Sunday Worship
Welcome to our Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish. Our Church services are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' and 11.00 am at St Thomas'.
If you can't be with us in person, the Gospel reading, reflection and prayers can be found below.
Our first hymn this morning is "Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence"
Today's Gospel
Luke 18:1-8 The Parable of the Persistent Widow
Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, `Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, `Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
Reflection
On reading this passage, one word immediately sprang into my mind – HOPE. For me this word goes hand in hand with FAITH; a subject that we have been looking at over recent weeks. The dictionary describes hope in terms of a noun and also a verb. Noun: the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best, Verb: to believe, desire, or trust. Looking at the latter definition, it is evident from the use of the words believe and trust, that ‘faith’ plays a key element in when we hope for something. To have true faith we need to believe and trust in God and that he has a plan for each of us.
There are times in our lives when there is something we really wish for, children quite often wish really hard for a particular game or electronic device. Sometimes we wish for an improvement to our living standards or a better job. Sometimes, we may hope for someone’s health to improve, or on a wider scale for social justice or an end to war. The list goes on and on.
In the case of the widow, she really, really wanted justice against someone who had wronged her. In that day and age, widows, unless they had wider family support, were often poor and vulnerable, so she had nothing to offer the corrupt judge in order to get him to help. The reading makes it clear that the judge has no conscience or respect for anyone other than himself, particularly a poor widow. But she does not give in, and eventually due to her persistence, the judge helps her for no better reason than to get her ‘off his back’!
Jesus draws a parallel with the woman’s tenacity with judge, with the need for us to be determined in our prayer life with God. That, of course is not to suggest in any way that God is corrupt, or will answer our prayers just to get an easier life. God, hears us all and never tires of listening to us or helping us. Jesus is encouraging us, as Christians, to hold on and to persevere, to be patient but persistent and trust in God.
We live in a world where lots of things are immediate, instant cross world communications, instant food, instant answers to questions on the internet, and more. But Jesus is reminding us that as well as being persistent, we also need to be patient and not expect instant response. God is not some omnipotent genie in a bottle ready to grant our wishes immediately! But Jesus does promise us that when we ask in prayer, we will receive, (Matthew 21:22). However, he also reminds us that we must ask God for what is good for us and humankind, and for what we need rather than what we want. God will always give us good things, but it is up to us to understand what is good before we ask. We should pray in the name of Jesus, with the expectation that we will, therefore, be praying according to the will of God, and not asking for anything which is unjust or merely selfish. For we can have hope and faith that when we pray from our hearts, God will always listen to us when we cry out, and whilst he may not respond with exactly what we ask for, if it is God’s will, he will respond with what we need and is beneficial to us at a time that is right. Paul
