Sunday Worship
Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. Our Church Services this morning are at the usual times of 9.15 at St Agnes' and 11.00 at St Thomas'.
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 "Give Thanks, with a Grateful Heart"
Today's Gospel
Luke 14:25-33 The Cost of Discipleship
Now large crowds were travelling with Jesus; and he turned and said to them, "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?
Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, `This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions."
Reflection
This week the church looks at ‘thankfulness and generosity’ – and we explore the cost of discipleship. In today’s Gospel reading Jesus says that if we are serious about following Him, then we should pick up our cross and give up all our possessions.
Well I don’t know about you but that sounds like a pretty big ask.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be simply be thanked once in a while just for coming to church?
Well, personally, I am thankful that we are here – but I think we are here not because we want to be thanked but because we are thankful to Jesus. Because we love Him and genuinely want to follow Him and grow as His disciples. We’ve a lot to be thankful for.
We should be thankful because God the Father gave his only Son Jesus, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Because Jesus loves us and is always there for us. Because God lavishes His grace upon us.
It’s right to be thankful to God. It’s right to want to follow Jesus – and in today’s gospel passage Jesus encourages us to do just that. But it also comes with a message that’s uncomfortable to hear.
One of the challenges in the teachings of Jesus is that sometimes there are hard things to hear and get our heads around.
It’s not just the easy things that Jesus teaches, but also the hard things, too - and today just happens to be one of those hard teachings from Jesus. Jesus doesn’t always sugar coat the message.
Let’s go back to that scary bit about giving up all our possessions: In the original Greek translation, Jesus talks about renouncing all our possessions, not giving them up altogether.
He is not literally saying pack up everything you’ve got and take it all to the charity shop. Empty the fridge and give everything to the local foodbank. Sell your house and your car and donate all your money to good causes.
By telling us to renounce our possessions, He is telling us to look at our priorities. And to get our priorities right – to put following Him before our personal ambitions – Jesus is telling us that following Him isn’t something that we can do by half measures – we have to be all in, and put Jesus before everything else in our lives.
Following Jesus is a way of life - a commitment where we put Jesus first as our top priority. To put God first and foremost above friends, family and possessions.
Our first priority has to be to follow His example, to glorify God and give Him the thanks He deserves, and the second priority is to look after one another.
Today Jesus is telling us bluntly, that if we are to follow Him, then we can only do that when we put God and others first.
And we can only do that if we de-prioritise our fixation on material things, spending nearly all our time and money doing things primarily for ourselves and our families.
Ok, that’s maybe not as bad as saying sell everything you have and give it away, but it’s still a pretty tough message, So why do we find giving meaningfully so hard to do?
I suggest there are two key reasons: –
Firstly - greed. The more we have, the more we want. We can live relatively comfortable lives compared to many in the world but we are persuaded by advertising and consumerism to think it’s better to have more. A voice in our head that says, I’ve worked hard for what I’ve got, why shouldn’t I reap the benefit and indulge myself. Why shouldn’t I have that extra holiday or the newer gadgets and phones, even though there is nothing wrong with the ones we have. Why shouldn’t I buy some nice new clothes even though my wardrobe is bursting to the limits?
But, if we think this is the right way to live our lives, then we have totally missed the point. We are just paying lip-service to living a Christian life. We are forgetting that everything we have is ours by the grace of God.
The second barrier to giving is about insecurity and fear. Will we have enough to put the kids through college? Or plan for a good retirement or what if I lose my job? That’s a harder concern to answer. Do we want security? Of course we do.
But is the security we seek to be found in wealth and a good lifestyle, or is it in Jesus? Those who put their faith in money think along the lines of, the more I give away the less I will have left for me. Those who put their faith and trust in Jesus believe that the more we give away, the more God will provide for us. And I firmly believe that God will.
God might not provide what we think we want. It might not be unlimited wealth or the best of health, but we can trust that God will provide what He knows we need and He will do it cheerfully. And that is what Jesus wants us to do also.
In 2 Corinthians 9:7. St. Paul says:
"Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
If you’re still not convinced, look at it this way:
Think about how you feel when you see your children unwrapping presents on their birthday? They are full of glee and excitement and it warms your heart with joy and happiness.
And you’re cheerful and happy even though you might have spent far more than you planned to and had to sacrifice spending on something you wanted for yourself. -
It’s easy in this case to see the joy of our children benefiting bringing us happiness.
And when we are happy because we have given generously, then Jesus is happy too, He is happy for us.
Isn’t that a good feeling? To know that Jesus is happy for us.
Similarly, when we give to others, the people or organisations we give to are blessed and enriched by our action. When we give generously and cheerfully we glorify God and in turn we too are enriched and blessed in the eyes of God. When we give generously we are being thankful to God for all He has done for us. Thankfulness and generosity go hand in hand.
In our parish we are facing a stark future, with a meagre income from regular giving being far less than what we need to cover the cost of utilities, maintenance and the parish share. That is before we consider how we are going to raise the £50,000 needed to repair the heating and the costs of fixing the leaking porch at St. Agnes. And as new people replace the older members of the congregation we need them to volunteer to help with the routine tasks of running the services. So let us all prayerfully think about what we might give to keep the church going.
It's always hard to talk about generosity and giving, and whilst Jesus does not pull His punches about the commitment He expects from those who follow Him; He’s not trying to load us with guilt. He actually wants to make us happy and free. He doesn't want us to be generous so he can make us miserable. Instead, He wants to give us more joy, more contentment and to be more enriched in who we are.
As we strive to build our relationship with Jesus, let’s embrace those challenges, and rejoice in our sacrifices, and feel how happy He wants us to be. And let’s not forget, the ultimate reward for following Jesus is far greater than the cost. Paul
Our Prayers
Almighty Father, we thank you for the many blessings you give us.
We pray that we may be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit,
To follow Jesus as His disciples.
We pray for the future of churches in Lees.
Help show us the way to give more generously and cheerfully
knowing that we are blessing others and you with every act of kindness.
Amen
Today's final hymn is "Will You Come and Follow Me"
