This week’s Readings and Sermon for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
The Collect for This Week
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
The Post Communion Prayer for this week
Keep, O Lord, your Church, with your perpetual mercy; and, because without you our human frailty cannot but fall, keep us ever by your help from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 114
1 When Israel came out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of a strange tongue, 2 Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion. 3 The sea saw that, and fled Jordan was driven back. 4 The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like young sheep. 5 What ailed you, O sea, that you fled? O Jordan, that you were driven back? 6 You mountains, that you skipped like rams, you little hills like young sheep? 7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, 8 Who turns the hard rock into a pool of water, the flint-stone into a springing well.
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 14, verses 19 to 31
19 The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. 20 It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. 22 The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. 24 At the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. 25 He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, ‘Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.’
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.’ 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. 29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.
30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
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 14, verses 1 to 12
1 Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarrelling over opinions. 2 Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. 3 Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgement on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. 4 Who are you to pass judgement on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
5 Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. 6 Those who observe the day, observe it in honour of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honour of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honour of the Lord and give thanks to God.
7 We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 Why do you pass judgement on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God. 11 For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.’ 12 So then, each of us will be accountable to God.
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 18, verses 21 to 35
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Matthew Glory to You, o Lord
21 Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ 22 Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.
23 ‘For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 25 and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.” 29 Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’
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 Chich Hewitt
Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Is this St. Paul’s final condemnation of vegetarians? No, but let’s unpack this passage and see what it was saying in that era,, and then look at parallel issues in our own times.
There was a big issue in the early days of the church which might seem rather foreign to us. It concerned eating food sacrificed to idols. It is referred to more than once, and so was important to early Christians. In that time there was idol worship, and Paul mentions this when he visited Athens, as recounted in the Acts of the Apostles. One imagines that sacrifices were made before idols, and this was likely to have involved meat. If you were invited to a meal, you would probably eat what was put in front of you, but if you were told that the meat had been made as a sacrifice to another God, before being put on your plate, do you eat it? In being polite, do you somehow become contaminated? The custom of the day was in conflict with principle.
Paul addresses this issue in detail in this 14th chapter of the letter to the Romans, and also his first letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 8. In the controversy about whether Gentiles could be admitted into the church without circumcision, a powerful resolution was achieved at what some called the Council of Jerusalem, see Acts 15. This matter reached a happy conclusion, but note that when the good news of the outcome was conveyed by letter to the Gentiles, the message also said, ‘abstain from what has been offered to idols’. As noted, while this might seem quite remote to us, it was clearly a big issue in the early church.
In the passage before us today, Paul reminds us that all food is clean, as noted by Jesus, and in the vision Peter had, as recounted in Acts. So some might eat all foods, while some might still feel a conflict and abstain from certain foods. What was important to Paul was that neither one group should condemn the other, even though he himself does use terms like the weak and the strong.
We might be bemused by all of this, until we look at some of the things which have occupied our minds and the conditions we impose on one another. Nowadays with Communion services later in the day, I suspect few of us consider it important to fast before receiving Communion. When I was young it was a bigger issue. My Grandfather was a very Godly priest, and would never be seen eating anything before Communion, although he would say that if did not feel well as a result of fasting it was alright to eat something. This might be a personal discipline for some and not for others; the trouble comes when we pass judgements on one another. As an amusing aside, when I was newly ordained, our training rector was from a very high church tradition The rector gave a lift to a colleague before a service, and he attempted to strike up a conversation. ‘It’s cold today’, he said. Silence. After a couple of minutes he tried another tack, Again..silence. What had he done wrong to offend his boss. Simple - you didn’t engage in small talk before Mass.
In today’s passage, Paul also makes mention of special days. ‘Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike.’ This would have referred to special days of observance. Certain fast days were kept on particular days as the church developed, and these differed from one day to another. Gradually a process grew up for Lenten observance, with fast days on Fridays. At boarding school it was fish on Fridays. Do we pass judgments on one another? Of course not. ‘What are you giving up for Lent?’ Silence. I prefer not to give up anything, but rather take something on’.
