Note: ¶ = Reading omitted at St Mary's, Temple Balsall
Sunday 6 April, 2008
The Third Sunday of Easter
¶ Zephaniah 3. 14 – 20
The prophet foresees, exuberantly, a time of fulfilment when all shall be well.
or Acts 2. 14a, 36 – 41
Peter's first great sermon in Jerusalem has a miraculous response and baptism follows. Only rarely does religious activity flourish at such a high pitch. We should rejoice without depending on such striking events for faith to be valid.
1 Peter 1. 17 – 23
We must be encouraged when we read of how Christian life felt in the days when all was fresh and new. Life in the here-and-now seemed like a kind of exile from our true home with God - where, through Christ, we truly belong.
Luke 24. 13 – 35
The meal at Emmaus shows us 'the breaking of bread' as a key way of recognizing Jesus, ever and afresh; and as a way of learning his true significance. To walk with him through life can even be an unconscious way of 'finding' him.
* God's Spirit is his gift to renew and remake us, and to remove scales from our eyes.
* Pray not to lose a sense of tension between the 'everyday world' and the 'real world' whose meaning is given by God.
* We should hold to a sense of the wonder of Christ-with-us in the Eucharist.
Sunday 13 April, 2008
The Fourth Sunday of Easter
¶ Genesis 7
Noah in his ark, surviving the direst threats, can be seen as a symbol of salvation against all odds. In a way, we are always saved by the skin of our teeth, by an act of grace.
Acts 2. 42 – 47
Being Christian thrives best not just on our 'going to church' or even on our 'being good', but also on some kind of shared Christian community life for the good of all.
1 Peter 2. 19 – 25
The message is sobering: that we are never so Christian as when, like Jesus, we suffer undeservedly. But the outcome of faith is assured and draws us like a magnet, despite all.
John 10. 1 – 10
The image is not sentimental but down-to-earth. The shepherd values the sheep because they are his property. What is more, he is the only true and reliable guardian of the flock. These are Jesus' roles towards us.
* Do we see our faith as chiefly an individual thing or a life we live with others?
* Can we identify with a positive Christian valuing of the sufferings that come our way?
* We must recognize Christ as the only true basis and measure of our value and our security.
Sunday 20 April, 2008
The Fifth Sunday of Easter
¶ Genesis 8. 1 – 19
The day of relief and final safety for Noah is taken up in the Church as a symbol of Jesus fulfilling our dreams. So it serves well for the Easter season.
Acts 7. 55 – 60
Stephen, first martyr for Christ, dies with words on his lips that echo those of Jesus at his dying (as described in Luke 23. 34 & 46). The disciple is to be as his lord and master – now as then.
Psalm: 31.1 - 5, 15 - 16
¶ 1 Peter 2. 2 – 10
It is not just the work of Jesus that we must see as God's new deed in our midst, but the creation of a new people or community, taking over the inheritance and task of the Israel of old. Words that echo the Old Testament make the point.
John 14. 1 – 14
We tend always to ask for more – from God as in other more mundane areas of life. But we should rest content. In Christ, God has amply supplied all we can truly need.
* We are to see martyrs of any time, including our own day, as especially sharp images of genuine Christian life.
* To be Christian is to belong to a 'new people' that transcends other bodies we may also be members of.
* How hard is it truly to believe in the adequacy of God's gift to us in Christ?
Sunday 27 April, 2008
The Sixth Sunday of Easter
¶ Genesis 8. 20 – 9. 17
The saga of Noah has its climax in the bond God made with him, which has the rainbow as its symbol. Mutual trust and fidelity is promised. It is taken up for us in Jesus-centred terms.
¶ Acts 17. 22 – 31
Paul's address in Athens seeks common religious ground with pagan Greeks, but takes care to go beyond it with the distinctive Christian message as his punch-line. It makes a strategy to think about.
¶ 1 Peter 3. 13 – 22
These words are written for Christians facing dire attack. But their sense of great crisis speaks in its way to lesser crises too and sharpens up our duller reactions.
John 14. 15 – 21
The constant presence of Christ is assured, a presence of love which carries the necessity of obedience to his overriding command – that we love one another.
* It is important to know and value both what we share with other seekers for truth and what our own Christian contribution is. No good comes from either despising the first or underplaying the second.
* Pray for grace not to lose touch with the greatness of Christ's suffering for us.
* Is it hard to believe that love is the only bond that finally counts in the life of those who serve God?
Thursday 1 May, 2008
Ascension Day
Daniel 7. 9 – 14
This fantastic picture certainly takes us to another realm and helps to make the point of Jesus’ heavenly role in glory.
or ¶ Acts 1. 1 – 11
This act, assuring Jesus’ triumph, marks the transition to the time of the Church.
Ephesians 1. 15 – 23
The writer sings a hymn of adoration for Christ in the heavenly endorsement of his triumph.
