A Service for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, 5th September 2021
Preparation:
Before beginning to read this short service, you may wish to find a space for prayer in front of a cross, a candle, or a special place.
May the light of Christ, rising in glory, banish all darkness from our hearts and minds.
The Acclamation of Christ at the Dawning of the Day
O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
May Christ, the true, the only light
banish all darkness from our hearts and minds.
O come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us heartily rejoice in the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving
and be glad in him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God
and a great king above all gods.
Come, let us worship and bow down
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God;
we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
Blessed are you, creator of all,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
As your dawn renews the face of the earth
bringing light and life to all creation,
may we rejoice in this day you have made;
as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep,
open our eyes to behold your presence
and strengthen our hands to do your will,
that the world may rejoice and give you praise.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God for ever.
The Collect
Silence is kept.
Almighty God,
whose only Son has opened for us
a new and living way into your presence:
give us pure hearts and steadfast wills
to worship you in spirit and in truth;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
The First Hymn
Lead Us Heavenly Father (224): please access Simon’s accompaniment here:
1 Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us
o'er the world's tempestuous sea;
guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us,
for we have no help but thee;
yet possessing every blessing,
if our God our Father be.
2 Saviour, breathe forgiveness o'er us:
all our weakness thou dost know;
thou didst tread this earth before us,
thou didst feel its keenest woe;
lone and dreary, faint and weary,
through the desert thou didst go.
3 Spirit of our God, descending,
fill our hearts with heavenly joy,
love with every passion blending,
pleasure that can never cloy:
thus provided, pardoned, guided,
nothing can our peace destroy
The First Reading:
Isaiah 35: 4-7a
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
‘Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.’
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
Psalm 146
Refrain: The Lord shall reign for ever.
1 Alleluia.
Praise the Lord, O my soul:
while I live will I praise the Lord; ♦
as long as I have any being,
I will sing praises to my God.
2 Put not your trust in princes,
nor in any human power, ♦
for there is no help in them.
3 When their breath goes forth, they return to the earth; ♦
on that day all their thoughts perish. [R]
4 Happy are those who have the God of Jacob for their help, ♦
whose hope is in the Lord their God;
5 Who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them; ♦
who keeps his promise for ever;
6 Who gives justice to those that suffer wrong ♦
and bread to those who hunger. [R]
7 The Lord looses those that are bound; ♦
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
8 The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; ♦
the Lord loves the righteous;
9 The Lord watches over the stranger in the land;
he upholds the orphan and widow; ♦
but the way of the wicked he turns upside down.
10 The Lord shall reign for ever, ♦
your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.
Alleluia.
Refrain: The Lord shall reign for ever.
Lord of all,
our breath and being come from you,
yet our earthly end is dust;
as you loose the bound and feed the hungry,
so bring us in your mercy through the grave and gate of death
to the feast of eternal life,
where you reign for evermore.
The Second Reading:
James 2: 1-10, 14-17
My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favouritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, ‘Have a seat here, please’, while to the one who is poor you say, ‘Stand there’, or, ‘Sit at my feet’, have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonoured the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?
You do well if you really fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
The Gospel:
Mark 7: 24-end
From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’
Homily
The reading from Isaiah appointed for today is from a part of the prophecy which describes a restored and glorious future for the time beyond the suffering of exile and captivity. These verses use metaphors of transformation, that what is sightless and deaf and parched will become full of light and singing and fresh running water. These signs of a renewed people are what James takes up as being the outcome of action derived from a faithful response to Christ; faith by itself is dead; works declare the royal law of love as rooted in the action of one transformed by that very law.
So it is that Mark tells two healing miracle stories by Jesus in today’s Gospel. Both stories are characterised by release: the little girl from a disturbing, tormenting spirit; the man from the frustration of being able to neither hear nor speak. Jesus seems to be challenging the faith of the mother in the case of her daughter, and is suppressing the ecstatic spreading of the news following the release of the man to whom he said “Ephphatha,” that is “Be opened.”
