Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 26 September 2021, Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

‘Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?’ (Mark 9: 50) … salt on café table in Cobh, Co Cork (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Patrick Comerford

Sunday next, 26 September 2021, is the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVII), with the liturgical provisions are for Proper 21.

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland are:

Continuous Readings: Esther 7: 1-6, 9-10, 9: 20-22; Psalm 124; James 5: 13-20; Mark 9: 38-50.

Paired readings: Numbers 11: 4-6,10-16, 24-29; Psalm 19: 7-14; James 5: 13-20; Mark 9: 38-50.

There is a link to the readings HERE.

‘… the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday …’ (Esther 9: 22) … the Scroll of Esther in a synagogue in Prague (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Introducing the readings:

Some years ago, when I was discussing the readings for next Sunday with a colleague, I jested that I was going to preach from a phrase in the Epistle reading that reminds us: ‘Elijah … prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth’ (James 5: 17).

After the mixed summer we have had in Ireland this year, it is fine to make childish jokes about passages like this in Scripture. Indeed, the first reading in the continuous readings, from the Book of Esther, despite its tragic background, is part of a book that creates entertaining and rowdy occasions in synagogues to this day.

But there is a more serious context to this reading, and both the first reading and the Gospel reading are serious warnings against the consequences of plotting and scheming that could destroy the innocence of children and the quality of life in wider society.

The Megillah or Scroll of Esther (bottom right) in an exhibition in a synagogue in Thessaloniki … this is the only book in the Bible not to mention God’s name (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Esther 7: 1-6, 9-10, 9: 20-22:

This reading is one that creates entertaining and rowdy occasions in synagogues to this day.

As the story of Esther is read at the festival of Purim, which usually falls in March [25 to 26 February 2021, 16 to 17 March 2022], a month before Passover, the synagogue is crowded with men, women, and children, the adults wearing their best Sabbath clothes, and many children, and some adults too, dressed up in colourful costumes, funny beards and masks.

Children in particular enjoy dressing up as the characters in the Book of Esther, including King Xerxes, the banished queen Vashti, Queen Esther, her cousin Mordecai and the evil, scheming Haman.

In some communities, they still burn an effigy of Haman. So for Jewish communities , Purim is like Hallowe’en, Carnival, Mardi Gras and Guy Fawkes Night … all rolled into one, and usually focussed on children.

Purim and Hanukkah are two Jewish festivals that are not prescribed in Mosaic law. Indeed, the Megillah or Scroll of Esther is the only book in the Bible not to mention God’s name. It tells the story of the villain Haman who plots the genocide of the Jews in Persia.

Whenever his name is mentioned during the reading, everyone in the synagogue boos and hisses and stamps their feet, and they make a racket with graggers or rattles and cymbals.

The purpose of all this fun is to blot out the name of Haman. Originally, when his name was read, the congregation would shout ‘Cursed be Haman,’ or ‘May the name of the wicked rot!’

Any noise will do, and it is a mitzvah that Jewish people should eat, drink and be merry at Purim. According to the Talmud, a person is required to drink until they cannot tell the difference between ‘Cursed be Haman’ and ‘Blessed be Mordecai’ … although opinions differ as to exactly how drunk that is.

In Sunday’s reading, we can tell the difference, for we have the end of the story: Haman the villain is hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai, and Mordecai is given Haman’s job.

This story of Xerxes and Esther, Mordecai and Haman, is not relevant for Jews alone today. It is a story that reminds us constantly, with or without reference to God, that there are always people who plan and plot evil on a grand scale, happy to wallow in the misery and deaths of millions, men, women and children.

The fate of Haman – and of the 70,000 Persians over the course of three days – may seem severe and unconscionable by today’s standards. But it is not their executions, but rather the plots they planned to execute that faithful Jews are asked to call to mind at Purim.

For those with young children, trying to protect them from stories of evil and genocide is fraught with difficulties, and trying to fill their lives with appropriate but fun-filled and joyous occasions is not possible to sustain.

But while Haman and Hitler planned and plotted on a grand scale, there are always people who plot and plan evil and the destruction of innocence on varying scales of intensity and application. And we would be naïve to ever underestimate the capacity of people to do evil, nor ever undervalue the importance of our contribution to protecting the vulnerable, the frightened and the victimised children in our society today.

When we realise that we have been saved from disasters or from our enemies, then it is not only a matter for celebrating among ourselves. When sorrow has been turned into gladness and mourning into a holiday, we should not only feast and celebrated among ourselves but also mark these as ‘days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor’ (Esther 9: 22).

‘Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him’ (Numbers 11: 24) … clouds over Dalkey Harbour, Co Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Numbers 11: 4-6, 10-16, 24-29:

The people of Israel have left Sinai, and are out in the desert. People on the fringe of the community are complaining to Moses about the diet: manna may be God-given, but it gets monotonous. They remember fondly the meat, fish and vegetables they enjoyed in Egypt (verse 6). They want meat to eat.

The rebellion spreads amongst the clans (verse 10). Moses gently chides God for making him a parent-figure, ‘as a nurse carries a sucking child’ (verse 12), to these burdensome people. He asks: ‘Where am I to get meat to give to all this people?’ (verse 13). He feels he cannot do this on his own, and that the burden is too heavy (verse 14). He would rather die than continue in this misery. God answers by telling him to delegate, and to ‘gather … seventy of the elders’ (verse 16).

Moses tells the people of his conversation with God, and that God will provide sufficient meat for all. He then gathers the seventy elders around the Tent of Meeting (verse 24), the place of worship at the edge of the camp. The number 70 indicates perfection and completion. God now intervenes in human affairs, and his presence is symmbolsied in the cloud (verse 25). When God’s spirit comes upon the seventy, they enter a trance-like state and they prophesy, but then they are silent.

