RAMBLING RECTOR
Church buildings can open for public worship now, but I will continue to send a short reflection, for those of you who must continue to ‘shield’. It will be based on the topic of the Sunday Sermon, but not a transcript of it.
Let me know if you want a full transcript and I’ll get one to you.
SUNDAY 8 August 2020
Romans 10.5-15
5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: ‘The person who does these things will live by them.’6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?”’(that is, to bring Christ down) 7 ‘or “Who will descend into the deep?”’(that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 if you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Matthew 14.22-33
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to MATTHEW
Glory to you, O Lord.
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’
28 ‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’ 29 ‘Come,’ he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’ 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
I would never pretend that Christians are immune from difficulties and hard times. Like everybody else, we experience fears and forebodings. We are subject to nights when we cannot sleep because our worries seem to overwhelm us.
But, as Christians, we have a Gospel to proclaim, the Gospel which is Good News for all people. We have the assurances which are found in the Word of God. And that Good News is that the God of the whole universe has reached out across Time and Space, coming alongside us, and drawing us out from the swirling waters of despair.
This is not some ‘Power of Positive thinking’ trying to put a sunny slant on everything and ignoring the bad stuff. Indeed, it is absolutely right that as Christians we confront and challenge injustice and that we call to account those whose greed and lack of compassion damages the lives and livelihoods of others. But we can do that without falling into dejection and despair, because we can know that our Lord is willing to bring all people to eternal safety.
At the risk of repeating myself – I’ve said this to you many times before - as Christians, we are People of Hope, not of Despair. The Good News of God’s love is needed now in our world. It is our task to be those who speak quiet words of Hope, in whatever ways we can.