Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 18 July 2021, Seventh Sunday after Trinity

‘When they got out of the boat, people at once recognised him’ (Mark 6: 54) … the Ilen, the last of Ireland’s traditional wooden sailing ships, at Foynes Harbour after sailing from Limerick to Kilrush and across the Shannon Estuary (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Patrick Comerford

Sunday next, 18 July 2021, is the Seventh Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VII). The appointed readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland are:

The Continuous Readings: II Samuel 7: 1-14a; Psalm 89: 20-37; Ephesians 2: 11-22; Mark 6: 30-34, 53-56.

The Paired Readings: Jeremiah 23: 1-6; Psalm 23; Ephesians 2: 11-22; Mark 6: 30-34, 53-56.

There is a link to the readings HERE.

Christ ‘has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us’ (Ephesisans 2: 14) … flowers on a wall at the High Leigh Conference Centre in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Introducing the Readings:

In Sunday’s Gospel reading, Christ is followed by ‘a great crowd,’ even when he seeks to retreat to a deserted place. He sees the crowd ‘and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things’ (Mark 6: 34).

In the first reading, David has settled in his house as king, but still seeks a permanent place where God may be worshipped.

In the alternative first reading, the Prophet Jeremiah condemns the kings who have allowed the people to go astray. They have failed to be shepherds of their people and to pursue righteousness on their behalf. But the day will come when a righteous and just ruler shall emerge from the house of David.

The psalm recalls God’s promises to the people through the descendants of David. In the alternative psalm, God is compared with a shepherd who leads and cares for his sheep, ensuring they follow safe paths or the ways of righteousness.

In the Epistle reading, Saint Paul tells his readers that the true Temple is not the one David wanted to build or the one built by Solomon. It is a Temple that is ‘built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.’

How do these readings help us to focus our hopes for building up the Church so that it serves the needs of the many who are ‘like sheep without a shepherd’?

David (centre) and Solomon (right), with Jubal (left) in a window in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick … David is told by Nathan that he is not the person to build the Temple (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

II Samuel 7: 1-14a

King David has been installed as king in Jerusalem, and is secure living in a palace built of cedar, then regarded as the best building material of the time. But David is conscious that while he is living in a lavish house, the Ark of God remains in a tent.

David consults his court prophet, Nathan, and confides in him his plan to build a temple for the Ark. Nathan agrees, but that night in a vision God tells Nathan to bring a message to David.

Nathan is to tell David that he is not the person to build a temple for God. Ever since the Exodus, God has not had a temple, nor has he ever asked for one.

Nathan is to remind David how God raised him from being a shepherd boy to being king, that God has always been with him wherever he goes, and he has defeated all his enemies. There are more promises to follow: God will also give his people a settled life, peace and security, and he will make David the founder of a royal house or dynasty, and David’s kingdom will be God’s for ever.

There is an interesting play on words here: the word ‘house’ (bayith in Hebrew) refers to:

● a palace (verse 1),
● a temple (verse 4),
● a dynasty or royal house (verses 11 and 13).

This chapter is important for Christological reasons. God is soon to make a covenant with David. Chapter 7 connects all that has gone before with all that is about to come after.

God’s next covenant is with David and is a commitment to bringing about a kingdom and a dynasty among his descendants. A short-sighted interpretation would limit these promises to David and Solomon before the fall of the kingdom. But as Saint Paul makes clear, the great rule of David’s dynasty is completed in Christ Jesus and is a kingdom for Jew and Gentile alike (see Romans 1: 1-6).

The first Christians believed that Christ is the ‘Son of David’ and that through him they were the heirs to this promise to David.

‘Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands’ (Jeremiah 23: 3) … sheep in a field near Kealkill, Co Cork (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Jeremiah 23: 1-6:

In Chapters 21-22, the Prophet Jeremiah has made prophecies about four of the five last kings of Judah. Three of these he considers bad, for being puppets of foreign rulers. The fifth and final king was Zedekiah, whose name is alluded to in this reading in a wordplay with the Hebrew for ‘righteousness,’ tsidkenu (צִדְקֵנוּ): ‘The Lord is our righteousness’ (verse 6).

Rather than predicting the fate of the last king, Zedekiah, God now speaks through Jeremiah about an ideal future king.

Judah’s kings or ‘shepherds’ are blamed for scattering his people, the ‘sheep.’ They will be punished for their ‘evil doings.’ But God will bring the people together again, to perfect safety, and will set good kings or ‘shepherds’ over them.

They will then live in the conditions or circumstances God first hoped for. In the first creation story, God commanded humans to ‘be fruitful and multiply.’ God makes a formal pronouncement, ‘the days are surely coming,’ when God will ‘raise up’ a godly ‘branch’ from David’s family tree or descendants who will be wise, just and godly, ruling over both Judah and Israel.

Later prophets, in dark times under unfaithful kings, recalled this ideal rule and promised its realisation in the future. This led to expecting a new era, when God himself would rule the faithful.

‘It will be established forever like the moon, an enduring witness in the skies’ (Psalm 89: 37) … the moon and the stars depicted in stucco work on a house in Ballyhahill, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Psalm 89: 20-37:

Psalm 89 recalls how God spoke to David through his words with the Prophet Nathan in our Old Testament reading (Psalm 89: 19).

Sunday’s portion of Psalm 89 recalls how God anointed David as his regent, and God will be constant in his love for him. Through God, David will be victorious, he will rule from the sea to the river (verse 25), from the Mediterranean to Mesopotamia. David will acknowledge God as Father, and God will adopt him as his firstborn.

David will be closer to God than any other king, no matter what he and his descendants do. David’s line will continue forever, as the moon endures in the heavens (verse 37).

‘The Lord is my shepherd’ (Psalm 23: 1) … part of the panel over the east porch door in Saint Patrick’s Church, Millstreet, Co Cork (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Psalm 23:

The late Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sachs has described Psalm 23 as ‘one of the most sublime passages in all religious literature: a poetic masterpiece – a mere 57 words long – of trust in God’s gentle care.’

In the ancient Near East, the king was seen as shepherd (verse 1-4) and as host (verses 5-6). God faithfully provides for, and constantly cares for, his sheep. He revives our very lives, the ‘soul’ (verse 3), and guides us in godly ways or ‘right paths.’ The tone of serenity is conveyed by a series of pastoral images, including ‘green pastures,’ ‘still waters’ and ma’aglei tzedek (בית עגנו), ‘right (or safe) paths.’

The mood then quickens. The psalmist speaks of the ‘valley of the shadow of death’ or ‘a valley of deep darkness,’ perhaps a crevice in the rocks where there may be danger from predators.