In the face of this silence, two men, named as Eldad and Medad (verse 26), who were not invited to the Tent, prophesy. Joshua seeks to have them stopped, because they have not received authority, but Moses asks Joshua whether he thinks the activities of other prophets will diminish his charisma: ‘Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!’ (verse 29).

‘Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth’ (Psalm 124: 8) … sunset on the River Deel where it meets the Shannon Estuary north of Askeaton, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 124:

I sometimes wonder how the story in the Book of Esther was read by Jews during the horrors of the Holocaust, how they could possibly have sung the words of the Psalm for Sunday:

If it had not been the Lord who was on our side
– let Israel now say –
if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
when our enemies attacked us,
then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us … (Psalm 124: 1-3).

But the story of Esther is a reminder that even when God’s name is not mentioned or invoked, God can act through political decision-making to protect the rights of the vulnerable, the abused and the violated. For, as the Psalmist says, and as we – and all children – should be able to sing:

Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth (Psalm 124: 8).

Psalm 124 is a psalm of thanksgiving, using – as so often in the Psalms – a rapid succession of different images.

The people have been in danger of being swallowed up or swept away, as in a flood, a prey to the enemy’s teeth, captured in a hunter’s trap.

The images do not coalesce into one single metaphor. Rather, they combine to express a mood – in this case, the sense of sudden release from danger.

‘O Lord, my rock and redeemer’ (Psalm 19: 14) … a monastaery perched on a rock top in Meteora in central Greece (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 19: 7-14:

This psalm may be rememberedby many people because its closing verse (verse 14) was often used in the Anglican tradition by preachers as a preface to sermons:

Let the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O Lord, my rock and redeemer (Psalm 19: 14).

Psalm 19 can be read as a hymn of glory to God as the creator of nature and the giver of the law.

The second half of the psalm (verses 7-14) may have been added by a later writer, praising the revelation of God’s will in the Mosaic law, to balance the revelation of God in nature, described in the first half (verses 1-6), balancing God’s creation of the world-that-is with the world-that-ought-to-be.

Verses 7-9 present the wonders of the law, as an expression of God’s will for his people.

Six synonyms are used to describe the law, its characteristics and its benefits for humanity. It makes wise the simple (verse 7). God’s servant is reminded that should be accidentally break this law he may be forgiven (verse 12). He is assured of God’s protection from those who intentionally go against God’s ways.

‘The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective’ (James 5: 16) … candles lit in prayer in a church in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

James 5: 13-20:

On Sunday, we come to the end of a series of readings from the Letter of Saint James. This conclusion to the letter may have been a sermon originally. Here, the author discusses prayer extensively. Whether we suffer or are cheerful, we must pray.

When people are seriously ill, we should call on those authority in the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. The word πρεσβύτερος (presbyteros), translated as elder, is the Greek word that provides the words priest and presbyter in English.

Anointing with prayer connects physical health with spiritual health.

Sins should be mutually confessed, to attain integrity with God. We should pray for one another, for prayer is powerful and effective. The prayer of Elijah is an example of effective prayer.

We should prayer for one another, and help to rescue others from their sins.

‘And if your eye causes you to stumble’ (Mark 9: 47) … the London Eye (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Mark 9: 38-50:

In preparing the Gospel reading for next Sunday (Mark 9: 38-50), we should note that verses 44 and 46 are omitted in most translations. This is not an error in publication, but because these are identical to verse 48, and are not found in the best ancient authorities.

To put the story in its context or setting, Christ and the disciples are in Capernaum. But on the way there, as we heard in the previous Sunday’s reading (Mark 9: 30-37), the disciples were arguing with one another about who is the greatest. Christ has told them not to seek position or prestige.

One of the Twelve, John, complains that someone who is not part of their inner circle has been casting out demons in Christ’s name. But did the disciples welcome him? Did they praise him for bringing comfort to distressed people and for restoring them to a good quality of life?

Christ now rebukes the disciples for attempting to stop this exorcist who is curing in his name. Just as the Book of Esther makes no mention of God, yet the story can be introduce the ways in which God works, we are reminded here that God can work through those who are not followers of Christ.

On the other hand, Christ warns us against putting an obstacle or stumbling block in the way of ‘little ones.’ He reprimands the disciples for being smug and jealous and unwelcoming.

Instead of being smug among themselves, arguing about who among them was the greatest, the disciples should have been like this man, bringing comfort to those who were in trouble, looking after those who were thirsty both physically and spiritually.

I once worked as a journalist in The Irish Times. A former colleague there, who was ordained a priest in the Church of Ireland a few years before me, was visiting our house one evening. I asked him what the difference was between the two – being a journalist and being a priest.

And with a grin he told me: ‘Not much. I continue to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.’

Perhaps not in so many words, but in Sunday’s Gospel reading Christ tells the disciples that they should be afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted.

Over 3,000 children in Ireland are homeless today, living in emergency accommodation, according to the children’s charity Barnardos. In addition, there are thousands more children who are not in emergency accommodation but are also without a home. These are the hidden homeless – living with family or friends, often in overcrowded and inappropriate accommodation but not formally reported in homelessness statistics.

Almost 80 million people worldwide have been forced to flee their homes, the majority of whom are children. In fact, an average of one person is forcibly displaced every 2 seconds — but not all displacements are the same.

According to the most recent data from the UNHCR, there are 79.5 million forcibly displaced people around the world today. Of these:

● 26.3 million are refugees — and more than half of these are under the age of 18
● 4.2 million are asylum-seekers
● 45.7 million are internally displaced people (IDPs)

Despite government commitments, there are more than 7,000 people living in Direct Provision centres across Ireland. According to Doras, a Limerick-based, independent, NGO working to promote and protect human rights. In the Limerick region, there are about 300 people living in three Direct Provision centres in the Limerick region.

