One of the most important parts of our worship in church is the Liturgy of the Word, in other words, if you’ll pardon the pun, the readings. I think the importance of our Scripture readings to our worship and in our worship really should go without saying because when we come to church to worship the Lord we say, do we not, that we come to meet the Lord in word and sacrament. But, if we ever are in any doubt about the importance of the readings to and in our worship, the responses that we make to the readings should tell us how important they are. Just think of what we say. To the words “This is the word of the Lord” at the end of the first and second reading, we respond by saying “Thanks be to God.” When the Gospel is announced we say, “Glory to Christ our Saviour” or “Glory to you, O Lord.” And at the end of the Gospel we say, “Praise to Christ our Lord” or “Praise to you, O Christ.” So in response to the readings we hear during our worship we declare that we thank God for his word, we acclaim Christ as our Lord and Saviour and say that we glorify and praise him for his word and example as revealed to us in our readings.

Those responses should tell us something of the importance of the words we’ve just heard but do our response actually mean anything or are they mere words? We say we thank God for his word, but do we? Do we really thank God for his word and show our thanks by using his word in our lives, or do we just say we thank him because it’s what we’re supposed to say at that point in the service? We say that we glorify Christ as our Lord and Saviour in response to his words, but do we? Do we glorify Christ by allowing his words to tell us something about him and about the Father, or do we say this simply because that’s what our service books tell us to say when the Gospel is announced? We say we praise Christ as our Lord after the Gospel, but do we? Do we really praise Christ as our Lord by making him the Lord of our lives and living as he commanded us to, or again, do we say this simply because our service books tell us it’s what we’re supposed to say at this point in our worship?

To be honest, I think that the importance of the Liturgy of the Word to and in our worship would be emphasised more if we changed the order of our services. As we all know, in our worship, the Liturgy of the Word, the readings, comes after what the Church of England used to call the Preparation and now calls the Gathering. That’s the part of the service where we have the Penitential Rite, when we make our confession and receive absolution. But I think it would be much better if we reversed that order and had a brief introduction to the service and had the Liturgy of the Word before the Penitential Rite. I think if we heard the readings and the sermon before we were asked to call to mind and confess our sins, we’d probably all be able to call to mind our sins much more easily and so confess to and receive absolution for more of them. How many times, for example, have we all heard sermons when we’ve thought the preacher was speaking to us, personally? Then imagine that happening before we’re asked to call to mind and confess our sins and I’m sure you’ll get the idea behind my thinking.

The purpose of a sermon though is, or should be, to highlight and explain some point or theme in the readings that we’ve heard just before the sermon is preached. A preacher might make a general point, or they might say something more particular to the congregation they’re preaching to, but whichever it is, the sermon should be based on and revolve around the readings. We can see an example of that in St Paul’s letters. St Paul uses the Scriptures in a more general sense in his letters of course because he wasn’t delivering a sermon in person on a particular day, but if we read his letters, we can find general points that apply to all Christians, and we can also find very specific points that apply to particular Churches or congregations. But what St Paul says is always rooted in God’s word; in the Scriptures and in the teaching, the words, and example of Christ. So the Scriptures, God’s word, is extremely important to us and the Liturgy of the Word, the readings we hear in church, are an extremely important part of our worship. And it’s important that we treat them in that way. It’s important both in our worship and in our daily lives as Christians.

In our reading from the Letter to the Hebrews this morning we read that,

‘… the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit … discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.’

That emphasises just how important God’s word is to us as Christians. Whether it’s God’s word as written in Scripture or God’s word made flesh, Jesus Christ, we can’t hide from God’s word. It cuts right to the very heart of who and what we are and exposes everything we do. However much we might want to hide or try to hide from God’s word, we can’t because, in the end, it’s by the standard of God’s word that we will all be judged. And we see that in the encounter between Jesus and the rich young man in this morning’s Gospel.

