Sunday Worship
You're most welcome to join us at St Thomas' Church for our Parish Eucharist at 10 am. Reverend Chris Steel will be preaching and presiding on the thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. Some of our Covid precautions remain in place, but we'll be singing a couple of hymns and offering refreshments after the service.
If you're not able to be with us in person, you can find the Gospel, reflection and prayers below.
Our first hymn this morning is "Be Still, for the Presence of the Lord"
Today's Gospel
Mark 7 v 14-15, 21-23 “Clean and unclean.”
When the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.” For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Reflection
A few weeks ago, we welcomed Bishop Mark to take our Sunday service and one of the key messages he had for us was to acknowledge our sins and ask for forgiveness. He stressed how powerful it was to say to God; “I am a sinner – Forgive me”.
That also goes to the heart of the Gospel reading today. On numerous occasions Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and church elders who looked upon lower classes and everyday people as sinners. He could see that many church leaders were self-serving and felt superior to the commoners. So much so that they introduced more and more meticulous rules and practices which made it hard for the commoners to comply with.
The common people had to find time to make a living, often in austere circumstances and communities. A lot of them had little or no education or teaching. They had many other challenges in their lives, so it was not surprising that they sometimes fell short of the mark and maybe sometimes even cheated a little or stole in order to just get by. Just like us they were not perfect. They found it hard to live up to the high standards set for them by the religious leaders.
But thankfully for us, we know that Jesus was compassionate and had empathy for common people, be they sinners or not. He loved them as he does us despite our imperfections. Jesus was frustrated that the wealthy leaders were deliberately ‘setting the bar so high’ that it was almost impossible for many to comply no matter how hard they tried. To that point in Luke 11:46 he specifically calls out their behaviour saying; “Woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.”
But this passage also calls us to consider our own behaviour and motivation. It challenges us to reflect on not just what we do but what our motives are for doing it. It is good to come to church regularly and worship God. Similarly, it is also good to volunteer to help in church, be that on the PCC, cleaning, serving refreshments, being a sidesperson or many other things folk do. But it is also important that we live our lives in a faithful and genuine manner each and every day. It’s no good just being seen to do the right things and then for example gossiping about folks behind their back or looking for the worst in folk instead of the best in them.
We need to live Christian values in all our actions and thoughts. It’s not just about being seen to do the right things, we also need to apply internal virtues in how we treat people and respond to them. We too need to be compassionate and not judgemental. If not, we are just putting up window dressing and could rightly be accused of being hypocrites.
St. Francis de Sales, in his spiritual classic Introduction to the Devout Life, calls us to examine our spiritual life in context of the whole Gospel. He challenges us to guard against doing what is easy and appears righteous while neglecting that which God might be calling us to in the moment.
‘One man sets great value on fasting, and believes himself to be leading a very devout life, so long as he fasts rigorously, although the while his heart is full of bitterness; and while he will not moisten his lips with wine, perhaps not even with water, in his great abstinence, he does not scruple to steep them in his neighbour’s blood, through slander and detraction. Another man reckons himself as devout because he repeats many prayers daily, although at the same time he does not refrain from all manner of angry, irritating, conceited or insulting speeches among his family and neighbours. This man freely opens his purse in almsgiving, but closes his heart to all gentle and forgiving feelings towards those who are opposed to him; while that one is ready enough to forgive his enemies, but will never pay his rightful debts save under pressure. Meanwhile all these people are conventionally called religious, but nevertheless they are in no true sense really devout.’
It’s not easy because we all like to think we are good people, but the reality is we are all led astray repeatedly. We all fall short at times; so this week why not spend some time thinking about your inner spirituality. Identify one thing you want to do differently - maybe you have seen a particular virtue you admire in someone else that you want to do more of (being joyful, positive, compassionate, listening, respectful), or maybe you want to do less of something. Then say, “I am a sinner – Forgive me” and ask for Jesus’ help to get on with it.
