Isaiah 2: 1 – 4

The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
Many peoples shall come and say,
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
    and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
    and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
 He shall judge between the nations,
    and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
    and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war any more.

Reflection

You may wish to click here to listen to Handel’s stirring rendition of some verses from Psalm 2.

Handel’s setting of the opening verses of Psalm 2 both inspires and haunts us; his free working of the Coverdale translation of the Psalms paired with a tune evoking the dreadful energy of battle reminds us of the ways in which the nations still furiously rage together.
 
Yesterday, deploying the same tactics they use in Gaza, the Israelis told many people in Tehran to leave and announced they have mastery in the air.  Until Mr Trump pulls its leash Israel will continue to inflict a dreadful beating on Iran.  This despite the fact the news media report they are willing to talk in return for a ceasefire; a ceasefire Mr Netanyahu has no need of, nor desire for, just yet.  So, the nations continue to rage and folk in Tehran debate moving north or staying put.  A friend living in Tehran tells me he watches the BBC Persian Service via Satellite TV and is weighing his options; what do you do when the safety of home is no longer safe where few places in your country are? 
 
Mr Netanyahu, like millions of Iranians, wants regime change in Iran; I’m not convinced, however, that terror is the best way to change a regime.  In war attitudes harden and an attack on a country gives its leaders a patriotic boost.  Of course, the world’s attention is on Iran and Israel – leaving Mr Netanyahu free to continue his deadly assault on Gaza.  We watch the news feeling horrified and helpless recalling Isaiah’s words wondering if the vision of an Israel at peace is simply a cruel joke or empty delusion.

But for now the nations are determined to learn about war.  Mr Putin’s invasion of Ukraine means Nato countries are increasing their military spending to defend themselves. People are again wondering if the threat of nuclear war is a greater threat to humanity than the climate crisis – a threat which, if realised, would end life as we know it on earth.  We worry, despair, and try to put the news out of our minds turning, instead, to music stations and focus on the minutiae of life as that’s simpler and easier.  The internet, being both a repository of knowledge and a sewer of filth, is full of Christians announcing this latest war is a sign of the end times and a fulfilment of Biblical prophecy – a nice easy way to not have to try and work for peace.  Saner voices urge peace and dialogue, Cardinal Dominique Joseph Mathieu, Archbishop of Tehran-Ispahan urges negotiation and described the situation of Christians in Iran as being “between the cross and hope” where resolution can come only through prayer.

So, today we stand with the Cardinal and Iranian Christians, with the starving people of Gaza and the beleaguered people of Israel, between the Cross and hope.  Jesus is crucified again in His people as the nations rage furiously together and, in their warfare, ignore the suffering Messiah dying silently in His people, praying for peace and reconciliation, rejected by the powerful and insular.   We pray and have hope; a hope not grounded in the machinations of Messers Trump and Netanyahu but in the suffering Lord who longs to rise again in peace.
 
Let’s pray
 
O Most High
the nations rage and fight,
they prepare for war not peace,
and we have no words.
 
Crucified God,
again and again you die in your people,
as the forces of imperial might
   love death not life,
   and hide in the dark instead of seeing the truth in the light,
and we have no words.
 
Most Holy Spirit,
as simple fools we hope for peace,
we long for weapons to be beaten into ploughshares,
for flourishing in Israel, Gaza, and Iran,
and for our words and prayers for peace to be no longer needed. 
Amen.

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered, ‘And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’  Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’  He said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshipped him.  Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgement so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.’  Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’  Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, “We see”, your sin remains.

Reflection

A man born blind, healed by Jesus, now sees everything—including the ugly side of humanity. First, the Pharisees interrogate him like he’s the prime suspect in some bizarre crime: “How dare you be healed on the Sabbath?!” Then his parents throw him under the bus to avoid trouble. And to top it all off, he gets excommunicated! A bad day for most people, but this man gains something far greater: he meets Jesus face-to-face and sees the truth for the first time.

And in other news, the people who think they can see—the Pharisees—are utterly blind to the light standing in front of them. Their spiritual vision is fogged up with pride, fear, and rules. Jesus doesn’t mince words: “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” Ouch.

It’s easy to deride the Pharisees, the Bible seems to encourage it, but let’s pause. How often do we act like we see clearly when really, we’re stumbling in the dark? We cling to our opinions, traditions, and assumptions, convinced we’ve got it all sorted. Meanwhile, Jesus stands before us, patiently waiting to open our eyes.

This passage reminds us that true sight starts with humility—admitting we’re blind without him. The man born blind could’ve walked away after his healing, but he stayed open, curious, ready to see who Jesus really was. And because of that, he gained more than sight; he gained salvation.

So, let’s be brave enough to ask: “Lord, where am I blind? Show me what I need to see.” His light might reveal some uncomfortable truths, but it’ll also lead us into clearer vision and deeper joy.  Seeing clearly begins with surrender. Are we ready to take off the blindfold?

Prayer

Lord Jesus,
You are the light to open blind eyes and soften hard hearts.
Forgive us when we cling to pride and refuse to see.
Humble us, we pray, and reveal the truths we need to embrace,
even when it’s uncomfortable.
Give us eyes to see your grace,
courage to follow your light,
and joy in knowing you more deeply each day.
In your name, the healer of hearts and vision, we pray. Amen.

