Luke 17 - Everyone included

Welcome

41 Tell his praise in song and story [Abbot’s Leigh 494]

Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer

Each of the Gospels has a different feel to them.  One thing that’s special about Luke is his the way he notices that the Good News of Jesus is for everyone, just everyone.  No one is excluded.  Everyone is included.

You cannot get away from it right from the start of Jesus ministry, that first time when he came to Nazareth where had been brought up and went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom.

Already he was known as a teacher and so when the time came he stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.  He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
   because he has anointed me
     to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
   and recovery of sight to the blind,
     to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’

He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words, the words of grace that came from his mouth.

 There was something about the way that Jesus spoke.  His words were gracious.  They were full of grace.  But they made you sit up and listen.  And what he went on to say so enraged the people who had gathered together that day that when they heard this ‘all in the synagogue were filled with rage and drove Jesus out of the town.

Why?

Jewish people recognise that any passage of Scripture has to be interpreted.   Interestingly Rabbi Jonathan Sachs was at the Literature Festival speaking in connection with a recent book he has just published, Not in God’s Name.   As you do, I browsed through the book and as ever with Jonathan Sacks found it a riveting read.  One chapter was about those Hard texts in the Hebrew Bible, that can be used to justify violence ‘in God’s name’ – he suggests that actually Jewish people have always recognised those texts need interpretation.

Jesus didn’t just read these words and say that’s what it says.  He explained them, he interpreted them.;  And one of the things he did was to bring in two stories from elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures to throw light on to the passage he had just read.

You get the feeling that the people in that gathering that day that it was the good news should be for ‘our poor’, release for ‘our captives’, recovery of sight for ‘our’ blind, the oppressed who should go free should be ‘our oppressed’.

But Jesus turned to two stories from the Hebrew Scriptures – the first was the story of Elijah and the Widow of Zarehath in Gentile, non-Jewish, Sidon.  And the second story was the story of Elisha and Naaman the Gentile, non Jewish, Syrian who sufferd from leprosy.

Reading 2 Kings 5:1-14

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favour with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.’ So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. And the king of Aram said, ‘Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.’

He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, ‘When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.’ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, ‘Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.’

 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, ‘Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.’ So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, ‘Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.’ But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, ‘I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?’ He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, ‘Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, “Wash, and be clean”?’ So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

Psalm 31

You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
   for your name’s sake lead me and guide me, 

In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
   do not let me ever be put to shame;
   in your righteousness deliver me.
Incline your ear to me;
   rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
   a strong fortress to save me. 

You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
   for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,

take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
   for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
   you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. 

You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
   for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
   my eye wastes away from grief,
   my soul and body also.
For my life is spent with sorrow,
   and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery,
   and my bones waste away. 

But I trust in you, O Lord;
   I say, ‘You are my God.’ 

You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
   for your name’s sake lead me and guide me, 

My times are in your hand;
   deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
   save me in your steadfast love.
Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord,
   for I call on you;

You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
   for your name’s sake lead me and guide me, 

O how abundant is your goodness
   that you have laid up for those who fear you,
and accomplished for those who take refuge in you,
   in the sight of everyone!

You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
   for your name’s sake lead me and guide me, 

Blessed be the Lord,
   for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
   when I was beset as a city under siege.
I had said in my alarm,
   ‘I am driven far from your sight.’
But you heard my supplications
   when I cried out to you for help.

 You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
   for your name’s sake lead me and guide me, 

Love the Lord, all you his saints.
   The Lord preserves the faithful,
   but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
   all you who wait for the Lord.

You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
   for your name’s sake lead me and guide me, 

Lord Jesus Christ, in times of trouble

Be my rock, be my strength and be my fortress

Lead me in the way I should go

Guide me every step of the way

Give me that strength I need each day

And let my heart take courage

Sure in the knowledge that

your love to me is steadfast

And will not let me go

Amen.

318 We give God thanks

When Jesus spoke they were gracious words, words of grace that were precious.  When Luke came to write up his Gospel account of the life and teaching, the death and resurrection of Jesus, he went to great pains to make sure he told an accurate story.  AT the outset he describes how others had already written up the Gospel story, how they had drawn on the recollections of people who had been eye witnesses, and how he had investigated everything carefully from the first so that the reader, Theophilus or maybe any friend of God, should be able to get at the truth.

It’s fascinating to see how Luke used his sources.  He has got access to his own sources for the stories of the birth of Jesus and indeed for that first sermon in the synagogue at Nazareth.  But then as he starts to tell the story of Jesus’ ministry from chapter 4 through to chapter 9 he draws heavily on Mark’s gospel, often quoting Mark word for word.  When it comes to the last week in Jesus’s life he returns to Mark’s gospel and not only quotes him word for word but basically follows Mark’s structure and order of events.  And then at the end he draws on his own sources to tell about resurrection.