Children make up almost 30% of Direct Provision residents in Ireland. Yet, in a report published earlier this year (27 April 2021) , the Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, said the State is failing to put in place proper safeguards to keep children living in direct provision safe from harm or abuse.

The report from the ombudsman’s office said an investigation found a number of child protection shortcomings in direct provision. The investigation found ‘no evidence’ that all direct provision centres were complying with Children First, key child protection legislation.

In one centre, housing mostly Syrian asylum-seekers, the ombudsman found some staff members had not been Garda vetted or received child protection training, despite assurances to the contrary. The same centre failed to report a serious child protection case to State agencies, as required, the ombudsman’s report said.

Parents had also been told incorrectly that their children might be removed from them by the State if they were not properly supervised.

All children in these situations and these dilemmas are innocent. There is no such thing as a child being the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time. All children should feel safe, in all places, at all times.

But we need to move from Victorian Sunday School images of the children being brought to Jesus, and ask how he would hear the voices of children today and how he would respond to those who plot to do them harm.

Would Christ challenge us to hear the cries of children in the slums, in direct provision, in the sweat shops, in the brothels, to hear the cries of children behind the bedroom doors of respectability?

Would he ‘name and shame’ the Hamans of today who plot the end of a child’s childhood, taking away his innocence, her fun, their rights to love and life?

‘It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye’ (Mark 9: 47) … (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 9: 38-50 (NRSVA):

38 John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ 39 But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. 40 Whoever is not against us is for us. 41 For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

42 ‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

49 ‘For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.’

‘Pray for one another, so that you may be healed (James 5: 16) … candles lit in prayer in the Oratory in Gougane Barra, Co Cork (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: Green (Ordinary Time, Year B).

The Collect:

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
Teach us to offer ourselves to your service,
that here we may have your peace,
and in the world to come may see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect of the Word:

O God,
your Son has taught us
that those who give a cup of water in his name
will not lose their reward:
open our eyes to see those who are in need,
and teach us to set no store by riches
and earthly rewards,
so that, in surrendering ourselves
to serve you in your children,
we may labour for the treasure that endures;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

God our guide,
you feed us with bread from heaven
as you fed your people Israel.
May we who have been inwardly nourished
be ready to follow you
all the days of our pilgrimage on earth,
until we come to your kingdom in heaven.
This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

‘Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?’ (Mark 9: 50) … the Last Supper carved in the depths of the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Suggested Hymns:

Esther 7: 1-6, 9-10, 9: 20-22:

537, O God, our help in ages past
712, Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord
372, Through all the changing scenes of life

Psalm 124:

642, Amazing grace (how sweet the sound!)
553, Jesu, lover of my soul
537, O God, our help in ages past

Numbers 11: 4-6, 10-16, 24-29:

381, God has spoken – by his prophets
304, Loving Spirit, loving Spirit
386, Spirit of God, unseen as the wind

Psalm 19: 7-14:

606, As the deer pants for the water
631, God be in my head
696, God, we praise you! God, we bless you!
616, In my life, Lord, be glorified
384, Lord, thy word abideth
432, Love is his word, love is his way
638, O for a heart to praise my God

James 5: 13-20:

511, Father of mercy, God of consolation
614, Great Shepherd of your people, hear
635, Lord, be my guardian and my guide
619, Lord, teach us how to pray aright
513, O Christ, the Healer, we have come
625, Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire
369, Songs of praise the angels sang

Mark 9: 38-50:

643, Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
455, Go forth for God; go forth to the world in peace
507, Put peace into each other’s hands
527, Son of God, eternal Saviour
446, Strengthen for service, Lord, the hands

‘Strengthen for service, Lord, the hands’ (Hymn 446) … ‘Christ the Beggar’: a sculpture by Timothy Schmalz on the steps of Santo Spirito Hospital near the Vatican (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.

‘… they should make … days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor’ (Esther 9: 22) … the Megillah or Scroll of Esther in a synagogue in Prague (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 4 October 2020, Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

‘There was a landowner who planted a vineyard … leased it to tenants and … When the harvest time had come …’ (Matthew 21: 33-34) … grapes ripening on the vines at the Hedgehog Vintage Inn in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

Next Sunday, 4 October 2020, is the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVII).

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are in two groupings: the Continuous Readings and the Grouped Readings:

The Continuous Readings: Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, 12-20; Psalm 19; Philippians 3: 4b-14; Matthew 21: 33-46.

There is a link to the Continuous Readings HERE.

The Paired Readings: Isaiah 5: 1-7; Psalm 80: 8-16; Philippians 3: 4b-14; Matthew 21: 33-46.

There is a link to the Paired Readings HERE.

The Ten Commandments on two panels in Saint Carthage’s Cathedral, Lismore, Co Waterford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Introducing the Readings:

Sometimes, it seems, we think about the Ten Commandments as a ‘thou-shalt-not’ list, a summary of the things we must not do rather than a summary of the positive expressions of our relationships with God and with one another.

Moses tells the people when they receive the Ten Commandments, ‘Do not be afraid’ – a phrase we later come to associate with the Risen Lord – and Christ summarises all the commandments as being about loving God and loving our neighbour.

The psalm reminds us that ‘the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul’ and that ‘the fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever.’

Saint Paul reminds his readers that he too has been zealous for the law as he now shares in the suffering of Christ.

The Gospel reading is set once again in a vineyard. Do we seek our own goals, pursue our own ambitions, at any cost, without respect for God and others?

The Ten Commandments above the Ark in the Beth-El Synagogue in Bunclody, Co Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, 12-20:

The first reading is the account of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai. They have left their past behind them and this is the moment that marks the starting point of Israel as a self-defining community.

A new covenant is made between God and Israel but, unlike God’s agreements with Noah and Abraham, here both parties have a stake in it, and either can break it.

