 
 
Good morning and welcome to our service
this morning on this The Second Sunday after Trinity.
A particular welcome to any of you who
may be joining us for the first time.
It's very good to have you with us.
Do visit our website www.stmarysredborn.org
and that's got more information about
our church and about
news and other events.
It's also Father's Day today and for
those of you who are a father I hope you
have a wonderful day!
I know it's going to be a little bit
more tricky with the restrictions in place currently but whatever form it takes,
wherever you are, i hope you have a great day and are thoroughly spoiled.
I usually like to share one or two thoughts and reflections.
For me, the big piece of news has been
that we've been able to reopen St.
Mary's since Monday and that's just been such a joy.
Quite emotional and special. I prepared the
church over the weekend and then just
unlocked the door on Monday morning.
Thankfully no long queues,
no great crowds, but just people gently
going into the church to spend some time in that holy, God-filled place.
And that's been really lovely so do come and visit if you'd like to.
If you haven't made it to St. Mary's yet, you'd be very welcome.
There are some guidelines in the church on display
so do use the hand gel as you arrive
and as you leave, do have a look at those guidelines and observe them please,
just to make sure that you're kept safe and everybody else as well.
The church will be open every day of the week
from ten o'clock in the morning to 5 o'clock in the afternoon
and all are welcome.
One of the things about the
lockdown and the coronavirus pandemic
has been the inspiring and amazing way that people in spite of all the challenges
and the sadness and the anxiety,
have overcome that with such creativity
and through the arts and music.
I think of our own virtual choir and the amazing job
that they're doing to provide the music for our services,
albeit from a distance and then bringing
all their contributions together.
It's just been fantastic. Lots of other
examples as well.
And also in the news at the moment so much about justice
and injustice, about thinking about sort of inequality in our world
and so on and the dignity of human life.
One of the things that's
really inspired me this week is
bringing together of those two things - something about creativity
but also about the dignity and worth of
all human beings.
And it's an incredible film, a short film.
It comes from Catuera in Paraguay and
i'd like to share that with you now before our service begins.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
 
In the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Lord be with you.
(And also with you.)
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden,
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you and
worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
God so loved the world that he gave his
only Son Jesus Christ
to save us from our sins, to be our
advocate in heaven,
and to bring us to eternal life.
Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith,
firmly resolve to keep God's commandments
and to live in love and peace with all. We say together.
Almighty God, who forgives all who truly
repent
have mercy upon you, pardon
and deliver you from all your sins,
confirm and strengthen you in all
goodness,
and keep you in life eternal; through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Collect for The Second Sunday after
Trinity.
Let us pray.
O 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 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 Christ's sake,
who is alive and reigns with you, in the
unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever. Amen.
We're going to listen to our first reading,
read for us this morning by Sophie.
A reading from the book of the prophet
Jeremiah.
O Lord you have enticed me and i was
enticed;
you have overpowered me, and you have
prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all day
long; everyone mocks me.
For whenever i speak, I must cry out, I
must shout, 'Violence and destruction!'
For the word of
the Lord has become for me
a reproach and derision all day long. If
I say, 'I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name', then
within me there is something like a burning fire
shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in
and I cannot. For I hear many whispering:
'Terror is all around! Denounce him! Let
us denounce him!'
All my close friends are watching for me to stumble.
'Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him,
and take our revenge on him.' But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble,
and they will not prevail.
They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed.
And their eternal dishonour will never be forgotten.
O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous,
you see the heart and the mind;
let me see your retribution upon them,
for to you i have committed my cause.
Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.
This is
the word of the Lord.
(Thanks be to God)
 
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
according to Matthew.
(Glory to you, O Lord.)
Jesus summoned the twelve and sent them out
with the following instruction:
A disciple is not above the teacher,
nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like a teacher,
and the slave like the master.
If they have called the master of the
house Beelzebul,
how much more will they malign those of
his household!'
So have no fear of them for nothing is
covered up that will not be uncovered
and nothing secret that will not become
known.
What I say to you in the dark, tell in
the light;
and what you hear whispered proclaim
from the housetops.
Do not fear those who kill the body but
cannot kill the soul;
rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Are not two sparrows sold for a
penny?
Yet not one of them will fall to the
ground
unperceived by your Father.
And even the hairs of your head are all counted
So do not be afraid;
you are of more value than many sparrows.'
'Everyone therefore who acknowledges me
before others,
I also will acknowledge before my Father
in heaven;
but whoever denies me before others
i also will deny before my Father in heaven.'
'Do not think that I have come to bring
peace to the earth;
I have not come to bring peace but a
sword.'
'For I have come to set a man against his
father,
and a daughter against her mother
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one's foes will be members of one's own household.