But in the central backbone of his Gospel from 9:51 to 19:28 Luke draws on his own material … and what looks like another fascinating source he is using.  Careful study of these chapters shows that quite a number of the sayings of Jesus that Luke quotes are also in Matthew’s gospel but in an entirely different context.  It looks very much as if someone had made a collection just of the sayings of Jesus, those quotable quotes that stick in the memory.  Both Matthew and Luke draw on that sayings source and include those sayings – but in different contexts.

Isn’t that interesting?

From the start, it wasn’t only the parables, the miracles, the teaching, or the life-story of Jesus that counted it was those quotable quotes, those memorable sayings.

What are the quotable quotes of Jesus that stick in your mind?

What are the sayings of Jesus you treasure?

Time to share those quotable quotes – those precious sayings of Jesus

As Luke 17 opens the NRSV gives the first few verses the title, Some Sayings of Jesus.  Here are some Luke considered to be important: they are thought provoking, they make you think.

‘Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come!”

It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble.

³Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. 

And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, “I repent”, you must forgive.’

The apostles must have found some of what Jesus said, hard to take.

It was when Jesus said things like this that they were prompted to question their own faith … maybe we can take heart from their questioning.

The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ ⁶The Lord replied, ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea”, and it would obey you.

Then Luke reminds us Jesus is on the journey of his life time, the journey that for Luke gives meaning to all that Jesus came to do.

11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.

What happens next captures for Luke what the Gospel is all about.  None is excluded: all are included.

Even those suffering from leprosy.

 ¹²As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, ¹³they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ ¹⁴When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean.

The compassion Jesus had for those suffering from leprosy has left its mark down through the centuries.  One of those who made a very detailed study of the Jesus of history was Albert Schweitzer.  It was while he was still writing a book that has had an impact right through to today, The Quest for the Historical Jesus that “it struck him,” to use his own words, “as incomprehensible that I should be allowed to lead such a happy life, while I saw so many people around me wrestling with care and suffering.” 

And so it was “On October 13^th, 1905, a Friday, I dropped into a letter-box in the Avenue de la Grande Armee in Paris letters to my parents and to some of my most intimate acquaintances, telling them that at the b beginning of the winter term I should enter myself as a medical student, in order to go later on to Equatorial Africa as a doctor.” One was a letter of resignation from the post as Principal of the Theological College of St Thomas. (Schweitzer, 1933, p. 102)  It was in the first year of his study that he completed his book on Organ Building and completed his Quest for the  Historical Jesus. In the course of his studies he completed work on how organists should play Back he joined forces with a contemporary, Widor, whose Toccatta and Fugue is still one of those great party pieces for the organ.  This is how he later explained his book:  “To organists, then, who are familiar only with the modern organ, Widor and I stand for an appropriate rendering of Bach’s organ compositions which is in many respects new to them, in contrast to the modern showy styloe with which they are familiar.”  During his medicatl studies he regretted later that they ‘only’ could complete the first five volumes of the new edition of Bach’s organ works containing the Sonatas, the Concertos, the Preludes and the Fugues, before his departure for Africa.  (Schweitzer, 1933, p. 161)

It was in the afternoon of Good Friday, 1913, my wife and I left Gunsbach; in the evening of March 26^th embarked at Bordeaux and were then welcomed by the missionaries at Lamborene where he devoted the rest of his life to working as a medical doctor among leprosy sufferers.  (Schweitzer, 1933, p. 163)

And the work still needs to go on.

Only a couple of weeks ago I received a mailing from the Leprosy Mission asking this week that we Pray that a work permit will be granted for Tanny, Acting Country Leader for thhe Leprosy Mission – Ethiopia and that she’ll be able to effectively lead the TLM- Ethiopia team and take project development forward.

We are invited to ask God in our prayers to make a way for the many people in Niger who are unable to travel the long distances necessary to access treatment for leprosy.  Pray for the newly diagnosed patients who have already suffered irreversible disability due to a delay in starting multidrug therapy, the cure for leprosy, or through lack of self-care.”   (‘The Leprosy Mission Prayer Diary October to December 2015’, 2015, p. 1)

For Luke one thing more was important.  It was not just the healing of leprosy sufferers.  That counted …

Let’s hear the story for ourselves …

Reading:  Luke 17:11-19

¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. ¹⁶He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? ¹⁸Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ ¹⁹Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’

The point for Luke is that everyone is included.  Everyone matters.  No-one is excluded.

