Collect and Readings for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity – Jeremiah 31.27-34, Genesis 32.22-31, Psalm 119.97-104, Psalm 121, 2 Timothy 3.14-4.5, Luke 18.1-8
The Prayer for today
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us your gift of faith that, forsaking what lies behind and
reaching out to that which is before, we may run the way of your commandments and win the crown of
everlasting joy; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of
the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
I have a half-finished embroidery somewhere in the back of a cupboard, which has been in that state for years. Whenever I rediscover it, I make the decision to keep it as one day I may have time to finish it. Even as I put it back in the cupboard, I know this is unlikely; the commitment simply isn’t there, as my embroidery doesn’t rank high enough in my order of priorities.
For many people, faith in God is similarly packed away, and brought out and looked at from time to time. Their prayer-life is haphazard and irregular, with long gaps of inattentiveness punctuated with occasional attempts to open up the communication channels. For whatever reasons, building a deep relationship with God is simply not a high priority at present. If it were, the commitment would show in a regular and more persistent prayer pattern.
Whereas my embroidery remains much the same sitting in the cupboard, relationships are dynamic and do not store well without attention. It is always rather sad when a close friendship subsides into the printed Christmas letter category. Although this can be a valiant effort to avoid losing touch completely, it is a poor substitute for the daily contact and shared lives. And so often our prayer-life and Bible reading, if similarly rare and impersonal, result in a very stilted relationship with God, which is such a poor substitute for the rich, vibrant companionship he has in mind for us.
We live in a rather fragmented and disjointed culture, which doesn’t help. Many young children are now entering school with a marked increase in poor listening and concentration skills. Persistence in anything, whatever it is, does not come easily. But prayer, like our heartbeat, needs to be regular and constant, a quiet rhythm pulsing faithfully under all our other activities. We also have a responsibility to keep up our study of the Bible so that we, like Timothy, are thoroughly equipped for every work.
Some things to reflect on:
· Do we have God’s word in our minds and written on our hearts? What can we put in place to improve our present situation?
· If God knows our needs before we ask, why does Jesus advise us to be persistent in prayer?
God bless and stay safe and well.
Rev’d Fiona Robinson
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Collect and Readings for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity – Jeremiah 29.1,4-7, 2 Kings 5.1-3, 7- 15c, Psalm 66.1-11, Psalm 111, 2 Timothy 2.8-15, Luke 17.11-19
The Prayer for today Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you: pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself, and so bring us at last to your heavenly city where we shall see you face to face; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The people of Jerusalem have been taken into exile and forced to live far from home in the city of Babylon. They are aware of the unpleasant truth that this is at least partly their own fault, and in his letter to them, speaking out the word of God, Jeremiah urges them to think and act positively, so that through their presence in Babylon the city may be blessed. We have probably all known at some time the misery of being rejected and isolated. Whether we are in that place through our own fault or through circumstances beyond our control, it is still a bleak and painful place to be.
Some of us will have known the haunting suspicion that we could infect others, either physically or emotionally; most of us can only guess at the terrible sense of chronic isolation and terror experienced by those with leprosy.
Jesus meets the ten lepers in their community of isolation, outside one of the villages, and all their years of suffering pour out poignantly as they plead for pity from their contamination zone. Jesus, ever practical, tells them not that they are healed, but that they are to go and do what healed lepers have to do by law – show themselves to the priest. It is typical of godly direction to use existing framework so as to bless as many people as possible.
Paul, writing to Timothy, is actually chained up in prison, but quite content to be there as anywhere else, because he knows that although he is chained, the good news is not, and can bring anyone blessing, wherever you happen to spread it.
This is rather heartening, because it means that all of us can blossom with God’s love where we are planted; we don’t have to wait until we are in a ‘better’ situation or get discouraged because we only meet those in the office or on the bus each day. The wholesome goodness of the Gospel can be brought to those we meet – by us!
Some things to reflect on:
• Is it acceptable for Christians to be sad and downhearted, or should their new life in Christ mean that they are always happy and rejoicing?
• How would you answer someone who was complaining that their prayers for healing had not been answered? (Is it just an answer that would be needed in the circumstances?)
