St Clement Church Community 15th Sunday after Trinity Service

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St Clement Church Community Sunday Service 28.9.25

Good morning to you all as we celebrate our 15th Sunday after Trinity service. This Service of the Word is for you to read at home if you’re unable to attend St Clement in person on Sunday.

Much love and may Christ’s love sustain you always.

Rev Di and family xx

Let us pray;

Almighty God, send down upon your Church the riches of your Spirit, and kindle in all who minister the gospel your countless gifts of grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymn: ‘Awake my Soul and with the Sun’

Our prayers of Penitence

In a moment of quiet reflection, we lay aside all pretence towards God and bring our fears and failings to our risen Christ:

Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us, forgive our unwelcoming hearts..

Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, Son of God, Servant of humanity, forgive our self-centred lives..

Christ, have mercy.

Jesus, Prince of Peace, Hope of the nations, forgive our bitter conflicts..

Lord, have mercy.

May Almighty God, who sent his Son into the world to save fallen humanity, bring us his pardon and peace, now and for ever. Amen.

Let us pray our Collect for the 15^th Sunday after Trinity

Let us pray;

Creator God, you made us all in your image: may we discern you in all that we see, and serve you in all that we do: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Readings: Amos 6. 1a, 4-7 1 Timothy 6. 6-19

Hymn; ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’

Gospel: Luke 16. 19-31

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

Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)

Jesus told this parable to those among the Pharisees who loved money: ‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham.

The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.” But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.”

He said, “Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.” Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.”

He said, “No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” ’

(This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.)

Reflection

A husband and wife, both aged well over a 100, died at the very same time. And when they got to heaven, they were astounded by the spectacular beauty they saw, beautiful flowers, brilliant sunshine, gentle breezes, and the crowning touch – as far as the man was concerned – the most incredible golf course he had ever seen. It was spectacular! With disgust, he looked at his wife, and said; “If it wasn’t for you and all those healthy bran muffins you made us eat, we could have been here 50 years ago!”

Seriously though, what is heaven going to be like? For those of us who stake our lives on the reality of heaven, we might often try to imagine it. Will we have bodies there, or will we just be spirits? Will we recognise the people we loved on earth, or will we love everyone? Will there truly be no weeping and pain in heaven; but only love and joy?

Truth be told, Jesus often revealed heaven to us in the scriptures.

Many times he sets up the story of a parable in this fashion: the Kingdom of heaven is like, such as; The Kingdom of heaven is like the man who had two sons, and the younger of the sons came and asked for his share of the inheritance. The Kingdom of heaven is like the woman who lost a silver coin, and when she found it, she threw a party. In the scriptures we can find lots of descriptions of heaven.

But when Jesus told the story that’s our gospel lesson for today, it’s hard to know whether he’s telling us about heaven, or hell.

“There were these two men,” Jesus said. One was very wealthy. He dressed in the finest clothing, he dined on elaborate food and drink every day, and for him, life was very, very comfortable.

Lazarus, on the other hand, was very, very poor, and of all the parables that Jesus told, this is the only time he identifies one of the characters by name. Lazarus was poor, to the point that he laid at the gates of the rich man’s home, hoping that food scraps would be thrown out to him. He was emaciated, and the sores on his body attracted the dogs who also hung out there waiting for food.

Now, we’d think, listening to Jesus tell this story, that Lazarus and the rich man had nothing in common. One was comfortable, the other miserable. One lived in the lap of luxury, while the other lived in the gutter. Their stories were miles apart, and, truth be known, they had nothing in common except this: they both died.

It didn’t matter that one was rich and the other poor, they both died. In fact, death is the greatest common denominator among all of us, it doesn’t discriminate between rich and poor, male and female, and research says that 100% of us are going to die. Thankfully we don’t know when, but this much we know is true: each of us is going to die.

If we knew the exact day and hour, we could go through life with reckless abandon, eating, drinking and being merry, and then, in the final moment, become faithful and cling to God.

But we don’t know the day and the hour, so, if we believe that there is a heaven and a hell, and that we go to one of those places when we die, then we need to always be ready, and that’s what the rest of this parable is all about today.