 
Today’s service is led by the Revd Cara Heafey

 
Welcome

Hello and welcome to today’s worship from the URC.  My name is Cara, I am a minister at Marston and Wheatley United Reformed Churches and part time in the Oxford hospitals.  It’s a pleasure to be worshipping with you today on Trinity Sunday.  Whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.

Call to Worship 

Wisdom is a woman, calling in the street, “Empty or full, you are welcome here! Confused and full of doubt? Make yourself at home. Hungry for justice? Taste and see that God is good. Come, quench your thirst, feed your soul, find your friends! You are all invited.”

Hymn     Come Down O Love Divine
Bianco da Siena; Translator: Richard Frederick Littledale (1867) Public Domain Sung by the virtual choir of the Riverside Church, New York, USA and used with their kind permission.

Come down, O Love divine,
seek thou this soul of mine,
and visit it with your own ardour glowing;
O Comforter, draw near,
within my heart appear,
and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.

O let it freely burn,
till earthly passions turn
to dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
and let thy glorious light
shine ever on my sight,
and clothe me round, the while my path illuming.

And so the yearning strong,
with which the soul will long,
shall far outpass the power of human telling;
for none can guess God’s grace,
till Love create a place
wherein the Holy Spirit makes a dwelling.
 
Prayer of Approach

Creator: parent-God, patient with us, faithful to us,
delighting in what you have made.
We have come here today to worship you. Welcome us into your love.
Jesus: God-made-flesh, weeping with us, walking beside us,
teacher, brother, friend. We have come here today to hear your voice.
Help us to listen and follow.

Spirit: God-in-us, binding our wounds, opening our hearts,
stirring up the best kind of trouble. We have come here today to feel your power. Wake us up to your presence.     
Mystery of Trinity, playfully swirling in Holy dance, calling us to move with your rhythm. Sweep us up into your embrace. Amen.

Prayer of Confession

Three-in-one God, in your very being you are relationship, you are love,
and you long to draw us into community
with one another, with the earth, with you.

We confess that we pull in a different direction.
Your Church is fragmented. Your world is divided.
We have lost sight of our interdependence,
our kinship with the earth and her creatures.

Forgive us and heal us. Repair our brokenness.
Bridge our separateness. May we step into the flow of your self-giving,
life-bringing love. Amen.

Assurance of Grace

God is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love             (Psalm 103:8).
Sisters and Brothers, your sins are forgiven. Be at peace.

Prayer for Illumination

Jesus said to his disciples, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”
(John 16:12-13a)

Come, Spirit of truth. Breathe life into our faith and open our hearts
to receive and be transformed by your word.

Readings     Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?
On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out: ‘To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live.

The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth — when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil. When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.

Hymn     Holy Wisdom Lamp of Learning
Ruth C. Duck, 1995; copyright © 1996 The Pilgrim Press OneLicence A-734713. Sung by Orchard Enterprises Sessional Choir

Holy Wisdom, lamp of learning bless the light that reason lends. 
Teach us judgment as we kindle sparks of thought your Spirit sends. 
Sanctify our search for knowledge and the truth that sets us free. 
Come, illumine mind and spirit joined in deepest unity. 

Vine of truth, in you we flourish; by your grace we learn and grow. 
May the word of Christ among us shape our life, our search to know.
Joined to Christ in living, dying, may we help the Church 
convey witness to the saving gospel, bearing fruit of faith today. 
 
Reading     St John 16:12-15

‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Sermon 

“With the whole Christian Church the United Reformed Church believes in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”

Those are the opening words of the catchily titled Statement Concerning the Nature, Faith and Order of the URC. We profess to believe in God as Trinity, a belief we share with the whole Christian Church. It’s foundational to our faith.

But… I suspect that for many of us, we say the words without thinking about them too much. Because thinking about them makes our brains ache.

How can God be one and three at the same time? How can Jesus be God and also pray to God? Where does the Holy Spirit fit in? And as if all of that isn’t enough to make us dizzy, the Lectionary for today presents us with yet another character – this wisdom-woman from the book of Proverbs. Who is she, and what does she have to do with the Trinity? 

These all seem to me like good questions. Spoiler alert: this sermon may not answer them! My hope and prayer, though, is that it may help us to live with them. To see these questions and others like them not as stumbling blocks or barriers to faith, but as part of a dynamic, growing, living faith.

Let’s take a breath and remind ourselves that all the language we use to describe God is provisional; it cannot contain the fullness of God. God is bigger than our imaginations, bigger than our intellects, bigger than our religion! This should not discourage us from making full use of our imaginations and our intellects and the traditions and wisdom of our faith. But it should encourage us to leave some room for mystery and possibility.

One way of maintaining this posture of openness and humility is to enlarge the vocabulary we use to speak of God. The Bible is rich with names and metaphors, some diverse and surprising, some playful and poetic, many of which have never or rarely made it into our worship and liturgy. God is described as being like a sculptor, like a shepherd, like an eagle, like a fortress, like a husband, like a ferocious mother bear, like a sheltering mother hen. God shows up in the Bible as fire, as a pillar of cloud, as a mighty wind, as three strangers in the desert, as a wrestler who fights dirty, as light and sound and silence.

And in the reading we heard today from the book of Proverbs, we meet the Wisdom of God personified as a woman. She breaks with convention and decorum, shouting in the street with boldness and authority. She describes being present when the world was created, playing like a child, delighting in humanity and being delighted in by God.

