Monday 4 November 2024

James 4:  1 – 10

Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?  You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask.  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.  Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, ‘God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’?  But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says,
‘God opposes the proud,
    but gives grace to the humble.’

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Reflection

Concupiscence is not a word often heard these days. I came across it many years ago in a systematic theology lecture by Professor Galloway of Glasgow University.

That word floated through my mind as I read this passage, and I wondered why? What exactly did it mean? Was I right in thinking that the Professor had said that St Augustine regarded it as the root of our inclination to sin? I reached for my trusty Chambers dictionary which defined it as ‘a violent desire: sexual appetite: lust’. OK so far, but the Professor hadn’t been lecturing us on our morals (I think).

Like any good ex librarian I started looking for word equivalents, and found out that ‘avarice’ and ‘covetousness’ were suggested; certainly more easily recognised and somewhat easier to spell.

When I could see ‘original sin’ lurking behind the word, I realised that there was no end to my desire to go down the highways and byways of my detective work. So I stopped.

I now knew why that word had risen to the surface of my memory. The letter of James is speaking about concupiscence as our besetting sin, and indeed of the human race; something that we have to struggle with, for it is capable of taking over our lives, displacing the rightful claim of devotion to our ‘three personed’ God.

Concupiscence’s effects can be seen everywhere – in international relations, in local politics, in church life, and in our own lives. The letter of James is right in seeing it as threat. For there is only one in whom we can confidently put trust, for our peace and benefit.

Prayer

You have made us for yourself, O Lord,
and our heart is restless until it rests in you.
Great are you, O Lord,
and exceedingly worthy of praise;
your power is immense,
and your wisdom beyond reckoning.
(from St Augustine Confessions)

 

 
Today’s service is led by the Revd Andy Braunston

 
Welcome

Hello and welcome to worship.  Today we think about both All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days which were celebrated yesterday and Friday.  These are times of the Church’s year to think about those who have gone before us and whose lives, love, and examples inspire us to follow Jesus day by day as our song from Godspell reminded us.  My name is Andy Braunston and I am the United Reformed Church’s Minister for Digital Worship.  I’m a member of the Peedie Kirk URC in Kirkwall in Orkney, our most northerly congregation.  Let’s worship God together.

Call to Worship

Come all you saints, from west and east, from south and north: 
we come to worship the living God.

Come all you sinners, here find healing for soul, 
and grace for the journey: we come to worship the living God.

Come all you searchers, find rest for your restless hearts,
and inspiration for change: we come to worship the living God.

Hymn     For All the Saints
William Walsham How (1864) Sung by the virtual choir of the Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York, USA 

For all the saints who from their labours rest,
who Thee by faith before the world confessed;
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
in praise of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
 
Prayers of Approach, Confession and Grace

We come to worship this day, O Sovereign One,
seeking rest from our labours, balm for our souls, 
and Your refreshing word.

We come to worship this day, Lord Jesus, 
our might and our rock, 
knowing you to be our light in the dreary darkness,
our compass in the journey through life.

We come to worship this day, Most Holy Spirit,
in the company of the fellowship of all who have gone before us,
who cheer us on our way, and who inspire us in our struggles.

But as we come to worship You, O Trinity of Love,
we are conscious of the times 

when we have neither rested nor sought your Word,
when we have neither seen you as our might nor as our rock,
when we have neither followed your light in the gloom,
nor responded well to the example of Your saints.

Forgive us, O God, and give us time to change, 
that we may remain, body and soul, in your hands and be at peace.  Amen.

As a father who runs to welcome home the estranged,
as a mother who gathers her chicks under her wings,
as a rock on which we stand,
God is loving and faithful and forgives our sins.
Have the strength to live as forgiven people, to forgive others, 
and to forgive yourselves.  Amen! 

Introduction

November, it seems to me, is a month for memories.  Remembrance Sunday is marked next week where we reflect on those who, through war and terror, have had their lives taken.  On Friday the Church invited us to celebrate the memories of all those whose lives have pointed to God through their love, words and actions.  Yesterday we were invited to remember those we’ve known and loved, saints and sinners, and so this can be a poignant time of the year.  A poem by David Harkins,  I often use at funerals after the committal gives a series of choices:

You can shed tears that she is gone
or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she will come back
or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left.
Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her
or you can be full of the love that you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember her and only that she is gone
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back
or you can do what she would want: 
smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

The act of remembering those we’ve loved and who have gone before us, those who have taught us and served as examples of faith doesn’t have to hold us back.  Moving on doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten.  So, in worship today, we will remember with love those whose lives have inspired us, those whose loving presence we still mourn and, through God’s loving kindness, continue our journeys with thanksgiving, fun and fellowship learning to trust only in God.  A wee prayer and then we’ll hear our readings.  

Prayer for Illumination

We lift up our heads and our hearts to You, O God,
that as we hear Your Word read and proclaimed,
our hearts may resonate with Your love,
that as we let you, the King of Glory, into our lives,
You may teach us to make a difference in our world.  Amen.

Reading     Wisdom of Solomon 2:21 – 3:9 

Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray, for their wickedness blinded them, and they did not know the secret purposes of God, nor hoped for the wages of holiness, nor discerned the prize for blameless souls; for God created us for incorruption, and made us in the image of his own eternity, but through the devil’s envy death entered the world, and those who belong to his company experience it. But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them.  In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died and their departure was thought to be an affliction, and their going from us to be their destruction, but they are at peace. For though in mortal sight they were punished, their hope is full of immortality. Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them. In the time of their visitation they will shine forth and will run like sparks through the stubble.  They will govern nations and rule over peoples and the Lord will reign over them forever.  Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his elect, and he watches over his holy ones.

Hymn     Ye Gates Lift Up Your Heads On High
Psalm 24 sung by Commissioners at the Church of Scotland General Assembly and used with permission.

Ye gates lift up your heads on high;
ye doors that last for aye,
be lifted up, that so the King of glory enter may.
But who of glory is the King? The mighty Lord is this,
even that same Lord that great in might and strong in battle is.

Ye gates, lift up your heads;
ye doors, doors that do last for aye,
be lifted up, that so the King of glory enter may.
But who is he that is the King? The King of glory? Who is this?
The Lord of hosts, and none but he, the King of glory is.
  
Alleluia! alleluia! 
alleluia! alleluia! 
alleluia! Amen, amen, amen.

