OPENING SENTENCE-
My mouth O Lord shall speak of wisdom.

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 by Sue St Joseph

COLLECT

Grant to us, Lord,

the spirit to think on those things that are right,

and always to be ready to do them;

that we, who, without you, cannot be alive,

may have the strength to live according to your will;

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 HOSEA 11: 1-11 read by Billy Dewar Riddick

God’s Compassion Despite Israel’s Ingratitude

When Israel was a child, I loved him,
 and out of Egypt I called my son.
The more I called them,
the more they went from me;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals
and offering incense to idols.

Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them up in my arms,
but they did not know that I healed them.
I led them with cords of human kindness,
with bands of love.
I was to them like those
who lift infants to their cheeks.
I bent down to them and fed them.

They shall return to the land of Egypt,
and Assyria shall be their king,
because they have refused to return to me.
The sword rages in their cities;
it consumes their oracle priests
and devours because of their schemes.
My people are bent on turning away from me.
To the Most High they call,
but he does not raise them up at all.

How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?

My heart recoils within me;

my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my fierce anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim,
for I am God and no mortal,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.

They shall go after the Lord,
who roars like a lion;
when he roars,
his children shall come trembling from the west.
They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt
and like doves from the land of Assyria,
and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord.

SECOND READING Colossians 3: 1-11 read by David Kerr

The New Life in Christ

So, if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. But now you must get rid of all such things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, enslaved and free, but Christ is all and in all!

HYMN

GOSPEL READING Luke 12: 13-21 read by Rev Ann Wren

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St Luke chapter 12 beginning at verse 13

Glory to Christ our Saviour.

The Parable of the Rich Fool

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So, it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious gospel

Praise to Christ our Lord

SERMON

What leads into the parable is a dispute as common today as two thousand years ago. Then and now families fought over the money left by someone who had died. “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” The man’s request wasn’t unreasonable. No one who heard him would have been surprised. He had a grievance, and rabbis were wise people so they were often asked to rule in family disputes. Jesus refused to become involved. “Man,” he asked, “who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” So, he wouldn’t rule. However, this scenario created a teaching opportunity. Jesus sensed a lust for wealth at the heart of this family feud. And so, he gave a warning about greed and told the parable of the rich fool. The parable is dealing with the danger greed can cause to our spiritual health.

Greed takes many forms in the sense that it has many objects. Greed can covet money, fame, sex, compliments, power and so on. But the appetite of greed is always the same: it eats yet remains hungry. The person cannot be satisfied by the acquisition of the desired objects. They always need more, but when they get more, this more is not enough. So, they pursue again. Greed is an endless search for more that always leaves the searcher experiencing lack rather than fulfilment.

Once greed is triggered in a person; its fierce energy is difficult to curb. So, Jesus advises us not to let it get close: Watch out! Be on your guard-is an image of watching for impending danger. It is as if greed is lurking outside on the edges of the person’s skin. It is waiting for an opportunity to sneak past lax defences and seize possession. Certainly, greed has broken the lax defences of the rich man in the parable. The parable is picture of greed in action.

A man had come to Jesus wanting Him to tell his elder brother to divide his father’s inheritance with him. And—the fact that he would even ask this question of Jesus shows that his problem was really one of greed. This guy had a “passion for possessions” and of course Jesus realized this. You see Judaic law was very clear when it came to the disposition of a father’s estate.  This well-known law said that the eldest son got two-thirds of the estate and the younger son got one third unless there were several sons and in this case this third was divided among all of them. So, there was really no question about which brother got what. The law was very clear and he knew it. His real problem was the fact that he was not satisfied with his share. He wanted more and he hoped that Jesus might become his ally and perhaps say something that would make him feel like he actually had a right to a greater portion of his brother’s share. Life for him was in the abundance of possessions.

What you have or possess was more important in his mind than who you were. A problem that is still prevalent in our culture today- where folks shopped till they dropped and bought what they could whenever they could! They seemed to believe that their identity and sense of being was determined by what they had or owned. Nothing could be further from the truth and Jesus tells this parable to dispel these false notions of security and identity.

False security was placed in the abundance of the land. Land is still a big issue in the Middle East today for land is seen as a means to security, wealth and power. In this parable the land has yielded profitable returns. Whilst effort on the land is rewarded, the parable stresses that this abundant harvest is a gift from God. When faced with this crop excess that the earth had provided, the question the rich man ought to have asked is how should he participate in this abundance? But this is not a question or problem for the rich man. His mental life is structured by the habit of possession. At the sight of the abundance his first thought is how to contain it: “What should I do for I have no place to store my crops?”

The answer is simple enough- he must find a bigger container. He talks to himself about his action plan-demolition and construction. But then he goes to a deeper place that of the soul and ironically tells his soul to relax and enjoy the good times. What they-he and his soul – now possess will give them a life of sustenance and merriment: ‘take life easy, eat, drink and be merry!’ But the parable does not stop there-it goes on to say that the man dies and what good are his life investments to him now- no use whatsoever. All this man’s investments are wiped out overnight. As one advertisement puts it: ‘Past performance is no guarantee of future returns’

In a world where death is the end and there is no life to come, this man’s behaviour would have made perfect sense. And that is just the kind of world that many people believe we are living in. In this worldview a person’s life does consist in the abundance of possessions. But we know that there is more to come. Life is more than possessions, for one day we will come face to face with God. Then we will give an account of our life and how we have used and looked after the gifts that God has given to each of us for the extension and building up of his kingdom?