How refreshing to hear God’s character described as playful, childlike, joyous, female! Her claim expands those enigmatic verses in Genesis 1: “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness…’ So… in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Gen 1:26-27). Here is another invitation to us to stretch our imaginations and our language when we describe God, finding new names, rediscovering old ones, expanding our hearts and minds in the holy process.

Wisdom’s claim to have been instrumental in creation, and to have existed with God before everything came into being, might sound familiar. That’s because it’s echoed in the prologue to John’s Gospel. The gospel writer makes a strikingly similar claim about Jesus, “He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being” (John 1:2-3). It seems very likely that John is drawing this parallel knowingly and deliberately, pointing towards the Hebrew Scriptures to say that the Word of God, the Wisdom of God, became flesh in the person of Jesus.

This, I imagine, is why we are hearing this passage from Proverbs on Trinity Sunday. It hints that while there is one God, there is a plurality within God. It paves the way for the writer of John’s Gospel to assert that in the human Jesus, God walked among us. And perhaps there are parallels to be found between Wisdom and the Spirit as well. The Spirit who, in Genesis 1, hovers over the face of the waters of the deep and is named using language that, in the Hebrew, is feminine.

These are really big ideas. They may make us feel confused, or uneasy. They may challenge our concept of God. You know what? I think that’s OK. I wonder whether over the millennia the Church has sometimes been too preoccupied with pinning faith down into authorized creeds, establishing and policing “right belief”, constraining and controlling the language we use. God and the Bible continually and inconveniently overspill these limitations.

But that is not to devalue the beauty or truth of the doctrine of the Trinity. It really is foundational to our faith. The concept of God as Trinity gives an amazing picture of God who, in Godself, is love, relationship, equality, diversity, and cooperation. It reveals to us that our faith is designed to be lived out in community. Humans, made in the image of God, are made for love. We participate in the life and mission of God when we form, heal or nurture relationships and when we help and care for one another. God lives, moves and breathes in the spaces between us.

In the passage we heard today from John’s Gospel, Jesus is speaking to his disciples as the time of his death is drawing close. He’s preparing them for the grief and uncertainty to come. He speaks about God the Father and the Spirit of truth as distinct and inseparable from himself. But this is no dispassionate theological treatise. These are words of comfort and promise. He is reassuring his friends that God has not stopped speaking and will not abandon them. Words of hope that resonate today.

The truth we celebrate on Trinity Sunday is not an abstract intellectual exercise, a philosophical puzzle we must solve. It’s a mystery apprehended through experience and lived in relationship. Faith is not an absence of doubt, nor is it static and unchanging. What God requires of us is not a systematic theology but a wholehearted commitment, to love one another and abide in God’s love.

Let’s expand the vocabulary we use to speak of God, finding language that’s spacious and inclusive, playful and creative. Let’s be humble with our theology, open to the idea that we might be wrong, and that God has not finished speaking. Let’s find our security – not in our own certainty – but in God’s unwavering love for us, and God’s promise never to abandon us. And let’s do the work of loving our neighbour and our enemy, repairing relationships, bridging division, welcoming all. God is love, and when we live in love, God lives in us (1 John 4:16). May this be so. 

Hymn     Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty
Reginald Heber (1826) Public Domain. Courtesy of St Andrew’s Cathedral & Choir,  Sydney, Australia

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee,
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea.
Cherubim and seraphim, falling down before thee,
Who was and is and evermore shall be.

Holy, Holy, Holy! Though the darkness hide thee,
Though the sinful human eye thy glory may not see,
Only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
Perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.
 
Affirmation of Faith

We believe that God is bigger 
than our affirmations of faith. 
Creeds and doctrines, 
however carefully, prayerfully, wrought
can neither contain nor tame 
the One who is beyond all names
and greater than our intellects or imaginations can hold.

We believe that God is love.
That God is wonderfully, mysteriously, One and Three.
That God is within and beside and beyond us.

Prayers of Intercession

God who is love,
we weep for a world that’s ravaged by war and greed.
We see the wicked prosper and the innocent suffer.
There is so much that feels broken beyond repair.

(Silence is held)

Merciful one, we commend to your care
the things that are beyond our control.
We ask for your help to step into the work you have entrusted to us.
The work of praying and loving and sharing and lifting up.

God who is community,
we stand amazed at your stubborn belief in human potential,
in our capacity for kindness,
in the possibility that a realm of peace and justice is breaking in.
Where there is distrust and misunderstanding,
let your spirit weave connections.
Teach us to communicate, to cooperate,
to be generous, to see and celebrate the good.   

God who is relationship,
draw us closer to your heart.
Tune our ears to hear your voice.
Help us to live honestly and to love whole-heartedly.
May we find our belonging, our safety and freedom in you.   Amen.

Hymn     We Sing a Love
June Tillman © 1993 Stainer & Bell Ltd. (Admin. Hope Publishing Co.) One Licence A-734713. Sung by the members of Dalgety Parish Church and used with their kind permission.
 
We sing a love that sets all people free,
that blows like wind, that burns like scorching flame,
enfolds the earth, springs up like water clear:
come, living love, live in our hearts today.

We sing a love that seeks another’s good,
that longs to serve and not to count the cost,
a love that, yielding, finds itself made new:
come, caring love, live in our hearts today.

