Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Third Sunday after Trinity. Our Church Services this morning are at the usual times of 9.15 at St Agnes' and 11.00 at St Thomas'.
If you are unable to be with us in person, you can find resources below to worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "I, The Lord of Sea and Sky"
Today's Gospel
Luke 1-11, 16-20Jesus Sends Out the Seventy
The Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, `The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, `Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.'
"Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."
The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!" He said to them, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
Reflection
The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few.
At a time when the parish is still in vacancy with no immediate sign of a new vicar on the horizon, and no vicars in the neighbouring parishes in our Mission Community, you might argue that we are in the same position now.
Who is there to spread God’s word and the Good News of the Gospel?
The first two ‘Marks of Mission’ for the Church of England are:
-To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
-To teach, baptise and nurture new believers
Yet we have no Vicar! That gives rise to a number of questions:
1.How will the church manage its missional objectives then?
2.Who are the labourers that will do the missional outreach and spread the Gospel in and around Lees?
3.Who did Jesus send ahead of him to the places that he intended to go afterwards?
To answer each question in turn;
1.We are the people who are called to do mission in our community. The Marks of Mission are not guidelines for the clergy but for all of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus.
2.We, are therefore Jesus’s modern day labourers.
3.Jesus sent out ‘seventy others’ ahead of him. We don’t know who they were, but they weren’t the 12 apostles and it wasn’t Jesus himself doing the legwork.
I am writing this sermon on Petertide, the weekend when new deacons and priests are ordained. They will all have undertaken rigorous theological training on subjects such as doctrine, church denominational history and spirituality to name but a handful of topics.
But that won’t prepare them to be able to answer every question anyone might ever ask about God. No matter how well prepared they might think they are – their knowledge will still be very limited.
Many of them will have put a ‘dog collar’ on for the first time and be wondering, “what on earth have I got myself into?” That feeling is often referred to as ‘imposter syndrome’, where they doubt themselves, and question their worthiness, their abilities, and even if they are good enough to be a minister of the church.
So when I say we are all called to be Jesus’ labourers and spread the missional good news of the Gospel, you might rightly ask, who am I to do that? I am just one of the ‘others’. One of the folk that sits in the pews and listens.
Like the ‘others’ in today’s reading from Luke, we don’t need to be experts to answer Jesus’s call. Jesus didn’t send the ‘others’ to theological college for years to study before he sent them out.
When you speak about Jesus, he will give you words – he doesn’t call the knowledgeable but he will equip those he calls with what you need to know. Indeed, as one of the others, the bar is set lower; people won’t be expecting a profound theological discussion from us. To be fair that’s probably the last thing most people want. When we talk about Jesus, it’s fine to talk from our heart about what He means to us.
Jesus didn’t identify people with gifts for mission - He gave his followers the gifts that they would need for the mission.
Then he sent them, knowing that they wouldn’t always be well received, and that some would be shunned. He sent them as lambs amongst the wolves. But all seventy returned with joy in their hearts. Jesus had given them the authority and equipped them with all they needed.
He will give that same authority and power to you as and when you need it. And when you are prepared to talk with love and confidence about your names too will be written in heaven.
Paul
Our Prayers
Father God,
We thank you that we have been blessed,
To receive the good news of the gospel
and the ministry of your Son Jesus Christ
who died for the forgiveness of our sins and conquered death.
We pray that we may never be afraid to confess that good news to others
and that by the power of the Holy Spirit,
we may live and work to your praise and glory
Amen
Today's final hymn is "Lord, The Light of Your Love is Shining (Shine, Jesus, Shine)"
Notices
Next Sunday we have a Parish Eucharist at 11.00 am at St Thomas', and no service at St Agnes'.
For all of the upcoming services and events in Leesfield Parish, please click on the 'Calendar' tab in the page header.
