27 June 2021
10:00 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
An overcast sky did not dampen our enthusiasm this morning as we were joined again by Fr Luke, the Archdeacon. In the lulls of the service, we could hear the joyous sounds of the Sunday School who were obviously having a great deal of fun in the Parish Rooms.
Joanna was able to get to the organ pre and post the service to play for us. A priest's eye view of the congregation in the time of Covid! We were all very safely socially distanced and masked, waiting for the service to begin.
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians
You excel in everything—
in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness,
and in our love for you —
so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.
I do not say this as a command,
but I am testing the genuineness of your love
against the earnestness of others.
For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor,
so that by his poverty you might become rich.
And in this matter I am giving my advice:
it is appropriate for you who began last year
not only to do something but even to desire to do something—
now finish doing it,
so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it
according to your means.
For if the eagerness is there,
the gift is acceptable according to what one has—
not according to what one does not have.
I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you,
but it is a question of a fair balance between
your present abundance and their need,
so that their abundance may be for your need,
in order that there may be a fair balance.
As it is written,
"The one who had much did not have too much,
and the one who had little did not have too little."
Mark 5:21-43
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side,
a great crowd gathered around him;
and he was by the sea.
Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came
and, when he saw him, fell at his feet
and begged him repeatedly,
"My little daughter is at the point of death.
Come and lay your hands on her,
so that she may be made well, and live."
So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.
Now there was a woman
who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years.
She had endured much under many physicians,
and had spent all that she had;
and she was no better, but rather grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus,
and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,
for she said,
"If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well."
Immediately her haemorrhage stopped;
and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him,
Jesus turned about in the crowd and said,
"Who touched my clothes?"
And his disciples said to him,
"You see the crowd pressing in on you;
how can you say, "Who touched me?' "
He looked all around to see who had done it.
But the woman, knowing what had happened to her,
came in fear and trembling, fell down before him,
and told him the whole truth.
He said to her,
"Daughter, your faith has made you well;
go in peace, and be healed of your disease."
While he was still speaking,
some people came from the leader's house to say,
"Your daughter is dead.
Why trouble the teacher any further?"
But overhearing what they said,
Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue,
"Do not fear, only believe."
He allowed no one to follow him
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue,
he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.
When he had entered, he said to them,
"Why do you make a commotion and weep?
The child is not dead but sleeping."
And they laughed at him.
Then he put them all outside,
and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him,
and went in where the child was.
He took her by the hand and said to her,
"Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl, get up!"
And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about
(she was twelve years of age).
At this they were overcome with amazement.
He strictly ordered them that no one should know this,
and told them to give her something to eat.
Collect
O God, the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:
increase and multiply upon us your mercy;
that with you as our ruler and guide
we may pass through things temporal
that we lose not our hold on things eternal;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Sermon (a precis)
So much has changed in the las 15 months. We are now awkward when meeting people. A hand is held and withdrawn. Is it safe? How do we greet one another? 15 months ago nothing was more normal that a handshake. We can now meet our freinds and families, but still not able to give each other a hug. This pandemic has made us shy about expressing love. Human contact may mean the giving or receiving of disease!
As we emerge from this, our recent habits should not damage us as we move forwards. Our gospel reading todays involves touching, the woman touches Jesus's robe, Jesus touches Jairus's daughter's hand. The touch of Jesus gives healing and life.
What can we learn from this as we re-emerge? The bleeding woman was "unclean" and would have been "untouchable", ostracised, and even divorced if she were married. Anyone who touched her would also have beeen unclean. The reasoning behind this is due to God's laws as outlined in Leviticus, given by God to the Isrealites. If they followed God's rules, He would care for them. Jairus wouldl have known the rules, but they were not sifficient for the life of his daughter. The way we touch things cannot save us, we can only be saved if we are touched by God. Through Jesus's poverty, we may become rich. God with us. Jesus became man as we say in the creed. God literally walks among us. He shared our humanity with us so we could share in him.
