Welcome to our Harvest Festival Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish. Today we have a joint service at 10 am at St Thomas' Church, with no service at St Agnes'.
Following the service there is a celebratory Harvest Lunch, to which all are invited, but if you don't want to join us for lunch you are still welcome to have coffee with us. Donations of non-perishable food items will be gratefully received, and these will be passed on to the Food Pantry at St Barnabas' Church, Clarksfield.
If you can't be with us in person, the Gospel reading, a reflection, and prayers are shown below, so that you can worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come"
Today's Gospel
Luke 17: 5-10 Sin, Faith, Duty
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
“Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me; put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’ ”
Reflection
As George Michael famously sang back in 1987, “I got to have Faith”.
But, how much faith do I need? If having faith is a good thing then give me as much as possible. That’s got to be a good thing hasn’t it? I guess this was what was behind the naïve request of the apostles.
Jesus was quite clear, having faith isn’t like having a commodity like gold or silver, where the more you have the better it is. Having faith is about having a meaningful relationship with God. – You either have it or you don’t.
If you look at the epistle that accompanies this reading, (Timothy 2, 1:9-10), "He has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." We are reminded that we have all been given the gift of faith through grace of God and through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Having faith is about living our lives every day in a way that strengthens our relationship with God. It is about how we treat others and ourselves. Having faith won’t guarantee us an easy life and huge success - it doesn’t work like that. It’s about how we put God at the centre of our lives through both the good times and the bad times.
So when we have good times and success, a promotion at work or a new child, for example; we can turn to God in our relationship and say thank you for his blessings. When we face adversity and trials in our lives, we know we can turn to Jesus in our time of need, and he will give us the strength to carry on and face another day, despite the burden or sadness we may be facing. It’s also about how we apply our faith with others. So, when we see the suffering of others, be it for example, starving people in the third world or the homeless, our faith drives us to respond and give what we can.
There is a famous quote by the American sales guru Zig Ziglar, “It’s not what you’ve got but what you do with it”. Jesus tells his apostles, that where faith is concerned you only need a miniscule amount of faith to achieve a tremendous amount. The point is, not how much faith we have but how we use it. Faith is about how we live and interact with others and God; so that like the slave, at the end of each day, people of faith can say, “We have done only what we ought to have done!”
I’ll close this reflection in the way I started it, with a lyric from a song. This time a 1955 Nat King Cole song, “Faith can move mountains”. Of course in this case the quote was originally from Mathew 17:20: “Jesus replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Paul
Our Prayers
Father of all that is seen and unseen,
I ask for humility to understand and accept who I am,
Help me to refrain from taking myself and achievements too seriously.
So that I may serve others with a humble acceptance that I have done what I ought to have done.
Loving Lord, help me to realise, that in the words of the Prophet Micah,
all that is necessary is ‘to act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly before my God’.
Amen
Today's final hymn is "Jesus is Lord, Creation's Voice Proclaims It"
And specially for our younger followers - "Harvest Samba (Cabbages and Greens)"
