Articles

Jeremiah 15:15-21

¹⁵ O Lord, you know; remember me and visit me, and bring down retribution for me on my persecutors. In your forbearance do not take me away; know that on your account I suffer insult. ¹⁶ Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts. ¹⁷ I did not sit in the company of merrymakers, nor did I rejoice; under the weight of your hand I sat alone, for you had filled me with indignation. ¹⁸ Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail. ¹⁹ Therefore, thus says the Lord: If you turn back, I will take you back, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall serve as my mouth. It is they who will turn to you, not you who will turn to them. ²⁰ And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, says the Lord. ²¹ I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.

As one reads the piece from Jeremiah you could think that God is really awful. Treating those who follow him with contempt and no care for their well being. It is only, as the passage goes on, does one realise that what one thinks is going on is not actually what is happening. Jeremiah, initially seems to be blaming God for all the misfortunes that have befallen him: 

¹⁸ Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail.

but towards the end of the piece his time changes when he realises that God has not deliberately sent the misfortune upon him but has in fact been protecting and with him all a long. He just hasn’t been able to recognise it at the time:

I am with you to save you and deliver you, says the Lord. ²¹ I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.

What God, it seems has been doing, was to allow Jeremiah to overcome his enemies with his unseen support. In am reminded of the ‘Footsteps’ poem when the author realises that in their time of trial, they saw only one set of foot prints and thought it was their own but as they over came their trials they realised that the footsteps belonged to God who was carrying them. 

I think what this passage says is that God will never deliberately heap awful things upon one but will be with us when those awful things occur. we might at times think we have a vengeful God but in reality that is far from the truth. We have a loving God who cries us when needed, even if we can’t feel it at the time. 

Romans 12:9-21

9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; ¹⁰love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. ¹¹Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹²Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. ¹³Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. ¹⁷Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. ¹⁸If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. ¹⁹Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ ²⁰No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

This passage from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans gives us a template to try and fit our existence around, in order to try and live a good Christian life. Actually, in our secular 21^st society, I think, Paul’s words have a relevance to all people, whether they have a Christian faith or not. In his Epistle, Paul we are given a good list of useful things to help us live a life that is not self-seeking or contrary to the ways of God:

Hate evil, hold on to good, be patient, be kind and generous to others, especially those who are worse off or unknown personally to you. Don’t ignore anyone but extend the hand of friendship whenever you can and never leave anyone wanting, when you might be able to help them.

Whenever, I read anything this positive by Paul, I always suspect that he was writing as much to himself as to those for whom the letter is intended. Many preachers, preach sermons that they need to hear as well as those to whom they are preaching. For example Paul often preaches about the need to have patience:

“May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father...”       Colossians 1:11

Was Paul particularly impatient? Could he get fed up too quickly with others? Probably, yes! Just like we do and like Paul we all need to remind ourselves how we ought to behave towards others, because none of us get it right all the time. I know that I certainly don’t. But if we try to live a good life we will be known by our deeds and evil will never be able to overcome us. If our hearts are as open and generous as our hands need to be, we will do all right and in being ‘good enough’ we will set an example to others. Be generous to others as you would wish them to be generous to you.

Matthew 16:21-28

21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. ²²And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.’ ²³But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’ 24 Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. ²⁶For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? 27 ‘For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. ²⁸Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.’

The Gospel reading takes the concept of living a good life a step further than perhaps Paul’s epistle suggested. Jesus tells his disciples that in order to live a life pleasing to God, one has to live sacrificially. One has to give so totally of themself that ultimately he will give and give willingly all they have to give. Jesus’ words are very strong and basically he is saying: ‘I’m going to give my life for you lot.’ What more can anyone give for others than their life?

When you are in this league, gifts of wealth or kind deeds pale into insignificance. All of us at sometime in our lives will give sacrificially. Probably not to the extent of actually giving our lives but of giving totally of ourselves in the support and help of others by sharing what we have (be it our time, talents or treasure) without counting the costs to ourselves. It is the old adage of ‘going the extra mile’ to help another that should be our guide through life.

What these three readings seek to tell us, I think, that we must all be prepared to give of ourselves and then give and give some more. Yes, it might hurt but it will be repaid again and again and again in the blessings that God will pour upon us.

Matthew 16:16

“Who do you say, I am?” What might your response have been, had Jesus asked that question of you?

Personally, I do not think that we can give one single, definitive answer to the question because Jesus and ultimately God are revealed to each of us individually. We all get to meet God in our own way. For me if I try to answer Jesus’ question as to who he is, I have to approach my answer from an exploration of his human nature, for it is Jesus’ humanity that speaks most strongly to me. For you it might be his divinity or through his miracles, or whatever.

