St Luke 6: 43 – 45

Jesus said: ‘No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.

Reflection

A participant at the Friday Drop-In hosted by a local church had been allocated an allotment and wanted to grow potatoes, onions, and garlic for the weekly communal lunch. Would anyone help him? I offered to take a look, with another of the Drop-In guests who used to work as a gardener of lawns and flower beds. On the first visit the neighbouring plot holder gave us some spare onions, which we planted. On our next visit another new friend gave us seed potatoes so those went in too. The previous plot holder had left us a legacy of purple sprouting broccoli,  chard, mint and three apple trees. Plus a thicket of brambles behind the shed. “We must cut those down” said my co-gardener. “Let’s wait” I replied “they have no thorns, so they’re likely cultivated blackberries”. Time proved this to be true and the fruit was harvested for jam to sell, and for Friday puddings.

Scripture offers gifts to the gardener, although I respond to this reading with “yes, but” and “it all depends”. Sometimes a good tree does produce bad fruit, or rather fruit that started good and turned bad due to attack by disease and pests. Clearly it is true that a bramble bush cannot yield grapes, although it can still produce a useful crop. Perhaps scripture is meant to be received poetically rather than scientifically.

Reflection on the abundance of the heart is the punchline of this text. It’s easy to think that abundance is always positive, as in Christ coming to give life abundant – yet an abundance of spite, bile and cynicism has a withering effect. When we know our own heart, and when we choose to align our heart with God’s love, we have more chance of producing good fruit for ourselves and our communities.  

Prayer

Gardening God, 
who prunes with firm and tender care, 
seed in my heart good treasure,
that I may share words of encouragement and love. Amen

St Luke 6: 37 – 42

Jesus said ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven;  give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’ He also told them a parable: ‘Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?  A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.  Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s  eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your neighbour, “Friend] let me take out the speck in your eye”, when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye.

Reflection

These immensely powerful words of Jesus – so influential down the centuries – have never felt more significant and relevant than they do today. The rancorous nature of political debate and public discourse seem beset with vicious name calling and uncaring, inflexible judgement.  

Jesus’ message cuts right through this corrosive culture of blame and division. In reading today’s verses anew, what strikes me is that the whole business of judgement and forgiveness is portrayed as a collaborative enterprise. It is not just that we should not be hasty to judge, else we might find ourselves poorly judged in turn by God, but also that as Christians we are part of a fellowship with God where we lovingly exercise judgement and forgiveness in partnership with him.  

This brings to mind a wonderfully gentle poem on “Forgiveness” by George MacDonald, who greatly influenced the faith journey of CS Lewis. In this poem he portrays God’s appraisal of the totality of our lives not as a stern imperious judge but as a benevolent parent making the judgement with us, alongside us:

God gives his child upon his slate a sum –
To find eternity in hours and years;
With both sides covered, back the child doth come,
His dim eyes swollen with shed and unshed tears;
God smiles, wipes clean the upper side and nether,
And says, ‘Now, dear, we’ll do the sum together!’

There is a sense that life’s end is a returning home to the benevolent succour of God’s embrace, and it is perhaps this yearning for home with God that marks out the Christian life. MacDonald also wrote possibly the shortest poem ever written entitled “The Shortest and Sweetest of Songs.” It is just two words:

Come
Home.

There is a sense of longing behind these two words, of the gulf between the first and last words of the poem; a feeling of something not being right, suggested by the near-rhyme (and near-miss) of ‘Come’ and ‘Home’. 
It is for this we now pray.

Prayer

As we live our lives
yearning for home:
May we learn to
be at one with you
in how we come
to judge and forgive
others and ourselves.
Till we come home,
Amen.

Services and Resources

Dear Friends,

On Sunday morning our service for the fourth Sunday of Advent, which I lead,  will go out at the normal time of 9.45.  On Sunday evening at 6pm we’ll send out a Carol Service led by various members of the Church House Team.  I lead a Midnight Communion Service on Christmas Eve and the Revd Alex Clare Young leads a Christmas Day service.  Worship for 29th December is led by the Revd Phil Nevard. 

