Today’s service is led by the Revd Lance Stone

 
Introduction

Hello and welcome to this online service. My name is Lance Stone and I am a retired URC minister who has served the church in London and in Cambridge, as well as ministering in the Church of Scotland in Aberdeen and in Amsterdam.

Call to Worship 

God is our refuge and our strength, a timely help in trouble.
Come, see what the Lord has done. 
In every part of the wide world he puts an end to war.

He breaks the bow, he snaps the spear, he burns the shield in the fire.
Stop fighting: learn that I am God, exalted among the nations, 
exalted in the earth.

Hymn     O God Our Help in Ages Past
Isaac Watts (1719) Public Domain, BBC Songs of Praise

O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home.

Before the hills in order stood, or earth received its frame,
from everlasting Thou art God, to endless years the same.

A thousand ages in Thy sight are like an evening gone,
short as the watch that ends the night before the rising sun.

Time, like an ever-rolling stream bears all its sons away;
they fly forgotten, as a dream dies at the op’ning day.
 
O God, our Help in ages past, our Hope for years to come,
be Thou our Guard while life shall last, and our eternal Home!

The Act of Remembrance 

Friends, let us remember in silence before God 
all those who have died in war…

The silence…

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them. We will remember them.

Opening Prayer

Holy and gracious God,
eternal source and end of all things:
we praise and worship you.
We rejoice in the wonder of your creation;
we give thanks that you have given us life;
that you have  given us one another;
that you have given us a world to delight in.
All around us are signs of your handiwork
and we would honour you, the Maker.

Confession and Pardon

O God, forgive us for our destructive ways
forgive us that we threaten what you have made,
and this morning we especially pray for forgiveness for war, 
and for all its horror.
We pray for forgiveness for the ease with which we resort to war;
for the casualties and the victims that it leaves in its wake;
for all the ways in which your good world is scarred
by conflict and our inhumanity to one another.
We confess our share in such a world,
our failures to seek and to establish peace even in our own lives.

O God, have mercy upon us and forgive us.  
Keep faith with us and lead us into ways of righteousness.
Show us the things that make for peace.
And we thank you that you have given us Jesus, the prince of peace,
who has come and made peace by the blood of his cross.
Help us, we pray, to live in that power.
We pray all these things in his name, as we join together in the words 
that he taught us, saying…Our Father…

Prayer for Illumination

Living God, fashion and shape us by your Word, 
that we might rise from death and destruction 
to life in all its fullness. Amen.

Reading     St Mark 12:38-44

As Jesus taught, he said, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets! They devour widows’ houses  and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.’ He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them,  ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have  contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’

Hymn     For the Healing of the Nations
Fred Kaan (1965) © 1968, Hope Publishing Co. OneLicence  # A-734713 sung by the virtual choir of the First Avenue Presbyterian Church Virtual Choir, New York, America.

For the healing of the nations,
Lord, we pray with one accord,
for a just and equal sharing
of the things that earth affords.
To a life of love in action
help us rise and pledge our word.

Lead us forward into freedom;
from despair your world release,
that, redeemed from war & hatred,
all may come and go in peace.
Show us how through care 
and goodness
fear will die and hope increase.

All that kills abundant living,
let it from the earth be banned:
pride of status, race, or schooling,
dogmas that obscure your plan.
In our common quest for justice
may we hallow life’s brief span.

You, Creator God, have written
your great name on humankind.
For our growing in your likeness,
bring the life of Christ to mind
that by our response and service
earth its destiny may find.
 
Sermon

Let us pray: Loving God, speak your Word to our hearts that it may become flesh in our lives, to the glory of your name. Amen.

