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Intercessions for 15th Sunday after Trinity Year A (Proper 21) 28 September 2014

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The Collect

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit upon your Church in the burning fire of your love: grant that your people may be fervent in the fellowship of the gospel that, always abiding in you, they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

¶ The Liturgy of the Word

First Reading: Exodus 17.1-7

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarrelled with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’ But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?’ So Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.’ Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarrelled and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’

Psalm 78.1-4,12-16

Hear my teaching, O my people; * incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable; * I will pour forth mysteries from of old,
Such as we have heard and known, * which our forebears have told us.
We will not hide from their children, but will recount to generations to come, * the praises of the Lord and his power and the wonderful works he has done.
For he did marvellous things in the sight of their forebears, * in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
He divided the sea and let them pass through; * he made the waters stand still in a heap.
He led them with a cloud by day * and all the night through with a blaze of fire.
He split the hard rocks in the wilderness * and gave them drink as from the great deep.
He brought streams out of the rock * and made water gush out like rivers.

Second Reading: Philippians 2.1-13

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 21.23-32

When Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’ Jesus said to them, ‘I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ And they argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven,” he will say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?” But if we say, “Of human origin,” we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.’ So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And he said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I go, sir”; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax-collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.’



One of the lessons I draw from today’s readings is that our leaders (Moses, Philip and our present episcopate) can only take us so far – ultimately we must work out our own salvation. Jane Williams says we need to learn to be obedient to God, nothing else. And we have Christ as our pattern. The RSCM offers: ‘It is so easy to say all the right things, to look as if we have it right, but the really big question is whether we do the things we say. The Pharisees talked the talk but couldn’t walk the walk. The prostitutes and tax collectors, on the other hand, had no talk but through real repentance had learnt how to walk. How does our walk measure up to our talk?’

Prayers of Intercession

Lord our God, to you we lift our hearts; in you we trust.

¶The Church of Christ

Lord, we thank you for your work in us and in your whole Body of Christ here on earth. We thank you that at times you work through us, and that when needed you will work in spite of us. You take the threads of our lives and weave them into grace, each part in its place, stronger for being woven with warp and weft than the individual threads could ever be.  Lord the artist, paint us into beauty. Lord the sculptor, shape our souls. Lord our maker, make us whole. *

Lord, shape our lives to be beautiful for you: in your mercy, hear our prayer

¶Creation, human society, the Sovereign and those in authority

Lord, teach us to know when we have enough. If in greed we ask too much of you, or in fear we ask too little, measure out for us daily the bread and water that we need and no more. Where thorns encroach and thistles threaten, give us a farmer’s wisdom to plant good seed, and to know what to uproot. As deep as we have dug before, you are deeper. As wide as we have wandered, you are wider. You are the glow at the edge of everything.

Lord, shape our lives to be beautiful for you: in your mercy, hear our prayer

¶The local community

Lord, your world is full of independent satellites united in your orbit: help us to connect and communicate, and save us from collision. Your world is a jungle of people,  a garden growing human fruit. Help us, Lord, to know and to love the people that you have planted.

Lord, shape our lives to be beautiful for you: in your mercy, hear our prayer

¶Those who suffer

Lord, where the oppressed hunger for hope, let justice roll. Where the abandoned struggle against bitterness, and long for love, may healing rise. If hope is at times hard to hold onto, you are still our God. If dreams are dashed and desires are delayed, you are still our God. Still us, O God, to know you, bolster our courage, and find us a purpose which is worth the pain.

Lord, shape our lives to be beautiful for you: in your mercy, hear our prayer

¶The communion of saints

Lord, we pray for all those whom we loved that you have taken to yourself.  May they, with all the saints, have rest in that place where there is no pain or grief, but life eternal.

Lord, shape our lives to be beautiful for you: in your mercy, hear our prayer

*Based on ‘Twitturgies’ by Gerard Kelly

Copyright acknowledgement:Collect (15th after Trinity) © 1980, 1986 Mowbray, a Cassell Imprint: Some material included in this service is copyright: © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA Some material included in this service is copyright: © The Archbishops’ Council 2000

 

1 comment on this post:

minidvr said...
avatar

Thanks Laura

24 September 2014 15:23

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