St Clement Church Community Sunday Service 10.8.25
Good morning to you all as we celebrate the 8th Sunday after Trinity, this service is for you to read at home if you’re unable to attend with us at St Clement. Please continue to keep yourselves safe when you go out and about, especially as our roads are very busy at the moment during this holiday season.
Much love and may Christ’s love sustain you always.
Rev Di and family xx
Let us pray;
Lord Jesus Christ, give us the desire to seek first God’s will in all things. Help us to listen to your Word, and show forth your love, in lives of service and sacrifice.
Amen.
Hymn: ‘All my Hope on God is Founded’
Our prayers of Penitence
Christ the light of the world came to dispel the darkness of our hearts. In his light let us confess our failings:
Jesus, Emmanuel, forgive our ungrateful hearts
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, Son of God, forgive our self-centred lives
Christ, have mercy.
Jesus, Prince of Peace, forgive our bitter conflicts
Lord, have mercy.
May Almighty God, who sent his Son into the world to save us, bring us his pardon and peace, now and for ever. Amen.
Let us pray our Collect for the 8th Sunday after Trinity
Lord God, your Son left the riches of heaven and became poor for our sake: when we prosper save us from pride, when we are needy save us from despair, that we may trust in you alone; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Readings:
Genesis 15. 1-6 Hebrews 11. 1-3, 8-16
Hymn; ‘Be Thou my Vision’
Gospel: Luke 12. 32-40
(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke
Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)
Jesus said to his disciples; Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’
(This is the Gospel of the Lord
Response: ‘Praise to you O Christ)
Reflection
What if one day we found out that someone we knew extremely well, turned out to be a radical troublemaker, whose ideas were so out of the mainstream and so contrary to what we believed, that he or she might even be considered dangerous?
Well, if we can get used to that unlikely possibility – that someone we know well could do and say things that sounded bizarre and counter-culture – then we begin to get a picture of Jesus in first century Israel.
He was the one who was supposed to be the Messiah, the one who would show up and slay the enemy, provide peace and prosperity for the Jews, and rule the Kingdom with an iron fist.
But then one day, this Messiah does come, and he’s saying things that defy what every self-respecting Jew ever believed. Things like:
— I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
— There is no difference between Jews and Greeks; slaves and their masters.
— I have come to comfort the afflicted…and afflict the comfortable.
— If you love me, you will hate your mother and father, sister and brother.
— Love your enemies; don’t hate them, love them.
And then;
— Sell your possessions and give the money to the poor.
If we’ve ever wondered why Jesus was unpopular with the Jewish mainstream of his day, this is why. He turned upside-down the values that they held and replaced them with radical ideas.
The first shall be last, the slave shall be free, the poor shall be rich.
And twenty centuries later, when we read what Jesus said and did, we say; “Right on, Jesus! You certainly showed those people a thing or two. Good for you.” But what we fail to realise is that the message of Jesus hasn’t changed in over 2000 years, except now, he is speaking to us.
Today, even though many of us struggle to meet our bills, we are the wealthy and the proud. Today, we are the ones who are comfortable in our religion and separated from those who aren’t. Today, we are the ones who believe that Jesus is “for us” and therefore is; “against them.” But we read such verses of scripture and assume that the words can’t be for us, Jesus didn’t literally mean what he said.
The theologian Howard Albertson said it best when he wrote that; Christians in this century; “grind the words of Jesus to fit our circumstances.”
We’re not really supposed to sell all our possessions and give the money to the poor? We’re not really supposed to choose to be last in line? But what if we are?
These are known as; “the hard sayings of Jesus.” Last week Liz preached on such a saying; the rich man condemned a fool for wanting to build bigger barns to store his wealth, next week we’ll hear about divided households. Such sayings might not be comfortable for us as we realise that many of Jesus’ expectations go largely unmet in our lives. But we must understand the values that Jesus holds, before they can ever become our own.
Now, the sayings about our possessions are tricky.
The text we read a moment ago starts out nicely enough, when Jesus says; “
Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Jesus calls us his flock, his little lambs, and he tells us that we don’t have to be afraid of God because God wants to give us the gift of his Kingdom.
But in the very next verse, Jesus hits home hard! “Sell your possessions and give alms.” In another gospel, he says it this way; “If anyone wants to be my disciple, let them sell everything they own, give the money to the poor, take up their cross and come, follow me.” What happened to; “have no fear, little flock”? Gosh, surely, he didn’t mean that we should give away our homes, our cars and our money, and live in poverty.
