Welcome to 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're not able to be with us in person, the Gospel, a reflection, and prayers are shown below.
Our first hymn this morning is "Come Down O Love Divine"
Today's Gospel
Luke 20: 27-38 The Resurrection and Marriage
Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her."
Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive."
Reflection
To start with, who were the Sadducees?
Unlike the scribes and Pharisees, the Sadducees were priests of Jewish aristocratic class. They were extremely well to do! They accepted only the written law and rejected most of the traditions of the Pharisees. They only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament (Pentateuch), from Genesis to Deuteronomy. More importantly they believed that humans were self-determining and masters of their own destiny not influenced by God. Moreover, there were some things they did not accept. They did not believe in angels or the divine authority of God over human affairs, and they did not believe in bodily resurrection. As such, they were theologically and ideologically different from the Pharisees and the scribes, but as we see in this example, they were all united in confronting and opposing Jesus and what he preached.
The question that the Sadducees posed was complex, and also intended to be a trap and ridicule the concept of resurrection. The basis being that because they didn’t believe in resurrection, their assumption was that fathers lived on through the generations and what they left to their descendants. That is, they couldn’t see past earthly and material possessions, which is was why it was so important to ensure that a brother’s name lived on by marrying his wife if he died. To back up their argument they quote Moses, ( Deuteronomy 25:5-10), “that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.”
Jesus’ response is unequivocal, he is trying to open their eyes to the fact that our existence here in this dimension is not ‘the be all and end all’. There is a different order in God’s kingdom that transcends our limited human understanding and that only through death and resurrection will our eyes be truly opened to his magnificence and an order that is based on love, pure love. God’s pure love. A place where the need to surround ourselves with material things, success and a few loved ones is of no consequence, and where we will no longer fear death. A place where there is no death and we will all be alive with the God of the Living.
To put it another way, death as we perceive it, is not the end of everything, it is a doorway to a new and far better existence, one that we at the moment cannot fully comprehend.
As followers of Christ, who was crucified, died and rose again, we believe in the resurrection and the world to come. A world that is overflowing with His love. Paul
Our Prayers
Heavenly Father,
We thank you that through the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ,
You have enlightened us and shown us the promise of your Kingdom.
Despite this, we are often consumed by worries
and sometimes trivial matter in our lives.
We pray for wisdom to reflect on your what is most important
and also for us to look after those whose life in this world is worse than ours.
Let us love one another now as we wish to be loved in your kingdom.
Amen
Our final hymn today is "Forth in Thy Name, O Lord I Go"
Notices
The notice below was read in our churches last Sunday, and at our Tuesday morning service.
We wish Revd Amy-Elizabeth every blessing for her new role, and offer our thanks for the joy which she has brought to Leesfield Parish during her time with us.
There is to be a joint farewell service at St John's Church, 6 pm on Saturday 12th November, to which we are all warmly invited, so do please come along.
We are also invited to St Stephen's Audenshaw, 7 pm on Thursday 24th November, to welcome Amy-Elizabeth into her new parishes.
Next Sunday, the 13th November, is Remembrance Sunday. There will be a Parish Eucharist at St Thomas' Church at 9.15 am, with no service at St Agnes' on that day. We will then assemble at Lees Library at 10 am, before processing to Lees Cemetery for the Royal British Legion and Churches Together in Lees and District Act of Remembrance.
