Weekly Service Sheet— 26^th July 2020.

7^th Sunday after Trinity

10.00am: Said Communion.

Preacher & Celebrant will be Rev. Prof. Hugh Houghton

THE COLLECT

Generous God, you give us gifts and make them grow: though our faith is small as mustard seeds, make it grow to your glory and the flourishing of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN 

THE FIRST READING   1 KINGS 3: 5—12

At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, ‘Ask what I should give you.’ And Solomon said, ‘You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart towards you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to  discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?’ 

It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. God said to him, ‘Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word. Indeed, I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you.

THE SECOND READING  ROMANS 8: 26—39

Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.

What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ?

Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

The Spirit of truth will be my witness; and you too will be my witness.

GOSPEL  MATT 13: 31—33, 44—52

He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the  greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.’

He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.’

‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

‘Have you understood all this?’ They answered, ‘Yes.’ And he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.’

POST COMMUNION

Lord God, whose Son is the true vine and the source of life, ever giving himself that the world may live: may we 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 forever. AMEN   

Fr.Andrew's Thought for the week 

All of today’s passages are about wisdom, the wisdom of god, and getting the most out of our faith. We all know people who are very clever, and some forcefully let you know just how clever they are, sometimes in very loud and definite voices making sure that you do not question or contradict!

But, of course, cleverness is not the same as wisdom! Wisdom itself is not easy to define. It’s something beyond knowledge, and involves an understanding of what it is to be human, and so it holds kindness within it. Jesus uses god’s wisdom in today’s gospel. He often used parables, normally one-point illustrations, to explain difficult concepts. Today’s examples concern the kingdom of heaven. It seems that Jesus was describing something difficult to comprehend in material, mortal terms: it’s like this, it’s like that. The kingdom of heaven is not easily encompassed in an earthly analogy. It's something about growth, spreading everywhere; about unfettered joy. It’s incredibly important and an amazing treasure. It is timeless, and for anyone and everyone!

But not without consequence: Jesus continues on the fish in a net metaphor with the thought of sorting, just like the wheat and the chaff, and he uses this to challenge those in authority: the scribes, and all of us as inheritors of their brief. So, he says to us as to them: god’s kingdom of heaven is a great treasure, use it wisely to share with others, for it is to do with people and not with things.

See it as timelessly intertwining the old with the new. See it most of all as personal. Because the kingdom of heaven is not an it, the kingdom of heaven is a he! Our god is the one who, with great kindness and understanding, for he has lived as one of us as the person of Jesus of Nazareth, uses his wisdom to set the whole human race free to enjoy the infinite possibilities of life with him!!