Weekly Bible Notes

Ordinary 18 Year A  (Trinity 10)

Introduction

The history of the development of Christianity is filled with many people who thought that God wanted them to be uncomfortable. Some starved themselves, others refused to wash or clean themselves, some even chopped off parts of their own bodies. To be a really good religious person they thought that they would have to deprive themselves physically.

Jesus however was concerned about  the physical needs of people. Whilst he was known to fast, he also made sure that people had food, even if it required a miracle to ensure that there was enough to go round.

In our reflections this week we consider that Jesus is concerned for the whole of our being, 'Body and Soul,'

Opening Verses of Scripture    Psalm 145:3

Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendour of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works.


Collect Prayer for the Day — Before we read we pray

Gracious God, your Son Jesus Christ fed the hungry with the bread of life and the word of your Kingdom. Renew your people with your heavenly grace, and in all our weakness sustain us by your true and living bread, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen


First Bible Reading  Isaiah 55: 1-5

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendour."
 

Second Reading Romans Chapter 9:1-5

I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

Gospel Reading  Matthew 14: 13-21

When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food." Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered. "Bring them here to me," he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
 

Post Communion Sentence

God of our pilgrimage, you have willed that the gate of mercy should stand open for those who trust in you: look upon us with your favour that we who follow the path of your will may never wander from the way of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Commentary

Elijah is an epic prophet., whose story is recorded in I Kings and the first part of 2 Kings. The story is very ancient indeed, dating back to the sixth century before Christ but it is an incredibly vivid account of a roller-coaster career. Elijah seems very real to us: a man who was both brave and cowardly; responsive to God’s word but afraid of it, faithful but whiney with it! You feel that you really know this man! Elijah’s first appearance was acting as a moral prompt to King Ahab who had forsaken God and turned to the worship of false idols. Ahab had married Jezebel who, you might say, was not a good influence. So Ahab was incensed by Elijah’s prediction of God’s wrath in the form if adverse weather and poor harvests, and Elijah was forced to hide in the pitiless desert. God ordered ravens to bring the prophet bread and meat in the desert! Elijah lodged with a poor widow and performed a miracle making a jar of oil and a jar of flour renew themselves. Then he brought her son back to life. Later in the story Elijah was the star of the fabulous scene, suitable for a Cecil B de Mille movie, when he was able to call upon the true God to light wet fires on which to sacrifice bulls, while the false prophets of Baal failed dismally. Elijah was the master of the grand gesture, the big one off event which would focus the hearts and minds of the people on the true God.
But it is in defeat and fear that we find the aspect of Elijah which is the dearest to us. After the big scene in which he first humiliated, then brought about the murder of the prophets of Baal, Jezebel threatened his life. Elijah fled into the desert and was deeply depressed. He felt that overwhelming forces were out to get him. He was also suffering from a profound sense of hopelessness and failure. Why had he been used by God to do these great things, if the only result was desolation and assassination?
Elijah’s despair was alleviated by God who sent an angel to feed and tend him. He was sustained by the angel for forty days and forty nights until he reached Mount Horeb. And then again he felt terrible. This time he felt angry with God, he felt the hopelessness and injustice of his situation. He was so angry that even though God spoke to him, presumably in his head, he couldn’t feel the truth of God, the presence of God. And so that long story with many highs and lows, moments of certainty and despair brings us to the passage in the Bible which is the reading for today.
This short passage is perfect and simple. God is not to be found in the noise and drama of the storm or the earthquake. God was the still small voice that somehow spoke to Elijah and reassured him. The voice of God quiet though it was, permeated Elijah’s consciousness, stiffened his moral resolve and made him able to struggle on. The end of Elijah’s earthly life was highly dramatic when he was seen being spirited up to heaven in a fiery chariot drawn by fiery horses. His life was full of miracles, terrors and wonders but of all of it, I prize the most highly this moment of quiet but profound communion with God. For it is simple and truthful. It reminds us that God is unexpected and to be found in unforeseen ways. But we know when God has spoken to us. In the sermon today I shall be exploring how we “hear” God, and reflecting in particular on the amazing career of Elijah.  Rev Dr Joan Crossley


 

