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Trinity Sunday is a special time in the church year when we remember who God is, Father Son and Holy Spirit, The Holy Trinity. This is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian and yet it is very difficult to believe that God can be one and three. Of course it is beyond human understanding, God is a mystery to us and it would be a remarkable thing if we were able to capture God within the measure of our human mind. The Christian teaching about the Trinity is not mean to be an explanation of God, rather it is a way of describing what we know about God, even though we know that humanly speaking it is beyond our reason. Read more in our Bible Notes

Opening Verse of Scripture Psalm 8:1

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray

Holy God, faithful and unchanging: enlarge our minds with the knowledge of your truth, and draw us more deeply into the mystery of your love, that we may truly worship you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. (Common Worship—contemporary language)

First Bible Reading Not used this week

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

Second Reading Galatians Chapter 2:15-21

We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. (This is the word of the Lord - Thanks be to God)

Gospel Reading Luke 7:36 - 8:3

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table.When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is--that she is a sinner." Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Tell me, teacher," he said. "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means. (This is the word of the Lord - Thanks be to God)

Post Communion Prayer

Eternal Father, we thank you for nourishing us with these heavenly gifts: may our communion strengthen us in faith, build us up in hope, and make us grow in love; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Commentary

In the episode from Luke today, Jesus is found having dinner in the home of Simon, a Pharisee. There can be no doubt that Simon was a Pharisees, Luke tells us three times in the opening two verses! It is as though he was shouting the word Pharisee at us. The point is that Pharisees were strict religious people, with high standards. It was whilst Jesus was in such company that we are told a woman who had lived a ‘sinful life’ came and sought Jesus out. So here we have a man with the highest reputation, finding his home invaded by a woman of the lowest reputation, an uninvited guest, with Jesus in the middle.
It is this contrasts which Luke wants to draw our attention to. We are almost invited to guess what reaction Jesus might have, will he be critical of the woman? Will Jesus worry that this woman might compromise his reputation? The woman is not discreet. We are told that she

‘stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears.
Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.’

We know that washing the feet of another person was identified with slavery. But there is more going on here, this is a violation of social convention in caressing the feet of Jesus and rubbing them with her hair. Even today I would imagine that you and I would have been worried about our reputations, what indecent things would others have thought about Jesus? Jesus however recognises that the touch which you and I would perhaps see as a transgression of social boundaries, is instead a sign of reverential love.
Jesus is able to do this. He is able to go beyond mere appearances, beyond cultural blindness and see things in a completely different way. Once again this story is about Jesus turning everything upside down.
The story is one of contrast, the powerful Pharisee, Simon, represents the dominant religious, Jewish elite with all of its power and influence. The woman represents those on the margins, shunned by her own ethnic group. She begins an action which was a cultural gesture of moral depravity. Quite rightly we might say, Simon is scandalized. As a woman, and as a sinner this woman has and can have no value, no voice, in Simon’s eyes or in the eyes of his Jewish culture. How can she presume to do this thing ?
Here a powerful man, sees Jesus involved in a dubious act with a woman, and we are told he thinks to himself, ‘he shouldn’t be doing that.’ You and I, if we were there, would undoubtedly have said exactly the same thing.
We are worried about social convention, not Jesus. Jesus reads Simons’ mind and challenges him. Jesus is not apologetic, as we would have been, instead Jesus turns the tables on Simon the Pharisee and tells him that it is the woman who is the example of true religion.
Simon had perhaps not been inhospitable but neither had he gone to the lengths which this woman had gone to – to show real love and gratitude to Jesus. Simon is right about this woman. His original premise was correct: she has committed great sins. But his mistake was in seeing the sin and not the woman, or the forgiveness which she felt.
Jesus reverses everything, the ‘sinful woman’ is a demonstration of God’s love and forgiveness, Simon is exposed as just another hypocrite. The implication of the story, is that the woman loves or will love Jesus more, since she has a greater debt to be forgiven. When we look at people, we see their faults. When Jesus looks at people he sees only grace and forgiveness. Jesus tells Simon to look at this woman. She will be as a teacher to him. She can teach him about being forgiven. She can teach him about receiving grace. She can teach him about love and hospitality.

She can also teach us. On occasion, we can all show that we have received just enough forgiveness to enable us to be properly judgmental of others. We all need to recognize our need of much more forgiveness in order to cause us to be as graceful and forgiving of others, as God has been toward us. The story asks us to question our attitude. Are we a welcoming people or a judgemental people? Are we like Jesus or Simon? In speaking to Simon Jesus plays with words ‘he who has been forgiven little, loves little.’ Of course we should all know that we have been forgiven lots. Are we a Simon? Are we scared of our reputations? Do we have the generosity and love of Jesus which this woman possessed? Charles Royden

Meditation

Meditation
To God, our ability is less important than our availability. Our ability can even get in the way if it obscures God's role in our achievement.

Hymns

Sing the almighty power of god 334
God’s spirit is in my heart 315
Let earth and heaven agree 226
Lord God in whom all worlds 384
For the healing of the nations 402

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead

representation of prayer as seed growing

"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."

Additional Resources

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