Reuben's Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity:
Reuben's Theme: "Paul's joy - and worry"
(Trinity 20) - EVENING MASS 1800hrs at Holy Saviour - Tynemouth.
Sunday, 9th. October 2005 Anno Domini.

Morning Mass: Exodus: 32.1-14 Ps: 106.1-6 [19-23] Philippians: 4.1-9 Matthew: 22.1-14

October 9, 2005 Cycle A Trinity 20 (Pentecost 21).

COLLECT OF THE DAY

God, the giver of life, whose Holy Spirit wells up within your Church:
by the Spirit's gifts, equip us to live the gospel of Christ and make us eager to do your will, that we may share with the whole creation the joys of eternal life;
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.

TODAY'S READINGS:

Mass:

FIRST READING
Exodus 32.1­14

A reading from the book of Exodus.
When the people of Israel saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, 'Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'
Aaron said to them, 'Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.'
So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mould, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'
When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, 'Tomorrow shall be a festival to the LORD.'
They rose early the next day, and offered burnt-offerings and brought sacrifices of wellbeing; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.
The LORD said to Moses, 'Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it, and said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!"'
The LORD said to Moses, 'I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.'
But Moses implored the LORD his God, and said, 'O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, "It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth"? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, "I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it for ever."'
And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

SECOND READING
Philippians 4.1­9

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Philippians.
My brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my belovèd.
I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, belovèd, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

GOSPEL
Matthew 22.1­14

Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Once more Jesus spoke to the chief priests and Pharisees in parables, saying: 'The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come.
Again he sent other slaves, saying, "Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet." But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, maltreated them, and killed them.
The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
Then he said to his slaves, "The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet." Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, "Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?" And he was speechless.
Then the king said to the attendants, "Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." For many are called, but few are chosen.'

POST COMMUNION

God our Father, whose Son, the light unfailing, has come from heaven to deliver the world from the darkness of ignorance: let these holy mysteries open the eyes of our understanding that we may know the way of life, and walk in it without stumbling; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Reuben's Theme: "Paul's Joy - And Worry"

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

In our first reading this evening, we hear that only six weeks after making their solemn covenant-pledge with God, the people are clamouring for a replica of the old gods of Egypt.
And God's high priest not only makes the bull-calf, but identifies it with God!

Death is the penalty for those who break covenant - but Moses' selfless intercession with God prevents Israel's extermination.

In the second reading we heard this evening, Paul was writing to the Philippians.
He starts with a general appeal, then continues with personal appeals that obviously deeply worries him.
Euo-dia and Syn-ty-che are two women who have obviously quarreled.
Paul is constantly worried about splits and arguments within the Church.
He urges the two women to "be of the same mind in the Lord".
Whatever their argument was about, they have one most important thing in common - their faith - their belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of all people.

Go back to Jesus and all arguments and disagreements fade into insignificance.

This puts me in mind of a reading we heard only a few weeks ago from Paul's letter to the Romans (14.1­12).
Paul was worried that differences in opinion, on things that seem to matter so much to individual Christians...
Differences in opinion on ritual, procedure, worship and even the membership & leaders of the Church...
Differences in opinion about things that seem so important on a personal level yet are nothing to do with our faith in Jesus or the Church's mission in the world...
Paul was worried that these differences would cause rifts in Christian communities.

So this plea to the two women who have been arguing, in the part of his letter we heard tonight, was from the heart.
Paul could see that small disagreements grow and eventually cause rifts that could eventually fragment the Christian Church.

Guess what?

He was right!

There are so many denominations of the Christian faith today, I've lost count!

Within the relatively safe confines of our own Church of England we have disagreements about procedure, daily ritual, worship and church law.
I have seen serious arguments about what order candles at the high altar should be lit and extinguished.
I have even seen Christian communities split and become advisories over such insignificant issues as to what sex you have to be to be called to be a priest!
So when Paul urges the two women to "be of the same mind in the Lord." He is urging them to hold firm to that which they have in common.
The most important thing all Christians have in common...

...Our faith!

Our belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of all people and our constant struggle to follow in His footsteps.

Paul doesn't stop there though.

Paul goes on to tell the Philippians to rejoice.

This advice from a man in prison and facing death...

This advice from a man who had been stoned and beaten and hounded...

Yet experiences that leave others sour and bitter, leave Paul overflowing with joy!

Paul is an amazing man!

The secret is in verses six and seven where he says, "Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

The nation of Israel had Moses who made prayer and supplication to God, to save them.

We have Jesus - our intercessor, friend and Saviour

Learning how to off-load all our cares on One who cares for us.

As Peter wrote in his first letter, chapter five verse seven, "Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you."

Nothing is beyond Him.

Paul goes on to say that having emptied our minds of worry, the next step is to fill them with the sort of things that will shape a truly Christian character.
As he says, "Finally, belovèd, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

Christians today have an enormous challenge in front of them.

To do all these things in today's world can be as difficult as it was in the first century.

But we must try by constantly focusing on and following the teaching and example of Jesus.

Because, as we are told in today's Gospel, the day will come when God no longer invites those who repeatedly refuse him.

The invitation will go to others.

Those who come, must come on God's terms. "For many are called, but few are chosen."

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