Just as we all do, this young man wanted to know what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. But as we read on, his question seems to be somewhat qualified by a sense of self-righteousness. Jesus told him to keep the commandments, but the young man said he was doing that already. So what was the point of his question? Perhaps he wanted to know if there was anything more he needed to do? Or perhaps he was just seeking some kind of reassurance or confirmation from Jesus that he was doing enough already? But Jesus, God’s word made flesh, cut right to the very heart of who and what this young man was. He might very well have been obeying God word in keeping the commandments, but he was ignoring those words of God that meant he would have to give up, or at least share, his great wealth with the poor and needy. That was what he needed to do to inherit eternal life but that was the very thing he didn’t want to do. What was holding him back was his attachment to his earthly wealth. God’s word in the Scriptures could and would have told him that, and Jesus, God’s word made flesh, did tell him, but he didn’t want to listen to these words of God because they were too difficult for him to hear.

And what about us? How important is God’s word to us? How well do we hear his word? We heard this morning that God’s word will cut right to the very heart of who and what we are, but how well do we listen? If we really do listen to God’s word, it will cut us, it will cut us very deeply and painfully at times because it will expose who and what we really are, and everything we do. But if we want to inherit eternal life, we have to listen to what God’s word is saying to us about ourselves and we have to allow God’s word to change us so that we become more like the people God’s word says we should be and need to be. But are we prepared to do that or are we like the rich young man in this morning’s Gospel? Are we people who listen to God’s word only insofar as God’s word confirms us in who and what we are already, and who then turn a deaf ear to those words of God that cut us and hurt us because they expose our faults and failings, our sins?

I said a little earlier that I think the order of our service is wrong; that it would be better to hear the readings and sermon before we were asked to call to mind and confess our sins. I don’t have the authority to make such drastic changes to the Church’s liturgy but what I can do is ask you to engage in a spiritual exercise along those lines.

Many of you either have your own books with the readings for the day in them and most of you receive the readings now by email and you all have bibles so you should all be able to read the Scripture readings for Sunday before you come to church. I know some of you do that already, but I’d like you all to do that. Read God’s word and then try to reflect on how well you’ve lived out and lived up to his word in your own lives over the past week. Be honest; don’t be afraid to let God’s word cut you and hurt you because that’s simply a sign that his word is becoming something alive and active in your lives. Make a note of where you’ve kept God’s word well, but don’t be afraid to make a note, even a mental note, of where you haven’t done that so well. And bring those things with you when you come to church so that you’ll be able to call them to mind and confess them when you’re asked to. We always need to remember that we’re not forgiven for sins that, for whatever reason, we don’t or choose not to confess, so more we can call to mind and confess, the more we can be forgiven for.

Don’t forget too, to make some time during our worship to give thanks to God for the times that you have kept his word well. And, as you give thanks to God for his word and glorify and praise Christ, and acclaim him as our Lord and Saviour, make those words mean something more than simply responses that our service books tell us we should say. Make God’s word, all his words, something alive and active in your lives because that is what we must all do to inherit eternal life.

Amen.

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The Propers for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Trinity 19) can be viewed here.

If we cast our minds back some 18 months or so, to the start of the coronavirus pandemic, we’ll probably remember that, when the scale of the pandemic began to dawn on us and we realised how much our lives were going to have to change, at least for the foreseeable future, people were wondering how we’d all react to this. The question was asked whether the pandemic would bring out people’s better nature and whether it would show that, despite appearances to the contrary, when it came to the crunch, people were much more public spirited, caring, and willing to help others than they often appear to be. And I know that many people did think that this would be the case. But what has actually  been that reality of life with Covid-19? What has the pandemic revealed about people?

We have to say that many people did indeed rally to the aid of others. Many people helped those who were particularly vulnerable to Covid by shopping for them and, in so far as they could, keeping in touch with them to make sure that the vulnerable were not so isolated and alone as they might otherwise have been. Our health service workers went above and beyond the call of duty to care for those who were ill because of coronavirus. In fact, I’m sure we can all think of people who really have shown true concern, true Christian love we might say, for others during the pandemic.

But if many have shown their true colours by helping others, we have to say that many have shown their true colours in a very different way because I don’t think there can be any doubt whatsoever that the coronavirus pandemic has shown many people in our society to be crass and selfish.

