'Preparing A Road' - transcript of sermon at St Oswald's, Rugby, Advent Sunday2021

 Luke 21: 25-36

Sermon – St Oswald Advent Sunday 2021

 

Some years ago, when I was working in the Truro Diocese a young man, Jeremy was appointed to his first curacy at St Michael’s, Newquay.

We met up for coffee and anybody who knows me will be aware that my head is always full of ideas and resources. I simply love ‘kite flying’ and wondering maybe what if…

This was even more so when my role was the Diocesan Advisor for Evangelism.

Jeremy was looking for a way to get to know people in the community and I had an idea.

My idea was to get Bibles into holiday caravans much in the same way as Gideon Bibles were placed in hotel rooms. Maybe add to the Bible a children’s colouring book, some crayons and possible some other literature to help people on holiday explore and consider the Christian faith.

Jeremy liked the idea and by way of a launch we decided to run a Biblathon. A not stop public reading of the Scriptures. On average that takes 72 hours.

Jeremy picked up the idea of the Biblathon with a passion. He began by laying out a huge roll of lining paper on several tables in the Church. He carefully segmented all the Scriptures into small sections with an approximate time scale.

However, Jeremy invited people not to simply read their chosen text but to use music and drama or whatever way people wished to present it. 

This gave Jeremy the opportunity to knock on doors around the community and invite them to engage them with this project that had certainly caught people’s imagination.

We had the local MP reading, schools offering drama to tell Old Testament stories and stories from the Gospels. The choir sang many of the Psalms and other pieces and other musical groups came in to do the same in different styles.

One of the special moments for me was the Head of Education for Cornwall County Council who was a practising Jew came and sang a huge chunk of the Old Testament in Hebrew.

The Church had a Narthex at the back of the church with a kitchen and so food and drinks were available as the church remained open for people to pop in at any time.

I stayed next to the Church in my Church Army Mission Caravan. 

And in the early of the third day, around 4am or 5am the last section of the Book of Revelation was read. I went and made a phone call to Radio Cornwall who were following the project. Later, around 6am, I gave a fuller live interview.

It really was a remarkable event and we timed it so that we concluded on the first Sunday in Advent.

We had a large lit candle burning throughout as a sign that the Scriptures offer a lantern to our feet and a light to our paths.

We choose Advent Sunday because it ends the Liturgical Year. This is marked by a change in the Lectionary Readings and the principal Gospel for the year ahead.

Today we begin Year C with Luke as our principal Gospel.

It seemed fitting to engage with the whole of Scripture, God’s big story, by way of entering Advent.

The word Advent derives from Latin, ad-venire which means ‘to come’ and later moving into adventus meaning ‘arrival.’

The Advent call comes from Isaiah and echoed by John the Baptist…

Prepare a road for the Lord through the wilderness,

clear a highway across the desert for our God

Every valley shall be lifted up,

every mountain and hill brought down;

the rugged place shall be made smooth

and mountain ranges become a plain. (Isaiah 40:3-4)

Advent carries the twin themes of both a solemn season and a season of great hope and expectancy.

Purple is the liturgical colour that reflects the solemnity of the season.

Advent candles sometimes in an Advent wreath have grown in popularity over recent years across a wide range of Churches.

Although red candles are sometimes used an older tradition is three purple and one rose coloured candle, along with the white Christ candle. The rose candle was lit on the Third Sunday, Gaudete Sunday, which is Latin for ‘rejoice’ from the Introit set for that day. And if you are thinking of a Steeleye Span song you are right on the money.    

More commonly today it has moved to the last Sunday when the focus is often on Mary and the ending of the season of solemnity turning to one of joyous expectation.

As the idea of Advent Candles has grown in popularity, any number of themes are now used for the four Sunday in Advent, God’s People, Prophets, John the Baptist, and Mary. Or Hope, Peace, Joy and Love, or Expectation, Preparation, Repentance and Rejoice – themes keep expanding.

One set of themes that some of you may remember did mark out the solemnity of the seasons and serves to remind us that during Advent we are not only considering Jesus coming to us as the Babe of Bethlehem but also his second coming as Lord and Judge of all. This set of themes were known collectively as the Four Last Things, death, judgment, heaven, and hell.

