May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.
Collect
Creator God, you made us all in your image: may we discern you in all that we see, and serve you in all that we do; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Confession
Let us call to mind our sins, and make confession to our heavenly Father.
God our Father and Creator, we are the work of your hands, and yet we have wounded your love, and marred your image in us. We confess that we have sinned against you and against our neighbour. Heal and restore us for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
May the Lord enrich us with his grace, and nourish us with his blessing; may he hear our cry and graciously absolve us from all our offences, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
God’s Word - Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 3 to 14 :-
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has conferred on us in Christ every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. Before the foundation of the world he chose us in Christ to be his people, to be without blemish in his sight, to be full of love; and he predestined us to be adopted as his children through Jesus Christ.
This was his will and pleasure in order that the glory of his gracious gift, so graciously conferred on us in his Beloved, might redound to his praise. In Christ our release is secured and our sins forgiven through the shedding of his blood. In the richness of his grace God has lavished on us all wisdom and insight. He has made known to us his secret purpose, in accordance with the plan which he determined beforehand in Christ, to be put into effect when the time was ripe: namely, that the universe, everything in heaven and on earth, might be brought into a unity in Christ.
In Christ indeed we have been given our share in the heritage, as was decreed in his design whose purpose is everywhere at work; for it was his will that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, should cause his glory to be praised. And in Christ you also - once you had heard the message of the truth, the good news of your salvation, and had believed it - in him you were stamped with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; and that Spirit is a pledge of the inheritance which will be ours when God has redeemed what is his own, to his glory and praise.
Mark, chapter 6 verses 14 to 29 :-
Now King Herod heard of Jesus, for his fame had spread, and people were saying, ‘John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.’ Others said, ‘It is Elijah.’ Others again, ‘He is a prophet like one of the prophets of old.’ But when Herod heard of it, he said, ‘This is John, whom I beheaded, raised from the dead.’
It was this Herod who had sent men to arrest John and put him in prison at the instance of his brother Philip’s wife, Herodias, whom he had married. John had told him, ‘You have no right to take your brother’s wife.’ Herodias nursed a grudge against John and would willingly have killed him, but she could not, for Herod went in awe of him, knowing him to be a good and holy man; so he gave him his protection. He liked to listen to him, although what he heard left him greatly disturbed.
Herodias found her opportunity when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet to his chief officials and commanders and the leading men of Galilee. Her daughter came in and danced, and so delighted Herod and his guests that the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for anything you like and I will give it to you.’ He even said on oath: ‘Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.’ She went out and said to her mother, ‘What shall I ask for?’ She replied, ‘The head of John the Baptist.’ The girl hurried straight back to the king with her request: ‘I want you to give me, here and now, on a dish, the head of John the Baptist.’ The king was greatly distressed, yet because of his oath and his guests he could not bring himself to refuse her. He sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head; and the soldier went to the prison and beheaded him; then he brought the head on a dish, and gave it to the girl; and she gave it to her mother.
When John’s disciples heard the news, they came and took his body away and laid it in a tomb.
Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.
Reflection on the Readings
In looking briefly at today’s two readings, I want to draw out something about false and true grandeur. Paul starts his Letter to the Ephesians as he means to go on, by painting a picture of the mission in which he is engaged as just part of the grand enterprise of God’s saving love . . . everything in the universe, he writes, is to be brought into a unity in Christ. Ephesus and any other city where Paul had founded or visited a church (for this was a letter that seems designed to be passed on around many recipients) - but each local community of Christians forms one part of a grand enterprise unlimited by space and time, a great work of creation and re-creation.
Compare this to the fake glamour of Herod’s court. Herod was something of a fake king on two fronts: firstly, he was not of the line of King David, so his right to be a king of the Jews was constantly in question; and secondly he only held power at all because the Romans allowed it. Nonetheless, his palace would have been awash with the sort of over-exuberant sleaziness associated with jumped up dictators and princelings anywhere.
Herod Antipas was one of the sons of Herod the Great, and ruled over a portion of his father’s kingdom. He comes across as rather a pathetic character. He imprisons John the Baptist, but remains in awe of the man. Having been heavily criticised by John, he silences him by throwing him into jail, but remains (it would seem) in a state of some unease and wants to go on hearing what John has to say. It may be that some part of Herod was aware enough to recognise the falseness of the royal pomp with which he surrounded himself. But in the end he has neither the courage nor the sense - nor, probably, the sobriety - to save John’s life.
We see John here as the faithful forerunner of Christ, whose death pre-echoes the sacrifice of the cross. And we see Paul very aware that danger and death lie ahead for him as he refuses ever to keep his faith to himself, but takes every opportunity to speak of “Christ, and him crucified”, to quote his own words.
Is suffering inevitably part of what it means to be a real Christian? No, and nor should we seek it, but those who follow Christ are serving a greater end than their own mere earthly survival. Paul could have slackened off and played safe, but refused to. If John had been less vocal in his criticism of the marriage between Herod and Herodias (and, by implication, the other excesses of the royal house), he might well have avoided both prison and death.
Both, though, in their different ways and situations, had caught and embraced that wider vision, of a love that is forever and for all, that holds nothing back. We see in them what it means to be people of God’s praise and God’s purpose.
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 that the Church everywhere may catch a vision of the glory of God that sustains us in hard times and nerves us for mission and service. Pray for Christians in the Philippines, and for the Episcopal Church of that land. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard, and for the churches and communities of the Bridgnorth Deanery.
Pray for the world: for world leaders that they might have a love of peace and justice, and govern with wisdom and integrity; for those who live in poverty, and the victims of natural disaster or of the violence, injustice or race hatred perpetrated by others; and for a spirit of co-operation among nations, in our care for the planet, in our desire to build bridges of peace, and in our response to the Covid virus.
Pray for all who are ill or in any kind of need, and especially for all in hospital or other places of care, including those infected by the Covid 19 virus. Pray for the care, treatment and recovery of all who are ill, and for the health and safety of those who minister to them.
Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. Pray for a responsible attitude towards one another as restrictions begin to be eased, and that this may not become a politically divisive issue but that we may be guided by the medical facts. Pray we may continue act with care and concern, 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 God’s love surround us, God’s joy fill our lives, and God’s peace be in our hearts; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, surround and sustain us now and always. Amen.
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