What would usually have been a cool Sunday was tinged with sadness as one of our lovely old ladies left the building this week. She'd been looking tired and was obviously struggling and I guess it was truly a blessed relief for her - and a sadness for those left behind. Add to this the loss of half a couple who have been a big part at another of our churches and the recent loss of another chap and it all gets a bit sad.
But we celebrated lives and did the stuff in a couple of places and then did a couple of baptisms - two beautiful babes (one being the Mum who just shone) and the younger of the pair managed the whole event without crying when I got him wet. It was an odd service with convoluted and unwieldy liturgy and no oil for the chrismation - and, of course, for once my oil stock was left at home - so I did a virtual signing and explained how oil, water and light were the key elements of the service,
We missed bits - after all, how many responses can you insert into a block of text before it gets to be worthless - and we laid the tracks as the train was running and in the end, did something sequitur and theologically sorted.
Phase one of the day lasted six hours - but it felt like one, the sign of a great day - phase two took the shape of a bit of pastoral engagement and raced through and then, wonder of wonders, I had an evening off so I chilled with the family.
But what of today?
I learnt that misshaped liturgy is something unprintable to me and something of an obstruction to those outside the Church who are subjected to it. It's stupid, lazy and arrogant to assume that we need to dumb down our services because people are thick. It's pathetic to visit a church and talk down to or demean the congregation because of our own lack of liturgy, theology and experience - the fault too often lies in us.
Lord, on a day when we celebrated the second Adam,
A day when we remembered what sin has done,
A day when we celebrated new life in Christ,
For the bits where I was a stumbling block - I'm sorry
For the bits where I was a light in the darkness - I'm thankful
For those who heard the Gospel preached - I'm hopeful.
Well here we are at the start of Lent, and what a start it is as we have, in the Genesis account, the very reason that we need Jesus pointed out to us, as if we needed reminding of the story of ‘the fall’ - it's another big readings (remember the 1.1 - 2.3 reading recently?
This first Adam has blown it all and instead of walking with God in the cool of the evening, he (and she) have been booted out. Sin has brought caused about a separation between them; man and God are wrenched apart and death has come into the world and given birth to the question, “What can be done to restore things?”
Well who is better equipped that Paul to answer this question and explain God’s rescue plan?
Adam has blown it big style – if I were to rewrite the Bible I'd use a time machine and tip Eve off about that Apple, or perhaps tell Adam to pick a different rib or something; but God has a different plan. Where I'd reset the clock, God decides to keep it running and draw a new line from which the human race could move from – a real life ‘old had gone, new has come moment’!
Sin and death have entered the world, through one man and the die is cast.so what better way than to offer a replacement who will turn the tables completely: Many died because of one man’s sin – and by one man’s obedience will life come to many.
This is the obedience that takes Jesus, the Christ, to the Cross for us that our sins might be forgiven. Adam’s fall came after one sin, the salvation of God is found in Jesus after innumerable sins. But the Cross is the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry and we are at the very beginning of the six-week journey to it that is Lent so what better place for our Gospel to be found at than the culmination of Jesus’ six-week journey than His being tempted by the enemy in the desert.
One of the ways to be obedient is to live by the rules – and our greatest defence against the things that oppose God and His call on us is to respond with the words of the Bible. This is what Jesus does when faced with the three ‘pre-ministry’ questions relating to ‘provision, protection and power’ and you know what? It worked then and it works now.
So in a nutshell learn the word, for it is indeed the sword of the Spirit, the means by which we respond to those situations which challenge and entice.
Look to Jesus, the Christ, our second Adam and determine to be disciplined disciples and to resist the snares of the enemy as we take up our Cross and follow Him. Christianity is simple really: Love the Lord, keep the rules and share the love!
The Collect
Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness, and was tempted as we are, yet without sin: give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit; and, as you know our weakness, so may we know your power to save; 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.