The woman was healed by her faith and that same faith als us. We cannot touch Jesus's garment, but we do receive the bread, his body, and receive him in the Eucharist. In this, nothing seperates us from Jesus's touch. We can become instruments of God's healing.
Fr Luke
20 June 2021
This morning, on a very rainy Sunday morning we met at 10 am for Mattins. Unfortunately Joanna was unwell, so we had a said service. We wish her better soon. Father Roger took the service and preached, you can read his excellent sermon at the end of this post. We heard in the notices some details of the St Mary's Market which will be held on the 10th of July. We have been unable to hold the Fete again this year due to the covid regulations, so we are having a Market selling home made produce, plants, books and sundries on July the 10th. More details are in the Parish Magazine and will appear here soon!!
We left the church having enjoyed the change of a said service, but looking forward to music again next week!. Father Luke, the Archdeacon will take the 10 am service next week which will be a Eucharist, do come along and meet him!
Meanwhile at Sunday School the young people were making boats and gingerbread figures of Jesus and thinking about Jesus calming the storm.
8am Said Communion
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
A reading from he second letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
As we work together with Christ,
we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.
For he says,
"At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you."
See, now is the acceptable time;
see, now is the day of salvation!
We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way,
so that no fault may be found with our ministry,
but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way:
through great endurance, in afflictions,
hardships, calamities,
beatings, imprisonments, riots,
labours, sleepless nights, hunger;
by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness,
holiness of spirit, genuine love,
truthful speech, and the power of God;
with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;
in honour and dishonour,
in ill repute and good repute.
We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;
as unknown, and yet are well known;
as dying, and see—we are alive;
as punished, and yet not killed;
as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;
as poor, yet making many rich;
as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians;
our heart is wide open to you.
There is no restriction in our affections,
but only in yours.
In return—I speak as to children—open wide your hearts also.
Mark 4:35-41
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
When evening had come, he said to his disciples,
"Let us go across to the other side."
And leaving the crowd behind,
they took him with them in the boat, just as he was.
Other boats were with him.
A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat,
so that the boat was already being swamped.
But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion;
and they woke him up and said to him,
"Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"
He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea,
"Peace! Be still!"
Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.
He said to them, "Why are you afraid?
Have you still no faith?"
And they were filled with great awe
and said to one another,
"Who then is this,
that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
Collect
Almighty God,
you have broken the tyranny of sin
and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts
whereby we call you Father:
give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service,
that we and all creation may be brought
to the glorious liberty of the children of God;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now nad forever.
Amen.
10 am Sung Mattins
Deuteronomy 11:1-15
1 Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.
2 And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,
3 And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;
4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day;
5 And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;
6 And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:
7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did.
8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;
9 And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:
11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:
12 A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.
Mark 5:21-43
21 And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea.
22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,
23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.
25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
35 While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?
36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.
37 And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.
38 And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.
39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.
40 And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.
42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.
43 And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.
Address
When we have two substantial passages of Scripture read, it is hard not to try to speak about them. For Matins, once a month, we are on a different scheme of readings from the other weeks and using a four-hundred-year-old translation.
Our first reading has us with the ancient Jews, who have escaped from Egypt, and got their Ten Commandments. They are promised that if they stay on the straight and narrow, keep the Commandments, they will come to their Promised Land, where the climate will be better for their crops than it was in Egypt. A land ‘flowing with milk and honey’ was a happy vision. Some ancient garden designers from other Eastern cultures fancied four streams - rills - of wine, water, milk and honey. If you behave you will prosper, seems to be God’s message for the Jews. But in due course they would come to question that.
When we have Psalm 37 at this service, we say or sing, ‘I have been young, and now am old : and yet saw I never the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread.’ We never see the good, or their families, in trouble. But it surely doesn’t work like that – the good and their children can meet undeserved suffering. Many who are persecuted, or who are refugees, will know about that.
