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This week we have presented to us in the Gospel reading the two seemingly contradictory paths of the Christian life, the pious and the practical, or the spiritual and the down to earth. Last week we read about the Good Samaritan who cared for an injured man. His practical acts of kindness were contrasted with the pious priest and Levite who were more concerned with their religious purity than showing mercy and true religion.
This week we read about an apparently lazy Mary, who sits listening to Jesus whilst the practical Martha gets on with the chores. But Jesus does not call Mary lazy, Jesus tells Martha that it is alright for Mary to be still and listen to him.
Hopefully Mary was not a lazy person, but she did make use of the time when Jesus was around. She knew that there are times when jobs can be left and there was no need to justify her existence to Jesus by showing him how hard she could wash and cook.
Perhaps you feel that you are surrounded by lazy people and you end up doing all the work. Well perhaps this week it is time to listen to Jesus. There is no need to justify your existence to him, God's mission does not depend upon us slowly burning ourselves out and there will be time enough for working when we have enjoyed a day of rest.

Opening Verse of Scripture Colossians 2:6

Continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness

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 Genesis 18:20-32

Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know." The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD .Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing-to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake." Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?" "If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it." Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?" He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it." Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?" He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there." Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?" He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it." Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."
(Reader: This is the word of the Lord - All: Thanks be to God)

Second Reading Colossians Chapter 2:6-19

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
(Reader: This is the word of the Lord - All: Thanks be to God)

Gospel Reading Luke 11:1-13

Post Communion Prayer

Lord God, whose Son is the vine and the source of life, ever giving himself that the world may live: may we so receive within ourselves the power of his death and passion that, in his saving cup, we may share his glory and be made perfect in his love; for he is alive and reigns, now and for ever. Amen.

Commentary

After the sacrament of baptism, the Lord's Prayer is the best-known bond of unity among Christians of every tradition. The name Lord's Prayer was given because it was a prayer which Jesus taught his disciples when they asked him 'Teach us how to pray." Clearly there was something about the prayer of Jesus which made the disciples feel they were missing the mark, their prayers lacked the power and meaning Jesus' had. In Matthew Jesus gives the prayer as a type of prayer which complies with the instructions which he has given about prayer in general. In Luke however the prayer is not only an example which complies with his teaching, it is also a specific prayer which must be prayed by his followers.

Our We have all heard the phrase 'I am a Christian but I don't go to church.' The word 'Our' is very poignant, it makes the Christian faith a shared experience, not an isolated one. You cannot pray the Lord's Prayer and mean it and then be a private Christian. The following is a simple poem but it does have a strong message about the shared nature of Christianity
You cannot say the Lord's prayer, and even once say "I".
You cannot pray the Lord's prayer, and even once say "my".
Nor can you pray the Lord's prayer and not pray for another.
For to ask for "our" daily bread, you include your sister and brother!
All God's children are included in each and every plea.
From the beginning to the end of it, it does not once say "me".

Father Jesus must have amazed those around by addressing God as "Father". The Pharisees never used such a title to address God. We can be sure that not until Jesus does it become characteristic to speak to God as Father. God was close to Jesus and this is shown clearly by his choice of this word. Moreover Jesus wants this level of intimacy to be shared by us all. A relationship so personal that we can call the Creator of the universe 'Father'. God is somebody we can approach as we go to a human parent and share the good times and the bad, the success as well as the failure, the joys and sorrows. As 'Father', God is concerned for the needs of his children.
Hallowed be your name Hallowed means to treat as holy, to reverence, to be pure, sacred. There is an acknowledgement of the fact that God is 'worthy.' This is about the essential quality of God which is beyond our imagination. In calling God 'Holy' we acknowledge that God is 'other worldly' and that there is much about God which is above and beyond us: We cannot expect to place an infinite God into the container of our human finite minds. This is also a prayer for the mission of the church, we are seeking that all people would reverence God.

Your kingdom come Jesus expresses our longing to have the kingdom fully now, not just a taste of it. Our deepest longing is to see the day when the triumphant, sovereign lordship of our loving God will no longer be a mere hope clung to desperately by faith, but a manifest reality in all human affairs. We all long to see the end of death and pain and suffering, this prayer seeks the time when all these things will come to an end.

Give us each day our daily bread. We are half-way through the prayer before Jesus allows us to ask for anything for ourselves! This phrase reminds us of where our priorities must be. It reminds us of our daily dependence upon God and calls us to simplicity of life. As we pray these simple words we pray that we will live just one day at a time and we also acknowledge that all things come from God. (Deut 8:18, 1 Cor 4:7, James 1:17). True prayers are born of present trials and present needs. Bread, for today, is bread enough. As every day demands its bread, so every day demands its prayer. No amount of praying, done today, will suffice for tomorrow's praying. This part of the prayer is also about NEEDS not GREEDS. Jesus acknowledges that our physical needs must be met but it is not a prayer for luxuries.
To pray for 'our daily bread' is to remind ourselves that in a wealthy society we should not be asking for more than that, anything else is a bonus! Indeed for many people daily bread itself would be a real luxury.

Forgive us our sins In this prayer we admit that we are sinners! By sinning we have incurred a moral and a spiritual debt to God who has authority over our lives. So we ask for forgiveness as a gift, for we can never earn or merit God's forgiveness. Some would say that we should be praying forgive me 'my' sins. There has been a tendency to become over excited about our individual sins: Of course the ones that we get really excited about are sexual sins and sins of morality. Jesus is not so focused on individual but rather corporate sin. It is actually harder to say forgive us our sins, since when we take shared responsibility for corporate sins it challenges us in a new way.