The freed people have arrived at Mount Sinai. They clean themselves physically and ritually, but it is Moses and Aaron who ascend the mountain. God speaks to all, to the whole community. He enters into the pact because ‘you shall be for me a ... holy nation.’

They are to have ‘no other gods before me.’ God demands loyalty to him alone. Those who use God’s name for a false or evil purpose will not be acquitted or held harmless.

Each week, time is to be reserved for praying to, and worshipping, God.

Older people are to be honoured – doing so will contribute to the longevity of the people.

Life, marriage and property are sacred. Testifying falsely against another (or even spreading innuendos) is prohibited. Even coveting the possessions of others is prohibited.

This scene of God’s presence among the people ends as it begins (Exodus 19: 16-19), with ‘thunder and lightning’ (verse 18), trumpet blasts and ‘the mountain smoking.’ But it ends too with Moses telling the people: ‘Do not be afraid …’ (verse 20), words that we later associate with the Risen Lord.

‘The heavens are telling the glory of God and the firmament proclaims his handiwork’ (Psalm 19: 1) … an autumn sunrise on the Slaney estuary at Ferrycarrig, Co Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Psalm 19:

Many of us are familiar with this Psalm because the concluding verse (14) has traditionally been used in the Church of Ireland to introduce sermons: ‘Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.’

This psalm is a hymn of glory to the universe as God’s work and to God’s precepts in word of God.

In Psalm 19, the heavens and the earth proclaim God’s glory and power (verses 1-6), the covenant is an expression of God’s will for Israel (verses 7-9), and we are reminded that the ‘fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever’ (verse 9). This Psalm also links God’s judgement with God’s forgiveness. Note too, the description of the psalmist as God’s ‘servant’ (verses 11, 13).

In the first half of the poem, the Psalmist speaks metaphorically of creation singing a song of praise to its Creator. The former Chief Rabbi, Lord (Jonathan) Sachs, describes this as ‘a silent song yet one that can be heard by those whose ears are attuned to wonder.’

‘Yet their sound’ or ‘Yet their music’ (verse 4) – literally ‘their line’ – may refer to the reverberating string of a musical instrument; but it may mean the line marking a boundary – a reference to the order and ‘fearful symmetry’ of the universe.

But God’s word not only gives life to the natural universe: it instructs the human universe, the world we make by our actions and reactions. The Psalmist pours out his praise to God’s creation of the world-that-is, and God’s revelation of the world-that-ought-to-be.

‘Circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel … a Hebrew born of Hebrews’ (Philippians 3: 5) … Elijah’s Chair in the Museum of Jewish Culture, Bratislava … used at the circumcision of a Jewish boy when he is eight days old (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Philippians 3: 4b-14:

Saint Paul has warned his readers about those who try to convince them that being a Christian requires accepting Jewish law, including circumcision. But true circumcision is of the heart and not of the ‘flesh,’ in other words paying more heed to the spirit rather than the letter of the law.

Saint Paul is as Jewish as one can be: he was born into the tribe of Benjamin, he was circumcised on the eighth day, ‘a Hebrew born of Hebrews,’ a Pharisee, and he once persecuted Christians with zeal and faultlessly kept the Law. But he is not afraid to lose everything for the sake of gaining everything the Risen Christ has to offer (verses 8-10).

He has left his past behind and looks forward to the goal and the heavenly prize that lies ahead (verses 13-14).

‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone’ (Matthew 21: 42) … a cross carved into a cornerstone in the main church in the Monastery of Vlatádon in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Matthew 21: 33-46:

The parable of the wicked tenants as it stands in Matthew, Mark, and Luke is an allegory that emphasises the murder of God’s Son by Israel’s leaders and the transfer of Israel’s privileges to the church. The synoptic parallels are Mark 12: 1-12 and Luke 20: 9-19.

However, this passage comes with a ‘health warning’ and needs to be treated with great care. It began as a prophetic critique by a Jew of fellow Jews, designed not to damn Israel but to provoke repentance. In the course of Christian history, this passage and others like it were abused to advocate anti-Semitism, and even by the Nazis to justify the Holocaust.

In addition, these readings raise the danger of preaching what is now called ‘Supersessionism,’ the theological view that the Church has replaced the Jews as God’s chosen people. Although this view has been common throughout the history of Christianity and remains a common assumption among many Christians, since the Holocaust it has been rejected by mainstream Christian theologians and denominations.

The members of the Sanhedrin who first heard this parable would recall Isaiah 5: 1-7, which is the alternative Old Testament reading. In that passage, God tells what will happen to his unfruitful ‘vineyard,’ ‘the house of Israel, and the people of Judah.’

In the parable, the landowner plants the vineyard, leases it out, and leaves. At harvest time, he sends successive sets of slaves ‘to collect his produce.’ All are mistreated. When he sends his son, he is killed. If a landowner died without an heir, the land passed to the first claimant, so by killing the son (presumably the only one), the tenants become landowners. Jesus’ hearers answer his question: the first tenants will suffer ‘a miserable death’ (verse 41) and other tenants will be found who will deliver.

Here, the landowner stands for God, the first tenants for Israel’s leaders, and the time the landowner is away for their period of stewardship of God’s chosen people. So the second tenants are replacements for Israel, probably those who follow Christ.

In verse 43, we are told that it is disastrous to oppose God and his patience will be exhausted. The leaders of Israel recognise his reference to Isaiah. If Christ were not so widely accepted as God’s ‘prophet’ by the crowds who they feared, they would have arrested him (verse 46).

‘There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watch-tower’ (Matthew 21: 33) … old wine barrels at a vineyard in Apokoronou in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Some observations:

Verse 33: This verse almost directly quotes the opening lines of Isaiah’s parable (see Isaiah 5: 1-7, the Song of the Unfruitful Vineyard).