Meditation

Meditation on today’s Gospel reading

We are so used to the story of Jesus walking on the water and Peter failing to walk on water that we miss an essential point. Peter offered to get out of the boat. The rest of the disciples stayed in the boat shivering with fear and wonder. But as soon as Peter saw Jesus walking across the storm-tossed lake, he was inspired to follow his Master’s example. So Peter had a go. But before he threw himself into the water, to set off to do what had seemed impossible, he asked Jesus for permission. Jesus said simply ”Come”. Peter set out to follow the example of Jesus and, famously, he failed. Of course he failed! But we should not miss the fact that Peter was already trying to be Christ-like and to follow Jesus. We know that Jesus loved Peter for his trust and in turn entrusted to him the fate of the first church. On the lake that night, Jesus reached out his hand and saved Peter from going under the waves. Jesus gently and kindly chided Peter for lack of faith. But did Jesus mean lack of faith in God? Or did he mean that Peter should have more faith in his own ability to follow God? It seems to me that the second of the two possibilities is the most likely. Peter had enormous trust in Jesus but he was fearful for himself and knew himself to be very flawed. At the critical moment Peter panicked and went under. This is a very useful reminder to us that we should not be afraid to follow Christ even if the journey is dangerous. We must hold close to our hearts that God has faith in us and will give us what strength we need to endure and do what is required of us. We need not doubt God nor doubt the strength that he will give us, if we but ask. Rev Dr Joan Crossley

Hymns

1. Be still for the presence of the LORD
2. O happy day!
3. Tell out my soul
4. Dear Lord and father of mankind
5. Praise my soul the King of Heaven

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead

Additional Material

Commentary

Much of Christian history has been marked by humans struggling with the concept of the importance or lack of importance that should be given to the human body. By far the strongest prevailing trend was for the Church to preach against the body as being unclean and dangerous to spiritual progress. Cultural Commentary. Much of Christian history has been marked by humans struggling with the concept of the importance or lack of importance that should be given to the human body. By far the strongest prevailing trend was for the Church to preach against the body as being unclean and dangerous to spiritual progress. Cultural historians say that this loathing for the body was inherited from Judaism and was a reaction against the frank enjoyment of physicality displayed by the pagan Greeks and Romans. Whatever the root of this disdain for the body, it has had a tragic impact upon Christianity. We will hear in the sermon this morning about the frightening and bizarre lengths that some Christians went to to control and mortify their own bodies. It is one thing to practise self-discipline, but something quite different to use the body- bad/ soul-good argument to justify indifference to the sufferings of others. Human pain has sometimes been regarded callously as being good for the soul and unimportant alongside spiritual matters. We read in history books of people being tortured “to save their souls”.
 

Jesus was certainly self-controlled. He ate and drank normally, he obeyed the fasts kept by Jews at set times and festivals. Although he did fast in the desert, he did so in the most private way. In fact Jesus had stern things to say about people who made a parade of their piety.
 

In regard to the sufferings of others Jesus always displayed the utmost concern and compassion. On many occasions we see the Lord tenderly ministering to the bodily ills of those who begged him for help. He healed the blind; the deaf and the lame and even allowed himself to be touched by a woman who was regarded by everyone else as contaminating and unclean.
 

Jesus shows his loving concern for the welfare of his followers in today’s passage from St Matthew. When considering the need for the crowd to be fed, Jesus does not shrug his shoulders and say that going hungry for a night might be good for their souls. Neither does he say that fasting will help them concentrate. Jesus shows concern and love and gives the crowd what they need, nourishment and refreshment, so that they can get in with feeding their souls though his teachings. This is surely a highly significant parable. It reinforced Jesus’ words that every hair of our heads is precious to God, and provides a challenge to Jesus’ followers in every age: we must nurture and tend the bodies of our sisters and brothers, we must protect and honour their physical selves as will as tend their souls.
 