Even when we are beset by evil or find ourselves in the ‘darkest valley’ (verse 4), we have nothing to fear. God’s ‘rod,’ the shepherd’s defence against wolves and lions, protects us. His ‘staff’ (verse 4), used for rescuing sheep from thickets, guides us.

Lord Sachs says six simple Hebrew words at this poet express ‘one of the great declarations of faith,’ translated as: ‘I fear no evil, for you are with me’ (verse 4).

The feast (verse 5) is impressive, for it is laid out for us, the table is set for us, in the presence of his foes. Kings were plenteously anointed with oil, a symbol of power and dedication to a holy purpose.

The psalmist trusts that God’s ‘goodness and mercy’ and God’s steadfast love (verse 6) will follow or pursue him, as do his enemies, throughout his life. He will continue to worship in the Temple or ‘dwell in the house of the Lord,’ as long as he lives.

‘You are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone’ (Ephesians 2: 19-20) … the cross on a corner stone in the church in Vlatadon Monastery in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Ephesians 2: 11-22:

The theme of the house of God is taken up by Saint Paul again in the Epistle reading (Ephesians 2: 11-22). Here Saint Paul reminds us that Jews and Gentiles are both heirs to the Covenants God has made in the past, which would include God’s covenant with David in II Samuel 7.

But the true Temple is not the one David had a vision for, or the one built by Solomon. It is a Temple that is ‘built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone’ (verse 20).

This is the household of God, in which we are citizens with the saints and full members, regardless of whether we are Jews or Gentiles. We were once aliens and strangers, but now we are all insiders, full members of the household of God, because of God’s love for us.

Christ, the head and the cornerstone, along with the Church, the body and the foundation, replace the physical Temple in Jerusalem that David wanted to built. Now cultural differences are no longer relevant. What matters now is that we are ‘one new humanity’ (verse 15). The old divisions are gone, and Christ brings us together ‘in one body’ (verse 16). This is a message of peace in a divided, broken and sinful world (verse 14).

Think about how the word ‘house’ is used in our Old Testament reading. The words used in the Epistle reading for household, οἰκεῖος (oikeios), and for building, οἰκοδομή (oikodomí), are from the same root as the word that gives us ecumenism. Our ecumenism, our ecumenical endeavours, our seeking for common ground in mission and ministry, in sacrament and in service, seek to draw us into one family, one household, where Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone.

But this is a household at the service of the many. Saint Paul tells us we are being grown into a holy temple, into a dwelling-place for God. And when I think of that Temple, I think not just of David’s vision for building a Temple in our first reading, but the vision of the Temple in Revelation, when ‘people will bring into it the glory and honour of the nations’ (Revelation 21: 22-26).

That is the glory we should be seeking, that is the honour that we should be seeking, and it is the task of the Church as servant, in its ministry, not to see that you and I sit at the right and left hand of glory, but that as servants we bring the needs of the world, the needs of the nations, to the Church, and bring the Church to serve the needs of the many.

‘When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat’ (Mark 6: 53) … a moored boat in the harbour in Georgioupoli in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 6: 30-34, 53-56:

On the Sunday before last (4 July 2021, Trinity V), we read earlier in this chapter (Mark 6: 1-13) how Christ sent out the disciples, two-by-two, giving them authority over all that is evil in the world. Saint Mark’s narrative then diverted briefly last Sunday (11 July 2021, Trinity VI) to the story of the beheading of Saint John the Baptist (Mark 6: 14-29). Now, Saint Mark returns to the main story (Mark 6: 30-34, 53-56).

The Lectionary portion next Sunday omits the story of the feeding of the 5,000 (verses 35-52). Instead, the feeding of the multitude is the story in the Gospel reading from Saint John’s Gospel the following Sunday (John 6: 1-21, 25 July 2021, Trinity VIII). But it is worth mentioning here that each of Saint Mark’s feeding miracles is joined with a water miracle, evoking the Exodus stories, including God parting the waters (Exodus 14: 19-31) and God feeding the people in the wilderness (Exodus 16: 31-21), and the disciples’ misunderstanding is a serious condition, akin to Pharaoh’s misunderstanding that is linked to his oppression of the enslaved people (see Exodus 7 to 11).

In Sunday’s Gospel reading, Christ debriefs the disciples after their return, having been sent out (verse 30). In Mark 3: 20, Christ has no time to eat, and now neither do the disciples (verse 32), such is Christ’s popularity as a healer and a wonder-worker.

Saint Mark puts his emphasis here on the crowd: many people recognise Christ and the disciples (verses 33, 55), they hurry to meet them as they disembark from boat, and Christ has compassion for them, for they are ‘like sheep without a shepherd’ (verse 34). They bring the sick with them, and beg Jesus to heal them (verse 56). He has compassion on them, begins to teach them, and heals the sick.

In the midst of all this, the disciples are on a boat on their way to Bethsaida when they are caught in a storm on the lake. Jesus walks on the water, calms their fears and shows his divine power – in this case over the stormy, choppy seas (verses 45-52).

The fringes on Christ’s cloak (verse 56) are the blue threads (tzitzit) that show how he obeys God’s commandments: Jewish men were to wear fringes at the corners of their cloaks (see Numbers 15: 37-40; Deuteronomy 22: 12). There are 613 commandments, precepts or mitzvot in Jewish law. They include positive commandments, to perform an act (mitzvot aseh), and negative commandments, to abstain from certain acts (mitzvot lo taaseh). The negative commandments number 365, which coincides with the number of days in the solar year, and the positive commandments number 248, said to be the number of bones and main organs in the human body (Babylonian Talmud, Makkot 23b–24a).

The number of tzitzit or knotted fringes of the tallit or prayer shawl worn by pious Jews at prayer is connected to the 613 commandments: the Hebrew numerical value of the word tzitzit is 600; each tassel has eight threads (when doubled over) and five sets of knots, totalling 13; the sum of these numbers is 613. This reflects the idea that donning a tallit or prayer shawl with tzitzit reminds its wearer of all 613 Torah commandments.

In touching his cloak, the sick people are making him ritually unclean, but those who touch him are healed. In the following chapter, Saint Mark shows how the religious authorities are more concerned with legalistic ritual purity than with the needs of the common people, and how in touching Christ they are ‘touched’ by God’s power.

But as with our reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, the call is to all, Christ breaks down all barriers, and we are all invited to be part of the household of God, to enter his holy Temple, which is ‘built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.’