We sing a love, unflinching, 
unafraid to be itself, despite another’s wrath, 
a love that stands alone and undismayed:
come, strengthening love, live in our hearts today.

We sing a love that, wandering, will not rest
until it finds its way, its home, its source,
through joy and sadness pressing on refreshed:
come, pilgrim love, live in our hearts today.

We sing the Holy Spirit, full of love,
who seeks out scars of ancient bitterness,
brings to our wounds the healing grace of Christ:
come, radiant love, live in our hearts today.

Blessing

May the grace of God surround us.
May the peace of God live in us.
May the love of God shine from us,
bringing warmth and light to the world.

And may the blessing of the Trinity,
Source, Saviour and Spirit,
Be yours today and always.
Amen.

inspiration in your inbox Saturday 14 June 2025    St John 9: 13 – 34   They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.  Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, ‘He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.’  Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?’ And they were divided.  So they said again to the blind man, ‘What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’ The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight  and asked them, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’  His parents answered, ‘We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;  but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.’  His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus  to be the Messiah  would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’ So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, ‘Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.’  He answered, ‘I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’  They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’  He answered them, ‘I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?’  Then they reviled him, saying, ‘You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.  We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.’  The man answered, ‘Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.  We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will.  Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.  If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’  They answered him, ‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?’ And they drove him out. Reflection Miracles like this can leave a nasty aftertaste. The correlation between disability and sin and the way that this man seemed to become a pawn in a game thrusting him and his family into the limelight and danger, is hard to process. As a disabled man he seems to be an easy target, a great illustration point, and to be frank the miracle of sight given to him was almost a taunt to the Pharisees. I think that this is really a story about power and fear. The people are terrified of the Pharisees, who have threatened to outcast anyone who supports Jesus as Messiah, from the Synagogue. But the Pharisees are terrified too.  The man who was blind can now see. There’s nothing scarier to the powerful than powerless people finding liberation.  The once blind man now has much more agency and power. So much so that he can be cheeky to the Pharisees, asking if they actually want to be followers of Jesus themselves. And then there’s Jesus. Did he really cause this transfer of power to happen? On the sabbath no less. All of this put them in a bind. How can they retain their position as being closest to God if Jesus keeps usurping it in such ‘offensive’ ways. This makes me think about ‘being woke’. A real issue for the Church, where we are asked to question our own power in relation to others. Is this something from God or from sinners? Some people are terrified of all that is Woke. It potentially liberates others and makes us realise uncomfortable things about ourselves. If you’re not sure what ‘woke’ is, or if you feel we need a ‘war on woke’ why not look up its meaning today and reflect on it with God? Prayer Creator God, power intoxicates; we seek it always. often not aware we have it, we would notice if we lost it. You are all powerful, You made the wind and waves, You give us life and death, but you remind us in Jesus, human, frail and murdered, that worldly power is illusion to our own grandeur. Help us to always have an eye on our power, that we might share it in your name Amen Today’s writer Liz Kam, CRCW, Manchester and Salford Urban Missional partnership 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.

inspiration in your inbox Friday 13 June 2025 St John 9: 1 – 12   As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’  Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We  must work the works of him who sent me  while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’  When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes,  saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.  The neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’  Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’  But they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’  He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.’  They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’ Reflection When I worked on disability rights, I had a colleague who was so face-blind he wouldn’t recognise his wife of many years if he wasn’t expecting to see her.  One way of thinking about this story is that it’s about people not recognising things they don’t expect to see; the disciples expect disability to be a punishment for sin, while the blind man’s neighbours expect him to be begging, and think it must be someone else if he isn’t begging. One of the most useful books I’ve read recently is Daniel Kahneman’s ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’.  He introduces the idea that we have two ways of thinking – System 1 is all about rapid reactions based on recognising patterns we think we’ve seen before, while System 2 is more about dedicated analytical effort.  We rely on those System 1 shortcuts to navigate our daily life – but that they can sometimes lead to the wrong conclusion.  There is a risk that we can be a bit ‘System 1’ when we read the Bible too – we might think we know where the argument is going, and jump to a conclusion, rather than really engaging with the text.  You might have done that today when you read this familiar story. But that’s rarely a good idea with Jesus.  I once heard a wise woman preach that ‘Blessed are the cheesemakers’ was just the sort of surprising thing Jesus tended to say, discombobulating those who thought they had things worked out.  As I come back to this story I pause on him saying that the man “was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him”.  He is surely not saying that the man endured years of poverty and exclusion just to be a sermon illustration for Jesus; alternatively, what would it mean for us if we consider that our imperfections enable God’s works to be revealed – rather than the things we are proud of? Prayer Surprising God, when we are tempted to rush to conclusions, help us to slow down. When we think there is nothing new under the sun, open our closed minds. When we feel there is no time to listen for your voice, remind us that that is when we most need to pray. And may our openness to being surprised help us to show your glory to the world. Amen

Today’s writer Gordon Woods, Elder, St. Columba’s URC, Oxford 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.

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples;  and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’  They answered him, ‘We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, “You will be made free”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.  The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there for ever.  So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word.  I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.’

Reflection

Referring back to Jenny Mills’ reference two days ago of the options of splashing like a child in John’s Gospel or swimming in it like an elephant, two streams of thoughts come to me when I read this text this time. 

