Morning Prayer Wednesday, 28 October 2020

Good morning friends, we have the gift if this new day.
Before it is too far gone let us spend some time with readings and some prayer.

Faithful Lord, whose steadfast love never ceases and whose mercies never come to an end,
grant us grace to trust you and to receive your gift of love, new every morning,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Let your faithful love come to me, O Lord.
even your salvation according to your promise.
Then shall I answer those who taunt me,
for my trust is in your word.
O take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
for my hope is in your judgements.
So shall I always keep your law,
I shall keep it for ever and ever.
I will walk at liberty,
because I study your commandments.
I tell of your testimonies, even before kings,
and will not be ashamed.
My delight shall be in your commandments,
which I have greatly loved.
My hands will I lift up to your commandments, which I love,
and I will meditate on your statutes.

Psalm 119: 41–48

My delight shall be in your commandments.
God of loving mercy, in this place of pilgrimage,
grant that we may find your promises
fulfilled in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

The rich young man

Then someone came to him and said, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ He said to him, ‘Which ones?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honour your father and your mother; also You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these, what do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Matthew 19: 16–22

Don’t be hard on the young man.
He has done better than most of us to be able to say ‘I have kept all these.’
If we are honest, we fail regularly to meet God’s standards,
but we need not wallow in failure, for we have forgiveness if we repent,
pick ourselves up and get on with showing the love of God to others as we go through life.
That is not always easy, but, surely, it is by far the best option.
It may not be sound practice for all of us to liquidate our wealth,
but we should give thanks to God by giving as generously as we are able,
with money and volunteering, to the work of relieving poverty and suffering.
We have to ask regularly what God is asking of us today:
Is it a new direction or a continuation of the path we are already on?

Let us pray for the church, that it may be guided in the ministry of sharing the good news
and showing the love of God to the whole world.
It seems to me that, both locally and nationally,
the church has allowed the regulations for limiting the spread of Cornavirus
to make a retreat into its shell, away from the world
and that we are not sharing the good news as we ought.
It was great to have a small choir singing in church last Sunday,
but we need to be part of the life of the wider community as well.
I am encouraged that Cornerstone is one of the first churches locally to participate in ‘Gentlespaces’,
a scheme where people who are bereaved by the death of loved ones
can have an opportunity to share their feelings with others who have the same experience.
Pray that we may be able to help people who have bid goodbye to loved ones
without the expected gathering of many family and friends
to show that they value the links with those whose loss is the greatest at such times.
Let us pray that we may be able to find more opportunities
to reach the general public to share the love of God
and not stay inside our ‘bubble’’ so much.

Faithful Lord, whose steadfast love never ceases and whose mercies never come to an end,
grant us grace to trust you and to receive your gift of love, new every morning,
that we may overflow with your gifts and share them with the wider community in which you have placed us,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Let us pray for our troubled world, that its people may find peace, justice and stability.
Let us give thanks that we have a good measure of each of these gifts
in this place and pray for all who do not have them.

Archbishop Christphe Munzihirwa of Bukuvu in the Democratic Republic of Congo was killed on 29 October 1996. He wrote this about the conflict in his country (then called Zaire) but the words also fit our circumstances:

One cannot wait for conditions to be easy in order to act.
And so, people of goodwill must never be disheartened
when faced with the sudden unleashing of violence.
In the midst of it all, the seed sown in our heart slowly germinates.
When God becomes a child,
he knows there is no better way to express himself than in the weakness of a child.
That is love telling us that it comes unarmed.

(I want to add to after the word ‘violence’, ‘or other obstacles’ and these words at the end of the last sentence ‘but powerful.’)

Lord we remember all those who have given and are giving, their lives because of their commitment to your truth.

Almighty God, from whom all thoughts of peace proceed:
kindle, we pray, in the hearts of all, the true love of peace
and guide with your pure and peaceable wisdom
those who take counsel for the nations of the earth
that in tranquillity your kingdom may go forward,
till the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Lord of all power, I give you my will,
In joyful obedience your task to fulfil;
Your bondage is freedom, your service is song,
And held in your service my weakness is strong.

Grasp the opportunities of this day with confidence good friends.
May you feel joy in front of difficulty and a sense of fulfilment when we meet again later this evening.

Don Head