Alleluia! Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Theme Prayer
Remember, Lord, your mercy and loving-kindness towards us. Bless this good earth, and make it fruitful. Bless our labour, and give us all things needed for our daily lives. Bless the homes of our parishes and all who live within them. Bless our life together and our care for our neighbour. Hear us, good Lord. Amen.
Confession
As God’s wayward children, forgetful of his love, who has made all things, we turn back to confess our sins and to seek his love afresh.
Father, you enfold us with wings of love, as a bird protects her young. Forgive our own failure to love. Lord, have mercy:
(Lord, have mercy.)
Jesus, you gather us around you, that we may learn your ways. Forgive us when we fail to listen and to follow. Christ, have mercy: (Christ, have mercy.)
Holy Spirit, you feed us with the seed of your holy word. Forgive us when we fail to nurture that seed into growth. Lord, have mercy: (Lord, have mercy.)
May almighty God cleanse us from sin, and make us worthy of the kingdom of his glory. Amen.
God’s Word - John’s Gospel, chapter 14, verses 15 to 21 :-
Jesus said to the disciples, ‘If you love me you will obey my commands; and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another to be your advocate, who will be with you for ever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because the world neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you bereft; I am coming back to you.
‘In a little while the world will see me no longer, but you will see me; because I live, you too will live. When that day comes you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me and I in you. Anyone who has received my commands and obeys them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father; and I will love him and disclose myself to him.’
Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.
A Reflection on the Reading
Today is often called Rogation Sunday, and we probably would have had a Forest Church service today somewhere where we could look out over the land, and give thanks for creation and for all that gives life, and pray for the growing crops and those who work the soil. Rogation means prayer - in my dictionary “a solemn supplication”, so serious prayer. Traditionally the last three days before Ascension Day (which is this coming Thursday) were kept as Rogation Days, special days of prayer. And that became linked with farming and our use of the land because, well, this is the time when crops are growing - but also because, even before Christian times, prayers would be said out in the fields at this time of year, for the health of the growing corn, and for a good harvest.
There are lots of places in the Church year when we think of God’s creation, and I’m glad there are. For we are part of that creation, and it’s when we get above ourselves and forgetful of God that things go wrong. The quieter world of the last months or two has seen some healing, the result of the lightening of our often over heavy footprint on the planet. The smog of Indian cities has cleared, and people can once again see the Himalayas. Birdsong is clearer in our gardens, and several people have reported to me that they’ve heard the cuckoo for the first time in years. My brother in Blackpool tells me that the seagulls and pigeons have deserted his hotel for the beach, though that’s probably because there aren’t as many left over chips and kebabs along the pavements.
It would be good if we came out of all this having learned a few lessons, and maybe discovered a new balance. A recent survey discovered that only 9% of people in the UK want us to go back to “how things were before”. A prayer in the Rogation Sunday resources in a book I have of “Seasonal Worship in the Countryside” reminds me that as “sons and daughters of God” we are also “brothers and sisters of birds and beasts”. And, for me, taking that thought seriously, and lightening therefore our own tread on the surface of the earth, has to be part of what I mean by seeking a new sense of balance.
Where do we get this new balance from? What are the guidelines? Jesus said to his friends, “If you love me you will obey my commands.” And he goes on to tell them that he will send them the Spirit, the Spirit of truth who will not only dwell with them but will actually be in them, enabling their vision and inspiring their action. So being balanced in our living as God’s people honouring his creation begins when we allow his creative power, in the person of the Holy Spirit, to rule in our hearts.
In Genesis chapter 1, right at the front of our Bibles, we find a story of creation in which God speaks, and things come into being. I recall the writer of one book I read back in student days saying that the word God spoke was, “I love you” - and I’ve always found that idea of God loving his creation into existence hugely helpful. In St John’s Gospel Jesus is described as “the Word of God”. “Love is his word, love is his way”, we sing in a modern Communion hymn. To be like Jesus, to be guided by the Holy Spirit, means to make love the heart of all we are and do.
A poster I put on my Facebook page the other day read, “And they will know you are my disciples by your - rules (crossed out), theology (crossed out), then righteousness, power, rhetoric, purity (all crossed out), even clubs (crossed out). Leaving at the bottom of the list - love.” That’s John chapter 13 verse 35. “If there is love among you, then everyone will know you are my disciples.”
The other side of that is also true. If love is not the heart of our life - and if we don’t have that prayerful connection with the one who calls us into love, and shows us just what the love of God is really like - then we won’t be recognised as God’s people, or at least not in any way that attracts and persuades. If love does not motivate the practical business of living together on this little planet, then things go out of balance, and what should be green and growing and beautiful is at risk of becoming an arid wasteland. Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near - on this Rogation Sunday especially, that his love may guide both hand and heart, establishing in us a new and Christ-like balance.
Statement of faith
We believe in God above us, the maker and sustainer of all life. We believe in God beside us, Jesus the Word made flesh. He came to teach and to lead, but also to serve, and at last to die forsaken even by his friends. Laid in a tomb, he burst its bonds on the third day, and ascended into heaven to be everywhere present. We believe in God within us, the Holy Spirit setting hearts on fire and the life-giving breath of the Church. We believe in one God, who is over us, and beside us, and within us, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prayers
Pray for all our use of the earth’s resources, and that we seek to live in a balanced way together, sharing what the earth produces, and valuing and protecting the other living things with which we share this planet. Continue to pray that those searching for ways to overcome the Coronavirus will meet with success, and that those nations whose resources are limited may be given the support and assistance they need.
Pray that the life of churches everywhere may be based in a Christ-like love which finds its spring in a prayerful resting in him and openness to his Spirit. We pray today for the Anglican Church in Korea, and for our own Deanery of Pontesbury. We pray there may have been a good response to this year’s Christian Aid Week appeal, and on National Children’s Day we pray for all our work with children and families.
Pray for those in need today: for all who grieve, for the worried and anxious, and for those who are struggling with isolation and loneliness. Pray for all who are ill, including all who are infected by Covid 19, for their care and treatment and recovery. Pray for the safety of all front line workers, and especially for all who work in hospitals and care homes.
Pray for the farmers of our communities, and for all who work the land. Pray for our churches and for our families and friends. May we continue to act with care, looking out for one another and keeping safe.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Prayer for today and Blessing
May the light of Christ, rising in glory, banish all darkness from our hearts and minds. Amen.
May God our Father, by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead, strengthen us to walk with him in his risen life. And may almighty God bless us, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
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