 

That would rather knock the edge of any pre-emptive Christmass jollification.

That’s as maybe, but this is the place our Gospel reading points us towards. This ‘Little Apocalypse’ as it sometimes referred to – also to be found in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. All of them set just before Jesus’ Passion Narrative.  (Apocalypse - revealing or unveiling)

This is interesting as the Jews held passionately to the idea of ‘The Day of the Lord,’ or the ‘Day of God’s Wrath.’  This would be the time when God became sovereign over all the earth, judgment would be past, evil banished, and evil doers punished. A time when the Jews would fulfil their true vocation to be agents of God reign and rule, image bearers and God representatives upon earth.

This ‘Day’ however, according to Isaiah and Jeremiah and other Old Testaments prophets would be preceded by a time of earth-shattering events.

Put all of that together with what we considered last Sunday – Christ the King. Add in the title above Jesus as he was crucified, Jesus King of the Jews, and the larger picture begins to emerge.

We must never forget this larger narrative. That the Child in the Crib became the Christ on the Cross.

Across the crib always falls the shadow of the cross.

Personally, I do think we have lost something in our rush to Christmass without giving due thought and reflecting on our rebellious nature, upon our sins, both personally and collectively.

To reflect upon the knots and tangles we have got ourselves into that stops us shining as bright lights in the darkness.

And on our collective sins we have been soberly reminded of our failure to act as good stewards of God’s good creation with COP26.

Now all this stuff about seasons, liturgical years and Advent may appear irrelevant and a tad nerdy.

But it serves to remind us of our history of our faithful forbears. It serves to remind us that we stand in a tradition of the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

And it serves to remind us to place of Jesus in the context of the whole of Scripture not as some superhero beamed down on a rescue mission so we could go to heaven when we die.

When I was in London, I remember going to Speakers Corner in Hyde Park. One of the speakers was suggesting that Christians do not follow Jesus but rather Paul. He had a good point, and there are several Churches in the West who read their Bibles backwards.

They focus on the Epistles, mainly Paul, then maybe dip into the Gospel’s and then wander into the Old Testament to cherry pick proof texts and prophecies.

I am looking forward to engaging with the Essential 100 Bible Challenge that accompanies next year's teaching themes on "The Big Story of God" Where we can begin to get a glimpse of Jesus as the fulfilment of all that had been spoken about in the Hebrews Scriptures.

Put well in the couplet; ‘in the Old Testament the New Testament is contained and in the New Testament the Old Testament is explained.’

As well as reading the book 100 Challenges one of the disciplines you may like to consider in the year ahead is to read something like Tom Wright’s commentary on Luke in his Everyone series. This has been my own discipline for some years now and I can highly commend it.

I want to draw this rather wandering sermon to a close by reading Psalm 96.

As I do note how this Psalm speaks of God as King of the nations, how all creation is called to sing God’s praises, how we are to bring an offering to his temple, and how God is coming to judge all people and will do so with fairness.

All of this is personified in Jesus, who, post resurrection, is given all authority on heaven and earth, who was denoted as King of the Jews by Pilate, and who is the new Temple and the one who was and is to come, offering salvation and bringing righteous judgement upon all – and so much more, so much, much more.

A wonderful Psalm to help us reflect upon and engage with Advent as a period of waiting with sober reflection and watching with eager expectation as we see God’s once for all plan to bring everything back into good order through the righteous faithfulness of Jesus that begins with his humble birth – not in a royal house or hall.

Sing a new song to the LORD!

Everyone on this earth,

sing praises to the LORD,

sing and praise his name.

Day after day announce,

“The LORD has saved us!”

Tell every nation on earth,

“The LORD is wonderful

and does marvellous things!

The LORD is great and deserves

our greatest praise!

He is the only God

worthy of our worship.

Other nations worship idols,

but the LORD created

the heavens.

Give honour and praise

to the LORD,

whose power and beauty

fill his holy temple.”

Tell everyone of every nation,

“Praise the glorious power

of the LORD.

He is wonderful! Praise him

and bring an offering

into his temple.