Worship Notes for these services, and January’s, have been out for some time and I’m pleased to say that the February Worship Notes are now loaded up too.  You can find these here.

Whether you are working or resting, spending time with love ones or quietly by yourself, I hope Christmas is restful and joyful for you all.

With every good wish

Andy

The Rev’d Andy Braunston
Minister for Digital Worship
 

St Luke 6: 20 – 26

Then Jesus looked up at his disciples and said:

‘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.
‘Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

‘But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
‘Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.
‘Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

Reflection

We are so used to these sayings of Jesus that we do not realise how radical this message is. God in Jesus here is blessing those who are considered as worthless in society and warning those who have the most now that the blessings they enjoy may not mean that they are God’s favoured ones. 

The woes follow. They feel like they are aimed at me. I am relatively rich, I am well fed and I am happy now. What does God require of me?

I might spiritualise these words, thinking I am hungry for justice for all, I give to charity, I do know what sorrow is from experience. But I am challenged.

Jesus is clear –  following his way, we must be prepared for opposition and the more we get, the more we are doing as Jesus did.

Many of our churches are putting themselves at the service of the hungry and the poor. Are we also speaking up for them? Are we experiencing disrespect and opposition in our championing of those whose voices have been silenced by the powerful. Are we compromising the message of Jesus by trying to conform to the norms of our consumerist society?

God is always on the side of the disadvantaged and against those who hold on to what they have  and do not follow God in love for the poor, the hungry and the despairing.  The prophets were often on the wrong side of the powerful because they spoke up for God and against those who should have been following the Law but were not.
We have good news for the poor to proclaim so we should not be surprised if we are not universally popular especially when we speak up for the marginalised in our society. Let’s rejoice when we are criticised and sidelined and be encouraged to speak up even more because we can be sure that we are following in Jesus’ way when we do so.

Prayer 

Lord, you challenge us to be as radical as Jesus.
Help us to love as you do,
Speak as you do,
Follow you into conflict and persecution.
Give us the courage to stand with you
Against evil in all its forms,
Being not only your hands but your voice;
Speaking truth to power
And hope to those in need;
One with your Spirit
Taking up our cross as Jesus did
Amen

inspiration in your inbox Monday 16 December 2024   St Luke 6: 17 – 19 Jesus  came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them. Reflection Do we really want to be on the same level as others? Surely it is part of our human condition to be better than anyone else?    Almost everything in society elevates the popular or important, often with so much celebrity status that we no longer have a perspective of a level plain. A view from a mount seems so much better. Looking down. Having the view we want. The vistas are clear. There is nothing obstructing our view, our way of seeing what we want to see as we look down on those we’ve decided are unworthy of our level.   The level plain reminds us of how much we don’t feel worthy to be on the same level as others. Where should we look? Up? Down? Around? A level plain assumes a rather blurred view. If you’re like me, you have to stand on your tiptoes to see. Vision is not clear. Things and people are in your way as you try to see over the heads of others, in between the bodies of others, so as to bring into view the reason you are there.   These two short verses expose our unconscious biases — how much our perspective has been decided by our society and our culture.     What difference does it make that this is where Jesus wants us to be and asks us to be? Not on a mountain looking down on others. Or looking up as if we are not worthy.  In coming to a level plain, Jesus reminds us our call is to find the level places of life and ministry. The level place demands our faith sees the world from that perspective, to call out the proud and lift up the marginalised and says an unclear view might actually reveal vistas that enable us to see the Kingdom of God. Prayer   Incarnate One, when we are influenced by the ways of the world, when we fail to keep our feet on the level plain, when our trust in your grace and love is lacking and our vista is blurred, forgive us.   You know our hearts better than we know ourselves.  You deal with us justly;  grant us your forgiveness and by the power of your Spirit,  strengthen and empower us to follow your way that your Kingdom may come. Amen.

Today’s writer The Revd Nicola Furley-Smith, Secretary for Ministries, Purley URC 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.

