Weekly Bible Notes  Ordinary 18

Year C, Colour = Green

Introduction

Opening Verse of Scripture  Psalm 107:1

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
 

Collect Prayer for the Day —Before we read we pray

Almighty God, who sent your Holy Spirit to be the life and light of your Church: open our hearts to the riches of your grace, that we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in love and joy and peace; 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

Gracious father, revive your Church in our day, and make her holy, strong and faithful, for your glory's sake in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. Common Worship Shorter Collect.

Almighty God, your Son has opened for us a new and living way into your presence. Give us new hearts and constant wills to worship you in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.   Methodist Worship

Lord and giver of life, you alone nourish and sustain your people, through Christ, the bread of life. Feed our hunger and quench our thirst, that we may no longer work for that which fails to satisfy, but do what you require, in obedience and faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.   Methodist Worship  

First Bible Reading  Ecclesiastes 1: 2, 12-14, 2: 18-23

Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless. I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labour under the sun. For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labours under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. (Reader: This is the word of the Lord—All: Thanks be to God)
 

Second Reading  Colossians Chapter 3:1-11

Gospel Reading   Luke Chapter 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.".
(Reader: This is the word of the Lord - All: Thanks be to God)

We praise and thank you, O Christ, for this sacred feast: for here we receive you, here the memory of your passion is renewed, here our minds are filled with grace, and here a pledge of future glory is given, when we shall feast at that table where you reign with all your saints for ever. Amen.
 

Commentary

For thousands, of years there have been examples of people from all religious faiths who have renounced the world in order to devote themselves to the spiritual life, without the distractions of material possessions. We might think immediately of Saint Francis and many who have entered into religious communities.

This tension between material possessions and spirituality is even more of an issue today, because we live in a society which is incredibly materialistic and enjoys unparalleled material prosperity. It is interesting that there has been a slight shift of late towards a more responsible attitude towards consumption. People are being encouraged to think about whether we are consuming the world’s precious resources too fast and without proper responsibility. But this change has not been brought about by religious people, more by politicians and the green lobby. These people are not so much concerned about the damage which materialism can do to the soul, but rather to the planet. The problem which is faced by us all as we struggle to restrain industrial growth and its effects is that other countries are not so pleased with our new found global conscience. We enjoyed the fruits from the industrial revolution, now other nations are discovering their appetite and consider it unfair that at this time they should be told to cut back.

It is clear from the teaching of Jesus that he did not consider wealth or possessions in themselves as either inherently good or bad. Rather he set out clear choices which make it abundantly clear that we should develop a dependence on the goodness of God,  not a dependence on material, created goods. Jesus wanted this not because he wanted to stop us from enjoying ourselves, clearly he was accused of being a party guy. Instead Jesus knew that pursuit of fulfillment through materials, wealth and greed, was utterly self-destructive.

The challenge facing us all is to strike the right balance between using our hard work and God given creativity and becoming consumed by consumerism. There is nothing great about being poor, Christians should work to alleviate all kinds of poverty. However if we are all concerned with our own wealth creativity, and fail to be mindful of the needs of others, then that greedy attitude will inevitably cause others to be poor.

1. The manner in which we create wealth is important, we should not be mean, cheating or exploit the vulnerable.

2. The way in which we use wealth is important, we should be considerate of the needs of others and not just spend it on ourselves.

Each one of us needs to examine our attitudes towards wealth and materialism. If we devote ourselves to amassing material things, neglecting moral, spiritual and intellectual well-being, then we will eventually destroy ourselves—and coincidentally also the planet.   Charles Royden
 

Meditation

In one of his books Leo Tolstoy tells the story of a young Russian who inherits his father’s small farm. He immediately starts dreaming of how to expand his property when one morning a well-dressed stranger visits him and makes him an offer that is too good to be true - he could have free of charge all the property he could walk around in one day. The only condition was that he returns to the same spot from which he started, the grave of his father, before the sun went down. Seeing the rich fields in the distance, he sets out without taking any provisions or saying goodbye to his family. He figured he could cover six square miles in a day. After a short while he decided to make it nine, then twelve and finally fifteen square miles. By noon he makes it to the halfway point. Though hungry with his legs aching he continues. He was near the point of exhaustion but the obsession to own the land drives him on. With only a few minutes left before the sun went down, he gathers all his strength, stumbles across the line, the new owner of fifteen square miles of land, and then collapses on the ground, dead.
The stranger smiles and said, "I offered him all the land he could cover. Now you see what that is, six feet long by two feet wide, and I thought he would like to have the land close to his father’s grave, rather than to have it anywhere else." Having said that, the stranger whose name is Death vanishes, saying "I have kept my pledge." Sam Cappleman