Firstly, in reference to Jesus’ challengers insisting on their descent from Abraham, and being free-born (even if living under Roman occupation), my child-splashing instinct is to see them as simply struggling with feeling that Jesus’ teaching is too much at odds with their understanding. He is too radical, too revolutionary, too strange. 
How many church folk feel similarly uncomfortable when a new church leader does things differently and not the way we are used to worshipping? 

Conversely, having recently read Trevor Dennis’ ‘The Christmas Stories’ (a deep-dive, elephant-swimming extravaganza) where he suggests John has a theme running throughout his (Nativity-lacking) narrative of awareness that Jesus’ birth was known to be illegitimate … and that is why the crowd are insisting on their true legitimacy (and therefore rejecting anything Jesus might say)? How many of us might similarly reject something said by someone because we are aware of their (possibly dodgy) roots?

Secondly, my focus switches to the line about knowing the truth and the truth making us free. The simple (possibly simplistic?) interpretation is to child-slashingly accept that all that is recorded as said by Jesus equals truth and we should accept it and blindly follow it. Ah, but the elephant-swimming approach is to acknowledge that we have been given brains by God and are intended to think, reflect and consider … and to acknowledge the deep and meaningful truths that lie within the truths that Jesus preaches. 

That thinking, reflecting, considering and studying, I would suggest, might take a lifetime? 

I don’t know about you, but my instinct is to give it a go!

Prayer

Lord, we are frequently tempted 
to jump to our conclusions too quickly, 
based upon our inherent, deep-held beliefs. 
Our prejudices even? 
Guide us to look deeper, 
to listen properly, 
to explore thoroughly 
and finally to embrace the truth … 
your Truth. 
The Truth that can and will set us free. Amen 

St John 8: 21 – 30

Again Jesus said to them, ‘I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.’  Then the Jews said, ‘Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, “Where I am going, you cannot come”?’  He said to them, ‘You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.  I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.’  They said to him, ‘Who are you?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Why do I speak to you at all?  I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.’  They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father.  So Jesus said, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he,  and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me.  And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.’  As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

Reflection

There is much that is unfamiliar to us in John’s Gospel – this passage being one I suspect – as we don’t read it in the three year cycle of Sunday readings.  Instead pieces of the Gospel are interspersed at differing points in the year so we get some edited highlights.  It’s clear that this passage wasn’t one that found favour with the Lectionary’s editors as it seems so unfamiliar.  Jesus is being difficult speaking in riddles and being rather rude “Who are you?…Why do I speak to you at all?”  He’d not have won a post in the diplomatic corps!  

Yet maybe diplomacy isn’t always the right approach.  Maybe the Church needs to do more of what the Americans call “speaking truth to power”.  In the, fictional, American political drama The West Wing, President Bartlett, on a good day, wanted people to tell him the truth, to stand up to him, and tell him when he was wrong.  On a bad day, of course, he found this difficult.  One of the many things I admired about Pope Francis was his willingness to speak the truth even when that made him unpopular – he was particularly good at telling the Church things that made it uncomfortable – famously chiding that Jesus is knocking on the Church’s door demanding to be let out and engage in mission.  He wrote to the American bishops telling them, in no uncertain terms, to care for the migrant in the face of Mr Trump’s vicious assaults upon them.  Mr Trump, like so many in our contemporary society, didn’t want to listen.  We can imagine Pope Francis saying “Why do I speak to you at all?”

Yet we are called, like Jesus, to tell the truth – first to ourselves and then to the world.  Pray that both we and they will listen.

Prayer

Difficult God,
tell us the truth about ourselves.
Truth-telling God,
help us to tell the truth to our world.
Discipling God,
help us to truthfully follow where You lead.
Amen.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’  Then the Pharisees said to him, ‘You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.’  Jesus answered, ‘Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.  You judge by human standards; I judge no one.  Yet even if I do judge, my judgement is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.  In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid.  I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.’  Then they said to him, ‘Where is your Father?’ Jesus answered, ‘You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.’  He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

Reflection

The late Revd John Slow used to tell me: ‘The Gospel according to John – a child can paddle in it and an elephant can swim in it’. When we find ourselves faced with such texts as we have today, we can take what we can from the surface meaning of it or we can delve deeper and discover more than we can ever imagine, about the text and about ourselves.

I encounter this text from a privileged place. I am white, straight, have had a good education, have shelter, food and freedom, have never really been oppressed and, whilst I have faced some sexual discrimination, it has not severely limited my opportunities.

The image of light has been used by many to demonstrate good or right. However, we need to take care that the implication is not that darkness or lack of light is bad or wrong. Questioning our use of words and metaphors is important in order to not exclude or ‘other’.

We also have Jesus responding to the words of the Pharisees who are trying to condemn him, and it is easy to make a sweeping generalisation here that ‘all Pharisees are bad’ or label a group of people as wrong. Coming from a place of privilege it is easy to judge or deride others.

The issue I have as a member of a privileged majority, is that there are times when I am not even aware that I am behaving in a way that is prejudicial or judgmental, such is my social conditioning. What is required of me is to educate myself and hopefully people feel able to call me out, to gently nudge me or challenge my words or actions. I appreciate that it is not easy to do, but without such interactions I will never change.

Reading, reflecting, listening and discerning, these things help us to see life at different levels and to change and grow. 

