FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 10TH SEPTEMBER 2023
OPENING SENTENCE
Sing to the Lord, in the congregation of the faithful
HYMN
GREETING
Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
COLLECT FOR PURITY
Almighty God
to whom all hearts be open
all desires known
and from whom no secrets are hidden;
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you
and worthily magnify your holy name
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
SUMMARY OF THE LAW
Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”
The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these. Amen. Lord, have mercy.
CONFESSION
God is love and we are God’s children.
There is no room for fear in love.
We love because God loved us first.
Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.
God our Father, we confess to you
and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and in what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry.
Forgive us our sins,
and deliver us from the power of evil,
for the sake of your Son who died for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
ABSOLUTION
May the God of love and power
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by his Spirit
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.
GLORIA sung Sue Turner
COLLECT
Almighty and eternal God,
make us grow in faith, hope and charity:
and that we may be worthy of your promises,
cause us to love what you command;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen
FIRST READING
Exodus 12: 1-14
read by Andrew Ratnam
The First Passover Instituted
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbour in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn with fire. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the Passover of the Lord. I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human to animal, and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
“This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
SECOND READING
Romans 13: 8-14
read by Mark Toner
Love for One Another
Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
An Urgent Appeal
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is already the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone; the day is near. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; let us walk decently as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in illicit sex and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
HYMN
GOSPEL READING
Matthew 18: 15-20
read by Rev Janice Aiton
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St Matthew chapter 18 beginning at verse 15
Glory to Christ our Saviour.
Reproving Another Who Sins
“If your brother or sister sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If you are listened to, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If that person refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church, and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious Gospel
Praise to Christ our Lord
SERMON
One Christmas I received a gift of the above picture, which I really like. In the picture, the boy says: “I realise why we are here.” The mole asks: “for cake?” “To love”, said the horse “and to be loved.” This picture is the craftmanship of Charles Mackasy.
Charley Mackasy is a Christian illustrator and author who published and released a simple book, entitled “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse. This book was first published in October 2019 and has spent over 100 weeks on the Sunday Times Bestseller List. It is the longest Sunday Time Hardback Number One of all time. It is quite simply a book of illustrations and snippets of conversations between a boy, a mole, a fox, and a horse but it communicates deep truths about relationships, struggles, hopes, and fears. Something about it struck a chord with many people and one of its dominant themes is love – what it means to love others, what friendship looks like, and what it means to encourage, support and care for each other day by day through thick and thin, through storm and calm, through times of disaster and times of peace.
This book echoes the great principles and tenets in Scripture about God’s love. God’s love for us is the greatest theme in Scripture. From beginning to end, God demonstrates his love, his compassion, and his grace to humankind, fulfilled in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Each Sunday we hear the words in the introduction to our confession. “We love because God first loved us.”
This theme of love is evident in our Epistle reading today. Its key verse is this. “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his neighbour has fulfilled the law.”
As far as I am able, I do not like to be in debt (some things, though are unavoidable, like paying up a car or mortgage), and I seek to clear it as soon as I can. Paul tells us it is right to pay what we owe, seek to be debt free, and honour those in authority. But he also says the only debt that will never be paid off and should never be paid off is the debt of love! We can never say ‘I have done all the loving I need to do’. Our love for one another, will never run out. In fact, in every circumstance, we need to ask ourselves…what is the most loving thing I can do in this situation?
So firstly, whom are we to love? We are to love above all else, God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, then we are to love ourselves, and our neighbours.
To be in a position, to love your neighbour as yourself, you need to know two things. You need to know what love is and that you are loved. We are the object of God’s love. As Karl Barth, the Systematic Theologian once said: “Scripture can be summarised in these few words “God loves us”. We are not just loved in a general way but deeply loved in an unconditional manner. We tap into this love, when we grasp the truth, that God loved us first. He is the source of our love. Before we can give this love to others, we must receive this love for ourselves. After all, we cannot share, what we do not know nor have experienced.
Sometimes, it is hard to love ourselves as we are, for we know the sinful thoughts, that fill our minds. We are acutely aware of the cruel words we utter, and hurtful deeds that we commit. This can create in us at times a sense of self – loathing. Yet we must never forget, nor lose hold of the truth that God, despite all our shortcomings, loves us unconditionally. Some of us may have suffered emotional, verbal, mental or physical abuse in our lives and consequently we have been told that we do not matter and that we are of no worth. We feel of little value and even unloved. Nothing is further from the truth- you are greatly loved, and this love for you knows no bounds! Open yourself to receive God’s wonderful love and then having received it, we are asked to share it with one another. Such love is so special that we cannot keep it to ourselves; it is for sharing with our neighbour.
Who is my neighbour? This question was posed in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The answer given in response was all encompassing. We are to love everyone, beyond our church walls and community. We cannot be selective, but rather we are to be inclusive. The parable of the Good Samaritan goes on to illustrate that love in action. The Good Samaritan was from a different background and culture from the victim, and yet, the Good Samaritan went to extreme lengths to ensure that the injured man was cared for and that he had every opportunity to recover well, despite the personal inconvenience and financial repercussions to the Good Samaritan. Jesus tells us “Go and do likewise.” As Jesus’ love knew no limits, so our love is to emulate as far as we can that amazing love.
