This week’s Readings and Sermon for the Seventh Sunday After Trinity
The Collect for This Week
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: graft in our hearts the love of your name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of your great mercy keep us in the same; 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
(or)
Generous God, you give us gifts and make them grow: though our faith is small as mustard seed, make it grow to your glory and the flourishing of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The Post Communion Prayer for this week
Lord God, whose Son is the true vine and the source of life, ever giving himself that the world may live: may we so receive within ourselves the power of his death and passion that, in his saving cup, we may share his glory and be made perfect in his love; for he is alive and reigns, now and for ever. Amen
The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 139: 1-11, 22-13
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. 3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it. 7 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. 11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night’,
22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.
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 the Genesis, Chapter 28: 10-19
10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went towards Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And the Lord stood beside him and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; 14 and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 15 Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’ 16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!’ 17 And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’
18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
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 8: 12-25
12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes[e] for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
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 13: 24-30, 36-43
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Matthew Glory to You, o Lord
24 He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27 And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” 28 He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” 29 But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.’ 37 He answered, ‘The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!
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
Although we do not have a sermon from Bishop Matthew on Sunday, rev Chich Hewitt, has provided us with a sermon.
Like many, I have been horrified by the unfolding story of the Post Office scandal, described as the widest miscarriage of justice in British history. More than 700 sub-postmasters were wrongly accused of stealing money, for some with amounts running into tens of thousands of pounds. Reputations were ruined; postmasters were spat at in the streets, families were bankrupted, some were imprisoned, and a small number attempted or committed suicide. Each individual was told that he or she was the only one responsible for such action. Then came a fight back as postmasters realised many others were impacted. Brave individuals took up their case, before it was realised that none of these people had done anything wrong, The cause was as a result of faulty software in the computer programme which had been introduced. This happened between 1999 and 2014, and finally, more recently, sentences have been overturned and postmasters vindicated despite obstructionist behaviour from the Post Office. Compensation has been too slow and in some cases, too small in amount. Some have died before compensation could be paid. It is an example of how difficult it is for the little person to take on a big institution. I will return to this.
Today’s Gospel is a sombre passage, not easy to live with, but I will end on a note of hope. Matthew Chapter 13 is like a second sermon on the mount, but this time delivered from a boat on the Sea of Galilee.. Jesus’ many followers were hoping for a different kind of leader to challenge and overcome Roman rule. Those who hoped for this would have been disappointed. Jesus was instituting a Kingdom, but a very different, one which was to have a remarkable growth, but which was to take time and which was to meet with opposition. There are are 7 parables in this chapter, and in-between today’s parable and the explanation which Jesus gave, there are two short parables, not in our reading. There is the parable of the mustard seed, and the-parable of yeast, both speaking with optimism of the growth of the Kingdom to come.
But the parable we have before us today, the one of the wheat and the tares, is made clear to us through the explanation which Jesus gave his disciples. The wheat represents the children of the Kingdom, and the tares are the children of the evil one. Parables can be taken at different levels, and this parable could refer to those in and out of the Kingdom. But there is a deeper and more sinister meaning. We have to coexist with evil, but we are not told in this parable what this evil is, and how we are to act against it.
When we look at the Post Office scandal, there are arguably those who individually are good not bad people. But collectively there is something bigger and more sinister at play. There seems to be a systemic force against which innocent people are all but powerless. And, there are yet bigger and more powerful forces at play in the world. Indigenous peoples are struggling against authorities and huge corporations who want to exploit their land for purposes which threaten the planet. There exist brutal regimes where those seeking justice are ruthlessly killed. Myanmar would be an example. Those who stand against the Russian regime receive long and dubious prison sentences, if not poisoned. Are these simply evil leaders exercising enormous power, or is there something much more sinister at work?
