Short service and reflection for Trinity 3, Sunday 28th June 2020

You may wish to light a candle at the start of this time of worship.

May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.

Collect 

God our saviour, look on this wounded world in pity and in power; hold us fast to your promises of peace won for us by your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Confession

Let  us call to mind our sins, and make confession to our heavenly Father.

You were sent to heal the contrite: Lord, have mercy.   
Lord, have mercy.
You came to call sinners: Christ, have mercy.                   
Christ, have mercy.
You plead for us at the Father’s right hand: Lord, have mercy. 
Lord, have mercy.

May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love, in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

God’s Word - Romans, chapter 6, verses 12 to the end :-

Sin must no longer reign in your mortal body, exacting obedience to the body’s desires. You must no longer put any part of it at sin’s disposal, as an implement for doing wrong. Put yourselves instead at the disposal of God; think of yourselves as raised from death to life, and yield your bodies to God as implements for doing right. Sin shall no longer be your master, for you are no longer under law, but under grace.

What then? Are we to sin, because we are not under law but under grace? Of course not! You know well enough that if you bind yourselves to obey a master, you are slaves of the master you obey; and this is true whether the master is sin and the outcome death, or obedience and the outcome righteousness. Once you were slaves of sin, but now, thank God, you have yielded wholehearted obedience to that pattern of teaching to which you were made subject; emancipated from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness (to use language that suits your human weakness). As you once yielded your bodies to the service of impurity and lawlessness, making for moral anarchy, so now you must yield them to the service of righteousness, making for a holy life.

When you were slaves of sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. And what gain did that bring you? Things that now make you ashamed, for their end is death. But now, freed from the commands of sin and bound to the service of God, you have gains that lead to holiness, and the end is eternal life. For sin pays a wage, and the wage is death, but God gives freely, and his gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

Matthew, chapter 10 verses 40 to the end :-

Jesus said, ‘To receive you is to receive me, and to receive me is to receive the One who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will be given a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a good man because he is a good man will be given a good man’s reward. Truly I tell you: anyone who gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple of mine, will certainly not go unrewarded.’

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

A Reflection on the Reading

Slavery played a bigger part in the history of our land and in the process that formed our modern western society than we sometimes like to think. The National Trust is wrestling with that issue just now, having discovered just how many of the great houses it administers and opens to the public have a slavery connection. The mission agency I used to work for owned slaves on Barbados, and went on owning them after the slave trade ended, until the ownership and use of slaves became illegal some thirty years later.

The fact that slavery was a fact of life for people like Paul played its part in assuring otherwise faithful Christian people that it was all right, even divinely sanctioned. As of course did the sort of unthinking racism - or perhaps I should say racial stereotyping - that allowed a white man to say that because an African looked different from him he was actually inferior, and to deduce from that that God had placed the African peoples on this earth in order to provide labour for those superior peoples who happened to have white skin. We find such views so utterly offensive now that it can be hard to comprehend that for many people they were unquestioned, and just a fact of life, 250 years ago or less.

Now in Paul’s day slavery was not like that. It was not the enslavement of one race by another. Anyone could be a slave, and any slave might become a free person. A slave could rise to a high status in society, though of course many or most would not. You became a slave as the result perhaps of being on the losing side in a war, or finding yourself grossly in debt. Or you might even choose to be a slave. The Greek word is the same for slave as for servant; to be a slave might be a neat and effective career move, like the person today whose ambition is to be a butler.

And that’s why Paul can talk as freely as he does about slavery without causing offence. Society then saw nothing wrong in the idea of one person owning another.  A slave was of course bound to obey his or her master; you would be bound to him. So choose whose slaves you are, says Paul. You were slaves to sin, but you’ve been emancipated, set free. So don’t go back there. Don’t put any part of yourself at sin’s disposal. Be instead a slave to righteousness.

Sin tends to be thought of in predominantly sexual terms these days. And as the list of things society believes it’s OK to do widens, so what gets classed as sin gets narrower. We could find ourselves honestly believing that sin has no hold on us, that really we’re doing all right, and certainly we’re no worse than the next person along. But Paul is asking us, reminding us, to take sin seriously.