Hymns

1. Sing to God new songs of worship (600 Mission Praise)

2. Be still for the presence (50 Mission Praise)

3. As the deer pants for the water  (37 Mission Praise)

4. Love divine (449 Mission Praise Blaenwern)

5. O for a thousand tongues to sing (496 Mission Praise)

6. Immortal, Invisible, God only wise, 327
   
   
    

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead

"Prayer is a plant, the seed of which is sown in the heart of every Christian.

If it is well cultivated and nourished it will produce fruit, but if it is neglected, it will wither and die."

May we see your glory, O God, in all your works. May we feel your presence in all circumstances and may we hold to you through times of good and ill; through Christ our Lord. Amen George Ridding, 1828-1904

Strengthen us, O God, to relieve the oppressed, to hear the groans of poor prisoners, to reform the abuses of all professions; that many be made not poor to make a few rich. For Jesus Christ’s sake.  (Oliver Cromwell 1599-1658 adapted from letter after battle of Dunbar)

Father of everlasting goodness, our Creator and Guide, be close to us and hear our prayers. Forgive us when we forget to trust You to provide us with every blessing in this life. Giver of all good gifts, help us not to seek things for ourselves, but to seek ways in which we might be of service to others

Teach us to treasure Christ and His grace above all earthly possessions. Help us to continually cast our lot with life and not with death; with grace and not with judgement, with love and not with hate, with giving and not with receiving, with praising and not being praised., with trusting and not with fear

As we pray for ourselves, we pray also for blessing to be upon others, bring to pass that which they most need in their lives right now:

Lord, I pray for all who suffer from hatred and prejudice, from abuse and ill-treatment, and for all who are victims of what others do. I pray, too, for the people of violence, that they may change their ways and learn to respect others. I pray for myself, that when I face what is negative or evil I may have the courage and generosity to break the cycle of violence, hatred, fear or distrust, and make my own choices and take responsibility for the direction in which I want my life to go. I pray that I may always do to others as I would wish them to do to me. Amen.

Additional Resourcess

Commentary

Balancing Values
Jesus was teaching His disciples when He was interrupted by someone who wanted him to resolve a family dispute over inheritance. He was not really asking for advice. He wanted Jesus to stand on his side and "tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." He wanted Jesus to get the money for him, but Jesus saw the true problem in his heart - greed. And He uses the opportunity to warn the people of the danger of greed and placing one’s confidence in earthly possessions. Ultimately Jesus did act as judge for the family member; He pointed out to him the danger in his request to settle the family dispute!

Ancestral inheritance was one of Judaism’s central symbols and getting it right was part of obedience to God’s will. The nation of Israel too had traditionally prided itself on national identity and security, claiming for itself more and more ‘ancestral’ territory. But all the time God was calling both individuals and the nation back, not to be a people with great wealth and land but to be a holy community who could be a light to the world. It’s a task that the Jews never came to fulfil and one which according to Luke in the Nunc Dimitus, is passed to Jesus who is ‘a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory to your people Israel’. Israel had lost the true focus of their inheritance; an inheritance which was based on a covenant relationship with God, not just in promised lands and possessions.

The gospel reading forces us to think about our values and the balance we need to maintain between our earthly and our heavenly inheritance and birthrights. A balance between seeing wealth as evil and seeing it useful to fulfil the purpose of God. Indeed, Luke doesn’t say that money is sinful, but rather that greed is the problem. What do we do with our worldly riches and, in particular, what do we do with the surplus each one of us enjoys? Do we keep the surplus for ourselves, storing it up for a rainy day, or do we share our wealth openly and generously with others, especially those in need? Do we focus on our ‘lands and possessions’ or do we focus on our covenant relationship with a generous God who calls us through Christ to be lights to the world and to be rich towards God? Selfishness in God’s communal world is destructive to all, leading to violence and to war, in families, communities and even nature itself. Jesus reminds us that He wants us to invest in things that have eternal value not just earthy possessions.