How many people have we heard say that it was wrong to impose lockdowns to try to limit the spread of coronavirus? How many people do we know, or know about, who ignored the calls, and even the legislation to socially distance and limit their contact with others? How many people do we know, or have we heard, who’ve said that we were making a mountain out of a mole hill and that Covid-19 was no worse than flu? How many people do we know, or have we heard, who were, and still are, adamant that they will not be vaccinated against this virus? I know quite a few people who’ve said and done all these things and who’ve criticised me and argued with me because I followed the advice to shield at the start of the lockdown, and was vaccinated. I even know some who’ve said and done all these things whilst at the same time criticising others for saying and doing them. People who’ve tried to act as though life was normal, as though Covid-19 either wasn’t real or wasn’t serious, whilst criticising others for doing the same, and acting as though everything was normal. And in the early days of the pandemic there was that other sign of people’s selfishness and lack of concern for others, one which we’ve been reminded of in recent weeks, panic buying.

I said that these things are a sign of people’s true colours, and I said that because I thinks it’s true. Crass selfishness is something that we see so much of in the world regardless of the cause, or reason, or excuse. And because it is so common and so widespread it’s a massive problem for all of us, regardless of who we are or where we live. We’ve seen it during the coronavirus pandemic, and we’re seeing it again now. This time, various excuses are being given for it; supply chain issues, shortage of workers, especially drivers, the energy crisis; take your pick. And all this is still because of Covid, or is it Brexit? But whatever the excuse people use for the way they behave when there’s a problem in the world, time and time again, they behave in the way they do because of crass selfishness, a self-centred attitude towards life and an un-thinking, insensitivity to the needs of others.

Today, we’re having our Harvest Thanksgiving services and so it’s a day when, in addition to thanking God for our food, we remember where our food comes from; that it’s the produce of the earth. And so, as our food comes from the richness of the earth, it’s a day when we should remember and give thanks for the earth, the good earth that God has given us stewardship over. And yet, as we give thanks for these things, we do so in the knowledge that we’ve been bad stewards of the earth; we’ve not cared for it as we should have done and now, the earth is in trouble, and because of that, so are we. And yet, don’t we see and hear the same kind of attitude towards the problem of climate change as we have done towards coronavirus during the pandemic? Don’t we hear people denying that anything is wrong? Don’t we see people carrying on with ‘business as normal’ despite the damage that business is doing to the environment? And what lies behind all this except crass selfishness? People are making too much money to stop what they’re doing. People are too comfortable with the way things are to change. And, of course, someone else is always to blame and it’s always someone else’s problem isn’t it.

I think perhaps these things can be summed up by some comments that were made during a conversation I had about climate change some time ago now. A group of us were discussing the problem and talking about what changes we’d like to see and what changes we’d be prepared to make ourselves to do something about the problem. Some people said they weren’t prepared to do anything because it won’t make any difference what we as individuals do, governments and big business had caused the problem and so it was up to them to do something about it. And one person said they weren’t going to make any changes to the way they live because of climate change because, and I quote, “it’s a problem for the future and with a bit of luck, I’ll be dead by then.” It’s not my problem, why should I do anything about it? How crass, how self-centred can anyone be about anything, let alone a problem that affects each and every one of us, and will do for generations to come? 

Isn’t it just that kind of attitude though, that Jesus warns us about in our Gospel reading this morning? At St Mark’s this morning we heard the parable of the Rich Fool, a man who was happy and content with the way things are. And why not, he’d done well for himself, thank you very much, so why should he want to do anything other than enjoy what he had. Why should he want to do anything but eat, drink and be merry? He was a man who already had enough but wanted even more and, when he got it, he wanted to keep it all for himself. Why should he care about those who didn’t have as much, or even enough? That was their problem. (Does this sound a bit like panic buyers by the way?).  We have a saying based on the parable of the Rich Fool, don’t we, ‘Eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow we die.’ But for the man in the parable, tomorrow never came, he was to die that night and so he never got to eat, drink and be merry as he’d hoped to. But his bigger problem was that he now had to answer for his crass selfishness, for his greed and lack of concern for anyone but himself. And that’s a lesson that so many people today need to learn. The problem is, of course, that so many people today don’t seem to believe they ever do, or will have to answer to anyone, for anything they do.

