Short sermon preached at 8am Eucharist at St Alphege Church, Parish of Solihull
Sunday 27th September 2009, Back to Church Sunday
Readings for Back to Church Sunday, taken from Year C, Proper 26.
Isaiah 1: 10-18 2 Thessalonians 1: 1-4 & 11-12 Luke 19: 1-10
Quite often, when I meet people from the fringes of our church community I get the comment, “Of course you don’t have to go to church to be a good Christian!” Well, you won’t be surprised to know that vicar/curate types like me don’t particularly like this kind of comment; it reveals very restricted form of Christian life in which the worship and community life of the church are marginalised.
But if you wanted to try and prove from scripture that, “You don’t have to go to church to be a good Christian,” one of the texts that you might well go for is the reading from Isaiah that we heard this morning. The reading is from the eighth century BC. In it, God, through the prophet Isaiah, complains bitterly against his chosen people, the nation of Israel. And God’s particular complaint appears to be their worship. He says, “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? …Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. … I can’t endure your solemn assemblies with iniquity.” On the face of it God is complaining about their worship. He hates their worship. So there you have it; it is better not to worship. It is better to be a Christian who never comes to church! QED!
Well, no! To understand the passage in this way is to misunderstand it completely. If we read the passage carefully we will see that the real problem is the iniquity of the people, the evil of their doings. The real problem is their bad behaviour. If people behave badly then their worship becomes hypocrisy. It’s becomes like a child telling you that you are a wonderful Dad, while steeling your money. It becomes like a neighbour praising your good nature, while bringing a lawsuit against you. It becomes like a work colleague who is all sweetness and light, but who is quietly stabbing you in the back.
So the message of the passage is not, “Don’t Worship!” On the contrary, the message of the passage is, “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; …cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice … then your worship will be acceptable to God. Then God will listen to your prayers. Then God will not hide himself from you.”
And this might feel like a challenge too far. You try and do a favour for God by coming to church, and then God turns round and tells you that you need to get you whole life in order first. He tells us that we need to live a good life before we can worship. Well, we might as all well go home right now!
But no! This isn’t the message either, and we can see this in the story of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a public sinner of the first order. He conspired with the Romans to take taxes off the Jews. His work strengthened the occupying Roman army and weakened the Jewish people. To the Jews he was the lowest of the low; a betrayer of God’s people, a traitor. And Jesus knew all this. Jesus knew that Zacchaeus’ whole lifestyle was embroiled in sin. And yet Jesus called to him. Jesus came to visit him. People criticised Jesus for visiting a sinner, but Jesus went all the same and stayed at Zacchaeus’ house.
And when Zacchaeus realised he was loved by Jesus, suddenly he found the capacity to change. Suddenly he could throw off his sin, he could give generously to the poor, he could make good fourfold the loses of anyone he had cheated. He remained a tax collector, but now a just one, and Jesus confirmed that salvation had come to his house.
When we come to church, we come to meet Jesus. It can be a bit awkward and uncomfortable, a bit like climbing a tree. But let’s listen to Jesus calling to us. Let’s listen to Jesus wanting to stay with us. Let’s know that Jesus loves us, and calls us to walk the path to heaven. And with our fixed on Jesus, we will find the grace to put aside our sinful ways. We will start to live lives worthy of our calling. Our worship will become pleasing to God. We will find ourselves able to walk the journey to heaven and to dwell always in the presence of God. Amen.
27 September 2009
20 September 2009
Business Ethics
Sermon preached at Choral Evensong at St Alphege church on Sunday 20th September 2009, Trinity 15.
Readings: Amos 8: 4-7 Luke 16: 1-13
If you read newspapers or watch television you will most certainly have noticed the anniversary of the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers. Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in the early hours of 15th September 2008. It was a watershed moment. It was the moment that the grave problems in the credit markets exploded into a full blown financial crisis. It marked the start of some very uncertain days in which the complete collapse of the world financial system appeared to be a very real and very frightening possibility.