God wants us to enjoy life, but not without a relationship with Him. In the epistle reading Paul exhorts all followers of Christ to ‘set your minds on things above, not on earthly things’. And it’s as we set our minds on Him that we achieve the balance between current and future needs and using our money, and all that God has given us, wisely. And in so doing we come into our ultimate inheritance, the promise of eternal life.  Sam Cappleman
 

A reading from Peter Abelard
From somewhere near them in the woods a cry rose, a thin cry, of such intolerable anguish that Abelard turned dizzy on his feet, and caught at the wall of the hut. ’It’s a child’s voice,’ he said.Thibault had gone outside. The cry came again. ‘A rabbit,’ said Thibault. He listened. ‘It’ll be in the trap. Hugh told me he was putting them down.’ ‘O God,’ Abelard muttered. ‘Let it die quickly.’ But the cry came yet again. He plunged through a thicket of hornbeam. ‘Watch out,’  said Thibault, thrusting past him. ’The trap might take the hand off you.’ The rabbit stopped shrieking when they stooped over it, either from exhaustion, or in some last extremity of fear. Thibault held the teeth of the trap apart, and Abelard gathered up the little creature in his hands. It lay for a moment breathing quickly, then in some blind recognition of the kindness that had met it at the last, the small head thrust and nestled against his arm, and it died. It was that last confiding thrust that broke Abelard’s heart. He looked down at the little draggled body, his mouth shaking. ’Thibault,’ he said , ’do you think there is a God at all? Whatever has come to me, I earned it. But what did this one do?’ Thibault nodded. ’I know,’ he said. ’Only I think God is in it too.’ Abelard looked up sharply. ’In it? Do you mean that it makes him suffer, the way it does us?' Again Thibault nodded. ’Then why doesn’t he stop it?’ ’I don’t know,’ said Thibault. ’Unless it’s like the prodigal son. I suppose the father could have kept him at home against his will. But what would have been the use? All this,’ he stroked the limp body, ‘ is because of us. But all the time God suffers. More than we do.’ Abelard looked at him, perplexed. ‘Thibault, do you mean Calvary?’ Thibault shook his head. ‘That was only a piece of it - the piece that we saw - in time. Like that.’ He pointed to a fallen tree beside them, sawn through the middle. ’That dark ring there, it goes up and down the whole length of the tree. But you only see it where it is cut across. That is what Christ’s life was; the bit of God that we saw. And we think God is like that, because Christ was like that, kind and forgiving sins and healing people. We think God is like that forever, because it happened once, with Christ. But not the pain. Not the agony at the last. We think that stopped.’ Abelard looked at him, the blunt nose and the wide mouth, the honest troubled eyes. He could have knelt before him. ’Then, Thibault,’ he said slowly, ‘you think that all this,’ he looked down at the little quiet body in his arms, ’all the pain of the world, was Christ’s cross?’ ‘God’s cross,’ said Thibault. ‘And it goes on.’
 

Opening Verse of Scripture Colossians Chapter 3:1

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Collect Prayer for the Day-Before we read we pray

Almighty Lord and everlasting God, we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern both our hearts and bodies in the ways of your laws and the works of your commandments; that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever, we may be preserved in body and soul; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Bible Reading, Hosea Chapter 11:1

"When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realise it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them. "Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent? Swords will flash in their cities, will destroy the bars of their gates and put an end to their plans. My people are determined to turn from me. Even if they call to the Most High, he will by no means exalt them. "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man-- the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath. They will follow the LORD; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west. They will come trembling like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria. I will settle them in their homes," declares the LORD. (This is the word of the Lord —Thanks be to God) (This is the word of the Lord—Thanks be to God)

Second Bible Reading, Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."' "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." (This is the word of the Lord—Thanks be to God)

Post Communion Prayer

Strengthen for service, Lord, the hands that have taken holy things; may the ears which have heard your word be deaf to clamour and dispute; may the tongues which have sung your praise be free from deceit; may the eyes which have seen the tokens of your love shine with the light of hope; and may the bodies which have been fed with your body be refreshed with the fullness of your life; glory to you for ever. Amen.

A prayer

Commentary