Printable services for those unable to attend St C

St Clement Church Community Sunday Service

Good morning to you all as we celebrate the Third Sunday of Epiphany. This Service of the Word is for you to read at home if you’re unable to attend our Eucharist at St Clement. I hope you are managing to keep warm during this rather icy weather, take care when you go out and about, and may Christ’s love sustain you always.

Much love to you all,

Rev Di and family xx

Let us pray;

God of all mercy, your Son proclaimed good news to the poor, release to the captives, and freedom to the oppressed: anoint us with your Holy Spirit and set all your people free to praise you in Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymn; ‘O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing’

Our prayers of Penitence

During the season of Epiphany, let us seek the renewal of our lives in the light of God’s love for us, revealed by Jesus Christ:

Jesus, Saviour of all, who revealed the breadth of God’s love, forgive us when we fail to show care to those who are different…

Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, Son of God, who revealed the depth of God’s love, forgive us when we are too busy to pray, or to seek God’s will…

Christ, have mercy.

Jesus, Son of Man, who revealed the cost of God’s love, forgive us when we have made light of our sins…

Lord, have mercy.

May Almighty God, have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us pray our Collect for today

Almighty God, whose Son revealed in signs and miracles the wonder of your saving presence: renew your people with your heavenly grace, and in all our weakness sustain us by your mighty power, through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Readings:

Isaiah 9. 1-4

1 Corinthians 1. 10-18

Hymn; ‘Be Thou my Vision’

Gospel Matthew 4. 12-23

(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.

Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
‘Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
   on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people who sat in darkness
   have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
   light has dawned.’
From that time Jesus began to proclaim; ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen.

And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them.

Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

(This is the Gospel of the Lord. Response: ‘Praise to you, O, Christ’)

Reflection

I’m probably about to reveal more about my taste in films than I ought to, but here goes. About 30 years ago, Quentin Tarantino made a film called Pulp Fiction.

One of the things I like about the film is how the story is told from the viewpoint of various characters, so that the viewer can experience the story unfolding as the different characters did.

So I thought I’d try it out on you! How would this morning’s Gospel, the calling of the first disciples look if Tarantino were to tell it?

Well, apart from the fact that he would find a way to inject a lot of blood and swearing into the story – which thankfully aren’t needed in this particular case – he might pick out James’s character to offset the perspective of Jesus.

We know the outline of the story; Jesus is just beginning His public ministry and moves to Capernaum. As He walks along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he calls out to Simon Peter and Andrew, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of people,” and they drop their nets and follow him.

He repeats this process with James and John, and again, they immediately drop their nets and follow Him.

Just imagine the scene, through the eyes of James; let’s put ourselves in his context;

‘’It’s such a beautiful day. The fishing has been plentiful, and I love working with my dad and my brother. God is indeed good.

Hmm, who’s that coming down the shore? It looks like Simon and Andrew. Why have they left their boat? They can’t have finished fishing yet. But there they are, and they’re waving at us. Who’s that with them?

I know, it’s that new Rabbi who’s just moved into town, Jesus I think he’s called. There’s something about him. I don’t know what it is, but somehow it feels like I should trust what He says.

What’s he saying? Come with me? Fish for people? I have no idea what he’s talking about. But I know I’ve got no choice.

“Dad. I’ve got to go. No. I don’t know when I’ll be back. Yes, John is coming too. I have to. I can’t explain it. I just have to. Tell mum we won’t be home for dinner. I know. I’m sorry. I love you. Good-bye.”

This discipleship thing is not easy to explain, James and John, minding their own business one minute and the next they’ve left everything they know and they’re off to follow a wandering preacher with no source of income. They couldn’t possibly have explained that to Zebedee.

And just imagine what Salome said, their Jewish mother that night;

“They did what? They just left? Just like that? Who’s going to do their jobs? What’s going to happen to the business without them? You’re too old to work by yourself. Oy, what will we do? They must be crazy – and they’ll drive me crazy, too.”

What makes someone leave everything to become a disciple?

Simply put, its faith.

Faith is a belief in that which cannot be seen – or proven. James and John believed in God and Jesus enough to lead lives based upon that belief. But that kind of faith didn’t begin with them.

For instance, Abraham had faith enough to leave his home and go to a place designated by God to be his new land.

Moses had faith enough to lead a reluctant group through the desert for forty years, just because God said so.

And fortunately, that kind of faith also didn’t end with James and John either.

Now in Tarantino fashion, let’s cut to a seemingly unrelated scene in modern-day England.

A woman is with a group on a pilgrimage to Walsingham. During one of the services she doesn’t hear the words of the Litany at all. All she can hear are her own words, going through her head over and over again,

“You want me to do what? Leave everything I know and do what? Seek ordination why? What happens to my family? This is absolutely crazy.”

And there’s not a single answer to any of those internal questions except for the repeated, “because you need to.” ‘I have called you by name, you are mine.’

She sat through the rest of the service, stunned at what had just taken place. In an instant she’d decided to upend her life, to give up everything, and to give up everything on behalf of her family as well – and yet she felt completely at peace with that decision.

Discipleship is indeed a strange thing. When God calls us we know at a very primal level who it is who is calling. Unfortunately, we have grown so wary of what other people will say about that personal contact with God that we don’t tell them of these things.

As St. Luke says about the mother of Jesus in his Gospel, and “Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.” That’s what we tend to do – treasure the times when we hear God’s voice, and ponder it in our hearts – perhaps out of fear of the unknown – rather than reacting and following the call to be a disciple.

In typical Tarantino fashion, the moral of today’s story is a little twisted from what you might have thought. The moral isn’t that we should all drop our fishing nets and go and follow Jesus and become fishers of people, but rather accept that in either a dramatic, or a very quiet way, we are ALL called.

We aren’t all called to the same ministry. Even St. Paul wasn’t called to do it all. As we heard from him this morning, “For Christ did not send me to baptise, but to proclaim the Gospel."

So what is the discipleship mission God has in mind for you? Lent is coming, which is the perfect time to be still and listen for God’s voice.

Maybe it will be something big, like stepping into a role here at St. Clement. Perhaps God will tell you that you need to be involved in a brand new and unfamiliar type of ministry, something that stretches your understanding of God and of yourself.

Maybe God will call you to give of yourself more than you ever have, in time and talent, or maybe God will just ask for commitment of prayer and study throughout the Lenten season.

I don’t know what God will call you to, but I do know that God calls, all the time. If we will listen, and trust that it’s God we hear, amazing discipleship opportunities will open up for us.

And like Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John, if we’re faithful enough to hear and respond, our lives will never be the same again.

It’s scary, but it’s so worth it, trust me on that one! Amen.

Hymn; ‘Dear Lord and Father of Mankind’

Affirmation of our faith

Let us declare our faith in God.

We believe and trust in God the Father, source of all being and life, the one for whom we exist.

We believe and trust in God the Son, who took our human nature, died for us and rose again.

We believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit, who gives life to the people of God and makes Christ known in the world.

This is the faith of the Church. This is our faith.

We believe and trust in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Our Intercessions this week are written by Helen Dunbar

Dear Lord, we bring before you on this third Sunday of Epiphany our prayers for the Church and the world, knowing that you are always there to hear us and help us.

We pray that the light of God will shine in all the dark corners of the Church, and set us free from prejudice, small-mindedness and hypocrisy; that as members of the Body of Christ we can move freely through the power of God wherever we are called to go, available and active in God’s service.