One of the classic texts is The Book of Job. Job behaves well, yet he meets disaster after disaster, and the tale and the discussion go on for 42 chapters. ‘You must have been naughty’, say his so-called comforters. God is punishing you. ‘O no, I haven’t been naughty’, says Job. The argument goes on. In the end, Job decides that he should stick with God faithfully, although he is unaware of misbehaving, and still can’t explain his undeserved suffering.
Jesus, of course, is the spectacular example, of the good being badly treated, although he was following a good cause and trod a path to glory.
We tell our children not just to behave, but to keep out of trouble. Keep out of trouble, primarily, I think, because, if they see something wrong happening, they most likely do not have the maturity to tackle the situation.
Jesus did not keep his head down, and he encouraged his followers to hunger and thirst after righteousness, to want and work for right to prevail. With the assurance that those hopes will be met in the final scenario. And those who long for things to be right will find themselves in tune with the Almighty.
The poet A E Housman was an atheist, and thought Jesus was badly mistaken when he didn’t keep out of trouble: Jesus would not ‘leave ill alone’. He wrote the poem The Carpenter’s Son, very much referring to the Crucifixion.
“Here the hangman stops his cart:
Now the best of friends must part.
Fare you well, for ill fare I:
Live, lads, and I will die.
“Oh, at home had I but stayed
‘Prenticed to my father’s trade,
Had I stuck to plane and adze,
I had not been lost, my lads.
“Then I might have built perhaps
Gallows-trees for other chaps,
Never dangled on my own,
Had I but left ill alone.
“Now, you see, they hang me high,
And the people passing by
Stop to shake their fists and curse;
So ‘tis come from ill to worse.
“Here hang I, and right and left
Two poor fellows hang for theft:
All the same’s the luck we prove,
Though the midmost hangs for love.
“Comrades all, that stand and gaze,
Walk henceforth in other ways;
See my neck and save your own:
Comrades all, leave ill alone.
“Make some day a decent end,
Shrewder fellows than your friend.
Fare you well, for ill fare I:
Live lads, and I will die.”
Thank heaven that Christ, and our medical workers, and police and firefighters, and peace-keeping forces, and environmentalists, and aid workers, haven’t left ill alone, but bravely and usefully addressed it.
In our second reading St Paul is having tricky time on a sea journey. Like Christ, he upset some of the Jews and got arrested by the civil authorities. As with Christ, the civil authorities didn’t find him guilty of anything. When he was about to be flogged, he mentioned that he was an unconvicted Roman citizen, and they couldn’t lawfully treat him like that. As he had played that card, he had to take the hazardous voyage to Rome to have things resolved.
God moves in mysterious ways. When Paul arrived, he was put under house arrest for two years, in a rented house. So … he was able to continue to minister fairly freely at the very heart of the Roman Empire, following his earlier extensive missionary work. There are 27 books in the New Testament. Of them, Paul very certainly wrote seven, and has been linked, often precariously, with another seven. He was probably martyred in Rome in Nero’s persecution in 64AD.
Looking to Christ, Paul knew that goodness and Godliness does not necessarily bring an easy life. Trying to do the right thing with God and for God, and accepting the cost of it - not just keeping your head down - will emerge as the best thing in the long run. Or final Kingdom, as we call it.
Fr Roger
13 June 2021
It was a beautiful early summer morning this Sunday when we met for our Parish eucharist at 10 am. The Church Yard Working Party have done a great job of tidying up the churchyard and it was looking particularly lovely in the sunshine. We are on our journey through Trinity now, and the Gospel told us of one of Jesus Parables, the story of the mustard seeds. In his sermon Father Roger discussed the use of Parables in the Gospels and how they make us work hard to deeper understanding of the Good News. You can read his words below. Our Covid Choir sang hymns and as an anthem 'Fairest Lord Jesus' a traditional hymn, set to a Silesian folk tune.
We left church after the service to enjoy the beautiful weather, refreshed and spiritually renewed.
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| the Covid Choir |
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| Socially distanced congregation |
2 Corinthians 5:6-20, 14-17
.A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians
Brothers and sisters,
we are always confident;
even though we know that while we are at home in the body
we are away from the Lord—
for we walk by faith, not by sight.