Reading     Revelation 21:1-6a

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and be their God; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

Sermon

I am fortunate in living fairly near the sea.  If I travel a few miles in any direction I come to the coast; evening walks on Skaill beach never fail to disappoint with the light of the setting sun on the water often coming very late on long Summer evenings.  In Stromness the Hoy hills frame the view with the sea with the isle of Graemsay dividing the sea between the Orkney mainland and Hoy.  In Kirkwall we have the hustle and bustle of a busy port with freight and passenger ferries alongside a range of pleasure craft, fishing boats and, in the Summer cruise liners.  The sea is a highway now for us as it has been for all of Orkney’s history.  Saints and sinners have travelled to these islands, settled and made their lives here.  We’ve a little island called Eynhallow, believed once to be a centre of pilgrimage.  We’ve two of our own saints, Magnus and Rognvald, whose remains grace our cathedral whose steps were once lapped by the waves until some land reclamation made it more secure.  Living by the sea, however, is not all midnight sunsets and light reflecting on the water in a myriad number of ways.  The sea is changeable; wind and swell disrupt shipping and, even with modern navigation technology, a sea fog can stop the ships.  There’s something chaotic about the sea; something that the ancient Jewish writers knew and were disturbed by.  Living on the edge of the Mediterranean they had a hearty respect for and fear of the sea seeing the chaos it could cause as being a sign of evil.  Not for nothing does that reading from Revelation promise a new heaven and earth without the sea.  

Revelation is a dangerous book often preached from by dangerous people.  It nearly didn’t make it into the canon of Scripture in the second century when these things were discussed.  Divine revelation can be dangerous stuff – people fight over ideology particularly competing religious ideologies.  Revelation is a book of hope and promise even as it’s difficult to understand with references, in code, to long forgotten people and events.  It’s a book which affirms God’s final victory over evil – but one which encourages in the long battles which come before that final victory.  Revelation attracts more than its fair share of people who should not be let anywhere near a pulpit, yet the Church offers this reading for All Saints day!  

The writer of Revelation borrowed Wisdom’s idea of the souls of the righteous being with God to cast his vision of the martyrs singing around God’s eternal throne, so we have an image of the saints in heaven.   The twin festivals of All Saints and All Souls are times to look back, to remember all who have gone before us and are now with God; they are also times to remind ourselves of this great cloud of witnesses, the saints, who cheer us on through the race of life like spectators at a sporting event.  Today’s passage is often used at funerals to offer hope of a world to come where death, pain, mourning, and crying will be no more.  It offers consolation that those we mourn are now with God. 

Revelation is not meant to be a fanatic’s source book or a divinely dictated plan for the future but, rather, a book of consolation, a vision of comfort for the distressed and oppressed.  In eras of persecution the Church has always had to safeguard its primary identity of being in Christ over and against states that have wanted to subjugate and control the Church as a matter of policy.  Periodically in the Roman Empire Christians were subject to persecution for being different, unsafe, in an era where the Roman state wished to sanction and control religious belief.  The Church itself became a persecutor in sections of history where it wanted to sanction and control belief and, of course, in large periods of the history of Soviet Russia the Church was left weak, persecuted, and slavish to the very state that persecuted it seeing subservience as the only way to survive.  In China now the Church must navigate between its own values and those of the ruling Communist Party.  Passages like today’s offer hope in persecution and an assurance that the Christian identity and ideology is one that will triumph long after the ideologies of our age have disappeared into the history books.  

In an age of imperial terror these words of a new heaven and earth, a new Jerusalem offered hope that things would get better, that the brutal Roman Empire – we might say all subsequent brutal empires – would not have the last word.  We can read this passage in solidarity with all who are and who have been persecuted stretching back to the first Century Roman streets to the struggles with the Church in contemporary Nicaragua; from the drug infested slums to the Mafia dominated villages where the Church might be the only incorrupt institution, from the labour camps in China to the prison cells in Iran. These words give comfort to those who suffer for their faith in Christ; these are words that sustain, and have sustained, Christians throughout the ages, Christians with whom we are in communion.  

This idea of the communion of the saints is seen also in our reading from Wisdom.  It’s another book with a chequered history.  Whilst they settled the argument about whether Revelation should get in the Bible quickly, they argued about Wisdom and other books like it for centuries. The Wisdom of Solomon is a text written in Greek in the century before Jesus, by a Jew living in Alexandria.  As such it isn’t found in the Hebrew collection of what we now call the Old Testament and the Reformers entered a historic debate about whether it, along with other Greek language books, should be seen as being part of the Bible.  Their decision to remove these books were a propaganda gift to Catholics sick of being told they didn’t follow the Bible well enough.  Protestant Bibles never used to include them, but more and more of them do now, Catholic and Orthodox Bibles always have.  Happily, the Lectionary includes some of these writings and this passage is often used at funerals dealing, as it does, with what happens to us after we die exploring themes of God’s justice, the communion of saints, and life after death.   

Today’s passage asserts that all righteous souls are in God’s hands and shall not perish but have eternal life; it’s a comforting thought when we are bereaved and when we think of our own fates.  The writer is clear that the soul lives on with God.  The final verses in the passage give a glimpse of eternal life where righteous souls will run like “sparks through stubble” and where those who have been on the bottom in life will rise to the ruling class in the hereafter and where love, grace, and mercy are hallmarks of the next life.  At face value we all end up in the grave, or at the crematorium regardless of how we lived in life; the author of Wisdom urges us to look a little closer and see that choices in life have consequences in death.  
Seeing things at face value leads to some faulty conclusions; then as now we must resist the feeling that people suffer because they are being punished by God or that God is absent.  Instead, the writer reminds us that pain and loss (whilst awful) can become places where faith, and human relationships, are deepened.  The sense in the passage that our souls are in God’s hands gives confidence to trust in God and God’s plans for us.  

In the contemporary Church we have become very good at proclaiming the coming Kingdom with a powerful emphasis on the values of that Kingdom in the here and now; we’re less good at preaching on the soul and the afterlife.  These texts remind us that when we die we will be in God’s presence as we await the new heaven and earth that is promised but more than that.  These readings give All Saints and All Souls an edge – it’s not just about looking back in gratitude and forward in hope; it’s about an uncompromising trust in God – not in stewardship campaigns, not in charismatic ministers, not in contemporary music, not in brilliant worship, nor even in heart-warming social justice campaigns (important though all these things are) but in God alone.  

