Collect and Readings for the Last Sunday after Trinity – Joel 2.23-end, Ecclesiasticus 35.12-17, Jeremiah 14.7-10,19-22, Isaiah 45.22-end, Psalm 65, Psalm 84.1-7, Psalm 119.129-136, 2 Timothy 4.6-8, 16-18, Romans 15.1-6, Luke 18.9-14, Luke 4.16-24
The Prayer for today
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: help us so to hear them,
to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them that, through patience, and the comfort of your holy
word, we may embrace and for ever hold fast the hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in
our Saviour Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and for ever. Amen.
We all want to be independent, and any parent can remember the battles which mark the route! One of the hardest things for the ageing is gradually having to relinquish their independence, and many struggle on with great difficulty rather than asking for help. This kind of pride in our independence as humans is good and healthy. The danger comes when we lose touch with where we have come from and forget as created beings, we are fundamentally dependent on our creator and sustainer, God himself.
The readings this week express the praise and thanksgiving which result from recognising God’s lavish showering of gifts on his people. There is so much to be thankful for, and the whole pattern of seasonal rain and growth work as a visible sign of God’s Spirit drenching and soaking us as it is poured out over us in life-giving abundance. Even those of us who have long been city- dwellers can appreciate the image of rain and growth.
To receive such a drenching, we need to be like the earth, open and vulnerable, and ready to accept a soaking. It isn’t any coincidence that the word ‘humility’ means ‘earthiness’. And we simply can’t be earthy if we are working on the principle that we have no need of God, or of anyone’s help, and can manage perfectly well on our own, thank you.
While the Pharisee in this week’s Gospel is going through the motions of communicating with God, he is really affirming his own independent worth and has no concept of his deepened of God at all. It’s like insisting on protecting our earth from rain; and if we do that, nothing can grow. In contrast the tax collector, complete with questionable morals and principles, at least recognises his basic dependence on God, and his need of God’s mercy. It is this honesty before God that Jesus recommends.
Some things to reflect on:
· What kind of things in life remind us of our need of God, and what kind of things give us a false sense of superiority and independence of him?
· What is your hope in God based on?
God bless and stay safe and well.
Rev’d Fiona Robinson