Yes, we do have confidence,
and we would rather be away from the body
and at home with the Lord.
So whether we are at home or away,
we make it our aim to please him.
For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
so that each may receive recompense
for what has been done in the body,
whether good or evil.
The love of Christ urges us on,
because we are convinced that one has died for all;
therefore all have died.
And he died for all,
so that those who live might live no longer for themselves,
but for him who died and was raised for them.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one
from a human point of view;
even though we once knew Christ
from a human point of view,
we know him no longer in that way.
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation:
everything old has passed away;
see, everything has become new!
Mark 4:26-34
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
Such a large crowd gathered around Jesus
that he got into a boat and began to teach them using many parables.
Jesus said,
"The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground,
and would sleep and rise night and day,
and the seed would sprout and grow,
he does not know how.
The earth produces of itself,
first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.
But when the grain is ripe,
at once he goes in with his sickle,
because the harvest has come."
Jesus also said,
"With what can we compare the kingdom of God,
or what parable will we use for it?
It is like a mustard seed,
which, when sown upon the ground,
is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 3
yet when it is sown it grows up
and becomes the greatest of all shrubs,
and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."
With many such parables he spoke the word to them,
as they were able to hear it;
he did not speak to them except in parables,
but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
Collect
Lord, you have taught us
that all our doings without love are nothing worth:
send your Holy Spirit
and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love,
the true bond of peace and of all virtues,
without which whoever lives is counted dead before you.
Grant this for your only Son Jesus Chrsit's sake,
who is alive and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Address
A congenial Gospel reading – plants, one of my passions. And ‘parables’, - the word links to Maths, parabolas, another of my favourites. y = ax2 + b, that sort of thing. But we must spot the main issue here. These stories might be parables about plants, but they are Jesus’ “parables of the Kingdom”. It is the Kingdom of God that we must have an eye to!
Jesus speaks about the Kingdom using many parables. The thing about a parabola in maths is that it is a curve which heads for a certain line, but never gets there. As it approaches, it veers off and turns back away again. So - a parable points to something, but doesn’t get there and spell it out – we have to think out where Jesus is pointing.
The Kingdom is obviously about the world, and people, being in line with what God wants. We look at the world, and look at ourselves, and look at the Church, and think, ‘O dear!’ Things don’t seem ideal, maybe rather depressing. But these parables today are actually meant to encourage us.
One of the crops I like to grow, in a small way, is early potatoes. As long as the soil is in reasonable shape, you plant the seed tubers, and – apart from perhaps keeping the frost off the shoots, if needed – you don’t do a lot, and get on with something else. It seems that nothing special is happening. But, but, the new potatoes develop, and when they are ready, we’re very interested then, and actively enjoy the crop, as I’ve been for the last week or so.
Our first parable is along those lines. The man sows seed; he doesn’t seem to do anything very special, but, in due course, - great! A valuable crop has been arriving. When it’s come, the man is suddenly active and excited, enjoying the harvest.
In the second of today’s parables, the tiny seed gradually becomes an impressive plant. How did that happen? We’re not sure. We may have planted a seed, but probably haven’t done anything very special towards the big successful outcome.
So, in each case, a low-key, apparently insignificant action, followed by very little action, remarkably delivers the goods.
Jesus, it seems, is speaking of himself, and his friends and the Kingdom of God which he announces. On the face of it, Jesus is an untrained disloyal Jew going round with a group who are very far from being the leaders or scholars of their society. Jesus may see himself and his few followers as looking like a very unpromising new little group to have the momentous job of announcing the Kingdom - the great new stage of all of humanity’s life with God.
But Jesus was very likely familiar with a passage in the prophet Ezekiel, a picture about God making a very big tree grow from a very unlikely little cutting, - so that birds will come to nest in it. That picture is about God restoring the nation’s life - beginning in a very small unpromising way.
The passage from Ezekiel goes like this:
‘“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the forest will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. ‘“I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.”’
