Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6 (NRSV)
Read Philippians 4:1-9 This is a well loved passage from the New Testament, reminding us to rejoice in all that the Lord has done for us and through us. There is also that great sense of comfort to know the peace of God which surrounds each believer. It is a passage which keeps us positive and secure. However tucked away at the start of this reading we see the phrase “I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord”. Philippians 4:2 (NRSV) Euodia which is usually a male name (Euodias) carried the meaning of “fragrance”, while Syntyche means “fortunate”. Clearly these two women are workers together and for some unknown reason have fallen out of fellowship with each other. The force of the sentence in urging both to be reconciled emphasises the need for Christian unity in a local congregation or church. The inference is that before the rejoicing, peace and security that can be experienced in the Lord, our relationships need to be in a good state of health. Whatever had separated these two leaders is causing some concern to Paul and he is urging them to find both forgiveness and common ground in order to be able to work again in harmony. Paul after urging the two to reconcile, moves on immediately to a memorable doxology hopefully indicates that the two did resolve whatever differences they may have had.
As we consider this reading it is interesting to think about our own relationships, especially with fellow believers. We who are forgiven through the merits of Jesus Christ have been enabled to forgive those around us. To not do so is to deny the forgiveness that we ourselves have received. “And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.” Luke 11:4 (NRSV) Not only that, to live unforgiving with fellow believers will fracture the witness and harmony of the whole congregation or gathering. To rejoice and enjoy the peace we must live in forgiveness, both received and given.
Prayer. Lord Jesus, you emptied yourself of all but love and trusted in God’s strength alone. Help us to let go of self and find a new fulfilling through the power of your Holy Spirit. May we be overwhelmed by your grace and recognise afresh that there in nothing of lasting good that we can do without your strength. May we risk all that we have and are in order to follow you, trusting in your promises and inspired by your call on us to serve. Thank you for your promise of being with us whenever we go out in your name. Let us draw security from the promise of your word and be ever ready to obediently take up the command that you gave to your church to declare the gospel to all. This we pray in Jesus’ name, the true saviour of all. Amen
Read Matthew 22:1-14. In Israel at the time of Jesus a wedding banquet had more to do with the prestige of the king and his family than it did with his son and the marriage. Jesus’ hearers would have understood this point. It was a celebration of the son acquiring a wife. The guests would have been chosen with care and also forewarned that an invitation was to come. However, enhancing the social standing of the family was the primary aim of this wedding celebration. The refusal of the invited guests, to attend the banquet once all was prepared would have been an insult to the king and demeaned his position in society. The inference in Jesus’ parable would have been perfectly clear to his hearers. The wedding banquet setting was an allegoric description of the great banquet to come at the end of the age, the Day of the Lord, the Day of Salvation. By refusing to recognise and accept the teaching of Jesus they had insulted God. The teaching was not new; the prophets had warned the nation many times that they would be forsaken. For Jesus then to go on and describe the invitation to take from the streets the “good and the bad” who would now attend the wedding banquet in their place would have angered them even further. When all the new guests had gathered one not wearing the covering provided was summarily ejected reminding the hearers that the king is still in charge, still exercising both his power and his control. Jesus’ aim was not to insult so much as to warn that those initially chosen were in danger of losing their position as invited guests. It also reminded everyone not to take lightly the goodness and the grace of God. There was only one way to accept God’s gracious invitation and that was through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Prayer. Holy Lord you are always present in all the events of life around us, yet for much of our lives we live as if you were not there. Give us eyes to see you clearly in every aspect of our life; not so we become religious but so we live trusting in the power and strength of your love. Help us to live realistically as your children, not pretending to love but to truly love, to love as you loved, with every part of us; let love be so obvious in us that every waking moment be pure worship of you and what you have done for each of us. May we grow in wisdom and insight, serving you faithfully, so that those who do not know you may be drawn with cords of love into following you. Keep us faithful to your message, and to those to whom we witness grant the inner discernment to hear your voice calling for them to come and join in true fellowship with you. Grant us good success in our obedient walk. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Collect Generous God, you invite all people to the wedding banquet of your Son, and you clothe us in the righteousness of Christ that we may come; help us always to rejoice in your presence, and to look for the coming kingdom of Christ our Lord. Amen.
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