Everyone on earth, now tremble

and worship the LORD,

majestic and holy.”

Announce to the nations,

“The LORD is King!

The world stands firm,

never to be shaken,

and he will judge its people

with fairness.”

Tell the heavens and the earth

to be glad and celebrate!

Command the ocean to roar

with all its creatures

and the fields to rejoice

with all their crops.

Then every tree in the forest

will sing joyful songs

to the LORD.

He is coming to judge

all people on earth

with fairness and truth.  

'Seven Whole Days Not One in Seven' - transcript of sermon St Oswald's Rugby 10/10/21

Exodus 31. 1-5 & Colossians 3:22-24

 

This week we return to our theme of ‘God in my everything’ informed by Ken Shigemitsu’s book of the same name.

Today we focus on work which sits on the ‘Sabbath’ upright and on the ‘reach out’ horizontal span of our trellis.

Our intent is to create for ourselves a ‘Rule of Life’ or a ‘Code of Conduct’ or ‘Rhythms of Grace.’ A pattern of life to live by - a set of guiding principles to help us navigate our way through life and grow in our maturity as disciples of Christ.

For to become as Christ is our upward calling, embracing what the Orthodox Church refers to as  theosis. A transformative process whose aim is likeness to or union with God.

With reference to the exercising of various gifts, callings, and vocations we read in Ephesians 4:13…

This will continue until we are united by our faith and by our understanding of the Son of God. Then we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him.

These callings of prophet, evangelist, teacher, and pastors we note ‘are to prepare God’s people for works of service…’

Those ‘works of service’ is what marked out the infant Church. It was the Christians who cared for the poor and stayed the course if a pandemic struck, looking after people, welcoming everyone.  

Acts of worship, the reading of Scriptures and the breaking of bread, poured out into practical expression of God’s love for the world and for everyone in ‘works of service.’

Many years ago, I ministered as a Parish Evangelist at St Mary Magdalene in Prudhoe in Northumberland.  During my time there the Vicar, Paul Adamson took Sabbatical leave.  He considered what he might usefully do during this extended period of leave and study.

He said that he would like to work, explaining that he had gone straight from school to college, onto university and finally into theological college and on into ministry. He considered that he had never properly worked. He was taken on by the Northumbrian Water Board and worked very happily for several weeks at all levels in the company.

Now I understand what Paul was saying and yet such thinking can lead us to imagine that there is Church ministry type stuff and then real work type stuff. 

It has been estimated that we spend around 10 hours a week as a Gathered Faith Community and 110 hours as a Dispersed Faith Community.  

But very often our focus can be on the 10 hours that can then become elevated to a greater level of importance.

Our life as the People of God can become focussed on the Sunday Gathering and not the Monday Serving. 

We need to develop an expansive view of what constitutes work and take it beyond being only about paid labour.  

Put simply as we heard from the Letter to the Colossians this morning…

²³ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

Whatever you do – cleaning, cooking, changing nappies, heading up a global company, serving tea, teaching in schools – whatever you do…

A servant with this clause

makes drudgery divine:

who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,

makes that and the action fine.

Familiar words from ‘Teach me my God and King’ by George Herbert who also wrote ‘King of Glory, King of Peace’ with the line Seven whole days, not one in seven, I will praise thee;

I know a good number of you are familiar with this concept and in particular through the TTT exercise – this time tomorrow. Where someone is invited to say what they will be doing this time tomorrow, serving as a reminder that God is in everything and just doesn’t pitch up on Sunday’s.

Shigemitsu offers some very helpful insights drawn from the Rule of St Benedict. He also mentions Brother Lawrence, a 17th Carmelite Monk who learned to practise the presence of God by constantly refocussing upon God.  Wherever he was and whatever he was doing he felt and knew God’s presence with him. Whether that was amongst pots and pans in the scullery, making sandals or participating in the Eucharist.

I remember hearing of someone who had a sign above their kitchen sink that said, Divine Services held here three times a day.

How then do we go about building into our Rhythms of Grace an understanding of work in its broadest sense, not just paid labour, as something that can carry a sense of the divine presence?