Why should we do that? We are told in our Epistle that this is what God expects of us and it is the means of fulfilling the law. For the follower of Christ, there is a call to godly living; a call to loving others that is radical and sacrificial. Why are we called to love? I believe in part that it is to protect ourselves and others. Without love, our hearts are hardened and unsoftened hearts cause harm to others. If we love, then it prevents a whole series of unwelcome consequences.
The proof Paul gives is to explain to us that loving our neighbour is the safeguard or guarantee that these commandments are being obeyed. We cannot keep the commandments without love. Love is the motive to fulfil them.
The examples given highlight this. You shall not commit adultery. When a person commits adultery, they are not loving their neighbour, in the way God intended. If a person loves their spouse, they will not commit adultery. Godly love prohibits adultery because such action shows disregard for another’s purity and well- being. Love highly values the virtue of others and will not do anything that is morally defiling. After all, adultery comes from impure, sinful lust, it never comes from pure love.
Another example provided is that you shall not murder. If you love others, then you are not going to harbour resentment, bitterness, longing for revenge against them. Love as it says in 1Peter, “covers a multitude of sins.” Love can be demanding, and at times love can be costly and sacrificial.
In the Epistle it goes on to mention the commandment- “You shall not steal”. A person loving their neighbour gives to help them out, they don’t take from them in the sense of robbing them. Anyone who robs is saying that they do not love the person, but rather love the material possessions that person possesses. Such behaviour is contrary to love and is breaking the law.
Finally, the Epistle mentions you shall not covet. Coveting implies that we are discontent and dissatisified with the gifts God has specially chosen and given to us, and that we are desirous of what someone else has. If we are loving, we will be thankful for what has been endowed to us.
In reading this, you might feel this is a rather tall order, how can I in my humanity and frailty, love as Christ calls me to. How do we love like that? Is it actually possible to love others in this radical way? We can love in this way as we are filled with God’s love. In Scripture, it speaks of God’s love being poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to love. It is the Holy Spirit who empowers us to love beyond what we can imagine we can do. When we open ourselves to God’ Spirit, then this love flows from us to others.
So, we are called to love and keep on loving for this was the model that Christ set for us. Even on the cross, when Jesus was in extreme agony, love still flowed from him. To his perpetrators he said lovingly “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” To his Mother, and to his disciple John, he said lovingly: “This is your Mother, this is your son.” To the thief hanging on the cross he said lovingly: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Christ mirrored the words in the epistle for us” let no debt be outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, and he invites us to follow his example of radical loving. Amen
NICENE CREED
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son,
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Loving God, thank you for your unconditional love towards us,
which touches and blesses our lives.
We lift to you this day those who feel undervalued,
unloved and even insignificant,
remind them of your incredible love for them.
Help us to let no debt be outstanding except the debt of love.
May your spirit pour your love into our hearts
that we might share that love with others.
Loving and gracious God,
We wait on your Word.
Loving God, thank you
that you hear and answer our prayers.
We praise you for those times
when you have answered us
and granted our requests.
We lift to you those who
are struggling with difficult people
and are not sure how to progress,
give them wisdom, understanding
and a spirit of forgiveness.
Loving and gracious God,
We wait on your Word.
Loving God, we are conscious of our pluralistic culture,
with its diversity of people, races and cultures.
Help us to ensure that all are treated
with equity, dignity and respect,
Where there is prejudice,
broaden people’s understanding and perspective.
Where there is inequality and discrimination,
help us to fight for fairness and justice.
Give perseverance to all who strive to remove bias and intolerance
and encourage us to work in harmony with one another.
Loving and gracious God,
We wait on your Word.
Loving God, we are aware of oppression and persecution
in different parts of the world.
We think of people
who live in constant fear and insecurity,
and we pray for diplomacy and negotiations,
to bring about a better quality of life.
We lift to you all
who have fled their home country,
and are seeking asylum in a strange land.
We pray that they would feel welcomed,
helped, supported and resourced.
Loving and gracious God,
We wait on your Word.
Loving God, we marvel at your creativity
evident in the world around us.
Teach us to cherish
and respect the environment.
Be present in our net zero deliberations
and guide us on the right path to take.
Loving and gracious God,
We wait on your Word.
Loving God, we thank you for the patient endurance
of many who suffer so much.
We pray for their strength and courage
and ask for your upholding and healing.
Loving and gracious God,
We wait on your Word.
We pray for those who have died in faith
that they may rise to eternal life.
Draw near to all who grieve
bring your comfort and peace,
your light and your hope,
now and in the days ahead.
Loving and gracious God,
We wait on your Word.
Loving God,
increase our faith in you.
In times of difficulty and challenge
fill us with strength and perseverance,
that we might wait on you
and be of good courage.
Merciful Father accept these prayers for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Do not bring us to the time of trial
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.
HYMN
BLESSING
The peace of God,
which passes all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God,
and of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord:
and the blessing of God the Father,
the Son and Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always. Amen
DISMISSAL
Go or stay in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ.