They ‘begged him that they might touch even the fringe his cloak’ (Mark 6: 56) … a choice of tallitot or prayer shawls with tzitzit or fringes in the synagogue in Chania in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 6: 30-34, 53-56 (NRSVA):

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. 54 When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, 55 and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the market-places, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

‘When they had crossed over, they … moored the boat’ (Mark 6: 53) … a moored boat on the shore of Canon Island, in the Shannon Estuary, near Kildysert, Co Clare (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical colour: Green

Collect of the Day:

Lord of all power and might,
the author and giver of all good things:
Graft in our hearts the love of your name,
increase in us true religion,
nourish us with all goodness,
and of your great mercy keep us in the same;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect of the Word:

Eternal God,
author of our life and end of our pilgrimage:
guide us by your Word and Spirit
amid all perils and temptations,
that we may not wander from your way,
but may run our course in safety
until we come to our eternal rest in you;
through the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord God,
whose Son is the true vine and the source of life,
ever giving himself that the world may live:
May we so receive within ourselves
the power of his death and passion
that, in his saving cup,
we may share his glory and be made perfect in his love;
for he is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
now and for ever.

He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while’ (Mark 6: 31) … at the end of the beach in Lahinch, Co Clare, last week (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Suggested Hymns:

II Samuel 7: 1-14a:

342, Sweet is the solemn voice that calls
73, The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended
343, We love the place, O God

Psalm 89: 20-37:

670, Come, worship God who is worthy of honour
2, Faithful one, so unchanging
668, God is our fortress and our rock
557, Rock of ages, cleft for me

Jeremiah 23: 1-6:

250, All hail the power of Jesus’ name
135, O come, O come, Emmanuel
442, Praise the Lord, rise up rejoicing
197, Songs of thankfulness and praise
323, The God of Abraham praise
20, The King of love my shepherd is

Psalm 23:

644, Faithful Shepherd, feed me
645, Father, hear the prayer we offer
466, Here from all nations, all tongues, and all peoples
467, How bright those glorious spirits shine
655, Loving Shepherd of your sheep
433, My God, your table here is spread
235, O sacred head, sore wounded
365, Praise to the Lord, the almighty, the King of creation
20, The King of love my shepherd is
21, The Lord’s my shepherd; I’ll not want
448, The trumpets sound, the angels sing

Ephesians 2: 11-22:

326, Blessèd city, heavenly Salem (Christ is made the sure foundation)
327, Christ is our cornerstone
87, Christ is the world’s light, he and none other
501, Christ is the world’s true light
421, I come with joy, a child of God
522, In Christ there is no east or west
306, O Spirit of the living God
675, Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?
507, Put peace into each other’s hands
340, Sing and be glad, for this is God’s house!
528, The Church’s one foundation
313, The Spirit came, as promised
493, Ye that know the Lord is gracious

Mark 6: 30-34, 53-56:

211, Immortal love for ever full
513, O Christ, the healer, we have come
104, O for a thousand tongues to sing

‘O for a thousand tongues to sing’ (Hymn 104) … street art near Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

The hymn suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000)

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

‘The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended’ (Hymn 73) … sunset at the Rectory in Askeaton, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 26 July 2020, Seventh Sunday after Trinity

‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field’ (Matthew 13: 31) … ‘World’s Smallest Seed,’ 40”x30” oil/canvas, by James B Janknegt

(Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Next Sunday, 26 July 2020, is the Seventh Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VII).

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are in two pairs, the Continuous Readings and the Paired Readings:

The Continuous Readings:

Genesis 29: 15-28; Psalm 105: 1-11, 45b or Psalm 128; Romans 8: 26-39; Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52. There is a link to the continuous readings HERE.

The Paired Readings:

I Kings 3: 5-12; Psalm 119: 129-136; Romans 8: 26-39; Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52.

‘I’m interested in what it would be like to be you … There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind’ … street art in Centaur Street, Carlow (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Introducing the Readings:

Lessons in good parenting teach parents never to compare their sons or daughters with other children. It is a sure way of giving children the impression that they never match the expectations of their parents.

We know that comparisons are never adequate. Shakespeare asks in the opening line of Sonnet 18: ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’ And immediately answers himself: ‘Thou art more lovely and more temperate.’

When we are tempted to compare ourselves, favourably or unfavourably, with others, it is good to be reminded of the old adage not to judge anyone until we have walked a mile in their shoes.

Comparisons never match the beauty of any person or place. And yet, in language, we need metaphors, similes and allegories.

It is worth noticing the different comparisons, parallels, metaphors, similes and allegories in Sunday’s reading.

In the first reading (Genesis 29: 15-28), Jacob is outwitted by Laban is deceived into thinking that Leah is Rachel.

As children of Jacob, the Psalmist invites us in Psalm 105 to see God in his works.

In the alternative Psalm in the continuous readings (Psalm 128), the happiness of those who are blessed by God is compared to a man whose wife is like a ‘fruitful vine’ and whose children are like ‘olive shoots round about your table.’

In the New Testament reading, the Apostle Paul tells us that those who love God are ‘the image of his Son.’ The word used here, εἰκών (eikon, image), is also used regularly by Saint Paul to say that Christ is the ‘image’ of God: we are not mere comparisons with God, or like God, but through Christ we have become images of God.

Then, in the Gospel reading, Christ offers a number of images of what the Kingdom of God is like: a mustard seed, yeast, hidden treasure, a pearl, a net. Do we understand? Do we fully understand? Of course we don’t, even should we answer yes.

We can only imagine what another person or family is like. We can only glimpse what another place is like. We can only listen to what the Kingdom of God is like, until we actually live it and incorporate it into our own lives. But we need to actively engage with it, live it out, to know what the kingdom is truly like.

‘Then Jacob said to Laban, ‘Give me my wife … ’ So Laban gathered together all the people of the place, and made a feast’ (Genesis 29: 15-28) … a dancer dressed as a veiled bride in Nevşehir in Turkey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Genesis 29: 15-28:

After meeting God in a vision at Bethel, Jacob has travelled on to Haran in search of a wife from his own clan. He meets Rachel, and her father Laban, who is related to Jacob, takes him into his household and gives him a living.

After Jacob has been staying with Laban’s family for a month, Laban asks Jacob what wages he expects. Laban has two daughters, Leah and Rachel: Leah has lovely eyes, while Rachel is ‘graceful and beautiful,’ and Jacob is besotted with Rachel.

