St Clement Church Community Sunday Service
Good morning to you all as we celebrate the 3rd Sunday of Advent.
We will be holding a Eucharist in our church building, this service is if you are unable to attend with us and will be worshipping at home.
Much love and prayers and may Christ’s love sustain you always.
God bless you all. Love Rev Di and family xx
We have passed the half-way stage in the Advent season, during which we hope, pray and prepare for the coming of God’s kingdom.
From now on our attention is increasingly focused on Jesus Christ whose birth at Bethlehem was the sign that God’s rule was near.
Today we remember John the Baptist who was sent to prepare the way for Christ.
Hymn: ‘Lo! He comes with clouds descending’
Our prayers of Penitence
John the Baptist exposed the complacency of his day, and called people to repent. Let us confess our sins to the Lord:
When our deeds do not match our fine words.
Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy
When we let evil go unchallenged, and are afraid to speak the truth.
Christ have mercy. Christ have mercy
When we are preoccupied with ourselves, and give little attention to others.
Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy
When we trust in earthly treasures more than in God’s unfailing care.
Christ have mercy. Christ have mercy
May our Almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon and forgiveness of all our sins, time for amendment of life, and the grace and strength of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us pray our Collect for today
O Lord Jesus Christ, who at your first coming sent your messenger to prepare your way before you: grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready your way by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in your sight; for you are alive and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Readings:
Isaiah 35. 1-10
James. 5. 7-10
Hymn; ‘We have a gospel to proclaim’
Gospel Matthew 17. 10-13
(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.)
Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’
When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’
As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.”
Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
(This is the Gospel of the Lord. Response: ‘Praise to you, O, Christ’)
Reflection
This morning, rather than on focusing on John the Baptist, I’d like to throw caution to the wind, and for us to instead consider the first part of our gospel reading, where John’s disciples are told to report back to him the news of Jesus’s healing miracles.
Let’s face it, a person in prison probably has a lot of time to think about things, and this must certainly have been true of John the Baptist, when he was thrown into prison for speaking the truth to the powers that be.
So we can imagine him in that dark dungeon, wondering about Jesus, who was seeming to be a most unlikely messiah.
The messiah John had been looking for, that almost all the Jews anticipated, was one who would sweep through the holy land with massive force, drive out the Romans, and establish an everlasting reign of godliness, to the applause of his people. But this wasn’t happening with Jesus, as was reported to John in prison.
So John sends his own disciples to Jesus with a message: “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”
John doesn’t doubt for one moment that a messiah will arrive to deliver Israel, he’s simply perplexed as to whether that messiah is Jesus, or someone yet to appear.
So Jesus commands the messengers to go and tell John about what they see and hear of all Jesus is doing. And he sums up his own activities in language inspired by today’s reading from Isaiah: the blind gain their sight, lame people get up and walk, lepers are lepers no more, deaf people hear, the dead are raised to life, and good news is delivered to the poor.
Jesus says in effect to John: Yes, I am the messiah; consider what I do.
But though these miracles attest to the identity of Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God, they aren’t done simply to prove a point. Neither are they freak events that happened to a handful of lucky people in a small corner of the world two thousand years ago. They’re done to advance a mission, and reveal ways by which God seeks to transform the world, even at this moment in time.
In the book; ‘The Meaning in the Miracles’ the author; Jeffery John, believes that the healing miracles of Jesus need to be seen in contrast to the purity laws found earlier in the Bible.
He writes, “They seem to have been deliberately selected by the evangelists to show Jesus healing at least one of every category of persons who, according to the purity laws of Jesus’ society, were excluded and labelled unclean, or who were set at varying degrees of distance from worship in the inner temple.”
Among the groups excluded were: Women, lepers, Samaritans, Gentiles,
tax collectors, prostitutes, adulterers, children, people with various disabilities, and those who handled the dead.
He goes on to speak of the universal significance of these miracles, which is; “the overturning of religious and social barriers; the abolition of taboos; and Jesus’ declaration of God’s love and compassion for everyone, including the previously excluded or marginalised.”
So most, if not all of the healing miracles fulfil a mission that can be expressed in Jeffrey John’s phrase: “Including the Excluded.”
The healings are signs of the breaking in of a new kingdom, the reign of God in the world, and reveal that the divine purpose is radically inclusive.
Radical enough, dare I say it, to embarrass each one of us in some way or another. So, having said that, what does all of this mean for us?
Jesus may not be no longer physically in the world, but he does mean for his presence to be apparent through those of us who belong to his body, and that’s us folks.
Through our baptism, and as we share the sacrament and salvation of the Eucharist, he looks to us to fulfil his mission here in this world, here in this place and time. And a non-negotiable part of his mission is the theme of the healing miracles, namely; “Including the Excluded.”
We could be accused of engaging in a bit of self-protective thinking if we assume that the excluded of today are simply identical with the excluded in the time of Jesus.