Dame Cicely Saunders, who died recently, found herself as a nurse, then as a doctor, confronting callousness from the medical profession towards the dying. Saunders recognised God’s call to her to minister to the dying, to alleviate their pain and to tend to the needs of the soul. In doing so, Cicely Saunders was faithful to the spirit of the Gospel of Christ which treasures the people that God has made, body and soul. Joan Crossley

Commentary
 

I am pleased that Jesus said the Mustard seed was the smallest of your seeds, because it gives me licence to exaggerate when I preach, if Jesus did it then it is OK for me too. But the point is valid, we have a tiny seed which grows into a big bush, and yeast which acts in the whole loaf. If Jesus was alive today in Bedford he might use the illustration of an acorn and say look how a tiny acorn, the smallest of seeds grows into our biggest tree. The kingdom may be small but nevertheless have great effects. This parable offers hope, promising great outcomes from small beginnings. 

The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl have to do with objects of great value which spark great commitment.  They are both parables of discovery, joy, and action. The merchant is actively looking for pearls, while the other man just stumbles onto treasure in a field.  Both, however, recognize the overwhelming value of their discovery, and sell everything so that they might buy it.  

In neither case is there any hint of sacrifice -- of giving up something precious -- of having to make a difficult decision.  Neither is sad to sell everything, because they are both overwhelmed with the joy of discovery and the prospect of possessing such treasure.  They are like the disciples, who left everything to follow Jesus (4:18-22; 19:27-30) -- and Paul, who regarded all else as loss "because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Phil. 3:8).  They are unlike the rich young ruler who "went away grieving," because he could not bear to part with his many possessions (19:16-26).

Last week we heard about the "weeds and wheat" in the same field. Today it's a net which collects "fish of every kind." The "bad" are thrown out, eventually; as were last week's weeds that an enemy sowed in the field. We can tell that the church felt it was experiencing influences from good and bad people, we know that this was the case. But the message here is not to be judgemental. The slaves wanted to rip up the weeds right away (13: 24-30), the householder orders them to wait. They really don't know what they are doing and will rip up the valuable grain in its early stages. Let things wait until another group who will know better, the "harvesters," do the sorting. 

It's the same with the net that gathers both acceptable and unacceptable fish. When the full net is finally pulled in, then sorting will happen by God, not us! We perhaps want to protest that we know now who the trouble makers are, who the immoral ones are. But Jesus spells out his plan and his assurance quite clearly, leave it to God. The lessons is that judgment belongs, not to the disciples, not to us but to God. Later, at the end, when God directs the sorting process, we might be surprised at who, after all, were the truly acceptable disciples. Maybe not the "fish" we had in mind. Charles Royden

Meditation - Love's secret

Love's secret is to be doing things for God, and not to mind because they are such very little ones. Frederick W. Faber

Fund raisers speak, despairingly, of “compassion fatigue”. This term is used to explain why charitable giving drops off after a sustained campaign of fund raising. People, it seems, just grow desensitised and accustomed to the sufferings of others. Perhaps we have grown too used to watching African children dying on the television. Sometimes, people even distort Jesus’ words about “ the poor being always with us” and use it as an excuse to write off suffering as inevitable and thus acceptable. The sufferings of his children are never acceptable to God. They are as painful to Him, as the pain of my children would be to me. We have to keep the idea of God’s outrage at suffering at the forefront of our minds and make sure that we do not let anything else cloud our vision. Joan Crossley

Hymns (Hymns and Psalms)

1. Praise to the holiest in the height
2. Seek ye first
3. Thy kingdom come O God  
4. Be thou my vision
5. Immortal invisible God only wise
6. Praise to the Lord the Almighty  (Lobe den Herren)
7. Who took fish and bread (On notices)  (Who took fish and bread)
8. Guide me O thou great  (Cwm Rhonnda)
9. Glorious things of thee are spoken (Abbots Leigh)
   

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead 

Gracious God, your Son Jesus Christ fed the hungry with the bread of life and the word of your kingdom. Renew your people with your heavenly grace, and in all our weakness sustain us by your true and living bread, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God you poured the Spirit of your Son into our hearts so that we call you Father. give us grace to devote our freedom to your service.

Gracious God, you call each one of us to different types of ministry in your service. We pray for Rowan Williams who has been called to a most difficult ministry. We ask that you would strengthen and encourage him in the days ahead. When he reads hurtful things about himself on the radio or in the newspapers, help him to hear instead your voice. Reassure him of the knowledge of your love and commitment, that as he has been called in your service, so you will sustain and empower him with your strength. Give to him wisdom and patience, and a sense of humour. Amen.

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