Collect
God of Sarah and Abraham; Long ago you embraced your people in covenant; And promised them your blessing: give us grace to recognise you as our God; And serve you as your faithful people; Through Jesus Christ our Lord; Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit; One God, now and forever. Amen
First Reading: Genesis 17:1-7; 15-16
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.’ 3 Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4 ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be Abram,[b] but your name shall be Abraham;[c] for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring[d] after you….
15 … As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.’
Psalm 22:23-32
Second Reading: Romans 4:13-25
13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, 17 as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become ‘the father of many nations’, according to what was said, ‘So numerous shall your descendants be.’ 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 Therefore his faith ‘was reckoned to him as righteousness.’ 23 Now the words, ‘it was reckoned to him’, were written not for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
Gospel: Mark 8:31-38
31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’
34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’
MAY I SPEAK…
Today is the second sermon in our Lenten series on DISCIPLESHIP, using the Gospels. Last week, Michelle gave us an overview. This week, We’ll be looking at DISCIPLESHIP IN MARK.
The vast majority of researchers believe that Mark was the first of the 4 Gospels to be written, sometime around the year 70, and the style of the gospel is simple, implying the author is trying to tell Jesus’ story as simply and directly as possible.
If you Googled ‘DISCIPLESHIP IN MARK’ (as I did), you’ll see many sources saying Mark portrays the disciples in the most negative light, and our reference material concurs.
However, have you ever considered why? Could it be that it is because Mark wants to take the reader beyond the written account and beyond the failures of the Twelve, into their restoration and subsequent mission into the world as a model of the redemption path Jesus shows to all who will see? Even if we, like the Disciples, sometimes fail?
One of the best examples of the failure of a disciple is in our passage – can you imagine how Peter must have felt when Jesus rebuked him and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things’?
Yet, in what must be one of the most moving passages in scripture, John 21:15-19 describes the resurrected Jesus re-instating even Peter, after asking him 3 times ‘Do you love me?’...
That’s all Jesus requires - it is through his failures and brokenness that Peter becomes the instrument of Christ's reconciling love…
Surely this applies for us too? Yes. We fail, God knows, and loves us anyway – all God is asking of us is that we allow God to use our failures and brokenness so we too may be the instrument of Christ's reconciling love…
In our Gospel passage, Jesus explains HOW our failures and brokenness can be used as instrument of Christ's reconciling love – He says ‘For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it… Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’
The implication is so clear from our passage WE, LIKE PETER, WILL FAIL… GOD UNDERTANDS, GOD FORGIVES, BUT WE NEED TO LOVE JESUS, AND TO NOT BE ASHAMED OF HIM AND OUR FAITH….
What happens if we ashamed of Him, if we, like Peter, even go so far as to deny Him?
Let me tell you a story…
In the movie ‘Priest’ made in 1994, a young Catholic Priest Father Greg Pilkington, newly assigned to St Mary's parish in inner-city Liverpool, is startled to discover Father Matthew Thomas is engaged in a sexual relationship with the rectory housekeeper Maria Kerrigan. Moreover, Father Thomas is a left-wing radical, leading him to constant clashes and bickering with the Bishop — who nevertheless appreciates his abilities.
The young priest's traditional conservatism and religious beliefs are offended by the older priest's blatant disregard for his vow of celibacy. He also does not always have empathy for the community he is sent to minister in. At the same time, he struggles with his own homosexual urges, especially after he meets Graham at a local gay hangout and the two embark on a physical relationship.
When Graham comes to Church, Fr Greg refuses to give him communion…
Meanwhile, student Lisa Unsworth has confided she was sexually abused by her father, who confirms her story and displays no guilt nor any desire to stop. Both have revealed their secret in the confessional, so Fr Greg is unable to reveal what he has been told. He tries to warn her mother to keep a close watch on her, but the naïve woman believes her daughter is safe while in the care of her husband.
When Mrs Unsworth discovers her husband molesting Lisa and realises the priest knew what was happening she lashes out at him. Adding to his torment is his arrest for having sex with Graham in a parked car. When he pleads guilty to the charge, the story is headlined on the front page of the local newspaper and, unable to face his parishioners, Fr Greg relocates to a remote rural parish presided over by a disapproving and unforgiving priest.
Fr Matthew convinces him to return to St Mary's, and the two preside over a Mass that is disrupted by the loud protests of those opposed to Fr Greg's presence at the altar.
Fr Matthew demands they leave the church. The two priests then begin to distribute the Eucharist, but the remaining parishioners ignore Fr Greg and line up to receive communion of Fr Matthew. Lisa finally approaches the younger priest, and the two fall into each other's arms sobbing.
It is through his failures and brokenness that he becomes the instrument of Christ's reconciling love.
Sometimes we need to fail, in order for God to eventually succeed… Through our failures and brokenness, we become instruments of Christ's reconciling love…
It is true for Peter, it is true for Father Greg, and it is true for you, and me, we need to pick ourselves up, and trust not in ourselves, but in GOD, and in Christ's reconciling love….
‘For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.’…
Through Christ's reconciling love, ALL CREATION is redeemed… ALL CREATION…
To paraphrase Nouwen: we are invited to let God use our mistakes and our failures to mould self-righteous people like us, (like Peter), into gentle, caring, forgiving people who are so deeply convinced of our own great sinfulness and yet who are also so aware of God’s even greater mercy, that our lives themselves become compassionate ministry…
The invitation into compassionate ministry is the invitation into a state wherein there isn’t much difference left between DOING and BEING…
When we are in this state, we realise we are filled with God’s merciful presence, and we can do nothing other than minister because our whole being witnesses to Jesus, the Light that has come into the darkness…
AMEN!
Rev Gavin Smith
No comments:
Post a Comment