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 failed to follow your word as we should. 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 word 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 - Ephesians, chapter 5, verses 15 to 20 :-
Take great care, then, how you behave: act sensibly, not like simpletons. Use the present opportunity to the full, for these are evil days. Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not give way to drunkenness and the ruin that goes with it, but let the Holy Spirit fill you: speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and songs; sing and make music from your heart to the Lord; and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ give thanks every day for everything to our God and Father.
John, chapter 6, verses 51 to 58 :-
Jesus said, ‘I am the living bread that has come down from heaven; if anyone eats this bread, he will live for ever. The bread which I shall give is my own flesh, given for the life of the world.’
This led to a fierce dispute among the Jews. ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they protested. Jesus answered them, ‘In very truth I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you can have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. My flesh is the true food; my blood is the true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells in me and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven; it is not like the bread which our fathers ate; they are dead, but whoever eats this bread will live for ever.’
Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.
Reflection on the Readings
Today is St Mary’s Day, and our services in church will follow the readings for Mary. However, for this service we’ll continue to follow the course set three weeks ago, of Ephesians - a letter with so much in it that is edifying and good - and John chapter 6, where Jesus having fed five thousand folk with a few loaves and fishes, talks at some length about himself as the bread of life.
All the way through St John’s Gospel you see people refusing to accept what Jesus is saying, or else failing to understand what he really means, mostly because they are taking something very literally that should be understood in a spiritual way. When Jesus says “I am the bread” of course he doesn’t mean bread as in the loaf picked up every morning from the local bakeshop. And when in today’s reading he talks about those who eat his flesh, he’s not advocating cannibalism.
But he is talking about reconnecting; he’s talking about the way in which God reaches out to us, though we fall and fail and turn our back on him. Because, as John wrote elsewhere, “God is love, and those who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” The other day I shared a wedding I was taking with a vicar from London, who gave the address, and I was privileged to hear a talk about love that was both entertaining and inspirational. And within his opening remarks, he mentioned that when people he meets realise he’s a vicar, they often mumble something about not being all that religious themselves, really; to which his response is that nor is he.
I’ve known some people for whom religion was what it’s all about. Getting it right, keeping to the rules and observances, never missing a holy day. And yet somehow it wasn’t leading them anywhere, it wasn’t speaking about anything beyond itself; it had become a mechanism, like one of those clever mechanical toys that looks amazing but has no useful function other than to entertain or amuse.
That’s not to knock religion or dismiss it as worthless. But I do want to distinguish between religion and faith. They aren’t the same thing; they’re related, sure, or they should be, but they aren’t the same. Faith without religion can be something of a loose cannon; it can be out of control, unmoderated, even dangerous. But religion without faith is just pointless, and a waste of time.
The people Jesus was talking to were all very religious; but they’d lost touch with God, and they’d lost touch with love. Their religion was about rules and customs and observances, getting it right, looking good. But it was going nowhere. That’s why Jesus told them, “What you have to do is to believe in the one whom God has sent.” What they had to do is to reconnect. To rebalance religion and faith in their lives.
A lot in our modern lives has to do with targets. Even clergy get set targets, and certainly those employed by the church on special projects have some very precise targets, this being how they justify the grants that support their employment. But is there perhaps a tyranny of targets that means they become more important than they should be?
A little story. A few years ago a friend of mine asked a police constable for directions to a place he was trying to find. She gave the directions, but went on to ask, “Do you mind if I breathalyze you?” Slightly taken aback, my friend assured her that he’d had nothing stronger than a coffee that day. “Oh, that’s all right,” said the policewomen, “it’s just that I’m a long way short of my target, we’re supposed to do so many breathalyzer tests each week.” This was in the run-up to Christmas, so fair enough I suppose. But my friend did wonder whether there weren’t lots more important things for a young police constable to do than to breathalyze someone who was obviously sober just so a better number got entered into the box.
Of course, having aims and targets can be a good thing, and anything that helps us measure how we’re doing can help us to be confident in our work. But too much emphasis on targets can result in just ticking boxes; and when that happens the targets are taking us over. Paul writing to the Ephesians certainly points out the things they should be doing, but it isn’t targets but connectedness that will keep them on track. “Let the Holy Spirit fill you,” he tells them; and, “make music from your heart to the Lord.”
For it’s where our hearts are that matters, and - whatever the details of the practice of our religion - what expresses our faith and matters in mission is that we truly are following Jesus, in thought and vision and practice, and letting his will rule our hearts; and that, as those who believe in the God who is love, and who loves even the least loveable of his creation, our life together is founded in love, nurtured by love, and a witness to 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 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 Southern Africa, and for the Anglican Church in those nations. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard and for all that encourages and supports a ministry that is socially responsible and active, and environmentally aware.
Pray for the world, and for every place of disharmony and division, including the people of Afghanistan, as the Taliban make further gains. Pray for the nations of the world as they face up to the urgent challenge of climate change and global warming. Pray too for places of poverty and for those whose crops have failed, and for all who are working to bring emergency help and to support longer-term rebuilding in poorer communities.
Pray for all who are ill or troubled, that they may be 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 Covax Scheme aiming to make vaccinations widely available across our world.
Pray for families and friends, and the life of our communities. Pray for all who manage and use our local village halls, sports grounds and other community resources. 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 Jesus, 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment