This week’s Prayers and Readings
The Collect for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity
Lord of creation, whose glory is around and within us: open our eyes to your wonders, that we may serve you with reverence and know your peace at our lives’ end, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The Post Communion Prayer for this Sunday
The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 116 verses 1-8
I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. 2 Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. 3 The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. 4 Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘O Lord, I pray, save my life!’ 5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. 6 The Lord protects the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me. 7 Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. 8 For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
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 Lesson for this Sunday is taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah Chapter 50 verses 4-9
The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher,that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. 5 The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backwards. 6 I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. 7 The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; 8he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. 9 It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty? All of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The New Testament reading for this Sunday is taken from the Letter of St Paul to the Colossians, Chapter 3, verses 5 to Chapter 4, verse 6
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. 7 These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. 8 But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices 10 and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. 11 In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!
12 As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is your acceptable duty in the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, or they may lose heart. 22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters, 24 since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong has been done, and there is no partiality.
1 Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, for you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time pray for us as well that God will open to us a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison, 4 so that I may reveal it clearly, as I should.
5 Conduct yourselves wisely towards outsiders, making the most of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel according to St Mark, Chapter 8, verses 27-38
27 Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ 28 And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ 29 He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’ 30 And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’
34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The sermon this week is delivered by Rev'd Chich Hewitt
This is the second in the series of addresses planned for churches across the valley; the passage of scripture chosen is unusual and the theme even more so. The theme is ‘A Life that Speaks’. I am taking this to refer to St Paul as well as to the church to which he was writing, and then to refer it to ourselves. ‘A life that speaks’. It is the tongue that speaks; if a life is to speak, it must be about our conduct in all that we think, do or say, which speaks to those around us. It is that we are to live in such a way that it speaks volumes, more than words could ever say.
The passage given to us is long, and comes from St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians. This letter has only 4 chapters. The first two are complex, yet profound. They concern the cosmic Christ, the one who was there from the beginning and who, through his death and resurrection, has overcome the powers and principalities in the realms above. Chapters 3 and 4 look to the way in which we should conduct our lives in the light of knowing what Jesus has done and has won for us.
In the opening verse of the passage before us, there is the word ‘therefore’. As I heard a preacher say many years ago, when you hear the word ‘therefore’ you should ask what it is there for! I think the passage chosen should have included verse 1 of the chapter and not started at verse 5, so I will read you the opening words as they are important. ‘So, if you were then raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.’ That is the verse which should have been included as it sets the scene for Christian living and behaving.
The passage read this morning begins, ‘as you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him’. So if we combine verses 1 and 5, this is the scene before us. We have been told to set our minds above, where Christ dwells, and therefore live our lives accordingly.
A number of instructions then follow, too many to consider now. They begin with a list of things we should not think or do - things which should fall away if our minds are focused on Christ above. It is in this passage that Paul reaches a sublime moment, suggesting something that should be at the heart of a Christian community. ‘There is no longer Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free; but Christ is all and in all’. Paul is saying that this new community of faith is one which transcends nationhood, culture, race and status.
Let us turn our focus to Paul at this moment. He was a truly remarkable figure; apparently small in stature and not very fluent when speaking. But he lived life with fervour, at first a fervour that wanted Christians persecuted and killed, but after his conversion on the road to Damascus, a fervour which desired Jesus to be shared and preached at every moment of every day. Paul was only human, and in his letters we see passion, hurt, frustration and even anger. In the letter to the Galatians he said ‘I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves!’ We don’t usually read that bit in church.
So Paul was human and a person of his time. In this passage we see his understanding of husband and wife relationships, of fathers and children, and importantly of masters and slaves. Paul does not advocate the abolition of slavery - that was for a future generation. What he does do is tell masters that they are subject to a heavenly father, and so should treat slaves with respect. That is in our passage today. Yet in a sublime, even divine moment, he says, here is no longer Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free; but Christ is all and in all. There is another such moment in Galatians where he says, ‘there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.’
That is what I find so awesome about the work of God the Holy Spirit - how he can use ordinary people and give them words and thoughts of inspiration which far outpass human ability and here we see Paul exhibiting a life that speaks. Here we have only his words as he addressed this congregation at Colossae, now in modern day Turkey. Writing inspiring them to rise above themselves and look to Jesus who wanted them to rise to a life of a community which speaks. He does so first of all by not creating distinctions between people which was current to those around them.
A Christian community should transcend human barriers in its makeup. What should its members do together as those who have been clothed anew - who have put on the Lord Jesus? Personal behaviour is vital to a life that speaks. Paul encouraged this congregation, and through the scriptures, encourages us to show compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Each of these virtues is a topic of its own. Compassion and kindness fit together, and should emerge from within us in a new spirit-filled life. And how much better when it is exercised humbly and with meekness and patience.
There are times, with the best will in the world, when we get things wrong, and wrong others; or when we feel wronged ourselves. Paul encourages us to forgive others as Christ has forgiven us. This can often be difficult but there is a new freedom to be found when we are able to do this. At the heart of all this is love. None of these attributes is worth much if love is not at the centre. As Paul says in that famous passage about love in 1 Corinthians 13, if we do not have love our actions are as noisy gongs and clanging cymbals.
This leads naturally into another way in which we can celebrate a life that speaks - in our corporate worship. In this passage, Paul says all should be done in perfect harmony. ‘Love binds everything together in perfect harmony’, and so it is wonderful when corporately we can show this love in harmony. ‘Sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs’. I remember reading once that we should be careful about reading back our present musical traditions into a period of about 2,000 years ago. In those days, psalms, hymns and spiritual songs did not relate to Anglican chant, Mission Praise and music groups. We have no idea of what music sounded like in those far off days. Having said that, I don’t think it is wrong to relate psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to our present patterns of worship. What is important is that the personal virtues which we are asked to exhibit can be powerful when expressed corporately in worship. And Paul pleads with us that the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, to which we were called in the one body.
There is no perfect worshipping community. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, one of his most peaceful letters, still had to plead for healing between two key workers in the congregation who had fallen out with one another. Paul himself fell out with Barnabas, and I suspect it was the more brittle Paul at fault rather than the kinder and encouraging Barnabas. Yet it seemed that these rifts were healed. Because these individuals in the power of the Spirit could rise above themselves, or should I say, be raised above themselves, in a way which caused others to take note and want to follow. Each of these exhibits a life that speaks.
And so the challenge before us is to exhibit the personal virtues which Paul addresses in the letter, and to show corporately, in our community life and worship, a life which the Holy Spirit can take and imbue with power, peace and love. Let the whole exhibit be greater than the sum of its varied parts in a life that speaks.