You may wish to light a candle before you begin.
May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.
Collect
God of glory, the end of our searching, help us to lay aside all that prevents us from seeking your kingdom, and to give all that we have to gain the pearl beyond all price, through our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Confession
Trusting in God’s gracious mercy, let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.
Almighty and eternal God, you are the source of all healing and peace. We confess the times when we have fallen short of what you would have us be. We are truly sorry and repent of our sins. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us, that henceforth we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.
May the Lord God have mercy upon us; may he deliver us from all our sins, and strengthen us in all goodness, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
God’s Word - Romans, chapter 12, verses 1 to 8 :-
My friends, I implore you by God’s mercy to offer your very selves to him: a living sacrifice, dedicated and fit for his acceptance, the worship offered by mind and heart. Conform no longer to the pattern of this present world, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds. Then you will be able to discern the will of God, and to know what is good, acceptable, and perfect.
By authority of the grace God has given me I say to everyone among you: do not think too highly of yourself, but form a sober estimate based on the measure of faith that God has dealt to each of you. For just as in a single human body there are many limbs and organs, all with different functions, so we who are united with Christ, though many, form one body, and belong to one another as its limbs and organs.
Let us use the different gifts allotted to each of us by God’s grace: the gift of inspired utterance, for example, let us use in proportion to our faith; the gift of administration to administer, the gift of teaching to teach, the gift of counselling to counsel. If you give to charity, give without grudging; if you are a leader, lead with enthusiasm; if you help others in distress, do it cheerfully.
Matthew, chapter 16, verses 13 to 20 :-
When he came to the territory of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ They answered, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.’ ‘And you,’ he asked, ‘who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered: ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’
Then Jesus said: ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are favoured indeed! You did not learn that from any human being; it was revealed to you by my heavenly Father. And I say to you: you are Peter, the Rock; and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall never conquer it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; what you forbid on earth shall be forbidden in heaven, and what you allow on earth shall be allowed in heaven.’ He then gave his disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.
Reflection on the Readings
“You are Peter, the Rock; and on this rock I will build my Church.” With these words Jesus confirms Simon Peter as leader among the apostles; but as a foundation stone Peter comes across as a bit wobbly, surely? There’s no doubting his faith, or his boldness in speaking out. But this is the man who loudly denied on the night before the crucifixion that he had ever known Jesus. That may well have been a perfectly sensible course of action given the circumstances, but the fact remains that it was exactly what Peter had promised Jesus he would never do just a short time before.
And then, as he heard the cock crow, Peter realised - too late - what he’d done. “I will never abandon you, Lord,” he had said to Jesus. “Really, Peter?” said Jesus in reply. “Let me tell you that before the cock crows, you will have denied three times that you know me.” Peter collapsed in tears; he’d let Jesus down at the very first test. How quickly and easily he had reneged on that promise! How weak he was, how much not to be relied on. And yet Jesus had said to him, “You are the rock on which I will build my Church.”
So what had Jesus seen in Peter that was so special? Well, as we heard in this morning’s reading, he was the first to call Jesus “the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Peter didn’t yet understand what this would mean; neither he nor any of the others could yet see how Jesus as Messiah would walk the way of the cross. But he could see that Jesus was more than just a rabbi, a teacher, more than just a good man, more than a prophet and a healer. Where Jesus was, God was present, and that when Jesus spoke, he did so with all the power and authority of God.
But then it was I think the very brokenness of Peter - Peter’s failure, and the self-awareness that sprang from it, that would make him a good and sure foundation. He’d always been quick to promise, and eager to do - too quick, though, and too rash in his eagerness. But then he’d learned that his own strength could never be enough. And he became the foundation on which the Church could be built only because he would be himself completely and utterly dependant on Christ.
“Offer your very selves to God,” writes Paul to the Church in Rome. And he goes on to say to them: “Do not think too highly of yourself.” Had Peter originally thought too highly of himself, I wonder? I don’t mean that Peter was boastful or conceited or looking for others to praise him. But I do think he thought he could do it all himself, that his own eagerness and loyalty and strength would be enough. Like the child in class whose hand always goes up first: “Let me do it, Miss!” - the ever-helpful one who can begin to get a bit wearing. He needed to grow up a bit.
By the time he wrote what we know as the First Letter of Peter he had. And this is what he writes in chapter 4 verse 10: “As good stewards of the varied gifts given you by God, let each use the gift he has received in service to others.” This chimes in with what Paul wrote to the Romans in our first reading about “belonging to one another as the limbs and organs of the body of Christ.”
Peter discovered that his own strength could never be enough, he needed to be strong not in himself but in his Lord. And for that to happen he had first to be made aware of his own weakness. A Christ-like church must be a servant church, and to be of service in the world we must first of all be serving and supporting each other. The image of the body of Christ is a very helpful one. For a body to function well, every bit of it needs to be working, working in ways that are coherent and mutually supportive. And a body is only truly healthy when each and every part of it is fully instructed by the head, fully on-message, to use the modern phrase.
As we begin the difficult transition from the Covid world to the post-Covid world, and try to discern how to be the Church of Christ within the new normal, our starting point has to be to take Peter and Paul seriously. We are the body of Christ, we say: and we must truly be that body, to be of use and service in the world.
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, and for every place of disharmony and division. Pray for the refugees and displaced people of our world, often living in places of great risk and need. Pray for the places of poverty and for those whose crops have failed. And pray for all who are abused, exploited or treated badly, perhaps because of their race, colour or faith. Pray for all who work to bring help and healing, to build bridges, to challenge injustice, and to inspire peace.
Pray for the Church worldwide to learn to be one body, true to the commands and example of Christ, especially that first and greatest command, that we should love one another. Pray for Christians in South-East Asia, and for the Anglican Province of South-East Asia. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard and for the churches and communities of the Condover Deanery.
Pray for all who are ill or troubled, that they may he healed and restored to health; pray for all in hospital or other places of care, including those infected with the Covid virus, here and around the world. Pray for the health, safety and protection of health care workers, and also for the continuing research to find effective treatments and vaccines to combat Covid.
Pray for families and friends, and the life of our communities. Pray for all who manage and use our local village halls, and also for our schools as they look to the challenges of the new school year. Pray we may continue to act with responsibility and care, looking out for each other, 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 God of all grace, who called us to his eternal glory in Christ, restore, establish and strengthen us on a sure foundation; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us always. Amen.
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