Whoever loves father or mother more than
me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me
is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Those who find their life will lose it
and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.'
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
(Praise to you, O Christ)
Ask anyone which commandment is most
often repeated in the Bible
and I guess you get a variety of answers
like 'Don't worship false gods, idols'
idols don't sin, live better, cleaner lives.
Try harder to be good.
All these would be far from the mark.
No the most often repeated command,
the one in fact we've just heard in this
morning's gospel from matthew
and not just once but three times
'Do not fear.'
'Don't be afraid.'
Isn't that extraordinary? It turns the
whole of religion upside down.
No longer is it about trying to be good,
striving against the odds
to overcome our innate selfishness
but letting go.
Yes actually, stop struggling to be different, to be a better person and trust in God.
No more gritted teeth
Just a steady gentle, life-long release of breath.
In Matthew 10, Jesus was talking to his
disciples
at a particularly stressful time for
them.
The religious authorities were on their
backs.
They weren't being good Jews.They were disobeying God's commands.
Even that they were being inspired by
the evil one.
Jesus is saying to them 'Don't be afraid.
They've been saying the same of me ever
since I began my public ministry.
For at the end of the day
when God reveals the secrets of all our hearts,
it'll be clear for all to see that you
have been faithful.
Don't be afraid of what others think.
Then, second, Jesus says to them,
'Don't be afraid of those who can kill you physically.'
That is the Roman authorities.
And, of course we know, for the first 300
years of Christian history
Christians were killed - martyred -
just for being Christian.
But Jesus goes on that you do need to fear
the
one who can kill both body
and soul together, the one who can
destroy your outer life
and your deepest self as well.
Jesus lived at a time when people believed
that there were evil forces. The evil one
which was constantly at work trying to
undermine the creative purposes of God.
Here, Jesus encourages his followers
with the most striking picture
of God's care for each one of us.
He says God is intimately concerned
with every little sparrow that comes to harm.
God can even number the hairs of our
heads.
How much more will he take care of you
each one of you.
Just as nothing is too great for God to
do,
so nothing is too small for God to care about.
So don't be afraid. We hardly need reminding that we also live in stressful times.
The pandemic has brought to light
two of the basic facts of human experience.The first is that we're all in it together,
we all share in this precarious human existence.
The second that we are all afraid.
These realities have been forgotten
or buried in the West for a very long time, hundreds of years.
But these are the truths which, when
all is going well and we feel in control
of almost everything, we hide from and pretend are not there.
Why is it that in what we call normal
times
there are inexcusable, unavoidable
inequalities in our world and not
just out in Africa or in parts of Asia
but right here on our own doorstep
and on the whole we just let them happen.
We don't protest. Most of us do very little about it.
Now, because we've been forced to
recognise that the homeless and the more
vulnerable are more likely to catch and to spread the virus,
we've come to our senses and moved
heaven and earth
to house them and protect them.
And the huge rise in unemployment has
thrown
swathes of the population, respectable
and not so respectable alike,
into the arms of food banks
and other charities.
We're all in it, we all belong
together.
The movement towards solidarity
and mutual care has been
a social miracle in these last three
months
and we must pray and work that it may
result in radical lasting change
into a more just and human society.
For the evident growth in community
spirit is a living expression of the kingdom
which Jesus came to bring about.
Fear not little flock, for it is my Father's will to give you the kingdom.
The second reality that has been
uncovered in these last
months is that we are all afraid.
We've been brought face to face with the
precariousness of human existence.
We are no longer in control.
We still, even the star scientists still
don't know
much about the threat facing us
and our survival.
We can no longer plan for more than
two or three weeks ahead.
Many people don't know when or even
whether
they'll have a job and so financial
security for their families ever again.
And deepest of all, we are afraid
of death itself.
That last fear, the fear of our mortality,
has always dogged the human race.
What differentiates us from the rest of
the animal kingdom
this yearning embedded in every human
soul
is that we are destined for better
things, wonderful things.
At its deepest, a longing to be one with God our creator
who has made us in his own image, made us to share
his very life.
That's what it means to be human.
This longing has always been dogged, though,
by the sense of our own mortality -
the reality that one day we shall die
and the fear that all these great aspirations,
and all our achievements, will return to dust.
But this is the mind-blowing
reality, the great breakthrough.
God, in becoming human,
shares our very mortality.
God in Jesus died a death
like ours.
But God, it's so easy to say it, but God
raised Jesus from the dead.
God broke the power of death for all time
for each one of us.
So we have to let go. Let go. Release our grip on all we hold precious in this life
and trust God, our all-knowing and
ever-loving Father,
to take us and hold us safe
and mould us into that
unique person he longs to dwell with him
for all eternity.
