Fourth Sunday after Trinity

Book of Common Prayer (BCP) Morning Prayer

Dispersed community prayer at 10:30am

(But God will hear our prayers anytime!)

You are invited to guard time for us to be together, united in prayer in one faith, to our one Lord

This first Sunday of the month, we shall draw on the more traditional liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer, 1662.

You may wish to prepare by lighting a candle ♦ denotes an optional pause to keep silence and meditate on the words Denotes optional audio / video version from the church website: https://widcombe.church/our-churches/church-life/church-online/

Preparation by confession and prayer

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us: but if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 St. John 1.8-9

Dearly beloved brethren, the Scripture moveth us in sundry places to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness; and that we should not dissemble nor cloke them before the face of Almighty God our heavenly Father; but confess them with an humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient heart; to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same, by his infinite goodness and mercy. And although we ought at all times humbly to acknowledge our sins before God; yet ought we most chiefly so to do, when we assemble and meet together to render thanks for the great benefits that we have received at his hands, to set forth his most worthy praise, to hear his most holy Word, and to ask those things which are requisite and necessary, as well for the body as the soul. Wherefore I pray and beseech you, as many as are here present, to accompany me with a pure heart and humble voice unto the throne of the heavenly grace, saying after me:

A general Confession: Almighty and most merciful Father, We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep, We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts, We have offended against thy holy laws, We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, And we have done those things which we ought not to have done, And there is no health in us: But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us miserable offenders; Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults, Restore thou them that are penitent, According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu our Lord: And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.

By way of Absolution in the home, The Collect for the twenty-first Sunday after Trinity: Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people pardon and peace; that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen.

O Lord, open thou our lips. And our mouth shall shew forth thy praise. O God, make speed to save us. O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Praise ye the Lord. The Lord's Name be praised.

Give thanks and praise God: Venite, Exultemus Domino Psalm 95

O come, let us sing unto the Lord : let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving : and show ourselves glad in him with psalms.

For the Lord is a great God : and a great King above all gods.

In his hand are all the corners of the earth : and the strength of the hills is his also.

The sea is his, and he made it : and his hands prepared the dry land.

O come, let us worship and fall down : and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For he is the Lord our God : and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts : as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness;

When your fathers tempted me : proved me, and saw my works. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said : It is a people that do err in their hearts, for they have not known my ways.

Unto whom I sware in my wrath : that they should not enter into my rest.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; The holy Catholick Church; The Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body, And the Life everlasting. Amen.

Hymn

For all the saints, who from their labours rest, Who thee by faith before the world confessed, Thy Name, O Jesu, be forever blest. Alleluia, Alleluia!

Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might; Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight; Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light. Alleluia, Alleluia!

O blest communion! fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; Yet all are one in thee, for all are thine. Alleluia, Alleluia!

But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day; The saints triumphant rise in bright array; The King of glory passes on his way. Alleluia, Alleluia!

From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast, Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, Singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost: Alleluia, Alleluia!

The Word of God

Old Testament reading: Genesis 24: 34-38, 42-49, 58-end

So he said, ‘I am Abraham’s servant. The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become wealthy; he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys. And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and he has given him all that he has. My master made me swear, saying, “You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; but you shall go to my father’s house, to my kindred, and get a wife for my son.”

‘I came today to the spring, and said, “O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you will only make successful the way I am going! I am standing here by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, ‘Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,’ and who will say to me, ‘Drink, and I will draw for your camels also’—let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.” ‘Before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her water- jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, “Please let me drink.” She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, “Drink, and I will also water your camels.” So I drank, and she also watered the camels. Then I asked her, “Whose daughter are you?” She said, “The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.” So I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her arms. Then I bowed my head and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to obtain the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I may turn either to the right hand or to the left.’

And they called Rebekah, and said to her, ‘Will you go with this man?’ She said, ‘I will.’ So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse along with Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, ‘May you, our sister, become thousands of myriads; may your offspring gain possession of the gates of their foes.’ Then Rebekah and her maids rose up, mounted the camels, and followed the man; thus the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

Now Isaac had come from Beer-lahai-roi, and was settled in the Negeb. Isaac went out in the evening to walk in the field; and looking up, he saw camels coming. And Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she slipped quickly from the camel, and said to the servant, ‘Who is the man over there, walking in the field to meet us?’ The servant said, ‘It is my master.’ So she took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

New Testament reading: Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-end

‘But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another, “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.” For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax- collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.’