 
Today’s service is led by the Revd George Watt

 
Introduction

Hello, my name is George Watt. I am Moderator of Thames North Synod of the United Reformed Church which involves overseeing the 110 churches in North London and the surrounding counties and its ministers. I can usually be found out preaching in one of those churches every other Sunday. I have been a minister for over 30 years having served in Southampton, South London, and Surrey.  On this third Sunday in Advent we are looking at John the Baptist, the forerunner to Jesus. He prepared people for the coming of Jesus and we are in that season of preparation with Christmas not far away. We will also hear from the prophet Zephaniah and the Apostle Paul who will also be teaching us about preparing.

Lighting of Advent Candles

As we light the third candle of Advent, we look forward to the coming of the Light of the World, and give thanks for those who in the past brought light into our dark world.  We rejoice in the prophets including John the Baptist who spoke God’s Word to us. We pray for the increase of light which finds fulfilment in Christ.

Call to Worship 

Surely God is our salvation. 
We will trust, and we will not be afraid.

For the LORD GOD is our strength and our defence.
He has become our salvation.

With joy we will draw water from the wells of salvation. On that day we will say: Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name.

Make known what he has done among the nations.
Proclaim that his name is exalted.

Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done glorious things.
Let this be known throughout the world. 

Shout out loud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel who lives amongst you.

Hymn     Come Thou Long Expected Jesus
Charles Wesley 1744, Public Domain, sung by Lythan and Phil Nevard and used with their kind permission.
 
Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious new realm bring.
By thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit, raise us to thy glorious throne.
 
Opening Prayers

Let us pray: Lord, we look forward with anticipation as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We want to shout out ‘are we nearly there yet?’ But waiting and patience is part of life and your plans.

We thank you that this is not wasted time. It gives us the opportunity to write or email Christmas greetings to friends and family. We have time to think about what presents we should be buying to show our love for others. There is all the food to prepare for the big day.

But it is also a time to hear you speaking to us through the prophets. A time to get ready to receive the king of kings, born into our world, so that Christmas isn’t just yet another day. Lord, we are bowled over that Jesus should come and live amongst us and we are not worthy to receive him into our midst.

So, we have an opportunity to look at ourselves and how we act to see if we are worthy to meet with him.

We are blessed that we are so rich, although we don’t recognise it. We have not just two coats but a wardrobe full of clothes, while others even in this country go cold. We have stuff, lots and lots of stuff and yet we look for even more this Christmas, when others don’t even have a place to call home. Our tables will groan with foods of all descriptions as we rightly celebrate with others, but there are those who will grow hungry.

Challenge us about our consumerist lifestyles and help us look to the example of John the Baptist who lived, ate and dressed simply. As we enjoy so many good things may we not desire more but share with others what we already have.

Here is good news that although we do not deserve God’s love, yet he has lavished it on us with the sending of Jesus into the world. He sends his prophets to challenge us and gives the opportunity to change our lives around, so that not only are we blessed but we can bless others. Thanks be to God.

We gather up our prayers now as we say together the Lord’s Prayer in whatever version or language you are familiar with:

Our Father …

Reading     Zephaniah 3:14-20 

Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!
The LORD has taken away the judgements against you,
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands grow weak.
The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival. 
I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it.
I will deal with all your oppressors at that time.
And I will save the lame and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.
At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised 
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the LORD.

Hymn     Joy to the World,  the Lord is Come! 
Isaac Watts 1719 sung by the choir of Bessacarr Evangelical Church

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room,
and heav’n and nature sing (x3).

Joy to the earth, the Saviour reigns!
Your sweetest songs employ,
while fields and streams, and hills and plains
repeat the sounding joy (x3).
 
He rules the world with truth and grace, 
and makes the nations prove
the glories of His righteousness 
the wonders of His love (x3).

Reading     Philippians 4:4-7 

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.  Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Reading     St Luke 3:7-18

John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.  Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’ And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’  In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’  Even tax-collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’  He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’  Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.’ As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,   John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’ So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people. 

Hymn     Hail to the Lord’s Anointed
James Montgomery (1821) Public Domain, sung by the virtual choir of St Mark’s United Methodist Church, Houston, USA

Hail to the Lord’s Anointed, great David’s greater Son!
Hail in the time appointed, his reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free;
to take away transgression, and rule in equity.

He comes with succor speedy to those who suffer wrong;
to help the poor and needy, and bid the weak be strong;
to give them songs for sighing, their darkness turn to light,
whose souls, condemned and dying, are precious in his sight.
 