This is what counts in the Good News of Jesus – the love that makes a difference as it reaches out to all to bring healing and wholeness.

It prompted more questioning.  And the questioning came from the Pharisees.

 Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; ²¹nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!” For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.’

That’s another memorable saying if ever there was one.

The kingdom of God is within you, some translations say.

The kingdom of God is among you.

It’s there, God’s rule is real, as this kind of all-inclusive love is shared with everyone reaching across all boundaries and marker lines – including the leprosy sufferers, including the Samaritans.

This gets to the nub of the matter.

Coming towards the end of the first volume of his autobiography, Albert Schweitzer summed it up like this:

“The essential element in Christianity as it was preached by Jesus and as it is comprehended by thought, is this, that it is only through love that we can attain to communion with God.  All living knowledge of God rests upon this foundation: that we experience Him in our lives as …” and then Albert Schweitzer coins a name for God .. that we experience Him in our lives as Will-to-Love.” (Schweitzer, 1933, p. 277)

Writing in 1933 Albert Schweitzer felt in his head he could not see this love of Christ taking a hold – but nonetheless this is what he held on to in his willing and his hoping.   “To the question whether I am a pessimist or an optimist, I answer that my knowledge is pessimistic, but my willing and hoping are optimistic.” (279).  I like that thought.  It’s what you see in the very last part of Luke 17. It is as if Jesus is using his knowledge, looking at what is going on in the world he has that kind of pessimism and sees that events are going to lead to awful destruction and people will face very difficult times.  His analysis of how the political situation in the world is going to work out is pretty chilling:  “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

But what is to hold on to is the very nature of the Gospel.  Come what may that is good news for the poor, sight for the blind, release for the captives … and everyone, but everyone, is included

That’s the very spirit of Jesus that leaps off the page at you from this wonderful Gospel of Luke.  And it is this spirit of Jesus that is needed in the face of what Schweitzer saw in 1933 and in the face maybe of what we can see in the world situation today.

“What Christianity needs is that it shall be filled to overflowing with the spirit of Jesus, and in the strength of that shall spiritualize itself into a living religion of inwardness and love, such as its destined purpose should make it.  Only as such can it become the leaven in the spiritual life of mankind.”  (Schweitzer, 1933, p. 278)

So, like the disciples before, I find myself saying to the Lord, increase our faith.  And I take heart that all that matters for Jesus is that we have faith the size of a mustard seed … for that will make all the difference.

360 Father, hear the prayer we offer

Prayers of Concern

Offering and Dedication

531 O Jesus I have promised

Words of Blessing

Schweitzer, A. (1933). My life & thought : an autobiography. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.

The Leprosy Mission Prayer Diary October to December 2015. (2015). . The Leprosy Mission.

Luke 16: It's all about money!

Welcome and Call to Worship

9          The god of Abraham praise

Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer

Reading: 1 Kiings 3:1-15

Psalm  Psalm 141

Verse and Response

But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge

I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me;
   give ear to my voice when I call to you.
Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
   and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.

But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
   keep watch over the door of my lips.
Do not turn my heart to any evil,
   to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with those who work iniquity;
   do not let me eat of their delicacies. 

But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge

Let the righteous strike me;
   let the faithful correct me.
Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,
   for my prayer is continually against their wicked deeds.
When they are given over to those who shall condemn them,
   then they shall learn that my words were pleasant.
Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land,
   so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.

But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge

But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge; do not leave me defenceless.
Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me,
   and from the snares of evildoers.
Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
   while I alone escape.

But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge

Lord Jesus Christ,

We turn to you once more this night

And seek your presence

Keep watch over our hearts and our minds

That our thoughts, our words and our deeds

May be worthy of your presence

As we show forth your love

In all we think and say and do

Our eyes are turned towards you, Lord Jesus Christ

In you we seek refuge

Amen.

22        King of the universe

When you’re driving it matters – keep your eye on the road.

When you’re running a race it matters – keep your eye on the finishing tape

When you are kicking a goal it matters – keep your eye on the posts

When you are about to catch a ball it matters – keep your eye on the ball

When you are going in for a tackle it matters – keep your eye on the man

For Solomon it mattered.  He could have had his eye on the riches and wealth that were due to one born to be king.  He could have had his eye on the riches and wealth of neighbouring Egypt as he made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

But Solomon had a love for God.  And so it was he found his way to a place that was particularly holy, where there was a special sense of the presence of God, he went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices at the high places.  And At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night.  And God said, “Ask, what shall I give you.”

