Welcome to our Sunday Worship on Remembrance Sunday. Today there is a Parish Eucharist at 9.15 am at St Thomas' Church, and no service at St Agnes'. At 10 am we gather at Lees Library along with the Royal British Legion and Churches Together in Lees and District to process to Lees Cemetery for an Act of Remembrance.
The Gospel for today, a reflection, and prayers are shown below.
Our first hymn this morning is "The Lord's My Shepherd"
Today's Gospel
Luke 21:5-19 Signs of the End of the Age
When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."
They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, `I am he!' and, `The time is near!' Do not go after them.
"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defence in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls."
Reflection
This Gospel passage is taken from a time when Jesus is days away from his crucifixion. Here we have Jesus, the greatest prophet of all, predicting the end of the world, and the immediate reaction of his disciples is to ask when is it going to happen and how will we know? I think that would probably be my reaction as well.
The first thing that Jesus foretells is the falling of the temple, Herod’s temple where Jesus chased out the money changers. The temple was destroyed around 70AD and it is likely that Luke would have seen this, reinforcing that Jesus was a great prophet. But Jesus foretells of other portents still to come in the distant future. He warns that the falling of the temple is just the tip of the iceberg, for there will be much, much worse to come over many years.
Jesus foretells of uprisings, wars, plagues and earthquakes. There have been so many of these signs over the last two millennia and we still see far too many examples of this happening in our own lifetimes. There are many wars still waging across the world, there are earthquakes and natural disasters, (albeit some would argue they are man-made, such as climate change) and there are outbreaks of disease such as covid which has already killed hundreds of thousands of people and is still with us. We in the UK are relatively fortunate that, by and large, we are not persecuted for being followers of Jesus, but sadly there are many people in over 60 countries where persecution of Christians still takes place, such as China, Egypt and Pakistan. Places where people endure to their faith as followers of Jesus even though they may be outcast by their families and often in fear of their lives. There are thousands of Christians being persecuted every day.
It could therefore be, that the signs of the end of the world are upon us and that ‘the time is near’. Of course, none of us can know that and we shouldn’t spend all of our lives worrying about it. It might not occur for several millennia to come. However, even if the end of the world is just around the corner, Jesus is absolutely clear that if we stand firm in our belief in Him then there is no need to be terrified. He says these comforting and reassuring words: “… not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls." Jesus promises to all who have true faith in Him as our redeemer and Lord, a life that is joyful, full of love, and eternal. Paul
Our Prayers
Father of all that is seen and unseen, open our hearts and minds to your grace.
That by our faith in your Son Jesus Christ who died for our sins and rose again,
we will endure through whatever trials we face
until we are with You and nothing can separate us from your love.
Amen
Today's final hymn is "O God, Our Help in Ages Past"
Notices
Next week, the 20th November, we will be celebrating St Hugh's Day with a special service at 11 am in St Hugh's school hall. This will be the only service in Leesfield Parish on that day.