The media have marked the anniversary in a big way. One thing I watched, was a BBC 2 drama broadcast on 9th September called “The Last Days of Lehman Brothers”. The drama focused on the weekend leading up to the Lehman Brothers failure. It sought to recreate the events of that weekend, as they unfolded for the main characters involved. For people not well acquainted with the collapse it was rather a confusing drama to watch. There were lots of big, powerful men in dark suits getting more and more fraught as they struggled desperately tried to save the bank, and as they eventually saw it fail. A key moment in the drama came just before midnight on the Friday night. The characters suddenly realised that they had to think the unthinkable. They had to take seriously the possibility of bankruptcy. It was an apocalyptic moment. The Book of Revelation, chapter 18, was quoted with powerful dramatic effect. “…Babylon the great is fallen and become the habitation of devils!...the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies…”.
And it is certainly true, that if you look at Revelation chapter 18, the immorality and subsequent collapse of trade, money and wealth does appear to be an important part of the realisation of the end time prophecies. Bad ethical practice in trade and economics seems to be a symptom of the coming of the end of the world. But this is not just a theme of the Book of Revelation. It is also a theme of the book of Amos chapter 8, part of which we have just heard as our first scripture reading.
Amos was prophesying in the eighth century BC. He was warning the people of the northern kingdom of Israel of an immanent “Day of the Lord”; a terrible day of judgement when their society would be destroyed. This message was very unpopular and people did their best to ignore it. Amos got into trouble with the authorities for his teaching, but his prophecies were fulfilled in 722 BC when the Assyrians utterly vanquished the northern kingdom, removing everything of value and sending the people into exile.
The part of Amos chapter 8 that we read today set out God’s complaint against Israel. God is angry with the merchants and traders, who oppress the poor and trample on the needy. He is angry with their impatience to get on with their trade. They cannot wait until the Sabbath is over and the new moon over, so that they can get on with it. He is angry at the cheating practices in their trade, with rigged measurements and biased scales. He notices that it is the poor who are impoverished by the corrupt practises in trading. These are the charges that God brings against Israel, and for which he dooms it to destruction. It is a powerful lesson in business ethics.
At first sight our reading from Luke is also about business ethics. It is the story of a dishonest businessman who receives his comeuppance. A rich master employs a manager who had been squandering the master’s money. The master decides that the manager must be fired. The manager comes up with a cunning, albeit dishonest, scheme whereby, at his masters expense, he can ensure that he will have lots of friends who will look after him, even after he has been fired. It is all too easy to make comparisons with contemporary failed bankers who ensure their future livelihood, even after they are fired, by means of generous payoffs or oversized pensions.
It is a rather confusing parable because the master, who we might thinks represent God, appears to commend the dishonest manager for his shrewdness in looking after himself, rather than getting angry at the further squandering of the master’s wealth. Is the parable telling us that we should commend people for being dishonest and selfish? The biblical commentaries that I have looked at seem to struggle to explain this away. Some work hard to morally justify the manager’s actions. Others work hard to play down the master’s apparent commendation. I have to say that I am not convinced by either of these approaches. Personally I do not think the parable is seeking to make points about the morality of the manager. Rather it seeks to make a point about the way that money and wealth should be used in this earthly life. Jesus explains, “make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.” I think Jesus is saying that the wealth you have on earth is not really yours. It is given to you by God, and you can use it on earth, but you most certainly can’t take it with you when you die. However your good deeds do go with you when you die (Rev 14: 13), so it makes sense to use earthly wealth to help others. In this way transient earthly wealth can be used to generate real and enduring wealth in heaven.
But even if business ethics is not the central message of this parable in Luke, there can be no doubt that unjust business practices, and especially practices that damaged the poor, lay at the heart of God’s complaints against the northern kingdom of Israel in the period leading up to its destruction. And this is rather sobering for us as we meditate on the world financial system a year after the Lehman collapse. As the Archbishop of Canterbury commented on Newsnight (Tuesday 15th September), “There has not been what I would, as a Christian, call repentance, We haven’t heard people saying, ‘Well actually we got in wrong and the whole fundamental principle on which we worked was unreal, empty’.” He is absolutely right, of course. Three trillion dollars of public money have been pumped into the world economy to allow it to return to business as usual. It seems to me that this can only be storing up even bigger problems for the future. If the financial system continues to destroy value, then next time this comes home to roust the concern will not be the solvency of banks, but rather the solvency of governments. As the high gold price suggests, we have every reason to feel insecure about our financial futures.
And if we do feel insecure, then the value of the parable in Luke stands out even more clearly. We know we can’t take our money with us. Let’s use it to do good on earth. Especially let’s take care to trade in a way that helps rather than damages the poor. In this way, when we finally lose our money, however that may come about, we will have built up treasure in heaven.