And in our Gospel reading at St Gabriel’s this morning, Jesus urges us to stop worrying about earthly matters; to let go of our obsession with earthly riches. To stop thinking in terms of how much can we have and get and instead to strive for God’s kingdom and his righteousness. To put all our efforts into living as God wants us to live. And if we do want to live that way, there can’t be any room in our lives for the crass selfishness that so many people seem to show in their lives. Because to live as God wants us to live means that we must think every bit as much about others as we do about ourselves.

Harvest Thanksgiving is a time when we’re reminded of the importance of doing that. It’s a time when we give thanks to God for our food, for the riches and richness of the earth, and for all his goodness towards us. But it’s also a time when we are asked to think about others and our Harvest gifts are a sign and symbol of that. So, let’s make this Harvest Thanksgiving a reminder of our need to show our true colours as Christians. Not just at Harvest Thanksgiving time, nor at any other time or day of the year, but all the time on each and every day of every year. To show that we’re not rich fools but people who strive each and every day of our lives for God’s kingdom and righteousness.

Amen.

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The Propers for Harvest Thanksgiving can be viewed here.

Anyone who’s ever taken up something as a hobby or pastime, or who’s taken up something for a more serious purpose such as a sport with the intention of entering into competition, will know that, in order to improve at what we’re doing requires at least some dedication to the activity in question. We may find that we have some natural ability at what we’ve decided to take up but, unless we practice what we’re doing, we’ll never be as good as we could be at that, or indeed any activity we engage in. 

We usually take up hobbies and sports, of course, because we want to do them and enjoy doing them and so practice isn’t usually too much of an effort for us; or at least, up to a certain point it isn’t. But what happens when we’ve reached as far as our natural ability at an activity will take us? If we want to improve beyond that level, practice becomes harder. It’s not so easy for us anymore because we’re having to push ourselves beyond our comfort zone, probably both in terms of what we’re having to do in practice and the amount of time we’re having to spend in practice. And that can make something we took up for pleasure, not so pleasant as it once was. Once we’ve reached that stage, what we’re doing becomes just as much about hard work and dedication as it is about pleasure and so it’s usually when we reach that stage in our progress at an activity that we have a decision to make. Do we settle for the level, the standard, we’ve managed to achieve already and simply do what we need to do to maintain that standard? Do we give up on that activity and look for something else that’s easier and more enjoyable? Or do we knuckle down to the task in hand and put in the work and the time we need to, so that we can carry on getting better at it?

I’m sure we’ve all found ourselves in that situation at some time in our lives. I know I have. At one time, I was learning to play the piano and, at first, I’d happily put my ‘hour a day’ and more. But once I’d reached a certain level, things started becoming a bit harder. For one thing, I was having to play pieces of music that I didn’t really like. My piano teacher said it was what I needed to do to take my playing to the next level but, because I didn’t like the pieces, I didn’t enjoy learning or playing them and so I began to find practice hard work and did less of it. At the time I was also quite keen on a young lady I was seeing. She’d always thought that I spent too much time on the piano and not enough with her and, as piano practice became harder and not so enjoyable, I started to come round to that point of view myself. Obviously, that didn’t please my piano teacher because I wasn’t progressing as he thought I should have been. He thought the young lady in question was holding me back, and he told me so in no uncertain terms! So, in the end, I felt that I was faced with a decision; the piano or the girl? I chose the girl, which in hindsight wasn’t the best decision I’ve ever made, but that’s another story!

To be honest, I don’t think I’d have ever been a great pianist, no matter how much practice I’d have put in; I started too late for one thing, I was 20 before I took my first lesson, but it doesn’t matter how good we are at something, there’s always something we can do to be better at it. For example, I remember once reading an article written by an England international speedway rider of the 1970s in which he spoke about his early years in the sport during which he was a team-mate of one of the true greats of the sport, a man who was a 5 times individual Champion of the World. What he said was that while he benefitted enormously from those years, they also taught him that he, himself, would never be a world’s champion. Not because he didn’t have the potential, in fact he went on to win world championship gold medals at team events 3 times. No, he realised he would never be an individual world champion because he saw just how hard you had to work to achieve that standard and the sacrifices you had to make to get there and stay there. And he decided that level of work and dedication was something he simply wasn’t prepared to take on.