Luke 24. 44 – 53
Luke’s Gospel ends with Jesus’ heavenly withdrawal at the end of Easter Day – and the disciples go to the Temple, keeping the link with Israel.
* Pray to identify with Christ as joining earth and heaven.
* We praise God for his gifts in Christ.
* Can we bear too strong a sense of glory?
Sunday 4 May, 2008
The Seventh Sunday of Easter
¶ Ezekiel 36. 24 – 28
The theme is restoration and homecoming, one that recurs in the Old Testament. Here, it centres on the Land of Isreal – a foretaste of heaven.
Acts 1. 6 – 14
The story of the Ascension can easily seem just ‘strange’. See it as a picture of the divine vindication of Jesus, leading immediately to the shared life of his followers, the infant Church.
1 Peter 4. 12 – 14; 5. 6 – 11
The testing of faith by persecution or otherwise is always hard; but it carries with it the seal of God’s restoration and even the experience of joy.
John 17. 1 – 11
We read here the most profound of all statements about the interweaving of Jesus with the Father and then of us with them; it is our assurance for now and always.
* Pray that the Church may always look to Jesus before it looks to itself.
* Can we accept the testing of our faith as in the end a benefit?
* The goal we share is our being involved with Christ in the life of God.
Sunday 11 May, 2008
Day of Pentecost (Whit Sunday)
Acts 2. 1 – 21
The Spirit means: God as powerfully involved among us – and the story gives us a striking picture of such power that it has made its mark on the Christian imagination, especially in its promise of life for everyone.
or ¶ Numbers 11. 24 – 30
If only God’s people shared and showed his gifts to the full. It is the dream of a time and place when God’s gifts visibly abound.
1 Corinthians 12. 3b – 13
The Christian community is a single whole, imbued with the single power of God. But the roles God inspires and enables are many and utterly varied.
John 20. 19 – 23
Jesus gives the Spirit of wholesome peace and with it the removal of sin – which spoils his gift.
or ¶ John 7. 37 – 39
The prophets foresaw a time when water would flow from Jerusalem to revive the energies of all the people. Jesus is such a source, as he told the woman in John 4 and as the Cross will demonstrate, with baptism to fulfil.
* Pray to recognise the splendour of the diverse gifts of God.
* Give thanks for the wonder of creation.
* May we recognise the gifts of the Spirit around and within us.
Sunday 18 May, 2008
Trinity Sunday
¶ Genesis 1. 1 – 2. 4a
The writer shows the whole of creation as resulting from God’s orderly purpose – no accident, no meaningless process, but rational.
or Isaiah 40. 12 – 17, 27 – 31
The prophet praises God’s creative order, now in a spirit filled with wonder – and with hope for the perfection of God’s purposes for the world.
¶ 2 Corinthians 13. 11 – 13
Paul ends his letter with a farewell greeting of peace, and Christians have taken it into general use in our prayers. It tells of God’s all-embracing gift of himself to us.
Psalm: 8
Matthew 28. 16 – 20
Jesus left behind a legacy of teaching and a mission for us to fulfil – for the good of all humankind.
* Pray for the wholesome peace which God offers us.
* Praise God for the glory of Creation.
* Pray for our part in making the gospel known.
Sunday 25 May, 2008
First Sunday after Trinity
¶ Isaiah 49. 8 – 16a
In a passage of beautiful poetry, the prophet has in view a time when God will fill his people, at last, with fulfilment and delight.
¶ 1 Corinthians 4. 1 – 5
Paul claims only one distinction: as ‘steward’ of God’s ‘mysteries’. His apostolic role is all, and on that he is content to be judged.
¶ Matthew 6. 24 – 34
Jesus calls for a profound hatred of anxiety. God is to be trusted – whatever the appearances. And the Kingdom of God is our only concern.
Matthew 5:38-48
The Sermon on the Mount goes beyond conventional moral teaching, with its stress on fairness and social boundaries. Generosity and love leap all fences.
* Can we truly lay our fretfulness safely at God’s door?
* Pray for the gift of contentment with our role in God’s purpose.
* May we learn to trust in the provision of God.
* Thank God that he raises our eyes to the highest possibilities.
Sunday 1 June, 2008
The Second Sunday after Trinity Proper 4
¶ Genesis 6. 9 – 22; 8. 14 – 19
The story of the making and entering of the ark speaks of Providence for those chosen by God.
or Deuteronomy 11. 18 - 21, 26 - 28
Here at least, Israel’s religion seems relentless and unyielding. It centred more on a way of life than a scheme of belief, and demanded observance above all. A stark choice is presented – to obey or to evade. Does that now seem the whole story?
Romans 1. 16 – 17; 3. 22b – 28 (29 – 31)
Paul insists that God accepts us, not because of any merits we may or may not possess, but freely of his own sheer grace – at the cost of Christ’s life given for us.