He shall come down like showers upon the fruitful earth;
love, joy, and hope, like flowers, spring in his path to birth.
Before him on the mountains, shall peace, the herald, go,
and righteousness, in fountains, from hill to valley flow.

To him shall prayer unceasing and daily vows ascend;
his kingdom still increasing, a kingdom without end.
The tide of time shall never his covenant remove;
his name shall stand forever; that name to us is love.
 
Sermon

A phrase that popped into my mind in preparing for this service which is one you don’t hear very often is ‘betwixt and between’ meaning neither here nor there. And that is how we can sometimes feel as Christians that we don’t feel we belong in this world and yet we haven’t entered into the new world that has been promised for us. It is all the more frustrating when the scriptures paint such an exciting picture of what God’s kingdom will be like. Zephaniah talks about the time when God will bring us home. John the Baptist points to a clearing out so that the kingdom might be a fruitful one. 

All of this reminds me of the Gospel song:

This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through,
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue;
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door,
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.

And that is how we might feel with all that is going on around us with conflicts, injustice and general sadness. We don’t belong here and long to be somewhere else.

But those same scriptures which are about future vision and hope are also ones which point to the possibility of transformation now. And how can we say that the world is not our home when this is where God sent his son Jesus to. Jesus who was willing to give up everything to come here to live amongst us. God did not give up and still does not give up on this world. The vision of what might become a reality now if we cooperate with God in making it happen.

Zephenaiah speaks of a world of healing and justice for the marginalised and overlooked. God says, ‘I will save the lame and gather the outcast.’ Echoes of Jesus words that the first will be last and the last will be first. During COVID I was queuing up literally down the length of the street outside the Doctor’s surgery for my flu jab. An elderly couple started making their way down the road to the end of the queue. With one voice we told them to turn around and go to the front of the queue. So what if it meant that we had to wait a bit longer. If only that were applied to other parts of life. God condemns the prejudices and self-centredness of much of our lives. We don’t always recognise our privileges and we are quick to demand our rights. But the life of discipleship means we are called to change our thinking and the way we act. ‘After you..’ shouldn’t just be a politeness but a genuine, deliberate act.

Paul, of course isn’t saying that rejoicing belongs in the future but should be a facet of our lives now. We can focus on the negative and have a face like we are eating ‘soor plooms’ (translated to sour plums, a Scottish sweet.) Not that we should go around with an inane grin. But the warmth of a smile can convey the joy that we know and lift others’ spirits, because we have much to rejoice about. And if the people we encounter are lacking joy then it is not just a smile that they need but our encouragement and sometimes practical support.

John the Baptist doesn’t always get good press and when he calls his listeners a brood of vipers, that doesn’t strike you as being very encouraging. But sometimes you need prophets like John to say it like it is. The problem comes when that is all they say. John, as brash as he is, also brings a word of good news. There is the possibility of a fresh start, a new beginning. That is what repentance is about, turning away from how we used to act and do things differently. 
John responds to the people’s question – ‘What should we do?’ He offers very practical advice. He says to some, if you have two coats then give one away to someone who doesn’t have any. If you have surplus food give it to those who are hungry. If you are a tax collector, don’t demand more than you should. If you are a soldier don’t abuse your position and extort money by threatening or blackmailing. 

John begins with what we might see as charity, if you have something spare give it away. But it is more than charity it is a just redistribution of wealth. His reference to tax collectors and soldiers is perhaps surprising. John is saying that those who are sometimes regarded as outside of the kingdom can be part of the kingdom. The Tax Collector working for the Romans and the Roman soldiers can be holy in the way they carry out their work. We live in a world where some careers are held in greater esteem than others. John doesn’t say give up your jobs, but do them with integrity and reflecting God’s values.

Betwixt and between, neither here nor there. But that is not how God wants us to be. We look forward to being part of the kingdom in all its fullness, but may we open our eyes to see how the kingdom is here and each one of us, yes, each one of us are called to build that kingdom here on earth. 

What should we do? We should value the marginalised and overlooked. We should rejoice about what God has done, is doing and will do. We should live our lives well, so that others are blessed and God is honoured.

