Morning Service for Trinity 1 2023
HYMN O God of Bethel, by whose hand NEH 416 – Martyrdom
1 O God of Bethel, by whose hand
Thy people still are fed,
Who through this weary pilgrimage
Hast all our fathers led:
2 Our vows, our prayers, we now present
Before thy throne of grace;
God of our fathers, be the God
Of their succeeding race.
3 Through each perplexing path of life
Our wandering footsteps guide;
Give us each day our daily bread,
And raiment fit provide.
4 O spread thy covering wings around,
Till all our wanderings cease,
And at our Father’s loved abode
Our souls arrive in peace.
PRAYER OF PREPARATION
Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen
PRAYERS OF PENITENCE
We recall our Lord’s command to love and in a moment of silence we confess
the many ways we fail to keep his command:
Most merciful God,
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we confess that we have sinned
in thought, word and deed.
We have not loved you with our whole heart.
We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.
In your mercy forgive what we have been,
help us to amend what we are,
and direct what we shall be;
that we may do justly, love mercy,
and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen
May the God of love and power
forgive us and free us from our sins,
heal and strengthen us by his Spirit,
and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE COLLECT
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. Amen.
FIRST READING – Genesis 12.1-9
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and invoked the name of the LORD. And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.
HYMN Fight the good fight NEH 359/AMR 304 – Duke Street
1 Fight the good fight with all thy might,
Christ is thy strength, and Christ thy right;
lay hold on life, and it shall be
thy joy and crown eternally.
2 Run the straight race
through God’s good grace,
lift up thine eyes, and seek his face;
life with its way before us lies,
Christ is the path, and Christ the prize.
3 Cast care aside, upon thy Guide
lean, and his mercy will provide;
lean, and thy trusting soul shall prove
Christ is its life, and Christ its love.
4 Faint not nor fear, his arms are near,
he changeth not, and thou art dear;
only believe, and thou shalt see
that Christ is all in all to thee.
GOSPEL – Matthew 9.9-13,18-26
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that district.
SERMON
“The LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”
So begins a new chapter in the history of the world. From this point on bible history gets very personal, its concern is with Abraham and his family as we trace the future of this promise, and how all peoples on earth will be blessed through him.
The whole account starts with a bit of a joke, because before we hear anything much about Abram we hear that his wife was unable to bear children, they could have no children, but Abram means exalted father, we also told that he is 75 years old, not usually an age for starting a new dynasty. But not withstanding this Yahweh promises that he will be a father of a great nation. It also means that the leap of faith required for Abram to leave the security of the family wealth and possessions was all the greater.
But the whole point about Abram is that he put complete reliance on this unbidden command and promise from God. In the stories that follow we see him painted as a far from perfect man, a man who is sometimes fearful, sometimes lacking in judgment, sometimes confused and bewildered – but still, at heart, we see his reliance on a promise and obedience to a command to base his life on words he has understood to have come from his God.
St Paul points out that Abraham is the true father of the Jewish faith, and as such he predates all laws, rituals and temples, indeed all the elements of Judaism barring that which is alone essential – faith. The reliance and the trust in what God had revealed to him.
Our Gospel reading provides a harsh comparison between people of faith and people of religion. Jesus berates the Pharisees for refusing to have anything to do with what Mathew calls tax collectors and sinners, outcasts from good society, morally and ritually impure. His quote, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” suggests that when the time comes for people to seek divine forgiveness then it’s not the observance of the sacrificial system that will bring them mercy, rather it is forgiveness, their merciful treatment of other people, that will carry weight with their God.
The juxtaposing of the two healings is full of meaning. The leader of the synagogue begs Jesus to touch his dead daughter to bring her back from the dead, but paradoxically it will make him ritually impure, unable to touch anyone else until the period prescribed in the law has passed. But before he gets to the daughter a woman with uncontrolled bleeding touches his cloak, a woman also ritually impure, a woman whose touch will also make him ritually impure – but a woman commended for her faith, a woman cleansed and healed by her boldness of faith.
