This week’s Readings and Sermon for the 2nd Sunday before Lent
The Collect for This Week
Almighty God, give us reverence for all creation and respect for every person, that we may mirror your likeness in Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen
The Post Communion Prayer for this week
God our creator, by your gift the tree of life was set at the heart of the earthly paradise, and the bread of life at the heart of your Church: may we who have been nourished at your table on earth be transformed by the glory of the Saviour’s cross and enjoy the delights of eternity; through Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen
Psalm 131
1 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me. 2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me. 3 O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and for evermore.
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 prophet Isaiah Chapter 49, verses 8 to 16
8 Thus says the Lord:
In a time of favour I have answered you, on a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages; 9 saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out’, to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They shall feed along the ways, on all the bare heights shall be their pasture; 10 they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. 11 And I will turn all my mountains into a road, and my highways shall be raised up. 12 Lo, these shall come from far away, and lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene 13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones. 14 But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.’ 15 Can a woman forget her nursing-child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The New Testament reading for this Sunday is taken from the First Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians, Chapter 4 verses 1 to 5
1 Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they should be found trustworthy. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. 4 I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore do not pronounce judgement before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from 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 6, verses 24 to 34
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to John Glory to You, o Lord
24 ‘No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
25 ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” 32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But strive first for the kingdom of God[l] and his[m]righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 ‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
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
This week’s sermon is delivered by Lorraine Ashworth.
Instead, especially for those who cannot make it to the service on Sunday, here is another sermon on the purpose of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 : 1 – 12). This is written by Methodist minister. Dave Faulkner. I have copied it from his website, https://bigcircumstance.com
What do we make of today's passages?
We have Isaiah telling the Jewish people that their time of exile is over, we have Paul telling us not to judge others – or even ourselves – but that Jesus will be the judge of all. And then finally we have Jesus himself speaking in Matthew's Gospel telling us to live in the moment, telling us not to be tied up with worry about the future, but to live for the Kingdom of God.
Very different concepts yet tied together. Tied together by the message that God is in control.
Isaiah talks about how God's people will return home. How he has answered their prayers. It's taken 70 years of exile – almost 2 generations but the time span was foretold. The people will go home with joy not fear. With singing and not weeping. The ending of the passage is lovely imagery of the love God has for his people.
“Can a mother forget her nursing child?' As God goes on to admit, yes, some mothers can and do. But God our heavenly Father and Mother is better than any human being ever could be! God will never let us down. He has our names inscribed right on the palms of his hands! Maybe that image doesn’t sound like much. After all, we write something on our palms if we don’t have a piece of paper available and so scribble somebody’s phone number or email address onto our hand. We’ll wash it off later, but for the time being writing it there is, well, handy!
But this image had a very wonderful meaning in Isaiah’s day. Back then servants and slaves would be tattooed with their owner’s name. If you were a slave, the name of the person who owned you would be carved into your palm. That way you could never forget that you were not your own but were somebody else’s property.
So how stunningly amazing that God turns the tables and says, “I’m going to become your servant! I belong to you and to prove it, your name is 'tattooed' onto my hands! I cannot go anywhere or do anything without remembering you, seeing your name, and so caring for your well-being.”
And this, of course, can lead us to Christ. Because Jesus is indeed the very Son of God who humbly took on the role of a servant. He was born poor. He was treated like a sinner even though he was the only one who never sinned.
Jesus has got nail holes and sword holes and thorn pricks and whip marks all over him now because he is absolutely determined to let all of us know that he has our names written into his very flesh. He’ll never forget! He was in control of his own destiny. He is still in control.
The passage from Paul reminds us that this God, this Jesus who will never forget us and cares for us, demands our obedience. The letter to the Corinthians was a response to things that were going wrong in the Church of Corinth, factions, divisions and this passage addresses the way that people were talking about each other and judging each other.
We can hear these words knowing that we too should be servants of Christ and of others, especially those of us who lead and preach, as we will be held to a higher accountability than others. We should be trustworthy, no lying, no false teaching, no sugar coating of the truth.
We can't hide anything from God, because he sees us as we are. And so we shouldn't be judging or being judged by others because we don't dress smartly enough when we stand up front or because we get muddled and perhaps don't make our sermons quite clear enough. God is in control of how people who lead the church are to be judged.
God is in control of how all people are to be judged, not us.
Yet when we see terrible things on the news, we jump in with both feet denouncing all and sundry for their actions. Is this right? Or should we let it happen without saying anything and leave it all to God to sort out?
Of course we should not leave it. If it is contrary to what Jesus himself preached, in his words, in his actions; if it is contrary to what the Bible teaches us, we should condemn the actions of others. God himself appointed judges to lead Israel. We appoint judges in our day to determine if laws have been broken.
God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit, convicting us when we do wrong, convincing us when we see others doing wrong. We have to recognise that there are complexities in situations that we see as clear cut, but we need to stand up against injustice. Yes ultimately we will all be judged but we should take steps to ensure justice is done.
Today is Racial Justice Sunday. It is an opportunity for all churches to reflect on the importance of racial justice, to give thanks for the gifts and beauty of human diversity, and to commit to end racism and acts of discrimination. The 2026 theme, “Love Your Neighbour,” calls us to embody Christ’s love in practical and courageous ways. Loving our neighbour means affirming the full humanity of every person, challenging harmful structures, and building communities where all can flourish.
This theme invites us to reflect on: How we welcome and include everyone in our communities. How we listen to and elevate marginalised voices. How we challenge racism when we encounter it and how we model Christ’s compassion in worship, leadership, and daily life.
Yes, God, Jesus will ultimately be the judge of all, living and dead, but we must do our part. The Corinthians passage does not contradict this.
Then we come to the passage from Matthew's gospel, telling us to stop worrying. I worry a lot. I worry about my health, the health of those I love, both physical and mental health. I worry about this church building, about our finances, how we pay for all the repairs, how we will move forward in appointing a new team rector. I worry about the state of the world, how climate is changing and how the whole earth is facing natural disasters. I worry about the political situations, about wars, conflicts, Racial justice.
I know that worrying won't change anything, but I still worry. I know that God will see the problems and care for me, be with me, but I still worry. I look around this church and I see church members with worries of their own.
Is there nothing to be concerned about? Of course there is plenty to be concerned about, but wringing my hands, staying awake at night isn't going to help either me or the situations I see before me. Worry is part of the human experience, and when it comes to a reminder that things are not okay, It is okay to not be okay.
When we hear this command to not worry, we must not hear it as some form of telling off; Jesus here is not saying that worry is some sin before God. Rather, this is a command that calls us to remember who the God we worship is. The God who is in control.
We who live by faith know ultimately that all will be well in the end because we live with the grace of God at work in our lives through the Holy Spirit as God works to make us into his image. We know and trust that God is at work in our lives every day, sustaining us in the most normal of things, which means even when things are at their worst, we can be assured that God is working his purpose out. A purpose for good.
We should put God first in the practical everyday normality of our lives. This involves seeking to live in a way consistent with God’s values and principles. It means trying to live a life characterised by love, compassion, and service to others and actively participating in God’s work of transforming the world until he comes again.
So instead of staying awake worrying, we must take action. And the first action we must take is to pray. Tell God what is on our minds. Trust that he has the power to be with us in our difficulties. Then do something about it. Ask for help if we need to, plan for change, plan for justice, for care of those in our community, put the work in, always seeking what is right, what is good.
If we believe in the saving work of Jesus by faith, then our lives and living must be shaped by the work of Jesus as we trust in Him.
God is in control. Let's work with Him and for Him. Let's remember that today and in the weeks, months and years to come. Amen.