Matthew 7. 21 – 29
These last words of the Sermon on the Mount redress the balance yet again. they seem to strike a note of caution by comparison with Paul’s dramatic message. Moral obedience, relentless following of Jesus, through thick and thin, is not sidelined by the drama of our response of pure faith.
* Is it not good for us sometimes to see things as black and white? But with dangers?
* We thank God for the gift of faith – it is not our achievement in the least.
* There is a mystery in where we recognize authority, and it is often both hidden and complex. What part does Jesus play for us?
Sunday 8 June, 2008
The Third Sunday after Trinity Proper 5
Genesis 12. 1 – 9
The call of Abraham and the promise to him by God is central to Israel’s self-awareness. And for Christians, it is a picture of God’s endless fidelity to his own – by which we live.
or ¶ Hosea 5. 15 – 6.6
The prophet saw past the law-centred everyday religion of Israel. Observance may be good but beyond and beneath it is love for God – the heart’s gift. God meets that more that half -way.
Romans 4. 13 – 25
Abraham was the ‘father’ of Israel – in him its life as a people was seen to have begun. Paul seeks to show that he, as Christians must, lived by faith and not by observance of the Law. Abraham can therefore be also a hero for Paul’s gentile converts, and so a forerunner of us all. Paul was giving an important olive-branch to unite gentile converts with ex-Jews.
Matthew 9. 9 – 13, 18 – 26
Jesus’ love and acceptance are wide and deep, welcoming the outcasts of society and overcoming death itself. This is close to the heart of his gift to us.
* Is habit a strength or a blockage for true religion? Or is it both?
* Abraham matters less to us than to Paul, but the primacy of faith still cries out.
* We rejoice in Jesus’ breaking of all society’s mean and conventional boundaries.
Sunday 15 June, 2008
The Fourth Sunday after Trinity Proper 6
¶ Genesis 18. 1 – 15 (21. 1 – 7)
God promises to Abraham and Sarah, very old indeed, the gift of a son who will be the bearer of the God-given vow to Abraham.
¶ Exodus 19. 2 – 8a
In the course of the wilderness journeying of Israel after the Exodus from Egypt, God assures his people of their precious standing in his eyes. To be God’s own is awesome – and laden with responsibility.
Romans 5. 1 – 8
This is a key passage in Paul’s letters, summing up his sense of Christ’s unique role and achievement. He gave himself for sinful humans – and raised us up to the heights. ‘Sharing God’s glory’, neither more nor less.
Psalm: 100
Matthew 9. 35 – 10. 8 (9 – 23)
Jesus sends his disciples out on a mission and here are his instructions. They are not orders for everyday life, but for special times and special duties where self-abandonment and simplicity are the keynotes. And our hearts are moved, however our journey goes.
* God rescued Israel from Egypt as on eagle’s wings’. Oh, if we could soar in our prayer and rest safe in God.
* If only we could grasp the depth of Christ’s self-giving for us.
* Is our own ‘self-abandonment’ for God currently on the right lines?
Sunday 22 June, 2008
The Fifth Sunday after Trinity Proper 7
¶ Genesis 21. 8 – 21
It is not easy to see why this episode should figure in the lectionary, except that Paul seized upon it for allegorical treatment in Galatians 4. 21 – 31. He saw it as prefiguring the emergence of the Church, over against old Judaism.
Jeremiah 20. 7 – 13
The prophet knows nothing but rejection for speaking out in God’s cause and the pain is severe to the point of doubt; though he knows God’s comfort. We admire, but can we identify with Jeremiah?
Romans 6. 1b – 11
We often call baptism a ‘rite of passage’ - but for what transition? From womb to world? non-existence to life? husband-and-wife to daddy-and-mummy-plus-one? From outside to inside the church? That is certainly warmer. But Paul goes further. It is a death and resurrection – like Christ’s, and in relation to him alone. It is a sacrament of power indeed.
Matthew 10. 24 – 39
Jesus presents vividly both the high cost of following him and the great reward on offer from God, and notably the emphasis is on the infinite worth of each of us in his eyes.
* To be God’s spokesperson can be a task only for the brave.
* Reflect on the depth of meaning in the baptism we have received.
* Pray to recognize how greatly God values you, and how special are your gifts.
Sunday 29 June, 2008
St Peter and St Paul
Matthew 16. 13 – 20
To say ‘Yes’ to Jesus leads straight to a practical role. Peter (his name means ‘rock’) signifies the church in all its day-to-day life and whose ultimate victory on behalf of God is sure.
* Pray that confession of Christ leads us to a live part in his purpose.
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The Foundation of Lady Katherine Leveson
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Charity no. 213618
Temple Balsall, Knowle, Solihull, West Midlands B93 0AN