Trinity 1

Opening Verse of Scripture  2 Corinthians Chapter 4

Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.

Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray

O God, the strength of all those who put their trust in you, mercifully accept our prayers and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without you, grant us the help of your grace, that in the keeping of your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; 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.

God of truth, help us to keep your law of love and to walk in ways of wisdom, that we may find true life in Jesus Christ your Son.

First Bible Reading Deuteronomy 5.12–15

 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

Second Reading 2 Corinthians 4.5–12

For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Gospel Reading Mark 2.23 – 3.6

One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come forward.’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. 

Post Communion Prayer

Eternal Father, we thank you for nourishing us with these heavenly gifts: may our communion strengthen us in faith, build us up in hope,
and make us grow in love; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Commentary

The Epistle reading comes from 2 Corinthians.  It’s probably written around AD 57 when Paul has been a believer for about 15 years.  Paul had wanted to establish a Christian faith in a centre of population, and Corinth was ideal.  Not only was it a centre of population, but it was also a port, and if the word spread in Corinth, then it would inevitably spread wider.  However, Corinth was not without its problems.  Perhaps because it was a port and a crossroads in the region, it was also a bit of a melting pot.  It was a centre for Hellenism and Greek thought and philosophy.  It was a centre for religious and philosophical debate, of which Christianity was seen as adding to the mix.  It was also a centre of new ideas and the leading technology of the time.  But perhaps it was most famously known for its notorious immorality, stemming in part from its links with Hellenism and also with being a sea port where people from every nation would gather after long journeys and travels.  All this was creating problems for the new converts and early believers which is one of the reasons Paul writes to them.  They were finding things tough, they were getting pulled in lots of different directions, they were getting distracted from their faith and were showing signs of beginning to have doubts and questions about what they believed.

Despite what is happening Paul urges them not to give up. He asks them to look to the long term and eternal and to those things which are permanent, rather than the immediate and the temporary and the things which will pass away.  In that way they are both more able to withstand the things of the current time, but also make more sense of them in a world which is fallen and separated from God.  As we read in the section of the Epistle in today’s reading, Paul uses the imagery of treasure in clay jars, ‘earthen vessels’ in some older translations.  It is not the clay jars that have the intrinsic value, but the treasure they contain which has eternal value and worth.  We, and the early Christians at Corinth, are worthy because of the treasure contained within, not because of the vessel that contains it. 

The Corinthians, it seems, were well known for their pottery, both highly glazed pieces and those made from inferior clay, which would often crack and break when they were fired.  The link with pottery is not surprising given Corinth was a port, and goods such as liquid and grain were often transported in large and small clay jars on the ships that sailed from there.  The recipients of Paul’s epistle would therefore have been familiar with clay pots, both the ones which were highly prized in their own right, and those in which the value of the contents far outweighed the value of the jar itself.  The graphic image which Paul describes regarding earthen vessels would not be lost on them.  Rather than focus on the inferior quality clay jars, we might have expected Paul to make comparisons to the precious jars of great beauty and worth, and the value that each one of us has in Christ.  But he doesn’t.  The outward and physical appearance in this context seems to be unimportant compared to what God chooses to place in the clay jars.  Imperfect and flawed vessels that He uses nonetheless.  It's a helpful image as sometimes it can feel a bit crumbly, as if we’re like the flawed, inferior clay jars that sometimes crack and fracture, and far from perfect!  Fortunately, Paul is clear. The person we are within is not crumbly at all, the treasure we contain is being constantly transformed and renewed.  Being renewed as God speaks to us through scripture, as He reveals Himself to us through His words, as we listen and hear what He wants to say to each one of us.

We like our security in the things we have, we’ve often worked hard for them, and feel that we’ve earned and deserve them.  But if they are the things that we look to as the things that bring us our ultimate security, when things get tough, as they did for the Corinthians, we don’t have a solid and eternal base on which we are building and so our faith can get shaken.  Like the early Corinthian believers, we need to make sure we have the right perspective on our world and our own lives.  Not to be so focused on and distracted by the outer, physical, material things of the world, and all its cares, the outer jars, that we take our eye off our true faith and belief, our relationship with God through Christ, the inner treasure.  As we do it impacts not just ourselves but others too, who are able to see both the earthen jars we are, but also the treasure withing which shines through the cracks of our earthly life.

