A short service and reflection for the 8th 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 

Lord God, your Son left the riches of heaven and became poor for our sake: when we prosper save us from pride, when we are needy save us from despair, that we may trust in you alone; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Confession

Trusting in his forgiving love, let us make confession to our heavenly Father.

Holy God, hear our prayer: for the mending of our hearts, torn apart by our unkindness; for the healing of our souls, wasting away from the despair around us; for the forgiveness we seek for the sin we have allowed to persist; and for the reconciliation of the world, whose division condemns us. We pray for the courage to admit our fault, the strength to amend our actions, and the hope that your grace awaits us. Through Christ we pray. Amen.

May God our Father deliver us from our sins, heal our hearts, and kindle within them the flame of his love,  for the sake of Jesus Christ our Saviour.  Amen.

God’s Word

Romans, chapter 9, verses 1 to 5 :-

I am speaking the truth as a Christian; my conscience, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, assures me that I do not lie when I tell you that there is great grief and unceasing sorrow in my heart. I would even pray to be an outcast myself, cut off from Christ, if it would help my brothers, my kinsfolk by natural descent. They are descendants of Israel, chosen to be God’s sons; theirs is the glory of the divine presence, theirs the covenants, the law, the temple worship, and the promises. The patriarchs are theirs, and from them by natural descent came the Messiah. May God, supreme above all, be blessed for ever! Amen.

Matthew, chapter 14 verses 13 to 21 :-

Having heard of the death of John the Baptist, Jesus withdrew privately by boat to a remote place; but large numbers of people heard of it, and came after him on foot from the towns. When he came ashore and saw a large crowd, his heart went out to them, and he healed those who were sick. As evening drew on, the disciples came up to him and said, ‘This is a remote place and the day has gone; send the people off to the villages to buy themselves food.’ Jesus answered, ‘There is no need for them to go; give them something to eat yourselves.’ 

‘All we have here’, they said, ‘is five loaves and two fish.’  ‘Bring them to me,’ he replied. 

So he told the people to sit down on the grass; then, taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples; and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied; and twelve baskets were filled with what was left over. Some five thousand men shared in this meal, not counting women and children.

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

Reflection on the Readings

It has felt very strange over the past few months not to have received the bread and wine of communion. Some of my colleagues have continued regularly to celebrate communion at home while churches were closed, but for me it would have felt wrong to do that - not that I would want to criticise those who have. It’s just that for me the fellowship of communion is of overriding importance: not just the closeness to God I feel when receiving the bread and wine, but the fellowship I share with those around me. And so it’s felt wrong to make my own communion (other than in a spiritual sense) while my congregations have been excluded.

I’ve met each week through lockdown with a group of friends for a drink and a chat on Zoom; next week though we’re going to meet up in reality, and to share a meal together. I’m really looking forward to it. Eating together is an important expression of fellowship. The hospitality of the table is part of the joy of friendship, and it’s also a duty of community. For Jesus, not to have offered that hospitality to the people who’d come out to hear him in the wilderness would have been unthinkable, even though he’d really been trying to get some quiet time on his own.

While the feeding of the 5,000 - as this meal has come to be called - is not the Holy Communion, I can’t help but find myself thinking about communion. For both this miraculous meal and the Lord’s Supper share a message that is about God’s grace and abundant provision for his people. God’s generosity, in fact. In God’s grace and generosity we can discover a new fellowship. And in response to God’s grace and generosity we can learn to act with generosity and grace as his people.

And both these stories of meals begin with a need we don’t have the resources to meet. With five loaves and two fish, the disciples had hardly enough for their own needs, let alone a crowd that was actually much more than five thousand people, since it was only the men who were actually counted. “Five loaves and two fish! What are they among so many?” “Even so, bring them to me,” replies Jesus.

Last week we heard the story of the pearl of great price, and the man who sold everything he had to buy it. The message of the parable is that the Kingdom of God has to have first place in our lives. The message here is the same. We may not have very much, but if we offer it all, God is able to do great things with it. Everyone ate well that day, including the disciples who offered the bread and fish in the first place.  Those who gave also received back, and abundantly. But the question that’s left at the end of the story is this: what would have happened without that original offer of five loaves and two fish?

Bread is also divided and shared at the last supper. “Take this and eat it - this is my body,” says Jesus to his surprised and shocked disciples. The need here is starker and deeper than the mere physical hunger of people who’ve trekked round the lake side. It’s dark outside as Jesus shares this supper, and the forces of darkness are closing in. Our much-vaunted independence and freedom mires the world in sin, and, left to ourselves, we can do nothing about it. “The wages of sin are death,” as we heard Paul say in our reading a few weeks back.

And here Jesus offers himself, to take our place, and to bear the weight of our sin, and to lead us to life. At that table that night he shared bread to make his friends part of that story, and to open God’s generous heart to them, and also to us; for every communion service brings us to that same table.

So of course I miss it terribly, and I long to take communion again; and - with care and keeping safe - I hope we may begin to hold communion services again this month or from September. But even if the physical act of Holy Communion is unavailable, the message of communion remains at the heart of my faith: of the generous and hospitable God whose glory and love is revealed in Jesus - who gives more than we can ask or deserve, and who does such amazing and wonderful things when his Church in fellowship discovers a generosity that reflects his 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 peace in our world, and for all who are exploited or abused by others, or treated unjustly. Pray for those who are tempted to misuse the power they hold, and for all who have been forced to live as refugees and displaced people. Continue to pray for strength and unity of purpose as the world faces up to the threat of Covid 19, and for all that is being done to develop treatments and vaccines. 

Pray that the Church everywhere may in its generosity and hospitality reflect the generosity of our God. Pray for Christians in north Africa, and for the new Anglican Province of Alexandria. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard, and for all that is being done in our Diocese to encourage and resource a spirit of outreach and mission in each local church and deanery.

Pray for all who are ill today, especially those whose situations we know, and all who are in hospitals and other places of care. Pray for those whose diagnosis or treatment has been delayed by the Covid crisis, and also for all who are suffering directly as a result of Covid 19 virus infection. Pray for the care and recovery of all who are ill , and the safety of healthcare workers.

Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. Give thanks for the new opportunities to see families and friends that the easing of restrictions allows, and pray we may continue to act with responsibility and 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 generosity of God support, encourage and strengthen us, and open our hearts to be generous in all we offer and do; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us always.   Amen.