As a human male, I approach Jesus from a point of masculinity and my human male experience. I relate very strongly to Jesus the man, in the ways he is shown to interact with his friends and disciples; in the way he uses words to explain things; and through his emotions of compassion, laughter, joy and anger. These are things I know about and understand within myself and I am therefore more able to translate my personal experience of Jesus through them. I come to Jesus via my own personal experience but I also have to acknowledge that because I do this my understanding of Jesus will be different to yours and that I can never fully understand who he actually is because I am not Jesus and he is not me. For me it is from the similarities I share with him that I come closer to an understanding of who he is.

But what if I was really pushed to say who Jesus is? What would I say?

I think I would have to say that for me, he is the being who is the human personification of our Creator God. A flesh and blood being that showed both his humanity and his divinity in how he lived his life. A man who through his human attributes was able to show us what God is like, perhaps not what God is but what it is like to be of God.

To be honest, I can’t definitely answer Jesus’ questions as to who he is but what I really want to do is to keep on asking my own questions as I explore an answer to him. And the best way to ask those questions? Well, it is to ask them in the company of others and listen and learn from t=what they have to say from their own experiences of Jesus. 

Matthew 15:10-28

10 Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, ‘Listen and understand: ¹¹it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.’ ¹²Then the disciples approached and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees took offence when they heard what you said?’ ¹³He answered, ‘Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.’ ¹⁵But Peter said to him, ‘Explain this parable to us.’ ¹⁶Then he said, ‘Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? ¹⁸But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. ¹⁹For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. ²⁰These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.’ 21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. ²²Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ ²³But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ ²⁴He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ ²⁵But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ ²⁶He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ ²⁷She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ ²⁸Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.

It is what comes out of our mouths that defiles for if it comes out with malice behind it then it will destroy our souls and hurt those to whom it is directed. How true are these words of Christ?

How often have you, like me, wished that you had not said the things you said but had kept a hold of your tongue? We all have times when we do this without thinking, times when our anger, fear or hurt cause us to lash out with our tongues and it is perhaps understandable why we do it. The problem arises when we use our words to destroy and hurt intentionally with as they say ‘malice aforethought’. 

Jesus tells us that we are not to live lives driven by malice. To be a Christian is to try and live a life with good intention and without malice. What I mean by this is that we are called by Christ to live lives that seek to do good to and within God’s creation. We are called to be co-creators not destroyers. Matthew says, it is not eating with unwashed hands that defile us it is our own impure and imperfect thoughts and actions that do that.  None of us are perfect and we all struggle to live harmonious lives and that it is in that struggle that we can be assured that God will be with us loving us as we try to live good lives. It is when we choose to live lives of malice that we run into trouble and face God’s wrath, for it is then that we are failing to love our neighbours as ourselves. Malice defiles everyone and everything it touches.

Today’s Gospel reading is a warning to us to be careful; careful in what we do and say. If we do anything with an evil intent, then we will be defiled and thus become unacceptable to God, until we repent of our ways and follow his paths once again. But remember the words of Paul and Isaiah, we are unconditionally loved and God will always forgive us when we truly repent for the things that we do that defile his image within us. God says you choose how you live your lives but not all choices will bring you into my loving embrace.

O God of creation, who has blessed artists of many kinds with gifts to make our world a more joyful and beautiful place. Through their inspiration and labours they call forth wonder and awe in our own living. In their hope and vision they remind us that all of life is holy. Bless all who create in your image and attune our senses to the truth, goodness and beauty around us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Eternal Lord God, you alone have spread out the heavens and rule the raging of the sea; bless and keep all who go down to the sea in ships; preserve them in all dangers and bring them in safety to the haven where they would be, with a thankful remembrance of your mercies, to praise and glorify your holy name; through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

God of change and invention, be with those whose life is spent at sea. In storm, in calm, in harbour, be with them. Be with them in danger, boredom or temptation; for you are God, you are our hope and strength. Amen.

Mark 4:35-41

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ 41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’

Creator God, you have made the sea beautiful and fearful; be with all sea farers who sail on it for work or pleasure and give them safe passage with Christ the voyager, who calmed the storm and strengthened his disciples’ faith. Amen.

Lord God, we depend on you for life itself, and on seafarers to meet so many of our daily needs. Watch over all who go down to the sea in ships – on business, for leisure, or to rescue those in peril or difficulty. Keep them from danger, befriend them in loneliness, and bring them safely home to those they love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A PRAYER FOR MISSION TO SEAFARERS:

Lord God, you show your love in providing for our needs through the service of seafarers. Bless the work of The Mission to Seafarers and kindred societies, who minister to seafarers and their families throughout the world. Raise up supporters and workers that this ministry may grow according to your will, and that seafarers be blessed through loving care and service, in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.