Jacob offers to work freely for seven years for Laban in return for a promise that he can then marry Rachel. The former Chief Rabbi, Lord (Jonathan) Sacks, points out that ‘the number seven is always significant and always indicates holiness, as in the seventh day, Shabbat; the seventh month, Tishri with its Days of Awe; the seventh year, “the year of release”; and the fiftieth year, the Jubilee, which follows seven cycles of seven years.’ He says that the number seven became ‘the symbol of the holy,’ a symbol that ‘God exists beyond time and space.’

Because of his hope and because of his love for Rachel, the seven years pass quickly for Jacob and seem ‘but a few days.’

But we should recall how Jacob once deceived his father Isaac and his brother Esau. Now Laban deceives Jacob – a deceit that was possible because a bride wore a veil at her wedding.

Isaac was deceived into honouring ‘the younger before the firstborn’ when it came to the struggle between Esau and Jacob. Now Laban deceives Jacob into honouring the firstborn before the younger, and successfully contrives to marry his elder daughter Leah to Jacob.

Jacob, who once appeared to shirk work when compared with Esau, is now forced to work longer than expected: another seven days added on to the seven years.

We are prepared for something more holy that is about to unfold, and the stories of the Patriarchs leads to the stories of the children of Israel.

‘O give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name … Sing to him, sing praises’ (Psalm 105: 1-2) … street art at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 105: 1-11, 45b:

Psalm 105 was probably written for a major festival, and verses 1-15 are largely reproduced in I Chronicles 16: 8-22.

In Jewish tradition, this Psalm is recited on the first day of Passover, verses 8-10 are part of the prayers recited in the naming of a boy at his brit milah or circumcision, and verses 8-42 are repeated in the Amidah or principal prayer on New Year’s Day, Rosh Hashanah.

Psalm 105 recalls the events in Israel’s history, from Abraham to the entry into the Promised Land, that show God’s fidelity to his covenant, culminating in the giving of the Law.

Verses 1-6 invite the people to worship and to recognise God’s deeds with joy and gratitude. God is to be praised for his judgments and for his wonderful works.

God’s judgments are for all people. He first promised the land to Abraham, confirmed it to Isaac and to Jacob, and made it part of an everlasting covenant.

Originally the psalm began as it ends, with the words ‘Alleluia!’ or ‘Praise the Lord.’

‘Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house’ (Psalm 128: 3) … a fruitful vine in the walled garden at the Hedgehog Vintage Inn in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Psalm 128:

Psalm 128 is one of 15 psalms that begin with the words ‘A song of ascents’ (Shir Hama’alot). This palm may date from the post-exilic period, after the year 539 BCE. It was probably a pilgrimage song, sung as people walked to Jerusalem for a major festival.

This is a short psalm only six verses, and discusses the blessed state of those who follow God.

Those who hold God in awe will be joyful; they are those who follow God’s ways. If we do so, we will be prosperous, enjoying the results of our hard work and living in harmony with God.

The promises of large families and the guarantee of heirs was a blessing in an age of high infant mortality. Verses 5-6 form a blessing, perhaps pronounced by a priest. The prosperity of Jerusalem was fundamental to the happiness of the people, who prayed that God would bless the people in the community from Zion, his dwelling place in the Temple.

These concluding verses also include a well-known blessing at traditional weddings in rural Ireland: ‘May you live to see your children’s children’ – which brings us back to the story in our first reading of Jacob’s weddings, and forward to the future stories of his children.

‘The Spirit helps us in our weakness … that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words’ (Romans 8: 26) … an image in an exhibition celebrating El Greco in the Fortezza in Rethymnon, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Romans 8: 26-39:

Saint Paul has written of the new way of being we attain in baptism: we are freed of compounding sin leading to the finality of death and begin living in and with the Spirit, thanks to God’s gift of love. In this new life, we will live in complete accord with God, but now we still fail to live up to his, and our, expectations. We need help – help which the Spirit provides. In our present condition we have hope of attaining perfect union with God.

Now Saint Paul gives an example of how the Spirit helps us. We have human limitations in how we pray. But the Spirit intercedes for us in ways that are inexpressible in human language. The Father, who knows us to the core, knows the mind of the Spirit, for it is part of God’s plan that he intercedes for the saints, the members of the Church. We know that, for those who love God and who are called by God as part of his plan, are being led towards ultimate goodness.

God formulated his plan, knowing in advance that there would be people who would love him. They would want to become images (icons) of, or share in, the life of the Risen Christ, and so are part of his final glory.

These people are called and chosen, and in responding to God’s call they are found worthy or justified. So certain is Saint Paul that God is completing these plans, he writes the word glorified in the past tense – God’s plans are completed in Christ.

Saint Paul then looks at how certain we can be that God completes this plan of salvation, and he asks questions that mirror the language of a law court.

God is so for us that he gave us his very Son, so he will surely follow through with the rest of his plan. God justifies us, has found in our favour, so who now can accuse us of anything? Christ both pleads for us and is our judge. No hardships can separate true Christians from Christ’s love for us, and we become at one with him in his paschal sacrifice.

Despite our sufferings, we have a victory that makes us more than conquerors. Whether we are dead or alive on the Last Day, no power, high or low, past or present, good or evil, can separate us from God’s love or defeat God’s purpose for us.

‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened’ (Matthew 13: 33) … three trays of bread in a baker’s shop in Bologna (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52:

In this reading, Christ continues to speak in parables as he teaches the crowds and the disciples about the Kingdom of God.

The five parables in this reading are really similes that must have seemed incredible on the day because of Christ’s use of exaggeration and hyperbole.

1, A mustard seed is very small, but it grows into a large shrub, rather than a tree. Birds do not nest in it (verses 31-32).

2, Bread made with three measures of flour would feed 100 people, so once again we have hyperbole. The Kingdom of God Kingdom will grow from small beginnings to something beyond our measure or imagination (verse 33).

3, When someone accidentally comes across hidden treasure, he sells everything he has so he can buy the whole field and take possession of this one item in one small part of the large field. This is the price we should put on becoming part of the Kingdom (verse 44).

4, The merchant values the one great pearl above everything else (verses 45-46).

5, On the Sea of Galilee, a net gathered all fish, but only some were edible, and the others were thrown back into the water. At the end of the age, God will come to judge people, declaring the good to be his and discarding the others (verses 47-50).

Christ asks whether they understand. They say ‘Yes’ – but do they truly understand? (verses 51-52).

Being and doing … are our images of the kingdom passive or active? … a T-shirt bought in the Plaka in Athens (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Reflections on the Gospel Reading:

Have you ever found yourself lost for words when it comes to describing a beautiful place you have visited?

If you have ever been to the Bay of Naples or Sorrento, how would you describe what you have seen to someone who has never travelled outside a 30 km radius from your parish?