Genesis 2:15-3:21
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this. Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals. You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
To the woman he said,“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labour you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Romans 5:12-21
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned - To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law.Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgement followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Post Communion Prayer
Lord God, you have renewed us with the living bread from heaven; by it you nourish our faith, increase our hope, and strengthen our love: teach us always to hunger for him who is the true and living bread, and enable us to live by every word that proceeds from out of your mouth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 71
In you, O Lord, do I seek refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your righteousness, deliver me and set me free; incline your ear to me and save me. Be for me a stronghold to which I may ever resort; send out to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the evildoer and the oppressor. For you are my hope, O Lord God, my confidence, even from my youth. Upon you have I leaned from my birth, when you drew me from my mother’s womb; my praise shall be always of you.
I have become a portent to many, but you are my refuge and my strength. Let my mouth be full of your praise and your glory all the day long. Do not cast me away in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength fails. For my enemies are talking against me, and those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together. They say, ‘God has forsaken him; pursue him and take him, because there is none to deliver him.’
O God, be not far from me; come quickly to help me, O my God. Let those who are against me be put to shame and disgrace; let those who seek to do me evil be covered with scorn and reproach.
But as for me I will hope continually and will praise you more and more. My mouth shall tell of your righteousness and salvation all the day long, for I know no end of the telling. I will begin with the mighty works of the Lord God; I will recall your righteousness, yours alone.
O God, you have taught me since I was young, and to this day I tell of your wonderful works. Forsake me not, O God, when I am old and grey-headed, till I make known your deeds to the next generation and your power to all that are to come. Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens; in the great things you have done, who is like you, O God?
What troubles and adversities you have shown me, and yet you will turn and refresh me and bring me from the deep of the earth again. Increase my honour; turn again and comfort me.
Therefore will I praise you upon the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. My lips will sing out as I play to you, and so will my soul, which you have redeemed. My tongue also will tell of your righteousness all the day long, for they shall be shamed and disgraced who sought to do me evil.
Jeremiah 4.1-18
If you return, O Israel, says the Lord,
if you return to me,
if you remove your abominations from my presence, and do not waver, and
if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives!’ in truth, in justice, and in uprightness, then nations shall be blessed by him, and by him they shall boast.
For thus says the Lord to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem:
Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns.
Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, remove the foreskin of your hearts, O people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else my wrath will go forth like fire, and burn with no one to quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: Blow the trumpet through the land; shout aloud and say, ‘Gather together, and let us go into the fortified cities!’
Raise a standard towards Zion, flee for safety, do not delay, for I am bringing evil from the north, and a great destruction.
A lion has gone up from its thicket,
a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone out from his place to make your land a waste; your cities will be ruins without inhabitant. Because of this put on sackcloth, lament and wail:
‘The fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us.’
On that day, says the Lord, courage shall fail the king and the officials; the priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded. Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God, how utterly you have deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, “It shall be well with you”, even while the sword is at the throat!’
At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights in the desert towards my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse—a wind too strong for that. Now it is I who speak in judgement against them.
Look! He comes up like clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles—woe to us, for we are ruined!
O Jerusalem, wash your heart clean of wickedness so that you may be saved.
How long shall your evil schemes lodge within you?
For a voice declares from Dan and proclaims disaster from Mount Ephraim.
Tell the nations, ‘Here they are!’ Proclaim against Jerusalem,
‘Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah.
They have closed in around her like watchers of a field, because she has rebelled against me, says the Lord.
Your ways and your doings have brought this upon you. This is your doom; how bitter it is! It has reached your very heart.’
John 4.43-end
When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee (for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honour in the prophet’s own country). When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem
at the festival; for they too had gone to the festival.
Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.’ The official said to him, ‘Sir, come down before my little boy dies.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, ‘Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.’ The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ So he himself believed, along with his whole household. Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
The Collect
Holy God, our lives are laid open before you: rescue us from the chaos of sin and through the death of your Son bring us healing and make us whole in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
What an interesting and varied funeral-related day it has been. I've done a service in church, a service in the crematorium, another service in a rain soaked cemetery a memorial service, arranged two more funerals, given one away and had a much loved church member die (the second in less than a week).
Anyone who knows me also knows just how much I love funerals- for I regard them as one of the best bits of the clerical role a along with evangelism, apologetics, seeing people make a decision for Christ, preaching, studying, making music, being pastoral, and making time with God in prayer and reflection (which is a very special place I get to visit far too rarely).