Readings: Amos 8: 4-7 Luke 16: 1-13
If you read newspapers or watch television you will most certainly have noticed the anniversary of the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers. Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in the early hours of 15th September 2008. It was a watershed moment. It was the moment that the grave problems in the credit markets exploded into a full blown financial crisis. It marked the start of some very uncertain days in which the complete collapse of the world financial system appeared to be a very real and very frightening possibility.
The media have marked the anniversary in a big way. One thing I watched, was a BBC 2 drama broadcast on 9th September called “The Last Days of Lehman Brothers”. The drama focused on the weekend leading up to the Lehman Brothers failure. It sought to recreate the events of that weekend, as they unfolded for the main characters involved. For people not well acquainted with the collapse it was rather a confusing drama to watch. There were lots of big, powerful men in dark suits getting more and more fraught as they struggled desperately tried to save the bank, and as they eventually saw it fail. A key moment in the drama came just before midnight on the Friday night. The characters suddenly realised that they had to think the unthinkable. They had to take seriously the possibility of bankruptcy. It was an apocalyptic moment. The Book of Revelation, chapter 18, was quoted with powerful dramatic effect. “…Babylon the great is fallen and become the habitation of devils!...the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies…”.
And it is certainly true, that if you look at Revelation chapter 18, the immorality and subsequent collapse of trade, money and wealth does appear to be an important part of the realisation of the end time prophecies. Bad ethical practice in trade and economics seems to be a symptom of the coming of the end of the world. But this is not just a theme of the Book of Revelation. It is also a theme of the book of Amos chapter 8, part of which we have just heard as our first scripture reading.
Amos was prophesying in the eighth century BC. He was warning the people of the northern kingdom of Israel of an immanent “Day of the Lord”; a terrible day of judgement when their society would be destroyed. This message was very unpopular and people did their best to ignore it. Amos got into trouble with the authorities for his teaching, but his prophecies were fulfilled in 722 BC when the Assyrians utterly vanquished the northern kingdom, removing everything of value and sending the people into exile.
The part of Amos chapter 8 that we read today set out God’s complaint against Israel. God is angry with the merchants and traders, who oppress the poor and trample on the needy. He is angry with their impatience to get on with their trade. They cannot wait until the Sabbath is over and the new moon over, so that they can get on with it. He is angry at the cheating practices in their trade, with rigged measurements and biased scales. He notices that it is the poor who are impoverished by the corrupt practises in trading. These are the charges that God brings against Israel, and for which he dooms it to destruction. It is a powerful lesson in business ethics.
At first sight our reading from Luke is also about business ethics. It is the story of a dishonest businessman who receives his comeuppance. A rich master employs a manager who had been squandering the master’s money. The master decides that the manager must be fired. The manager comes up with a cunning, albeit dishonest, scheme whereby, at his masters expense, he can ensure that he will have lots of friends who will look after him, even after he has been fired. It is all too easy to make comparisons with contemporary failed bankers who ensure their future livelihood, even after they are fired, by means of generous payoffs or oversized pensions.
It is a rather confusing parable because the master, who we might thinks represent God, appears to commend the dishonest manager for his shrewdness in looking after himself, rather than getting angry at the further squandering of the master’s wealth. Is the parable telling us that we should commend people for being dishonest and selfish? The biblical commentaries that I have looked at seem to struggle to explain this away. Some work hard to morally justify the manager’s actions. Others work hard to play down the master’s apparent commendation. I have to say that I am not convinced by either of these approaches. Personally I do not think the parable is seeking to make points about the morality of the manager. Rather it seeks to make a point about the way that money and wealth should be used in this earthly life. Jesus explains, “make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.” I think Jesus is saying that the wealth you have on earth is not really yours. It is given to you by God, and you can use it on earth, but you most certainly can’t take it with you when you die. However your good deeds do go with you when you die (Rev 14: 13), so it makes sense to use earthly wealth to help others. In this way transient earthly wealth can be used to generate real and enduring wealth in heaven.