Affirmation of Faith

We believe in the parent God 
who loves us and cares for the least and the lost.
We believe in Christ who stepped into the world 
because he believed change was possible 
and began the transformation.
We believe in the Holy Spirit 
who sets our hearts on fire 
to build God’s kingdom here on earth as in heaven.
We believe in the Church, not the institution, 
but the radical bunch of disciples who listen to what we should do.

Hymn     Christ’s is the World in Which We Move
John Bell ©1989  WGRG, Iona Community, Govan, Glasgow G51 3UU, Scotland OneLicence. Unknown performer on YouTube.

Christ’s is the world in which we move;
Christ’s are the folk we’re summoned to love;
Christ’s is the voice which calls us to care,
and Christ is the one who meets us here.

To the lost Christ shows his face,
to the unloved he gives his embrace,
to those who cry in pain or disgrace
Christ makes, with his friends, a touching place.

Feel for the people we must avoid –
strange or bereaved or never employed.
Feel for the women and feel for the men
who fear that their living is all in vain.

To the lost Christ shows his face,
to the unloved he gives his embrace,
to those who cry in pain or disgrace
Christ makes, with his friends, a touching place.

Feel for the parents who’ve lost their child,
feel for the women whom men have defiled,
feel for the baby for whom there’s no breast,
and feel for the weary who find no rest.

To the lost Christ shows his face,
to the unloved he gives his embrace,
to those who cry in pain or disgrace
Christ makes, with his friends, a touching place.

Feel for the lives by life confused,
riddled with doubt, in loving abused;
feel for the lonely heart, conscious of sin,
which longs to be pure but fears to begin.

To the lost Christ shows his face,
to the unloved he gives his embrace,
to those who cry in pain or disgrace
Christ makes, with his friends, a touching place.

Prayers of Intercession

We are living in a dark world.  | The light of the world is coming.

Lord, John the Baptist warned against snakes. Those who plan and plot evil.  We pray for those who are their victims, victims of crime, violence and exploitation. This is not how you want things to be. We pray for freedom for them, so that they need not be afraid. 

We remember especially those who have suffered as a result of crimes of genocide and flouting of human rights, which was marked in the last week.

We pray for those who speak out for justice in this country and across the world. We give thanks for those who offer protection to others. For Police Officers, Social Workers, parents, teachers and others.

We pray for the perpetrators, that they might have a change of heart and mind.

We are living in a dark world.  | The light of the world is coming.

Lord, John the Baptist warned against the consequence of bad decisions. We pray that we would learn to take care of this planet. You have sent prophets to warn us of the consequences of not changing. Help us to make the right decisions about how we live our lives so that as we act together we can step back from the brink of destruction.

We pray for governments and corporations that they would be good stewards of resources, so that the future of the planet might be ensured. But also that there would be a just and fair sharing of those resources so that there would be an end to poverty, hunger and homelessness.

We are living in a dark world.  | The light of the world is coming.

Lord, John the Baptist encourages us to live our lives in a way which reflects that we are following in the footsteps of Christ. We pray that you would show us the way of peace and love. We sometimes think that we can’t do very much to bring about change. But help us and all those of faith and goodwill to stand up for what is right even if they feel they are a lone voice. 

We pray for relationships under strain or breaking. We pray for peace within families so that children can grow up with security.

As we prepare to celebrate International Migrants Day we pray that you would help us not just to love those close to us, but to love those who are strangers. We thank you for those who come to our country and enrich it with their presence and contribute to our nation. We pray especially for those coming to seek refuge who don’t always find a welcome. Help them to feel safe and accepted here. For them and for all migrants separated from their loved ones may they still feel them close and held in each other’s hearts.

We are living in a dark world.  |  The light of the world is coming.

All these prayers we offer in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is present with us now but will come in all his glory to establish his kingdom in all its fullness. Amen.

Hymn     Hark the Glad Sound the Saviour Comes
Philip Doddridge 1735 Public Domain Liverpool Metroplitan Cathedral Choir

Hark, the glad sound! The Saviour comes,
the Saviour promised long!
Let every heart prepare a throne,
and every voice a song.