So today I climb out of bed and having written my final bits of paper for the services, I read them through so that everything is fresh in my memory so I don't need to look at the paper when speaking at the deceased. This is a small and simple step but I have to say I struggle with people reading stuff (usually in a wooden manner) about the deceased. This, along with getting names and material facts wrong, is a sin that's up there with running over allotted time in the crem'
I almost always burn a back up CD of the music to be played in the service - it's part of the OCD funeral person I have become - and this is something that has served me and the people I'm doing the funeral for extremely well as the number of times a CD doesn't play is now in excess of 10%.
There are a number of reasons for doing a backup CD:
i. It means that there is a back up system in place should things go wrongs,
ii. It means that I have a CD at the service whose quality and ability to play is assured,
iii. If the people for whom I am doing the service need help, then I have provided it by producing the CD for them - this ticks box i. and ii. and adds a little more support to the bereaved as it takes pressure off them and resolves some of my concerns (I still burn two CDs though).
So today, having finished with stuff by 02:00 and being just a tad tired after a riotous 17hr day, for some reason, I didn't burn a CD. Arriving at the church for the first service I find that the CD is nowhere to be seen - so I jump in the car, pop home and burn one for them. Arriving back we get started and as we process in the verger stands at the nave and says / mouthes / sort of half shouts, "It won't play!" (I swear I hear the word Gromit at the end, but who knows I could just be going a bit bonkers!!).
Undeterred we carry on and I do the beginning of the service and as the congregation sing the first hymn I pop and have a try. Nope, the same CD that played in the car on my return journey to the church is not playing - the CD player has given up the ghost - on to plan B.
As the congregation continue to sing (thank You Lord for long hymns) I swiftly visit the iTunes Store and purchase the tracks required for the rest of the service. After this the service potters along the well worn tracks of funeral with nary a hitch, although playing the first of the reflection pieces by plonking my iPhone on the microphone did cause more than a few smiles from some of the assembled folk. And as we left, microphone pointing to iPhone, I thanked God for the ability to problem solve, smile and possess technology.
So that was an interesting start to the day and the trip to the crematorium, for a man I cared about and have much respect, was the complete opposite experience as it was one of those where the rhythm turned a potentially leaden service into pure gold.
The visit to the cemetery, in torrential rain (thank God for cloaks) was a pretty long drawn out affair and many of those who arrived did so in dribs and drabs and this meant some of us had been gathered for almost twenty-five minutes. That's sure to see me with a cold by the time we hit next week!!
But a straightforward and steady service, as I walked from the grave whilst, a la Beatles, no one might have been saved, they were certainly shown the Saviour :-)
Memorial services are always a little challenging because there is a danger that as the service progresses we will introduce to the assembled masses a new deity, The balance between pointing to God, doing the deceased justice, telling the stories, comforting the bereaved and celebrating a life lived is delicate and precise. The blessing of having my own PA and microphones and other kit means that I can control and manage the talk and technical side - like burning CDs - another OCD belt and braces element.
But the memorial went well. It had God and the deceased standing side-by-side, and those present happy at the end result.
All in all, a very pleasing and blessed day - amazing to walk in and realise that eleven of the hours that today has contained has been directly associated with funeral. Perhaps this have been the 'one day' I work sorted then?
Psalm 3
Lord, how many are my adversaries; many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say to my soul, ‘There is no help for you in your God.’
But you, Lord, are a shield about me; you are my glory, and the lifter up of my head. When I cry aloud to the Lord, he will answer me from his holy hill; I lie down and sleep and rise again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not be afraid of hordes of the peoples that have set themselves against me all around.
Rise up, O Lord, and deliver me, O my God, for you strike all my enemies on the cheek and break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord: may your blessing be upon your people.
Psalm 7
O Lord my God, in you I take refuge; save me from all who pursue me, and deliver me, Lest they rend me like a lion and tear me in pieces while there is no one to help me.
O Lord my God, if I have done these things: if there is any wickedness in my hands, If I have repaid my friend with evil, or plundered my enemy without a cause, Then let my enemy pursue me and overtake me, trample my life to the ground, and lay my honour in the dust.