Arriving at the synagogue leader’s house all thoughts of purity laws are forgotten at the human tragedy before them. The father makes no comment and is glad for this healer to take his daughter by her hand and raise her up, from death to life.
We have no purity laws, we care little for ritual, we put nothing before healing, so what has this passage to teach us? Perhaps to be sure that we adapt our religion, our attitudes, our prejudices and patterns of thought to what we understand to be our faith, rather than the other way round. Or put another way, to consider what our God is like and try to ensure that our beliefs, words and deeds are consistent with that, rather than try to shape our God to what would best satisfy our prejudices and inclinations.
Faith is a reliance on a revelation from God and it can change people, it can lead them into new and amazing places and cause them to do extraordinary things, it can even change people’s minds. Religion without faith too often confirms prejudices and even makes us feel good about having them. Self righteousness is the curse of religion.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
Let us declare our faith in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the scriptures;
he was buried; he was raised to life on the third day
in accordance with the scriptures;
afterwards he appeared to his followers,
and to all the apostles: this we have received,
and this we believe. Amen. 1 Corinthians 15.3-7
HYMN Just as I am NEH 294/AMR 349 – Saffron Walden
1 Just as I am, without one plea
But that thy blood was shed for me,
And that thou bidd’st me come to thee,
O Lamb of God, I come.
2 Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings within, and fears without,
O Lamb of God, I come.
3 Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea all I need, in thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come.
4 Just as I am, thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve:
Because thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!
5 Just as I am (thy love unknown
Has broken every barrier down),
Now to be thine, yea thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come.
6 Just as I am, of that free love
The breadth, length, depth
and height to prove,
Here for a season then above,
O Lamb of God, I come.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION – Val Etteridge
O Lord be with us in this time of prayer and guide our thoughts and may your will be done. We pray for all Christians in our world which make up your Church. We pray for the archbishop, the bishops and all ministers. We pray for our diocese, our benefice and William our Rector and ask that all who say they are a Christian may bear witness and be an example.
Lord in your mercy hear our prayer.
We pray for the rulers of the nations, their leaders and their governments. We pray for peace in the world and bring before you all places involved in disputes and wars. We pray for Charles, our king and our government and all those in authority with the power to affect people’s lives. Father guide all those we have prayed for give them wisdom and understanding.
Lord in your mercy hear our prayer.
We pray for our local community and give thanks for all the benefits we receive. O Jesus Christ our Lord who lived in a home, who obeyed his parents, worked with his earthly father and enjoyed the company of friends and relations. Bless our homes, strengthen the love we have for one another and give all we need for our welfare and happiness.
Lord in your mercy hear our prayer.
We pray for all those suffering, those in pain, those troubled or grieving and mourning, those who are living in fear and those who are lonely and despairing. We name in the quiet those personally known to us………..Dear Lord bless all those suffering and bring them relief and hope, grant strength and compassion to all those who care for them.
Lord in your mercy hear our prayer.
We remember all those we have loved and are no longer with us, we give thanks for them and for their love and guidance in our lives. We pray that you will help us all this day and through the coming week, so to live, that we may bring help to others and joy to those who love us.
Merciful Father, accept these prayers, for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
As our Saviour taught us, so we pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.
BLESSING
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shine upon and be gracious unto you.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
The Lord God almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
the holy and undivided Trinity,
guard you, save you,
and bring you to that heavenly city,
where he lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen
HYMN He who would valiant be NEH 372/AMR293 – Monks Gate
1 He who would valiant be
‘Gainst all disaster,
Let him in constancy
Follow the Master.
There’s no discouragement
Shall make him once relent
His first avowed intent
To be a pilgrim.
2 Who so beset him round
With dismal stories,
Do but themselves confound–
His strength the more is.
No foes shall stay his might,
Though he with giants fight:
He will make good his right
To be a pilgrim.
3 Since, Lord, thou dost defend
Us with thy Spirit,
We know we at the end
Shall life inherit.
Then fancies flee away!
I’ll fear not what men say,
I’ll labor night and day
To be a pilgrim.