But even if business ethics is not the central message of this parable in Luke, there can be no doubt that unjust business practices, and especially practices that damaged the poor, lay at the heart of God’s complaints against the northern kingdom of Israel in the period leading up to its destruction. And this is rather sobering for us as we meditate on the world financial system a year after the Lehman collapse. As the Archbishop of Canterbury commented on Newsnight (Tuesday 15th September), “There has not been what I would, as a Christian, call repentance, We haven’t heard people saying, ‘Well actually we got in wrong and the whole fundamental principle on which we worked was unreal, empty’.” He is absolutely right, of course. Three trillion dollars of public money have been pumped into the world economy to allow it to return to business as usual. It seems to me that this can only be storing up even bigger problems for the future. If the financial system continues to destroy value, then next time this comes home to roust the concern will not be the solvency of banks, but rather the solvency of governments. As the high gold price suggests, we have every reason to feel insecure about our financial futures.
And if we do feel insecure, then the value of the parable in Luke stands out even more clearly. We know we can’t take our money with us. Let’s use it to do good on earth. Especially let’s take care to trade in a way that helps rather than damages the poor. In this way, when we finally lose our money, however that may come about, we will have built up treasure in heaven.
06 September 2009
Universal love - God's love for everyone!
Sermon preached at St Michael’s, 10:30 Eucharist, Sharman Cross School, Solihull
Sunday 6th September 2009. Trinity 13, Proper 18, Year B
Readings: Isaiah 35: 4-7a James 2: 1-10 & 14-17 Mark 7: 24-37
I once saw a film about the childhood of the American president John F. Kennedy (JFK). John was born in 1917. He was the second of nine children. The film depicted what appeared to be a very happy childhood, with lots of brothers and sisters and lots of friends around to play. I was very struck by a scene in the film where there are lots of children around playing and Kennedy’s father, the larger than life Joe Kennedy, arrives home. The children run to gather around him and he greets them and sits with them and talks to them and asks them questions and is always encouraging them, even when he is correcting them. It is presented as a wonderful image of fatherhood, and it made it easy to believe that so many of those nine children would grow up to be such significant figures. Then this father figure asks a question which is answered by a visitor to the house, a friend of one of the boys. Suddenly and completely abruptly Joe Kennedy’s tone changes completely. Rather than making the most of and celebrating the answer given he barks out “Who asked you?” The young boy is much taken aback, and probably feels very hurt by this. He is courageous and remains gracious, but the message from Joe Kennedy is very clear. I love and teach and celebrate and promote my own children, but you are not one of them, this love is not for you.
Well, it is rather an extreme example, but this is a very characteristic aspect of a love that is merely human. How often does it happen that we love our own people, but hate the others? And the examples are endless. Perhaps we love our own children, but hate other peoples. Perhaps we love Villa but hate City, or perhaps it’s the other way round. Perhaps we love Christians, but hate Muslims. Perhaps we love people of our own race, but hate other races. Perhaps we dislike people who are poorer than us, or wealthier than us, or better educated than us, or not educated or learner drivers or traffic wardens, or politicians, or teenagers, or old people…
But the love of God is not like this. The love of God is universal. God loves everyone who he has created. He has a plan for each person; a path to fulfilment for each person, a special role of service for each person, a place in heaven for each person. He makes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the good and the bad alike (Matt 5: 45). And each one of us is called to share in the love of God. We are called to share in the love that he has for all people, even the most unattractive, even the ones who are suffering, even the ones who cause us problems, or who are on the wrong side of the law or are far away. God loves them and we too are called to love them as he does.
In our gospel reading today it seems that Jesus himself realises that he is called for the good of all people, not just for the Jews. He is approached by the Gentile woman who needed his help. Now the Gentiles were the people from “the nations”, the people from outside of the Israel, who were not Jews. And because of this Jesus is unwilling to help her. In fact is a very rude to her. He says, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” What he means is, “My ministry is first and foremost to the people of Israel. I must not waste my time looking after other people.” But the woman replies, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And Jesus is deeply impressed with this answer. He realises he needs to help the woman. He tells her than her daughter has been healed. And this is a crucial early example of Jesus’ love spreading beyond the Jews. And as the New Testament unfolds this spreading happens more and more, especially in the Acts of the Apostles. There is a growing realisation that the love of Jesus is for all.
And this also comes up in our reading from the letter of James. James insists that the Church must love all the people who come. It must not prioritise the rich person over the poor person; it must find ways to love both. He says the churches must not “make distinctions among themselves, and become judges with evil thoughts.” And James makes another point. The proof of our love is in what we do. Our love must be practical. We must help one another, according to the different needs each one has. James says that if anyone is naked owe should give them clothes, or if they are hungry we should give them food. But in our present day context we might think if any are lonely we should befriend them, if any lack social skills we should be patient with them, if any need prayer we should pray with them, if any are suffering we should wait with them.