Those the Church recognises as saints understood that; they lived with an uncompromising faith in God the King of Glory as our metrical Psalm today puts it.  We can find that hard; we worry if the Church will still be here for the next generation (spoiler alert it will but may not in the ways we imagine).  We worry if the next generations will find the comfort, joy and inspiration in Christianity that we have, just as we worry what the future holds in a warming planet too addicted to the weapons of war.  But here’s the thing; we not the first to worry about the future.  The writers of Wisdom and Revelation offered hope for people wondering about their security in this life and the hereafter.  The ancient saints had to trust that the message of the Gospel would take root whether that was the peaceful Viking St Magnus or St Francis the rich kid who rejected his wealth and preached to the poor.  The saints showed their radical faith in God by pushing at their societies’ boundaries – whether that was Jewish convert to Christianity Edith Stein murdered by the Nazis or Mother Theresa daring to love the unlovely.  

Those who have gone before us knew that trusting in God alone is the only way to ensure we have a legacy and a future.  Trust made easier by these ideas of our souls dwelling with God when we die and waiting for the resurrection when all shall be made new.  Trust embodied in how we live now.  Let’s pray.

Eternal God as we long for all things to be made new, renew us!
Lord Jesus, as we mourn those we’ve loved and lost, cheer us!
Holy Spirit, as we yearn for the ability to fully trust in you, encourage us!
That through our renewal, good cheer, and encouragement,
the world will become the place where you dwell,
where the souls of the righteous will be firmly held in your love.  Amen.

Hymn     Going Home, Moving On
The Revd Michael Forster © 1990 Kevin Mayhew Ltd OneLicence # A-734713 Frodsham Methodist Church Cloud Choir. Accompanied by Andrew Ellams and produced by Andrew Emison and used with their kind permission

Going home, moving on, through God’s open door;
hush, my soul, have no fear, Christ has gone before.
Parting hurts, love protests, pain is not denied;
yet in Christ, life and hope span the great divide.
Going home, moving on, through God’s open door;
hush, my soul, have no fear,
Christ has gone before,
Christ has gone before.

No more guilt, no more fear, all the past is healed:
broken dreams now restored, perfect grace revealed.
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again:
death destroyed, life restored, love alone shall reign.
Going home, moving on, through God’s open door;
hush my soul, have no fear,
Christ has gone before,
Christ has gone before. 

Affirmation of Faith

We believe in God, creator of all that is, 
the One in whose hands the souls of the righteous rest,
the One in whom we find safety and security.

We believe in Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh,
the One whose hands and side were pierced for us,
the One in whom we find renewal and rest.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, fire of divine love,
the One who animates the Church from age to age,
the One who makes us like sparks in the stubble.

And we believe in the Church, 
the one that’s meant to be united, holy, universal, and apostolic,
but is often found faltering and failing. 
Yet it contains all the saints and sinners of old, who, like us, were called
to trust in God alone.  Amen.

Intercessions

As God’s people, held in the security of God’s hand, 
we watch and wait for the long-promised new heaven and new earth,
and pray to the Most High saying:  
O God have mercy and wipe away our tears.

We pray for Your Church, here on earth, O God, 
often broken, often unholy, often exclusive, 
and often out of touch with its radical roots, 
and pray that You will give us the grace 
to become a true communion of saints, valuing unity in diversity,
showing exciting holiness, demonstrating the wideness of Your mercy:
O God have mercy and wipe away our tears.

We pray for the world wherein we live out our discipleship, O God,
a world at war, a world we heat beyond endurance, a world divided,
yet a world of beauty, ingenuity, and startling energy 
with the potential for renewal;
Help us, O God, to destroy the shroud of death, 
the weapons of war and the rule of wealth, 
that your Kingdom may come.
O God have mercy and wipe away our tears.

We pray for this community, O God,
dwell in our midst, let us be a habitation of peace,
a place of refuge and safety, a source of healing and support.
O God have mercy and wipe away our tears.

We remember those we’ve loved and lost,
those whose faith, care, wisdom and example inspired us on our way,
who now, in your tender love, take their rest.
O God have mercy and wipe away our tears.

As You have sustained Your saints throughout the ages, O God,
we pray that You sustain us; keep us faithful in Your service,
help us to place our trust only in You, until your Kingdom comes.
And so we pray as Jesus taught, Our Father…

Offertory

The saints gave; they poured out their lives in service of God, often at great cost to themselves.  They strove to embody the loving presence of God – often getting it very wrong – but always seeking to make a difference for the sake of the Gospel.  They gave of their time, their talents, and their treasure.  Now they urge us to do the same, standing around us as an unseen cloud of witnesses and cheering us on as we run the great race which is Christian discipleship.

We give in any number of ways – the charities and causes which make a difference, through quiet loving service, through offering a shoulder to cry on and a listening ear, and, of course, through our financial contributions where we are able.  So, let’s give thanks for all that’s been given:

Loving God,
You give us so many good things,
and we ask Your blessing on the gifts of time, talent, and treasure,
that animates our church and shows our fidelity to you.  
Help us to use the resources we have wisely, carefully, and sensitively,
that those who come after us will give thanks for our faithful witness.
Amen.

Hymn     For All the Saints Who Showed Your Love
John L Bell, Graham Maule © 1989, WGRG c/o Iona Community, GIA Publications, Inc., agent One Licence # A-734713 sung by the Praise Band, Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church, Tampa, FL and used with their kind permission.

For all the saints who showed your love 
in how they lived and where they moved, 
for mindful women, caring men, 
accept our gratitude again. 

For all the saints who loved your name, 
whose faith increased the Saviour’s fame, 
who sang your songs and shared your word, 
accept our gratitude, good Lord. 

For all the saints who named your will 
and saw your kingdom coming still 
through selfless protest, prayer and praise, 
accept the gratitude we raise. 

Bless all whose will or name or love 
reflects the grace of heaven above. 
Though unacclaimed by earthly powers, 
your life through theirs has hallowed ours.
 
Holy Communion

God be with you! And also with you!
Lift up your hearts! We lift them up to God!
Let us give God our thanks and praise!  It is right and proper to do so!

