Reuben's Sermon for the 11th. Sunday after Trinity.   Proper 16:

Reuben's Theme: "Are you dying to go to church?"

(Trinity 11) - MORNING MASS
0800hrs. and 0930hrs at Saint George's Parish Church - Cullercoats.
Sunday, 26th. August 2001 Anno Domini.

Morning Mass:     Jeremiah: 1.4-10     Ps: 71.1-6     Hebrews: 12.18-29     Luke: 13.10-17

August 26, 2001 Cycle C Trinity 11 (Pentecost 12) Proper 16.

Morning Masses:

FIRST READING (morning Mass) Jeremiah 1.4­10

A reading from the book of the prophet Jeremiah.

4 The word of the LORD came to me saying,
5 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.'
6 Then I said, 'Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.'
7 But the LORD said to me, 'Do not say, "I am only a boy"; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you,
8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.'
9 Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, 'Now I have put my words in your mouth.
10 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.'

Psalm 71.1­6 (morning Mass) You are my hope, O Lord God, [my confidence since I was young]. 1 In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge; let me never be ashamed. 2 In your righteousness, deliver me and set me free; incline your       ear to me and save me. You are my hope, O Lord God, [my confidence since I was young]. 3 Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe; you are my crag       and my stronghold. 4 Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the       clutches of the evildoer and the oppressor. You are my hope, O Lord God, [my confidence since I was young]. 5 For you are my hope, O Lord God, my confidence since I       was young. 6 I have been sustained by you ever since I was born; from my       mother's womb you have been my strength; my praise shall       be always of you. You are my hope, O Lord God, [my confidence since I was young].

SECOND READING (morning Mass) Hebrews 12.18­29

A reading from the letter to the Hebrews.

18 You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom,
19 and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them.
20 (For they could not endure the order that was given, 'If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.'
21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, 'I tremble with fear.')
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,
23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25 See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven!
26 At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, 'Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.'
27 This phrase, 'Yet once more,' indicates the removal of what is shaken ­ that is, created things ­ so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe;
29 for indeed our God is a consuming fire.

GOSPEL (morning Mass) Luke 13.10­17

Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.

10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.
11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.
12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, 'Woman, you are set free from your ailment.'
13 When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.
14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, 'There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.'
15 But the Lord answered him and said, 'You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water?
16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?'
17 When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

Reuben's Theme: "Are you dying to go to church?"

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Well here we are near the end of the school holidays, tomorrow is the last bank holiday before Christmas...
And here we are, in church, on a Sunday morning, Christians together, praying together, worshipping together and doing what our Lord and Saviour told us to do...
Just like that.

All we have to do is get ourselves along here (which for some of us is not easy) and here we are in the house of God...
...Christians from many walks of life...
...united in prayer and praise.

"Where is Reuben going with all this?" you ask yourself.
Well...      ...all will become clear.

In our first reading, it is 627 BC, Jeremiah is a young man, probably in his early twenties, and somewhat reluctant to become God's spokesman (as Moses before him). But about one thing he has no doubt. His message was a word from God himself.
"The word of the Lord came to me..." runs as a refrain through the book, from the beginning to the end. In this lay his certainty, and his compulsion.
"The word of the LORD came to me saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.'"
Basically God said, "Tag - You're it!"
Then I said, 'Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.'
"No way!" says Jeremiah, "I'm too young!"
But the LORD said to me, 'Do not say, "I am only a boy"; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.'
"No, you're not too young! You're it! You're going to speak for me to everyone I tell you to. Don't worry, I'll look after you."
Reassuring words... ....from God.

So... God appoints Jeremiah as spokesman.
Gives him confidence and guaranteed protection.

Our psalm today is similarly interesting...

You are my hope, O Lord God, my confidence since I was young.
Strong stuff!
In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge; let me never be ashamed.
Yes, I will be proud and God will protect me.
In your righteousness, deliver me and set me free; incline your ear to me and save me.
Listen God, I need your help!
Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe; you are my crag and my stronghold.
God, you are my protection!
Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the clutches of the evildoer and the oppressor.
God, I need your guidance!
For you are my hope, O Lord God, my confidence since I was young.
God, I have always trusted you!
I have been sustained by you ever since I was born; from my mother's womb you have been my strength; my praise shall be always of you.
God, I will always praise you!
So... God is our hope and our protection.
We will always praise God.