At that time Jesus said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

Reflection A woman in a supermarket is following a grandfather and his badly behaved 3 year-old grandson. It’s obvious to her that he has his hands full with the child screaming for sweets, biscuits, you name it. Meanwhile, Grandpa is working his way around the shop slowly, saying in a controlled voice, “Easy William, we won’t be long . . . easy, now.” Another outburst and she hears the grandpa calmly say, “It’s okay, William, just a couple more minutes and we’ll be out of here soon. Hang on in there, boy.” At the checkout, the little terror is throwing items out of the cart and Grandpa says again in a controlled voice, “William, William, relax buddy, don’t go crazy – calm, calm. We’ll be home in five minutes, stay cool, William.” Very impressed, the woman goes outside where the grandfather is loading his groceries and the boy into the car. She says to the elderly man, “I’m sorry to intrude, I just want to say, you were amazing in there. I don’t know how you did it. That whole time you kept calm, and no matter how loud and disruptive he got, you just kept calmly saying ‘it would be okay.’ William is very lucky to have you as his grandpa.” “Ah Thanks,” said the grandpa, “but I’m William. The little monsters name’s Brian.” Kids eh?! A few years ago, I heard this quote… children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers… Sounds familiar right? – It could be spoken by many parents, or grandparents or perhaps anyone of adult years in these days… But it's actually attributed to Socrates from the 4th century BC… although in reality it’s more likely a collated summary of general complaints about yoof by the ancient Greeks. But what it tells us, is that in many ways – things don’t change, people are people and kids have always been kids – for good and for bad. And that challenge, levelled by Jesus towards the generation of His time, could just as easily be addressed to our own generation - a generation of people that can’t seem to recognize or handle the truth that’s right there in front of them. They thought that John the Baptist was a demon and considered Jesus to be “a glutton and a drunkard - a friend of tax collectors and sinner.” It’s a slur of course on His character, describing the low company Jesus kept – but I suspect it’s a badge, or label that He wears with pride… after all – as Jesus himself says in Mark 2:17 “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Jesus is then friend of sinners… which in these days of relentless bad news, is great news for the world and for us! But for these highly judgemental, religious critics, Jesus sharply compares them to kids. Not the trusting or innocently favourable qualities of being childlike, but rather the foolish, immature childish behaviour that they personify. It’s like they’re oblivious, like kids preoccupied with mucking about, just playing games. The Messiah, the Holy One – the Hope of Israel and of the world – the one they’ve been waiting for, is right there in front of them! And yet, they can’t see beyond their own prejudice and cynicism. Jesus knows who He is, He knows what He’s called to and unashamedly stands secure in that knowledge in the face of vicious accusation and finger pointing. Being misunderstood or labelled in ways that aren’t fair, trying to limit who we really are is painful? And we see Jesus’ forceful rebuttle of those trying to stand against him – this is Jesus challenging the powerful elite, defending the oppressed, the voiceless ...Their kind of thinking, way of being – often born out of insecurity or need to hold onto power is all too frequently seen in our world: Maybe making assumptions about a person based on where they grew up or what school they went to, how they dress or what sort of accent they have, their gender or as we have been reminded again so recently and has been so evident over the centuries, the colour of a person’s skin. And Jesus is underlining the point that in order to really know someone, you need spend time with them and learn who they really are. So do know Jesus, really know Him – have let him really know you? The real you? The unpainted, unveneered raw you? He wants that level of relationship or friendship with you. You see, for this crowd that Jesus is challenging, nothing seems to please them. When John came with his message of deep repentance, they complained. When Jesus came welcoming all and proclaiming God’s abundant favour, they scorn Him too. ‘What is it you’re looking for Jesus asks? Except he knows the answer… It’s not Him… yes to the power and the miracles – that might be good, but perhaps not if it threatens their monopoly of power?. Yes, good moral rabbinical teaching and Gods law honoured… but not this all-encompassing message of hope and freedom to the masses, to the great ‘unwashed’. And never, God forbid, if you might be telling me I need to repent, to recognise my own weakness, to humble myself… to change. It reminds me (as someone who grew up in a lovely Baptist church) of the old joke – how many Baptists does it take to change a lightbulb?....CHANGE!???! Why? Because to change is to lose something, to change can feel like dying, it’s about surrender and yieldedness. Change isn’t certain – it implies risk and probably loss. And that’s true for every generation since time began… we fear losing that which we know and have become accustomed to… and so perhaps we cling to it all the more fervently– even to our detriment, often blindly. And that of course is one of the deepest challenges and greatest glories about life in Christ. You cannot truly follow Him, the Good Shepherd, and expect to remain unchanged. The whole point of turning to Christ, knowing Him as Lord, is to recognise your great need for transformation and change! And so the ones who were and are willing to embrace this good news and hopeful possibility are so often not the so-called self-appointed wise ones, but the infants – the childlike, not childish, but childlike, who simply dare to believe that there before them is a Redeemer, a King, a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. He who came not to rule with a conquering rod of iron, but who served, who washed the feet of the unworthy, who tended to the heart of the broken, and spoke gently to those whose eyes were filled with shame. And to those who have ears to hear and hearts soft enough to yield, Jesus continues to make this staggering promise; to you who know your brokenness, who can admit to your need and hunger for God, who turn to Him in Jesus, you will be fully known, understood, and accepted. It’s an invitation extended to all who are “foolish” enough to hear and believe, so that all who are weary may “come and find rest”. Those who are content and satisfied – well they will find little of value here. But to those who feel accused – whether by others or yourself they will find forgiveness, to those who feel abandoned, they will find friendship, to those who feel disappointed, they will find relief, to those who have been wounded, they will find healing, and to those who feel misunderstood, they will be known, loved, and accepted for who they are. So Come to Him, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and He will give you rest.

