the diversity of Your creation
as a reflection of Your own nature. Amen.
Sunday Worship 13 October 2024
For each of these days we bring our thanks, knowing and trusting that God has been with us. As we worship we celebrate that God is with us each and every day. God is with us now.
Hymn New Every Morning is the Love
John Keeble 1822 Public Domain sung by the choir of St John the Divine, Horninglow, Burton on Trent.
New every morning is the love
our wakening & uprising prove;
through sleep & darkness safely brought,
restored to life & power & thought.
New mercies, each returning day,
hover around us while we pray;
new perils past, new sins forgiven,
new thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven.
If on our daily course our mind
be set to hallow all we find,
new treasures still, of countless price,
God will provide for sacrifice.
The trivial round, the common task,
will furnish all we need to ask,
room to deny ourselves,
a road to bring us daily nearer God.
Only, O Lord, in thy dear love
fit us for perfect rest above;
and help us, this and every day,
to live more nearly as we pray.
Prayers of Approach, Confession and Assurance of Pardon
Gracious God, new every morning is your love for us. In our waking and rising we are gifted a new day to experience and share that love with those we meet. Help us to look at each day with fresh eyes which are eager to see the intricacy of your creation, eager to discern the image of the divine in person we meet, eager to acknowledge the action of the Spirit in simple acts of kindness shared between people.
Your love is all embracing, Creating and compassionate God. It is gentle yet strong, it is comforting and brings us reassurance but sometimes your love is difficult too, for you speak words of challenge, uncovering those things we do not want to hear. You call us to account when we fail to love you and our neighbour, you call us to account when in our carelessness we use words which harm or belittle, you call us to account when we place ourselves at the centre of our world and forget our connectedness with others.
We recognise our failings and our need to be forgiven by you and those whom we have failed. In your reconciling love you welcome us within your household and give us the opportunity to continue upon the journey of faith, each day trusting in your love and presence with us and for this we bring our thanks. As we worship, hear us as we pray… Our Father…
Prayer of Illumination
Come Holy Spirit we pray, open our ears to hear, our minds to understand, and our hearts to love. May our living reflect your dwelling within us, enabling us to be people of love, joy, hope and peace. Amen.
Reading Amos 5.6-7,10-15
Seek the LORD and live, or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it. Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the ground! They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth. Therefore, because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate. Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time. Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Hymn Lord, You Have Always Been Our Home. (Psalm 90)
© Church Hymnary Trust administered by SCM Canterbury Press Scottish Festival Singers, Ian McCrorie (Conductor), John Langdon (Organ) used with permission.
Lord, you have always been our home
through every generation known;
before the hills or earth were made
you are the eternal God alone.
From dust we came, to dust return,
for in your clear eternal sight
a thousand years pass as a day
or as a few hours in the night.
Our lives like grass spring from the ground
& flourish in the morning sun;
then evening comes, & brightness fades
& we & all our strength are done.
Teach us to value life’s brief span,
and let our minds be truly wise.
‘How long, O Lord, till you return?’
In mercy hear your servant’s cries.
At each day’s dawning, make us glad;
fill us with your love all our days;
and we will sing aloud for joy
and offer you our lifelong praise.
Reading St Mark 10.17-31
As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.”’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’ Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’
Hymn Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God
Karen Lafferty © 1972 Cccm Music (ASCAP) Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) sung by Emmaus Music and used with their kind permission. OneLicence # A-734713
Seek ye first the Kingdom of God
and His righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Allelu, Alleluia!
Alleluia, Alleluia.
Alleluia. Allelu Alleluia!
Ask and it shall be given unto you;
Seek, and you shall find.
Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Allelu, Alleluia!
Alleluia, Alleluia.
Alleluia. Allelu Alleluia!
We shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word
that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Allelu, Alleluia!
Alleluia, Alleluia.
Alleluia. Allelu Alleluia!