You might try comparing the first glimpse of Vesuvius with looking at Carrigtwohill, Croagh Patrick or the Great Sugarloaf … but that hardly describes the experience of climbing the rocky path, looking into the caldera, or the experience of the sulphuric smell.

You might want to compare the Bay of Naples with the vista in Dingle Bay or Clew Bay … but does that reflect the majestic scope of any one of these views?

You might want to compare the church domes of Venice or the Greek islands with the great copper dome in Rathmines … but that goes nowhere near describing the intricate artwork on those Italian domes or the impact on the Greek skyline.

You might compare the inside of the duomo in Florence with the inside of your favourite parish church … but you know you are getting nowhere near what you want to say.

And as for Capri … even if the ballad ‘There is an Isle’ is about the King’s Island in Limerick, it hardly conveys the romantic allure of Capri.

Comparisons never match the beauty of any of the places that offer us a snatch or glimpse of heaven.

And yet, we know that the photographs on our phones, no matter how good they seem to be when we are taking them, never do justice to the places we have been when we get home.

We risk becoming bores either by trying to use inadequate words or inadequate images to describe experiences that we can never truly share with people unless they go there, unless they have been there too.

I suppose that helps to a degree to understand why Jesus keeps on trying to grasp at images that might help the Disciples and help us to understand what the Kingdom of God is like.

He tries to offer us a taste of the kingdom with a number of parables in Sunday’s Gospel reading:

● The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed … (verse 31).

● The kingdom of heaven is like yeast … (verse 33).

● The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field … (verse 44).

● The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls … (verse 45).

● The kingdom of heaven is like a net in the sea … (verse 47).

‘Do they understand?’ They answer, ‘Yes.’ But how can they really understand, fully understand?

We have a romantic imagination that confuses gardens with Paradise, and Paradise with the Kingdom of Heaven. But perhaps that is a good starting point, because I have a number of places where I find myself saying constantly: ‘This is a little snatch of heaven.’ They include:

● The road from Cappoquin out to my grandmother’s farm in West Waterford.

● The train journey from outside Ferns to Wexford, along the banks of the River Slaney.

● The view from the east end of Stowe Pool across to Lichfield Cathedral at sunset on a Spring evening.

● The Backs in Cambridge.

● Sunset at the Fortezza in Rethymnon on the Greek island of Crete.

● The sights and sounds on some of the many beaches I like to walk on … Ballinskellings, Ballybunion, Beale Strand, Bettystown, Skerries, Achill, Crete … I could go on.

The Kingdom of Heaven must be so like so many of these places where I find myself constantly praising God and thanking God for creation.

But … but it’s not just that. And I start thinking that Christ does more than just paint a scene when he describes the kingdom of heaven. Looking at the Gospel reading again, I realise he is doing more than offering holiday snapshots or painting the scenery.

He tries to describe the Kingdom of Heaven in terms of doing, and not just in terms of being:

● Sowing a seed (verse 31)

● Giving a nest to the birds of the air (verse 32)

● Mixing yeast (verse 33)

● Turning small amounts of flour into generous portions of bread (verse 34)

● Finding hidden treasure (verse 44)

● Rushing out in joy (verse 44)

● Selling all that I have because something I have found is worth more – much, much more, again and again (verse 44, 46)

● Searching for pearls (verse 45)

● Finding just one pearl (verse 46)

● Casting a net into the sea (verse 47)

● Catching an abundance of fish (verse 47)

● Drawing the abundance of fish ashore, and realising there is too much there for personal needs (verse 48)

● Writing about it so that others can enjoy the benefit and rewards of treasures new and old (verse 52)

So there are, perhaps, four or five times as many active images of the kingdom than there are passive images.

The kingdom is more about doing than being.

One of my favourite T-shirts is one I bought in the Plaka in Athens three years ago and that says: ‘To do is to be, Socrates. To be is to do, Plato. Do-be-do-be-do, Sinatra.’

The kingdom is more about doing than being.

At a recent USPG conference, I heard about a number of activities that, for me, help my imagination to think about what the kingdom is like:

1, Bishop David Hamid of the Diocese of Europe spoke about the work of Saint Paul’s Church, the Anglican Church in Athens, in partnership with USPG, working with refugees and asylum seekers who continue to arrive in desperate and heart-breaking circumstances on the Greek islands.

2, Bishop Margaret Vertue, from the Diocese of False Bay in the Western Cape, spoke of how the Bible relates to the work of the Anglican Church in South Africa with victims of gender-based violence and people trafficking.

3, Rachel Parry of USPG spoke of Bishop Carlo Morales of Ozamis in the Philippines, who was arrested at gunpoint and was languishing in jail because of his commitment to working with the peace process in his own country.

4, Jo Musker-Sherwood, Director of Hope for the Future, shared how her experience in mission with USPG led her to work at lobbying politicians and empowering churches in the area of climate change.

5,The Revd Carlton Turner, who moved from the Bahamas to work as a vicar in Bloxwich in the Diocese of Lichfield, talked about how God creates out of chaos, how God’s pattern for growing the Church is about entering chaos and bringing about something creative, something new.

On Sunday next, you might challenge people, as they go home, to think of three places, three gifts in God’s creation, that offer glimpses of the Kingdom of Heaven, and to think of three actions that symbolise Christ’s invitation into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Give thanks for these pearls beyond price, and share them with someone you love and cherish.

‘The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind’ (Matthew 13: 47) … nets and fishing boats at the harbour in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52 (NRSVA):

31 He [Jesus] put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.’

33 He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.’

44 ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

45 ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

47 ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

51 ‘Have you understood all this?’ They answered, ‘Yes.’ 52 And he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.’

‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened’ (Matthew 13: 33) … varieties of bread on a stall in a market in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: Green (Year A, Ordinary Time)

The Collect of the Day:

Lord of all power and might,
the author and giver of all good things:
Graft in our hearts the love of your name,
increase in us true religion,
nourish us with all goodness,
and of your great mercy keep us in the same;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Collect of the Word:

O God, the fount of wisdom,
you have revealed to us in Christ
the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price:
grant us your Spirit’s gift of discernment,
that, in the midst of the things of this world,
we may learn to value the priceless worth of your kingdom,
and be ready to renounce all else
for the sake of the precious gift you offer.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord God,
whose Son is the true vine and the source of life,
ever giving himself that the world may live:
May we so receive within ourselves
the power of his death and passion
that, in his saving cup,
we may share his glory and be made perfect in his love;
for he is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
now and for ever.

