Morning Prayer Wednesday, 4 November 2020
Good morning, good people,
on this last day before we enter this period of four weeks of ‘lockdown’.
We need to be assured of God’s abiding love for us to give us perseverance
and his grace to know how we can share that love in these strange times.
Let us consider his holy word and pray for guidance to take the opportunities of this day and beyond.
How abundant is your goodness, O Lord.
Blessed are all who fear the Lord
and walk in his ways.
You shall eat the fruit of the toil of your hands;
it shall go well with you, and you shall be happy.
Your wife in your house shall be like a fruitful vine;
your children round your table, like fresh olive branches.
Thus shall the one who fears the Lord be blessed.
The Lord from out of Zion bless you,
that you may see Jerusalem in prosperity
all the days of your life.
May you see your children’s children
and may there be peace upon Israel.
Psalm 128
O Christ, our true vine, may we, your branches, be ever faithful in your service
and share your love and peace with all your children,
in the power of the Spirit and to the glory of the Father.
Amen
Then the Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ‘Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.’
He answered them, ‘And why do you break the commandment of God for your tradition? For God said, “Honour your father and your mother,” and, “Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.” But you say that whoever tells father or mother, “Whatever support you have had from me is given to God”, then that person need not honour the father. So for the sake of tradition, you make void the word of God. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said:
“This people honours me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.”’
Matthew 15: 1–9
How abundant is your goodness, O Lord says the psalmist,
but it is only so for those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
The message from the Gospel is that we ought to look deeply into our motives,
asking, before we act or before we decide not to act:
‘Is this still what God would wish for me/us?’
On this last day before we go into another period of lockdown
let us carry those two messages with us and not focus on the disadvantages or restrictions,
but look for the ways in which we are blessed with gifts from God.
We are shut off from others, but we have the advantages, with phones and PCs,
of being in touch and sharing word, sights and sounds with one another.
The restrictions on movement and associating with others
mean we have to find different ways of maintaining our lives,
such as food deliveries, timed collections from shops for food and essentials,
more Zoom meetings and more WhatsApp links.
It means a bit of organising but we have done it before.
Those decisions and others in our lives are also gifts from God
and we need to make our lives tally with our worship and belief:
Is this what God would want me/us to do?’
Let us pray for the church, our own congregations of Christ the Cornerstone,
but also remembering other congregations particularly in smaller villages
that do not have their own online network
and are concerned about their future when this emergency is over.
We are going to have to adapt to new ways of being church,
particularly that element of our life which expresses the love of God to our communities.
We seem to have worship organised,
but we are still finding it problematic to continue our service to others.
Tradition may not help us; the Pharisees thought that they were on to a good thing
having all the advantages of prestige
but our Lord told them otherwise on numerous occasions.
Let us pray for God’s guidance to find new paths
as we continue to operate in the next few months.
God, whom the glorious company of the redeemed adore,
assembled from all times and places of your dominion:
we praise you for the saints and for the lamps their holiness has lit;
and we pray that we may also be numbered at last
with those who have done your will and declared your righteousness,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Let us pray for the world in this time of pandemic,
when there is no sure cure and no clear means of avoiding this virus
until the scientists can complete their work devising therapies
and a vaccine which can be offered to everyone.
But remember, this was the life of all humanity until about 150 years ago
and life was more precarious until the introduction of antibiotics 75 years ago.
Let us give thanks for all involved in the treatment of the sick.
Much of Europe is now in some form of lockdown
and this means of limiting the level of infection is being tried in many other countries.
The people of the USA have voted for a new President and Congress.
The result will affect not only the citizens of the USA,
but have implications for international relations and the world economy.
At this time we appear to be facing uncertainties in many facets of our lives.
Let us pray for those who have the responsibility of leadership and influence
in government, business and international relations.
Let us pray also for those who have lost their jobs
or had their way of life much altered by this virus outbreak.
Gracious God, who in your Son Jesus Christ have made the human race your inseparable dwelling place; give grace to us your servants ever to rejoice in the true inheritance of your adopted children and show forth your love to the communities in which you have placed us. We pray for peace and justice for all people that your love may be clearly seen and your kingdom on this earth be established to your praise and glory.
Amen
Beloved God help us to reflect the image of the one we profess to follow in thought, word and deed and in discovering our true selves draw others into that light.
Amen
Don Head