I don’t know about you, but dreams can sometimes play tricks with me.  If I am to do something important the following day, the night before I can dream so vividly that I think the event is actually happening and invariably it all goes wrong, I haven’t got the things I need, no one turns up, I do everything wrong.  I wake up in a cold sweat only to find it’s the middle of the night and the next day has yet to arrive.

It wasn’t that kind of dream that Solomon had.

It was the kind of dream where he did sense something of the presence of God with him.  ~And sensing the presence of God with him, he kept his eye on God.

And so he spoke to God of the great love God had shown his father, David, of the great responsibility God had bestowed upon Solomon and so he made his prayer.

Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil, for who can govern this your great people.

And this greatly pleased God.

And in his dream Solomon heard the voice of the Lord God reply.

‘Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honour all your life; no other king shall compare with you. If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.’

 Then Solomon awoke; it had been a dream.

But what a dream!

The kind of dream that really made you think!

And the wisdom of Solomon became proverbial.

Pity he had an eye for the ladies … that was his undoing.

For us who follow in the footsteps of Jesus we are called to keep our eyes on Jesus.

That Psalm is a precious Psalm with the verse and response we shared:

But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge

It brings to my mind that great chapter of Hebrews that speaks of faith as the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen and then goes on to tell of the faith of our ancestors, the faith of Abraham, of Moses, of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets – who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, quenched raging fire, won strength out of weakness … it builds up to the time the writer so treasured, the time when all they they had been building up finds its fulfilment in the coming of Jesus who has lived and shared so much, who has died and who has risen again …

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the old song goes.

So we do that as we turn to the Gospels.

And what do we find … something of the wisdom of Solomon.

Luke 14 takes us on the journey to the banquet … and there is the challenge to go to the lowest place at the table for “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

What counts is the humility to recognise others better than yourselves … and so when you give a banquet, invite the poor,, the crippled, the lame and the blind.  And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

And then Jesus dreams as he tells the story of the wedding banquet – and no one comes.   So the owner of the house is angry – it’s the kind of dream where everything goes wrong .. and the owner of the house said to his slave, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.”

Keep your eye on Jesus … and have the humility a compassion for the poor.  This is what the Gospel entails.

This is the priority … even over family.

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and the Grace of the Gospel – those wonderful stories of Luke 15 – as the lost sheep,  the lost coin, the lost son are all found as God the Good shepherd, God, the seeking woman, God the waiting father forgives and restores and renews and welcomes home.

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and rise to the challenge of that gospel within the gospel in Luke 15: join in the party and welcome the outsider – just as Jesus feasted at the table with all and sundry, even the tax collectors and the sinners.

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus …

And make sure you get your priorities right.  Jesus tells a thought provoking, mind-stretching parable all about the shrewd or in the eyes of some the dishonest manager who when about to lose his job summons those who owe his master money and he writes off their debts. 

Money, debt and what you do with it – this is important to Jesus – Whoever is faithful in very little is faithful also in much

Keep your eyes on Jesus and you will think again about money.

If Luke 14 is about feasting and who is at the table, and Luke 15 is about the gospel and grace – Luke 16 is all about money.

No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and wealth.  You cannot serve God and mammon.  Maybe even, you cannot serve God and money.

It was difficult to take for the Pharisees for they, Luke tells us, were lovers of money.  And with a comment on relationships and the importance of faithfulness in marriage and rejection of adultery, Jesus has one more story to tell.

So if you are sitting comfortably, prepare to be made very uncomfortable indeed …

Luke 16:19-31

 ‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.” But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.” He said, “Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.” Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.” He said, “No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” ’

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and see the poor man at the gate … but that begs one final question … Who is the poor man at your gate?

42        Tell out my soul

Prayers of Concern

Offering and Dedication

STL 30           Jesus call us

The Lord’s Supper

We gather together around this table

in the presence of the living Lord Jesus Christ.

And so we hear his words of grace and comfort

Come to me all you that labour and are heavy laden

And I will give you rest

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you

Not as the world gives, give I to you

Let not your hearts be troubled, let them not be afraid.

And we hear his words of challenge in the commandments he gives us

The first is this

The Lord our God, the Lord is one;

You shall love the lord your God

With all your heart, and with all your soul,

And with all your mind, and with all your strength.

The second is this,

You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

There is no other commandment greater than these.

As we gather at this table

we come in the company of all those who gather around us,

and we come in the company

of all those who have gone before us in the faith,

and we come in the company

of all those who will come after us in the faith.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, 

and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 

looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,

who for the sake of the joy that was set before him

endured the cross, disregarding its shame,

and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Before Jesus broke bread, he gave thanks …

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

We share in breaking bread and in the cup at the Lord’s Supper.

Communion Collection for Open the Book

543      God be in my head

Words of Blessing