How could Jacob tell Leah from Rachel? … a billboard for the planned Sephardic Museum in the former Jewish Quarter of Málaga (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Suggested Hymns:

Genesis 29: 15-28:

544, O perfect love, all human thought transcending

Psalm 105: 1-11, 45b:

321, Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty
597, Take my life and let it be
323, The God of Abraham praise

Psalm 128:

649, Happy are they, they that love God
539, Rejoice, O land, in God thy might
712, Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord

I Kings 3: 5-12:

643, Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
533, God of grace and God of glory

Psalm 119: 129-136:

382, Help us, O Lord, to learn
195, Lord, the light of your love is shining
384, Lord, thy word abideth
108, Praise to the Holiest in the height

Romans 8: 26-39:

10, All my hope on God is founded
218, And can it be that I should gain
328, Come on and celebrate
693, Glory in the highest to the God of heaven
3, God is Love let heaven adore him
13, God moves in a mysterious way
266, Hail the day that sees him rise
226, It is a thing most wonderful
272, Jesus lives: thy terrors now
671, Jesus, thy blood and righteousness
358, King of glory, King of peace
619, Lord, teach us how to pray aright
392, Now is eternal life
638, O for a heart to praise my God
106, O Jesus, King most wonderful
363, O Lord of heaven and earth and sea
105, O the deep, deep love of Jesus
487, Soldiers of Christ, arise
288, Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son
373, To God be the glory! Great things he has done

Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52:

665, Ag Críost an síol (The seed is Christ’s)
643, Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
37, Come, ye thankful people, come
95, Jesu, priceless treasure
16, Like a mighty river flowing
384, Lord, thy word abideth

‘For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image (icon) of his Son’ (Romans 8: 29) … an icon of Christ found in Rethymnon and now in the Rectory in Askeaton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

The hymns suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000)

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

The Faraglioni, three spurs of rock in the Bay of Naples, off the coast of Capri … how do you describe places that you regard as heavenly? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 4 August 2019, Seventh Sunday after Trinity

‘I will pull down my barns and build larger ones’ (Luke 12: 18) … a large barn at Comberford Manor Farm in Staffordshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Next Sunday, 4 August 2019, is the Seventh Sunday after Trinity.

The appointed readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are in two groups.

The readings are:

Continuous readings: Hosea 11: 1-11; Psalm 107: 1-9, 43; Colossians 3: 1-11; Luke 12: 13-21. There is a link to the readings HERE.

Paired readings: Ecclesiastes 1: 2, 12-14, 2: 18-23; Psalm 49: 1-12; Colossians 3: 1–11; Luke 12: 13–21. There is a link to the readings HERE.

‘So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves’ (Luke 12: 21) … inside an antique shop in Blackrock, Co Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Introducing the continuous readings:

Next Sunday’s continuous readings offer opportunities to reflect on the dangers of turning our backs on God’s ways, and to recall the blessings we have received from God.

The Prophet Hosea warns of the looming consequences for an unfaithful people, including violence and exile. Yet God will be compassionate and tender-hearted, there is hope for the future, and the people will return from exile to their homes.

Psalm 107 is a collective thanksgiving, reminding the people of their past slavery an exile, and urging them:

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his goodness
and the wonders he does for his children

In the Epistle reading, we are reminded how in Baptism we caste aside old ways and put on a new life in Christ.

The Gospel reading tells the well-known ‘Parable of the Rich Fool’ who thinks his abundant crops as an opportunity to ‘relax, eat, drink, be merry’ rather than a time to give thanks to God for his blessings.

‘They shall go after the Lord, who roars like a lion’ (Hosea 11: 10) … a roaring lion in a deserted factory in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Hosea 11: 1-11:

Last week, we read part of the introduction to Book of Hosea (1: 2-10). In the first three chapters of this book, the Prophet Hosea graphically describes how the people of the northern kingdom (Israel) have fallen away God’s ways, abandoning God and the covenant with him, and have worshipped pagan gods or the Baals and idols. He then warns of the consequences.

Now, however, God speaks through Hosea, recalling the Exodus from Egypt (verses 1-4). Hosea visualises God’s loving care of the people, personalised as Ephraim, is like a parent’s care for a child.

But Hosea warns of the looming consequences (verses 5-7). Because they have not returned to God, they will be exiled to Assyria, and they will be in bondage, as they once did in Egypt. There will be violence in the streets, (verse 6), their priests will be killed. And even though they will call to God for help, he will not hear them (verse 7).

Nevertheless, God’s anger – unlike our human anger – does not last (verses 8-9). Once again, God will be compassionate and tender-hearted. He will not allow the complete destruction of the cities and their inhabitants in the way that Admah and Zeboiim were destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah.

There is hope for the future, and the people will return from exile to the land, to their homes (verse 11).

‘Some went astray in desert wastes and found no path’ but ‘he set their feet on the right way’ (Psalm 107: 4-7) (Photograph: Patrick Comerford

Psalm 107: 1-9, 43:

Psalm 107 is a collective thanksgiving, sung by a group of pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem to celebrate a festival. The incipit says they are thanking God for delivering them for many dangers.

Verses 2-3 may have been written after the Exile, and added, along with verses 33-43, to change the original psalm from an individual thanksgiving to one suited to communal use.

This psalm is punctuated with a refrain based on verse 6:

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his goodness
and the wonders he does for his children (verses 8, 15, 21 and 31).

The portion of this psalm appointed for next Sunday opens with a call to praise. It recalls the people returning from exile at all points of the compass (verse 3) and tells of the people wandering in the desert during the Exodus (verses 4-9). When they were ‘hungry and thirsty,’ in body and soul, God came to their aid (verses 5-6).

God helped them in their troubled times, and the pilgrims now thank God for his deliverance, guidance and love, satisfying the thirsty and feeding the hungry.

The concluding portion of the psalm (verses 33-43) is part of a hymn praising God for his bounty, and reminds us to continue to thank God for his steadfast love (verse 43).

‘In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew’ (Colossians 3: 11) … in a Greek synagogue in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Colossians 3: 1-11:

We are at the end of a series of four readings from the Letter to the Colossians that began on Sunday 14 July.

The author has described baptism as being raised with Christ and giving us a share in his suffering and death. In the early Church, candidates for Baptism removed their old clothes before being baptised and donned new ones afterwards, symbolising casting aside old ways and putting on a new life in Christ.

This reading begins with the author summarising this concept (Colossians 1: 1-4). On at least 25 occasions, the New Testament speaks of Christ being seated at God’s right hand (see Psalm 110: 1, ‘Sit at my right hand …’).