This pandemic is so deeply unsettling
because it shows us human life
in all its fragility.
But it is a wonderful opportunity
to come to our senses,
to return to the heart of God
to allow God to be God in us
and in the whole created order.
I want to finish with a poem
by Ann Lewin,
based on those words of Julian of
Norwich which we know so well;
spoken to Julian at the time of another great pandemic,
The Great Plague.
The poem is called 'Dark Moments'.
All shall be well...She must have said that sometimes
through gritted teeth.
Surely she knew the moments when fear
gnaws at trust
the future loses shape,
Gethsemane?
The courage that says, 'All shall be well'
doesn't mean feeling no fear
but facing it, trusting,
God won't let go.
All shall be well' doesn't deny
present experience,
but roots it deep in the faithfulness of
God
whose will and gift
is life.
Let us affirm together the faith of the Church.
Our virtual choir sing the anthem
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness
God so loved the world, music by John Stainer.
Our prayers this morning are led by Julie.
For the church, for the world, for those
in need and for each other,
let us pray to our heavenly Father.
Let us pray for the church entrusted to
the disciples
and the world into which they were sent.
As Jesus called the twelve disciples
make all members of your church faithful
followers
in the way that he taught.
Strengthen the hope and love that belong
to Christian people.
Guide our church leaders as they
lead the church through these trying
times.
We ask your blessing on all who
serve in different areas of your church
especially at this time for Will,
our Vicar, for his love, dedication
and the pastoral care he continues to give
to all people in our parish and beyond.
We pray for the unity of your church.
Help us to see ourselves as raised from
one Son, branches of a single tree,
and streams from one river.
May we send out your light and
pour forth your flowing streams
over all the earth drawing
inspiration and joy from you.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray
for a world that struggles to live in peace.
We know that without justice there can be no peace.
 
Let peace come when all people
are respected regardless of
race or religion.
Let peace come when the earth's
resources
are used wisely for the common good
and money is used to serve and not
enslave the world.
Be with leaders of all nations
give them the foresight to act with
charity and true concern
for the well-being of the people they
are meant to serve.
Give them the wisdom to invest in
long-term solutions that will help
prepare for, or prevent,
future pandemic outbreaks.
May they know your peace as they work
together to achieve this.
Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer.
Heavenly Father, we ask your blessing
on our local community that our
neighborhoods may be places of trust and friendship
where all are known and cared for
as servants of our Master.
Let us be servants to one another,
unselfish in our relationships,
seeking the common good.
The past few months have been
difficult, confusing and worrying
for many of our residents.
We therefore continue to give thanks
for our village stores, the pharmacy,
food delivery companies and all the
local businesses
who have remained open to serve and
help the people of Redbourn,
and especially all the many volunteers
who have worked tirelessly
and have been a lifeline for so
many of our village community.
Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer.
We pray for all those who are afflicted
by physical, emotional,
or mental illness especially the
problems
caused by the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
You travelled through towns and villages
curing every disease and illness at your command.
The sick were made well.
Come to our aid now that we may
experience your healing love.
We remember today all those listed
on our Pew sheet.
Give skill, empathy and resilience
to all who are caring for the sick
and wisdom to those searching for a cure.
Strengthen them with your Holy Spirit
that through their work many will be
restored to health.
Be with the doctors, nurses, researchers and all medical professionals
who seek to heal and help.
Heavenly Father, your love
reaches beyond the grave
and the end of our days on earth.
Be with us and with those we love
who have gone before us.
We pray now for those who have recently died,
both corona related and from other causes.
We give thanks and remember today
Brenda Cust
Daphne Selwyn-Fatt
and Howell John.
May the light of heaven, shine upon them
as they rise in glory.
Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer.
As we come out of lockdown and
while we wait for the day when we can
mix and move freely,
teach us then to be compassionate with one another
and value more deeply what and who we have.
Holding as precious all people and life on earth,
we thank you for hearing our prayers
and as we move into the coming week
help us to remember our Saviour's words
as he sent his disciples out into the world:
'As you proclaim the good news,
the kingdom of heaven has come near.'
Merciful Father, accept these prayers
for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Let us say together the Lord's Prayer.
Our Father, who art in heaven
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses.
As we forgive those who trespass against
us.
And lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power
and the glory, for ever and ever.
Amen.
God is love and those who live in love,
live in God,
and God lives in them. The peace of the
Lord be always with you.
(And also with you)
Receive this sign of peace.
We're going to sing now our second hymn
God moves in a mysterious way
Let us pray. Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us.
And make us continually to
be given to all good works,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus,
establish, strengthen and settle you
in the faith, and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always.
Amen.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. (In the name of Christ. Amen.)
