Morning Service for Trinity 1 2024
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 – 1 Samuel 3.1-10 [11-20]
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. The word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.
At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. Then the LORD called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. The LORD called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. The LORD called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
Now the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” Then the LORD said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. On that day I will fulfil against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”
Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him.”
As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the LORD. The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD.
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 – Mark 2.23 – 3.6
One sabbath he was going through the grain fields; 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.
SERMON – Apologies – written in a hurray without the necessary editing.
Our gospel reading today consists of stories of Jesus’ disputes with the Pharisees. The stories are not as haphazard as they might at first appear. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were themselves struggling for their place in the socio-economic life of the nation. The Sadducees interpreted the Torah strictly but expected only priests to keep it entirely. The Pharisees reduced those demands through the use of their oral tradition, the Talmud, which they claimed was as old as the Torah. They then expected the peasantry to keep what their tradition required. Their position as interpreters of the Torah gave them power and prestige in their communities.
Our passage is the final in this series of disputes with the Pharisees, more will come later of course. The issue of the first story is the conduct of the disciples. They probably broke the rules by walking through the crops as well as reaping on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was an important marker of the Jewish faith, it was unique in the ancient world and clearly marked the Jews out as different. The right of Sabbath observance had been fought for repeatedly, and the Pharisees were not about to see it weakened.
Jesus defends his disciples by claiming the precedent of David’s assertion of his kingly right to violate the law when he and his followers were in need. David was “on campaign” and so, by inference, is Jesus and his disciples. There is more though, many of these disputes with the Pharisees are over food as they claimed the right to determine what reaped or harvested was suitable for consumption according to their strict purity rules. Once the grain had been plucked from the stem it was subject to these Torah/Talmud Laws.
The disciples commandeering grain against Sabbath rules must, from this perspective, be seen as an act of civil disobedience – making a statement against the politics of food in Palestine. Jesus is challenging the ideological control and manipulation of the food economy by a minority of the privileged and educated. The writer of the gospel of Mark consistently argues that solidarity with the poor also means addressing these forces of oppression This may well mean breaking the law, but such action is legitimated by the Son of Man who in overturning the authority of purity and debt codes is being revealed to the reader not only as “Lord of the Sabbath” but Lord of the entire house itself.
Jesus opens himself up to arrest. His claim to kingly authority has increased the stakes. The story of the healing of the man with a withered hand is a summary of past healings, but the place is the synagogue, which being a public place turns it into political theatre. Jesus duly breaks the Law in order to raise the deeper issues of its morality and purpose. He “crosses the line” and so issues a challenge to his audience, pitting his mission of compassion and justice to the poor against the commandments of the dominant religious elite. Jesus calls the whole edifice of the Torah/Talmud to account. He paraphrases the watershed question of the Deuteronomic faith, “Is it lawful on the sabbath to do good, or to do evil?” Then adds bitterly, “to save life or to kill? “, so drawing a sharp contrast between his intentions and those of his opponents.
How the law you live under is interpreted determines how you live, and so who does the interpreting and what motivates them becomes the overriding question. Eli’s sons and the Pharisees and Sadducees have this in common, they were all subject to self interest and corruption. Jesus faced fundamentalists who used the force of divine law for their own ends. His call for a way of life that provided justice for the poor and compassion in people’s conduct, was bound in the end to result in a head on clash with every power structure in the land. As the way of the Kingdom would be a way inevitably of peace there could only be one end, the death of Jesus. But it is an idea that has changed the lives of people down the ages, an idea that resists fundamentalism of any kind and speaks only of a way of compassion and reconciliation.
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 – Katherine Royle
Father, let us come to you this morning in thanksgiving for all our blessings. Thank you that you are willing to come into every area of our lives. Amid the business and difficulties of life there are always many blessings to be grateful for.
Thank you for our democracy, for our freedom to vote, our freedom of speech and our freedom to worship without fear. Help us to use these gifts thoughtfully, wisely and responsibly especially in the forthcoming election on 4th July. We ask for your protection on all politicians and candidates and pray that they will be honest and clear as they map out their manifestoes and make their promises. We pray that respect and dignity will be maintained throughout the process for everyone,
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Help us not to forget Christians today who do not have our freedom to worship you publicly or speak about their faith to others without fear of persecution. It is difficult for us to appreciate the sacrifices that some Christians make in parts of the world such as China, Pakistan, Iran, Sudan and North Korea. We are not always aware of the pressures they face daily. We pray for the work of Open Doors and Christian Solidarity Worldwide who highlight the plight of persecuted Christians on an international level. Thank you that they are able to give legal and financial support to those who are suffering as well as update us on urgent prayer requests. Help us not to be complacent with our prayers and support or complacent with our freedom to worship you.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We think of members of our community, members of our families or personal friends who may be finding life difficult at this time. We take a moment now to quietly bring them to you… Lord, please help them to be aware of your comfort and help and may they trust you.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
As we approach the 80th Anniversary of the D- Day Landings this week we remember the bravery of those who fought to maintain the independence and democracy of this country and for the freedom of occupied countries in Europe. We remember those who lost their lives, paying the ultimate sacrifice and leaving loved ones to grieve their loss.
It is with sadness that we witness so many wars still taking place in the world today bringing destruction and suffering on such a large scale. We pray for understanding, forgiveness, tolerance and peace to come into these conflicts and we ask that world leaders will be given wisdom as they act as mediators.
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.