Verse 35: ‘beat one, killed another, and stoned another.’ The parallel in Saint Mark’s Gospel lacks the stoning of a slave. Could this be a reference to the later stoning of Saint James in the year 62? (see Josephus, Antiquities, 20.9)

Verse 37: ‘his son.’ Saint Matthew omits the word ‘beloved’ used by Saint Mark (see Mark 6: 12). There is nothing in the text to identify the son as Christ. In Christ’s telling of the parable, this is true, but in Saint Matthew’s telling of the story, and among those he is writing for, is the son Christ?

Verse 38: ‘This is the heir.’ Notice how the tenants leap to a rash conclusion. They can only take what belongs to the son and heir if his father is already dead. But the landowner is alive and can punish them.

Verse 39: In Saint Mark’s Gospel (see 12: 8), the son is seized, then killed, then thrown out. But see how Saint Matthew changes the order – perhaps to fit the view that Jesus died outside the city (See also John 19: 17; Hebrews 13: 12-13).

Verse 41: Christ has already said (see 8: 11-12): ‘I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (See also Acts 13: 46; 18: 6; 28: 28.)

Verse 42: Here Christ is quoting from the Hallel psalms (Psalm 118: 22-23) to support his teaching. These verses are also quoted in Acts 4: 11 and I Peter 2: 7.

Verse 43: Christ’s conclusion is milder than the chief priests and elders have expected. The wicked tenants will not be destroyed, but they will lose the promise.

Verse 43: ‘the kingdom of God.’ In this context, probably the full end-time blessing.

Some questions

Are the slaves the prophets killed by Israel, culminating in Christ as the son?

Is Jesus ‘the son’ (verse 38, Aramaic: ben) and the ‘stone’ (verse 42, ‘eben)? This makes the connection between the parable and the saying that follows.

Who are the ‘other tenants’ (verse 41) and ‘a people’ (verse 43)?

Are these the Church?

Remember that for Saint Matthew the Church is made up of believing Jews and converted Gentiles – how does this connect with what Saint Paul is saying to the Philippians in the Epistle reading?

‘There was a landlord who planted a vineyard’ (Matthew 21: 33) … grapes ripening on the vine in the Hedgehog in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Reflecting on the Gospel reading

It is sometimes said that the parables are ways in which Christ makes truth more accessible, taking complicated theological ideas and rephrasing them in terms that anyone can understand. But sometimes he says he is telling his parables for the opposite reason, so that the crowds might not understand (see Matthew 13: 1-9, Mark 4: 1-9, and Luke 8: 9-10).

When confronted with these puzzling parables, we are sometimes tempted to resolve the ambiguities by interpreting them allegorically. We start out by deciding immediately the characters, the objects and the actions represent; we decide before we interpret or try to apply those parables which character or object represents God, which one is Christ, who represent the Disciples, and so on.

In other words, we try to harmonise difficult parables with our own already-formed views, rather than allowing those parables to challenge and reshape our views.

But Christ tries through his parables to get us to challenge what we already presume to be simply true.

In this parable, do we read it this morning in the way we have learned to read it? We already presume the landowner is God. God sends messengers to people (in particular, to Israel). The people reject the messengers. God sends his son. The people kill the son. So God is going to reject Israel and choose another people. But how well does the parable really fit that interpretation? How well does that interpretation fit the weight of the canon regarding the role of Israel?

As a point of comparison, it might be useful to look at the theology of Israel in Saint Luke’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, where we find a continuing and central role for Israel. There the invitation extended to Gentiles through Christ is to join Israel, God’s people.

At the apostolic council in Jerusalem (see Acts 15), the Christian leaders present include Pharisees (see verse 5) – not former Pharisees, but Pharisees. In Acts (23: 6), Saint Paul continues to identify himself as a Pharisee – not as a former Pharisee.

For Saint Luke, the vineyard of Israel has not been taken away to be given to others. Instead, Christ has opened it to new workers called to gather in God’s abundant harvest.

The setting of the parable is the estate of a wealthy landowner. This landowner does not live on the land, and does not work at planting or harvesting. The hard work is carried out by the hired labourers, who must turn over most of what they grow to the landowner. The landowner in the parallel parable in Luke 19 is a harsh, demanding man, reaping what he does not sow (see Luke 19: 20).

This absentee landlord does not send messengers out of any great love for the people or the land, but to collect the profits from their labour that sustain his life of ease in the cosmopolitan city where he lives.

In Saint Matthew’s version of the parable, the farmers have had enough. The next time the landowner sends one of his servants to collect the rent, the farmers send him packing. Forget how you have consistently read this parable for years. Those who listened to Christ telling this parable for the first time probably smiled at the demanding landlord getting a revolutionary response from the exploited tenants living on the edge and on the margins.

After all, Saint Paul tells us in the Pastoral Epistles: ‘for the scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and, “The labourer deserves to be paid”.’ (I Timothy 5: 18).

Then the landowner sends another agent to collect the rent. Again, the farmers get together to send him away empty-handed. More cause for rejoicing among the first listeners.

Then the son of the landowner arrives. He has a different standing than the messengers. He is the son, perhaps the ‘beloved son,’ probably the only son. If he is the heir and the landowner had died, then he has inherited the estate himself. If the son dies and he does not have an heir, the land goes to those who live on it, and the farmers will be free. The farmers have been resisting years of what they feel has been exploitation, and now they rise up and kill the son.

But the twist in the story is that the landowner is not dead. He does exactly what we expect him to do in the circumstances. He wreaks revenge, slaughters the farmers and replaces them with others. He does this so he can return to his life of ease in the city, living on the income provided by the labour of others.

But no-one among those who hear this ending to the story for the first time would hardly regard it as comforting or good news.