The author tells us that we already have close fellowship with Christ, but this is not yet fully revealed. Our lives are still ‘hidden with Christ in God.’ When Christ’s glory is ‘revealed,’ at the end of time, our complete union with him will be visible.

Being baptised, we are expected to conduct ourselves ethically, casting aside both sins of the body (verse 5) and of the mind (verses 5-17).

The word πορνεία (porneía) in verse 5, which is translated as ‘fornication’ in the NRSV, means all forms of sexual immorality, and gives us the word pornography in English. It can refer to illicit sexual intercourse, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bestiality, sexual intercourse with close relatives (see Leviticus 18), and sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman (Mark 10: 11,12). But its metaphorical use, which may be intended here, refers to the worship of idols, and the defilement of idolatry, incurred by eating sacrifices offered to idols or taking part in cult prostitution.

Impurity is sexual; passion is lust; evil desire is self-centred covetousness; greed motivates a person to set up a god besides God.

Because people still commit these sins wilfully and without seeking forgiveness, ‘the wrath of God is coming’ on them at the end of time (verse 6; see Romans 1: 18, 5: 9, I Thessalonians 1: 10, 2: 16, 5: 9).

The reference to the new self which is in the image (εἰκών, icon) of the creator (verse 10), recalls that God makes humans in God’s own image.

In the baptised community, ethnic, language and social barriers have been broken down to the point that they no longer exist, for ‘Christ is all and in all’ (verse 11).

‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly’ (Luke 12: 16) … fields at summertime in Bunratty, Co Clare (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Luke 12: 13-21:

A large crowd, totalling thousands of people, has gathered to hear Jesus, trampling on one another so that they can hear him (Luke 12: 1). He is speaking to the disciples when one person in the crowd comes forward and asks Jesus to tell this man’s brother to share their family inheritance (verses 13-14).

Jesus has just told the disciples not to fret when they are being questioned and scrutinised, but to expect to be taught by the Holy Spirit what to say (verses 11-12).

However, in response to this question from a man in the crowd, Jesus simply asks another question: ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ The Mishnah guided rabbis on how to handle questions of inheritance. The Mosaic law prescribed that an elder son should receive twice the inheritance of a younger son (see Deuteronomy 21: 17). However, by rabbinical times, the Mishnah indicates, this seems to have been largely ignore (see Bava Batra 8: 4-5).

However, Christ avoids being drawn into an argument about the merits of Mosaic law and rabbinical practice, and asks whether the man wants to place him in role akin to that of Moses.

The word ἄνθρωπος (anthropos), translated ‘friend’ in the NRSV (verse 14), literally means human, and may have been heard as a stern rather affectionate form of address. Jesus explains: ‘all kinds of greed’ (verse 15) have no place in anyone’s life; true being (real and meaningful ‘life’) is more than ‘possessions.’

Having asked a rhetorical question, Christ does not wait for an answer. Instead, he warns the disciples against greed and possessions (verse 15), and he moves on telling the ‘Parable of the Rich Fool’ (verses 16-21), a parable that is unusual because God is a character in the story.

The rich farmer’s land has ‘produced abundantly’ (verse 16). His frequent use of the personal pronoun ‘I’ (verses 17-19) shows how he thinks only of himself and his of his own material well-being. He fools himself into thinking material possessions can satisfy the needs of both his body and his soul (verse 19).

To ‘relax, eat, drink, be merry’ (verse 19) can be a proper response to God’s gifts and generosity (see Ecclesiastes 8: 15; Tobit 7: 10; I Enoch 97: 8-9). Indeed, this parable does not attack wealth as such. But it criticises amassing wealth solely for one’s own enjoyment. It is the purely selfish accumulation of wealth that is incompatible with discipleship.

God says to the farmer ‘You fool!’ (verse 20) for ignoring his relationship with God. In the Old Testament, foolishness often implies immorality and deviating from God’s ways. Materialism can get in the way of godliness. Earthly riches do not last, but a time is coming when we will be judged by God.

‘So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves’ (Luke 12: 21) … inside an antique shop in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

A reflection on the Gospel reading

I am not fond of television quiz programmes, or programmes that ask silly questions of people.

You have the programme presenter sitting there, looking smug with both the questions and answers, researched by a paid researcher, and the poor member of the public sitting there, anxious about obscure questions about the crew members of the Moon Landing in 1969, or the No 1 hits in 2009, or celebrity weddings in 2019.

I could not, for the life of me, answer any one of those questions. But some poor people, for the sake of €100 or €1,000 – never, it seems, on the way to being a millionaire – are made to look silly or ridiculous.

Quite frankly, I find it demeaning. And I have never wanted to hoard up all the answers for a television quiz, or, for that matter, for a parish table quiz. As I get older, I know this is anxiety that I do not need, and it is probably knowledge I am better off not storing up.

Recently, watching one of those programmes as we were idly flicking through television channels, I was told: ‘I could never go on a programme like that with you!’

‘Why?’ I asked.

‘Because I could never answer: “What is his favourite piece of music.” Or: “If money was no barrier, what would he buy?”’

Well there is a lot of good music to listen to.

But if money was no barrier, what would I buy?

Would it make me happy?

Would it make anyone else happy?

Would it tell anyone that they are loved, loving, worth loving, that I love them, that I really enjoy their love?

But I understand why the man in this Gospel reading does many of the things he does.

He has a bumper crop one year, and not enough room to store it in. Was he to leave what he could not store to rot in the fields?

It is a foundational principle of all economics, whatever your political values – from Marx and Malthus to Milton Freedman – that the production of surplus food is the beginning of the creation of wealth and the beginning of economic prosperity.

Even if you are a complete ‘townie,’ it should bring joy to your heart the see the fields of green and gold these weeks, for the abundance of the earth is truly a blessing from God.

And it would have been wrong for this man to leave the surplus food to rot in the fields because he failed to have the foresight to build larger barns to store the surplus grain.

It provides income, creates wealth, allows us to export and so to import. Surplus food is the foundation of economics … and makes possible generosity, charity and care for the impoverished.

For the people who first heard this story, just image those people who first heard this parable – they would have imagined so many images in the Old Testament of the benefits of producing surplus food.

Joseph told Pharaoh to store surplus food in Egypt and to prepare and plan ahead for years of famine (see Genesis 41: 1-36). In the long run, this provides too for the survival of the very brothers who had sold him into slavery (see Genesis 42), and, eventually, for the salvation of the people of God.

The production of extra grain in the fields at the time of the harvest allows Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi to glean in the corners of the field behind the reapers (Ruth 2: 1-4). In the long run, this provides too for the survival of Boaz and his family line, and, eventually, for the salvation of the people of God.

