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Christian Aid Week 2020

An act of Worship

Joint worship on Sunday 10th May would usually mark the beginning of Christian Aid Week for those of us  in Murrayfield. This year we are unable to gather physically as the members of MCT but we can come together spiritually in prayer. Please use the prayers and readings below in your Sunday worship at home.

Introduction

Christian Aid Week helps us remember that we are part of the family of God scattered across the globe. The Covid19 outbreak also shows us how inter-connected we are, how vulnerable we all are and how resourceful and supportive of each other we can be. We are neighbours far and near who are going through this time of pandemic together. May our shared experience unite us in praise, prayer and action as one human family, separate but together in the home that is God’s world.

God of all the Earth, be present with us now, in each of our homes, as we connect together. Build us into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to you through Jesus Christ, our risen Redeemer and Healer. Amen.

Prayer of Confession & Absolution

How many times have you washed your hands over the last few weeks, or even today? As we pray today we remember the words of St.James:

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts …” James 4:8

As we turn on the tap, we turn our hearts towards you, O God.

As we wet our hands, renew our thoughts,

so we might be transformed.

As we lather soap between our fingers and all over our hands purge us from all that brings us harm and might harm others.

Remove the invisible guilt and shame that so often keeps us from you.

As we rinse our hands we trust in your overflowing grace, making all things new. Amen.

Remember that if you truly wish to be forgiven then God will forgive you and if you truly wish to amend your ways then God will guide and support you; and know that God always loves you. Amen.

Reading: Psalm 31

Reflection: ponder on the words of the Psalmist or read Dean's reflection 

Intercessions

God our refuge, we pray for all who are anxious, all who are bruised by this time, all who are ill and all who are bereaved. Draw close to us now in each of our homes, be with our loved ones, neighbours and friends and strengthen those working on the front line in our hospitals and care facilities. Amen.

God our strength, we pray for those throughout the world who suffer not only from the pandemic but through poverty, abuse, hardship and neglect. Help us always to remember those in need and to put our faith into action. Amen.

God of hope, we pray for a better future for all your people; for a fair sharing of the world’s resources, for an end to exploitation and corporate greed. Help us to play our part in changing the world, that no one will go hungry, no one will be forgotten and no one left unloved. Amen.

We pray for the work of Christian Aid throughout our world and for all it does to support the most vulnerable and all it does to support those who need a helping hand. We pray most especially for those with limited sanitation facilities and the ability to regularly wash their hands. We give thanks for Christian Aid partners seeking to provide soap and buckets for the communities that need them most. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Closing Prayer & Blessing

Loving God, source of healing and comfort, fill us with your grace; that the sick may be made whole, that those who care for us will be strengthened, that the anxious will be calmed, and those most vulnerable be protected in the power of the Spirit, in the the faith of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May the presence of the Creator refresh you, may the comfort of the Son renew you, may the inspiration of the Spirit restore you to be love in action, even from a distance, in our neighbourhoods near and far, this day and for evermore. Amen.

To donate to Christian Aid please go to: www.christianaid.org.uk

The following prayer said to have come from the pen of St.Benedict has been inspiration to countless numbers of Christians over many centuries. In the prayer St.Benedict encourages us to ponder upon God and to spend time trying to come closer to the Divine. It is a prayer that asks God to help us understand his ways better and then to try and live our lives in the service of others and of God as well.

It is not a 'quick fix' prayer but a prayer of and for a life-time. It is a prayer that asks God to guide us through out the days of our lives; each day coming to comprehend God a little more until the day we are called back to the Divine and once more become one with our eternal Creator.

Gracious and Holy Father, please give me:

intellect to understand you;

reason to discern you;

diligence to seek you;

wisdom to find you;

a spirit to know you;

a heart to meditate upon you;

ears to hear you;

eyes to see you;

a tongue to proclaim you;

a way of life pleasing to you;

patience to wait for you; and 

perseverance to loom for you.

grant me:

a perfect end, your holy presence,

a blessed resurrection

and life everlasting.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

https://we.tl/t-wXglQriiCu

Good Shepherd Sunday  Easter IV 2020  Year A

Many years ago the congregation at St.Mary’s Dalmahoy built a sheep fank in their church garden. It was designed to be the place where ashes could be interred. The fank was built before my time as Rector and it took me a while to ‘get why’ they had built such a feature as a last resting place for members of the congregation. In fact it was years later, when I re-read today’s readings that I finally understood the reasoning behind the design. It was the words where Jesus describes himself as; ‘the gate for the sheep’ that gave me the clue I needed.

On first reading today’s Gospel is rather strange. Jesus talks more about being the ‘gate keeper’ of the sheepfold or fank, than he does about being the shepherd of the flock. We usually have some idea of what Jesus the 'Good Shepherd’ looks like but the idea of Jesus as the gatekeeper or the ‘gate for the sheep’ is more difficult to comprehend. What, I think, Jesus is saying is that; it is through him that we enter the Kingdom of God. We need to go through Jesus to come closer to God and that it is the same Jesus, who once we are in; will guard and protect us from the temptations and dangers of the world.

A sheep fank or fold is a place of protection. It is not a place that the sheep (us) permanently reside in but a refuge in the darkness or in times of danger that we can retreat to for protection and care. It is a place where we can be looked after.

Jesus’ first followers and listeners would have been well aware of the dangers that life held and how they all at times needed a place of security. Sheep on the hillside could be prey to all manner of predators both human and animal and this analogy would have been very powerful to them. There could be many things ‘predators’ that might lead them away from the ways of God.

Life is a risky business and we all need places of refuge to retreat to in order to reflect, recover and re-charge our batteries before we feel strong to re-enter the world. As the gate keeper Jesus shepherds us in, guards us, cares for us and then once things are safe again, leads us out to face the world with all its joys and woes. This image of the shepherd Jesus is a strong and powerful one. For Jesus is portrayed as a protector and leader who is at once both strong and caring. It is his voice that leads us back in times of need and which also soothes us. Jesus is always there ‘looking out for us’.

This is perhaps very poignant for these strange times during the ‘Covid19 Lockdown’. Things can seem to be unfamiliar and scary and we need a place of security in which to hide away for a while, until our confidence returns. It is in Jesus that we can hide and it if Jesus who will strengthen us and guide us forward and we will go forward once we remember that we do so with Jesus at our side. He will never leave us unprotected or alone, even if we cannot sense his presence he will be there.

The sheep fank can also act as an ikon of the church per se. The church can be seen as offering a haven of calm, peace and security in a busy and uncertain world. It is not however a place to ‘run away’ to in order to hide because the shepherd is always there waiting to move us on and out once the dangers have past. The sheep pen can ever only be a temporary ‘holding bay’. For if the pen is seen as permanent it will become a place of stagnation and Jesus calls all of us out into the world as his witnesses not into the church as his slaves.

A good sheep fank or church needs to be a place where we can be challenged to explore and learn new things about God and each other. A place where we can have a degree of security and support to go ‘beyond our ken’ and to discover more about what it means to follow the ways of God as a Christian.  A healthy church is one that is like the sheep fank, always open and welcoming but at the same time always a place ready to leave.

I know now years later and understand more fully as to why Dalmahoy chose the sheep fank as a resting place ‘peaceful and secure’ (to quote our funeral liturgy) for the ashes of loved ones departed. The sheep fank offers a resting place but a resting place that is only temporary until Christ returns and calls us forth.

For us Jesus is no bandit or thief climbing over the wall of the sheep fold, he is the shepherd guarding our spiritual well being. He knows us by name and recognises us by sight; he leads us out into new pastures and is our protection against the storms. He really is our loving and good shepherd.

Amen.