As we take these readings together we can see where hope lay for everyone concerned in these writings. Hope lay in the fulfilment of the promise of faith, either leading to it, or expressed from it. From Isaiah we think of this as we might imagine what a dry and dusty desert would look like after rain, and it really happens like this. When it rains in the hills around Jerusalem the gullies fill and run together and a great torrent can drive through the wadis right down to the Dead Sea many miles away. From James we turn his words of warning against the partiality and ill-advised assessment of others on the basis of their wealth, to consider the true honouring of human life and hope in the fulfilment of love. From Mark it is the example of Christ himself bringing hope where human endeavour has failed, expressed both as an outcome of faith and an encourager of it.
Visually from Isaiah; morally from James; miraculously from Jesus, the message of hope to a world in need is carefully borne by all our principal readings for today. May they continue to inspire us to work for that better place where the weak and the poor and the suffering may be lifted, that they may be given the chance to live transformed lives and find freedom.
John Mann
Second Hymn
Praise My Soul (192): https://youtu.be/Gk6BWKRQyqs
1 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
to his feet your tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
evermore his praises sing.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise the everlasting King!
2 Praise him for his grace and favour
to his people in distress.
Praise him, still the same as ever,
slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Glorious in his faithfulness!
3 Father-like, he tends and spares us;
well our feeble frame he knows.
In his hand he gently bears us,
rescues us from all our foes.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Widely yet his mercy flows!
4 Angels, help us to adore him;
you behold him face to face.
Sun and moon, bow down before him,
dwellers all in time and space.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise with us the God of grace!
Prayers
Heavenly Father, we pray for your Church in all the world, especially for this Diocese of Salisbury and for Karen our Bishop. We pray for the Church in Swanage and Studland and for all engaged in ministry and mission. Especially we pray at this time for all who are beginning a new sphere or nature of ministry in this Diocese of Salisbury.
Guide our thoughts and prayers as we plan for the future.
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord Jesus, you taught your followers to lay up treasure in heaven and not to rely upon the fleeting security of this world’s wealth; bring to our awareness our own attitudes towards what we possess and help us to see more clearly how best to use the resources we have. Especially we pray today for those who have crippling debts and for those with the resources to help them and give them a new chance. We pray too for all who have had to flee their homes in other countries and seek to make a fresh start elsewhere, as we remember those in Afghanistan, and elsewhere that live in constant anxiety and with little hope. Help us in our own response to those who need us, and give us the will to forgive, as we have been forgiven.
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, grant to our national politicians wisdom in their deliberations and direction in their decisions especially through the current health crisis, and in local government, bless the town council of Swanage, and parish council of Studland, and all who live and work here. We pray too, at the beginning of the Creation Season of the Christian Year, that we may consider afresh our own care for your world and the impact our way of life has on the environment.
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord, we remember before you the sick in body, mind and spirit. Bring healing to those who have asked for our prayer as we bring them to mind in a moment of silence:
Silence
May your blessing rest on those for whom we pray, known or unknown; and may the comfort of your Holy Spirit rest on the bereaved, the distressed, those living through times of doubt and hopelessness. Give strength to the weak, rest to the weary, support and reassurance to all who are close to death. Stand beside, and when needed carry, all who are exhausted with caring for others assuring them that their loved one is carried too.
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Merciful Father accept these our prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen
The Peace
The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said, “Peace be with you.” Then were they glad when they saw the Lord
The Lord’s Prayer
A few moments of silence before we pray:
Lord God, the source of truth and love,
keep us faithful to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship,
united in prayer and the breaking of bread,
and one in joy and simplicity of heart,
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Conclusion
The Lord bless us and keep us:
Amen.
The Lord make his face to shine upon us,
and be gracious to us:
Amen.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon us
and give us peace:
Amen
Numbers 6.24-26
The Lord God almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
the holy and undivided Trinity,
guard us, save us,
and bring us to that heavenly city,
where he lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.
After an Old French Air - Percy Whitlock: https://youtu.be/rc4yGdC40OQ
Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England, material from which is included here, is copyright © The Archbishops' Council 2000 and published by Church House Publishing.
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