Can't make it to church? - June 1

How refreshing it it to find that we're not the only one looking to Jesus to get stuck in and make things work for us - and how more refreshing is it to know that everything is in hand and working to a plan. A plan that was enacted on earth when Gabriel visited Mary was visited, brought Jesus into the world and then saw Him minister, tried, crucified and killed, rising again from the dead and (as we celebrated this week) ascended back into the heavens - something that had to be done for the next part of the plan: the age of the Spirit to be implemented.

Jesus has gone up into the heavens and we, with the benefit of hindsight await the pouring out of the Holy Spirit into our lives. An Act that brings boldness, power and, as Jesus prays in our Gospel passage, protects us against the powers that oppose.  God's power in us cements - no demands - unity between all believers. But in all of our endeavours the devil (who truly does exist folk) prowls around looking to strip and divide us and this is no more evident than in the area of unity.

But we have the power of the Spirit and the resolve of many and in my experience this unity is a reality that we need to celebrate and build upon. Standing together we are a force for good and as soul providers (sic) a place of safety, solace and support.

So wherever you find yourself - be the difference because Jesus has ascended and the plan is still running on track.

Wait expectantly and look to God for your healing, health and joy (because that's what He does) and reach out and touch those who have needs around you.

Collect
Risen, ascended Lord, as we rejoice at your triumph,
fill your Church on earth with power and compassion,
that all who are estranged by sin may find forgiveness and know your peace,
to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Acts 1.6-14
So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

Psalm 68.1-10, 32-35
Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered; let those that hate him flee before him.
As the smoke vanishes, so may they vanish away; as wax melts at the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; let them make merry with gladness.

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; exalt him who rides on the clouds.
The Lord is his name; rejoice before him.
Father of the fatherless, defender of widows, God in his holy habitation!
God gives the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners to songs of welcome, but the rebellious inhabit a burning desert.

O God, when you went forth before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, the earth shook and the heavens dropped down rain, at the presence of God, the Lord of Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel. You sent down a gracious rain, O God; you refreshed your inheritance when it was weary. Your people came to dwell there; in your goodness, O God, you provide for the poor.

Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth; make music in praise of the Lord; He rides on the ancient heaven of heavens and sends forth his voice, a mighty voice. Ascribe power to God, whose splendour is over Israel, whose power is above the clouds. How terrible is God in his holy sanctuary, the God of Israel, who gives power and strength to his people!
Blessed be God.

1 Peter 4.12-14; 5.6-11
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves; keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

John 17.1-11
After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

Post Communion Prayer
Eternal God, giver of love and power,
your Son Jesus Christ has sent us into all the world
to preach the gospel of his kingdom:
confirm us in this mission,
and help us to live the good news we proclaim;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Daily Office - June 1

Justin, Martyr at Rome, c.165

Psalm 20
May the Lord hear you in the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob defend you;
send you help from his sanctuary and strengthen you out of Zion;
remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice;
grant you your heart’s desire and fulfil all your mind.

May we rejoice in your salvation and triumph in the name of our God;
may the Lord perform all your petitions.

Now I know that the Lord will save his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven, with the mighty strength of his right hand.
Some put their trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will call only on the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright.

O Lord, save the king and answer us when we call upon you.

Psalm 21
The king shall rejoice in your strength, O Lord;
how greatly shall he rejoice in your salvation!
You have given him his heart’s desire and have not denied the request of his lips.
For you come to meet him with blessings of goodness and set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
He asked of you life and you gave it him, length of days, for ever and ever.
His honour is great because of your salvation;
glory and majesty have you laid upon him.
You have granted him everlasting felicity and will make him glad with joy in your presence.
For the king puts his trust in the Lord;
because of the loving-kindness of the Most High, he shall not be overthrown.
Your hand shall mark down all your enemies;
your right hand will find out those who hate you.
You will make them like a fiery oven in the time of your wrath;
the Lord will swallow them up in his anger and the fire will consume them.
Their fruit you will root out of the land and their seed from among its inhabitants.
Because they intend evil against you and devise wicked schemes which they cannot perform,
You will put them to flight when you aim your bow at their faces.

Be exalted, O Lord, in your own might;
we will make music and sing of your power.

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd; therefore can I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters.
He shall refresh my soul and guide me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me;
you have anointed my head with oil and my cup shall be full.

Surely goodness and loving mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Job 12
Then Job answered:

‘No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
 But I have understanding as well as you;
 I am not inferior to you.
 Who does not know such things as these?
 I am a laughing-stock to my friends;
 I, who called upon God and he answered me, a just and blameless man,
 I am a laughing-stock.
 Those at ease have contempt for misfortune, but it is ready for those whose feet are unstable.
 The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hands.

‘But ask the animals, and they will teach you;
 the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
 ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you;
 and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
 Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?
 In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being.
 Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food?
 Is wisdom with the aged, and understanding in length of days?

‘With God are wisdom and strength;
 he has counsel and understanding.
 If he tears down, no one can rebuild;
 if he shuts someone in, no one can open up.
 If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
 if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.

 With him are strength and wisdom;
 the deceived and the deceiver are his.
 He leads counsellors away stripped, and makes fools of judges.
 He looses the sash of kings, and binds a waistcloth on their loins.
 He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows the mighty.
 He deprives of speech those who are trusted, and takes away the discernment of the elders.
 He pours contempt on princes, and looses the belt of the strong.
 He uncovers the deeps out of darkness, and brings deep darkness to light.
 He makes nations great, then destroys them;
 he enlarges nations, then leads them away.
 He strips understanding from the leaders of the earth, and makes them wander in a pathless waste.
 They grope in the dark without light;
 he makes them stagger like a drunkard.

Romans 6.15-end
What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.

When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Collect
God our redeemer,
who through the folly of the cross taught your martyr Justin
the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ:
remove from us every kind of error
that we, like him, may be firmly grounded in the faith,
and make your name known to all peoples;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.