Recalling the directive we heard earlier, ²³ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

A good place to start is in Genesis and the creation narrative.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Genesis 2.15

Whatever picture you may have of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is should not be one of them simply lounging about doing nothing.

They were called to be fruitful and multiply, to bring about the flourishing of God’s creation, holding back the dark forces of chaos and bringing everything into good order.

And they were called to do this as God’s appointed agents, not as slaves who didn’t have any choice in the matter.

They did have a choice and we know they exercised that choice and chose the path of self-determination. They chose to seek after the knowledge of good and evil.  And once they had done that and disobeyed the command of God, all hell broke loose.

We hear of Adam and Eve becoming aware of each other in a new way that brought shame, so they hid themselves from each other and then hid from God. Human disobedience that like a stone thrown into a pond creating ripples of destruction echoing throughout the cosmos.

We read further of how God speaks of the curses that will follow because of their disobedience.

But note carefully that work itself is not cursed, it is the ground that becomes cursed and will require hard labour to bring it to flourishing.

This gives rise to that peculiarity we so often find.

We have a desire to work, that is part of our God given DNA, we are creative created beings.

Yet work often feels laborious and tiresome.

It is a double bind.

From here the narrative continues as God seeks to find faithful humans who will work with him in bringing about the good order of the world he had created.

The story twists this way and that, with Noah, Abraham and Sarah, with David and many others.  Go and check out Hebrews chapter 11 for a gallery of the faithful.

And if you really would like to dig deeper into this larger narrative then search out ‘The Bible Project’ who have produced videos; podcasts and so much more focussed around their strap line, ‘introducing the Bible as a unified story that leads to Jesus.’

                                               www.bibleproject.com

Because of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and Ascension, God’s project of creating a good world is back on track.

And once more humans are invited to reign and rule as co-regents, as Kings and Priest in God’s new heaven and earth reality.

However, there is a now and not yet about God’s reign over all the created order. 

It is manifestly obvious that at the present time our world does not reflect God glory or God’s will and purposes.

That is where we come in, acting as God agents. 

Amazingly God invites you and me to partner with him in bringing back everything into good order and to push back the dark forces of chaos and evil that continual threaten to overwhelm us.

Michael Quoist ‘The Christian Response’

‘You are a unique and irreplaceable actor in the drama of human history, and Jesus Christ has need of you to make known his salvific work in this particular place and at this particular moment in history.’

And that work of salvation and redemption reaches out to whole of the created order and to the whole of cosmos.

And it reaches out to Rugby, to your family and friends and to my family and friends, to our communities and to our neighbours.

For as Thomas Merton said,

‘The gate of heaven is everywhere - our role is to help open the door... to roll away the stone and unleash the energy and wonder of the risen Christ’.

We are called to be signposts to that greater reality, that one day the earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.  Habakkuk 21:14

To close then let us consider some of the ways we might practise the presence of God as we go about our daily lives, living as Christ’s Ambassadors.

What about signing yourself with the cross as you go out of your home, or into another building. Or maybe as you enter and exit your car or bus, train or whatever.

Maybe carry a small cross in your pocket or purse. 

There was a time when the Church bell would toll and serve as reminder to stop for a moment and offer a prayer, particularly the Angelus.  

Today that might be your Connect Group sending around a message at a given time inviting you to stop and pray.  Or set an alarm at various time with a prompt to offer up a short prayer.

There are also many great apps you can get on your phone that can help you to pause during the day and refocus upon God.

Maybe we could write out that verse from Colossians I’ve mentioned and put it somewhere we keep on coming across it…

²³ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

Above all we can keep continually asking ourselves and asking each other…

‘Just what are we doing for God’s sake?’

Let us pray…

‘While we have life and breath there is work to be done. While we have friends, neighbours, family members and work colleagues who do not know Jesus, there is work to be done. While millions struggle with poverty and disease, there is work to be done. We cannot and will not sit back and take it easy.’

Amen and Amen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 n.banks28@gmail.com

Professing What We Confess (Transcript of sermon St Oswald's Rugby 14th September 2021)

 

Sermon – St Oswald’s Tuesday Morning Worship

 

Mark 8:27-38

On our recent visit to the Isle of Wight one of the historical places we visited had a Breeches Bible.