Sermon
It is easy to read our Gospel reading from Mark and focus upon it as an attack against people with money, and has often been used in that way. However a bit of background to the story, may lead us to think that some of the ideas about Jesus that we hold were not actually the case. Jesus and his disciples were far from poor. Jesus himself came from what today we might call a middle-class family, running its own building business at a time when the construction trade was booming in Galilee, with the construction of two significant cities, Tiberias and Sepphoris, not far from Nazareth. The disciples likewise: the inner core of fishermen had enough employees to sustain their fishing business even while they were spending time out with Jesus. So the instruction to this particular individual must have been specific to his personal circumstance rather than a blanket statement about money as such. The key which unlocks the passage for me is Jesus words about ‘the kingdom of God’ – a term helpfully described by Ian Fraser, founder of the Iona Community as ‘God’s way of doing things’. So using his phrase Jesus statement in this instance is ‘How hard it will be for rich people to enter into God’s way of doing things?’ And that is exactly what the rich young man in the story discovered.
Unlike the Pharisees and teachers of the law who seem to be always out to trick Jesus, this young man had come genuinely looking for answers. He bows before Jesus, addresses him as ‘good teacher’ and asks what he must do to receive eternal life. Jesus reminds the young man of the commandments and the man replies, ‘ever since I was young I have obeyed all these commandments.’ Then Jesus looked at him with love, not with condemnation, or pity, but love and tells him ‘ you need only one thing. Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven, then come and follow me.’ When the man heard this gloom spread over his face and he went away sad, because he was very rich. We are left to draw the conclusion that the young man places more value in his material wealth than in following Jesus and so it was hard for him to enter into God’s way of doing things.
When the young man has left, Jesus and his disciples continue the conversation. The disciples are shocked, perhaps not surprising if we remember that they were quite comfortably off themselves, but also because there was a generally held view in Judaism that the blessings of wealth were an indicator of God’s favour towards someone. The subsequent mention of the eye of the needle has given rise to much discussion, for how could a camel ever possibly pass through such a small opening? Isn’t that indeed suggesting that it is not just difficult for a rich person to embrace God’s way of doing things, but totally impossible? One popular explanation is that ‘the eye of a needle’ referred to a small gate in the city walls through which a camel could only pass by getting onto its knees and having its load removed. Unfortunately, there is no evidence of the existence of such a gate – and a more likely explanation is to be found again in the oral nature of the stories that Mark tells. The Aramaic word for ‘rope’ when translated into Greek becomes kamilos, can sound remarkably similar to the Greek word for ‘camel’, kamelos. Did Jesus say that a thick rope could only pass through the eye of a needle with great difficulty? It would need to be unravelled first into its component strands before it could get through a small opening like the eye of a needle.
This continues into a conversation about salvation, as the disciples ask, ‘who then can be saved?’ Jesus words suggest to them that no one can be saved, there is nothing anyone can do to ensure their salvation. And Jesus agrees that it is impossible for people to earn their own salvation but that everything is possible for God. Peter, so often the spokesperson for the group of disciples, continues, what about us? – we have given up everything to be with you Jesus. Does he speak with an air of confidence or with a hint of fear? Jesus indicates that those who leave home and family and livelihood for him and the gospel will receive much more in both this life and in the ages which are to come. And many who are at present considered first will be last and the last will be first.
The call to discipleship is an invitation to unravel the way we see things, even family and home and livelihood, and that will often involve reassessing the value we give to things, or situations or people or relationships as we begin to see the world and its people through God’s eyes, through God’s way of doing things, thinking about what we value and why it is important to us.
Like the rich young man this is a question we need to ask ourselves and reflect upon any changes we feel we want to make in our lives as an expression of our discipleship, but it is also a question I invite congregations to think about. As I have begun this ministry as a Synod Moderator one of things I have enjoyed most is being out and about across the Synod, visiting congregations or meeting with Elders. One of the questions I try and remember to ask people is what do you value about being part of this community of faith? And we have been sharing some of those responses and good news stories on our social media. People have spoken about the value of worship, about the value of friendship, of the value of knowing they are part of the wider body of Christ, the value of being people who try and see God’s way of doing things and playing their part in that.
I think Amos is saying something similar to the people of his day. The passage we heard is a funeral dirge, there seems no hope for the people, only death and yet God’s way of doing things offers an alternative, ‘Seek me and live…..Seek good and not evil that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good, maintain justice in the courts.’
Here is a clear indication of God’s way of doing things, a clear instruction to the people of Amos day and our own of how to ensure that God is with us. As we reflect upon what it is we value do we see that we are actively hating evil, loving what is good and maintaining justice. What does that look like in your life, in your faith community and in our world?