The Greek word we translate as sin isn’t so much about doing things that are wrong as not getting it right. Sin is missing the mark, falling short, messing up. Our sins of commission (things we do that are bad) are well outnumbered by our sins of omission (the good stuff we somehow just don’t get round to doing). And unless we recognise that, and address it, we’re not taking sin seriously.

A slave is 100% owned, and therefore must be 100%  alert, responsive and reliable. There is an old tradition that if someone saves your life you belong to them, and Paul I guess is thinking along those lines here. The wages of sin, after all, are death (everyone knows that saying, and most don’t know where it comes from, but you do - Paul to the Romans, chapter 6). So if we are free from sin, we are free also from death, and we owe our lives and our very selves to the one who saved us. Paul knew this as a personal truth. “I am no longer my own,” he said. “I belong to Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”  Amen.

Statement of faith - 

We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers

Pray for the world:  for every place that is not peaceful; for every place where people are abused, enslaved, or denied human rights and access to justice. Continue to pray for the landless and refugee peoples of our world, often very vulnerable to illnesses, including Covid 19. Pray for wise leadership here and in every nation as we try to bring this disease under control, and for all who are working to find effective vaccines and treatments.

Pray that the Church everywhere may take seriously its call to faithful service, and that we may live as those who belong to Christ. Pray for Christians in India and for the United Church of North India. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard and for the churches and communities of the Abbeydore Deanery. Pray too for all Christian counsellors, spiritual directors and confessors.

Pray for all in need today: those who are grieving, lonely, worried or anxious, and all who are ill, including those infected by the Covid 19 virus. Pray for their care, treatment and recovery, and for the health and safety of all who care for them, and for all front line workers.

Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. Continue to pray for our schools, shops and all places of work. As we re-open society may we do so safely and with care and thought for others.  Pray for all who have lost jobs or businesses, and for those who remain vulnerable. May we all act with care, looking out for one another and keeping safe ourselves.

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.

Blessing

May the wounds of Christ, who bore our sins in his body on the cross, be for us healing and peace; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, surround and sustain us now and always.   Amen.

A short service and reflection for the second Sunday after Trinity

You may wish to light a candle at the start of this time of worship.

May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.

Collect

Faithful Creator, your mercies never fail us: deepen our faithfulness to you
and to your living Word, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Confession

Let  us call to mind our sins, and make confession to our heavenly Father.

Most merciful God, we have sinned in thought and word and deed. We are truly sorry, and we ask you to forgive. Help us by your Spirit to live the new life in Christ, loving you with all our heart, and our neighbours as ourselves; for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love, in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

God’s Word - Romans, chapter 6, verses 1 to 11 :-

What are we to say, then? Shall we persist in sin, so that there may be all the more grace? Certainly not! We died to sin: how can we live in it any longer?  Have you forgotten that when we were baptized into union with Christ Jesus we were baptized into his death? By that baptism into his death we were buried with him, in order that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might set out on a new life.

For if we have become identified with him in his death, we shall also be identified with him in his resurrection. We know that our old humanity has been crucified with Christ, for the destruction of the sinful self, so that we may no longer be slaves to sin, because death cancels the claims of sin. But if we thus died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing as we do that Christ, once raised from the dead, is never to die again: he is no longer under the dominion of death. When he died, he died to sin, once for all, and now that he lives, he lives to God. In the same way you must regard yourselves as dead to sin and alive to God, in union with Christ Jesus.

Matthew, chapter 10 verses 24 to 39 :-

Jesus said, ‘No pupil ranks above his teacher, no servant above his master. The pupil should be content to share his teacher’s lot, the servant to share his master’s. If the master has been called Beelzebul, how much more his household!  So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing covered up that will not be uncovered, nothing hidden that will not be made known. What I say to you in the dark you must repeat in broad daylight; what you hear whispered you must shout from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Fear him rather who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

‘Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet without your Father’s knowledge not one of them can fall to the ground. As for you, even the hairs of your head have all been counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than any number of sparrows. Whoever will acknowledge me before others, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; and whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

‘You must not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man will find his enemies under his own roof. No one is worthy of me who cares more for father or mother than for me; no one is worthy of me who cares more for son or daughter; no one is worthy of me who does not take up his cross and follow me. Whoever gains his life will lose it; whoever loses his life for my sake will gain it.
       
Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

A Reflection on the Reading

Today’s readings are really rather difficult ones, I think. Paul’s letter to the Romans is his most theological writing, and often quite hard to unravel. What, for example, does he mean by “dying with Christ”? But Jesus himself, as Matthew presents his teaching, is also giving us some hard stuff. One of the titles we give to Jesus, especially at Christmas, is “prince of peace”. Yet here he’s saying, “I haven’t come to bring peace but a sword.” And then he goes on to speak of people set against each other, of family members set against each other. It sounds as if he’s not going to solve the world’s problems, but to add to them.

One of the moving images from last weekend’s “Black Lives Matter” demos was of a couple of black guys protecting a white far right supporter from the beating he was getting, and carrying him to safety. Like in the parable of the Good Samaritan, I guess what motivated those guys was just “This is someone who needs my help. It doesn’t matter who he is or from what tribe, if he needs help and I can give help, he’s my responsibility.” I’ve no idea what faith these people followed, if any - but what they were doing seemed to me a good and godly thing.

Now Jesus makes very clear that loving your enemy, and doing good to those who treat you badly, is fundamental to the faith he calls us to follow. It may mean - it very likely will mean - going against what the crowd decide to do. His attackers went on trying to hit that white guy even while his rescuers were carrying him away. And anyone who puts Jesus first will likely offend causes, organisations, political allies, people, friends, even family members, who feel they’re being downgraded, that they should have pride of place. Although anyone truly putting Jesus first will always be doing their best for those around them, because that’s what Jesus would want us to do.

Putting Jesus first is what Paul is referring to when he writes about “dying with Christ”. He means letting go of the life we own and can do what we want with, to live in a new way, shaped by the cross of Christ. Jesus himself says, “No-one is worthy who does not take up his cross and follow me.” This means not following the way of the world. Christians are not called on to be nice, but to be true; and we’re not promised popularity, but we are assured of our Father’s blessing.

For me the cross is a powerful image of a way of living that reaches up in praise and in prayer, that reaches out in fellowship, but also is always ready to reach down to raise up the fallen, to rescue the needy, to challenge injustice. A life that’s not content to leave things as they are, but is always wanting to proclaim how things could be, how things will be, as we are remade in the image of Christ.

This isn’t something I can do, not on my own. So I need to be joined to the example of Jesus, to the love of Jesus, to the death of Jesus, to win through. As Paul writes to the Church in Rome: “See yourselves as dead to sin, and alive to God, in union with Christ Jesus.” Amen.

Statement of faith

We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers

Pray for the world:  for every place of deprivation, suffering and injustice; for all who are abused or exploited, for landless people and refugees; and for those places where the impact of Covid 19 continues to grow. Pray for wisdom and clear vision for all in places of leadership and power, and also for all who are working to find effective vaccines and treatments for Covid 19.

Pray for the Church everywhere to be cross-shaped in its witness to the world. Pray for Christians in Nigeria, and for the Anglican Church in that nation. In our own Diocese, pray for a ministry that reaches out to all and affirms the worth of each person regardless of age, gender, background or race. On World Music Day, give thanks for all church musicians and composers.

Pray for all who are in need today: for any who are grieving, for any who are lonely, worried, or anxious, and for all who are ill, including all infected by the Covid 19 virus. Pray for their care, treatment and recovery. Continue to pray for the safety of all front line workers, especially those in hospitals, health centres and care homes.

Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. Continue to pray for our schools, shops and other premises beginning to re-open, and for the safely of all; also for those whose jobs or businesses are lost or at risk. Pray for all who continue to self-isolate, and that all of us may continue to act with care, looking out for one another and keeping safe ourselves.

