Sunday Worship 26th July
You can find all of our latest information, Edith's reflection for this Sunday, our Thursday "Worship for all Generations" and much more by clicking on the following link to our facebook page - Leesfield Parish
Today is Edith's final Sunday service with us before her retirement, but she will be back for a real farewell service when we are all able to gather properly.
Our first hymn for today is the lovely "Be Thou My Vision"
Today's Bible Reading -
This reading took me straight back to the early days of the lockdown. Suddenly some ordinary things became unavailable, and one of those was yeast. A simple, everyday thing, widely available usually, and cheap, but vital for bread making. Something we take for granted, and only really missed when we couldn’t get hold of it.
Chapter 13 of Matthew’s Gospel contains several parables. Parables are brilliant picture stories which give images of God’s kingdom at work. They are stories with different levels of meanings. Jesus used them to teach large crowds, but there are in them hidden meanings, which we see are too obscure even for the disciples to follow.
The chapter begins with the parable of the sower, and that is followed by the parable of the weeds. Then we have today’s gospel reading which encompasses the parable of the mustard seed, the yeast, the hidden treasure, the priceless pearl and the fishing net. I am going to concentrate on the first two of these, the mustard seed and the yeast. They are similar in that they are both very ordinary things. The yeast is not just something small. It also has enormous transforming power. Leaven changes the character of the dough. Unleavened bread is like a water biscuit, hard, dry, unappetising and uninteresting. Bread baked with leaven is soft, porous, spongy, tasty and good to eat. The introduction of leaven causes a transformation in the dough, and the coming of the kingdom causes a transformation in life.
In Palestine the mustard seed is proverbial for smallness. It is a common invasive weed. It spreads everywhere. It starts as a tiny seed which, suddenly it seems, turns into a plant which can reach a height of 8 feet. Both of these things, the yeast and the mustard seed are everyday miracles. Everyone knows how they work, and how extraordinary it is that something so small can have such an effect.
But had you ever thought of the kingdom of heaven like that? Surely the kingdom of heaven is already huge and magnificent, not something tiny, working inconspicuously until suddenly you can’t miss it anymore? The surprise in these parables is not what the yeast and the mustard seed do, since we know that already. The point is that other things, which you may not be so familiar with, may also behave like this. Don’t discount small things until you know what they are capable of. Don’t think about big things as though they can never have had small beginnings.
I want to return to the yeast, and to use it in a different analogy. Over the last few weeks I have inevitably been thinking about this parish, about my time here and about its future. Yeast is a living organism. It needs warmth, water, oxygen and sugar if it is to grow. It can be dried out and kept for years, and when given the right conditions it will flourish again. The Christian community in this place is very important, and it acts as yeast in this place. Christians should transform communities, and in Lees the churches are very important. They can be the yeast which transform life, and by they I mean you and me.
I am moving on so now it’s down to you – every one of you. Everyone has a part to play –even if you think you are not important you are! And if you are going to be the yeast in this place, you need the right conditions –which you will find by being part of the worshipping community here, by keeping as close as possible to God, so you can be nourished by his word and enabled by prayer, by talking to God and listening to him. During my time here I have seen many transformations, both of individuals and of the parish as a whole. The virus has caused many problems in all areas of life, and a setback in church life, but living communities can survive difficulties and that will be the case in Leesfield Parish.
Edith
As Edith moves away, Stephen will of course be leaving too, and he will be a great loss to the choir at St Thomas'. One of his favourite hymns is "And Can It Be That I Should Gain" -
Our prayers for today -
And our final hymn for today is one of Edith's favourites "Lord For The Years" -
All our love and prayers go with Edith and Stephen on their retirement. Worship will continue here, and in our church buildings, and on our facebook pages.
