Lectionary for Sunday 23
Alleluia! Sing to the Lord a new song, you faithful –praise God in the congregation. Psalm 149:1
Collect. Let us pray (that we may realise the freedom God has given us in making us sons and daughters): God our Father, you redeem us and make us your children in Christ. Look on us, give us true freedom, and bring us to the inheritance you promised. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Reading. Exodus 12:1-14. Memory plays a key role in who we are and how we live out our lives. My sister was killed in a road accident when she was eighteen years old. That is almost sixty years ago, yet even today when a family member is late returning from a car journey my anxiety levels rise rapidly. My rational mind tells me not to worry but my emotional mind refuses to stop running wild. Memories shape who we are and how we live out our lives. In our reading from Exodus the writer is evoking a significant memory in the formation of the history of Israel. The Passover was the final act of God which triggered the release of the people from the slavery of Egypt.
It marked a new beginning, the sign and celebration of a new year and a new start. It was the beginning of a journey that was to end in the security and peace of the Promised Land. Every aspect of the meal and its preparation recalled the desperate urgency of the time. The people were poised and ready to escape under the protection of God.
The writer is recalling this great event and as he looks back there comes the reminder to teach the children coming on to understand and remember the significance of all that is happening. It is to become a memory and more than a memory it is seen as a shared experience, an experience that impinges on their lives. It reminded them that while they were making preparations to leave, God was acting on their behalf to ensure the way was open. Still today this festival holds an important place in Jewish life as the texts says it has become a perpetual ordinance.
We know that the family of Jesus went up to Jerusalem each year to celebrate the Passover. (Luke 2:41) It would be wrong to think that we can understand all that the memory of this event means to a Jewish family. However, the Passover looks forward to the time when God would once and for all release and redeem His People. Jesus links this festival with the salvation and redemption that his death and resurrection would bring. For Christians, Jesus reframes the Passover and it becomes the sign of the New Covenant. Just as God was acting to bring release to the people in Egypt so now Jesus has once and for all opened the way to release his people from the brokenness that life brings and grant to them the peace and harmony of a fulfilling relationship with God. “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven on account of his name”.1 John 2:12
Prayer. Lord God we thank you for the many times that your love and care has protected and guided us, drawing us on into life. Quieten our fears as we consider the state of the world around us, may your Word remind us again and again of your goodness and grace. Remind us again that it is only by your power that we stand. Grant that we may draw closer to you and so find our fears reduced and our hope in you renewed. This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen
Reading. Matthew 18:15-20. Anyone who might choose to use this passage as a platform from which to preach needs to read the text with great care. As it stands it seems to go against much of what Jesus has taught in the rest of the gospel. For example Jesus was known and indeed criticized for being a friend of tax collectors. We remember that Matthew himself was a tax collector before Jesus called him into his chosen group of disciples. So we proceed with caution and a little trepidation in case we misrepresent God’s word.
The text falls neatly into three sections; the need for wholesome and open relationships; the eternity of binding and loosing and then finally the fulfilment of requests granted by God.
As we look at the first section we immediately run into a problem with the biblical translation which often interprets from the Greek text the word “church”. Church has a dominant and specific meaning for us as the church has been established now for over two thousand years. At this time in Jesus’ ministry the church as we know it did not exist. It is true that Jesus prophesied that Peter would be the “rock” on which Jesus was to build his church but before the resurrection even the disciples themselves did not fully understand just what the ministry of Jesus would achieve. Thus we need to think of “church” in this passage as those in close fellowship, part of the community of followers. Jesus instruction is quite clear; if someone has done you a wrong you are to make a personal and persistent attempt to restore a harmonious relationship as quickly as possible. First it needs to be attempted privately and then with the help of others to encourage sound relationships. The act of pointing out the fault is not to bring a sense of judgement but to offer forgiveness to the person who has wronged you. The constant teaching of the New Testament is to live in peace with one another for it is that harmony which honour God. We remember that we are to please God and not ourselves.(2Corinthians 13:11)
As we think of binding and loosing there is an element of eternity in this sentence for heaven is where God is and there time is no longer a factor. It may be a reminder that what we do in our earthly life does have significant ramifications in the life to come. In a book by Jurgen Moltmann titled “Resurrected to eternal life”, Moltmann suggests that relationally things that need to be addressed or have been left undone will be addressed as part of the final judgement. If this were not so how could life together in eternity to in perfect harmony. (Moltmann takes many pages to unpack that idea!)
Finally in this passage comes the assurance that when we are gathered together in Jesus’ name he is there, present with us. It is this promise that makes worship so life giving and we need always to be aware of and pay respect to the presence of Jesus. As we respond to his presence our thoughts and requests are then focussed through him to God. Thus it is not what we want but what Jesus through us wants for us. It is not like a blank cheque but is always in line with our primary task as Christians and that is like Jesus, to do the will of God. When we are doing the will of God this promise gives us limitless resources.
Prayer. Gracious God, great Creator, we thank you that you made all things and declared them to be good. We confess before you that we now live in a world of broken hearts and fractured dreams, where relationships are often strained and the pressures of life seem hard to bear. Like the psalmist of old we come now to cast our cares on you and seek again the peace and harmony that only you can give. Guide us on life’s journey. Keep us open and honest with each other always remembering that you alone are the way the truth and the life. Forgive us for our impatience and lack of understanding as we relate to one another. Help us always to be mindful that you are always present to each conversation, for your sure promise is that you will never leave us nor forsake us. Give us the courage to live with forgiving hearts, even as in Jesus Christ you have forgiven us. To you be all praise, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Collect. Loving Christ, you bring your people into the community of faith, a community forgiven yet divided. You are in the midst as we seek to be reconciled; give us courage, that we may take the first step; in your reconciling name we pray. Amen.
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