And I would like to just clarify a couple of things. The fact that we are called to love everybody means, first and foremost, that we have to love the people around us right now, in each present moment of our lives. So, of course parents have to have a special love for their own children, of course football fans have a special love for their own club. But the point is that this love for one thing cannot be hatred for another. Rather it is a love that pour outwards, over all that it has contact with. We love our own household first, in order to love the other households, then also to love our street, our town, our nation, our continent and our whole world.
And a second thing. We know that we are all far from perfect. We know that the love we have in our own hearts is but a very poor shadow of the love of God. But we must not be disheartened. If we keep practising then love will grow in us. If every time we fail, or become aware of our shortcomings, we offer them to God and keep trying, then we are working with God, and it will please God to make his love will grow within us.
And finally a third thing. We all know that there are some people who are very hard to love. Well, loving them does not always mean going along with everything they say or do. It doesn’t mean pretending they are good when they are bad. But love does mean looking for the good in them, seeking to see Jesus present within them. It means being patient with them. It means wanting their good. It means being ready to share in their sufferings and problems. It means trying to find the right way to help them. It means wanting, one day, to share with them in the life of heaven. This is what God wants for all his children. This is what he wants for us. This is what he wants us to want for all of our brothers and sisters. Amen.
Sunday 6th September 2009. Trinity 13, Proper 18, Year B
Readings: Isaiah 35: 4-7a James 2: 1-10 & 14-17 Mark 7: 24-37
I once saw a film about the childhood of the American president John F. Kennedy (JFK). John was born in 1917. He was the second of nine children. The film depicted what appeared to be a very happy childhood, with lots of brothers and sisters and lots of friends around to play. I was very struck by a scene in the film where there are lots of children around playing and Kennedy’s father, the larger than life Joe Kennedy, arrives home. The children run to gather around him and he greets them and sits with them and talks to them and asks them questions and is always encouraging them, even when he is correcting them. It is presented as a wonderful image of fatherhood, and it made it easy to believe that so many of those nine children would grow up to be such significant figures. Then this father figure asks a question which is answered by a visitor to the house, a friend of one of the boys. Suddenly and completely abruptly Joe Kennedy’s tone changes completely. Rather than making the most of and celebrating the answer given he barks out “Who asked you?” The young boy is much taken aback, and probably feels very hurt by this. He is courageous and remains gracious, but the message from Joe Kennedy is very clear. I love and teach and celebrate and promote my own children, but you are not one of them, this love is not for you.
Well, it is rather an extreme example, but this is a very characteristic aspect of a love that is merely human. How often does it happen that we love our own people, but hate the others? And the examples are endless. Perhaps we love our own children, but hate other peoples. Perhaps we love Villa but hate City, or perhaps it’s the other way round. Perhaps we love Christians, but hate Muslims. Perhaps we love people of our own race, but hate other races. Perhaps we dislike people who are poorer than us, or wealthier than us, or better educated than us, or not educated or learner drivers or traffic wardens, or politicians, or teenagers, or old people…
But the love of God is not like this. The love of God is universal. God loves everyone who he has created. He has a plan for each person; a path to fulfilment for each person, a special role of service for each person, a place in heaven for each person. He makes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the good and the bad alike (Matt 5: 45). And each one of us is called to share in the love of God. We are called to share in the love that he has for all people, even the most unattractive, even the ones who are suffering, even the ones who cause us problems, or who are on the wrong side of the law or are far away. God loves them and we too are called to love them as he does.
In our gospel reading today it seems that Jesus himself realises that he is called for the good of all people, not just for the Jews. He is approached by the Gentile woman who needed his help. Now the Gentiles were the people from “the nations”, the people from outside of the Israel, who were not Jews. And because of this Jesus is unwilling to help her. In fact is a very rude to her. He says, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” What he means is, “My ministry is first and foremost to the people of Israel. I must not waste my time looking after other people.” But the woman replies, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And Jesus is deeply impressed with this answer. He realises he needs to help the woman. He tells her than her daughter has been healed. And this is a crucial early example of Jesus’ love spreading beyond the Jews. And as the New Testament unfolds this spreading happens more and more, especially in the Acts of the Apostles. There is a growing realisation that the love of Jesus is for all.