This man gave no thought to God and did not use or look after God’s gifts to build up God’s kingdom. Rather he was a fool for he used God’s gifts for himself and only for himself- he gave no thought for God or his kingdom whatsoever! He was a fool – a fool means in scripture an unbeliever- who neglected to invest in the life to come. He put everything he had into one singularly bad investment-an investment in the things of this world- and one day it was literally wiped out-and he was left with absolutely nothing. And there wasn’t anyone to sue for compensation! His earthly security was a false security! Franz Kafka said that if we have any possessions which we cannot give away, then it is not we who possess these things, rather they possess us. So perhaps our credit cards like cigarettes should carry a health warning-wealth can damage your spiritual health.

What is our spiritual health like? How do we know? We are told that those whose health is good are those who are rich toward God. Those who are rich towards God are not self- absorbed. Did you notice as we were reading those verses in the Gospel how self-absorbed this man was with himself? He said I” six times and used the word “my” or “mine” four times. So “self” was obviously something that this foolish farmer too easily recalled! You could say he had “I/Me ” trouble because, for this guy, the purpose of living was for himself. He was a firm believer in the popular selfish slogans of our day such as, “I deserve it,” or “I owe it to myself.” Those who are rich towards God think beyond themselves to others. They think of their neighbours, and the motivation and extent of their giving is the most accurate gauge there is of the authenticity of their faith.

Many years ago, a missionary Bob Roberts, was a guest speaker in a church. In this service he was sharing his concern and burden for hungry children in the Philippines. Afterwards a young boy, about seven years of age, came up to him and said: I felt Jesus speaking to me tonight while you were telling us about the hungry children. When you said that for a quarter a day you could feed a child and give him a vitamin, I thought, I’ve got to help. But I didn’t know how I could. Then I thought about it- the lad extended his hand and said- this is my shell collection. I believe that somehow these shells will help the children. With those words, he placed the shells in Robert’s hand. Robert accepted the shells, but he wondered how they could help hungry children. A few weeks later, Bob Roberts spoke to another congregation-reaching into his pocket he pulled out the sea shells and told about the boy and his desire to feed hungry children. At the end of the service a man approached Bob and said I would like to purchase those shells for 100 dollars. Bob added this comment –my freckled faced little seven- year- old friend may never know that his sacrificial offering provided 400 meals for Filipino children. He gave what he could out of a heart that was rich toward God. This young boy challenges us for he had a heart that looked beyond self to others- a heart that was already investing in heaven-storing up treasures through love, care and sacrificial giving. This young boy understood life better than the rich man-for he was not trusting in himself and in temporal things but rather in God and in things eternal.

What about us? What really matters most to us for that is where our treasure is and that is what we are investing in? Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed-don’t let it kill your spiritual health, instead invest wisely in those treasures in heaven that cannot be wiped out or perish. Be rich toward God. 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.

God of love,

we put our trust in you.

Heavenly Father as you taught us,

through Jesus,

we come to you in prayer.

Generous God, protect us from the danger of greed,

of being self- centred and egoistical.

Help us to appreciate more the gifts we have,

and to share willingly and generously with others.

God of love,

we put our trust in you.

Generous God, we pray for all troubled

by their economic state

for farmers anxious about crops,

for traders anxious about market fluctuations

for those who feel shut out from access to wealth

and struggle to make ends meet.

In all things teach us to celebrate the riches of your abundant love.

God of love,

we put our trust in you.

Generous God, we pray for all victims of abuse and tyranny,

for all who suffer long term effects,

of torture, war, disease and mental torment.

We pray for the grace to forgive

and for healing of body, mind and spirit.

God of love,

we put our trust in you.

Generous God, we pray for the victims of disasters

famines, earthquakes and plagues,

for all who are crying

and those who have no tears left.

We pray for comfort and renewed strength

and also for considerate and trusting friends,

who can be an encouragement and support.

God of love,

we put our trust in you.

Generous God, your compassion extends throughout creation

Hear our prayer for all in any kind of need

We name those known to us in the quiet of our hearts

Sustain them in their troubles and restore their hope in you.

God of love,

we put our trust in you.

Generous God, you share with us

the beauty of your creation.

As climate change is destroying our planet,

grant us the determination and wisdom

to be better stewards of the beauty

that you have entrusted to us.

God of love,

we put our trust in you.

Generous God, you made us in your image

we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Help us to celebrate our uniqueness

and to use our God given gifts for your glory.

We celebrate our uniqueness

and give thanks for all that makes us special.

God of love,

we put our trust in you.

Generous God, in you we live

and move and have our being,

Thank you for all the gifts

you pour out to us each day of our lives,

Keep us asking, and keep us seeking you.

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.