It is our duty and joy, at all times and in all places, Eternal One, 
to praise and acclaim You – the One all creation reveres.
All the angels and the heavenly powers cry out to you in endless praise 
and so we join in with their song:

Holy is the Lord
Brian Doerksen Vineyard OneLicence # A-734713  

Holy is the Lord. (Holy is the Lord)
Holy is the Lord. (Holy is the Lord)
Holy is the Lord. (Holy is the Lord)
Holy is the Lord. (Holy is the Lord)
Righteousness and mercy;
judgement and grace;
faithfulness and sovereignty.
 
Holy are you, Sovereign One, 
heaven and earth are filled with your glory.
The glorious choir of apostles sings to you,
the noble company of prophets praises you,
the white-robed army of martyrs glorifies you,
the holy Church throughout the ages proclaims you, 
Source of life and love, worthy of adoration with the Son, Jesus Christ, 
and the Holy Spirit, our advocate, comforter, and helper.

You, O Jesus, are the King of glory,
but Your reign shows the strength of weakness not power,
the force of love, not valour, 
the quiet wisdom of the ages, not the loud noise of men.
You are the everlasting image of the Creator.
When you resolved to save humanity, 
you did not scorn women, the poor, nor the outsider, 
but overcame the sting of death and opened wide the gates of Heaven 
to those who put their faith in you.
You are seated now in glory, the merciful judge who is to come.

We here, long to be gathered up to You, and so we come to this Your table in obedience to Your command to show forth Your sacrifice on the Cross 
by the bread broken and the wine poured. 
As we eat and drink, we know that You, risen and ascended, 
are present with us giving Yourself for our spiritual nourishment 
and growth in grace. 

For we have received from You, Lord what we also hand on, 
that on the night when You were betrayed,
You took a loaf of bread, and when You had given thanks, 
You broke it and said, 

‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ 

In the same way You took the cup also, after supper, saying, 

‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. 
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ 

For as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, 
we proclaim Your death until You come.

Let us proclaim the mystery of our faith:

Christ has died!  Christ is risen!  Christ will come again!

Come, Most Holy Spirit,
that we may have communion with the body and blood of Christ
as we eat and drink this bread and wine,
sanctify us that as we become the body of Christ,
we are united with Jesus and the whole Church on earth and heaven. 
As we gather at this table to present our sacrifice of thanksgiving 
and renew the offering of ourselves, give us joy in the promise 
of Jesus’ coming in glory.
Day by day, we bless You, Eternal Trinity of Love,
and praise Your name for endless ages evermore.  Amen.

The holy gifts of God are for God’s holy people.  Let us share these gifts.

Music for Communion     Jesus invites his Saints
Isaac Watts, public domain, sung by Lythan and Phil Nevard and used with their kind permission.

Post Communion Prayer

Lord of heaven, 
you have brought us near to an innumerable company of angels 
and to the spirits of the saints made perfect: 
as in this, the food of our earthly pilgrimage,  
we have shared their fellowship, 
so may we come to share their joy in heaven; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

Hymn     Hark How the Adoring Hosts Above
Scottish Paraphrases 1781 after Revelation 5: 11-14 Public Domain Scottish Philharmonic Singers

Hark how the adoring hosts above,
with songs surround the throne! (x2)
Ten thousand, thousand are their tongues;
but all their hearts are one. (x3)

Worthy the Lamb that died, they cry,
to be exalted thus; (x2)
worthy the Lamb, let us reply;
for he was slain for us. (x3)

Thou hast redeemed us with thy blood,
and set the prisoners free; (x2)
thou mad’st us kings and priests to God,
and we shall reign with thee. (x3)

To him who sits upon the throne,
the God whom we adore, (x2)
and to the Lamb that once was slain,
be glory evermore. (x3)
 
Blessing

May the God, the source of all consolation, 
wipe away every tear from your eyes.
May God, the Word made flesh, renew you.
May God, the Holy Spirit,
Hold you safe in divine love.
And may the blessing of Almighty God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Be with you all, now and always, Amen.
 

Saturday 2 November 2024

James 3: 13 – 18

Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

Reflection

This description of the wisdom from above is, for me, inspirational, aspirational and deeply challenging.  It brings to mind other New Testament passages.  Paul writing to the Christians in Corinth talks of love not insisting on its own way.  In the letter to the churches of Galatia peace and gentleness are cited as fruits of the Spirit.  Matthew’s gospel records Jesus pronouncing blessing on makers of peace. 

Praise be that this is God’s nature, seen in Jesus – pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 

The contrast with a supposed wisdom that springs from envy and selfish ambition and results in disorder is stark.  Here is a salutary reminder to seriously question aspects of our culture that foster self-absorbed competitiveness and career progression, both in ourselves and in others.

The letter of James is full of very directly expressed imperatives about practical issues in churches.  Today’s verses have a rather different tone.   But these words too are about the practicalities of living with others, in church, at home, everywhere.  We may rightly feel that when it comes to wisdom from above, as individuals and as churches, we have a way to go.  Yet the pastor/teacher who wrote these words did so believing that such wisdom is within our grasp, by the grace of God.  I think that he knew women and men who lived out that wisdom from above.   He had experience of people who lived God’s wisdom in practical situations and in doing so created space for communities to thrive.

Eugene H. Peterson, in his introduction to this letter in The Message, writes, “Wisdom is not primarily knowing the truth, although it certainly includes that; it is skill in living.  For, what good is a truth if we don’t know how to live it? What good is an intention if we can’t sustain it?”

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, for inspirational checklists,
such as the itemising of aspects of wisdom
in today’s text. 
May we keep bringing it to mind through the day,
using it as a prompt for how to behave
in all our interactions. 
Would you please speak through this process
so that we see more clearly
our very rough edges.
When we mess up, as we surely will,
help us to turn to You
for restoration.  Amen

 

Friday 1 November 2024

James 3: 1 – 12

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.  For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle.  If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies.  Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.  So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.  How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!  And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species,  but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God.  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water?  Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.

Reflection

Like all great teachers James knows how to admit vulnerability – recognising we all make mistakes – but also how to communicate truth simply and powerfully.  Here he focuses on communication itself – the human tongue – challenging us to use the gift of speech carefully and creatively – and turn away from words that denigrate, damage and destroy.  To help press home his point he gives us wonderfully vivid pictures of the power of speech.  The tongue is like a bridle controlling the horse, a rudder steering a great ship, a tiny fire setting the whole forest ablaze, a wild creature that cannot be tamed or a spring of water flowing either with fresh sparkling water or brackish bitter water.