Prayer

Gracious God,
we give you thanks for Scripture which inspires, challenges and confronts us; 
for words which comfort and encourage us 
and which help us to think, reason, and grow in faith. 
Your word helps us to be more faithful disciples, 
to face hard things and to make sense of who we are 
in relation to You, your world and others. 
Give us humility, peace, grace, and love as we journey on. Amen. 

 
Today’s service is led by the Revd Dr Elaine Colechin

 
Words of Scripture

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Acts 2:1-4 

Hymn     There’s a Spirit In The Air    
Brian Wren © 1979 Hope Publishing Company OneLicence A-734713. Gareth Moore | Isle of Man Methodist Church

There’s a spirit in the air, 
telling Christians everywhere:
“Praise the love that Christ revealed,
living, working in our world!”

Lose your shyness, find your tongue,
tell the world what God has done:
God in Christ has come to stay.
Live tomorrow’s life today!

When believers break the bread,
when a hungry child is fed,
praise the love that Christ revealed,
living, working in our world.

Still the Spirit gives us light,
seeing wrong and setting right:
God in Christ has come to stay.
Live tomorrow’s life today!

When a stranger’s not alone,
where the homeless find a home,
praise the love that Christ revealed,
living, working in our world.

May the Spirit fill our praise,
guide our thoughts 
and change our ways.
God in Christ has come to stay.
Live tomorrow’s life today!

There’s a Spirit in the air,
calling people everywhere:
praise the love that Christ revealed,
living, working in our world.
 
Prayer of Invocation

O renewing, strengthening, uniting Spirit,
blow through your people this day.
Excite hearts, open eyes and ears, so that your grace, love and mercy—
made real through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection—
can be spread across the world.
For all of creation is yours and all of creation should have the knowledge
to worship you, now and always. Amen

Welcome and Introduction

Grace and peace to you on this momentous day in the Church. I am the Revd Dr Elaine Colechin, and I am the current minister of Bromley United Reformed Church—a church that has at its heart community and celebrating its diversity. It is a church where, within its building’s walls, the joys and tensions of difference sit hand-in-hand, and how we make everyone feel welcome is a daily challenge. Despite what at times feels like hourly trials, it is an honour to serve and be a part of a community that brings people, from all walks of life, together because God loves everyone and turns no one away.

When a community is multi-faceted yet has a common task or aim how do you achieve it? There is the option of trying to make everyone alike. Our Old Testament reading today shines a light on what can be achieved when there are no hinderances to communication or understanding. Yet, the beauty of this world is not in its likeness. It is in its variety and diversity. Therefore, it is through difference that any aim or task is achieved. A community is built on celebrating and using the assortment of gifts within it. It is effective when it seeks to understand each part and to help each part understand each other and work together.

At Bromley United Reformed Church, we have a large vestibule that during the week is the home of a café. However, it is not staffed by church members. It is staffed and run by young people who are neurodiverse. They welcome the homeless of Bromley and the old and lonely. They make coffee for the busy parent and slices of toast for the bus driver on a break. They are observant and caring. They have become an essential part of the church, because they have helped us engage with the world differently. They have become an important part of the church, as they have found a place where the world does not treat them as different but as valued for their many skills and talents.
As the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples, the vestibule of Bromley United Reformed Church was possibly not what they envisioned. Yet, it offers a glimpse of what the church should be: diverse, welcoming, a place where everyone has a sense of value.

As we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and pray again for the Spirit’s revival of the church, let us hold on to that thought. After all, God’s creation is not monochrome, it is gloriously technicoloured!

Reading     Genesis 11:1-9 

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’ The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the Lord said, ‘Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.’ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Prayer

O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom, you have made them all; the earth is full of your creations.
We rejoice in all that you have made,
and seek to sing songs of praise that are pleasing to your ears.

Yet, as the wind of the Spirit blows among us,
we are tentative to breathe deeply.
We seek your anointing, but fear the power of the Spirit in our lives.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Through your Spirit, you give us courage yet we are afraid.
Through your Spirit, you send us truth, yet we cling to our illusions.
Through your Spirit, you pour out healing, yet we hold on to our hurt.

Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

Forgiving Spirit, shake us to our core.
Set our souls on fire so that we might truly be your people
sharing your love and grace with the whole world.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Amen

Hymn     Holy Spirit, Come, Confirm Us
William Brian Foley Faber Music Ltd, OneLicence A-734713. Sung by members of the Oxford Methodist Circuit and used with their kind permission.

Holy Spirit, come, confirm us 
in the truth that Christ makes known; 
We have faith and understanding 
through your helping gifts alone. 
 
Holy Spirit, come, console us, 
come as advocate to plead; 
Loving Spirit stand beside us, 
grant in Christ the help we need. 
 
Holy Spirit, come, renew us, 
come yourself to make us live; 
Make us holy through your presence, 
holy through the gifts you give. 
 
Holy Spirit, come, fulfil us, 
you the love of Three in One; 
Bring our lives to full completion 
through your work in us begun.
 
Reading     Acts 2:5-21 

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
   and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
   and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
   in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
     and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
   and signs on the earth below,
     blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
   and the moon to blood,
     before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Reading     John 14: 8-17, 25-27 

Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. ‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

Sermon

If there was only one thing that could be changed about the universal church, would it be that it spoke the same language? Now given the scriptures from the books of Genesis and Acts we have heard, by that, you might be thinking I mean linguistics. After all, understanding what we say to one another does help in building purposeful and effective communities. But when the church is trying to show the world the awesome grace of God through Jesus Christ, words, as we have discovered over the centuries, are only a small part of that mission. Rather would it not be better if we had an actual common doctrine, a common interpretation of Scripture, a practice of worship that is truly universal? Would it not be better if the Church were just one church?

