Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost / 11th October 2020

ORDER OF SERVICE

You can click to expand or minimise the order of service below.

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform;

He plants his footsteps in the sea,

And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines

Of never-failing skill

He treasures up his bright designs,

And works his sovereign will.

His purposes will ripen fast,

Unfolding every hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste,

But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,

And scan his works in vain;

God is his own interpreter,

And he will make it plain.

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:

Response:

And blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen

 

From Easter to Pentecost:

Allelulia. Christ is risen!

Response:

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia

 

In Lent and other penitential occasions:

Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins;

Response:

His mercy endures for ever.

The Lord be with you.

Response:

And also with you.

 

Let us pray:

Almighty God, to whom all hearts be 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.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

This prayer is omitted during Lent and Advent:

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God’s people on earth.  Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.  Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.  Amen.

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.

The Collect of the day:

The priest now says the Collect for the day:

Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Response:

Amen.

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD:

The first Reading:

Isaiah 25:1-9

O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you, I will praise your name;

for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.

For you have made the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;

the palace of aliens is a city no more,
it will never be rebuilt.

Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.

For you have been a refuge to the poor,
a refuge to the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat.

When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm,
the noise of aliens like heat in a dry place,

you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds;
the song of the ruthless was stilled.

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.

And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.

Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.

It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

After the Reading the reader says:

This is the Word of the Lord.

Response:

Thanks be to God.

Psalm 23

Dominus regit me

The Lord is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.

3 He revives my soul *
and guides me along right pathways for his Name’s sake.

4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil,
and my cup is running over.

6 Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

The Second Reading:

The Epistle

Philippians 4:1-9

My brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

After the Reading the reader says:

This is the Word of the Lord.

Response:

Thanks be to God.

All stand for the Gospel reading.

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to:

Matthew 22:1-14

Once more Jesus spoke to the people in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Response:

Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

After the Gospel reading

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Response:

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Today’s gospel passage most certainly requires some unpicking, doesn’t it?  There’s a big difference, isn’t there, between the cultural expectations of first-century Palestine and the here-and-now of the 21st-century, and not only about marriage, of course!  Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a marriage feast given by a slave-owning king.  Now, slave-owning kings were quite common back then.  Fortunately, neither human bondage nor absolute monarchy is part of our day-to-day experience now.  This isn’t to say though that we have wiped out oppression or tyranny on the face of the earth – far from it.  But at least, we call it a crime when one person claims to own another, and we do not permit anyone to have absolute power. They weren’t quite ready for such “checks and balances” in Jesus’ time!

So – in and of itself – the progress of 2,000 years will require us to make a cultural adjustment in order to hear and understand this parable. So, too, will the whole idea of marriage. There are those who insist that our modern-day, state-sanctioned unions are a sacred institution, implying that this phenomenon is of ancient provenance.  Marriage has even been called “one of the most fundamental, enduring institutions of our civilisation.”  Of course, that is not the case!

Now, marriage is of course a fine thing.  But what do we really know about the history of marriage?  What are the facts? Kenneth Stevenson, who was Bishop of Portsmouth, back in England, summarised marriage in the patriarchal tradition of ancient Judaism in his book “To Join Together”: first, negotiation of the contract, then betrothal, followed by consummation.

What may be hard for us to imagine is that the contract negotiated was no lawyer’s prenup agreement; it was a financial contract between two men – the bride’s father and the groom. In the time of Jesus, women were exchanged like plots of land and herds of cattle – just so much property. The men owned them.

The period of betrothal, then, was not so much a time in which two people got to know each other better and grew closer in love – but rather a kind of “cooling-off period” in which the groom could cancel the contract – for some justifiable cause, but without penalty.  Remember that Joseph, when betrothed to Mary, chose not to exercise his option to wriggle out of his marriage contract. He could have, because she was pregnant, but he didn’t.  And it’s a good thing, too.  Had he done so, none of us Christians would exist!

In the first century, before anything so technological as birth control, women were like human child-bearing machines. They would marry aged 11, 12 or 13, and immediately begin to have children – typically, a child every year or so for maybe 10 years. Lots of these children died in infancy, and most of these women died by the age of 30.  So the men would remarry – another teenage bride – again, and again.  It was not at all uncommon for a man of 40 or 50, or even 60 to marry again: each time a child bride bought from her father!

