Mailout for 16 October 2022 (Pentecost 19, Year C)

Dear People of God

Grace to you and Peace

It’s mid-October already and the end of the ear is almost upon us! The two commemorations of All Saints and All Souls are close at hand. On Sunday 30 we will observe All Saints and combine that with the Commemoration of All Souls. Next week there will be sheets in both of our churches for your lists of names of people to remember before God amongst the Souls of the Departed.

The Celts speak of the “Thin Spaces” where the we stand on the edge of Eternity. I know that I have spoken about this previously. In our tradition our churches are thin spaces where we assemble and in our liturgies can sense the closeness of time and eternity: this is especially so when the priest holds up the consecrated elements in the Eucharist with the words “Behold the Lamb of God: behold him who takes away the sins of the world”. It’s the same when we name before God those who are separated from us by the veil of death: in Christ we are one with them and they with us join in the song of heaven “Holy, holy, holy…..” Naming them recognises this Thin Space.

30 October is a fifth Sunday in the month and therefore we have the one service in the parish at 9:30, so it is a good occasion as we celebrate the Church in time and beyond time to stand together in the one service (and have parish morning tea afterwards).

There are posters available in the churches for display in shop windows advertising the December Thornton Christmas Market. Please help to distribute them for display. There are also books for raffle tickets and it would be of great help in fundraising if every parishioner family took at least one book for sale. We can’t all be on the Fundraising Committee but we can all contribute to the success of these events by assisting in whatever way is needed.

Weekly Giving Envelopes: Cathy has prepared envelopes for those who wish to give in this way, so please let us know if you want set. We take your contributions in whichever way suits you: Direct Debit (the account numbers are listed in the monthly Parish News), envelopes or Open Plate.

In a year of disaster upon disaster there are a number of appeals for worthy causes in addition to the regular appeals for continuing needs: aid to Ukraine, aid for flood victims in Pakistan as well as across Australia…. We can be sure that in years to come we will see more domestic appeals for relief from distress caused by fire and drought….the list goes on.

A reminder that Mothers’ Union meets this Tuesday (10:30am) at Dianne Leonard’s home in Pasadena Ave. Confirmation classes resume next Sunday after the 9:30 service. The Fashion Parade is coming up on 20 October.

A final question: how would you go about inviting a friend or neighbour to come to church?

The Lord be with you

Fr George

COLLECT and Propers for Pentecost 19 (Trinity 18, Ordinary Sunday 30)

Sentence

Will not God grant justice to those why cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? (Luke 18:7-8)

Collect

Lord, tireless guardian of your people, teach us to rely, day and night, on your care. Drive us to seek your justice and your help, and support us in our prayer lest we grow weary, for in you alone is our strength. We make our prayer through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Readings

Jeremiah 31:27-34 Individual retribution

Psalm 119:97-104 The glories of God’s Law

2 Timothy 3:10-4:5 Paul’s charge to Timothy

Luke 18:1-14 Parables of the widow and the unjust judge and of the pharisee and the tax collector

Sermon (Deacon Gail)

In the Name of God. Amen

Today’s Gospel reading contains two parables of Jesus which at first glance seem a strange combination to put together. On closer examination however we find that they are both dealing with our faith and how we maintain it in increasingly difficult times.

The gospel of Luke was written around the time of the persecution of the early church and the longing of the believers for the Second Coming. They had been waiting for what seemed like a long time and the disciples were having a difficult time in maintaining the faith of the early church. Luke wrote his gospel in an attempt to encourage the believers to continue in their belief and faith.

The first part of this reading continues on from the end of the previous chapter to reassure the disciples that God hears their prayers. It tells us that discipleship is not an easy road and reminds us that God will vindicate faithful disciples. We are shown that prayer brings us closer to God and that we should never give up.

At first glance this parable of the widow and the judge seems to be telling us to keep on badgering God with prayer until we get an answer to our prayers, the way that we want. That is not the case at all. Imagine the chaos that would occur if we all got exactly what we asked for, immediately and without any waiting. As we know God will answer our prayers if it is for the best and to do his will.

A possible explanation for the judge “who feared neither God nor people” is that in the Jewish society at the time of this Gospel being written, the widow’s petition would have been heard by a panel of Jewish elders. The judge in this case is probably someone who is employed by the Roman Officials and as such would have been open for a bribe or other form of corruption. How many times have we complained about the perceived bias of the legal system and felt that the only option was to keep complaining or in fact go to “A Current Affair” with our problems?

Perhaps the widow had some grievance with a family member which she had not been able to resolve so was appealing to the judicial authorities for a judgement. Jesus in his ministry had a lot to say about widows and the protection that they should have. In the Jewish society of the time when a woman became a widow, she was reliant on the support of family members. The fact that she was a woman could also have been a reason for her not receiving the attention of the judge at the beginning.

The next parable, the Parable of the Pharisee, and the Tax Collector (18:9-14), is also about prayer. However, in this parable we see an example of both the wrong and the correct way to pray. Jesus in this parable is telling his disciples the importance of praying with the right attitude. Two men went to the temple to pray, one who in effect was talking to himself and telling God “How good he was” whilst the other one was praying before God and asking God for forgiveness for his sins.

As an explanation: tax collectors were Jewish citizens employed by the Roman officials to collect taxes. They were regarded as traitors by many and in fact were not paid a wage by the Romans. The only income they received was to add an extra onto the tax when it was paid. This left the system open to corruption.

If you look at the parable Jesus is actually telling us that when we pray to God it is between ourselves and God, rather than being a public show of how important we are to God. The men went home but only the tax collector had pleased God, as he had been humble and asked for forgiveness. A person’s attitude is important to God.

I think the challenge that this parable sends us is that we rather like being exalted. We might think of it as the satisfaction of a job well done or a duty fulfilled. And we might begin to believe that things we do (giving money to the church, doing religious or charitable activities, being upstanding members of society, making a well-deserved salary) or don’t do (being thieves, rogues, or adulterers) really might justify us, at least a little, might make us a bit better than those who fail where we succeed. But until we let go of that notion, the parable suggests, we will not go home justified.

If we think further about these two parables together the writer is actually telling us that we always ought to pray and not to lose heart. Prayer comes naturally to us because of our spiritual instinct, yet obstacles come in the way of effective and constant prayer.

Jesus also knew that we needed to be taught and encouraged always to pray. It is easy to lose heart in prayer because prayer is hard work, and we often approach our prayer times too lightly. Perhaps my final comment for this week is that we should allow ourselves the right to spend time with our prayers and to give God the space to respond to them.

Amen