The chief priests and the scribes who are listening the audience, and who come from the same social class as the rich landowner and his hirelings, must realise that they have just heard a scathing condemnation from Christ of how they exploit their fellow Jews.

The peasants or tenant farmers who hear the story are reminded that escalating the spiral of violence only results in more violence being visited upon them and their children.

Everyone who listens is challenged to rethink their prejudices and their judgmental values.

In this, the parable is a challenge to us today.

In what ways are we like the absentee landlord, dependent on others’ exploitation to support our lives of relative ease?

How much do we consume without knowing or caring about where our clothes, our coffee, our computers, our gadgets and toys come from, or about cost to poor people and the environments in which they live?

In what ways are we like the agents, willing to do wrong to achieve what we think is right, to escalate interpersonal and international conflict in ways that will be visited upon generations to come?

And in what ways are we responding to Christ’s challenge to care for those the world disregards and to disregard the world’s standards of strength and honour?

As Sarah Dylan write, Christ challenges us to do the unthinkable, to turn the other cheek and let others think us weak, to care as much for God’s children who make our clothes and shoes, who mine the ore for our electronics and dispose of the toxic computer monitors we discard when want newer and better ones, as we do for our own children.

Christ challenges us to bless and honour the peacemakers rather than the mighty, to strive for justice and peace and the dignity of every human being above our own comfort.

‘There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it …’ (Matthew 21: 33) … tending a vineyard on the island of Torcello in the Venetian lagoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Matthew 21: 33-46 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 33 ‘Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watch-tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35 But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ 41 They said to him, ‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.’

42 Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes”?

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. 44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.’

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

‘When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce’ (Matthew 21: 34) … ripened grapes on a vine in Corfu (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: Green (Ordinary Time, Year A).

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
Teach us to offer ourselves to your service,
that here we may have your peace,
and in the world to come may see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Collect of the Word:

Almighty God,
your Son Jesus Christ was the stone rejected by the builders,
and, by your doing,
he has been made the chief cornerstone:
grant that, by the power of his Spirit, working in us,
we may become living stones built up into your dwelling place,
a temple holy and acceptable to you;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

God our guide,
you feed us with bread from heaven
as you fed your people Israel.
May we who have been inwardly nourished
be ready to follow you
all the days of our pilgrimage on earth,
until we come to your kingdom in heaven.
This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

‘The heavens are telling the glory of God and the firmament proclaims his handiwork’ (Psalm 19: 1) … the River Suir at Cahir, Co Tipperary (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Suggested Hymns:

Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, 12-20:

383, Lord, be thy word my rule
135, O come, O come, Emmanuel
637, O for a closer walk with God
638, O for a heart to praise my God
76, Sweet is the work, my God and King

Psalm 19:

606, As the deer pants for the water
153, Come, thou Redeemer of the earth
351, From all that dwell below the skies
631, God be in my head
696, God, we praise you! God, we bless you!
616, In my life, Lord, be glorified
97, Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
384, Lord, thy word abideth
432, Love is his word, love is his way
638, O for a heart to praise my God
34, O worship the King all–glorious above
35, The spacious firmament on high

Isaiah 5: 1-7:

51, Awake, my soul, and with the sun

Psalm 80: 8-16:

695, God of mercy, God of grace

Philippians 3: 4b-14:

560, Alone with none but thee, my God
218, And can it be that I should gain
561, Beneath the cross of Jesus
11, Can we by searching find our God
566, Fight the good fight with all thy might
418, Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face
99, Jesus, the name high over all
425, Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts
671, Jesus, thy blood and righteousness
588, Light of the minds that know him
81, Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided
248, We sing the praise of him who died
247, When I survey the wondrous cross
376, Ye holy angels bright

Matthew 21: 33-46:

215, Ah, holy Jesu, how hast thou offended
326, Blessèd city, heavenly Salem (Christ is made the sure foundation)
327, Christ is our corner stone
268, Hail thou once-despisèd Jesus
93, I danced in the morning when the world was begun
230, My Lord, what love is this
231, My song is love unknown
340, Sing and be glad, for this is God’s house!
493, Ye that know the Lord is gracious

‘Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do …’ (Matthew 21: 40) … vineyards, vines, groves and terraces in Tuscany (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 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 Ten Commandments on carved stones in a synagogue in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 23 September 2018, Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me’ (Mark 9: 37) … ‘Spectral Child’ on Thomas Street, Limerick, by Dermot McConaghy (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Sunday next, 23 September 2018, is the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVII) and the liturgical provisions are for Proper 20.

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland are:

Continuous Readings: Proverbs 31: 10-31; Psalm 1; James 3: 13 to 4: 3, 7-8a; Mark 9: 30-37.

Paired Readings: or Wisdom 1: 16 to 2: 1, 12-22, or Jeremiah 11: 18-20; Psalm 54; James 3: 13 to 4: 3, 7-8a; Mark 9: 30-37.

There is a link to the readings HERE

‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me’ (Mark 9: 37) … Children of the Kindertransport seen in Frank Meisler’s bronze sculpture at Liverpool Street Station in London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Introducing the readings:

Sophie’s Choice is a 1982 American movie based on a 1979 bestselling novel by William Styron. In this disturbing movie, Meryl Streep plays the title role of Sophie Zawistowski, a Polish immigrant who shares a boarding house in Brooklyn with Nathan Landau (Kevin Kline) and a young writer, Stingo (Peter MacNicol).

One evening, Stingo learns from Sophie that she was married, but her husband and her father were killed in a Nazi work camp, and that she was sent as a prisoner to Auschwitz with her children.

When Sophie arrived at Auschwitz, a camp doctor forced her to choose which one of her two children would be gassed and which would be sent to the labour camp. To avoid having both children killed, she chose to have her son Jan sent to the children’s camp, and her daughter Eva sent to her death. It was a heart-wrenching decision that left her in mourning and filled with a guilt that she can never overcome.