At first sight our reading this morning from Mark’s Gospel is fairly straightforward. Jesus is in Jerusalem and he is visiting the temple and he notices people putting money into the treasury, which consisted of thirteen large collecting boxes. And as Jesus watches he sees this poor widow – one of the most vulnerable people in society – putting in her two small coins which amounted to almost nothing, and certainly nothing in comparison to the big sums being put in by rich people. Jesus, however, knew that what she had given was far more than the bigger offerings for it was all that she had. And so he commended her. And the story lends itself to a simple moral: generosity is a blessed virtue, even when we don’t have much, and the story might be used a subtle prompt to church members to give generously the church, a reminder which – as church treasurers know well – is sometimes necessary.

There is, however, rather more to the story than that, and to grasp this we need to backtrack a little. You see, the setting of the incident in its wider context in Mark’s Gospel is a series of controversies between Jesus and the religious establishment who are trying to catch him out. Here Jesus goes toe- to-toe with the religious authorities of his day and what he saw as their corrupt and distorted practices. So Jesus warns people in verse 38 to ‘beware of the scribes’ with their ostentatious display of long robes and their top-tier seats. But then comes this stinging rebuke, ‘they devour widows’ houses…’ In other words, Jesus here is condemning the entire, rotten religious system, centred on the temple, which extorts money out of those least able to afford it, like this widow, and which bleeds them dry. 

What is worse, however, is that in these latter chapters of Mark’s Gospel Jesus is making plain that the Jerusalem temple to which this widow was giving, this mighty edifice, has no future. It is ear-marked for destruction. In Jesus’ mind the Jewish people of his day do not know the things that work for peace but are set on a course that will in just a few years lead ultimately to rebellion against Rome and a brutal crushing defeat. Jerusalem and its glorious temple will be laid to waste, as happened in AD70. And Jesus has not long since prefigured all this by invading the temple and driving out the money-changers, symbolising the coming destruction. Suddenly we view this woman’s actions in a different light. She was giving all she had – but for what purpose? She was making a sacrifice – but for what?  

Where this passage tells us that this widow ‘put in everything she had’, the original Greek in which the passage was written says, literally, that she put in ‘all the living of her’ – or, in other words, ‘she gave her whole life’. But what was she giving her whole life for? The upkeep of a building with a demolition order attached. She was giving her all for a building with a very  short shelf-life. What was the point of that? Was it worth it?

Well, here is where this passage begins to bite, not least on this occasion, this Remembrance Sunday when we recall those who made the supreme sacrifice in war – those who gave their whole lives. At the risk of being controversial, we surely have to ask whenever a war is fought: was it worth it? Was it worth the cost in bloodshed? Was it like this widow’s sacrifice – costly self-giving for a lost cause? And we might prefer to blank that question, but we can’t, and certainly it is a responsibility of Christians who serve the Prince of Peace to face it.

Take the 1st World War which still looms large on Remembrance Sunday.  It has been estimated that in that conflict over 16 million people died: around 10 million military personnel and just under 7 million civilians – and of course there were a far greater number of wounded and maimed who were scarred for life. 

The numbers are mind-boggling – what cause could conceivably justify such suffering and loss of life?  And we hear about the horrors and futility of trench warfare, with thousands of lives lost for a few metres of mud gained. And those soldiers who survived were promised a return to ‘a land fit for heroes’, when in fact they returned to the economic turmoil of the 20s and the 30s and high unemployment and the Great Depression. And the 1st World War was dubbed ‘the war to end all wars’, but the deeply resented terms of the Treaty of Versailles helped to make that an impossible dream. The 20th century, that most bloody of centuries, did not exactly fulfil that hope, ‘the war to end all wars’. And  so we ask: was it worth it? 

Most people would agree that it is easier to answer that question affirmatively with regard to the 2nd World War, that a necessary price was paid, despite the appalling death toll. But what of more recent wars? What about Vietnam where an estimated 58,000 Americans died, with the overall number on all sides likely exceeding a million? Was it worth it? Robert McNamara was the US Secretary of Defence at the height of the war, and a fierce advocate of it, but he later confessed to deep regret and remorse for US mistakes: ‘we were wrong, terribly wrong’ he confessed, ‘and we owe it to future generations to  explain why.’ And what of Northern Ireland? Can those who died for the cause rest in peace? Was it worth it? Or Iraq? Can the death toll be justified by the emergence of a more peaceful and stable world? Or Afghanistan, or Ukraine or Gaza? And of course in some cases there would be a strong case for concluding with a heavy heart that yes, it was worth it. It was justified. There was no choice.