So, we begin to grind it to fit. Perhaps Jesus meant that we’re expected to share a little bit with those who have less than us, as long as it doesn’t put us out too much. We may even give sacrificially so that the church community can thrive in this place, or maybe give donations to improve the lives of Third World children. But literally, what do we do with a command as radical as sell our possessions, and give alms?
We’re more than happy to take other verses exactly as they’re written, but when it comes to the verses where Jesus tells us to give away everything we own, we want to grind that verse to fit. We all do. But what are the choices we have? One is to play with the words of Jesus; to twist them and make them palatable to our lives. To grind them to fit our circumstance.
Another possibility would be to strictly and rigidly follow every command and every call of Jesus. It might be nearly impossible to do, and no one in human history has ever been successful at it, but we could try….
There is a third possibility though, in fact it’s not just a possibility, I think it’s the reality where most of us live. One day, let’s face it folks, all of us will be rid of our possessions and will be safely in God’s Kingdom. So, until that day, our ministry is to give alms, to put our attention on feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and the lonely.
That’s what it means to be the Church of God here and now; to give away the possession of ourselves, our insular lives, so that other peoples’ lives are changed by our actions.
As you know, I really enjoyed The Vicar of Dibley series, I can’t think why!! My favourite part of the programme is where Geraldine is trying to tell Alice a joke at the end. Did you ever notice the poster above Geraldine’s desk? It says; ‘Jesus is coming back – look busy.’ Perhaps it should read; ‘Jesus is coming back - be busy’
Jesus is coming again, and we, his faithful servants as we wait for his return should be busy doing; loving the Lord our God with all we have, and our neighbour as ourselves. Amen.
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.
Hymn; ‘Just as I am, without one Plea’
Our Intercessions are written by Helen Dunbar
Let us pray for the Church and for the world and let us thank God for his goodness.
Father, we thank you for all who have helped us to pray and to grasp something of your great love and power. We ask your blessing and empowering for all who teach and minister in your name; we ask for our Sunday worship to be an overflowing of our daily walk with you, an expression of our deepening love. May we be always ready to serve you, showing kindness and compassion to others; remembering we are called to be peacemakers, that love may overcome hate.
Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer
We pray for the children of the world, may they live without fear of violence and war, without hunger or thirst, without sickness and poverty. Lord, please help the millions of people around our troubled world, who are suffering from the devastation of war, especially in Ukraine, Russia, Gaza and Israel, and may solutions be found, so that all can live in peace and safety. And may all receive the aid and food deliveries that are so much needed.
Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer
We pray for the protection of the environment and for wise stewardship of the earth’s resources.
Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer
We ask for your blessing on the Christian Church throughout the world and all who minister your word. We ask God’s blessing on our own Revd Diane, for the very difficult areas of her ministry she sometimes has to deal with, and we also ask for God’s blessing on all her family.
Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer
Help us all to be mindful that we are all created equal in your sight and accept our deep regret that despite this there is so much inequality to be found.
Lord in our mercy; hear our prayer
Dear Lord, we pray for our government and all people in authority; give strength to all who hold positions of leadership, that they may be able to carry out their policies and govern for the good of all.
Bless King Charles and Queen Camilla and all members of the royal family.
Lord in our mercy; hear our prayer
Dear Lord, we pray for all people we know who are ill, anxious or bereaved; for those who are lonely or living alone and for all those who are weary and carrying heavy burdens due to the economic effects of the rising cost of living.
Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer
Dear Lord, we pray for our own communities and all of our neighbours. We give thanks for our family and friends, raising before you those we know with particular needs. May your peace and love surround them bringing its comfort and strength and we bring before you today: Reverend Diane and Ken, Brian, May, Susan, Tony, Jan, Lynda, Dot, Maureen, Jan, Pam and David, Sandra, Roger, Michael and Patricia, Rob and Alison, Stella, Jeremy, Anita and Stephen, Callum and Elaine, Sue and Martin, Margaret and John, Barry, Coral and Paul, Lawson, Barbara, Simone, Dinah, those known to each of us and those who have no one to pray for them.
We remember the recently departed and all those whose anniversary falls at this time; we pray for Revd Rosemary Radcliffe whose funeral took place on Monday at Truro Cathedral. And our thoughts and prayers go to her family.
Rejoicing in the fellowship of St Clement, St Andrew and St Allen and all the saints.
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; ‘Guide me, O Thou Great Redeemer’
The Peace
We are the body of Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptised into one body. Let us then pursue all that makes for peace and build up our common life. May the peace of God be always with us. Amen.
Blessing
May God the Holy Trinity make us strong in faith and love, defend us on every side and guide us in truth and peace. And may the presence of God watch over us, the power of God protect us, those whom we love, and remain with us always. Amen.