Sunday Worship
All are welcome to join us for Sunday Worship on the Third Sunday after Epiphany. Our services are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' and 11 am at St Thomas'.
If you are unable to be with us in person, you can find today's Gospel, a refection, prayers and a couple of hymns below.
Our first hymn today is "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind"
Today's Gospel
Luke 4: 14- 21 Jesus preaches at Nazareth
Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
Reflection
The gifts of the Spirit are called charisms, today’s passage tells us that Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the power of the Spirit, so here we have a very charismatic preacher. So why were His neighbours so offended by Him? Our reading finishes just before the bible tells of how Jesus was rejected by those of His own town. Was His charismatic style the problem or was it something else?
The words that He spoke were actually a direct claim to Messiahship. They were the words of the prophet Isaiah about the Messiah and Jesus says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”.
I can imagine that it must have been hard for people who had known Jesus all His life, to take on board the fact that this lad who they had watched grow into a man, was actually the Messiah. Why had they not known? Surely, they would have spotted it as He was growing up. Surely, they would have had some inkling. Which brings me to my first question – was it really themselves that they were angry with? We can often take it out on others when actually, we are cross with ourselves. We can get so frustrated that we lash out at others. Or was it sheer contempt – or jealousy?
When someone from our congregation is called to ministry, do we rejoice, or do we harbour jealousy, asking incredulously, “Who, them?” Let us pray that God will raise up ministers of all kinds from within our midst, and let us show them support; and even if their style is different to that which we are used to, let us pray for blessings on their ministry.
We are in the week of Christian unity, when we mix with others who may worship in ways that are a little different to ours – let us remember not to reject either that which is unfamiliar, or that which is almost too familiar to be considered of worth.
Lyn
Our Prayers