Ezekiel 17:22-24
So Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed might be Jesus teaching that what he and his friends, - at first sight few and insignificant, - what they bring, is nothing less than the Kingdom, the great new stage of life with God. Jesus may well have known that when Ezekiel spoke about the unlikely little cedar cutting growing huge, he had hoped God would bring a great new stage of things. Ezekiel had wanted to inspire hope and confidence in God around the time the Jews were exiled in Babylon nearly 600 years before Jesus. Assurance that God can work through small beginnings.
We may well get exasperated with the Church. The whole Church has long been very divided. I find the deep divisions in the Church of England, which have now become institutionalised, and, seemingly, made permanent, - I find that inappropriate and painful, on a daily basis. In the Church some grapple with unfair workloads whilst others seem not to be contributing. Financial constraints seem to destroy sensible and appropriate clergy staffing and decent patterns of worship in many places. Clergy training moves in questionable directions. There are moves by some to try to get the bishops’ pay cut and one diocesan bishop has met a rebellion! But we must soldier on as best we may. The parable seems to say that, - in spite of all - ‘It’s essentially alright – God is accomplishing things – persevere and try to see the good’.
Remember, too, that – as in a conflict - the frontier of God’s Kingdom is never static. It advances and retreats, and its boundary runs through our very selves. We, as individuals will not often be completely on the side of the angels!
There is a quote somewhere, which, I can’t find, to the effect that the Church has an uneasy history, and many and obvious current flaws, but it is only through the Church that any of us has received the Gospel, and it is only through the Church that future generations will receive the Gospel. We have to hang in, and we should do so with real hope.
Fr Roger
06 June 2021
This morning we set about ‘Beating the bounds’-not of
the parish-but of the churchyard. Due to the current Covid regulations our
Rogation walk was restricted to only consecrated ground. After singing ‘Morning
has broken’ we walked to the kissing gate area and prayed for the arable farm
down Church Farm Lane. We continued then to the extension to the churchyard and
saw that Chris Spiby had put a few of his cows in the adjacent field. The
children among us were delighted to see them!
We prayed for all farmers who have animals which provide us with food.
After that we thought about the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, and
we were reminded of the contribution of insects as Jane Robinson had brought a
hive, minus bees, for us to see. Continuing on we prayed for all domestic
animals and appreciated the presence of two pet dogs walking with us. Then, at
the north gate with thanked God for our gardens and the green spaces. Finally,
we gathered at the church entrance where, after a prayer, we sang ‘For the
beauty of the earth’. Father Roger then said a final blessing.
2 Corinthians 4:13 - 5:1
A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
Just as we have the same spirit of faith
that is in accordance with scripture—
“I believed, and so I spoke”—
we also believe, and so we speak,
because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus
will raise us also with Jesus,
and will bring us with you into his presence.
Yes, everything is for your sake,
so that grace, as it extends to more and more people,
may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
So we do not lose heart.
Even though our outer nature is wasting away,
our inner nature is being renewed day by day.
For this slight momentary affliction
is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure,
because we look not at what can be seen
but at what cannot be seen;
for what can be seen is temporary,
but what cannot be seen is eternal.
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed,
we have a building from God,
a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens.
Mark 3:20-35
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
The crowd came together again,
so that they could not even eat.
When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him,
for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”
And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said,
“He has Beelzebul,
and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.”
And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables,
“How can Satan cast out Satan?
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house is divided against itself,
that house will not be able to stand.
And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided,
he cannot stand, but his end has come.
But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property
without first tying up the strong man;
then indeed the house can be plundered.
“Truly I tell you,
people will be forgiven for their sins
and whatever blasphemies they utter;
but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
can never have forgiveness,
but is guilty of an eternal sin”—
for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Then his mother and his brothers came;
and standing outside, they sent to him and called him.
A crowd was sitting around him;
and they said to him,
“Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside,
asking for you.”
And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”
And looking at those who sat around him, he said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers!
Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
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