This is the Sunday which falls in Challenge Poverty Week in Scotland and is the day before Challenge Poverty Week starts in England and Wales. Perhaps there are events and activities taking place in your community to highlight this? The issue of poverty was a major concern of the churches during the General Election campaign and perhaps you have joined the Let’s End Poverty Now movement. Another of the things I am pleased to do as the Synod Moderator is to be able to sign statements on behalf of the Synod. During the election campaign the Synod, along with the whole United Reformed Church and other Synods, the Trussell Trust, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and over 200 churches and organisations wrote an open letter to both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer calling on them to make poverty eradication a central issue for whoever formed the next government. The statistics gathered by the Joseph Rowntree Foundaton are shocking:
God’s way of doing things means that no one should be going without essentials in our communities, no one should be reliant on a food or clothing bank, no one should be limited in the number of times they wash because of the cost of heating the water. Many of our churches and members of our churches are involved in local initiatives to alleviate poverty, offering practical love of neighbours whoever they may be. I also firmly believe that we need to be involved in the advocacy work too, holding those we have elected to account for the promises they made to us whilst campaigning and making it known to them the values we hold and how we want to see those values in action as communities work together and with their elected representatives to alleviate and eradicate poverty in our society as a significant way in which we hate evil, love what is good and maintain justice. Perhaps this Challenge Poverty Week you could contact you new Member of Parliament and share your thoughts on poverty with them or invite them to come and have a conversation about poverty in your community?
The story of the rich young man reminds me about the need to unravel my life at times. To separate the strands and pay attention to the values I hold, to see how in my living and discipleship I am living out the values that God says are God’s way of doing things, to be reminded of the challenge but also the encouragement of Amos, ‘Seek good and not evil that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good, maintain justice in the courts.’ May it be so. Amen.
Hymn Sent by the Lord am I
Jorge Maldonado, John Bell Tune: Arrangement John L. Bell, © 1991 WGRG, Iona Community, GIA Publications, Inc. One Licence Sung by the St Michael’s Chiswick Virtual Choir.
Sent by the Lord am I; my hands are ready now
to make the earth the place in which the kingdom comes.
Sent by the Lord am I; my hands are ready now
to make the earth the place in which the kingdom comes.
The angels cannot change a world of hurt and pain
into a world of love, of justice and of peace.
The task is mine to do, to set it really free.
Oh, help me to obey; help me to do Your will.
Sent by the Lord am I; my hands are ready now
to make the earth the place in which the kingdom comes.
Sent by the Lord am I; my hands are ready now
to make the earth the place in which the kingdom comes.
The angels cannot change a world of hurt and pain
into a world of love, of justice and of peace.
The task is mine to do, to set it really free.
Oh, help me to obey; help me to do Your will.
Affirmation of Faith
We belong to the creator, in whose image we are all made,
in God we are breathing, in God we are living,
in God we share the life of all creation.
We belong to Jesus Christ the true image of God and of humanity,
in him God is breathing, in him God is living,
through him we are reconciled.
We belong to the Holy Spirit who gives us new life
and strengthens our faith.
In the Spirit love is breathing, in the Spirit truth is living,
the breath of God always moves us.
We belong to the Holy Trinity,
who is one in all and Three-in-One,
in God we are all made, in God we are all saved,
in the Spirit we are all united. Amen.
Intercessions
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:52–53)
God who is just, in a world where the rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer, we know that your way of doing things is not being fulfilled. Renew us, inspire us, teach us how to live out our calling. We will seek out those laid low by greed and capitalism, and we will lift them before you. We will fill the hungry with good things and help those with money and resources to use them for the good of all.
Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise. (Luke 3:11)
In a world where tax havens are seen as legitimate and where millions go hungry, we long to build communities where resources are shared. Help us make sure that our churches and projects are places that empower and build up resistance to oppression. Help those with money and gifts to share, use them wisely and generously.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. (Luke 4.18-19)
If our church services and our prayers are not about bringing good news to the poor, then let us repent and start over. Jesus begins his ministry with the call to bring joy and freedom to those who need it most. Let our faith and our churches be led by that same spirit.
