Sunday Worship 19th October

 Sunday Worship

Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Eighteenth 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 will find resources below to worship at home.

Our first hymn this morning is "Jesus, Stand Among Us"

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

In the last 2 chapters of Luke he has shown us how Jesus stresses the need for faith – faith in God the Father. 

Putting it simply, there are three key points to this parable -

1) Take your concerns to God

2) Be persistent

3) Don’t be discouraged.

As we go through the trials and troubles of daily life, we will all face adversity and sometimes, it’s fair to say, we may be at a loss to see how things will change or be made right. 

We may see this at a personal level or at a national or international level. My wife often tells me I’m turning into a “grumpy old man” (not so sure about the old bit!), when I grumble out loud at the news which seems to show a constant stream of stories about unjust wars, corruption and endless abuse of power. I grumble about injustice and people being treated unfairly or exploited. 

In Jesus’ parable of the unjust Judge we see many of these things exposed. The Judge is clearly out of line and the Hebrew people at the time would have rightly been shocked by the parody that Jesus outlines. A couple of weeks ago I wrote how Hebrew law repeatedly states that the Israelites should look after the orphans and widows. They were considered to be the most vulnerable in society because they were destitute and had no one to stand up for them - so when the Judge ignores the widow’s request for help he is clearly going against expectations and religious teachings of the day.

Jesus gives no reason as to why the judge behaved so unfairly, so we might assume he was probably being selfish because the widow had nothing to give him for his services. But the widow refuses to give in and in the end the recalcitrant judge gives in. 

Reading this translation it almost gives the impression that he did so because the persistent widow ground his will down and he just wanted to get her off his back. 

However, in the original Greek version we learn that the widow was so persistent she eventually threated to resort to violence and give the judge a black eye to expose his unjustness. The judge would no doubt suffer deep embarrassment, so he gives in and does the right thing to save face, both physically and metaphorically. The widow was indeed very persistent and was rewarded for her resilience.

You may wonder why Jesus needs to tell His disciples this, and to understand this it is useful to look at the end of the previous chapter. In Luke 17:22-25 Jesus tells them quite bluntly about the suffering and rejection He will soon face. He also tells them how, at the end of times, He will return to judge the living and the dead. He is describing the ’Coming of God’s kingdom’, a time when ultimately all will be judged when the Son of Man returns. 

Jesus knows that they too will face persecution and suffer in His name. So he wants to reassure them that when they pray to God persistently and trust in Him, their prayers will be answered. It is a message of hope and faith that He will make all things right when he makes all things new and He will wipe every tear from the eye of the suffering,  

For me, this the heart of faith, that we pray and share our concerns with God, trusting that He will always hear us and respond in the way that He sees best for us. And when I might be in a ‘grumpy’ mode listening to the news, I am also praying to God that things will change. When I see or hear about people’s worries and ailments and concerns, I am compelled to pray for them time and again. 

We may at times feel a little frustrated when things don’t seem to change in the world or when our requests aren’t answered immediately - but then Jesus reminds us to not to lose heart. The last thing we should do is be disheartened or discouraged, because God hears all our prayers and will answer them when the time is right in the way that is right. We should never give up on God because He will never give up on us. 

He never gives up on us, even when we have broken our promises. God listened to His people when they cried out because they were enslaved by the Egyptians. He listened to their cries when they were thirsty and hungry in the wilderness. Even when they broke their covenant with Him and were exiled, He listened to their cries and rescued them. We should all have faith that when we pray to Him, He is listening and he will be there to help when the time is right. And unlike the judge in the parable, He will not do it grudgingly - when God does respond He will do so willingly because He loves us.         Paul

Our Prayers

Heavenly Father,

We thank you that you are always there,

Listening to our prayers and concerns.

We know that you know what is best for us. Help us to be persistent but also patient,

Give us hope and confidence that you will always respond as and when it is right,

and let our faith in you grow daily.  

Amen

Today's final hymn is "And Can It Be"

Sunday Worship 12th October

 Sunday Worship

Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. Our Church Services this morning are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' and 11.00 am at St Thomas'.

If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.

Our first hymn this morning is "Lord, for the Years"

Today's Gospel

Luke 17:11-19   Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. 

Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. 

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 

Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."

Reflection

Unfortunately, we missed the normal lectionary reading last week as we celebrated our Harvest Festival. The Gospel reading was all about faith, and there is strong element about faith in our Gospel passage today as well as gratitude and thankfulness.

It’s maybe hard to grasp the enormity of what Jesus did without understanding the impact of Leprosy on the people at the time. It was truly awful and devastating. 

People’s skin would go snow white and flake away. Fingers and limbs would lose feeling and literally rot away and eventually fall off. Sufferers would be covered in sores all over their body. The outcome was always death although the sufferers may well live for twenty years or more. They would also be repulsive because the smell of their flesh condition. On top of that there was the emotional and psychological suffering – the stigma of having to leave their family and friends, being social outcasts and having to shout to everyone and warn them not to come too close because they were unclean.

Leprosy was a death sentence and it was the priest’s duty to examine people with any kind of skin infection, and if they suspected leprosy they were to declare them unclean and cast them out of the camp. [Leviticus 13:45-46]. It was also the priest’s job to examine those deemed to be cured and perform rituals on them before they could be declared clean and readmitted to society. This was why Jesus instructed the ten to show themselves to the priest. 

The reality however was that no one was ever cured from the disease, although there could have been instances where a person had been mis-diagnosed and subsequently recovered from some other kind of skin infection. Bear in mind, 2000 years ago medical knowledge was virtually non-existent and fear of leprosy probably led priests to err on the safe side and cast out people when they were unsure what was wrong. 

