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
Gracious Father, by the obedience of Jesus you brought salvation to our wayward world: draw us into harmony with your will, that we may find all things restored in him, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Confession
Let us call to mind our sins, and make confession to our heavenly Father.
Almighty God, long-suffering and of great goodness, we confess with our whole heart our neglect of your commandments: our wrong doing and thinking, the hurts we have done to others, and the good we have left undone. Forgive us, Lord, and raise us to newness of life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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 7, verses 15 to 25a
I do not even acknowledge my own actions as mine, for what I do is not what I want to do, but what I detest. But if what I do is against my will, then clearly I agree with the law and hold it to be admirable. This means that it is no longer I who perform the action, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me - my unspiritual self, I mean - for though the will to do good is there, the ability to effect it is not. The good which I want to do, I fail to do; but what I do is the wrong which is against my will; and if what I do is against my will, clearly it is no longer I who am the agent, but sin that has its dwelling in me.
I discover this principle, then: that when I want to do right, only wrong is within my reach. In my inmost self I delight in the law of God, but I perceive in my outward actions a different law, fighting against the law that my mind approves,
and making me a prisoner under the law of sin which controls my conduct. Wretched creature that I am, who is there to rescue me from this state of death? Who but God? Thanks be to him through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Matthew, chapter 11 verses 16 to 19, and 25 to the end
Jesus said, ‘How can I describe this generation? They are like children sitting in the market-place and calling to each other, “We piped for you and you would not dance. We lamented, and you would not mourn.” For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and people say, “He is possessed”; the Son of Man came, eating and drinking, and they say, “Look at him! A glutton and a drinker, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet God’s wisdom is proved right by its results.’
At that time Jesus spoke these words: ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and wise, and revealing them to the simple. Yes, Father, such was your choice. Everything is entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son but the Father, and no one knows the Father but the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who are weary and whose load is heavy; I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble-hearted; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to wear, my load is light.’
Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.
A Reflection on the Reading
I do sometimes feel that Paul tends to think too much. When he was on trial in Jerusalem, and speaking in his own defence, Festus, the Roman procurator or governor, interrupted him to say, “Paul, your great learning is making you mad!” Maybe Paul wasn’t always the best at expressing his thoughts in simple terms. But once you clear a way through it, our first reading shows us that Paul, like us, had a perpetual dilemma: knowing what he should be doing, he still doesn’t do it.
When lockdown started, I saw it mostly in terms of “tidy up”. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve done a lot of the stuff I wanted to. But there’s still a great pile of paper in a filing tray that needs to be sorted through and filed or binned or otherwise disposed of. That was supposed to be my very first job, and I still haven’t done it. I am entirely and completely persuaded that I need to get it done; and I’ve had plenty of time to do it; and yet it remains undone.
Jesus described the reaction of the people to his ministry and to John the Baptist by comparing them to children singing in the street. Observation of the two of my grandchildren who happen to be brothers to each other suggests that small boys can be very good at finding, or manufacturing, reasons to fall out with each other. I was trying to talk to my daughter the other day while the two lads were noisily falling out in the background. “Nothing’s ever right for them,” she sighed.
It can feel like that sometimes. The same people who dismissed John the Baptist as a madman because he fasted, condemned Jesus as a glutton because he didn’t. Is that, I wonder, because we want a religion that suits us and approves of us, rather than one that challenges us? I’m reminded of the man who, as he came out of church one Sunday, said, “Good sermon, vicar! Just for once, I thought you didn’t mean me!”
Anyway, Jesus goes on to talk about things denied to the wise and clever people, but understood by those who are humble and simple. And Paul understood it too, for all his great intellect, though it did take being struck down on the road to Damascus to break through. To make him realise that the important thing about religion isn’t knowing lots of things, like exactly how a priest should hold his hands when saying the prayer of consecration, or what colour candle is lit on the Third Sunday of Advent, or how to calculate the date of Good Friday. Nor is it to do with keeping all the rules, getting it all legally correct. No - to be religious is to be in a relationship with God. With Jesus.
Paul knew that. My life’s a mess, he tells us. I know what to do yet I don’t do it. I know what’s good, and yet I choose what’s bad. I keep on getting stuff wrong. And I don’t seem to be able to do anything about this. Not on my own. But, he goes on to say, with Jesus I can. On my own I’m lost, but with him, I’m found; on our own, we’re destined for death, but in Jesus we have the way to life.
My yoke is easy, says Jesus, and my burden is light. In fact, as one writer on this passage says, what Jesus asks of us is both easy and hard, at the same time. Because of Jesus, we’re no longer shackled to sin, we’re set free. But whenever Jesus says “Follow me,” he’s also saying “And take up your cross to do it.”
A friend of mine has a weakness for cream cakes. “I can’t help myself,” she tells me. And that’s it exactly. That’s what Paul is saying, too. I can’t help myself. The battle to live well is a battle I can’t win. But Jesus has already won it for me. That’s what the cross stands for. And that cross is the sign of our freedom to live thankful lives, to live serving lives, to live lives that will reflect 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 the world: where there is conflict and war may God bring peace; where people are belittled, abused or exploited may he establish justice; and where people are hurt, afraid or in a desperate place, may he enable the hungry to be fed and the hurt and frightened to find solace. Continue to pray for all that is being done to combat Covid 19 and to find a cure, and for wise and caring leadership in our own and every nation.
Pray that the Church everywhere may seek constantly to live in the light and strength of Christ and to be renewed in his image. Pray for Christians in Pakistan and for the United Church of Pakistan. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard, and that all that we do and plan may be grounded in a joyful and prayerful placing of ourselves under God’s will.
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 the care, treatment and recovery of all who are ill or troubled, 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. As society reopens pray this may be done safely and with care and thought for others. Pray for all who have lost jobs or businesses, and for those who continue to feel vulnerable, and have either chosen or been instructed to self isolate. 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 almighty and eternal God sanctify and govern our hearts and minds in the ways of his commandments; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, surround and sustain us now and always. Amen.
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