St Clement Church Community 4th Sunday of Trinity Service 2025

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St Clement Church Community Sunday Service 13.7.25

Good morning to you as we celebrate our 4^th Sunday of Trinity Service.

We’re holding a Eucharist in our church building at 10.15, this Service of the Word is for those who can’t be with us in person but will be worshipping with us in spirit. We send our love and prayers to you and may Christ’s love sustain you always.

Rev Di and family xx

Let us pray;

Eternal God, comforter of the afflicted and healer of the broken, teach us the ways of gentleness and peace, that all the world may acknowledge the kingdom of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymn; ‘Lord of all Hopefulness’

Our prayers of Penitence

In a moment of quiet reflection, we lay aside all pretence towards God and bring our fears and failings to the 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 4^th Sunday after Trinity

Gracious Father, by the obedience of Jesus you brought salvation to our wayward world: draw us into harmony with your will, that we may find all things restored in him, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Readings:

Deuteronomy 30. 9-14

Colossians 1. 1-14

Hymn; ‘Ye Servants of God, your Master Proclaim’

Gospel: Luke 10. 25-37

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

Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’

Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.”

Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’

Reflection

I remember when training for ordination, having to study work by the theologian Karl Barth, and my word, was it heavy going!

One day, I was in the library at Trinity College with my friend Jane, she was reading a book by Karl Barth that must have weighed at least ten pounds, and if any of you have read his work, I think you’ll agree, it’s an acquired taste.

I’d already lost the plot at the earlier lecture, but all I can say is that Jane was a more dedicated student than I, or she had a greater appreciation of Barth than I did, because she was engrossed in the book for over three hours.

She kept reading and rereading a chapter, but she just couldn't get the gist of it. So, she kept biting her fingernails and drinking more black coffee until on about the fifth time through - she got it; she finally got it.

Her hours of intensive study had at last paid off, and I was astonished when she left the library at a remarkable pace, ran outside into the college grounds and screamed out her joy!

After her screaming fit, no doubt brought on by some sense of joy at having finally figured out the mind of Barth, or perhaps too much caffeine, she told me she was surprised that her surroundings hadn’t changed because of her newfound understanding.

The trees were right where they had always been, the buildings looked exactly like they had before, she was disappointed that the world around her hadn’t benefitted from her newfound knowledge.

Then it suddenly struck her, unless she did something with all her hours of study, it would be worthless.

I would think it would compare with a medical student finally understanding the complex workings of the human body, and realising all that knowledge would be worthless if he or she didn’t apply it.

And it's true in church. Each Sunday morning when I or Liz stand here and deliver a sermon, we’re giving up what we’ve laboured over all week.

We speak to you the words that for the past several days have been forming in our heart and mind, we share with you our latest thoughts on the scriptures, and then we all leave, and on our way home go past people walking their dogs or shopping or generally are just out and about.

In other words, like Jane’s experience, the trees are right where they were an hour before, the buildings look exactly the same, and people are doing what they usually do on a Sunday afternoon.

Any sermon, - even the very best sermon - is still just a combination of words and nothing more. And the world outside these four walls doesn't give a hoot about any of them, their walking the dog or deciding what to buy for lunch takes precedent.

Why? Maybe it's because the outside world knows that it's not just words that get things done, unless words are turned into action, they are meaningless, and I think that’s how Jesus looked at it too.

By the time we get to the encounter between Jesus and the lawyer, Jesus has decided there's been enough talk, it's time to do. He has "set his face" towards Jerusalem and is determined to embody his words by action, because there comes that time when words no longer get the job done, there's nothing more to understand, there’s nothing more to say. It's time to do.

Jesus has come to that point in his life and ministry, and it’s as he makes his way to Jerusalem that the lawyer asks him the question. "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"What is written in the law?" Jesus replies. "What do you read there?”

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself." says the lawyer.

"You have given the right answer," Jesus says to him. And then, he says these pivotal words, "Do this, and you will live." "Do this..."

In other words, don't talk about loving God with all you’ve got, Jesus says, "Just do it." But the lawyer doesn’t want to ‘do’, he wants to keep on talking. "And who is my neighbour?"

What he's really saying is, "Let's keep this on an intellectual level. Let's stay in the library or the classroom or the church building. I don't want to venture out into the sunlight of the real world. As long as we can keep on talking and listening, we can pretend there isn't a real world out there in need of the God we’re talking about. Let's stay here and talk about this."

And that, my friends, is the context for the parable Jesus told... the story of the Good Samaritan.

But I don't have to go into the story, do I, because you know it so well. Okay, you’ve forced me, I'll do it! Try this; a man is travelling from Jericho to Jerusalem. He is accosted by thieves who steal his possessions and leave him for dead. Two religious types, a priest and a Levite, see him lying in the ditch but they cross over and keep going.

A Samaritan comes along, takes pity on the man, binds his wounds, takes him to the next village, leaves him with an innkeeper, pays for his medical care, and offers on his return to pay for anything extra.

But then, we knew all that, didn't we, we’ve just heard it…..

What we might not have considered though is the reaction of everyone Jesus told the story to, not only the lawyer, but also all those standing around him .

They're in shock, not because of the fact that the priest and Levite would refuse to help the man, that doesn't surprise them at all, after all, there were a number of reasons why they wouldn't... and couldn't.

They had important religious functions to attend, and what if the man were dead?

Touching him would render them unclean. Unclean, they couldn't take part in anything and would have to quarantine themselves for days on end. Their decision not to get involved would have been completely understood by all those who listened to the story.

What stuns them is that the hero in the parable is a Samaritan, giving help to a Jew. I'm sure if Jesus were telling that story today, it might be about a member of the Taliban helping a Christian, hard to believe, but Jesus' example, when he first told this story, was that extreme.

The Samaritan represents the most unexpected source of mercy and love.

So, what’s the point of the story? I think it might just be that God doesn't care where love comes from, God only cares that love is done.

Not studied about, or anything learnt not applied, not talked about, just done.

There's a time for talking and there's a time for doing, especially when it comes to mercy and love. Don't study it, don’t talk about it, just do it.

After all, Jesus wasn't on his way to Jerusalem to conduct a session on Karl Barth. The last words he spoke to the lawyer were, "Go and do likewise." "Go and do." And then, that's exactly what Jesus did, all the way to the cross.

May he find us willing to do the same, to go and do, to recognise a need in others and fix it, be it by offering encouragement, a listening ear, or a helping hand, just do. After all, there comes the point when there's nothing more to say.

Let us pray;

Father, give us the courage, when the time comes, to stop talking about our life of faith and just do it. May we use Jesus as our example; for it is in his name we ask it.

Amen.

Hymn; ‘Alleluya, sing to Jesus,’

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 Daphne Hawkins

In the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ, let us pray to the Father.

Merciful Father, as we gather together for worship, we gladly share with those to whom we are joined in mind and spirit. May we feel the sense of your presence here in our beloved St Clement. Grant us gratitude as we remember your goodness, gratitude as we remember our sins, and joy as we remember your love.