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.” (Luke 6:20–21)
God of compassion may those who have gone without know what your way of doing things should be like. Let those who have suffered guide our worship and our discipleship. Let those who are refugees teach us about welcome, let those who are homeless teach us about generosity, let children teach us about hope and joy. Let those who have been imprisoned teach us about being free. Let us turn this world’s expectations upside down.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:37)
Let us learn not to judge others, but to love them as they are. Let us learn not to condemn others but to embrace them. Let us learn to forgive, and forgive again, so we may be free from the wounds of vengeance and anger.
Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:19–20)
God who makes all things new, you teach us to share, to love, to reach out to those in need and to be alongside the vulnerable. You teach us to be sacrificial, believing that even if the journey is hard and brings death to old customs – there will always be new life in you. Amen
Offertory
Loving God, you have given us more good things than we need. Help us to share them with those who have less. Help us to be generous in giving.
Gracious God, from you comes every good gift and so this day we bring our offerings of money, together with our time, talents and energy and offer these as an expression of our thanks for all that we have received. We ask that you bless each gift, so that they may become channels of your grace and a means of sharing your love for the people of our own communities and the wider world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Hymn Look Forward in Faith
© Andrew J. Scobie 2005 sung by the congregation of Dalgety Parish Church and used with their kind permission.
Look forward in faith, all time is in God’s hand.
Walk humbly with him and trust his future plan.
God has wisely led his people by his power.
Look forward in hope, he gives us each new hour.
Look forward in faith, the world is in God’s care.
His purpose of love he calls on us to share.
In our neighbour’s need the Lord is present still.
He blesses the meek! The earth will know God’s will.
Look forward in faith, God gives us life each day.
Go onward with Christ, his Spirit guides our way.
Now God lets us live within the sphere of grace.
Trust ever in him, he rules o’er earth and space!
Benediction
Teach us O God to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
May we begin each day with hope, and end each day with gratitude.
May we offer compassion and be mindful of your blessings towards us.
May we be people of peace and may we know your presence with us as we work for your Kingdom to come.
And as this time of worship draws to a close
may the blessing of God, who is known to us as
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
be with us now and remain with us always. Amen.
Daily Devotion for Saturday 12th October 2024
Saturday 12 October 2024
Reflections on Difficult Times 6 – The aliens in the Land
Genesis 15:13
Then the Lord said to Abram, ‘Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years;
Leviticus 19:34
The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Reflection
In 2019 I went to Sicily to explore how various sections of the Italian Church were responding to the migration crisis. Along with other participants, I was invited to craft prayers which were later published. We saw impounded, hardly seaworthy, boats which desperate people had used to travel; we saw many graves too. We met people funded by the Waldensian Church who help migrants establish new lives. We saw glimpses of a reaction against this too: a Mussolini themed wall calendar, a growing right wing seeking to change policy, naval vessels pushing sinking ships outside territorial waters, and unjust deals with north African governments. I was reminded of these things last week when Mr Starmer held talks with the Italian premier to discuss what he could learn.
A Catholic priest told of reactions to his ministry with migrants. Whilst younger congregants were hostile, older members were entirely supportive as they remembered the hostility and racism they encountered as migrant workers in the aftermath of the Second World War. They understood how a ruined economy means people move to survive and encapsulated today’s ancient commandments about dealing well with the “aliens in a land that is not theirs”.
Biblical authors remembered that their people had been migrants and strangers seeking sanctuary just as those old Italians remembered the hardship of their youth. That memory led to the commandment in Leviticus to treat the migrants well.
America, with a high proportion of church goers, imprisoned migrants deliberately separating them from their children who, in the ensuing chaos, have still not been returned to their parents. Hungary, with a Reformed president and prime minister, has barred asylum seekers. The Pope has spoken out, again and again, about inhumane policies at play in Italy. Yet the Church also helps and cares for these “aliens” despite being accused of abetting illegal migration.
Pray today for those on the move, and those who follow these ancient laws to love.
Prayer
You who shepherd the lost and comfort the afflicted,
guide our hands to touch the untouchable,
our ears to listen to the hopeless,
our eyes to see the misery of others,
and our hearts to feel the pain of prisoners.
Empower us to take risks
to be channels of healing and mercy,
so that this world might be a better place.
Amen.