In the Breeches Bible, Genesis Chapter III Verse 7 reads: "Then the eies of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed figge tree leaves together, and made themselves breeches." 

In the King James Version of 1611, "breeches" was changed to "aprons".

This is part of a story that is probably familiar to you. About how the first human couple chose the path of self determination instead of loving obedience to God.

How they knew shame first with each other, signifying the breakdown of human relationships, then secondly the breakdown in relationship to God as we hear of them hiding in the garden away from God.

 Genesis 3.10 He (that is Adam) answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Now contrast that hiding in shame with what we read in 1 John 2: 28

 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

The work of the first Adam that brought shame and broken relationships has now been put right through the work of the Second Adam.

Now we may continue in him, that is Jesus, and be confident and unashamed at the prospect of his second coming - but are we not sometimes ashamed to profess the faith we confess in our daily living.

Jesus’ challenges us on this as we heard in our Scripture reading…

³⁸ If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

In our reading we heard Peter’s confession of faith, of which much could be said as it marks a pivotal point in Mark’s Gospel. 

Remembering that it has been suggested by some scholars that Mark is Peter’s recollections told to Mark acting as scribe and editor.

It is from this moment in the Gospel that we move first to the Transfiguration then down the mountain, down to Jerusalem, down to the cross and down to death. We see the dark clouds gathering and storm of the world’s sin about to break over Jesus’ head.

‘But you, he asked, who do you say that I am? Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ.’

But we know that Peter failed to profess what he confessed when challenged in the courtyard of the High Priest.

He bottled it – and can we blame him?

Jesus had laid it out very plainly what it would mean to follow him.

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Remember that this was at a time and place when they knew what this looked like, felt like and smelled like. It was a reality they would have known only too well. 

I recently heard it put like this, ‘the entrance fee into the Christian Faith is nothing but the subscription is everything.’

I know there have been times when I have bottled it – not professed the faith I confess.

I know that there are times when I have said and done things that if Jesus was there at the time would have made me ashamed.

Then, recognising that he was there and is there all the time.

I know that in reality there are areas in my life which are not fully surrendered, or of which I keep taking back control.  

Remembering the words of St Augustine who said, ‘that if Jesus is not of Lord of all he is not Lord at all.’

Finally, a question for us to take into the rest of the week ahead…

Are we confident to profess the faith we confess amongst our family and friends, amongst our neighbours and to those we may meet in our daily lives?

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect," 1 Peter 3:15,

Or are we sometimes ashamed and fail to profess what we confess!

 

Meditation - Pope Benedict XV1

And only where God is seen does life truly begin.

Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is.

 We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution.

Each of us is the result of a thought of God.

Each of us is willed,

Each of us is loved,

Each of us is necessary.

 There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel,

By the encounter with Christ.

There is nothing more beautiful than to know him and to speak to others of our friendship with Him.

Tip Toe Creation (transcript of reflection on Romans 8: 18-27)

Tuesday Morning St Oswald’s Rugby

Romans 8: 18-27

Last Saturday we went for a picnic to Swift Valley with our twin grandchildren, James and William who are just turned 2 years old, along with their mum and dad.

My son-in-law Peter is a runner like me and together we were fascinated by the various paths and where they led during our walk. I had cycled, walked, and run around some of Swift Valley before, but on Saturday I made all sorts of new connections, one of those moments of, ‘ah, now I see, that’s interesting’ - seeing the connections for the first time so that in the future we could both explore and discover yet more of Swift Valley.

Writing in the 1^st century, the time the letter to the Romans was written, was an expensive and time-consuming labour. It is worth remembering that as we read these letters today.  Paul, and other authors, did not have the luxury of adding in anything frivolous or superfluous. Everything is written for a purpose and has a meaning.

This passage we heard today from Romans is one such passage that is not Paul using up pen and scroll and a scribe’s time.  Rather it is pivotal to understanding the broad sweep of the whole of Scripture. To understanding God’s plans and purposes for the redemption and the renewal of the whole of the created order, the whole of the cosmos.

