May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.
Collect
Almighty God, you search us and know us: may we rely on you in strength and rest on you in weakness, now and in all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Confession
Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith, trusting in God’s mercy and love.
Heavenly Father, help us to put away the sins by which we have displeased you. We repent of the wrong things we have done, and the good we have failed to do. Cleanse us from our sins and make us eady to do your will, for the sake of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
May almighty God cleanse and deliver us from all our sins, and restore in us the image of his glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
God’s Word - James, chapter 1, verses 17 to the end :-
Every good and generous action and every perfect gift come from above, from the Father who created the lights of heaven. With him there is no variation, no play of passing shadows. Of his own choice, he brought us to birth by the word of truth to be a kind of first-fruits of his creation. Of that you may be certain, my dear friends. But everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to be angry. For human anger does not promote God’s justice. Then discard everything sordid, and every wicked excess, and meekly accept the message planted in your hearts, with its power to save you.
Only be sure you act on the message, and do not merely listen and so deceive yourselves. Anyone who listens to the message but does not act on it is like somebody looking in a mirror at the face nature gave him; he glances at himself and goes his way, and promptly forgets what he looked like. But he who looks into the perfect law, the law that makes us free, and does not turn away, remembers what he hears; he acts on it, and by so acting he will find happiness.
If anyone thinks he is religious but does not bridle his tongue, he is deceiving himself; that man’s religion is futile. A pure and faultless religion in the sight of God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in trouble and to keep oneself untarnished by the world.
Mark, chapter 7, verses 1-8, 14-15 and 21-23 :-
A group of Pharisees, with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem, met Jesus and noticed that some of his disciples were eating their food with defiled hands - in other words, without washing them. (For Pharisees and Jews in general never eat without washing their hands, in obedience to ancient tradition; and on coming from the market-place they never eat without first washing. And there are many other points on which they maintain traditional rules, for example in the washing of cups and jugs and copper bowls.) These Pharisees and scribes questioned Jesus: ‘Why do your disciples not conform to the ancient tradition, but eat their food with defiled hands?’ He answered, ‘How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you hypocrites in these words: “This people pays me lip-service, but their heart is far from me: they worship me in vain, for they teach as doctrines the commandments of men.” You neglect the commandment of God, in order to maintain the tradition of men.’
On another occasion he called the people and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand this: nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him; no, it is the things that come out of a person that defile him.
‘From inside, from the human heart, come evil thoughts, acts of fornication, theft, murder, adultery, greed, and malice; fraud, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly; all these evil things come from within, and they are what defile a person.’
Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.
Reflection
There are many in these Covid times who are reacting strongly against such things as the wearing of masks, with marches and protests and even riots in places as they campaign for freedom, so called. But there are just as many I think for whom masks have become an essential of life. “I don’t feel fully dressed without my mask these days when I leave home,” said someone to me the other day. “It’s become as natural as putting on my jacket or coat.” And the same applies when it comes to taking hygiene seriously. Do you still hum or whistle “Happy Birthday” as you’re washing your hands?
To wash carefully before eating is obviously a good thing, and we’re now all doing it more and doing it better - and probably that’s had an impact beyond Covid, and will have reduced transmission of many other harmful agents beside the Sars virus.
So at one level the criticism levelled at the disciples of Jesus - that they were eating without first washing their hands - was, I guess, justifiable. And the ritual washings performed by the Pharisees will almost certainly have had their origins in some very sensible and necessary hygiene rules.
The problem is that they had gone well beyond what they were established to do. They’d become an end in themselves, and a means by which the Pharisees could show off their holiness and make clear how much better they were than the less pious folk around them. So Jesus was also justified in pointing out that in reality outward observances don’t count for very much.
When making a serious purchase, or entering into a contract relationship, it’s always good to read the small print. But at the same time too much concentration on the minutiae can mean you lose the bigger picture - you don’t see the wood for the trees, as the saying goes. The Pharisees were really good at the small print, but they’d lost the bigger picture. They were concentrating on the detail, at the expense of the living relationship with the living God that faith is really all about.
So Jesus tells the people that, yes, physical pollutants - the wrong sort of food, or unsatisfactory ablutions - can hurt the body; but only for a time. Far more serious are the things that pollute and cause harm to the soul. That’s where the radical action is needed; that’s what we can’t afford to ignore. The apostle James puts it clearly and plainly - if you don’t bridle your tongue, and if you fail to show simple care for those around you who are in need, then any religion you may claim to have is proved to be useless and futile. We prove our faith - or disprove it - by our action or reaction or by the lack of it. By the care we show or the care we don’t show. Where we are on a Sunday is less important than how we are the rest of the week.
Wearing a mask is not a very good or effective defence against the Covid virus, or so tests seem to suggest. Those results have helped to fuel support for the anti-mask lobby. But that’s if the most important thing for me is me; what if the most important thing for me is you? Most scientific and medical writers agree that if I wear a mask that does limit quite substantially the chances of me passing on the virus to you. Peter Hitchens in the Daily Telegraph may claim otherwise, but most medical opinion is against him. So I shall continue to wear my mask. For the Pharisees religion was mostly about saving me; for Jesus religion was entirely about serving you. That division, between saving me and serving you, still scars the face of religion in today’s world. But I will go, as best I can, where Jesus leads me.
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 visibly a community of care and compassion. Pray for Christians in South Sudan, and for the Episcopal Church of South Sudan within the Anglican Communion. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard, and for all who offer guidance on the care and conservation and creative use of our church buildings.
Pray for the world: for all who are working to bring help to those in need, and relief to those who are burdened and oppressed, and that those in places of power may exercise the authority they have with compassion and concern, and with peaceful intent. Continue to pray for the international response to the chaos and suffering we are witnessing in Afghanistan. Pray too for the Covax Scheme, and that all who need it may soon have access to Covid vaccination.
Pray for all who are ill, troubled or in need: may they find healing and peace, and may those who care for them do so safely. Pray for those infected with Covid 19, and for a swift and effective response to new outbreaks.
Pray for families and friends, and the life of our communities. Pray we may be able to open our schools and colleges safely and without a new surge in Covid cases, as we prepare for the start of the new school year. Pray that all of us 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 God keep us faithful to his word, and ready to share his love; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us always. Amen.
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