FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 2ND JULY 2023
OPENING SENTENCE-
Look upon me and answer me, O Lord.
HYMN
GREETING
Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
COLLECT FOR PURITY
Almighty God
to whom all hearts be open
all desires known
and from whom no secrets are hidden;
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you
and worthily magnify your holy name
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
SUMMARY OF THE LAW
Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”
The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
CONFESSION
God is love and we are God’s children.
There is no room for fear in love.
We love because God loved us first.
Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.
God our Father, we confess to you
and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and in what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry.
Forgive us our sins,
and deliver us from the power of evil,
for the sake of your Son who died for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
ABSOLUTION
May the God of love and power
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by his Spirit
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.
GLORIA sung by Sue St Joseph
COLLECT
O God, the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing can be whole
and nothing can be holy:
increase your mercy towards us,
that, with you as our ruler and guide,
we may so enjoy the good things of time,
as not to lose the things of eternity;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen
FIRST READING Genesis 22:1-14 read by Annette Beagrie
The Command to Sacrifice Isaac
After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. And the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked on together.
When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So, Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide,” as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
SECOND READING Romans 6:12-23 read by David Kerr
Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies, so that you obey their desires. No longer present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under law but under grace.
Slaves of Righteousness
What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that, if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you who were slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted and that you, having been set free from sin, have become enslaved to righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, leading to even more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.
When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So what fruit did you then gain from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the fruit you have leads to sanctification, and the end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
HYMN
GOSPEL READING Matthew 10: 40-42 read by Rev Janice Aiton
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St Matthew chapter 10 beginning at verse 40
Glory to Christ our Saviour.
Rewards
“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous, and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious gospel
Praise to Christ our Lord
SERMON
In St Andrews where I used to live, we were within earshot of the RAF base at Leuchars and frequently we were aware of the testing of the aircraft machines. The whirring roar indicated that these powerful machines were being subjected to unusually severe conditions in order to be sure that whatever the strains put upon them, they were thoroughly airworthy. People too are subjected to extreme conditions in order to prove their capabilities. These extreme conditions or tests determine our inner strengths and character. We tend to have an aversion to these tests for they cause stress in our lives. There is always the possibility of succeeding or of failing. If there isn’t, it’s not a test — it’s a game and nothing of significance rides on it. Tests have significance and cause stress because they have consequences — you can pass or fail. All our tests, no matter what their potential consequences, pale in comparison to God’s test of Abraham. Did you notice that in the first few words of our text this whole account is called a test? God is testing Abraham.
God tested Abraham by demands that went clean contrary both to human reason and divine promise. The shock of the test was not unlike that felt by a modern airline passenger when the reverse thrust of the engine is used to bring the plane to a halt. God’s promises appeared to be in reverse gear, after all these years of looking forward to the birth of Isaac, God is now demanding the sacrifice of Isaac. What kind of a test is this? What kind of God would ask for the sacrifice of an only son? What type of demented, power hungry, God would demand that the gift he gave be taken away? What type of God would call a person to serve and then demand that everything be given up? What type of God is that? What type of love is that? That cannot be our God. Our God is the one who fed five thousand, who converted Saul, and who helped Moses through the Red Sea. Our God is one of saving, of transformation, and of forgiveness. That’s our God. How can our God and the God in this story be the same?
What then is the true nature of our God? What God asks of Abraham seems unreasonable and horrendous ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love and sacrifice him’. Was this test equally unreasonable and offensive to Abraham in his culture as it is in ours today? Probably not-Abraham lived in a land that was accustomed to sacrificing their first born. One of the first principles of that old Canaanite religion demanded that men should give their first-born for their transgression, in other words the fruit of their body for the sin of their soul.
Abraham was to learn that whilst God demanded as much love as ever the heathen gave their cruel and imaginary deities, heaven would not permit human sacrifices or offered sons. Abraham’s obedience was therefore allowed to go up to a certain point, and then peremptorily stayed- so that all would know that God would not demand nor permit human sacrifice for in such things he had no delight. If this test is only about driving home the point that God does not welcome human sacrifice, then it does seem that God was merely using Abraham as a pawn in an exercise and that it does call into question the nature of God. However, I don’t believe that this was the main point or purpose of the test and I don’t believe God is just using Abraham.
For right from the first verse we are told this is a test and from this test God needs to know something. Only through this means of testing can God’s question be answered.
This is not a game God is playing with Abraham. Abraham is not a pawn in God’s hand. God genuinely does not know something and that his question is answered in verse 12 when God says ‘Now I know’. What is so important to God and what did God not know that warrants such a harsh test? God knew Abraham loved him and that Abraham was devoted to him but what God did not know was the full extent of that love or of the depth of that devotion? So, in this narrative we have before us it is not a flat event of testing. It is a genuine movement in the history between God and Abraham. It is a movement of discovery and disclosure. The movement is from ‘take your son’ to ‘you have not withheld’ and from test to now I know. Within this movement we learn something crucial about the character of God: God will provide and in the same verse we learn something crucial about the character of Abraham: Abraham trusts.’
Abraham places his trust completely in God the divine provider. Three times Abraham is addressed by God and three times he answers: “Here I am.” Abraham stands before the word of God. Abraham is addressed. He answers immediately and faithfully. He is a man ready to be addressed. He does not flinch from answering. To be addressed is to know that he is grounded in another and that he does not retain initiative for his own existence. Abraham knows that. That is the radical obedience of Abraham. He understands fully that he is a creature of the word. There are no reasons within his person to dispute, delay or resist the address. His response is full and immediate. Why else would he set off early the next morning? What about us? To what extent do we share Abraham’s awareness of being a creature of the word and how faithful and obedient are we to the addresses God makes to us?