So whatever we do and whatever level we reach at a particular activity, there’s always something more we can do to be better at it. But, if we really do want to be better, we have to be prepared to do what it takes, whatever that might be, to improve. We have to be dedicated enough to what we’re doing to put in the hard work that’s necessary to improve and to carry on putting in that hard work to make sure that our standards don’t slip, and we don’t backslide into bad ways or errors. And just as it is with anything else we do, the same is true of our lives as Christians too, as Jesus makes abundantly clear in this morning’s Gospel.

The standard we’re all trying to achieve as Christians is the standard of Christ himself. That’s a very high standard indeed and one we can achieve on perhaps only a very few occasions but, nevertheless, that is what we should all be aiming for.

And we do need to aim that high because that is the standard, the level of performance if you like, that we need to achieve if we’re going to be sure of winning the gold medal, the prize of a place in the kingdom of God. And in this morning’s Gospel Jesus sets out in very vivid terms just what we have to be prepared to do in order to reach that standard;

“And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off…  And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off….  And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out.”

And we have to do all these things because it’s better for us to enter the kingdom God crippled, lame and blind, rather than not do these things and be thrown into the unquenchable fires of hell. Which is really just a very vivid way of saying that we have to be prepared to do whatever it takes to live as God intends us to live and Christ taught us to live if we really do want to have a place in heaven.

I’m sure we can all think of ways in which our hands, feet and eyes cause us to sin, but I’ll give you a few examples. Do we use our hands to write unkind, or even worse, untrue things about people in letters, emails, texts or any other media? If we do, we should stop. Do we use our feet to walk away when we see people in need, or to walk, or perhaps use the pedals in our cars to go to drive to places in preference to coming to Church or attending Church meetings? If we do, we should stop. Do we use our eyes to feed our greed? In other words, are our eyes bigger than our bellies? Do we see something, want it and have it, not because we need it, but simply because we can have it, even if we then waste it because we don’t need it? That’s a very common way our eyes cause us to sin around Christmas time, isn’t it? How much food, for example, do we buy simply because ‘it’s Christmas’ but then waste because we’ve bought far more than we need and can eat? If we do things like that, we need to stop.

To stop doing these things though, requires dedication. We might be very tempted to say something unkind about others; we might truly believe that what we’re saying is true and justified, but how would we feel if someone were to say similar things about us? And so, no matter how much more difficult it is for us not to say those things than to give in to the temptation to say them, we have to have the dedication to our faith to do the difficult thing.

No matter how much easier it is for us to walk away from those in need than to help them, we have to have the dedication to our faith to do the difficult thing instead. No matter how much more we might want to watch the football, or whatever else it might be that we’re interested in that’s on the TV, than to come to Church, we have to have the dedication to our faith to put our faith first. And no matter how much more enjoyable it might be to meet friends, go for a drink or a meal, or even just watch something on the TV than to attend a Church meeting, we have to have the dedication to our faith to do the less pleasurable thing.

And no matter how much we might be tempted by what we see, no matter how much we might want what we see, we have to have the dedication to our faith to stop and think before we give in to temptation and take what we want. To ask ourselves whether we really need what we’re so tempted by or whether we’re just being self-indulgent, greedy and wasteful. We have to have the dedication to our faith to stop ourselves from doing what we want to do if what we want to do isn’t the right thing to do.

Like everything else, these things are a matter of practice. The more we practice our faith, the better we’ll be at living it out. The more often we stop and think before we speak, the more likely we’ll become to stop and think before we speak, all the time. The more often we put our duty and responsibility to the Church first when it comes to deciding what to do, the more likely we’ll be to put our duty and responsibility to the Church first whenever we have to decide what to do. And the more often we follow Christ’s example of resisting temptation, the more likely we’ll be to be able to follow his example and resist temptation at all times. 

We all want to be good disciples of Christ, we wouldn’t be here in Church if we didn’t, and I’m sure we all want to be better disciples of Christ than we are now. So let’s have the dedication we need to put our faith into practice however hard, and even unpleasurable that might be at times. We all want to win the gold medal, the prize of a place in God’s heavenly kingdom, so let’s cut out and cut off anything and everything that’s holding us back from achieving the level of performance that we need to win it.

Amen.

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The Propers for the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time can be viewed here.