Weekly Bible Notes

Ordinary 23 Year A  (Trinity 15)

Introduction

Opening Verses of Scripture    Matthew 18:20

For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."  

Collect Prayer for the Day — Before we read we pray

Lord God, defend your church from all false teaching and give your people knowledge of your truth, that we may enjoy eternal life, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Common Worship Additional Collects

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit upon your Church in the burning fire of your love: grant that your people may be fervent in the fellowship of the gospel that, always abiding in you, they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen  Common Worship

O God, you bear your people ever on your heart and mind. Watch over us in your protecting love, that, strengthened by your grace and led by your Spirit, we may not miss your way for us but enter into your glory, made ready for all in Christ our Lord. Amen. Methodist Worship

Go before us, Lord, in all that we do, with your most gracious favour, and guide us with your continual help, that in all our works, begun and ended in you, we may glorify your holy name, and finally by your mercy obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Methodist Worship

 

First Bible Reading  Exodus 12:1-14

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbour, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire--head, legs and inner parts. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it.
This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord's Passover. "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn--both men and animals--and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD--a lasting ordinance.

(Reader:This is the word of the Lord -- Thanks be to God)

Second Reading  Romans 13:8-14

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbour as yourself." 

Love does no harm to its neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light. 

Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

(This is the word of the Lord—Thanks be to God)

Gospel Reading Matthew 18:15-20

Post Communion Sentence

Keep, O Lord, your Church, with your perpetual mercy; and, because without you our human frailty cannot but fall, keep us ever by your help from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
 

Commentary

In truth, it is easier to get on a soap box and call for world peace, than it is to have happy and peaceful relationships with those around us. Calling for peace is easy, living peacefully with other people requires great courage and prayer. The sad thing is that often religious people are the very worst at this. They sometimes take matters so much to the heart, and become so fervently convinced of their own beliefs, that they judge and condemn those who are different. That is the message of history. There have been some fantastic religious people who have worked for a better world and set wonderful examples of good living, but all too often religion is a bad things and causes people to hate and murder. Frankly, religion is not necessarily a good thing. Indeed it can bring out the worst in people.  In the passage from Romans today we see that the measure or the worth, the value of religion, is judged by the necessary demonstration of that religion in actions of loving kindness. When we ask how good is our religious faith the answer is 'as good as your love for your neighbour.' The words and the deeds of those who seek to worship God should be characterized by a ruling principle which is that we 'love our neighbour as ourselves.' That principle is the scale upon which we weight the true value of religion.

God teaches us throughout the pages of scripture that life is valuable. Often relisgious extremists consider their causes more important than human life which is worth sacrificing. Some of the very worst crimes against humanity have been committed by religious people, in the name of their god. Religion does not always make people good people. Often people will use religion to gain divine blessing or authority for acts of terrible human greed and aggression.

The Christian life is expected to be a life which is distinguishable by its practice. Acting the quality of love, the absence of evil and this done through the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christian and the Christian community is to be recognized as special. That is why in our reading from Matthew we hear of instructions for daily living to enable people to settle disputes inside the church privately, one to one.

We might not like our neighbour, we may believe that there are all sorts of barriers between us, social, political, religious, moral  - whatever. We have to be able to transcend these barriers: remember that when Jesus was asked for an example of who a neighbour was, he chose a Samaritan, somebody who a good Jew wouldn't even condescend to speak with. So it is down to us to show how deep our religion goes. It is no use calling for change in the world, we have to be the change which we want to see in the world. 

Remember   'Love is the fulfilling of the law'    Romans 13

Charles Royden

Meditation

"The German Pastor Martin Niemoeller (1892–1984), who protested Hitler's anti-semite measures in person to the fuehrer, was eventually arrested,
then imprisoned at Sachsenhausen and Dachau (1937–1945). He once confessed, 'It took me a long time to learn that God is not the enemy of my enemies. He is not even the enemy of His enemies.'"

Hymns

1. He who would valiant be

2. Moses I know your the man 450

3. Make me a channel of your peace

4. Lord of the church we pray for our renewing  (See below)

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead

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