At times you may feel that James is being extreme in his view of the tongue’s destructive properties.  In part that reflects the influence of the Jewish tradition of teaching, which uses this kind of language to emphasise a point.  But it also reflects reality as we know it.  Our lives and world today are filled with more words than ever – a constant stream and barrage of news and gossip and comment.  Within that outflow of words, hate speech, fake news, conspiracy theories, spin and newspeak, manipulation and scams all damage communication and trust. 

However, James’ real focus is not the world but the Church community.  It is there he wants to challenge his brothers and sisters to use their words with care and consistency.  He is appalled to see our tongues being used to bless God one moment and curse human beings in the next.  For James this inconsistency damages both our relationships with each other and our relationship with God.  It undermines both our humanity and our worship.  Integrity and consistency are at the heart of James teaching here – and a deep belief in the worth of every human being, made in God’s likeness, made to reflect God’s loving nature.  May we hear his words today and speak with love.

Prayer

God whose word brought life into being,
touch our tongues with the fire of your Spirit,
that the words of praise we offer to you
may echo in our everyday speech,
to bring blessing to others,
fresh and sparkling, bright and clear,
reflecting your true likeness in them and us. Amen

James 2: 18 – 26
 
But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith without works is barren? Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’, and he was called the friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.
 
Reflection

“I think you can see where God is at work,” the Christian anarchist Dave Andrews told me, “by the fruit.” As far as Dave’s Anabaptist inspired thinking was concerned, if there was love, joy, peace, patience, kindness or any of the good things that get a mention in the letter to the Galatians, in evidence, then God is somewhere in the mix. ‘A good tree’, as Matthew’s gospel has Jesus tell his disciples, ‘produces good fruit.’

The doctrine of ‘sola fide’ – the idea that faith alone is sufficient to save, or as James put it, using a handy courtroom metaphor, ‘justify’ was a key aspect of Reformation thinking – so sharply felt was the need to move away from the toxic, exploitative teachings of the time.

But others have since demurred. Wesleyan thinking, for instance, led to the conviction that holy living is necessary for genuine ‘salvation’, while those rascally Anabaptists tend to think that justification is only the start of a process which is evidenced by ever more Christ like behaviour. Wherever love is at work, they might claim, it will become increasingly evident.

Perhaps the best we can say is that we’re all, to some extent, wrong. And if we can come to terms with that then perhaps we can also come to terms with the idea that we need one another to expose the inadequacies of our arguments. Feminist scholars like to use the metaphor of the patchwork quilt, and we might find that a helpful idea to reflect upon: we need many pieces sewn together to make a whole.

The writers and characters who populate the pages of the Bible, from the austere to the scrappy, and from the troubled to the serene, make a sort of patchwork quilt of their own. Each one with their own agenda and convictions, with her or his own insights and experiences to bring. We can welcome James’ insistence on the importance of works without losing hold of ‘sola fide’ if only we can learn to use a needle and thread.

Prayer

God of:
Abraham and Rahab,
patriarchs and subversives,
mountain altars and daring escapes,
wanderers and wonderers,
reformers and activists,
work in us in your wonderful weak way:
soft slow seeping like water through stone;
like fine-filament roots through hard ground.
Give us a sense, just a hint, or a whiff, or a taste 
of the immensity of your reality – 
and in so doing, let us know and love you more.
Love one another more.
Amen

James 2: 14 – 17

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?  If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food,  and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?  So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Reflection

“Many have mightily laboured to reconcile James with Paul…” grumbled Martin Luther, “but with no real success. 
These are at odds: faith justifies, faith does not justify…”

Rather than promise to eat his hat, Luther instead offered to hand over his doctoral cap to whomever could reconcile these competing biblical perspectives, and let them ‘scold me as a fool.’ So far as I know, nobody ever claimed the prize.

Perhaps the real problem here is the determination to reconcile these two contrasting views on what Sallie McFague described as ‘the unprecedented task’ of having to ‘think about “everything that is.”’

Christianity has been, from the very outset, a community of people with different perspectives. A place of plurality. Here we find James’ perspective coming to the fore – elsewhere we find Paul’s, we shouldn’t be surprised to find them different.  

The Samoan theologian Upolu Vaai laments the effects of what he calls a colonial ‘one truth ideology’ – a way of seeing the world which insists that there can only be one correct perspective, one ‘right’ or ‘true’ way of understanding things. This ideology, Vaai insists, doesn’t mesh well with an indigenous Pacific way of understanding the world and instead “promotes top-down hierarchical frameworks…”

Perhaps we want the Bible to do all the work for us, to tell us exactly how to think and act – maybe we turn to it as if it were an inexhaustive book of rules, complete in and to itself. Instead James urges us to look beyond the page to the world around us: Look! Here are people with no clothes, no food, we must reckon with this reality. Barth seemed to agree, urging that we preach ‘with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.’

We live in a busy, messy, complex world where our answers generate ever more questions, and where people lead, as Thoreau put it, ‘lives of quiet desperation,’ faced with that reality we must learn to take responsibility for how we live – that we may come to different conclusions is no great surprise.  

Prayer

God save us from the false hope of easy answers.
Forgive our tendency to demand simple solutions to complex problems.
Free us from prisons of perfection
Help us to see the frail beauty of difference.
Light our path as we try to respond to the challenges we encounter,
And teach us to listen when others speak.
Amen.

 

James 2: 8 – 13

You do well if you really fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’  But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.  For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.  For the one who said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’, also said, ‘You shall not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.  So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.  For judgement will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgement.

Reflection

The writer has been challenging readers about showing favouritism, about our preference for those nicely turned out rather than the scruffy and dirty, for making distinctions between people. Now we are challenged about the distinctions we make between parts of our moral code. For the writer of this letter, the ‘royal law’ the law by which all others should be judged is ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’, and that’s every neighbour, every one and in all ways. 

We shouldn’t think that we can get away with breaking some commandments more than others. This might seem counter-intuitive since we all accept that some crimes are worse and deserve a stiffer sentence. But perhaps we need to consider how we sometimes allow ourselves latitude in our lives by saying ‘Well, at least I don’t..’ or “at least I haven’t…’… as though somehow that makes us better than other people. Among some prisoners, for example, some crimes have honour and even glamour, whereas others attract the most vicious and violent retribution, meaning that certain prisoners need to be kept separate from others. 