He comes the pris’ners to release,
in Satan’s bondage held;
the gates of brass before Him burst,
the iron fetters yield.

He comes the broken heart to bind,
the bleeding soul to cure,
and with the riches of His grace,
to enrich the humbled poor.

Our glad Hosannas, Prince of Peace,
Thy welcome shall proclaim;
and heav’n’s eternal arches ring,
with Thy beloved Name.
 
Dedication Prayer

Lord we bring to you all that we are and all that we have to be used by you to build your kingdom. We may not have very much, but what we have we bring to you, knowing that you can multiply our small offering. Use us and our gifts to make a difference. 

Blessing

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And the blessing of God almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you and those you love, now and forevermore. 

St Luke 6: 12 – 16

Now during those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God.  And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot,  and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Reflection

Jesus prayed all night. Jesus called twelve to be his closest circle of people. It would be easy to read today’s passage and want to insert a break between what appear to be separate sections. But this is not just anyone; this is Jesus! The two halves are most definitely linked.

I remember when I was approaching my ordination feeling, yes, I’ll admit it, jealous, jealous of my Anglican contemporaries who would be going on an organised retreat for two or three days before they were ordained. Granted, having group ordinations, makes retreats easier to organise. I managed to arrange a couple of nights private retreat for myself and I was glad I did. In my own way I was able to link into a treasure of another tradition, and it was good.

Years later, studying for an MA in Spirituality alongside many Catholics, I found myself standing up for one of the treasures of our URC tradition. My colleagues were used to decisions being made by an individual with power. Some were interested to hear more about what they saw as our democratic system.

Yet, of course, our church government is not about democracy, but about corporate discernment. At its best the URC is a Theocracy. Together we seek the will of God. 

But I wonder how often our opening devotions at meetings really enable us to engage with God? Are they sometimes perfunctory? Do we have too many words and not enough listening? And do we prepare in prayer as individuals before we even set forth for the meeting or switch onto Zoom?

The future is not straightforward for our denomination, for Christianity, or indeed for our world at the moment. Perhaps we should be thankful we are not all involved in all the decision making which will be needed. However when we are involved, Jesus challenges us to engage with God in deep prayer so we can listen and discern God’s will. And when the decision-making lies with others, maybe we can support them with our prayer. 

Prayer

Decisions, decisions!
Which, where, who, what, when, how . . . ?
Oh God, whenever we have to make decisions, 
grant us the patience to discern your will 
and the courage to follow it. 
Amen.

St Luke 6: 6 – 11

On another sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come and stand here.’ He got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?’ After looking around at all of them, he said to him, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

Reflection

Dismiss any caricature of Pharisees and Scribes as pantomime villains, wilfully opposing anything and everything done by Jesus and his followers. They were learned scholars intent on maintaining the teaching and traditions of their religion. For them this was a hard but vital task; they lived in an occupied land subject to people with very different religious beliefs and observances; it was the very specific observances of Judaism that held the Jewish people together, and the maintenance of the Sabbath and public observance of the 39 activities enumerated by generations of rabbis was something they perceived as vital for keeping the Jewish people distinct from their heathen overlords and neighbours.

Their focus was indeed narrow, so narrow that any deviation from the law was perceived as an existential threat – for so it was from their standpoint. To quote W R Bowie, “They peered so narrowly into old books that they never lifted their eyes to look out of the window upon the new and exciting facts which were going by. They knew all about what God had said once, and in their preoccupation with that it did not even occur to them that they had better be listening for what God was saying then.”

So, what about us? I regret that the editors of Rejoice and Sing did not carry over from earlier hymn books George Rawson’s paraphrase of Pastor John Robinson’s address to the Pilgrim Fathers in 1620, “We limit not the truth of God to our poor reach of mind, by notions of our day and sect crude, partial and confined … The Lord hath yet more life and truth to break forth from his word.” But at R&S 483 we do have Brian Wren’s, “Glad of tradition, help us to see in all life’s changing where you are leading, where our best efforts should be.”
 
