May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.
Collect
Gracious God, you call us to fullness of life: deliver us from unbelief and banish our anxieties with the liberating love of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Confession
We come to God as one from whom no secrets are hidden, to ask his forgiveness and peace.
Lord our God, in our sin we have avoided your call. Our love for you is like the morning mist, like the dew that quickly passes. Have mercy on us and deliver us; bind up our wounds and revive us. Bring us back to your love, and strengthen us anew in your service; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
May God who loved the world so much that he sent his Son to be our Saviour forgive us our sins, and make us holy to serve him in the world, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
James, chapter 5, verses 13 to the end :-
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let him pray. Is anyone in good heart? Let him sing praises. Is one of you ill? Let him send for the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord; the prayer offered in faith will heal the sick man, the Lord will restore him to health, and if he has committed sins they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. A good man’s prayer is very powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us; yet when he prayed fervently that there should be no rain, the land had no rain for three and a half years; when he prayed again, the rain poured down and the land bore crops once more.
My friends, if one of you strays from the truth and another succeeds in bringing him back, you may be sure of this: the one who brings a sinner back from his erring ways will be rescuing a soul from death and cancelling a multitude of sins.
Mark, chapter 9, verses 38 to the end :-
John said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and as he was not one of us, we tried to stop him.’ Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him, for no one who performs a miracle in my name will be able the next moment to speak evil of me. He who is not against us is on our side. Truly I tell you: whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you are followers of the Messiah will certainly not go unrewarded.
If anyone causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone round his neck. If your hand causes your downfall, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life maimed than to keep both hands and go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. If your foot causes your downfall, cut it off; it is better to enter into life crippled than to keep both your feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes your downfall, tear it out; it is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to keep both eyes and be thrown into hell, where the devouring worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.
‘Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if the salt loses its saltness, how will you season it? You must have salt within yourselves, and be at peace with one another.’
Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.
Reflection on the Readings
The simple message of our two readings is that we belong to one another, and we belong to God; and because of that we don’t need to conform to the way the world chooses to do things and decide things. So James writes that there’s no need for us to make promises on oath. As God’s people we should be able to trust each other; we should say what we mean and mean what we say, and if we say we’re going to do something we do it. “Let your yes be yes, and your no be no,” says James. Don’t pretend to be what you’re not, and don’t promise what you can’t deliver. And he goes on to remind us always to pray for each other, and to be quick to offer help when help is needed. Right across the board, we should behave as people who belong together.
In our second reading Jesus his disciples they should be salted. Do you recall those little blue bags there used to be in packets of crisps? Sometimes I was lucky enough to get two blue bags instead of just the one. Maybe that much salt wasn’t good for me, but it certainly made the crisps taste so much better. Jesus told his disciples to be like that blue bag of salt, and make a positive, flavoursome difference.
So disciples of Jesus must be salt to the world. We should each be doing our best all the time to make the world around us a better place. And just to make it all really clear, Jesus goes on to say that we should be at peace with one another. To belong together because we belong to God: that’s our promise in baptism, and also the duty laid upon us. Belonging together involves us in living well, caring for each other, loving each other, praying for each other. And it starts with taking to heart and placing at the centre of our lives the greatest of all examples of self-giving love, the love of Jesus whose sign is the cross.
That’s why the cross is marked on every newly baptized Christian. It’s a sign that can’t be seen, unless we make it visible. We do that by the way we live, by the love we show and share, and in our caring outreach to those in need about us.
That’s the message James wanted to get across in his letter, which was written to a church whose members had fallen short in their standards of welcome, fellowship and care. They needed to be geed up a bit. Be less like the world around you, and more like Jesus, was his message. The world’s full of folk who may look the part but don’t always live it. You, says James, must be the real deal.
In the letters of the apostle Paul we discover that we are saved not by how good we are but through the grace of God. We are his new creation in love, redeemed by what Jesus has done, by the cross on which he wonderfully paid once and for all the price of our sin. That’s why the cross has become our sign. But James reminds us of the duty and challenge the cross places before us. We who owe everything to Christ must do our best to be Christ-like ourselves, seeing the world through his eyes, and striving to be to be his hands and feet in service and blessing.
For Jesus gave his disciples the simple and great commandment: “Love one another, as I have loved you.” In other words, take my example to heart as the basis on which your life together is built. This is also the ground upon which the mission of the Church is founded, for as Jesus went on to say, “By this shall all people know that you are my disciples; if you have love for one another.”
I think it’s important that our churches should look good. But however good we look, however well-kept our buildings, however well sung our hymns and anthems, however well arranged our altar flowers - even however fully paid up our parish offer might be - what really counts is this: that we go Christ’s way and not the world’s way, and that in our fellowship together, and our reaching out to the world, we are Christlike in our welcome, our openness and honesty, in our compassion and care, and in our love. That our yes is yes, and our no is no, that our kindness and care can be depended on, and that we do what it says we do on the tin. In that way we glorify and honour God, and raise the cross of Christ high 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 that the Church may be true to the example of our Lord in its readiness to care, to welcome, to show compassion and to speak up for those who are excluded by others. Pray for Christians in the United States of America, and for our brothers and sisters of the Episcopal Church. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard, and for the nurture and direction of all who feel called to ministry.
May we praise our Creator in the care we show for all he has made, and in our conservation of earth’s natural resources. Pray for peace and healing in divided communities, and that faith groups may be part of that healing process rather than a cause of division. Pray that world leaders may govern with insight and integrity, and be peacemakers and bridge builders.
Pray for all who are ill, troubled or in need of care, and for all who minister to them. May those in need find help and healing, and their carers do so safely. This week includes Rabies Day: pray for the campaign to eliminate rabies deaths in our world by 2030. Pray also for all who suffer from heart disease, and for research, treatment and therapy.
Pray for families and friends. Pray for children learning road safety and cycling skills, and for all that encourages both fitness and safety awareness in the young. 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 Lord of peace himself give us peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with us all, and his blessing be upon us and upon our loved ones. Amen.
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