Like it or not, there is a hierarchy of transgression that we can easily take comfort in. I may drink a little too much sometimes, but I never drink and drive. I may buy cheap clothes, but I don’t have investments in multi-national companies that make them. I may have committed adultery, but I haven’t murdered anyone. These verses challenge us to recognise that we are all, all, part of a world that is not as it should be, that we all participate in a fallen world. We all deserve judgement. We can’t take pride in the commandments we keep, without recognising that there are also some we don’t. And the one law by which all are judged is the law of love. At least, I suppose, that makes it easy to remember. Love your neighbour – every one, in every way. And remember too that, thankfully, mercy triumphs over judgement.

Prayer

God of all mercy,
teach me how to love,
in every situation I face,
and every person I meet,
in appropriate and helpful ways.
And when I fail in love,
slightly or deeply,
show me your judgement,
and your mercy,
that I may be shaped by love
always. Amen.

 

James 2: 1 – 7

My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favouritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, ‘Have a seat here, please’, while to the one who is poor you say, ‘Stand there’, or, ‘Sit at my feet’,  have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?  Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?  But you have dishonoured the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court?  Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

Reflection

Perhaps, in an odd way, the economic difficulties of the past few years have had positive effects on many local churches. Not, of course,that it is in any way good that people have been struggling with the cost of living and finding it hard to get by, but that responding to the situation has challenged many churches to find new and creative ways of reaching into and serving their local communities. Warm hubs and warm spaces, community pantries, cupboards and cafes, school uniform banks, food banks; churches have hosted these and many more ways of living out Jesus’ commandment to love our neighbour. In doing so, some may have rediscovered what churches can and should be about, and found their fellowships widened and enriched as a result. Perhaps James (or whoever wrote the letter which bears that name) would approve.

However, I suspect winning that approval wouldn’t be easy, because James is often a very challenging read. It’s a book that has been controversial throughout Christian history and some theologians have argued it should be removed from the canon altogether. Its uncompromising messages can challenge our theology and how we understand the relationship between faith, action and salvation, and it can also challenge us to think about how we practically live as Christians. In this passage it challenges us to ask whether our churches are truly egalitarian spaces where everyone is welcomed and valued, regardless of their financial status. Do we welcome rich and poor alike, or do we act with favouritism and make distinctions between ourselves? Plus, we are challenged to ask wider, structural questions. Do the rich, as James says, oppress us? Why are food banks necessary in one of the richest countries in the world? Asking these questions, even if they are uncomfortable, is a part of what it should mean to be Church.

Prayer

God of generosity and plenty, 
we give thanks for churches, 
and other community groups, 
working to help people in need,
bringing food to the hungry
and companionship to the lonely. 
Help us too, God of radical inclusion, 
to build church fellowships
where people of all backgrounds are not judged, 
but welcomed, celebrated and loved.
Amen.

 

 
Today’s service is led by the Revd Mark Rodgers

 
Welcome

Welcome to Sunday worship on this, the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost.  I’m the Revd Mark Rodgers and I’m one of two stipendiary ministers in the URC Shropshire pastorate. It is good to welcome you all here today, as all of you are welcome in the name of Christ. Let us start worship with some words from Psalm 126. The words in normal type can be said by those of you on one side of your church and the words in bold can be said by those on the other side, if you choose. Or you can simply listen to me.

Call to Worship

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us,  and we rejoiced.                    

Hymn     Come, Now is the Time to Worship  
Brian Doerksen © 1998 Vineyard Songs (UK/Eire) OneLicence # A-734713  
sung by Chris Brunelle and used with his kind permission.
 
Come now is the time to worship.
Come now is the time to give your heart.
Come just as you are to worship.
Come just as you are before your God.  Come

One day every tongue will confess You are God.
One day every knee will bow.
Still the greatest treasure remains for those who gladly choose You now.

Come now is the time to worship.
Come now is the time to give your heart.
Come just as you are to worship.
Come just as you are before your God.  Come

One day every tongue will confess You are God.
One day every knee will bow.
Still the greatest treasure remains for those who gladly choose You now.
 
Prayers of Adoration and Confession & Assurance of pardon

Wonderful Abba You do so much for your people, 
for the lame and the blind, for the lost and the found, 
for the young and the old, 
and we want to praise you with our shouts of joy.
Where there are barren lands you supply the streams of water,
where there are rocks to stumble you flatten the path.
And as we gather from all over 
we make our praises heard in adoration of you.
But,  Forgiving Mother, look upon us this day 
and bless us with your forgiveness 
as we have not looked at the world and its people 
in the same way you do.
We have made life more difficult for some rather than easier,
We have taken away food, drink, and resources 
from others where you give.
We have shepherded people away from us and from you, 
rather than gathering them in.
In your love and grace, please forgive us, 
as sometimes, we do not know what we are doing.
And we ask this through your Son, 
the one who opens our eyes to you and a new way of being. Amen
Shout, sing, dance, praise the Lord our God, 
for Jesus came to this earth and spoke the words – 
“your sins are forgiven”. Amen

Prayer for Illumination

God of all knowledge and understanding give us now just a glimmer of what you know. Help us to hear your word, understand its meaning, and see what it means for you, us and the rest of your people.  Amen

Reading     Jeremiah 31:7-9

For thus says the Lord: Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘Save, O Lord, your people, the remnant of Israel.’ See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labour, together; a great company, they shall return here. With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back, I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

Hymn     Great is Thy Faithfulness
Thomas O. Chisholm (1923) Public Domain sung by a 250 Mass Voice Choir at St Andrew’s Kirk, Chennai and used with their kind permission.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
there is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
as Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.
 
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed Thy hand hath provided:
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest;
sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. 
 
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed Thy hand hath provided:
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow:
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed Thy hand hath provided:
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Reading     St Mark 10:46-52

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside.  When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’  Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’  Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’  So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.  Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’  Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

Sermon

I’m sure most of us worshipping today come from generations where we had more freedom. Young people in particular could come and go as they wished. The world was their playground and many would get up early, spend the whole day outside having adventures and then come home for an evening meal with bumps, scrapes and bruises all over them. Even dogs seemed to roam the street more, dog licence or no.