In the letter to the Hebrews, we are being watched by the great heroes of faith. They are crowding round the track to see us run.
Let us strip off everything that hinders, and run the Christian race with all we have.
Jesus did not give up when the going got hard, neither must we.
When we suffer, it is not because God does not care.
We must not be discouraged and give up!
We have come to God through Jesus Christ Himself.
We must not forget who God is!
We do well to listen carefully to what God says and take God's warnings to heart, because our life depends on it.
One day the world, as we know it, will cease to exist.
We need to be certain we have put first things first.

So... As the saints watch over us, we must put aside anything that gets in the way of our Christian life, our Christian faith and our Christian worship.
Never mind any problems or setbacks...
We have the incentive to go on!

What have we been told so far...

God appoints Jeremiah as spokesman.
Gives him confidence and guaranteed protection.

God is our hope, our protection.
We will always praise God.

We must put aside anything that gets in the way of our Christian life, our Christian faith and our Christian worship.
Never mind any problems or setbacks...
We have the incentive to go on!

So, we here what Jeremiah tells us.
We hear what the psalm tells us.
We hear what the letter to the Hebrews tells us.

What does the Gospel tell us?

Only Luke tells us the story of of the woman with arthritis.
It is one of numerous clashes with the Pharisees over healing on the sabbath...
Jesus is teaching in the Temple.
A woman, crippled with arthritis for over eighteen years, is there...         ...in the Temple.

Jesus sets her free from her ailment...    ...she is cured.
She praises God!

The leader of the synagogue tries to rally the crowd against Jesus saying there are six days on which to work, but not on the sabbath.
But Jesus points out that everyone cares for their oxen or donkeys, even on the sabbath and in the same way we must care for each other - even on the sabbath.

Every time I have heard the story of the woman being healed in the Temple on the Sabbath day, I have heard ministers preach sermons about the importance of keeping Sunday special...   ...but not letting it rule our lives.

Not me!

The most important thing, to me, is the fact that the woman was in the Temple.
Nothing could stop her from worshipping her God.
Suffering incredible agony, her commitment must have been tremendous!
But she was there - and Jesus cured her!
Jesus saw here there, in the Temple, true to God; and took pity on her, "Woman you are set free from your ailment."

So what do we have now?

1. God gives confidence and guaranteed protection.
2. We will always praise God.
3. We must put aside anything that gets in the way of our Christian life, our Christian faith and our Christian worship.

4. THE place to be... ...is in the house of God...

...and here we are, in church, on a Sunday morning, Christians together, praying together, worshipping together and doing what our Lord and Saviour told us to do...
Just like that.
All we have to do is get ourselves along here - which for some of us (as I said before) is not easy - and here we are in the house of God...
...Christians from many walks of life...
...united in prayer and praise.

It is our Christian duty to join in prayer and praise together.
Not just in the morning...   ...but in the evening.
Not just on Sundays...   ...but on ALL days of Holy Obligation.

We're not certain who wrote the letter to the Hebrews, but we are told there that we must put aside anything that gets in the way of our Christian life, our Christian faith and our Christian worship (sounds like Paul to me).
So, we have no excuse...
It is our bounden duty!

The most recent day of holy obligation (which was not a Sunday) was the most important day of celebration for the life of The Blessèd Virgin Mary, the mother of God!
It was Wednesday 15th. August. There was a special service, for this most important day, at 7.45 in the evening.

In order to be here (because I was running late that day) I had to telephone a customer and let them know that I would not be able to keep our appointment.
They were so 'put-out' that they cancelled the job, and went elsewhere.

That evening at 7.45 there was a Procession and full Solemn High Mass, with hymns, a wonderful anthem from the choir, and an excellent sermon given by Fr. Michael.
If you missed it, you can find out about it from all the people that were there.
1 priest,
2 readers,
4 servers,
1 organist and choirmaster,
12 choir members,
2 churchwardens,
and the congregation of....      ....9!

We are told that true happiness, is being in the house of the Lord... ...always.

Forget any excuses... ...Get Happy!

Short of some extreme disabilities, there are no excuses...

Forget the television and all earthly things!
As Jesus said...
Who are my friends?...     Who are my family?..
Who is my mother?...     Who are my brothers and sisters?...

Tonight, they will be here at 6.30.

On Saint Aidan's day (Friday) they will either be here at 12 noon or at Saint Aidan's church at 7.30 in the evening.

We are so lucky to be able to freely worship in the house of God!

I could tell you stories about Christians who have been persecuted, tortured and killed, just because they wanted to worship together.

I won't, because there are children here, and it's gruesome stuff.

Christians as young as eight or nine years old, who have died for their faith... ...this year!

In some countries Christians are DYING to go to church..

In this country...
                                 ...it is not quite so dangerous.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

© Reuben Condie 26/08/2001