But we return to this widow, and her sacrificial offering, her costly giving to a doomed temple. And we might see in her a symbol of futility, of pity, of lives laid down for lost causes, sacrifices made that were just not worth it. Yet Jesus, despite his perspective on the temple, does not seem to see it that way. He could have told her to keep her coins, to save them for a better purpose – but he did not. He commended her. And soon after this another woman will come to Jesus and break open a jar of very costly ointment and anoint Jesus and that too could be seen as a pointless gesture, a waste. But no, Jesus commends her. And maybe that is because these acts were done in good faith, from good motives, out of love – irrespective of their effects or what they achieved. 

And here I want to put this widow’s self-sacrifice into a much wider context. I want to suggest that that acts of self-giving, done in good faith, acts that cost us, are central to  our humanity, essential to our becoming fully human beings. Indeed, perhaps in this widow’s act Jesus saw an echo of his own ministry of self-giving and sacrifice. The great over-arching narrative of our faith proclaims that in the fullness of time God emptied himself in Christ, laying aside his glory and being born in human likeness, becoming a servant – an act of self-sacrifice, writing this into the very DNA of the universe. Self-sacrifice therefore lies in the heart of God, and at the heart of creation and of what it means to be made in the image of God. And this is something we need to learn in an age where there is great emphasis on self-fulfilment, on discovering our true selves, on maximising our potential and becoming all that we can be – but we aren’t very sure how to go about it. And the word is that the key to it all lies in asserting ourselves and trying to grab more and to produce more and to consume more and to be more, but it doesn’t work. This is not humanising us. What we who strive to bear the image of God must learn is that self-fulfilment, paradoxically, cannot come without self-giving and self-sacrifice; that in order to gain life we have to be ready to lose it; that in order to live we must be prepared to die; that in surrendering ourselves to loss there is a mysterious, gratuitous gain. It’s what we see symbolised and enacted in the Christian rite of baptism which tells us that in laying ourselves down we rise to new life.
 
So we return to the widow in the temple with her little offering. The cause to which she gave may have been already lost but she nevertheless comes to us graced with the image of God. In a competitive and often ruthless world she gives us a glimpse of the secret of our humanity. And she speaks to us too of those who sacrificed their lives in wars – sometimes, apparently, in a futile cause. This is not to justify pointless and destructive wars. It is not to try to put a gloss on the shameful waste of life and the sheer pity and tragedy of war. But it is to recognise that we are never more fully human than when we give of ourselves in love and in good faith – whatever the outcome. And in the spirit of this widow, let us never, ever underestimate the significance of little acts of kindness – small acts of love that may cost us, but which season life, and which humanise us, and which make the world a more gracious and generous place to live. 

Opportunities for such sacrificial self-giving abound. They are all around us. Let us embrace them, and so honour the fallen. Amen.

Hymn     Peace is Flowing Like a River
Adapted by Carey Landry © 1975, 1979, OCP OneLicence # A-734713. Sung by Chris Brunelle and used with his kind permission.

Peace is flowing like a river,
flowing out through you and me;
flowing out into the desert,
setting all the captives free.

Love is flowing like a river,
flowing out through you and me;
flowing out into the desert,
setting all the captives free.

Healing’s flowing like a river,
flowing out through you and me;
flowing out into the desert,
setting all the captives free.

Alleluia, alleluia, Alleluia, alleluia,
Alleluia, alleluia, Alleluia, alleluia.

