St Maxentius Worship at Home – Trinity 5 – 9th July 2023

INTRODUCTION

Good morning everyone, I hope you are well, today’s Gospel from Matthew tells us of making choices of what to believe and trusting in God to help us. He tells us that we will be given rest and as we come towards the holiday season it seems most appropriate. Rev Hannah has given us a reflection and Chris Sutcliffe has provided our intercessions, many thanks to them both.

Some social and fundraising events coming up are mike and Helena’s coffee evening on the 22^nd August and the Safari supper on the 9^th of September, there will not be a coffee morning in August.

God Bless – Jan B.

PRAYER OF PREPARATION

Loving God, we have come to worship you

Help us to pray to you in faith To sing to your praise with gratitude and to listen to your word with eagerness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

PRAYER OF PENITENCE

The Holy Spirit fills the world and knows our every word and deed. Let us then open ourselves to the Lord and confess our sins in penitence and faith.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we have sinned against you, through our own fault, in thought, and word, and deed, and in what we have left undone. We are heartily sorry and repent of all our sins. For your Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, forgive us all that is past; and grant that we may serve you in newness of life to the glory of your name. Amen.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who in his great mercy has promised forgiveness of sins to all those who with heartfelt repentance and true faith turn to him; have mercy on us and deliver us from our sins, confirm and strengthen us in all goodness and bring us to everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE GLORIA

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us. You are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

THE COLLECT

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church

is governed and sanctified: hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,

that in their vocation and ministry they may serve you in holiness and truth to the glory of your name; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

THE NEW TESTAMENT READING

ROMANS 7.15-25a

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

THE GOSPEL

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew. Glory to you O Lord.

MATTHEW 11. 16-19, 25-30

At that time Jesus said,

‘To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another, “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.” For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.

I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you O Christ.

RELECTION

A few weeks ago we heard Jesus speaking to his disciples, warning them that what he was asking would be counter-cultural, it would ruffle feathers and they wouldn’t be keeping up the appearances that society wants from them. Today we hear again how Jesus is going against the grain, and includes reference to John the Baptist as well. The voice crying out in the wilderness.

Jesus’ words in this passage take aim at the culture and politics of his time as much as at the actions of individuals. Israel had layers of authorities and rulers: some religious, some put in place by the Roman Empire. This made life harder and more complicated to navigate. Religious expression had developed more and more rules as ‘fences’ to ensure the people did not deviate from worshipping Yahweh as they had before the exile to Babylon. For example, the Law prohibits work on the sabbath; the religious leaders would say, ‘If an item has no use on sabbath, don’t even handle it!’ This meant that the people were less likely to break God’s Law, but it also meant that the Law itself had become a burden. It led to a people missing God’s messenger in John the Baptist – because of his fasting – and to being in danger of missing God’s message in Jesus because of his eating and drinking with those he was reaching out to.

If any of you are familiar with Twitter, there is a book called “The Twible: All the Chapters of the Bible in 140 Characters or Less” and it offers this summary of Matthew 11: “JC and JnBap are chided for not joining in the crowd’s reindeer games. JnBap’s too pious and JC’s not pious enough. They just can’t win.”

I wonder, what do you expect when you come to Jesus? Someone who will say you are ok just the way you are? Someone who invites you to follow in a way of love and to give up security, comfort, power and prestige for the sake of God and neighbour? This teaching is about following a leader – a leader who is meek, mild, and loving. This way of Jesus though, is not one of care-free passivity. This teaching comes immediately after Jesus warned them of the trouble that comes from following him. It is not that the path is easy, but that the one who follows is one who yearns to love, not who is quick to punish.

Rev Hannah

THE CREED

I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, and is seated on the right hand of the Father; he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

INTERCESSIONS

During the intercessions, we pray for the church, our country, our government, people in difficulty and those who have died. You can use your own prayers or if you prefer here are some on today’s theme.

To all who are weary with carrying heavy burdens in life, Jesus offers rest for our souls and unthreatening relief. Our loving God is here, attentive to his children. Let us pray to him now.

Father, we pray that your church may always be open to receive your love; keep us clear of arrogance, complacency and self-righteousness; let us come humbly and simply into your presence and wait on you, knowing our dependence on you, and rejoicing in it.