Lazarus and the rich man both die, but this is where the likeness ends, because one goes to heaven, to comfort for eternity. The hunger is ended, the sores are healed, the tears have all been dried.

But as for the other, his misery is just beginning. The comfort he knew on earth is only a fading memory in the midst of his suffering in Hades, and now he’s the one longing for relief — a cold drink of water. But the interesting thing about this parable is that it doesn’t tell us why one went to heaven and the other to hell. We’re left to interpret that for ourselves.

Could it be that the rich man went to hell simply for being rich? And that Lazarus went to heaven simply because he was poor? Or is there more to it than that? I’m glad you asked, because I think there is. At the end of their respective lives, the rich man’s hands were full and the poor man’s hands were empty. That’s to say, the rich man was clinging to his wealth, power, and prosperity, he had need of nothing, self-sufficient in every sense of the word, and perhaps he thought he was invincible. But the poor man’s hands were empty, no house, money, titles, absolutely nothing. The poor man had need of everything, including the gifts that God could give. His hands were open wide, and he gratefully received the gift of grace, that’s why he went to heaven, and the rich man didn’t. When we come before God, we too have a choice. We can come clinging to all our worldly stuff; our house and car keys, bank balance, and professional titles.

Our hands will be full, but our hearts will be empty. Or we can come to God without anything; humble, broken, needy, we come with empty hands, asking for God to bless us. We come forward for Holy Communion later, with empty hands outstretched. But if we come filled with pride over what we have, or done, or who we think we are, our hands will already be full and there’ll be no place to put God’s gift.

If we come empty handed, with humility and need, God will place in our hands, healing, hope, and the gift of life itself. It’s our choice.

And finally, this: the parable ends with a stunning turnabout, because for the first time in the story, the rich man is concerned for someone other than himself. “Father Abraham,” he says, “I have five brothers who need to know what I know now, so that they won’t to have to spend eternity in this miserable place. Can’t you send Lazarus or somebody to tell them to change their lives?”

Suddenly, there’s an urgency in his voice; a concern for the people he loves to know the truth about heaven and hell. He pleads with Abraham to send a messenger from heaven, but Abraham says no.

If they haven’t accepted the messengers on earth, they’re not going to believe someone who rises from the dead.

I think Jesus is probably referring to himself there, and that even after the resurrection, there will be many who wouldn’t believe in him.

What a dilemma though for the rich man, five brothers, just like he was, racing through life with reckless abandon, clinging tightly to their possessions, unaware of the tragic future that awaits them, and nobody to tell them the truth. In a very real sense, those five brothers live yet today. They’re everywhere, all around us. Oh, they’re not all wealthy, proud, selfish, or mean-spirited. They’re not even all brothers; some are sisters, neighbours, or friends. But if they don’t know the truth about God’s grace, then they’re all lost, just like those five brothers. So, who will tell them? Who will speak to them the message of forgiveness, life, and love, so that they’re not lost anymore? Perhaps one of our mission statements ought to be: “God cares about lost people, and so should we.” There are many lost people in our community who don’t know Jesus Christ. And now we are the wealthy ones, wearing the purple robes of royalty, feasting on bread, wine and grace, and these lost ones are lying at the gate, and though their hands may be full, their hearts are empty. They’re looking for something, they’re not even sure what it is, but we have it, we have what they’re seeking.

The theologian Paul Tillich said it this way: “A Christian is simply one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.”

We’ve been found, they’re still lost. God cares about lost people, and so should we. But the time is urgent, we never know what tomorrow holds, and those five brothers need to hear the message of grace before it’s too late. Who will tell them?

Thanks be to God, it’s down to us! Amen.

Hymn; ‘Breathe on Me Breath of God’

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 are written by Liz Davies

Almighty and everlasting Lord, we offer You our praise and thanksgiving as we bow our heads and lay our prayers before You. You ask us to love and hold the needs of our neighbours as we would our own and so we bring to You our petitions on behalf of the Church and the world.