I remember as a young person, mentioning to my mother that, during Lent, it was permissible not to keep the observance on a Sunday. ‘That’s weak willed;, she said. Clearly I wasn’t strong enough. Do you know how many days there are between Ash Wednesday and Easter? Answer, 46. Lent is 40 days not including Sundays, so there. Sunday is the Lord’s day, and the day we remember his resurrection, so not a fast day. So who is right? The one who keeps an observance spiritually helpful to him or herself, and respects what others do which might be different. How do we observe Holy Week? Well, you don’t go to movies in Lent, and especially during Holy Week. And Good Friday? A very solemn day for some, while one church in South Africa had an annual picnic that day. Sacrilege. What would Jesus say?
I look looked back in amusement to my time in cathedral ministry in Grahamstown. Lent in South Africa falls in the autumn and some grew lovely roses. One woman said we should display these roses in church, but of course, there are no flowers in church during Lent. Each Sunday a display of roses came into church and each Sunday they were removed into the vestry. And animosity was all around with harsh words said. I wonder whose side Jesus was on.
There is one more amusing incident which I have shared with others, and which came from Bishop Chris when he was Bishop of Bolton. There was a church in Yorkshire where a new Priest replaced someone who had been there for a long time. After a couple of weeks, the new priest realised there was something wrong and there were mutters. When he asked what he was doing wrong, he was a told that at the end of Communion, behind the altar, he should have turned round and bowed, and he was not doing that. Puzzled, he contacted his predecessor to find what this liturgical movement was for. The reply - “I was just checking to see if the radiator was still on.’ Some called it the Church of the Holy Radiator.
Is Jesus amused by all that I have mentioned, or does he despair? Much of what I have described are human inventions, which we make into sacred law. Jesus had nothing to say about a time called Lent, or flowers in church, or fasting before Communion. What Jesus did speak about was the behaviour of the Pharisees. Over and above the 10 Commandments, they had created a multitude of complicated laws which they expected people to adhere to, and were almost too complicated to observe. Do we not also tend in that direction?
None of the things I have mentioned is bad. If someone adopts one of these practices and and it helps that person in spiritual growth it can only be good. The difficulty comes when I judge you for not doing what I am doing. What is helpful for me may not be helpful for you, especially if Jesus has not asked us to do it in the first place. And we should accommodate one another in these smaller issues, and encourage one anther in the pursuit of holiness. If we can’t accommodate one another in these lesser issues, we will have even greater difficulty in some of the larger issues in the church which are there and which I have not touched on.
In this passage, Paul has some wise words to assist us. ‘We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. He goes on to say that each one of us will be accountable to God. Beyond our reading today, he goes on to say, ‘the Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit…..let us pursue, then, what makes for peace and upbuilding’.
As a final word, there is the Gospel passage, self-explanatory, which tells us that if we are wronged, forgive and go on forgiving. If we won’t forget the small matter done to us, how can we expect God to forgive the multitude of wrongdoings we have committed before him. God always stands ready to forgive us, for in Christ God has reconciled us to himself. That counts above all else.
Daily Prayer from 6th to 13th September 2026 – The Global Week of Prayer
Father,
We come before you with hearts deeply moved—moved by the sheer magnitude of all the trouble, suffering and lostness we see in our world. But we know even this sense of overwhelm – when we feel smallest and the task feels largest—is actually a sacred moment that leads us directly to you.
Because, in the end, you are the only person who can truly transform our nations and our cultures.
Lord Jesus, you are exalted to the highest place. Your name is above every other name —every ruler and principality and power in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
So today we pray in the name of Jesus—that every knee would bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. Not because we have the strength to make it happen, but because you do. Not because our plans are sufficient, but because your power is limitless. The places that overwhelm us are the very places you came to save.
Come, Lord Jesus. Transform our nations. Transform our cities. Transform our neighbourhoods. Let your name be proclaimed throughout the globe.
In Jesus’ mighty name we pray,
Amen
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