I’m sure many of you this morning have tales of adventures that you went on and some of the dangers that you faced. From a very early age I was an extremely inquisitive and curious little boy and this led to many hair raising stories that could have led to serious injury or worse, but thankfully I’m still here and intact. But that is how children are, full of questions, innocence and naivety, the qualities Jesus was probably pointing out to his disciples whenever children were around him.

But some children are not that fortunate. One such child lived in 19th century France. This 3-year-old went into his father’s workshop and decided to help his dad out by making a saddle for a horse. As he climbed up on a stool to grab the sharp tools needed, he slipped and the tool cut open his eye. This became infected and spread to his other eye, so by the time he was 4, he had become blind. As sad as this is, this young boy led a happy life, and in school he was top of his class, as he remembered everything he heard. At twelve, his life was to change as he met a soldier called Charles Barbier, who told him about his system of writing that he had produced to help soldiers read in the dark. The young man, Louis, looked at it, realised that it needed simplifying, and perfected a way of reading for other blind people that is now used all over the world. 

Monsieur Braille didn’t need to develop this system, he was clever enough. But he opened up the world to blind people all over the planet, who perhaps didn’t have the listening skills or the memory he had.

Louis Braille was a bit like Bartimaeus in that he had been able to see at one point in his life. In our New Testament reading this morning we hear that Jesus is travelling to Jerusalem and has arrived at Jericho. This was an oasis city, a place where Herod could build his winter palaces close by and a place that attracted the rich and powerful. And wherever the rich and powerful are, the poor and outcast are not far behind. Beggars were a common sight on the roadside, and one of these was Bartimaeus. He had heard of Jesus and recognised him as the Messiah, calling him the “Son of David”. He calls out to him constantly, much to the consternation of everyone around. They tell him to shush, but he continues, until Jesus takes note and beckons him over. “What do you want me to do for you?” asks Jesus. “Let me see again,” is the reply. Let me see again.  What a joy it must have been to have sight restored after being in darkness for so long. “Go; your faith has made you well”, says Jesus and Bartimaeus’ sight is restored and he joins the group on the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Of course, some people either lose their sight over time due to age or illness, or are born blind and have never been able to see. But some people have excellent eyesight but are also blind for most of their life. Let me explain.

One of my favourite films of all time is The Truman Show. Truman lives with his wife on Seahaven Island and has done everything on Seahaven Island. Photographs at his mother’s house show that they have taken him all over America but the reality is he has never left. And he is too scared to leave as he had a seafaring accident when he was young that meant he nearly drowned and so he won’t leave. His fears are constantly topped up by messages on the radio, TV and even posters in the travel agents saying how dangerous it is to fly. But Truman is in love. Not with his wife, but with another – Sylvia. They met whilst they were in High School and he has missed her ever since. She was taken away by her father and he has never been able to trace her. Everyday, Truman buys a magazine and sneaks into his basement to cut out features of models that are similar to Sylvia and he makes a collage of her face, to help him remember her.

But Truman is living a lie. He is blind to the truth, that his life is one big TV show that he knows nothing about. It is Big Brother for real. As a baby he was chosen from birth to grow up with and surrounded by actors in a giant studio in Hollywood. Everything in his life is artificial from the sun and the moon, to his wife and job. But Truman remains blind to it because he was brought up that way. He is being conditioned. That is until little things happen to open his eyes and he realises his life is a lie and he escapes.

If you took part in the all age activity earlier on you will have heard about scotomas, or blind spots that we all have. It is the way we condition ourselves that stops us from seeing things that are right in front of us. It is how we find it hard to find car keys or the remote control, because we tell ourselves they are gone, or missing, and so our brain stops us from seeing them right in front of us.

We all have blind spots due to who we are. It is due to our upbringing, our parents’ views, our neighbourhood, our culture, our church. All these things shape us but also sometimes stop us seeing things. This is similar to what was happening in our Jeremiah reading this morning. The people of Jerusalem are in exile. They are in the doldrums and like Bartimaeus they require a bit of hope in their lives, to keep going. But due to their culture, and their belief in the Torah, they were blind to any hope because they thought that their exile was punishment for their sins or their father’s sins and this punishment is passed down to second, third generation and more. This punishment moving through the generations extinguishes all hope. So God speaks to and through Jeremiah, and tells them there is hope, that he will bring everyone back, and not just the privileged or the powerful, but those who live in the margins. With God, even in the darkest hours, there is hope. 

So sisters and brothers. What are our blind spots? Can we see the bigger picture? Are we like Truman? Do we live a true Christian life or something that looks like a Christian life but makes us blind to how we should be living? To find out, we can do three things:

Firstly, listen to Jesus asking us the question, “What do you want me to do for you?” Do we really want help? Bartimaeus could have been happy blind, he could have just wanted a new cloak, or shake the hand of Jesus in a fleeting encounter. But he wanted to see, and more importantly, he wanted to belong, he wanted to be part of something. He went with them to Jerusalem, he became part of the change that was needed in the world. We might already be part of change, and we might already be the best version of us, in terms of living out the Gospel. But it never hurts to hear the question and to search ourselves to see if there is anything we are blind to, that might be impeding us, or the church, or the coming of the kingdom of God. Don’t presume Jesus knows if you desire change, listen to the question.

And then secondly, we can answer his question in any way we want, including “nothing, I’m ok for now thanks.” But as human beings we are all capable of missing something, we can all play our part in taking away somebody else’s hope, without realising, without knowing. So try always answering as Bartimaeus did, “I want to see.”  There is so much suffering in the world today and so much exposure due to all the different platforms we can access news on that we become more than numb to it, we become blind. 

It is difficult not to become immune or blind to some of the injustice that goes on around the globe but this is where our faith comes in. We can first ask Jesus to help us see what injustice is going on, then we can ask him for help to solve it.

And we are the lucky ones. We have already opened our eyes to faith. We are already believers. But there are many out there, far more than us, that can’t even see God or Jesus. It is our duty as followers of Jesus to continue his good work and spread the word of God throughout the world, but if we have blind spots ourselves, how can we help those who are even more blind?

