Benefield Sermon, for September 2021
16th Sunday after Trinity
Proper 20
Year B
Collect
O Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear
the prayers of your people who call upon you;
and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do,
and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil them;
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.
Readings
Psalm 54
1 Save me, O God, by your name •
and vindicate me by your power.
2 Hear my prayer, O God; •
give heed to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have risen up against me,
and the ruthless seek after my life; •
they have not set God before them.
4 Behold, God is my helper; •
it is the Lord who upholds my life.
5 May evil rebound on those who lie in wait for me; •
destroy them in your faithfulness.
6 An offering of a free heart will I give you •
and praise your name, O Lord, for it is gracious.
7 For he has delivered me out of all my trouble, •
and my eye has seen the downfall of my enemies.
Gospel Reading
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
All Glory to you, O Lord.
Mark 9.30-37
30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; 31for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.’ 32But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.
33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ 34But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ 36Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All Praise to you, O Christ.
"...May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, my Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Water is quite an element. It calms the frazzled, it sustains life, It cleanses us, it is awesome in its strength and it’s power. Being by water can make us feel open to possibility, and our vulnerability and our place in creation. Jesus many times is found by water talking to the crowds and also for those intimate moments and powerful learning opportunities with the disciples.
Yesterday I watched the fishing boats go out at Rutland water and as I stood on the shore I had a moment imagining what it might have been like on the shores of Galilee and listening to Jesus words first hand. The daily examine a practice of placing yourself in a specific setting for an imagined encounter with Jesus has long been a tradition since Ignatius of Iola a Jesuit priest turned his life around as a young man.
Imagine now what it must have been like to hear Jesus speak in our Reading today, Jesus is rebuking them for arguing amongst themselves for again they have missed the point....
“He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them,
‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’
Perhaps a sense of shame must have risen up within them like a blush.
To bring home the point Jesus
“... then took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them,‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’
The disciples puzzlement that ‘The Son of Man’ who some of them hadn’t quite cottoned onto was with them now was going to be handed over and killed was a significance they had perhaps missed. That significance would only too soon manifest. But for the disciples present moment the message in Jesus’ teaching was being demonstrated. An innocent uncomplicated young one was being invited to follow and welcomed just as much as any of the grown ups. This was radical, for their time, the world and rules that they knew, a child, insignificant and at the bottom of the ‘food chain’ of human hierarchy was along with women, the displaced, sick of mind, body and spirit was being welcomed just like them into the arms of the Lord. Imagine what it was like to be a disciple hearing that for the first time and again imagine what is it like to be displaced. Do we feel welcomed when we feel as though we are impinging on someones good will?
Last weekend Andrew was running in the Brighton Marathon and we had booked a hotel. The hotel was filthy, we got our money back but were left without accommodation. We were displaced, but just for a moment. Family lived an hour away and we risked and hoped they would be in and we could have a bed. Nana at 93 of course welcomed us with open arms and our guilt at putting her out was wiped away by the joy at being together. It flashed through my mind the story of the Prodigal Son, inconvenience at the routine, Nana is one for routines, washed away the inconvenience, with a flood of love and welcome. Our journey had been on dry land but Brighton and Bexhill hug the coastline, this is another encounter by the water.
Bexhill-on-Sea is on the south coast under an hours drive from Brighton, it’s 33 miles. From Bexhill-On-Sea to Le Touquet it’s roughly 50 miles as a gull flies across the water. My brother-in-law is on coastal watch along with the coastguard and occasionally spots the dinghies making their desperate journey across the treacherous waters of the channel to our shores. Art Work along the sea front in Hastings says “welcome to those who seek refuge” “you are welcome here” and highlights that we are generally welcoming and that this is a place of safety. Hastings has a growing poverty crisis and it’s interesting that some of the most deprived areas in this country are the most welcoming to the stranger, sharing and giving without question what little they have. It’s often not money but generosity of heart and spirit and an open welcome to those to whom they identify. The sometimes lost and perceived unloveable.
How lucky are we then, we are loved by God. Again and again the invite is extended to come to him and He shall give us rest. But how often do we actually extend that invite to others? What is our relationship with those who seek refuge. Do we truly welcome the stranger and displaced (self inflicted displacement you might say) because they decided to leave a filthy place an environ that is not safe for a chance of a better welcome elsewhere? My brushed experience with displacement last weekend really did make me question my thoughts about the migrant crisis and how as a society we honestly welcome the stranger.
Covid-19 has shored up our fears of welcome to any friend or perceived stranger and especially to those who seek out our land as a safe haven. Our gospel reading emphasises how Jesus is willing and willing us to welcome the stranger into our hearts and to act on the love one another commandment, which we hear in the Gospel of Luke 10:25-28.
Jesus welcomes into his arms the child, and we are in that sense that child. The command to love one another is for everyone, young or old in a safe haven or seeking refuge. To extend that welcome, we welcome Jesus and in Jesus we welcome God. When migrants come to our shores, when the stranger comes knocking do we debate like the disciples and miss the point or do we welcome those who need care, nurture, and nourishment? Do we welcome Jesus? Do we welcome God? Imagine then what its like to be welcomed without question, and this time it is into the arms of the Lord..."
This is who you are. https://youtu.be/9sjUOh_ECQg
The Servant Song https://youtu.be/K-vgGu5Sye0
Peace be with you friends <><
Caroline :)
Monday Celtic Morning Prayers is 'in person' at St Peters, Oundle 9-9.30 am on Monday's and 'virtually' online every Friday morning at 9am https://www.northumbriacommunity.org/offices/morning-prayer/
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