When the people of God go hungry, the provision of surplus food is seen as a sign of God’s love and God’s protection … whether it is:

● the hungry people in the wilderness who are fed with manna (see Exodus 16), which is alluded to in the appointed Psalm (Psalm 107: 1-9, 43);

● or the way the Prophet Hosea reminds the people, in the Old Testament reading (Hosea 11: 1-11), that God is the God who can say throughout their history: ‘I bent down to them and fed them’ (Hosea 11: 4);

● or the hungry people who are fed with the abundant distribution of five loaves and two fish (Matthew 14: 13-21; Mark 6: 30-44; Luke 9: 10-17; John 6: 1-14; see Mark 8: 1-9);

● or the Disciples who find the Risen Christ has provided for their needs with breakfast (John 21: 9-14).

Surplus food, wealth, providing for the future, building bigger and better barns … it is never an excuse to ‘relax, eat, drink, [and] be merry’ (Luke 12: 19).

This Gospel reading offers the abundance and generosity of God’s provision as a sign of God’s love, for us as individuals and for all around us.

The rich man is not faulted for being an innovative farmer who manages to grow an abundant crop.

The rich man is not faulted for storing up those crops.

The rich man is not condemned for tearing down his barns and building larger ones to store not only his grain but his goods too.

The rich man is not even condemned for being rich.

The man condemns himself, he makes himself look foolish, for thinking that all that matters in life is our own pleasure and personal satisfaction.

We are human because we are made to relate to other humans. There is no shared humanity without relationship. We are made in the image and likeness of God, but that image and likeness is only truly found in relationship … for God is already relational, God is already revealed as community, in God’s existence as Trinity.

This man thinks not of his needs, but of his own pleasures. He has a spiritual life … we are told he speaks to his Soul. But he speaks only to his own soul. His spiritual life extends only to his own spiritual needs, to his own Soul, it never reaches out to God who has blessed him so abundantly, the God who in the Psalm reminds us that he ‘fills the hungry soul with good’ (Psalm 107: 9).

His spiritual persona never reaches out to or acknowledges God who has blessed him so abundantly, or to the people around him who have needs and who could benefit from his charitable generosity or from his business acumen.

In failing to take account of the needs of others, he fails to realise his own true needs: for a true and loving relationship with God, and a true and loving relationship with others.

He has no concern for the needs of others, physical or spiritual. He is spiritually dead. No wonder Saint Paul says in the epistle reading that greed is idolatry (Colossians 3: 5).

But if he has stopped speaking to God, God has not stopped speaking to him. And God tells him that night in a dream that this man is spiritually dead.

God says to him in that dream that his life is being demanded of him (Luke 12: 20).

But did you notice how we never hear how he responds, how we never hear whether he dies?

The story ends just there.

The Gospel reading on the last Sunday in September [29 September 2019, the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity] is the story of the rich man who kept Lazarus at the gate, and then died (see Luke 16: 19-31). But unlike that rich man, we are never told what happened to the rich man in this Sunday’s Gospel reading.

Did he die of fright?

Did he die after drinking too much?

Did he wake up and carry on regardless?

Or, like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, did he wake up and realise his folly, and embrace the joys of the Incarnation?

I am challenged not to pass judgment on the Rich Man. Instead, Christ challenges me, in the first part of this reading (Luke 12: 13-15), to put myself in the place of this man.

If we are to take the earlier part of this Gospel reading to heart, perhaps we might reserve judgment on this foolish rich man.

Perhaps, instead of judging this young man with the benefit of hearing this story over and over again, perhaps in the light of the first part of this Gospel reading, we might reflect on this Gospel reading by asking ourselves two questions:

‘If money was no barrier, what would I buy?’

and:

‘Would that choice reflect the priorities Christ sets us of loving God and loving one another?’

‘I will pull down my barns and build larger ones’ (Luke 12: 18) … an empty barn on my grandmother's former farm near Cappoquin, Co Waterford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 12: 13-21:

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ 14 But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ 15 And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ 16 Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” 18 Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” 20 But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’

‘And I will say to my soul … relax, eat, drink, be merry’ (Luke 12: 19) … a summer lunch in Skerries, Co Dublin (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: Green

The Collect:

Lord of all power and might,
the author and giver of all good things:
Graft in our hearts the love of your name,
increase in us true religion,
nourish us with all goodness,
and of your great mercy keep us in the same;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Collect of the Word:

O Lord,
grant us wisdom to recognise the treasures
you have stored up for us in heaven,
that we may never despair
but always rejoice and be thankful for the riches of your grace;
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord God,
whose Son is the true vine and the source of life,
ever giving himself that the world may live:
May we so receive within ourselves
the power of his death and passion
that, in his saving cup,
we may share his glory and be made perfect in his love;
for he is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
now and for ever.

‘And I will say to my soul … relax, eat, drink, be merry’ (Luke 12: 19) … waiting for dinner in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Suggested Hymns:

Hosea 11: 1-11:

518, Bind us together, Lord
3, God is love: let heaven adore him
569, Hark, my soul, it is the Lord
211, Immortal love for ever full
7, My God, how wonderful thou art
231, My song is love unknown

Psalm 107: 1-9, 43:

683, All people that on earth do dwell
353, Give to our God immortal praise
30, Let us, with a gladsome mind
484, Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim
361, Now thank we all our God
45, Praise, O praise our God and King
372, Through all the changing scenes of life
374, When all thy mercies, O my God

Ecclesiastes 1: 2, 12-14; 2: 18-23:

563, Commit your ways to God

Psalm 49: 1-12:

10, All my hope on God is founded
319, Father, of heaven, whose love profound
533, God of grace and God of glory

Colossians 3: 1-11:

260, Christ is alive! Let Christians sing
501, Christ is the world’s true light
566, Fight the good fight with all thy might
496, For the healing of the nations
268, Hail thou once–despisèd Jesus
522, In Christ there is no east or west
272, Jesus lives! thy terrors now
427, Let all mortal flesh keep silence
392, Now is eternal life
287, The whole bright world rejoices now

Luke 12: 13-21:

10, All my hope on God is founded
647, Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
533, God of grace and God of glory
95, Jesu, priceless treasure
196, O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness

‘I will pull down my barns and build larger ones’ (Luke 12: 18) … an empty barn at harvest time by the banks of the River Slaney, between Bunclody and Enniscorthy, Co Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

The hymn suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000)

‘I will pull down my barns and build larger ones’ (Luke 12: 18) … a barn on Cross in Hand Lane, near Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)