Sunday Worship
Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Second Sunday of Easter. Today is our Annual Parochial Church Meeting, so our service at St Thomas' is at the earlier time of 10 am, and there is no service at St Agnes'.
If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "In Christ Alone"
Today's Gospel
John 20:19-31 Jesus Appears to the Disciples
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Reflection
Today’s Gospel is very well known, not least because we hear it every year on the second Sunday of Easter. That’s unusual, because, normally we only hear the scripture readings repeated every three years.
So when you read this Gospel text, I wonder what comes to mind first?
For many it will no doubt be the reaction of Thomas, the one who doubted. Last year I wrote about how Thomas is often treated unfairly, because after all, he was only asking for the same proof that Jesus had already shown to the other disciples. Moreover, when the others told him about seeing the risen Jesus, he was probably angry at having missed out on this wonderful revelation. Just for a moment put yourself in his shoes – how would you have felt, being the only one not to have been there?
But if we put aside the role of Thomas in this story, and the question of why he believed, there is a much more important message here. A missional message that is particularly important to our parish as we continue to pray for a new incumbent to lead us forward.
As part of that process we produced a Parish Profile which outlines what the parishes of St. John, Hey and Leesfield are all about. At the very beginning it also describes the sort of vicar we are looking for and the first requirement is: “we will look to you - to lead and work collaboratively with clergy and laity to develop mission and growth, whilst embracing and encouraging others who are leading and working in various offices and roles .
The most important thing we are saying is we want a Missional Leader and Implicit in this statement is also a promise that we as believers in Jesus will provide support.
Before Thomas is even mentioned in the passage, Jesus sets about to commission his disciples to do his ongoing mission with the gift the gift of the Holy Spirit. “Jesus said to them … As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’
When Jesus refers to the ability to forgive sins, he is not endowing them with a magical power to decide who does and doesn’t get forgiven; he is giving them a missional role to make known the love of God that Jesus himself has made known to them. To create new believers of people who have not experienced the death and resurrection first hand.
As people come to know and abide in Jesus, they will be “released” from their sins. If, however, those people remain stuck in their unbelief; their sins will be retained.
Jesus told his disciples, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”. Jesus says the same to us when we are baptised; he calls us by name and endows us with the Holy Spirit as an advocate to remind us of Jesus’ teachings, and guide us on the path to his truth and belief in him that we may, through belief in him, be cleansed of our sins and have eternal life.
If we have genuine ambition as a parish to grow and nurture new believers, we need to play our part spreading the good news or encouraging people whose faith may have waned to turn back to Jesus. That may sound a little frightening at first, but remember at the beginning of todays passage the disciples were also afraid. It’s natural when we are afraid to hide away rather than focus on the difficult mission to which we are called, but as we read in this gospel, Jesus cannot be stopped by our locked doors. He comes to us in the midst of our fear and confusion, speaking peace and breathing into our anxious lives the breath of the Holy Spirit.
So as we pray for a new vicar let us pray for ourselves to play our part in growing a thriving community of believers here in our parishes. Paul
Our Mission Community's Confirmation Service will be at St Thomas’, Moorside on Sunday June 15th with a time to be confirmed, led by Bishop Mark Davies. Confirmation is seen as the next step on your Christian Journey, whether child or adult. Any adult of any age can be confirmed. At all our services there are many adults who regularly attend our churches but have not been confirmed. Any children who will be in year 6 upwards from September or any Adult who feel this is the time to make this commitment should speak to Neil or Paul and complete a form.
Everyone is most welcome to join us at St Thomas’ on Sunday 4th May at 12.30 pm to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of VE Day.