Not only was Abraham’s response full and immediate but his response is one of utter trust and confidence. God will provide. At one point Abraham says I and the lad will go and worship and we will come back. He expects the Lord to uphold his testimony and by some means bring the two of them back to their base. As Abraham and Isaac went up the mountain together, Isaac asked the perfectly natural question, ‘Where is the lamb for the burnt offering’. This made a painful moment all the more poignant for his father, who spoke more truly than he realised when he answered’ God will provide himself the lamb for the burnt sacrifice.’
Isaac took his father’s response in good faith. We often think of Isaac fulfilling a passive role in the unfolding of this test, but he must have shared his father’s faith to the extent of co-operating with him. There was a ritual to perform, once the stone altar was built, that involved arranging the wood in order and binding the limbs of the sacrificial victim. At this point the youth could have escaped from his aged father’s grasp and fled but he did not do so. Instead, he submitted and heard for himself the voice of the Lord intervening to ensure his release and fulfil the expectation his father had voiced. There close besides them was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. His father as usual had been right: the Lord did provide.
God’s nature is at times to test but his testing always allows for his provision. God tests and God provides. His testing and his provision stem from his need of further knowledge and from his desire for our spiritual growth and maturity. So, when tests come from God we can be assured of his provision to cope with them. That does not mean that as Christians we will be spared illness and suffering. We will not but I do not believe that suffering and illness are tests that God sends us, rather they are a product of our society and of our genes, out of which God seeks to bring good. However, when tests do come from God, he is there to provide for our needs.
Throughout history this has proven to be the case. George Muller and Hudson Taylor, two great men of faith, were tested time after time in their missionary work, particularly in the funding of their projects. In their biographies we read time after time of God’s provision in financial gifts, in food, in housing and in medical supplies. Often these gifts came just at that right moment, not a moment too soon and not a moment too late. God continues to provide in similar ways today-it all has to do with prayer first and foremost, coupled with action. Here is but one instance of prayer and action and of God’s provision.
There was a capital campaign called More Than We Think We Are. The purpose of this campaign was to help pay for the sanctuary. The Financial Goal of More Than We Think We Are was $1,353,000. That’s exactly what we needed, bottom line, to start building the Sanctuary. Now that was about a half-million more than we had ever raised in a capital campaign before, so we prayed like mad that God would provide. Two weeks after the campaign concluded, we were going to announce the results in worship. On the Friday afternoon prior to the announcement, I stopped by the business office to find out how much had been pledged. “So,” I asked “Jean,” our accountant at that time, “what’s our pledging total. What number should I announce on Sunday?” She looked at her figures and answered, “The number is $1,353,000.””No, not that number,” I answered. “I mean the amount pledged, not the amount needed.” Jean looked at me with a twinkle in her eye. “I know what you’re asking. The amount pledged is $1,353,000.”
God provided all they needed. In our own personal situations and in our own church projects God will provide for us as we trust in him through prayer and action. For God’s nature is to provide and to provide abundantly. Amen.
NICENE CREED
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son,
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
In humility and love
let us draw near to God,
and pray to him now.
Lord God, we pray that our lives
may be compassionate and holy;
that our church communities may shine
with goodness and love,
humility and truth.
We pray for ourselves
that we will have the courage
to trust you like Abraham
and when tested, to prove your promises true.
God of compassion and mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray
that we will discern
the sparks of goodness and love in others
and encourage them to good works
for your name and glory.
God of compassion and mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray
that our households and neighbourhoods,
our places of work and leisure,
may be regarded as places of love and thankfulness,
not only when things and life are going well,
but also, in those moments of hardship and difficulty.
God of compassion and mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray for those
who have given into temptation and
because of their crime are in prison.
We ask that you will help them seek forgiveness
and that by your help they may be renewed and restored.
God of compassion and mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray for those
who have been brainwashed,
and believe that killing
in your name is justified and good.
Open their minds and hearts to the truth,
and folly of their ways.
Protect too our own teenagers and students
that they will remain independent thinkers,
and that they will always uphold peace, justice and love,
to people of all nations, religions, faith and none.
God of compassion and mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray for those who are suffering at this time,
thinking especially of those,
who are imprisoned because of their faith,
or those who have spoken out about injustice
and inequality in their country,
or have challenged the lack of freedom
in their ability to speak or write freely,
give them strength and courage to keep going
and we ask for their release
and lift to you agencies working on their behalf.
God of compassion and mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray for those
who are weak in body, mind or spirit at this time.
We lift to you those,
battling with mental illness
and ask that they might know stability and peace.
We lift to you those who are worried about their health,
those facing heart problems,
those undergoing treatments against cancer,
those recovering at home from surgery,
and ask for your loving and healing presence
to be with them and meet them at their point of need.
God of compassion and mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we remember those in prayer
who have lost recently a loved one.
We remember too those families for whom
this month is an anniversary of a death.
Be their comfort and stay in these days.
God of compassion and mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray for ourselves
that we might have thankful hearts
and appreciate more
your amazing and generous provision for us,
sometimes in ways that we could not have imagined.
Merciful Father accept these prayers for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Do not bring us to the time of trial
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.
HYMN
BLESSING
The peace of God,
which passes all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God,
and of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord:
and the blessing of God the Father,
the Son and Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always. Amen
DISMISSAL
Go or stay in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ. Amen
