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, forgive us for the wrong things we have done, and the good we have failed to do. Help and strengthen us by your Spirit, and enable us to live the new life in Christ, to love you with all our heart, and to love 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 - 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, verses 6 to 10 and 14 to 17 :-
We never cease to be confident. We know that so long as we are at home in the body we are exiles from the Lord; faith is our guide, not sight. We are confident, I say, and would rather be exiled from the body and make our home with the Lord. That is why it is our ambition, wherever we are, at home or in exile, to be acceptable to him. For we must all have our lives laid open before the tribunal of Christ, where each must receive what is due to him for his conduct in the body, good or bad.
For the love of Christ controls us once we have reached the conclusion that one man died for all and therefore all mankind has died. He died for all so that those who live should cease to live for themselves, and should live for him who for their sake died and was raised to life. With us therefore worldly standards have ceased to count in our estimate of anyone; even if once they counted in our understanding of Christ, they do so now no longer. For anyone united to Christ, there is a new creation: the old order has gone; a new order has already begun.
Mark, chapter 4 verses 26 to 34 :-
Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of God is like this. A man scatters seed on the ground; he goes to bed at night and gets up in the morning, and meanwhile the seed sprouts and grows—how, he does not know. The ground produces a crop by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then full grain in the ear; but as soon as the crop is ripe, he starts reaping, because harvest time has come.’
He said, ‘How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed; when sown in the ground it is smaller than any other seed, but once sown, it springs up and grows taller than any other plant, and forms branches so large that birds can roost in its shade.’
With many such parables he used to give them his message, so far as they were able to receive it. He never spoke to them except in parables; but privately to his disciples he explained everything. Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.
A Reflection on the Reading
Our readings today are about the Kingdom, they’re about God’s Kingdom, and they include two of the very many kingdom parables Jesus told, and the changes in perception and value that were for Paul the inevitable result of accepting a Kingdom faith. So, a couple of things to say about the Kingdom right from the start. Firstly this: the Kingdom isn’t a place, and it certainly isn’t the same thing as the Church. The Kingdom is what happens whenever and wherever people are truly honouring and serving the King, serving God as King, and Kingdom values are what happens when we allow the love of God to guide our thinking, our deciding, our relationships, our whole being - as his people.
And certainly the Church should be one place where people can expect to find signs of the Kingdom. It should be a place where people are looking to make the world about us a better and worthier and lovelier place. It should be a place of renewal, acceptance, forgiveness, and the revival of hope. It should not be merely dutiful, nor should it be inward-looking. The Church should always be looking for signs of God’s Kingdom not just within itself, but in the wider world too. For those situations where lives are being renewed, where hurts are healed and where grief finds a comforting arm, and where divisions are overcome. For God is at work now in unexpected and surprising situations.
That, I think, is why Jesus told the story about the seed growing in secret. God’s Kingdom holds its own potential for growth and development; and what we may start (maybe without really knowing we have) can grow to maturity without our help. That’s not to say we can sit back and do nothing and the Kingdom will happen anyway; but it is to say that a Church that is working for the Kingdom is not working for God, but with God; and that when we pray “thy Kingdom come”, while in part that’s a commitment to work for that to happen, it’s also a recognition that God’s Kingdom is on its way, with or without our involvement.
There’s a proverb that states that “great oaks from little acorns grow”. A mustard seed is a fair bit smaller than an acorn, and, come to think of it, even the largest mustard plant is a fair bit smaller than an oak tree - but the principle is the same, and it’s what the second Kingdom parable Jesus told has to say. “Do the little things you have seen me do,” said St David to his monks, as he lay on his death bed. Little things may sometimes seem not to have accomplished very much, but anything done in faith and with love has an impact well beyond its immediate self.
Jesus wanted his disciples to know that the Kingdom is a huge thing, it will change the world - but it grows from the very smallest of beginnings. There is a snowball effect from the smallest kind word, the briefest hug once we’re allowed to do it, or someone going just a little bit out of their way for the sake of someone else. And these small actions do more to progress the Kingdom than any number of erudite and well crafted sermons.
Now that does mean that it’s not just my job but yours as well, to help the Kingdom to grow. God’s Kingdom happens whenever and wherever God’s love is shown and shared, wherever God’s will is done. It’s no accident that in the prayer Jesus taught his disciples those to phrases are next to each other: “thy Kingdom come, thy will be done” - for each depends on the other.
And God’s Kingdom can change the world, but it begins with a change in ourselves - the one Paul wrote about in our first reading. Whenever we are joined to Christ, a new order has begun; or, as he also wrote, we cease to live for ourselves, and instead live for the one who gave his life to save us.
There is a belief in some cultures that if someone saves your life, you then belong to that person. Paul understood himself as belonging to Christ, and actually that’s fundamental to Christian faith, and it’s why faith is something more than philosophy. When we belong to Christ, and when we see our neighbour as Christ sees him or her, then the materials are in our hands with which to build his Kingdom.
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 Church everywhere to be Kingdom-minded, welcoming the stranger and pilgrim, and planting seeds of compassion and love. Today we pray for Christians in Nigeria, and for the Anglican Church in that land; and in our own Diocese for the Telford Severn Gorge Deanery.
Pray that within our world those who are poor and hungry, dispossessed or exploited, may be given the help they need, and that peace may reign where there is conflict and division. Pray for wisdom and clear vision for all in places of leadership and power, and for all who are working to find effective ways of helping the less developed nations combat disease, including Covid.
Pray for all who are ill or troubled, for those in hospital or some other place of care, and for the many people waiting for tests or treatment, for their care, treatment and recovery. Continue to pray for the safety of all front line workers.
Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. Pray especially this week for all who are lonely and isolated in our communities. And pray 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 love of Christ be our light and guide, our strength and inspiration, 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.
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