Prayers of Intercession

O gracious, peace-making God, 
as we today remember the fallen, those who have died in conflicts, 
we bring before you today our war-torn world, 
where the strident din of hatred and conflict
drowns out the sighs of peace and the whispers of reconciliation.

We think of conflicts too numerous to mention,
religious conflicts, political conflicts, civil wars –
and we think of the effects of wars – 
of refugees and refugee camps and asylum seekers,
and the maimed and the disfigured…
We pray, God, for the United Nations, that it may be a force for peace.
We pray for world leaders that they may act wisely
and justly and for the good of all.
And we pray for those who bear arms on behalf of the nation,
that they may be endowed discipline and discernment,
courage and compassion.

We pray today for the United States of America 
in the aftermath of the election, 
praying for a peaceful and orderly transition to a new administration, 
for a healing of the divisions that have opened up in recent times, 
and for a recovery of trust and commitment to the common good.

And we pray for our enemies, for those who wish us harm,
that you will turn the hearts of all towards kindness and friendship.
We pray for the wounded and the bereaved,
that  in their trials they may know your love and support.

Most holy and gracious God, 
hear our prayers for all who strive for peace
and all who fight for justice.
Help us, who today remember the cost of war
to work for a better tomorrow;
and as we commend to you lives lost in terror and conflict,
bring us all, in the end, to the peace of your presence;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Offertory Prayer

Living God, today we honour those who, 
like the woman in the gospel, are motivated by self-giving.
As we do so we give thanks for Jesus who gave his life 
that we might live.
And we offer these gifts, asking that our lives may be motivated
By such self-giving, in the service of your Kingdom.  Amen

Hymn     Healing River of the Spirit    
Ruth C Duck © 1996 The Pilgrim Press OneLicence # A-734713 Recorded by the Sunday 7pm Choir at St. Francis de Sales Parish in Ajax, Ontario, Canada

Healing river of the Spirit, bathe the wounds that living brings.
Plunge our pain, our sin, our sadness deep beneath your sacred springs.
Weary from the restless searching that has lured us from your side,
we discover in your presence peace the world cannot provide.
  
Wellspring of the healing Spirit, stream that flows to bring release,
as we gain ourselves, our senses, may our lives reflect your peace.
Grateful for the flood that heals us, may your Church live out your grace.
As we meet both friend and stranger, may we see our Saviour’s face.

Living stream that heals the nations, make us channels of your power.
All the world is torn by conflict; wars are raging at this hour.
Saving Spirit, move among us; guide our winding human course,
till we find our way together, flowing homeward to our Source.

Blessing

Now go in peace
to live lives in the service of Christ’s Kingdom;
and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship   of the Holy Spirit
be with you, now and always. Amen.
 

inspiration in your inbox Saturday 9 November 2024 James 5: 13 – 20 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.  Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.  The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.  Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.  Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.  Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.  My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another,  you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. Reflection We have reached the end of the letter of James, a letter filled with moral teachings and warnings, only to end on teachings about prayer. What is interesting about this teaching is that James focuses both on the prayers of individuals – pray when you are suffering or happy – and on communal prayer – if you are sick, call the elders of the church to pray for you and anoint you. A reminder of the spiritual oversight that elders hold within our congregations, and not just administrative oversight. James seems to take this further encouraging us to not only pray for healing, but also to pray for forgiveness after we have confessed our sins to each other! When was the last time we confessed our sins publicly? Do we even want to confess our sins publicly? What ridicule would that rain down on our heads? What shame would we open ourselves up to? On the other hand, when was the last time we admitted to those we hurt that we were wrong – when did we put our faith into action and trust in a forgiving community to help heal us? By using the example of Elijah to stress the power of prayer, James is saying that the prayers of individuals and an entire community can save the sick and restore people – that prayer is powerful and effective. But I am also powerfully aware that not all prayers are answered as we would hope; so, what then? ‘Prayer has carried people from all walks of life through the most difficult of circumstances. Prayer is the catalyst for healing, the conduit through which doors are opened, and the assurance that we will make it through today and have hope for a brighter tomorrow. Prayer changes things!’* * From commentary on James 5:13-20 by Gay L. Byron on workingpreacher.com Prayer Lord, we confess that we have sinned against you and against others – please forgive us. Lord, we confess that we have not had faith in the power of prayer to change circumstances and us – please forgive us. Lord, thank you that you want to hear from us. Amen.