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.

Blessing

May the cross of Christ be our guide; may we bear that cross with courage and with faith, and may all we do be done in love; and so may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, surround and sustain us now and always.   Amen.

A short service and reflection for Trinity 1, 14th June, 2020

You may wish to light a candle at the start of this time of worship.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all. Amen.

Collect 

God of truth, help us to keep your law of love and to walk in ways of wisdom,
that we may find true life in Jesus Christ your Son. Amen.

Confession

Let  us call to mind our sins, and make confession to our heavenly Father.

Most merciful God, we have sinned in thought and word and deed. We are truly sorry, and we ask you to forgive. Help us by your Spirit to live the new life in Christ, loving you with all our heart, and our neighbours as ourselves; for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love, in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

God’s Word - Romans, chapter 5, verses 1 to 8 :-

Now that we have been justified through faith, we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us access to that grace in which we now live; and we exult in the hope of the divine glory that is to be ours. More than this: we even exult in our present sufferings, because we know that suffering is a source of endurance, endurance of approval, and approval of hope. Such hope is no fantasy; through the Holy Spirit he has given us, God’s love has flooded our hearts.

It was while we were still helpless that, at the appointed time, Christ died for the wicked. Even for a just man one of us would hardly die, though perhaps for a good man one might actually brave death; but Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, and that is God’s proof of his love towards us.

Matthew, chapter 9 verse 35 to chapter 10 verse 8 :-

Jesus went round all the towns and villages teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every kind of illness and infirmity. The sight of the crowds moved him to pity: they were like sheep without a shepherd, harassed and helpless. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The crop is heavy, but the labourers too few; you must ask the owner to send labourers to bring in the harvest.’

Then he called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out unclean spirits and to cure every kind of illness and infirmity. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon, also called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Do not take the road to gentile lands, and do not enter any Samaritan town; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go proclaim the message: “The kingdom of Heaven is upon you.” Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. You received without cost; give without charge.’

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

A Reflection on the Reading

Many years ago, just before I went to theological college in 1978, we had a big mission campaign in my home church. Franciscans were coming to do the actual mission, but we were sent out first to prepare the way. Every house was visited. We had a simple questionnaire, the aim being to help the mission team decide who to prioritise when they started on the mission proper. It was a bit scary, but we did a lot of praying beforehand, and set out, each with our list of streets to cover.

I was reminded of this by the last words of our Gospel reading - “You received without cost; give without charge” - because to be honest many of the people I called on expected me to be asking for money. And on the whole they were quite prepared to give money, if only to get rid of me and with a clear conscience watch me go. “No, I’m just here to ask some questions,” I said. “Oh dear,” I could see them thinking. “This could be more complicated than we thought!”

At the moment of course I am having to ask for money. The reality of it is that our churches have no money coming in, or not very much, but there’s still money going out, including of course our parish offer to the diocese. “Why are we still sending money to the diocese?” I was asked the other day. “What do they do with it all?”

An amazing amount, is the short answer to that question. On what is quite a small budget our Diocesan Board of Finance manages to enable a lot of mission and ministry to happen, and it’s still happening, even though we’re locked down. By and large, what the parish offer pays for is mission and ministry. Put at its simplest, it pays for vicars, including me. And vicars are doing our best to keep working, and to keep doing mission, even though most of our visiting has to be done by phone or Zoom, and our services are mostly streamed or (like this one) Youtubed.

We clergy are spread quite thinly these days, but then again Jesus sent out only twelve men in our Gospel reading - and look what happened when they really got going! Of course, in today’s story they were doing exactly what I was doing back in 1978 and in the parish of Rickerscote. They were preparing the way. They had Jesus with them to do the actual mission work. It was only after Pentecost that the disciples ceased to be just disciples - learners, students - and became also apostles - folk with a story to tell, and a message to give, and a love to share.