The name Sophie means wisdom, but the choice Sophie is faced with is not between good and evil, nor even between the lesser of two evils, but between evil and evil.

This morning’s readings introduce a number of similar themes, including comparisons between the Wisdom of God and a wise wife and mother, the choices we face between good and evil, and the innocence of children in the face of competition for power and status.

The loss of innocence and the destruction of wisdom … the railway tracks at Auschwitz-Birkenau (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Proverbs 31: 10-31:

We have come to the end of our short series of readings from the Book of Proverbs, which began earlier this month (9 September 2018). This selection ends on Sunday where the book ends with this poem, a detailed description of the roles and qualities of ‘a capable wife,’ a poem that serves as a summary of the Book of Proverbs.

Before this reading begins, we are told that the words in this closing section are ‘the words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him’ (Proverbs 31: 1), and he is named again in verse 4.

Who was Lemuel?

Some say he was a member of a tribe descended from Abraham’s son Ishmael, some say he was Hezekiah, some even say he was Solomon.

Who is the good wife?

A good wife is mentioned earlier in this book: ‘He who finds a good wife finds a good thing, and obtains favour from the Lord’ (Proverbs 18: 22). Several of the qualities of this good wife are also those of Sophia, Wisdom. So, is the good wife Wisdom herself? There is a word play in verse 27, where the phrase in the NRSV ‘she looks well to’ reads in Hebrew as sophiyyah, providing a word play on the Greek Σοφῐ́ᾱ Sophia.

In four places in the Book of Proverbs, including this reading, the good wife, or Wisdom, is said to be ‘more precious than jewels’ (verse 10). The wife’s values to her husband are reminiscent of those of wisdom to her followers.

Verses 13-27 in this reading speak of the woman’s extraordinary and ceaseless activity, and her good relationship with her family. She and her husband are wealthy, while he is a leading figure in the community. She has a good business approach to managing their household, and is a hard worker, makes fine clothes for her family, and is generous to the poor and the needy.

On the following Sunday [Trinity XVIII, 30 September 2018], the Old Testament reading introduces us to a very different type of ‘capable wife’ with a very different sort of wisdom in the person of Esther (Esther 7: 1-6. 9-10, 9: 20-22).

‘They are like trees planted by streams of water’ (Psalm 1: 3) … willows by the banks of the River Suir in Golden, Co Tipperary (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Psalm 1:

This psalm is an introduction to the Psalms. It contrasts the fate of the godly and the ungodly.

The psalm begins by comparing the ways of the wicked and the ways of the godly. The godly do not live as the ungodly do. Instead, day and night, they meditate o the law of God. They are like trees that yield good fruit, and they are promised that they will prosper in all that they do.

On the other hand, the wicked are like chaff, blown about by the wind, who are lost when it comes to values of the Kingdom of God.

‘Where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind’ (James 3: 16) … the gates of Auschwitz (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

James 3: 13 to 4: 3, 7-8a:

We have also come to the end of our short series of readings from the Book of Proverbs, which began earlier this month (2 September 2018). This selection ends on Sunday with Saint James seeking to correct the arrogance and intemperate speech he finds in the community, and warning about the evil dangers of violence and war.

He reminds his readers of the qualities of wisdom, and his understanding of wisdom is like that of the Wisdom writers in the Old Testament and of Saint Paul. In doing this, he contrasts earthly wisdom and heavenly wisdom.

If we show gentleness, then we are showing heavenly wisdom. But if show envy and selfish ambition, and if we are boastful, then we are not being true to Christian values and are showing earthly values.

Godly wisdom is pure, peace-loving, merciful and bears good fruits, and seeks to make peace.

He continues by contrasting those who make peace with those who stir up strife and conflict, and contrasting the proud with the humble.

‘The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands and they will kill him’ (Mark 9: 31) … the crucifixion window in the parish church in Ballybunion, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 9: 30-37:

This Sunday’s Gospel reading comes immediately after a story that is passed over in the Sunday lectionary readings, the story of a young boy who is healed of epilepsy or an unclean spirit (Mark 9: 14-29). The disciples are left puzzled, wondering why Jesus could cure him, but they could not.

Now, as they travel from Caesarea Philippi to Jerusalem, they re-enter Jewish territory as they pass through Galilee. He tells them that he is the ‘Son of Man,’ that he is going to be betrayed and killed, and that he will rise again.

They do not understand what he is saying – how could they, they cannot yet expect the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Both these future events, no matter how much closer they are getting to them as they move closer to Jerusalem, are beyond their understanding and they are afraid to ask Jesus, either because they do not want to show their ignorance or because they are afraid that they too may become innocent victims and suffer the consequences of what he is talking about.

By the time they arrive in Capernaum, the disciples have been arguing over who among them is the greatest. But Jesus chides them, telling them being a disciple is not about rank or power, position or prestige, but is about service.

To illustrate his point, Jesus takes a little child and places him or her among them. The Greek word used here, παιδίον (paidíon), is diminutive, and means a little child, either male or female, and could also be used for a young servant or even a child slave.

When someone welcomed a child slave or servant sent on an errand or with a message, they welcomed or received the master. Jesus reminds the disciples that whoever receives the servant receives the master, whoever receives a child receives Christ, whoever receives Christ receives God the Father, who sent him.

‘Then he took a little child and put it among them’ (Mark 9: 36) … a window in Saint Mary’s Church, Nenagh, Co Tipperary (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A reflection on the Gospel reading:

How can we relate the first part of the Gospel reading (verses 30-32), when Jesus talks about his own impending betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection, with the part of the Gospel reading (verses 33-37), when Jesus takes an innocent, small child and makes him or her an example of how we should behave with Kingdom values?