Rise up, O Lord, in your wrath; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies. Awaken, my God, the judgement that you have commanded. Let the assembly of the peoples gather round you; be seated high above them: O Lord, judge the nations. Give judgement for me according to my righteousness, O Lord, and according to the innocence that is in me. Let the malice of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; for you test the mind and heart, O righteous God.
God is my shield that is over me; he saves the true of heart.
God is a righteous judge; he is provoked all day long.
If they will not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent his bow and made it ready. He has prepared the weapons of death; he makes his arrows shafts of fire.
Behold those who are in labour with wickedness, who conceive evil and give birth to lies. They dig a pit and make it deep and fall into the hole that they have made for others. Their mischief rebounds on their own head; their violence falls on their own scalp. I will give thanks to the Lord for his righteousness, and I will make music to the name of the Lord Most High.
Jeremiah 3.6-22
The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and played the whore there? And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me’; but she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw it. She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce; yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom so lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. Yet for all this her false sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but only in pretence, says the Lord.
Then the Lord said to me: Faithless Israel has shown herself less guilty than false Judah. Go, and proclaim these words towards the north, and say: Return, faithless Israel, says the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, says the Lord; I will not be angry for ever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the Lord your God, and scattered your favours among strangers under every green tree, and have not obeyed my voice,says the Lord.
Return, O faithless children, says the Lord, for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It shall not come to mind, or be remembered, or missed; nor shall another one be made. At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no longer stubbornly follow their own evil will. In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your ancestors for a heritage.
I thought how I would set you among my children, and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful heritage of all the nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me. Instead, as a faithless wife leaves her husband so you have been faithless to me, O house of Israel, says the Lord.
A voice on the bare heights is heard, the plaintive weeping of Israel’s children, because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten the Lord their God: Return, O faithless children, I will heal your faithlessness. ‘Here we come to you; for you are the Lord our God.
John 4.27-42
Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you want?’ or, ‘Why are you speaking with her?’ Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’ They left the city and were on their way to him.
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has brought him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, “Four months more, then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.’
Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’
The Collect
Holy God, our lives are laid open before you: rescue us from the chaos of sin and through the death of your Son bring us healing and make us whole in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
2am and I find myself hitting the sack after what has ended up being a seventeen and a bit hour day - so much for me telling the other half I was going to behave with my daily round! But that's what this ministry thing is all about; meeting needs and being there.
The interesting thing is that there were no aircraft crashes or other disasters - all that happened today was just life going on, in abundance, but nothing more.
And me? I was showing God's love and doing the stuff people take for granted. There was. O running into burning buildings or any heroics: and that is what being a Christian is all about: Being there for the silly things; for the tragic events: The, "I don't want to bother you, but . . . " things.
Lord,
for the mundane things I give you thanks, for in them we meet with the exceptionaL
for the small things that combine to create a gargantuan,
For the minefields other create and in which we seek to grow a garden of peace,
for the grace to forgive as we are forgiven.
for the tears of loss and the laughter of remembrance.
for all that today was and tomorrow will be,
I offer You my thanks, love and self.
Psalm 77
I cry aloud to God; I cry aloud to God and he will hear me.
In the day of my trouble I have sought the Lord; by night my hand is stretched out and does not tire; my soul refuses comfort. I think upon God and I groan; I ponder, and my spirit faints. You will not let my eyelids close; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I consider the days of old; I remember the years long past; I commune with my heart in the night; my spirit searches for understanding.
Will the Lord cast us off for ever?
Will he no more show us his favour?
Has his loving mercy clean gone for ever?
Has his promise come to an end for evermore?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he shut up his compassion in displeasure?
And I said, ‘My grief is this: that the right hand of the Most High has lost its strength.’ I will remember the works of the Lord and call to mind your wonders of old time. I will meditate on all your works and ponder your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy; who is so great a god as our God?
You are the God who worked wonders and declared your power among the peoples. With a mighty arm you redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph.
The waters saw you, O God; the waters saw you and were afraid; the depths also were troubled.