Let’s look at what the scriptures say. In the Old Testament book of Daniel, Chapter 10, the messenger who came to Daniel said he had been detained from coming earlier by the Prince of Persia, but Michael, another prince, came to his aid. This messenger will return to challenge the prince of Persia, before the prince of Greece comes. What is this about? These figures are not earthly rulers. Michael is an angelic presence. So these other figures, the prince of Persia and the prince of Greece, seem not to be earthly rulers, but greater principalities acting behind the earthly rulers. It would seem in this later Old Testament perspective, that behind earthly rulers, there are larger controlling forces at work. Are there deeper forces of evil active behind the scenes, in the activities of earthly rulers, even behind large corporations?
If this appears like conspiracy material, look at Paul in the New Testament, as he wrote to the Colossians and especially the Ephesians. To the Colossians he speaks of the elemental spiritual forces of this world. More particularly, in Ephesians Paul speaks of the ruler of the kingdom of the air working in the disobedient. In Ephesians 6 there is reference to the Principalities and Powers. ‘Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the peers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.; Behind the rulers of this world there seems to be a deeper and more systemic presence of evil, manipulating people with power. It is a frightening picture.
What are the people of the Kingdom, the wheat, to do, and what are we as individuals in the Kingdom to do? It seems as if we are too small alongside and acting against something very much bigger - and unseen. What is the role of the church? Importantly, the church has a prophetic calling and some are called to speak out against evil and injustice. This can be downright dangerous. Archbishop Junani Luwum spoke out against the evil regime of Idi Amin in Uganda, and was murdered. His supporters saw it coming and pleaded with him to flee but he refused to do so. I remember this event as a new theological student in 1977, when a staff member who had been at a conference with the Archbishop, announced this news. At much the same time Oscar Romero a conservative priest, rose within the ranks of the Romas Catholic church. He was made Archbishop of El Salvador. But when a friend and fellow priest was murdered he underwent a transformation and began to speak out for the rights of the oppressed poor of his nation. In March 1980 an assassins bullet killed him while he was celebrating Mass. The prophetic ministry is not for the faint-hearted, often resulting in criticism and violence.
There is another gentler, but tough option. Prayer. How can we, the little people, play any part as wheat among tares? This is where we turn to hope, and there is genuine hope. Four things come to mind. All relate to prayer. Firstly we can pray as Mike has previously shared with us. Our fight is against the spiritual forces of evil, and we need to put on the whole Armour of God. Go prayerfully through the armour we need for the fight. Imagine yourself putting on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the Gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. That is one action.
Secondly, and daily if possible, pray the Lord’s prayer slowly at home (as well as corporately in church, when there is less opportunity to meditate on it.) Focus deeply on the three-fold phase - ‘Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in heaven’. Jesus gave us this prayer, and we should pray it fervently within the trauma of this world. And include, also, the phrase ‘deliver us from evil.’ This is preceded by ‘Lead us not into temptation’ a phrase difficult to translate, and where the Church of England has not moved. Most of the rest of the Anglican World uses the translation in some bibles, ‘Save us from the time of trial’, and in this context that for me is more helpful. ‘Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil.’
Thirdly, join in prayer wherever possible with other Christians: in our church, in other churches and with other denominations. The sub-postmasters stood together rather than as individuals and made progress. When the whole church comes together it is yet more powerful. But Satan has an agenda and capitalises on our disunity. We need to stand together, however differently we may feel on so many issues. Those are three prayer points; the whole armour of God, the Lord’s Prayer, and corporate prayer.
The last point is the basis of all we do, and full of hope. Paul encourages us to pray in the Spirit at all times. Here lies power and hope. In the closing words of last weeks New Testament lesson, coming just before our reading today, is something which could be life transforming if we take it to heart. It is a word of encouragement in an era when ministry is difficult. ‘If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you’. Not only have we an all powerful Spirit in our lives but we are in a special relationship with the Father. From today’s first lesson, we have the promise of a Spirit of adoption, granted us by Jesus’ death on the cross, where we can say, ‘Abba, Father.’ There is no English equivalent for Abba, and the best we can do is ‘Father, dear Father’. Read the whole of of Romas 8, set over three weeks of which this reading is the middle one. Jesus has won the battle, despite Satan’s very painful thrashing around. Nothing, not even principalities and powers, can separate us from the love of God, in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
.