Now, what of the actual church liturgy for marriage?  Although there is mention of marriage celebrations here and there in ancient texts, the formal, standard, official liturgy of the church dates back only to about the 12th century. What appears to have happened, is that the tradition of holding a marriage feast was incorporated into the church’s liturgy. The cultural observance became, over time, a religious one.  To say that more clearly: there is no evidence for an official religious rite of marriage in Jesus’ time.  Marriage was entirely a domestic and civil affair.  If you were very wealthy, you might invite a rabbi or a Pharisee or even a High Priest of the Temple to attend, maybe even lead some prayers – but this was unusual, and not the norm.  This is why there are accounts of Jesus performing miracles at wedding feasts, but no record whatsoever of him preaching a wedding homily. There simply was no such thing!

So, a man works out a deal with the woman’s father, and she is ordered to go and live with that man – someone she may not even have met.  After a period of a year or more, the man decides that things are working out quite nicely, and so he and his contractual partner (not his bride, but her father) lay on a feast.

Remember, this was long before clocks and calendars were common household items. You didn’t send out engraved invitations in the mail, or an e-vite to your fellow bloggers. You sent out messengers – slaves; if you were fortunate to own them – to invite everyone to the marriage feast.  Come to the feast; it’s happening right now – today!

And pretty much everyone would come.  In those days, ordinary people owned two changes of clothing: your regular, everyday work clothes; and a festive garment, a wedding robe – something usually white, that you kept clean and uncreased.  Most people did not own much more. When the messengers came to invite you to a marriage, or you heard that bell ring – you would just pen up your sheep, drop your weaving or whatever, run home, put on your wedding garment; and go straight to the party.

And what feasts they were!  Not the luxurious, self-indulgent and obscenely expensive extravaganzas we know today, but festive gatherings nonetheless, frequently lasting for days on end. The same kind of thing, for instance, as when the Prodigal Son returned: roasted fatted calf, music and merriment, giving of gifts, and of course lots of wine. No evidence of a cake, or throwing confetti, or drinking toasts, or even an exchange of vows. And no mortgaging of the house to borrow money; the party simply lasted until you slaughtered your last calf and drank the last of the wine.

So, what relevance does this gospel passage hold for us, if marriage is so radically different in our culture and in our church?

This, too, maybe hard for us to grasp, as we no longer live in a culture with a lot of clear, implicit expectations.

This certainly was true in the Palestine of Jesus’ time: Everybody instinctively understood what the standards were – at least with regard to the wedding garment.  If you lived in Galilee or Bethlehem, you knew that to come to a wedding feast you had to wear a wedding garment!

So this parable, which seems harsh – after all, someone is thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, simply for wearing the wrong clothes. But perhaps this parable is about participation; or the lack of doing it fully.  There is the first group, who simply decline the invitation. And then there is the fellow without the wedding robe, who refused to participate completely.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting.  This is a parable, an analogy of the Kingdom of Heaven, a story of the way God acts in the world.  God has invited us to be partners in the building up of that kingdom, on earth as in heaven. We are invited to the greatest feast ever imagined. And how many of us fully participate all of the time?  Precious few, alas!

This omnipotent God, who could reign down fire from heaven and smite us all where we sit – this God does not act as the king in today’s story, although he perfectly well could.  God does not enforce the dress code or punish us for not participating fully.

Instead, our God invites us, over and over again.  We are called to that feast of rich food – the feast at which the disgrace of humanity will be taken away from the earth, when God will wipe away the tears from all faces. You, me and every person on this planet are welcome at this table.  When God is the host, everyone is invited. Sadly, as in today’s parable, not everyone comes – but all are bidden!

When God is the host, the food is rich beyond our imagination or understanding. Sometimes it appears to be quite simple – like bread and wine – yet we can be profoundly moved and transformed by this feast, which we know as the Eucharist.  When God is the host, we are nourished, not just for the moment, but for the journey.  For most of us, this sustenance lasts as long as a week, for others it lasts a whole lifetime. And when God is the host, everyone gets the same gift: the amazingly abundant, undeserved, and inexhaustible gift of Love.

Amen

Please stand for the Nicene Creed.

Let us together affirm the faith of the Church.

We believe in one God,

the Father, the Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven:

was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,

and became truly human.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again

in accordance with the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified,

who has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,

and the life of the world to come.  Amen.

Let us pray for the world and for the Church:

Prayers of intercession are now said and at the end of each prayer the priest says:

Lord in your mercy,

Response:

Hear our prayer.

or

Lord hear us,

Response:

Lord graciously hear us

At the conclusion of the prayers the priest says:

Almighty God, who has promised to hear our prayers.

Response:

Grant that what we have asked in faith we may by your grace receive, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

Jesus said: Come to me all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

or

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

THE CONFESSION:

God is steadfast in love and infinite in mercy, welcoming sinners and inviting them to the Lord’s table.

Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith, confident in God’s forgiveness.

Merciful God, our maker and our judge, we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, and in what we have failed to do: we have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves; we repent and are sorry for all our sins, Father forgive us, strengthen us to love and obey you in newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

Almighty God, who has promised forgiveness to all who turn to him in faith, pardon you and set you free from all your sins, strengthen you in all goodness and keep you in eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

THE PEACE:

The congregation stands.

We are the Body of Christ.

Response:

His Spirit is with us.

 

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

Response:

And also with you.

Please greet each other with a sign of peace.

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

In a believer’s ear!

It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,

And drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole,

And calms the troubled breast;

‘Tis manna to the hungry soul,

And to the weary rest.

Dear name! the rock on which I build,

My shield and hiding-place,

Mt never-failing treasury filled

With boundless stores of grace.

Weak is the effort of my heart,

And cold my warmest thought;

But when I see thee as thou art,

I’ll praise thee as I ought.

Till then I would thy love proclaim

With every fleeting breath;

And may the music of thy name

Refresh my soul in death.

THE OFFERTORY

Blessed are you, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have these gifts to share. Accept and use our offerings for your glory and the service of your kingdom.

Response:

Blessed be God forever.

 Let us pray

We do not presume to come to your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies.  We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table, but you are the same Lord whose nature is always to have mercy. Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us.  Amen.

EUCHARISTIC PRAYER C

The Lord be with you.

Response:

and also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

Response:

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Response:

It is right to give thanks and praise.

Father, we give you thanks and praise through your beloved Son Jesus Christ, your living Word, through whom you have created all things; who was sent by you in your great goodness to be our Saviour.

By the power of the Holy Spirit he took flesh; as your Son, born of the blessed Virgin, he lived on earth and went about among us; he opened wide his arms for us on the cross; he put an end to death by dying for us; and revealed the resurrection by rising to new life; so he fulfilled your will and won for you a holy people.

Proper Preface

Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we proclaim your great and glorious name, for ever praising you and saying:

Response:

Holy, holy, holy Lord God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest.

Lord, you are holy indeed, the source of all holiness; grant that by the power of your Holy Spirit, and according to your holy will, these gifts of bread and wine may be to us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; who, in the same night that he was betrayed, took bread and gave you thanks; he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way, after supper he took the cup and gave you thanks; he gave it to them, saying: Drink this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant,

which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it,

in remembrance of me.

Great is the mystery of faith:

Response:

Christ has died:

Christ is risen:

Christ will come again.

 

And so, Father, calling to mind his death on the cross, his perfect sacrifice, made once for the sins of the whole world; rejoicing in his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension, and looking for his coming in glory, we celebrate this memorial of our redemption.

As we offer you this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, we bring before you this bread and this cup and we thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you. Send the Holy Spirit on your people and gather into one in your kingdom all who share this one bread and one cup, so that we, in the company of [N and] all the saints, may praise and glorify you for ever, through Jesus Christ our Lord; by whom, and with whom, and in whom, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honour and glory be yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever.

Response:

Amen.

Let us pray with confidence to the Father, as our Saviour has taught us:

Response:

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.

O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

We break this bread to share in the body of Christ.

Response:

Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread.

This is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world;

Happy are those who are called to his supper.

Response:

Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.

 

After Communion the celebrant and the congregation say

 

Let us pray.

Father of all we give you thanks and praise that when we were still far off you met us in your Son and brought us home. Dying and living, he declared your love, gave us grace, and opened the gate of glory. May we who share Christ’s body live his risen life; we who drink his cup bring life to others; we whom the Spirit lights give light to the world. 

Keep us in this hope that we have grasped; so we and all your children shall be free, and the whole earth live to praise your name.

Father, we offer ourselves to you as a living sacrifice through Jesus Christ our Lord. Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord: and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be amongst you and remain with you always.

Response:

Amen.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord:

Response:

In the name of Christ.  Amen.

Stand up, and bless the Lord,

Ye people of his choice;

Stand up, and bless the Lord your God

With heart and soul and voice.

Though high above all praise,

Above all blessing high,

Who would not fear his holy name,

And laud and magnify?

God is our strength and song,

And his salvation ours;

Then be his love in Christ proclaimed

With all our ransomed powers.

Stand up, and bless the Lord,

The Lord your God adore;

Stand up, and bless his glorious name

Henceforth for evermore.

NOTE: The introductory music is JS Bach – Trio Sonata No.2 in C minor (BWV 526), 2nd Movement.

Music

Here is the music for this week’s hymns, if you would like to practice beforehand.

Performed by Fr. David Price