And lastly, if our sight is restored, whose eyes do we see with? Other than our own, it helps to put ourselves in other people’s shoes, because as the old saying goes, “if you want to be understood, firstly understand.” So from our story in Mark today, who can we relate to? Who’s eyes would we struggle to see through? What if we were Bartimaeus? Would the crowd easily shut us up? Would we be too scared to call out to Jesus? Would we leave our past life behind and follow him?

And what if we were one of the crowd with Jesus? Would we want this beggar around us? He’s risking harm to Jesus from the authorities by shouting out that he’s the “son of David”. Do we want that sort here? How come Jesus gives him attention and never paid me that much time!

Sometimes we see the world differently as we get older. The freedoms I talked about in our generations might actually still exist for many people in the world, but we as we get older remove ourselves from that world, we move into a more comfortable way of living by choice and we become blind to some of the issues and experiences we would have seen in our youth. Perhaps we were the loud one once living on the edge, but now we consider our lives to be more akin with what Jesus wants. Perhaps we need to look again.

And, finally, leave where you are, leave this time of worship, and when you are lost in the week, caught up in the cycle of your everyday duties, stop and then think about this passage from the point of view of Jesus. Look through his eyes, and know blindness no more. Amen

Hymn     Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven
Henry Francis Lyte (1834) Public Domain. Courtesy of St Andrew’s Cathedral & Choir,  Sydney, Australia

Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
to his feet your tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
evermore his praises sing.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise the everlasting King!

Praise him for his grace & favour
to our forebears in distress.
Praise him, still the same as ever,
slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Glorious in his faithfulness!

Fatherlike he tends and spares us;
well our feeble frame he knows.
In his hand he gently bears us,
rescues us from all our foes.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Widely yet his mercy flows!

Angels, help us to adore him;
you behold him face to face.
Sun & moon, bow down before him,
dwellers all in time and space.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise with us the God of grace!
 
Offertory

Giving Lord, as you give wholeheartedly to us, we bring our gifts and ourselves to you. Bless what we offer you, so that it may be used to help those who need it most, and to open the eyes to the world so that they may see the coming of Your kingdom. Amen

Prayers of Intercession

Loving, caring God, You are a God for everyone, 
from the rich man to the man in the gutter.
To the disciples who wanted status, 
to the man who wanted the basics.
We now turn our attention to those we can think of. 
They are not everyone Lord, 
but they are the people we are worried about, near and far.

We pray for those people caught up in conflict. 
In warzones, gang violence, petty skirmishes or criminal acts. 
We pray for everyone’s safety, 
and that peace will ensue, leading to prosperity and growth.

We pray for all those with responsibilities for leading groups of people, whether that be countries, states and councils, or big corporations. 
May they make decisions with Christian values, 
with the care of the people in mind, rather than power and profit.

We think of those in our own country 
where the darker nights bring fear due to living alone, 
or the thought of putting on the heating causes stress 
as it is not affordable and has become a luxury. 
We think of those who can only dream of putting on the heating 
as they live on the streets. 
We ask that solutions be found so that people do not feel 
scared, cold or need to be roofless.
We pray for our churches, and ask that you bless us 
with a renewed sense of vigour and passion for your word. 
That we can reach out more to those who need to hear it the most, 
and can be a place where people feel loved and belong.

And we pray for friends, family and ourselves. 
Many are ill or in pain, many fear a diagnosis or do not feel themselves. Be their strength and shield, offer them a healing hand, 
and bless them and us with the knowledge 
that you love us and are with us at all times.

We pray all of this, in the name of your son, 
our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

And let us bring all our prayers together by saying the one prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, saying –

Our Father…

Hymn     I Watch the Sunrise Lighting the Sky  
John Glynn © 1976, Kevin Mayhew sung by the Clonmore Choir OneLicence # A-734713  
 
I watch the sunrise lighting the sky,
casting its shadows near.
and on this morning bright though it be,
I feel those shadows near me.

But you are always close to me
following all my ways.
May I be always close to you
following all your ways, Lord.

I watch the sunlight shine through the clouds,
warming the earth below.
And at the mid-day, life seems to say:
I feel your brightness near me.

But you are always close to me
following all my ways.
May I be always close to you
following all your ways, Lord.

I watch the sunset fading away,
lighting the clouds with sleep.
And as the evening closes its eyes,
I feel your presence near me.

But you are always close to me
following all my ways.
May I be always close to you
following all your ways, Lord.

I watch the moonlight guarding the night,
waiting till morning comes.
The air is silent, earth is at rest
only your peace is near me.

Yes, you are always close to me
following all my ways.
May I be always close to you
following all your ways, Lord.
 
Blessing

As Jesus asks “what do you want me to do?” Let us leave her today to ask what we can do for others with the love of God, in the name of Christ, and with the warmth of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

inspiration in your inbox Saturday 26th October 2024   James 1: 22 – 27 But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror;  for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless.  Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. Reflection This passage is not claiming that we gain salvation through our works.  Instead, because of the salvation which we have received by grace through Jesus we should be responding by reaching out into our world sharing the love of Jesus through our actions. What this does mean though, is that we have to acknowledge that God’s retirement plan for us only kicks in once we have glorified God. Now, I am aware that we are both an aging and currently declining denomination, but we are all still being called to live out our faith. That means doing what we are able to do, and if we can afford it, also employing folk to help with our mission. So if you are good at finance, fundraising, book-keeping, offer those skills and maybe consider training with a charity to give debt advice. If you are a prayer warrior, pray for the church, projects, social action that the church is involved with and the community the church is based in. If you are an incredible welcomer and host, do that. If you have a passion for spirituality, share that in your church, area, mission partnership, synod. If you have gifts to work with children, families and young people use them. Doing nothing is not an option – God called us to live out our faith and that means getting up out of the chairs and pews and actually doing. We are told clearly that “religion that is pure and undefiled before God…is…to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world”. Now that encompasses a whole slew of things, but can be summed up with the Golden Rule. This means not being jealous of what gifts someone else has, or living like those who don’t know Jesus, but to always see every person as a child of God and to see that encounter as an opportunity to reach out.  Prayer Creator God,  You have given us a world and called us as your followers to live out your example. Encourage us to discern what gifts we have been given by you. Inspire us to get up and use those gifts, to help the orphans and widows of our modern world. Embolden us to open our eyes to the need around us. Incite in us a passion to spread your word through action. Amen.

Today’s writer Kirsty-Ann Mabbott, Church Related Community Worker, United Reformed Church 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.