This week’s Readings and Sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity
The Collect for This Week
Almighty God, you search us and know us: may we rely on you in strength and rest on you in weakness, now and in all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The Post Communion Prayer for this week
God our creator, you feed your children with the true manna, the living bread from heaven: let this holy food sustain us through our earthly pilgrimage until we come to that place where hunger and thirst are no more;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 105, verses 1 to 6, 23 to 26 and 45
1 O give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples. 2 Sing to him, sing praises, and tell of all his marvellous works. 3 Rejoice in the praise of his holy name; let the hearts of them rejoice who seek the Lord. 4 Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his face continually. 5 Remember the marvels he has done his wonders and the judgements of his mouth, 6 O seed of Abraham his servant O children of Jacob his chosen.
23 Then Israel came into Egypt; Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. 24 And the Lord made his people exceedingly fruitful; he made them too many for their adversaries, 25 Whose heart he turned, so that they hated his people and dealt craftily with his servants. 26 Then sent he Moses his servant and Aaron whom he had chosen.
45 That they might keep his statutes and faithfully observe his laws. Alleluia.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and shall be forever. Amen
The Old Testament reading for this Sunday is taken from the Book of Exodus Chapter 3, verses 1 to 15
1 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.’ 4 When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ 5 Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ 6 He said further, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord said, ‘I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. 10 So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.’ 11 But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ 12 He said, ‘I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.’
13 But Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your ancestors has sent me to you”, and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’ 14 God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I am has sent me to you.” ’ 15 God also said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you”:
This is my name for ever, and this my title for all generations.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The second reading for this Sunday is taken from the Letter of St Paul to the Romans, Chapter 12, verses 9 to 21
9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God;for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ 20 No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
The Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 16, verses 21 to 28
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Matthew Glory to You, o Lord
21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.’ 23 But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
27 ‘For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. 28Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to You, o Christ
Note :All readings are shared from the Church of England Lectionary App and are subject to copyright . © The Archbishop’s Council
The sermon this week is delivered by Revd Samuel Hameem
“May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you O Lord my refuge and my redeemer amen.”
Today is the thirteen Sunday after trinity in our church calendar, and the reading we just heard from the Gospel according to Matthew is fairly known-one to most of us. Although the Gospel reading, we just heard is fairly known-one to us, but at the same time this reading is quite strange in so many ways.
Today’s Gospel reading is taken from the Gospel according to Matthew, in which we see that Jesus is having a discourse with one of his disciples, Peter. On a bird’s eye view, it appears that this discussion between Jesus and Peter is not taking place in a pleasant atmosphere; indeed, we see Jesus is rebuking Peter during this discourse. However, before understanding the conversation that took place in our today’s Gospel reading, it is vital to look at the context of the Gospel passage.
If we study the Gospel according to Matthew—specifically from verse 13 to verse 20 of the sixteenth chapter—we see another dialogue between Peter and Jesus, in which when Jesus asks Peter who he believes Him to be, Peter replies that He is the Son of the living God, and in response, Jesus prophesies that He will build His church upon Peter’s declaration. Then, in the very next few verses, Jesus addresses Peter, saying, "Get behind me, Satan." There is a clear distinction between these two statements: on one hand, Jesus commends Peter's declaration, while on the other, he rebukes the same person and says, "Get behind me, Satan." While I was doing my morning devotion from one of my mobile applications, I read it there that,
“Peter loved Jesus and wanted to protect him from suffering. His words came from affection, because Peter was looking at the situation from human point of view instead of God’s.”
As human beings, we are much the same. What happened to Peter can happen to us as well. We often fail to fully grasp the works God performs in our lives; consequently, we take matters into our own hands, attempting to handle them according to our own limited knowledge and understanding. Because as human beings, mostly we pray for an easier path when God is shaping our character through difficulties. We hold on to our own plans when God is inviting us in a different direction. We ask God to remove every hardship, while he is using those very moments to deepen our faith and draw us closer to him. Yet, the ideal approach is quite the opposite.
We see this clearly in today’s Gospel passage: when Jesus speaks to Peter about His impending death on the cross, Peter’s reaction shifts drastically. The very same Peter who had previously praised Jesus turns against Him; in response, Jesus teaches both Peter and us the necessity of aligning our thoughts with God’s will.
Once again in today’s Gospel reading Jesus reminds us that following him is not about asking him to fit into our plans, rather it is about allowing our hearts to be changed so that we begin to see life through his eyes. When we surrender our own understanding to God, we discover that his way, through not always the easiest, always leads us where we need to be.
It is a fact that Christianity is a difficult and arduous path for us to follow, that is why Jesus mentioned it in today's Gospel reading that whoever wants to follow Jesus must take up his own cross and follow Jesus. But the question also arises here that why did Jesus mention the cross, he could have given some other examples. In answer to this question, it is written in the NIV Quest Study Bible that,
“This phrase probably startled Jesus’ listeners. A condemned criminal was usually forced to carry his cross, but Jesus laid down his life voluntarily. He asks us to do the same.”
And if we look at Peter’s life after the ascension of Jesus, we see how he took up his cross and lived out the remainder of his days—whether it was the sermon he delivered on the Day of Pentecost or the miracle in which he raised Tabitha from the dead. All these things teach us that when we surrender ourselves completely into God’s hands, He uses our lives for the glory of His name and for the testimony of Jesus.
If we, too, reflect on our personal, family, church, social, and spiritual lives, we might find that they bear some resemblance to the life of Peter. We may praise God, yet doubt still lingers somewhere within us. We, too, may have—at some point—surrendered ourselves to Jesus; yet, Satan often gains a foothold in our lives, compelling us to act in ways that prevent us—despite being Christians—from bearing witness to others about His death on the Cross. There are likely many moments in our lives when, even though we claim that Jesus is the Lord of our lives, our actions, words, and thoughts stand in stark contradiction to that claim.
Today’s Gospel passage compels us to reflect once more, urging us to examine our own lives and consider, is there an area of your life where you are asking God to follow your plan instead of trusting his. Because today’s Gospel reading is teaching us to trust on God’s plan. Jane Williams, who is an English Anglican theologian and writer, wrote in her Lectionary Reflections that,
“Listen to Jesus struggling to explain to his disciples why they must choose to follow his path. This is the way to life, the only way to life… God’s life is the only real and lasting life that there is, and he wishes to share it with us.”
All we need to do is to ask God to help us to see beyond our own thoughts, plans and desires. We need to pray to him that to teach us to trust God’s wisdom even when we do not comprehend where you are leading us. We need to ask him to give us eager hearts that we can chose your way above our own, so we can proclaim Christ’s Gospel, his death and resurrection through our personal, family, church, social and spiritual life. May God grant us the ability to do so.
God bless you all. Amen
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