Today’s writer The Revd Ruth Armstrong, Minister at The Vale URC Broadstairs and Hardres Street United Church, Ramsgate. New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

inspiration in your inbox Friday 8 November 2024 James 5: 7 – 12 Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.  You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors!  As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.  Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. Above all, my beloved,  do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your ‘Yes’ be yes and your ‘No’ be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. Reflection Be patient!  I took my wife to a minor injuries unit at the local hospital today, we waited patiently for 90 minutes.  When we arrived, I looked around the waiting room and was pleased that there were less people than had been at church when I led this morning.  As time passed, I did a few recounts and tried to calculate how much longer we had to wait.  She was called by name and then she was seen by two very caring and helpful nurses.  The nurses were good and gave my wife lots of reassurance as they dressed the wound. Farmers wait for the rains.  With the climate chaos humans have caused sometimes the rains do not come, or they come at the wrong time.  The farmer’s patience must be exhausted. Are we exhausted by waiting for the return of Jesus?  We need to wait and not try to work out how long it will be before Jesus returns, we have no idea how long it will be.  While I waited for my wife to be seen I had total trust that the nurses who saw her would take care of her.  We need to have this attitude towards the return of Jesus, we do not know when He will return, we do not know how He will return but we do know that Jesus loves us.  He showed His amazing love for humankind by coming to earth, living amongst us and dying on the cross for us.   We need to be patient and trusting in Jesus as we wait for His return.  We should not try to calculate the date as Jesus said in Matthew 24:36  “No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come – neither the angels in heaven nor the Son; the Father alone knows.” Prayer Almighty God teach me to be patient.   Help me to have total trust in You. I look forward to the return of you only Son Jesus but I don’t know when or how He will return. Help me, and all the human race to care for your world as we wait for the return of your Son. Amen

Today’s writer John Collings, Lay Preacher, Rutherglen 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.

inspiration in your inbox Thursday 7 November 2024 James 5: 1 – 6 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten.  Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Listen! The wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.  You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts on a day of slaughter.  You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you. Reflection “À la lanterne!”. One can almost hear the cry of the mob as the insurrectionist declaims the charge sheet of the sins of the rich – hoarding grain until it was no longer fit to be used; ostentation in parading in fancy clothes; greed in amassing possessions that turn out to be of no use; exploitation of the poor and labouring classes; living such a hedonistic life-style that they were now like an ox fattened up for sacrificial slaughter. Moreover, they have murdered the righteous one, who does not resist – thought by many commentators to refer to Christ himself. Jesus may not have resisted on his own behalf, but did not hesitate throughout his ministry to call out in similar terms the sinfulness of those who wielded power and influence, for example in the Beatitudes. Such declarations may be found throughout the Bible, which has sometimes been described as the most explosive denouncement of social injustice of all time. Confronted with the wrongs of the world we are fired up to take action, baying for justice now! À la lanterne! Yet, as we shall find tomorrow, James, the brother of Jesus, counsels patience. Recent debates on what to do in reparation for the legacies of slavery, or calls to boycott companies which support regimes whose actions we deplore, have illustrated that what may seem to be simple courses of action can turn out to be simplistic and may not address the real issues. Sometimes our well-meaning actions may themselves lead to injustices. That is not an excuse for doing nothing or putting the matter into the “Too difficult” box. It is a reminder that perhaps we do not have all the answers, that those who do may well be those most directly involved – those with lived experience. We must do our research carefully and be prepared to listen respectfully and prayerfully. Then we can and indeed must act in Jesus’ name. Prayer God of all justice we come in humility anxious to do your work on this messy earth and in this confusing society.   Jesus, we put our trust in you hoping that you will guide and impel us to act urgently where we see injustice.   We also ask that you instil in us  discernment, understanding, and a willingness to listen to those with greater experience, and be open to letting the Holy Spirit guide us.  Amen