This is beginning to sound like a sermon that would be more appropriate for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity than Pentecost. But as Luke painted in the scene of the disciples speaking in the languages the crowd understood, and as the priestly authors of Genesis also did in their description of the great city that the people of God were able to build, we possibly get a glimpse how the Church needs to change in the world today. The multi-dimensional diversity of the Church is confusing to both those outside and in. Therefore, better that the Church has one dimension, is mono-cultural; that way there is no room for confusion and God can be made known!

“Come,” says God, “let us go down, and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another.” (Genesis 11:7)

The tale of the city of Babel reads, initially, as another instance of God punishing the people’s behaviour. In the chronology suggested in the order of the chapters in the book of Genesis, it would appear that humanity had recovered from the great flood in all senses; humanity was back, it would seem, to being up to its old tricks. We hear those words of a tower being built heavenward and the immediate thought is humanity was trying to express itself as greater than God again. Yet, despite the tone of the authors, when you delve into what is going on, there is nothing sinister about what the people were constructing. Yes, the people were building the city to give themselves an enduring identity, but it was more about them working as one for a common purpose than trying to establish any sort of grandeur. It may not have quite been the purpose God had originally intended for them, nevertheless it was kind of the only way they could interpret their purpose. There is something comforting about bricks and mortar: they allow one to physically express what one is trying to build. And in the case of the people at that point in the book of Genesis, they were truly try to build God’s kingdom.

The problem with bricks and mortar is that what begins as an expression of community can very quickly come to confine that community. God never intended the people to be restricted, to be defined by walls or borders or even landmasses. When God made the covenant with world through Noah, the instruction to the people was to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth!” (Genesis 9:1, 7) God wanted the world to be filled with God’s people, not for them just to be in one small corner. Therefore, in shaking up their ability to communicate, the priestly authors of Genesis tell us how God got things back on track, scattering and diversify the people.

Unfortunately, in humanity, with diversity comes division. Therefore, our Old Testament scriptures then revolve around one of those divisions trying to get back to an interpretation of that initial oneness of the people. And then came along Jesus.

The pairing of the tale of the city of Babel with the story of the day of Pentecost might be seen as God restoring the people’s understanding of one another. However, if we go back to what Luke recorded, there was not just one language being spoken that everyone understood. The disciples were all speaking other languages so that the crowd heard the message in their own tongues. This was not about doing away with the diverse; through the Holy Spirit the disciples were able to engage with the diversity of the world to spread the Good News. The vision of Joel—everyone, not matter what creed, culture, ability, orientation, being able to know God and God’s grace and mercy! Therefore, despite it making life easier, we could say, the Church was never destined to be one-dimensional. It was, though, destined to have a common purpose: to build the kingdom of God.
On this day of Pentecost, what then might the Church be expecting as the wind of the Spirit blows through God’s people?

Many a prayer today will be raised for the Spirit to revive the Church and for the Church to be God’s beacon in these dark and difficult times. In the British context, there may even be prayers raised for the Church to return to the heart of many a community. Yet, in raising those prayers are thoughts revolving around bricks and mortar or that the Church’s mission is to build the kingdom of God?

Well, it probably comes down to what we interpret the kingdom of God as!
In the gospel of John, we hear some of the grapple of disciples with who Jesus is and how he relates to the Godhead. Without spoiling next Sunday’s exploration of the Trinity, what comes into view is that the oneness of God is multi-dimensional! We see God in each of the three persons of God, but in each, we also discover something new about God! And what we discover in John 14, through Jesus’s response to Philip, is that this is what the Church should strive to also do as it is of God and in God!

I began this sermon by suggesting that if there was one thing we could change about the universal church it should be its multi-dimensional diversity! It hinders the Church’s sharing of the Good News and its building of God’s kingdom! But if we did away with it and became monochrome, we would not be a church that is of God or in God. God made the world broad, multi-dimensional, multi-cultural, multi-coloured, and many other multis. And God is all these things too. Therefore, if the Church is going to show God in the world in a way that world might understand, then the Church has to be and has to embrace all that makes the world different, diverse and beautiful, and allow God to make us equally diverse.

When we have built ourselves comfortable, enduring identities, we do not want them to change. We want to sustain them and that becomes are our mission. Yet, that was not Jesus’s commandment to the disciples. It was not what the initial gift of the Holy Spirit, whether as Advocate or Wind and Fire, was about. The Church’s mission in Jesus’s commissioning of the disciples was and is to show God to the world. That means accepting the Holy Spirit’s leading in the ways of Christ. It means being changed so that others might be too!

“Come,” says God, “let us go down, and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another.” (Genesis 11:7)
This might not be our first prayer as the Church on this Pentecost Sunday, but if we believe that the world is God’s, then we have to welcome God’s way of spreading the Good News. We have to be scattered; we have to be made more diverse; we have to listen to the Holy Spirit and be reminded of all Jesus said and did in the world.