Now asking for money could get in the way of mission. I see that. What Jesus gave, on the cross, he gave for free, for people who neither paid for it nor deserved it. In Rickerscote we had built a new church, in, I think, 1956, and many of the people I visited remembered buying a brick or two to help raise the cost of a building they’d perhaps hardly been to since, though they were glad it was there. Some of them I think resented me calling again on them - they reckoned they’d done their bit.

But, as Paul writes to the Romans, Christ died for us while we were yet sinners - in other words, while we didn’t care, while we went our own way, while we could only think of ourselves, while we didn’t deserve it. Whatever I do, and whatever I give, I can never repay such amazing love. And that’s what motivates not only my Christian preaching, but also my Christian giving - even if what I give ends up being sent to the diocese. And in any case the diocese isn’t them, it’s us (or should be): all of us doing what God calls us to do, to prepare the way, and share the love.

Statement of faith

We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers

Pray for the world:  for those discriminated against because of race or language or creed; for those living under the shadow of tyranny or conflict; for those who have no land or settled place to call their own; and for all still suffering and fearful as the Covid 19 crisis continues. Pray for wise leadership and clear vision, and that efforts to find a safe and effective vaccine meet with success.

Pray for the Church everywhere to be strong in discipleship, in mission and in service. Pray for Christians in Kenya, and for the Anglican Church of Kenya. In our own Diocese, give thanks for our global mission links, for the mission done in our own churches and communities, and for our links with other denominations and other faiths.

Pray for all who are struggling or in need today: for all who are grieving and for those who are lonely, or worried, or anxious. Pray for all who are ill, including all who are infected by Covid 19,  for their care and treatment and recovery. Continue to pray for the safety of all front line workers, especially those in hospitals, health centres and care homes.

Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. Pray for our schools, shops and other premises beginning to re-open, and that we may do this safely; pray those continuing to self-isolate because of other health conditions or age. 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.

Blessing

May we be on our guard, standing firm in the faith, as people of fortitude and courage; and may all that we do be done in love; and so may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, surround and sustain us now and always.   Amen.

Service and Reflection for Trinity Sunday

You may wish to light a candle at the start of this time of worship.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all. Amen.

Theme Prayer 

O God our mystery, you bring us to life, call us to freedom, and move among and between us as wind and fire. May we so participate in the dance of the Three in One that our lives may resonate with your love, now and for ever. Amen.

Confession

Hear what Paul writes: “Be imitators of God; love as Christ loved; do not grieve the Holy Spirit; put away all anger and bitterness, all slander and malice.” So let us confess our sins to the Lord our God.

Father, you come to meet us when we return to you. Lord, have mercy:
(Lord, have mercy.)
Jesus, you died on the cross for our sins. Christ, have mercy:
(Christ, have mercy.)
Holy Spirit, you give us life and peace. Lord, have mercy:
(Lord, have mercy.)

May almighty God cleanse us from all our sin, and renew us in the fellowship of his Son, who calls us sisters and brothers, and may we know the freedom of his Holy Spirit, who declares that we are God’s children.  Amen.

God’s Word - Isaiah, chapter 6, verses 1 to 8 :-

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the skirt of his robe filled the temple. Seraphim were in attendance on him. Each had six wings: with one pair of wings they covered their faces and with another their bodies, and with the third pair they flew.  They were calling to one another, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.’

As each called, the threshold shook to its foundations at the sound, while the house began to fill with clouds of smoke. Then I said, ‘Woe is me! I am doomed, for my own eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts, I, a man of unclean lips, I, who dwell among a people of unclean lips.’

One of the seraphim flew to me, carrying in his hand a glowing coal which he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, ‘This has touched your lips; now your iniquity is removed and your sin is wiped out.’ I heard the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ I said: ‘Here am I! Send me.’

John, chapter 16, verses 5 to 15 :-

Jesus said to the disciples, ‘Now I am going away to him who sent me. None of you asks me, “Where are you going?” Yet you are plunged into grief at what I have told you. Nevertheless I assure you that it is in your interest that I am leaving you. If I do not go, the advocate will not come, whereas if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin, justice, and judgement: about sin, because they refuse to believe in me; about justice, because I go to the Father when I pass from your sight; about judgement, because the prince of this world stands condemned.