Sometimes, I fear, we make it too difficult to talk about the Crucifixion, and so we make it too difficult to talk about the Resurrection, unless we are talking about them in the context of Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter.

But sometimes too, I fear, we make it too easy to talk about children because we romanticise childhood in our comfortable settings, yet too difficult to talk about children because too often we have to turn away, mentally and emotionally, when we see the suffering of children in the world today.

I think all of us have been disturbed for some years now about the terrors that are rained down on children in the world today.

I say ‘children’ and not ‘innocent children,’ because there is no such being as a guilty child – there are only innocent children.

And the suffering and plight of children is all the more distressing when it is caused by the calculations of adults who dismiss this suffering as merely the collateral damage brought about by war.

For Christians, this distress must always be acute, must always demand our compassion, must always call for our response.

It cannot matter to us what label is placed on these children – whether the suffering Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip are Christians or Muslim; whether the children fleeing Syria as refugees are Christian or Muslim; whether the children targeted by Saudi fighter bombers are Shia or Sunni, going to a school or a wedding; whether the children separated forcibly from their parents on the border between Texas and Mexico speak Spanish or English; whether the homeless children who sleep in a cramped hotel room with their mothers tonight are travellers or settled children.

When the disciples argue in this Gospel reading about who is the greatest among them (verse 34), they are shamed into silence when they realise Jesus overhears what they say.

In response, he calls a child, puts the child among them, and tells them: ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all’ (verse 35). Then he takes a little child and puts it among them, then takes the child in his arms and says to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me’ (verse 37).

We are not told whether this child is a boy or girl, free or slave, Jew or Samaritan, Greek or Roman, a street urchin or the child of one the Disciples.

Indeed, in all likelihood, the Disciples never noticed, for at that time a child was of no economic value and a burden on families until the child could earn his or her own way, or until the child had the potential of being the equivalent of a pension scheme for parents.

But in Saint Matthew’s version of this story (Matthew 18: 1-14), Christ tells us: ‘Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven … it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost’ (verses 10-14).

The Kingdom of Heaven is like little things. Throughout the Gospels, Christ reminds us that the Kingdom of Heaven is like:

● Sowing a seed;

● Giving a nest to the birds of the air;

● Mixing yeast;

● Turning small amounts of flour into generous portions of bread;

● Finding hidden treasure;

● Rushing out in joy;

● Selling all that I have because something I have found is worth more – much, much more, again and again;

● Searching for pearls;

● Finding just one pearl;

● Casting a net into the sea;

● Catching an abundance of fish;

● Drawing that abundance of fish ashore, realising there is too much there for my personal needs, and sharing it.

In this Gospel reading, we are told that Kingdom is like a little child.

Quite often, we romanticise this little child, thinking of a well-dressed, well-fed, well-loved child from our own family or own parish.

But for one moment imagine a playing child not knowing he is about to die on a beach in Gaza, a child falsely feeling secure on a school bus in Yemen, a frightened child in a Syrian mother’s arms cramped into a tiny boat in the Mediterranean, a wailing, distressed child on the Mexican border who has no idea where her parents are, a child in an hotel room tonight whose mother does not know where they are going to sleep tomorrow night.

These are last in the world’s priorities, yet Christ says ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last … Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me’ (Mark 9: 35, 37).

‘… and three days after being killed he will rise again’ (Mark 9: 31) … the resurrection window in Saint Michael’s Church, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 9: 30-37:

30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.’ 32 But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ 36 Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37 ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’

‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me’ (Mark 9: 37) … a window in the chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: Green

The Collect:

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
Teach us to offer ourselves to your service,
that here we may have your peace,
and in the world to come may see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

God our guide,
you feed us with bread from heaven
as you fed your people Israel.
May we who have been inwardly nourished
be ready to follow you
all the days of our pilgrimage on earth,
until we come to your kingdom in heaven.
This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

‘For the beauty of the earth’ (Hymn 350) … by the river bank in Adare, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Suggested Hymns:

The hymns suggested for next Sunday in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling, include:

Proverbs 31: 10-31:

350, For the beauty of the earth
543, Lord of the home, your only Son
636, May the grace of Christ our Saviour
544, O perfect love, all human thought transcending

Psalm 1:

649, Happy are they, they that love God
56, Lord, as I wake I turn to you
383, Lord, be thy word my rule

Wisdom 1: 16 to 2: 1, 12-22:

10, All my hope on God is founded
700, Holy God, we praise thy name

Jeremiah 11: 18-20:

118, Behold, the mountain of the Lord
273, Led like a lamb to the slaughter
140, The Lord will come and not be slow

Psalm 54:

218, And can it be that I should gain
638, O for a heart to praise my God
620, O Lord, hear my prayer

James 3: 13 to 4: 3, 7-8a:

10, All my hope on God is founded
297, Come, thou Holy Spirit, come
563, Commit your ways to God
311, Fruitful trees, the Spirit’s sowing
533, God of grace and God of glory
551, How can we sing with joy to God
553, Jesu, lover of my soul
99, Jesus, the name high over all
635, Lord, be my guardian and my guide
619, Lord, teach us how to pray aright
593, O Jesus, I have promised
507, Put peace into each other’s hands
8, The Lord is King! Lift up your voice

Mark 9: 30-37:

11, Can we by searching find out God
219, From heav’n you came, helpless babe
651, Jesus, friend of little children
228, Meekness and majesty
231, My song is love unknown
439, Once, only once, and once for all
627, What a friend we have in Jesus
145, You servants of the Lord

‘Jesus, friend of little children’ (Hymn 651) … a stained glass window in Saint John’s Church, Sandymount, 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

‘They are like trees planted by streams of water’ (Psalm 1: 3) … willows by the banks of the River Cam in Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)