Sam Cappleman

Meditation

The gospel of Mark moves at quite a pace.  Just before our reading today Jesus has had several exchanges with the Pharisees.  After the withered hand episode, the Pharisees then begin to plot with the Herodians (those who want to restore a member of the Herodian family to the throne in Judea) whereas the Pharisees wanted to restore what they saw as the rightful Kingdom of David.  They might have had their differences but in Jesus it would seem, they had a common enemy and objective.  We could even postulate that as a result of this plot, a metaphorical phone call is made to HQ, Jerusalem, and those who really knew the law, who taught it and interpreted it, who could tie others up in knots over it, come down to Galilee.  The Scribes arrive.  Scribes who will eventually be involved in the trial and execution of Jesus.  Scribes who turn up, take a look, and make a pronouncement.  ‘He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.’  That’s how He does the things He does.  For the Scribes and Pharisees, the interpretation of the law required precise compliance, and in particular, an unchallenged unquestioning obedience to their interpretation of it.  But Jesus demonstrates through His life and ministry that this is not how it is or should be.  Their way of interpreting the scriptures and imposing that belief and their pronouncements on others was not the way God intended things to be.  God’s Kingdom is not about ‘command and control’.  Indeed, there are some who would say in biblical Hebrew there is no exact word for ‘obey’.  The word that is often used is shema, or lishmoa, meaning hear, listen, reflect, understand, observe, rather than obey.  It can be very easy for us to want to judge the events and people of the world, we want them to follow the norms and rules we expect.  This is not completely wrong; God does not ask us to be uncritical (in the broadest sense) as we interact with the world around us.  But perhaps He also calls us to hear, listen, reflect, understand, observe, and then respond in the way that Jesus would have done in the same circumstances.

Sam Cappleman

Additional Material

Bishop Michael Curry stole the show at the royal wedding of Harry and Meghan with his 14 minute sermon. Some folks liked it and others were clearly not used to the style and perhaps missed the content of his message which was about the importance of love. He reminded people that Jesus summed up all of the law and the teachings of the commandments in one command, that was to love. He mentioned love dozens of times and that seems to have got on some folks nerves!

Jesus got himself into the same trouble when he went on about the importance of love and the passage today is no exception. The Pharisees believed that one should do no work on the sabbath, which included picking grain and healing, it was against God’s law. Jesus saw the law more as a means to an end and the purpose was help people and to protect the vulnerable. The Pharisees saw obedience to the law as an end in itself and so they were angry that Jesus exalted the importance of love above their cherished rules and regulations which they believed were the way to please God. They were so angry that we are told at the end of the reading that they wanted to destroy him. Believe it or not that is how lost they had become, they honestly believed that God's purposes would be best served by killing somebody for the crime of transgressing their spiritual values.

What makes this all too sad of course is the fact that there is nothing unusual about this distortion because we have seen it throughout history. Catholics killing protestants, protestants killing catholics, Jews, Palestinians, Muslims, Hindus, it doesn't really matter what the reason is we will always find something to justify our hatred of people who do things differently or who are not like us. Our own way of doing things becomes more important than anything else and the commandment to love is far less important than preserving things the way that we like them.