If we took the time to study this section carefully within the context of the whole of the Letter, we could begin to see all sorts of connections. New areas to explore, new pathways to understanding and fresh insights.

Sadly, we do not have the time this morning and I can only give you a few signs, the briefest of outlines that I hope will whet your appetite to go and explore more.  

Again, it maybe stating the obvious, but Paul was a solid monotheistic 1^st century Jew. As such he would have known and understood and had his life and faith built on the Story of Israel. Or better to say, the Story of God in which the Israelites were to play a key role as God’s chosen instrument to bring about the redemption of the cosmos and the glory and the blessings of God to the whole of the created order.

This passage from Romans 8 leads us down a direct path to the creation narratives in Genesis 1-3.

Condensing these narratives down we see God creating by the word of his mouth. We see humans emerging bearing the image of God and being placed in a temple type space, the Garden of Eden. An image in a temple in the ancient world and even today is set to represent the god in whose temple the image is placed.

Humans were placed in the temple space, the Garden of Eden, to represent God, to partner with God and to work with God to bring the rest of creation out of chaos and into order and beauty, fruitfulness, and fullness. 

However, God did not want automatons, mere robots, because God is love he creates seeking a responsive love. That means that God’s love and care can be rejected and the image bearing humans can chose their own path of self-determination.

We are told that is exactly what happened – and quite literally all hell broke loose.

God did not say, o dear, that did not work, let’s try Plan B.  Rather he worked at seeking out faithful image bearing humans who would love him and work with him in fulfilling the original plans and purposes, to banish chaos and bring in order and beauty reflecting God’s glory, much like the moon reflects the brilliance of the sun.

The Biblical narrative continues with many twists and turns, false paths and some promising paths that disappointingly end in a cul-de-sac. At last, the story brings us to Abram, to become Abraham and the true founding Father of Faith. 

Yet all was not straightforward and once more the Biblical narrative takes us down first this path and then another and often brining us full circle and utterly lost and confused.

 Until we come to Jesus, who, as we read in Colossians 1:14-16…

‘…in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.…

Jesus is God’s perfect plan of redemption for the whole of the cosmos,

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

What we often miss noticing in this well-known verse is the phrase, ‘God so loved the world…’

Jesus’ death and resurrection has brought about a new creation, of which we are the first fruits.

However, as Paul mentions in this passage in Roman’s the created order knows that things are not as they ought to be, and is eagerly awaiting, standing on tip toe, to see the full and final redemption of all of God’s people.

That great and glorious day of which we read in Revelation 21, when heaven comes to earth, using the extraordinarily rich metaphor of a Wedding Banquet.

Meanwhile, as God’s people, we are called to be signposts to the fulfilment of the created order that we find in Genesis 1-3. As image bearers of God, we reflect God’s glory, in our lives, in the way we care for the planet, in all our relationships – God in my everything.

When people see us either individually or together, they ought to be able to say, now we have seen a true reflection of God. Of God at work and active in his world bringing everything around to good order. 

Out of the mess and muddle of life we are to be busy clearing away brambles and weeds, building bridges over rivers, connecting pathways, bringing people together. Offering places of refreshment along the way. Walking alongside those who have become sore footed.  Rejoicing with those who rejoice, and weeping with those who weep. Bearing the pain of the world not yet fully redeemed.

A battle won at Calvary but a war still being waged, but whose outcome of victory of our God and King is assured.

And we walk with people until the path ends – apparently, for we are people of hope that the path does not end, merely disappears this side of our own bodily resurrection.

As we work, we pray – for as John Wesley said, ‘Prayer is where the action is.’

This leads us to the final verses from Roman’s 8 we have been reflecting upon.

 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

A question that I will leave you to ponder and reflect upon…

‘Just what upon earth am I doing for God’s sake.’

Let us pray…

Living God, you call us to be good stewards of this earthly home, strengthen us to care for your creation; forgive us when, through our greed and indifference we abuse its beauty and damage its potential. Empower us, through your Spirit to so nurture and love the world, that all creation sings to your glory. Make us fervent in prayer and diligent in action until that great and glorious day when heaven descends to earth, and we celebrate the Wedding Banquet of the Lamb. Amen.