The clouds poured out water; the skies thundered; your arrows flashed on every side;
The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lit up the ground; the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was in the sea, and your paths in the great waters, but your footsteps were not known. You led your people like sheep by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Jeremiah 2.14-32
Is Israel a slave? Is he a home-born servant? Why then has he become plunder?
The lions have roared against him, they have roared loudly.They have made his land a waste; his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant. Moreover, the people of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head. Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the Lord your God, while he led you in the way?
What then do you gain by going to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what do you gain by going to Assyria, to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
Your wickedness will punish you, and your apostasies will convict you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God; the fear of me is not in you,
says the Lord God of hosts.
For long ago you broke your yoke and burst your bonds, and you said, ‘I will not serve!’ On every high hill and under every green tree you sprawled and played the whore. Yet I planted you as a choice vine, from the purest stock.
How then did you turn degenerate and become a wild vine?
Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me,
says the Lord God.
How can you say, ‘I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way in the valley; know what you have done—a restive young camel interlacing her tracks, a wild ass at home in the wilderness, in her heat sniffing the wind!
Who can restrain her lust?
None who seek her need weary themselves; in her month they will find her. Keep your feet from going unshod and your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless, for I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.’
As a thief is shamed when caught, so the house of Israel shall be shamed—they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, who say to a tree, ‘You are my father’, and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their backs to me and not their faces. But in the time of their trouble they say, ‘Come and save us!’
But where are your gods that you made for yourself?
Let them come, if they can save you, in your time of trouble; for you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.
Why do you complain against me? You have all rebelled against me, says the Lord.
In vain I have struck down your children; they accepted no correction. Your own sword devoured your prophets like a ravening lion. And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord!
Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness Why then do my people say, ‘We are free, we will come to you no more’?
Can a girl forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire?
Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number.
John 4.1-26
Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, ‘Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John’— although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized—he left Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’
Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come back.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who is speaking to you.’
The Collect
Almighty God, from the first fruits of the English nation who turned to Christ, you called your servant Chad to be an evangelist and bishop of his own people: give us grace so to follow his peaceable nature, humble spirit and prayerful life, that we may truly commend to others the faith which we ourselves profess; 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.
Psalm 38
Rebuke me not, O Lord, in your anger, neither chasten me in your heavy displeasure. For your arrows have stuck fast in me and your hand presses hard upon me. There is no health in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no peace in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; their weight is a burden too heavy to bear.
My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness. I am utterly bowed down and brought very low; I go about mourning all the day long. My loins are filled with searing pain; there is no health in my flesh. I am feeble and utterly crushed; I roar aloud because of the disquiet of my heart.
O Lord, you know all my desires and my sighing is not hidden from you. My heart is pounding, my strength has failed me; the light of my eyes is gone from me. My friends and companions stand apart from my affliction; my neighbours stand afar off. Those who seek after my life lay snares for me; and those who would harm me whisper evil and mutter slander all the day long.
But I am like one who is deaf and hears not, like one that is dumb, who does not open his mouth. I have become like one who does not hear and from whose mouth comes no retort. For in you, Lord, have I put my trust; you will answer me, O Lord my God. For I said, ‘Let them not triumph over me, those who exult over me when my foot slips.’
Truly, I am on the verge of falling and my pain is ever with me. I will confess my iniquity and be sorry for my sin. Those that are my enemies without any cause are mighty, and those who hate me wrongfully are many in number. Those who repay evil for good are against me, because the good is what I seek.
Forsake me not, O Lord; be not far from me, O my God.
Make haste to help me, O Lord of my salvation.
Daniel 9.3-6,17-19
Then I turned to the Lord God, to seek an answer by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying,
‘Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love with those who love you and keep your commandments, we have sinned and done wrong, acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and ordinances. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land. Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication, and for your own sake, Lord, let your face shine upon your desolated sanctuary. Incline your ear, O my God, and hear. Open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that bears your name. We do not present our supplication before you on the ground of our righteousness, but on the ground of your great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, listen and act and do not delay! For your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people bear your name!’
1 Timothy 6.6-19
Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honour and eternal dominion. Amen.
As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.
The Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing that you have made and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may receive from you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; 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.