♦

Intercessions

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning to intercede for our world, our nation, and in particular, our city. Psalm 91 v 1-2 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.’ Lord thank You for being utterly trustworthy and dependable - and the source of our safety and security. Due to Your endless patience and loving kindness, we cry out to You in this time of crisis.

Firstly we bring before You our rulers, both temporal and spiritual. Thank You for the example of our gracious Queen. We pray for huge reserves of wisdom, understanding and imagination for our politicians as they try to resolve economic and social problems caused by the pandemic. Please help them to make wise decisions about how to ease lockdown, especially enabling children to return to school safely. We pray for the Archbishop of Canterbury, for bishops directing their dioceses, and for all clergy as they make decisions about opening churches for private prayer and to re-start services. Lord we want to reach out to people who know nothing about You, but have questions about the disruption of their ‘normal’ life - and perhaps are struggling with grief and other emotions that are surfacing during this pandemic. Lord please help us Christians make a relevant contribution to the lives of the people we meet. In line with last week’s prayers, please prompt us to small acts of kindness which can make a difference.

Heavenly Father, we pray for our city. With the cancellation of tourism for several months, there will be a huge shortfall in public finances. We pray for Heavenly wisdom for our councillors in the management of the city - that money will be found for important services and not wasted on unnecessary matters. Please help our shopkeepers as they reopen for business - and everyone involved in the tourist industry in their efforts to make Bath a safe and welcoming place for visitors.

We ask for Your blessing on the chaplaincy at our two local universities and in the hospital. Please bless the chaplains as they offer help and hope to students and patients - and protect their physical, mental and spiritual health. We pray for all the people who are currently exploring Christianity on online Alpha courses. Please help them to find You, and link them with believers who will encourage them in faith.

Father God we commit to Your care people known to us who are struggling with poor physical or mental health, and ask for Your healing. We pray for those who are haunted by fear, both in present circumstances and worry about the future. May they come to a place where they can trust You to provide for their needs and to soothe their fears.

Lord we know that You love us deeply. Please accept these prayers for the sake of Your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The First Collect, for The Fourth Sunday after Trinity

O God, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal: Grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake our Lord. Amen.

The Second Collect, for Peace

O God, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom: Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in thy defence, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Third Collect, for Grace

O Lord, our heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day: Defend us in the same with thy mighty power; and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger; but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance, to do always that is righteous in thy sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Concluding in Prayer

A Prayer of Saint Chrysostom. Almighty God, who hast given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee; and dost promise that when two or three are gathered together in thy Name thou wilt grant their requests: Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants, as may be most expedient for them; granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.

2 Corinthians 13. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.