God bless and stay safe and well.
Rev’d Fiona Robinson
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Collect and Readings for the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity – Jeremiah 32.1-3a, 6-15, Amos 6.1a,4- 7, Psalm 91.1-6, 11-end, Psalm 146, 1 Timothy 6.6-19, Luke 16.19-end
The Prayer for today God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit upon your Church in the burning fire of your love: grant that your people may be fervent in the fellowship of the gospel that, always abiding in you, they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
On the face of it, Jeremiah’s purchase of the field was likely to be a complete waste of money. Had he been thinking only in terms of financial gain, it would hardly have been considered a wise investment. But since God had just spoken to him about using it as a sign of hope, Jeremiah was happy to go along with God’s priorities. These took precedence over all his plans and ambitions.
Amos underlines for us the danger of being comfortably well off; the very comfort can cushion us from feeling for the poor and needy until we barely notice their suffering. So often this goes along with a sense of well-being which lulls us into thinking life is like this for everyone else too. We can become so cut off from the real world that we actually believe the needs are not there. It is this blindness, and injustice of the situation, which angers the God of love and compassion. He feels for the ones who get despised and ignored, simply because they possess less.
Paul has more good advice from young Timothy. He, too, recognises that many sins can get traced back to the ‘love of money’ rootstock, and advises Timothy to stay well away from it, pursuing instead the kind of riches that are good and eternal. God is by far the better bargain!
The parable of the rich man and Lazarus focuses our minds on the seriousness and urgency of this whole question. We are not to know when our opportunities for living thoughtfully and generously will run out; it would be sensible to sort it all out now, while we still have the chance. As we take stock of how we are living, we can hold in front of us the picture of this wealthy man who did nothing particularly evil, but neglected to notice the needs of those he probably saw every day.
Some things to reflect on:
• Was Jeremiah foolish to buy a field in the circumstances? Why does God sometimes ask us to do things which, in the world’s terms, are madness?
• Is it wealth itself which is wrong, or the way it cushions us to reality? Can real Christians be wealthy?
God bless and stay safe and well.
Rev’d Fiona Robinson
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Collect and Readings for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity – Lamentations 1.1-6, Habakkuk 1.1-4; 2.1-4, Lamentations 3. 19-26, Psalm 137, Psalm 37.1-9, 2 Timothy 1.1-14, Luke 17.5-10
The Prayer for today O Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear the prayers of your people who call upon you; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil them; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
This week’s readings are full of laments and heartbroken crying. Our faith is not a fair-weather faith, but speaks into our pain as well as our joy, into our darkest valleys as well as our hilltop experiences. It is both crucifixion and resurrection. God never does nothing when we pray; he may not come charging into a situation and sort it out in the way we would like, but in his time, which is best time, he will redeem it for good, and while we are waiting he will provide all the courage, inner peace and hope we need.
The important thing is for us to establish, as we cry, is God’s position in the suffering. So often when there are national tragedies we hear people crying, ‘How could a loving God let this happen?’ as if God were there orchestrating the evil or, even worse, watching it with his arms folded. This is a terrible distortion of the truth, for the real God of compassion is neither tyrannical, nor aloof and unconcerned. Nor is he well intentioned but ineffectual. He is actually there suffering alongside the broken-hearted, sharing their grief and distress and ready to comfort them by being there. The costly gift of free will is matched by the costly gift of loving redemption.
At the same time, as this week’s Gospel reminds us, there is no room for spiritual self-pity. We have no built-in rights for everything in our lives to run smoothly and easily, and Jesus is forthright in talking of the servant who simply accepts the work and weariness as part of his duty, without expecting any special payment or privileges. If following Christ brings us hardship and suffering, that is no more than we are told to expect, and we are asked to accept it as such, always on the understanding and conviction that we will be provided with whatever grace and strength we need to cope and triumph over the difficulties.
Some things to reflect on:
• Has the message of the media – that it is normal and our right to be happy, wealthy and healthy – given us false assumptions and expectations in this age?
• What benefits does God manage to harvest from suffering, provided we allow him to work his redeeming love in the situation?
God bless and stay safe and well.
Rev’d Fiona Robinson
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