That might be a scary thought, especially if we are particularly fond of our bricks and mortar. But let us not forget what else Jesus said to the disciples: “Do not be afraid! I am with you always!” And through the Holy Spirit, God is. Amen

Hymn     Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God
Keith Getty (b.1974) and Stuart Townend (b.1963)  © 2006 ThankYou Music OneLicence A-734713. Performed by the Westminster Presbyterian Church, Des Moines, Iowa, Virtual Choir.

Holy Spirit, living breath of God,
breathe new life into my willing soul.
Let the presence of the risen Lord
come renew my heart and make me whole.
Cause your word to come alive in me;
give me faith for what I cannot see,
give me passion for your purity;
Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.

Holy Spirit, come abide within,
may your joy be seen in all I do.
Love enough to cover every sin,
in each thought and deed and attitude.
Kindness to the greatest and the least,
gentleness that sows the path of peace.
Turn my striving into works of grace;
breath of God, show Christ in all I do.

Holy Spirit, from creation’s birth,
giving life to all that God has made,
show your power once again on earth,
cause your Church to hunger for your ways.
Let the fragrance of our prayers arise;
lead us on the road of sacrifice,
that in unity the face of Christ
may be clear for all the world to see.
 
Offertory

God of wind, word, and fire, we bless your holy name on this day
when you sent the light and strength of the Holy Spirit
to inspire and gift your disciples.
We give you thanks for all the gifts, great and small,
that you have poured out on all your people,
across time and generations.
Accept now all that we are and offer,
helping us to use the gifts you have give us
to be living praise and witnesses
of your love throughout the world
through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

Intercessions

Advocate, interceding one, when as your Church we seek your leading,
your guidance to broaden our sharing of your love, grace and mercy 
with the world, we pray too for your direct action in the life of the world.

In the leadership of nations as unions rather than divisions 
are championed and matters of empire challenged …

Come, Holy Spirit, come.

In communities where difference fuels hatred,
building walls when none should feel closed in …

Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Where perspectives are trying to be changed, those who have felt ignored given agency, and social cohesion is the process of restoration …

Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Where there has to be a letting go of situations, health,
and even life itself …

Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Advocate, interceding one,
all these things we pray in you and through you,
with the words of Jesus that we prayer together as your people:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory
are yours now and for ever. Amen

Hymn     Praise the Spirit in Creation    
The Revd Michael Hewlett (1916-2000) © Oxford University Press | GIA Publications OneLicence A-734713 sung by the Revd Dr Elaine Colechin

Praise the Spirit in creation,
breath of God, life’s origin:
Spirit moving on the waters,
quickening worlds to life within,
source of breath to all things breathing,
life in whom all lives begin.

Praise the Spirit, close companion
of our inmost thoughts and ways;
who, in showing us God’s wonders,
is himself the power to gaze;
and God’s will, to those who listen,
by a still small voice conveys.

Praise the Spirit, who enlightened
priest and prophets with the word;
his the truth behind the wisdoms
which as yet know not our Lord;
by whose love and power, in Jesus
God himself was seen and heard.

Tell of how the ascended Jesus
armed a people for his own;
how a hundred men and women
turned the known world upside down,
to its dark and furthest corners
by the wind of heaven blown.

Pray we then, O Lord the Spirit,
praise the Father, praise the Word,
Source, and Truth, and Inspiration,
Trinity in deep accord;
through your voice which speaks within us
we, your creatures call you Lord.
 
Dismissal and Blessing

Go then in the peace of God
and may the Holy Spirit rest upon you,
encompassing you and supporting you.
May the Holy Spirit travel with you,
transforming, leading and equipping you.
And may the Holy Spirit encourage and strengthen you
as you serve and worship the triune God
now and always. Amen
 

St John 8: 1 – 11

While Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.  Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them.  The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them,  they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.  Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’  They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.  When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’  And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground.  When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.  Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’  She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’

Reflection

As a crime novelist, I find so many fascinating ‘clues’ in this story that I’d like to know more about! The woman seemingly caught in the very act of adultery! Dragged out of bed? But how did they know the exact right time to get there and burst in and grab her? They must have had information they were relying on.

And I know women are very capable, but to be able to ‘do’ adultery on her own! Because seemingly nobody else was involved! There’s no mention of… a man!

And that’s something that really gets me at the moment in the reporting of crimes against women. It’s all reported using the passive tense. We’re told there’s an epidemic of violent crimes against women and girls. (And I’m hesitating about being honest and stating bluntly ‘male crimes against women and girls’ which is what it is.) The institutionalised finger-pointing is towards the female of the species. As here.

But Jesus doesn’t play those games. He waits for the noise to quieten down. The people using this woman to try to trip him up, keep badgering him for an answer. And he confronts them with their sin – the sin of their hearts, their sinful acts in the past, and the truth of what they’re doing now. And they slink away.

Who has clean hands and clean hearts? Not that crowd of men baying for the woman’s blood – nor the woman herself. And Jesus has an answer for her too. ‘Neither do I condemn you.’ We might remember that when social media fires us up to bay for the blood of those we think are behaving beyond the pale. God’s mercy is much wider than ours.

Let anyone without sin cast the first stone.

Prayer

Give us your peace, Lord Jesus, as we live in these troubled times – peace to let the dust of the tumult settle before we even think to respond.
Give us your wisdom, Lord Jesus, to know our own weakness and sinfulness before we start throwing stones at anyone else – however infuriating!