Readings for Sunday 19th July 2020: Genesis 28:10-19a (19b-22) Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24 Romans 8:12-25 Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
New Life
Someone at church recently became a grandparent, and proudly sent a picture of the new-born around the fellowship. This delightful, long awaited precious child was a little early and weighed just slightly more than a bag of sugar. We pray that this child will grow and develop and bring great joy to the family. But how often do we pray that all members of the fellowship are developing and maturing in their faith?
Prayer
Thank you, O God for every sign of new life.
For the joy of welcoming the long-for child;
the delight of seeing new birds fledge and grow;
the wonder of walking by familiar fields
changing from brown to green to yellow
as the seed sprout and grow.
But today Lord,
we remember all who are coming into your kingdom;
we pray for all whose faith journey has faltered
in uncertain times;
we give thanks for those robust saints
who inspire us on our way.
we long for the time
when we can meet in community
face to face once more.
Inheritance
My brother got just a little bit carried away some years ago, in describing himself as ‘only son and heir’ of our parents. His sisters disabused him of this notion, because according to those all-important legal documents, his designation ultimately is ‘one-third-heir’. That of course was not the case in St Pauls’ day, nor for the bulk of western history.
So, when this text speaks of ‘sons’ and ‘heirs’ – as it does in some translations – it is about inheritance, which gives all Christians an identity and a legal status in the new kingdom, not just a favoured few. Which leads me to reflect on the shock that some will have when they recognise the multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-ability, multi-gendered, wonderfully diverse people that God calls into this kingdom.
But it is quite an identity, since the inheritance makes us all children of God, and it is a shared inheritance with Christ. The last few months has brought bitter suffering and anguish to many families, and St Paul wrote to a group of Christians who also had suffered physically and spiritually for their faith. Should they resort to sack-cloth and ashes, and crying aloud to God, with well-known phrases for times of despair? Not one bit of it, declares the writer, there is no thought of this being punishment from God, or ‘why me?’ instead, St Paul reminds them that if they have remained steadfast through dark and difficult days, then what lies ahead is a bright and glorious future with Christ.
Prayer
Lord God, we have remembered those
who have endured so much pain and suffering
as a result of Covid-19.
We pray too, for those who are coming to terms
with the constant stress
of sights and sounds unimaginable.
We pray that, for all who belong
to the community of faith,
our ties with Christ
and with one another will be strengthened,
as we seek to move into new ways of community.
We pray too, for those
who have not always been welcomed within our fellowship,
because they seem so different
to what we imagine your children should be.
Forgive us, and renew us in your image.
Family resemblance
The women on the maternal side of my family have a strong family resemblance down through the four generations for which we have photographic documentation. It is so strong that an early sepia photograph of my grandmother and great aunt, perplexed my children when they were young. They thought the people they were looking at were their mother and aunty, rather than two Edwardian young ladies. It’s not always easy to grow up being told, ‘gosh, aren’t you just like your Mum?’ Maturity however, brings the kind of acceptance that finds something quite delightful in this genetic heritage.
When I reflect on family resemblance, I wonder in what way do we, as children of God, bring God to mind in our meeting with other people? Apart from genetic heritage, those who study human behaviour have noted that we also grow like the people we live with (sad, but true, apparently!)
If this is true of human relationships, shouldn’t it also be true of our relationship with God? If so, then the more we walk and talk together, one might hope for an outpouring of grace to sustain our own spirituality. But also as we are blessed, we in turn become the conduit so that it can flow out into a tired and thirsty land.
One of the great hymns of childhood, encourages learning from Christ, enabled by the Holy Spirit:
Heavenly Father, may your blessing
rest upon your children now,
when in praise your name we hallow,
when in prayer to you we bow;
In the wondrous story reading
of the Lord of truth and grace,
may we see your love reflected
in the light of his dear face.
May we learn from this great story
all the arts of friendliness;
truthful speech and honest action,
courage, patience, steadfastness;
how to master self and temper,
how to make our conduct fair;
when to speak and when be silent,
when to do and when forbear.
May your Spirit wise and holy
with his gifts our spirits bless,
make us loving, joyous, peaceful,
rich in goodness, gentleness,
strong in self-control, and faithful,
kind in thought and deed; for he
teaches, ‘What you do for others
you are doing unto me.’
William Charter Piggott
Creation on tiptoes
Talk in church has often focussed on the effects of changed lives on wider communities. The gospel metaphors of salt and light help to shape our daily lives and sense of mission in the places where God’s people find themselves day by day. Yet St Paul’s vision is greater. The effect of our ongoing transformation is part of the liberation of the whole creation. The birth of my first born was difficult, and without going into gruesome detail, suffice it to say, it is a very helpful image of the birth pangs of the new creation: it can be long and arduous.
This amazing piece of reflection on God’s transformative power in Romans, takes us right back to Genesis, and the purpose of all earthlings as co-regents with God on planet earth. And C.S. Lewis offers a deceptively simple comment on Genesis 2 (it isn’t simple when time is spent in reflection on this quote):
Creation seems to be delegation through and through. He will do nothing simply of himself which cannot be done by creatures. I suppose this is because he is a giver. And he has nothing to give but himself. And so to give himself is to do his deeds – in a sense, and on varying levels to be himself – through the things he has made.
Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (Letter 13) [https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/lewiscs-letterstomalcolm/lewiscs-letterstomalcolm-00-h.html#chapter13] accessed 14.07.20
In JB Phillips translation of Romans 8, this memorable phrase is used ‘the whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming in into their own (sic)’.
It seems then, that Paul’s understanding of the work of God in the world is also primarily through human beings in order that the whole creation would also one day share real liberty. If so, everyone has a part to play, not just in finding out the special relationship God has for each one of us but also in acknowledging our place in the ecology of the planet. This of course, goes hand-in-hand with a deep sense of remorse at the current state of the world around us
A prayer
Seals choked by plastic, verges topped with litter, diesel particulates, and reckless fly-tipping. small plastic-floes drifting wild in the sea devastated cities and war-weary citizens, martial kit - burnt out and fields full of land-mines. tented cities, over-crowded with life and over-run with killer viruses. I’m on my knees Lord, disquieted by so much mutilation of the cosmos you declared ‘good’. This world in which your Son graciously arbitrated to show us how to set it right. God, how we have failed. Forgive us, and empower us to live lightly upon this earth once more. May the quiet joys of lock-down inspire new ways of living and being, so that the whole creation can rejoice. Amen
I understand that adverts pop up on this blog from time to time, so here is one that I choose to be part of the reflection above. The news coming in from the Yemen concerning the devastation of the pandemic on those least well placed to cope is horrendous.
Since we cannot take up a collection at church, may I ask for you to prayerfully consider donating to the Disasters Emergency Committee:
https://www.dec.org.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuK72n7nR6gIV1-vtCh3SJwL2EAAYASAAEgIAbfD_BwE
Worship at home 