‘There is much more that I could say to you, but the burden would be too great for you now. However, when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak only what he hears; and he will make known to you what is to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and make it known to you. All that the Father has is mine, and that is why I said, “He will take what is mine and make it known to you.”’

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

A Reflection on the Readings

Christians very definitely do not believe in three Gods, but in one. And yet the Oneness of God isn’t enough to express the mystery of how God who is so utterly beyond our sight, our understanding, our knowing, nonetheless seeks to be in relationship with us, and, in ways that touch and change our hearts, demonstrates his love for us and calls us to share that love with the world.

Isaiah’s response to the revelation he had of the presence and power of God was one of abject fear, and a dread realisation of his sinfulness, of his people’s sinfulness, and of his unworthiness to be in that place at all. When I walk down the path in my garden, beetles and bugs scurry away and hide under stones. It’s a natural response when we’re faced with something too big to handle. But Isaiah’s lips are touched with a burning coal, and his sinfulness is removed. And when challenged with the words, “Who will go for us?” he replies, “Send me.”

Those words are used at most ordination services. The new deacon or priest ought to be terrified - it’s an impossible job, and a truly daunting task, for which none of us is fit for purpose: except that God makes us fit for purpose, and meets us in our weakness with his healing touch, and allows us to call him “Our Father”.

The first disciples came to see in Jesus more than just a rabbi or teacher, more than just a friend; and they came to see the cross as the decisive event in which all evil is confronted, all sin is named for what it is, and where God’s justice, a justice based in love, triumphs over the chaos of this world’s selfishness and prejudice. And as they reflected on this in the light of Easter, the movement that would become the Church was born in the fiery gift of the Holy Spirit. Nowhere in Scripture are we clearly told that God is Trinity, “three in one and one in three” as one of our hymns puts it, but Trinity is the best way the early apostles could find to talk about what they had experienced. All the fullness of God is completely present in each person of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But in each person God makes himself and his love known to us in a distinct and special way. The Son is not the Father, the Father is not the Spirit, yet each is wonderfully and completely God.

Yet even that is not enough. If it was, then we would have God precisely defined, identified, systematised. And we don’t, we can’t. Today does not honour a doctrine that says all there is to say about God, that has God all wrapped up. It is just our best way to talk about the ways in which God reveals himself to us, declares his love for us, and - though he is an unknowable mystery, before whom our natural and sensible response should be one of abject fear - declares that he is for us, that we can make our home in him, and that we are called and chosen in his service.

Statement of faith

We believe in the Father, the Creator, who lit the world and breathed the breath of life for us. We believe in the Son, Jesus Christ, who by his cross saved the world, stretching out his hand to his people. We believe in the Holy Spirit, who ranges over the world, and plants seeds of yearning in our souls. We believe in the Trinity of love, God above us, and beside us, and beneath us, the one who is from everlasting to everlasting. Amen.

Prayers

Pray in our world for those nations, like our own, aiming to lift restrictions gradually and with care, that we may be able to do this safely and begin to      re-open our economies. Pray for those nations where Covid 19 is still increasing in severity, especially where resources to combat the disease are lacking. Pray for co-operation among nations, both in the cause of welfare, peace and justice, and in the search for a vaccine and treatments for Covid 19.

Pray that the Church everywhere will be ready to hear God’s call to active and loving ministry. Pray for the churches of Mexico, and for the Anglican Province of Mexico. In our own Diocese, pray for all who are involved in safeguarding, ensuring that children, young people and vulnerable adults can work, worship and share fellowship safely and securely.

Pray for all who are 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 all front line workers, and especially for all who work in hospitals and care homes, for their safety and health.

Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. Pray for our schools; pray also for all who are continuing to self-isolate because of other health conditions or age. 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.

Blessing

May God the Father, who made all things, embrace us for ever in his creative love; may God the Son, our Servant King, bear our burdens of grief and sin and shame; may God the Holy Spirit inspire and enthuse our life together; and so may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, surround and sustain us now and always.   Amen.