Prayer

Looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,* we pray that our minds, our eyes and our hearts may be open to understand what you, Almighty God, are saying to your Church now; give us the vision and strength we need to be and to do what you would have us be and do; in the power of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray: Amen
 
*Hebrews 12: 2.

St Luke 6: 1 – 5

One sabbath while Jesus was going through the cornfields, his disciples plucked some heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. But some of the Pharisees said, ‘Why are you doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’  Jesus answered, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?  He entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and gave some to his companions?’  Then he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.’

Reflection

We live in an age when even good church folk, as I assume most people reading/hearing this might be, sit lightly to the concept of Shabbat that Jesus would have been brought up with. Many will in their lifetimes have experienced a revolution in what is generally acceptable on Sundays. As a child, Sunday afternoons (after Church and Sunday School of course) were for going for walks, visiting a museum or reading a good book and strictly not for playing out – even the swings in the park were chained up. When as a student I moved from Presbyterian Glasgow to Warwick, I was shocked to find the cinema open on a Sunday!

Whether such limited possibilities for activity were beneficial or not I hesitate to discuss. We just accepted them – although no doubt some resented the restrictions on their freedom. In our busy-busy, social media dominated society, the mental health benefits of being able to take time to just switch off are increasingly recognised.

It was the recognition that all, from the lowest to the highest, deserved rest and re-creation that led to the God-endorsed concept of Shabbat freedom from work. When they set out the 39 descriptors of what constituted work, the Jewish authorities had good intentions of helping the people to understand what they could and could not do to respect the law.

By the time that Jesus’ disciples contravened four of these definitions, the Pharisees had forgotten the intent of the rules and their own understanding that Shabbat was made for humanity, not humanity for Shabbat. Jesus’ challenge was that they had read the scriptures but not understood the meaning behind the Word. The minutiae had obliterated the generality.

In the URC we value good order. The intent is to be helpful. The intent must remain paramount.

Prayer

God of Shabbat,
when we hide behind rules, forgive us
when we fail to call out hypocrisy, forgive us
when we fail to use opportunities for re-creation, encourage us
Shalom, Amen

St Luke 5: 33 – 39

Then they said to Jesus, ‘John’s disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink.’ Jesus said to them, ‘You cannot make wedding-guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.’ He also told them a parable: ‘No one tears a piece from a new garment and sews it on an old garment; otherwise the new will be torn, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, “The old is good.”’

Reflection

Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death to be gloomy all the time. So speaks Proverbs 17v22 (GNT). John the Baptist, ascetic, abstaining from alcohol and all forms of luxury; Jesus, relaxed and friendly, eating, drinking, enjoying life. If their lifestyles were so different, then we would expect their disciples to lead contrasting lifestyles. So how are we to measure Christian discipleship? There is no lack of guidance in the New Testament, especially in the Epistles of Paul and other writings. Interpreting them has produced a rich seam of advice and warnings over the centuries from all branches of the church, to this very day.

In Luke’s gospel we find Jesus illustrating discipleship, not with stern warnings, but with vivid images taken from everyday life. A wedding celebration, lasting a week in Jesus’ time, becomes the means of answering his critics. Fasting and praying disciplines are not appropriate for guests when a bridegroom arrives for his wedding. ‘Where’s the marriage?’, ‘Who’s the bridegroom?’, Who’s the bride?’ are the teasing questions that naturally arise. Admittedly, fasting becomes more appropriate when the bridegroom leaves, for It signals the end of the celebration. But the bridegroom being ‘taken away’ is a much darker comment for folk to ponder. The prophet’s imagery of God as Israel’s bridegroom shimmers away in the background.

Luke follows with Jesus’ two parables illustrating the relationship between the new and the old; the folly of patching new cloth on to old, and the need for new wineskins for new wine. Old wineskins will not contain the fermentation of the new wine, but will burst. These are unsettling images for the recycler. However they teach us that discipleship requires openness, an elasticity of the mind and spirit to follow where the Holy Spirit may lead us. 
 
Prayer

Gracious God,
we are comfortable with old
established ways of discipleship,
and reluctant to embrace new ways
of bearing witness to you in our lives.
Open us up to the leading of your Spirit,
so that we become more courageous
and imaginative in following your Son, Amen.