It is unclear from the reading what the ten lepers expected. We are merely told that they asked Jesus to have mercy on them. Were they expecting pity, food, clothes or money? They would probably have heard of the many rumours of Jesus’ kindness as His reputation grew in the region.  But it is unlikely they expected to be cured. No one was ever cured of leprosy at that time. 

But nevertheless, they did what Jesus told them to do. They set off to see the priest. They couldn’t have had any idea what would happen. They had not been miraculously cured on the spot. They would have still been in pain with all the other awful symptoms described above. The journey would probably have taken quite a while, let’s not forget they were crippled – but still they set off. They had some sort of belief that Jesus was going to make something extraordinary happen, but surely no reason to think they would be miraculously healed; that their damaged body parts would be restored and their skin made like new. But still they set off with belief in Jesus. They had faith. At the depths of their despair they had faith and did what Jesus asked. 

Here’s the point. If they hadn’t trusted Jesus and set off in pain and agony. They wouldn’t have been healed. If they’d looked at each other and said, nothing’s changed we’re as ill now as we were before we met Jesus, so why bother? - they wouldn’t have been healed.

Like the woman who was healed when she touched the hem of Jesus’ cloak, faith came before the miracle. 

There are always times in our lives where things don’t go as we want. Illness, bereavement, losing a job, financial stress. But in the midst of all our turmoil and issues, God is still present and still loves us. When we can’t see the way out of difficulties, we need to have faith that God has still ‘got our back’. Because nothing pleases God more than when we have faith in Him. 

It is not for us to bargain with God or put conditions on our faith by asking Him to fix these issues in my life and I’ll pray more often or go to church more. Or, make my worries go away and I’ll do more to help others. Having faith is about understanding that when we trust in God and obey His will – He will always make things work out according to His plan, not ours. We cannot know what God has in store for us but we need to look hard and recognise where God has been and is working in our lives.  

We need to take stock of all the positive things and above all say thank you. We should be confident that God loves us all, even the outcasts, and He will heal us in ways we can’t imagine.  God who sent His only Son that we might all be saved and healed.                          Paul

Our Prayers

Loving Father,

You pour out endless blessings upon us.

Open our eyes to see your hand at work,

And to give you thanks for all you continue to do for us.

Lord, we pray that we have faith to trust in all you do

And obey your will.

Amen

Today's final hymn is "Through all the Changing Scenes of Life"

Sunday Worship 5th October - Harvest

 Sunday Worship

Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, our Harvest Festival. Today we have just one service in the parish, at 11 am at St Thomas' Church, followed by a Bring and Share Lunch, to which everyone is invited.

If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.

Our first hymn this morning is "Now Thank we all our God"

Today's Bible Reading

Deuteronomy 26:1-11          First Fruits and Tithes

When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, take some of the first fruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. 

Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name and say to the priest in office at the time, “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God.  Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. 

But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labour. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the first fruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.” Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. Then you and the Levites and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household.

Reflection

Today we celebrate harvest festival. Some people believe that Harvest Thanksgiving originates from pagan times and the druids who worshipped the sun and moon and seasons of the year. But in this excerpt from the Bible we can clearly see that it is God’s desire for us to show thanks.

The passage selected comes from the Book of Deuteronomy which means repeated or second law. It is the fifth book of the Bible and essentially, it is a recap of the first four chapters from Genesis through to the Book of Numbers and tells the early story of God’s people and also God’s guidance and laws that we are to follow. 

Verses 5 to 11 very briefly tells of the people of Israel in the Book of Exodus. The story of the descendants of Abraham who were forced to move to Egypt because of a famine in their own land. It tells how, when they got there, they flourished and thrived as immigrants and became a great nation of people. So much so that the Egyptians feared them and forced them into slavery. Then God heard their cry for mercy and rescued them, sending Moses to lead them to the Promised Land of milk and honey.  

The passage is prophetic, because it is telling the Israelites how they are to behave in the Promised Land before they actually get there. They are still in the desert and have been wandering for many years, but are now on the verge of entering and conquering Canaan. 

They are being told in advance how, once they have settled, they are to remember their journey as God’s people and all that He has done for them over generations. You could say that are being given the draft version of the first Harvest Festival Service. They are shown how to be thankful for all of God’s creation and what God continues to do. They are also told that they have to give something back. In the verse that follows this passage they are told to give a tenth (tithe) of the harvest to the orphans, widows and aliens.

 

In our celebrations we focus on food and provisions and quite rightly we make donations that will be given to the local foodbank or other good causes to help the less fortunate.  But we perhaps miss the underlying message in this text about liberty and freedom.

The Israelites first went to Egypt in search of food during a famine. In today’s world some might refer to them as economic migrants. They were fleeing from poverty and starvation looking for somewhere to find a better way of life. 

In our world today we see people doing just the same. They are driven to leave their homes by starvation and poverty. Lands where drought and famine are still prevalent and diseases cause hundreds of thousands of deaths because of lack of money to pay for medical support. People risk their own and their families’ lives to get a better standard of living. 

We need to be grateful to God by sharing and giving to international agencies trying to help. And when people immigrate to our country we need to treat them with the respect they deserve. We should show our gratitude for all God provides by welcoming those who want to make their lives better amongst us. “…… foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household” 

            Paul

Our Prayers

Loving Father,

We give you thanks for goodness and love.

We pray for those across the world who are in poverty;

For people who are desperate for food and water.

For people whose land is unable to support crops

And where animals cannot graze.

Help us to hold out the hand of friendship and give more than we do at the moment.

Help us to show our gratitude for what we have by helping those who have less. 

Amen

This week our prayers are especially with all those affected by the attack on Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue. For the victims, those bereaved & injured, the community, and for all who are working for peace and standing against everything that seeks to divide.

Today's final hymn is "Shalom, My Friend"