As we forgive those who sin against us Think about the things God has forgiven you for. Now with all that forgiven how can you not forgive someone who has sinned against you? Jesus does not suppose that God's forgiveness is contingent on our forgiving. Rather, he simply assumes that as we pray we will understand the need to forgive. Once our eyes are opened to the enormity of our offence against God, the injuries done to us appear by comparison to be trifling. If we exaggerate the offences of others then the chances are that we have a minimized our understanding of our own ! Forgiving others shows that we are living out the kingdom standards in our own lives now.

And lead us not into temptation Does God lead us into temptation? We can all be sure from personal experience that he does allow us to be tempted, to go through difficult circumstances. We are told in scripture that God will not allow us to be tested beyond what we can endure and that he will help us through it (1 Cor 10:13). Perhaps we could say that this prayer asks God to help us avoid sin, and that our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into sin of any kind. If we continue to say this prayer each day, then we will find it hard to live knowingly with sin each day. It is interesting that when people do things which they know to be wrong they frequently find a reason to avoid confronting their sin. They will perhaps leave their church which challenges such behaviour, sometimes finding fault in the church itself as an excuse. Our prayers will challenge us not to live a double life. Charles Royden

Meditation

Schools should be allowed to do away with daily collective worship in favour of weekly or monthly assemblies, says the Chief Inspector of Schools, David Bell. "I struggle, as do my inspectors and most secondary schools, with the requirement that every school day shall include an act of collective worship," Figures from Mr Bell’s department show that 76 per cent of secondary schools fail to comply with the regulations for collective worship; many say they lack the physical space to hold an assembly, or they cannot squeeze worship into their timetable.
Mr Bell says he tried to crack down on schools’ failure to comply — but "ran into a firestorm of protest", because school inspectors found themselves having to declare schools that met every other standard "unsatisfactory", simply because they were failing to implement the daily act of worship.

This Sunday we think about prayer and the need to create space in our busy lives. If schools stopped having PE, games or sports lessons, I wonder if then they would be allowed to drop sport from the curriculum in schools? I would suggest that such an idea would be utterly rejected. The fact that Mr Bell has made this statement shows that spiritual activity is regarded as of less importance than physical activity. ! If we remove from our children an awareness of things which are spiritual, what kind of people will they become? Is it merely coincidence that in a society where we are removing the spiritual focus, that we are seeing less and less respect for others and a degeneration in the behaviour of children and young people.
If schools feel able to break the law so wilfully, is it any surprise that children in those same schools are morally confused? Charles Royden

Hymns

O Lord my God 506
Seek ye first 590
What a friend we have in Jesus 746
Christ be our light (See page 7)
I heard the voice of Jesus say 275

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."

Grant us, O Lord,
to seek first your Kingdom and your righteousness.
Out of the abundance of your grace,
grant us sufficient light and strength
for our journey.
Forgive what we have been,
sanctify what we are
and order what we shall be,
in you and for you, now and for ever. Amen
Mary Tileston, 1820 -1895

Watch, Lord,
with those who wake or watch
or weep tonight,
and give your angels charge
over those who sleep.
Tend your sick ones,
O Lord Jesus Christ;
rest your weary ones;
bless your dying ones;
soothe your suffering ones;
pity your afflicted ones;
shield your joyous ones.
And all for your love’s sake. Amen
Compline collect

O Holy Spirit, come as the wind to forward our goings. Come as the dove to launch us heavenward. Come as the water to purify our spirits. Come as the cloud to abate our temptations. Come as the dew to revive our languor. Come as fire to purge our souls; for your truth and your name’s sake. Amen
Christina Rossetti, 1830-1894

God, you have poured the Spirit of your Son into our hearts so that we may call you Father. Give us grace to devote our freedom to your service that we and all creation may be brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.

Additional Resources

17th in Ordinary Time, Year C, Green

Opening Verse of Scripture, Colossians Chapter 2:6

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Collect Prayer for the Day-Before we read we pray

Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: graft in our hearts the love of your name, increase in us > religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of your great mercy keep us in the same; 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.

First Bible Reading, Hosea 1:2-10

When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD." So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. In that day I will break Israel's bow in the Valley of Jezreel." Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them. Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them--not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by the LORD their God." After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. Then the LORD said, "Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God. "Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.' (This is the word of the Lord—Thanks be to God)

Second Bible Reading, Luke Chapter 11:1-23

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: "'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.'" Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.' "Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. But some of them said, "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons." Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven. Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armour in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils. "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters. (This is the word of the Lord—Thanks be to God)

Post Communion Prayer

Prayer

God our Father, you made each of us unique and unrepeatable. Inspire me to live in such a way that I respect others and am ready to learn from all who are part of my life this day. Amen.

Lord we remember before you all our brothers and sisters who are weighed down with suffering. Bless and guide us that your love may be reflected in our concern for the hungry, the oppressed and the unloved. Help us to acknowledge and grow in appreciation that all people are made in your image and likeness. Amen.

Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our brothers ands sisters throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them by our hands this day their daily bread, and by our understanding love give peace and joy Amen.

Hymns (Hymns and Psalms)

489 From all that dwell below the skies
135 Go tell is on the mountain
739 May the mind of Christ my Saviour
614 Jesus, we thus obey
404 It is God who holds the nations in the hollow of his hand

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