And this also comes up in our reading from the letter of James. James insists that the Church must love all the people who come. It must not prioritise the rich person over the poor person; it must find ways to love both. He says the churches must not “make distinctions among themselves, and become judges with evil thoughts.” And James makes another point. The proof of our love is in what we do. Our love must be practical. We must help one another, according to the different needs each one has. James says that if anyone is naked owe should give them clothes, or if they are hungry we should give them food. But in our present day context we might think if any are lonely we should befriend them, if any lack social skills we should be patient with them, if any need prayer we should pray with them, if any are suffering we should wait with them.
And I would like to just clarify a couple of things. The fact that we are called to love everybody means, first and foremost, that we have to love the people around us right now, in each present moment of our lives. So, of course parents have to have a special love for their own children, of course football fans have a special love for their own club. But the point is that this love for one thing cannot be hatred for another. Rather it is a love that pour outwards, over all that it has contact with. We love our own household first, in order to love the other households, then also to love our street, our town, our nation, our continent and our whole world.
And a second thing. We know that we are all far from perfect. We know that the love we have in our own hearts is but a very poor shadow of the love of God. But we must not be disheartened. If we keep practising then love will grow in us. If every time we fail, or become aware of our shortcomings, we offer them to God and keep trying, then we are working with God, and it will please God to make his love will grow within us.
And finally a third thing. We all know that there are some people who are very hard to love. Well, loving them does not always mean going along with everything they say or do. It doesn’t mean pretending they are good when they are bad. But love does mean looking for the good in them, seeking to see Jesus present within them. It means being patient with them. It means wanting their good. It means being ready to share in their sufferings and problems. It means trying to find the right way to help them. It means wanting, one day, to share with them in the life of heaven. This is what God wants for all his children. This is what he wants for us. This is what he wants us to want for all of our brothers and sisters. Amen.
Healing for Israel, the world and the environment
Thought for the Parish Pewslip
Sunday 6th September 2009. Trinity 13, Proper 18, Year B
Readings: Isaiah 35: 4-7a James 2: 1-10 & 14-17 Mark 7: 24-37
Our reading from Isaiah foretells of the coming of Jesus, and of the healing miracles that can be expected. Healing is not just for the speechless and the deaf. There will be healing, even for the environment because “waters shall break forth in the wilderness”! Not all the things prophesied about Jesus seem to have occurred yet, but as Christians we are still awaiting the second coming of Christ.
Our reading from James reminds us that we are called to love our neighbours as we love ourselves, and that this includes all of our neighbours without partiality. If we favour the rich over the poor, or the attractive over the unattractive, or the people like us over the rest, then our love falls short of the love of God. Further our love must include practical actions of care for the people around us.
In our gospel reading we hear about two of Jesus’ healing miracles. The first is especially remarkable because Jesus initially appears reluctant to help the Gentile woman. “Let the children be fed first,” he said, meaning that his ministry was to the descendents of Jacob, not to the gentiles. He even suggests that the Gentiles are dogs! However, when Jesus hears the woman’s faith he realises that he must help her. It is becoming clear that Jesus has come to save all people, not only the Jews.
Sunday 6th September 2009. Trinity 13, Proper 18, Year B
Readings: Isaiah 35: 4-7a James 2: 1-10 & 14-17 Mark 7: 24-37
Our reading from Isaiah foretells of the coming of Jesus, and of the healing miracles that can be expected. Healing is not just for the speechless and the deaf. There will be healing, even for the environment because “waters shall break forth in the wilderness”! Not all the things prophesied about Jesus seem to have occurred yet, but as Christians we are still awaiting the second coming of Christ.
Our reading from James reminds us that we are called to love our neighbours as we love ourselves, and that this includes all of our neighbours without partiality. If we favour the rich over the poor, or the attractive over the unattractive, or the people like us over the rest, then our love falls short of the love of God. Further our love must include practical actions of care for the people around us.
In our gospel reading we hear about two of Jesus’ healing miracles. The first is especially remarkable because Jesus initially appears reluctant to help the Gentile woman. “Let the children be fed first,” he said, meaning that his ministry was to the descendents of Jacob, not to the gentiles. He even suggests that the Gentiles are dogs! However, when Jesus hears the woman’s faith he realises that he must help her. It is becoming clear that Jesus has come to save all people, not only the Jews.
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