Services
We all long for a world of justice and peace but, as our readings reveal this morning, such a world does not come on its own. In Genesis 32:22-31 Jacob is stuck. He has taken his brother Esau’s birthright and fled but now he cannot move forward with his life until he faces what he has done and seeks forgiveness. First he faces a struggle. A struggle which leaves him both wounded but also blessed. Today, on Racial Justice Sunday, we acknowledge that we, like Jacob, often feel paralysed, overwhelmed by the many injustices in our world, unsure how to take meaningful action. We need to be reminded that such struggles bring their own blessing and by them we are transformed. The widow in Luke 18:1-8 is also struggling to find justice but refuses to give up her struggle even when justice seems an impossibility. Today we are grateful to Abigail Oyedele who is joining us from Citizens UK to encourage us with us examples of how people in our local community have transformed situations by their actions so that we too will not give up trusting that “the arc of history is long but it tends towards justice.”
This Autumn, the Church of England is celebrating
THE SEASON OF GENEROSITY.
A time set aside to give thanks for God’s gifts; to reflect on what it means to live with gratitude for all that we have and all that we are; and to commit ourselves to living generously.
At Holy Spirit we are dedicating three Sundays (from Sunday 28th September to Sunday 12th October) to the themes of this season: Generosity, Giving and Gratitude.
This week our final Week Three, 12th October, when we receive five of our young people into Communion, our theme will be GRATITUDE and how it shapes our lives and transforms our understanding of who we are.
Today, as our children receive their first communion, our focus is on gratitude. When Jesus heals ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19, only one gives thanks. The word used is the same word Jesus uses when he takes bread and wine at the Last Supper. It is the word from which the term Eucharist derives. God invites all of us to the table, each one of us has a place. Yet to take our place we must stand shoulder to shoulder with all those whom God invites. This is something which Naaman, in 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15, finds difficult. He is offended that a man of his wealth and status has been invited to take his place among the general public who come to wash in the Jordan River. His sense of entitlement very nearly prevents him from receiving the gift God is offering, it seems too humble, too ordinary to be of value. All of us come to God’s table in need, all of us are hungry for what God has to offer but often our egos and our own sense of what we deserve prevents us from receiving God’s abundant grace. When we stand shoulder to shoulder with our children around the Lord’s Table, we acknowledge that none of us are more worthy than anyone else, that all we have is a result, not of our efforts, but of God’s generosity and mercy. Knowing this, we can be truly grateful that we too are included in God’s grace and that we are privileged to invite others to join us at the Lord’s table.
This Autumn, the Church of England is celebrating
THE SEASON OF GENEROSITY.
A time set aside to give thanks for God’s gifts; to reflect on what it means to live with gratitude for all that we have and all that we are; and to commit ourselves to living generously.
At Holy Spirit we are dedicating three Sundays (from Sunday 28th September to Sunday 12th October) to the themes of this season: Generosity, Giving and Gratitude.
Week One, 28th September, focuses on GENEROSITY, what it means to be a people created and sustained by God’s generosity and how we might live generously in response.
Week Two, 5th October, celebrates GIVING as we hold our annual HARVEST THANKSGIVING and bring donations to support the work of the Ace of Clubs day centre and the Food Bank. In this week we reflect on how giving transforms the lives of those who give and those who receive.
Week Three, 12th October, when we receive five of our young people into Communion, our theme will be GRATITUDE and how it shapes our lives and transforms our understanding of who we are.
The story of the first ever Harvest Festival is told in Deuteronomy 26:1-11. The very first thing that the people are to do when they enter the land is to take the first fruits and share them. They are to offer them to God in recognition that all things come from God but they are also to celebrate God’s gifts by inviting all who live in the land, friend and stranger, foreigner and neighbour. Furthermore, they are also to remember that they too have been strangers, foreigners, enslaved, poor, they are to acknowledge our shared humanity, our shared need for God and one another.
This the gift that Jesus offers in John 6:25-35 when he declares that he is “the bread of life”. He has just fed 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fishes and yet the crowds do not understand: “you are looking for me, not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” The bread was the sign, what it was pointing towards was community: the building of trust, the commitment to common well-being, the desire to share.
We are a people called to be in communion, with God, with creation and with one another. We share one bread and one cup as a symbol of our union. Just like the Israelites in the promised land we too are called to offer our first fruits, to give of what we have and of ourselves. Giving is life-affirming and life-giving not just for those who receive but also for those who give. We are a harvest made to share.