For instance, we can easily imagine ourselves showing compassion to Lepers, comfortable in the recognition that most of us will never meet one. So, who then, are the excluded of today?
Several of the same groups as in the time of Jesus, certainly: but we need to add other groups as well. I would nominate: the financially poor, those through no fault of their own are existing on inadequate benefits this winter, the homeless, the elderly, the sick, prisoners and their families, those separated from their family by a painful divorce, the list could be endless.
And the challenge is that, if we want to be loyal to Jesus and his mission, then we must, like him, include the excluded. The consolation being, that when we do, we welcome Jesus into this world, not only in the company of the baptised, but also among the rejected.
So, an Advent challenge for us this year could be to think about whether we celebrate Christmas with all the usual pretty lights, cards and carols, but overlook the mission of the Messiah to include the excluded.
After all; what is the good of stringing up Christmas lights on our houses, if Christ is left in the cold winter darkness a homeless person endures?
What is the good of sending out cards in honour of Jesus’s birth, at the same time as having no kind words to offer someone we know who is struggling in life, and can’t find help from any quarter?
What is the good of singing carols if we know of someone who will be alone this Christmas and yet don’t offer them hospitality?
All of a sudden, the pretty lights, cards and carols can seem like a mockery if we forget Jesus appears to us in all those weary faces.
Now, please don’t get me wrong, there isn’t anything wrong with the customs we associate with Christmas. But at the same time we must be sure to practice something which belongs to the heart of our faith.
We must do as the Messiah himself did: include the excluded.
And each of us can take action to do so this Christmas, before Christ is born again at Bethlehem. Amen.
Hymn; ‘Love Divine, all loves excelling’
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 Liz Davies
Almighty God, you sent your servant John the Baptist to prepare your people to welcome the Messiah. Inspire your priests who are stewards of your truth, to turn our weak and wayward hearts to you, so that when Christ comes again to be our judge, we may stand with confidence before his glory.
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer
Faithful God, we pray for your blessing to be upon this congregation, upon the Church throughout the world and upon all who are searching for truth. May your presence be seen vividly in what we do and say each day. We pray that your joy and your love will flow freely in and through us and that we may always strive to be perfect examples of your love in action.
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer
Creator God, as we look at your world that we are so wantonly destroying, we ask you to clear a holy space where hurt and destruction have no place, and a little child is King. Clear the trouble spots of our world from hatred and despair and sow seeds of joy, tolerance, and peace, so that shoots of hope may spring forth and all people, whatever their creed, race, colour, or gender may live together in harmony with one another.
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer
Father God, you enfold those on the margins of society with love. You experienced through Jesus what it was like to be excluded. Your Son befriended the despised, like Zacchaeus; the untouchable lepers and all those who the establishment labelled as sinners. We ask you to help those at the edges of our communities and give them hope through the patience and encouragement of all of us who claim to be your people.
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer
Merciful God, we remember all who are suffering in body, mind, or spirit. We remember all those whose illness stems from a mental health issue, who often suffer in silence because of stigma and who reach out for help that is often not there because of stretched services. Help us to break through the ignorance that causes stigma and recognise that mental illness is as real as a broken leg or influenza and give them hope through patience and encouragement.
We remember those struggling at home, often alone, who need a friendly hand of help and encouragement; those diagnosed with life changing conditions who are facing major treatment; those who face daily pain that seems never-ending; those who have increasing dementia whose worlds have become so alienated from our worlds; those who are tired and need rest. We pray for your blessing and enfolding love on all.
We especially remember today: Reverend Diane and Ken, Alison and Rob, Terry and Dot, Margaret, Maureen, Brian, Rupert and Linda, Paul and Jan, Barrie and Sandra, Lyn, Stephen, Mary, Alison, Carole, Helen, baby Willow, all those known to each of us and those who have no one to pray for them.
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer
Loving God, we pray for all those whose hearts have been saddened by the death of someone close and dear to them, for members of our families who have died and whose anniversary we recall. Help us to experience the comfort of the Holy Spirit within us, and the fellowship of the church family around us until we are reunited once more in your heavenly kingdom.
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer
Glorious God, source of joy and righteousness, enable us as redeemed and forgiven children, evermore to rejoice in singing your praises. May what we have sung and spoken with our lips become strong belief in our hearts and what we believe in our hearts become our way of life, through this Advent and in the years to come.
Merciful Father: accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen
Gathering our prayers and praises into one, let us pray with confidence as Jesus taught us;
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.
Hymn; ‘On Jordan’s bank, the Baptist’s cry’
The Peace
May the peace of Christ sanctify us: may he so strengthen our hearts in holiness that we may be blameless before him at the coming of our Lord Jesus with his saints. Amen.
Blessing
May God give us grace to follow his saints in faith, hope and love; and may the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among us, those whom we love, and remain with us always. Amen.