Jesus broke the rukes of the aabbath and to the Pharisees that was striking at the heart of centuries of custom and practice. He allowed people to pluck grain on the sabbath and he healed on the sabbath. If he had waited until Sunday it would have been fine but he broke one of their religious practices and instead of showing remorse he challenged them and questioned their customs. If we read this passage and condemn the Pharisees then we also condemn ourselves for whenever we allow our customs and practices to become more important than the command to show love. More importantly we also condemn ourselves when we allow our sincerely and honestly held religious beliefs to become more important than the command to show love, which is much more difficult. Like the Pharisees we can justify apathy and even hatred when we convince ourselves that it is not just us who are offened but God shares our distaste. Obedience to rules helps us feel safe that we are obedient to God, but what if God is calling us to step outside of that safe zone and see the needs of those around us and how we are called to serve them? Charles Royden

Meditation

The Thursday after Trinity Sunday has been observed since the 13th century as a commemoration and thanksgiving for the Eucharist, The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi, or in the modern Roman rite Corpus et Sanguis.

God ever-faithful, you have made a covenant with your people in the gift of your Son, who offered his body for us and poured out his blood for the many. We thank you for the bread and wine which remind us of the great gift to us of Christ’s Body and Blood, welcoming us as brothers and sisters to spread the Good News to all people. Build up your Church by deepening within us the life of your covenant and by opening our hearts to those in need. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen

Meditation

It is only 79 verses into the Gospel of Mark and already jesus has people wanting to kill him ! On the face of it the dispute is over sabbath rules, but actually it is about Jesus asserting his authority and challenging the power of the religious authorities. We need to remind ourselves today that the Pharisees never invented the sabbath. It was given to them by God as a gift a special way for a people who had toiled in slavery to have rest. Jesus was not against the sabbath, it was created for humankind to enjoy, he just pointed out that sometimes there is a greater need, such as when King David ate the bread only the priest was supposed to eat. We have abandoned the sabbath today with all of its rules and regulations but we would do well to consider some of the benefits of taking time to rest. We all benefit from having time to rest, think and pray. God does not want you to drive yourself into the ground and when he created the world even God had a day off. Jesus challenged the prevailing custom and expectation of the Sabbath in his day. Perhaps today one response for us is to challenge the prevailing expectations of our materialistic culture which reduce us to consumers and judge success in terms of financial gain rather than relationships to one another and to God.

Hymns

• I the Lord of wind and sky - It is I lord ?
• Open our eyes Lord
• Awke my sould and with the sun
• As the deer pants for the water
• Lord for the years
• Now let us from this table rise
• Rock of ages
• Knowing You (All I once held dear)
• Such love
• Abd can it be
• How deep the Father's love
• Lead us heavenly Father lead us
• The Spirit of the Lord
• Songs of thankfulness and praise
• Christ is our King
• Lord, as I wake I turn to you
• Awake, my soul, and with the sun
• Open our eyes, Lord
• As the deer pants for the water
• Great is thy faithfulness
• Lord, for the years
• Now let us from this table rise;
• Rock of ages, cleft for me

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead

• We pray for those deprived of the sacraments, may we be one in love and prayer with all those who are not allowed to practice their faith, and cannot receive their Lord in the Eucharist.
• We pray for the leaders of the wealthy nations, may Jesus’s concern for the hungry find a response in their hearts, so that no one in our world dies of hunger, or is forced to live in sub-human conditions.
• We pray for a spirit of prayer and generosity in our community, may our union with Christ lead us to a deeper personal life, and to a generous sharing of our time and talents with each other.
• Let us particularly pray for all those countries, where war or conflicts exists that the Lord will look mercifully upon the sufferings of his people and grant peace.
• Let us pray for our Government, may they always have regard for the poor and vulnerable in society in the decisions they make.
• Let us also pray that this church will be the centre of the community and that all the work being done here will be made fruitful.
• Let us remember all the sick, those at home or in hospitals. May all who suffer pain and sickness, draw strength and courage from communion with your son.
• We pray for the recently departed and those whose anniversary of death fall this time. Rest eternal, grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace and rise in glory. Amen
  

Guide your Church, O Lord, with your perpetual providence; that it may walk warily in times of quiet and boldly in times of trouble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Franciscan Breviary (13th Century)

Blessed be your name, O God, for the glory of this hour and the holiness of this day. Today may we drink from the cup of your salvation, rejoice in the company of your saints and offer you the sacrifice of eternal praise; through Christ our Lord. Amen. Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 155)