Today’s writer The Rev’d Ron Reid is a retired minister in the Mersey Synod serving as Link Minister at Rock Chapel, Farndon.  He is a member at Upton-by-Chester 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.

inspiration in your inbox Wednesday 6 November 2024 James 4: 13 – 17 Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.’ Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.’  As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.  Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin. Reflection Ever since I can remember I have been aware that any arrangements I make about tomorrow, next week, next month (or even later today) must, in one sense, be tentative. Though I suspect, if I am honest, my expectations often have more to do with human failings than my acknowledgement of God’s wishes. As I was growing up the work ethic was strong in my family and included an acknowledgement that time was a precious gift not to be squandered. The answer to how best to honour that gift needs us to do some good planning so that the time available is utilised as productively as possible. Such planning requires an element of having some confidence in the future. But of course, this passage from The Letter of James is about far more than how we plan and manage our time. It addresses our tendency to arrogance, a false confidence in our own abilities and our attitude to all that we have and all that we own. We can imagine that these verses could be the result of a conversation between James and one of the many travelling merchants or tradespeople of the day. In which the traveller was boasting about his expectations for the coming months. Where would be a profitable place to settle for a while? whom he could influence? and who might introduce him to ‘useful’ contacts? If he was a successful businessman his enthusiasm would be likely to take over in his day to day decision making. Any recognition of God’s place in his life would fall way down the order of priorities. And our response? Perhaps these words ‘let our ordered lives confess the beauty of thy peace’ from the hymn, Dear Lord and Father of mankind – best express the lives we should be aspiring to. Prayer Drop thy still dews of quietness, till all our strivings cease; take from our souls the strain and stress, and let our ordered lives confess the beauty of thy peace.   Breathe through the heats of our desire thy coolness and thy balm; let sense be dumb, let flesh retire; speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire, O still, small voice of calm!   J.G.Whittier (1807-1892)

Today’s writer Val Morrison, Elder and Assembly Accredited Lay Preacher, URC in Doncaster 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.

Tuesday 5 November 2024

James 4: 11 – 12

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another, speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbour?

Reflection

Jesus said ‘judge not, that ye be not judged’. Usually we think of this in terms of not judging what our neighbours have or have not done. However, when we are tempted to rush to judgement of others, there is often an unspoken corollary, which is that whatever we consider our neighbours guilty of, our sin is not as great.

If we minimise our sin in this way, through judging others to be worse than us, then we will be far less likely to see that our own behaviour needs to be improved. Maybe that is partly why James says that we should be concentrating on doing the law, instead of judging others.

In the bargain, if we concentrate our attention on judging all the wrongdoing in the world, then we could be tempted to lose faith that God’s kingdom can come on earth as in heaven. So let’s concentrate our attention on James’ teaching instead.

James is looking for change – starting with change in us. He wants his readers to see clearly that their own behaviour falls short of Jesus’ teaching, however much they profess to be Christians. He is calling on each of us to go further with our response to Jesus. Not to be satisfied with where we are and certainly not to think that because we are no worse than our neighbours, we do not need to change.

In other words we may call ourselves Christian, but we’ve still got a long way to go. What’s more, changing ourselves (including the little that we can each do towards changing the world) is certainly within our grasp. So let’s actively concentrate on that and leave God to look after the bigger picture (and the judging).

Prayer

Living and loving God,
Open our eyes and our hearts to see your will and your way.
Show us each how we need to change.
Help us to work at becoming more and more like Jesus.
As we strive to model the attributes of your kingdom,
may your kingdom come across this world,
that all may live in justice and peace.
Thanks be to God,

Amen.

 

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