Collect

Almighty God, your only Son has opened for us a new and living way into your presence:  give us pure hearts and steadfast wills to worship you in spirit and in truth;  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.

 

A reading from Ezekiel   (33.7-11)

 

So you, mortal, I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked ones, you shall surely die’, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life.

    Now you, mortal, say to the house of Israel, Thus you have said: ‘Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?’ Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel? 

 

This is the word of the Lord.

    Thanks be to God.

 

Psalm 119. 33-40

 

33       Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will observe it to the end.

34       Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.

35       Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.

36       Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain.

37       Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; give me life in your ways.

38       Confirm to your servant your promise, which is for those who fear you.

39       Turn away the disgrace that I dread, for your ordinances are good.

40       See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen

 

A reading from Romans   (13.8-14)

 

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. 

    Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. 

This is the word of the Lord.  Thanks be to God.

 

Listen to the Gospel of Christ according to St Matthew   (18.15-20)

    Glory to you, O Lord.

 

‘If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector.

    ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’

 

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

    Praise to you, O Christ.

 

Reflection - AE

A sentinel is a very striking idea, a look out, a watch keeper, standing on a city wall, or at the top of a mast, or up in a tree to give warning of threats on the horizon.

Or possibly someone welcome on the way, a good guy arriving, but mostly sentinels are about threats.

Like a canary in a coalmine.

A sentinel these days is less likely to be standing on a city wall, more likely probably an e mail, but it’s often a role we feel drawn to, sometimes for whole communities, but also often for those we love, our children, our friends.

Everyone needs a sentinel, someone looking out for them.

It’s something we’re called to be as priests, too, at our ordination, but most of us, I think, at some time feel obliged to warn, advise, give people the benefit of our wisdom.

Obviously with small children that’s vital.  “Don’t stick your finger in that electric socket.”  “Don’t run out across the road.” 

Sometimes with adults its well received.  “O thank goodness you told me rain was forecast,  I’d have got soaked without my coat.”

Sometimes it is less well received, and can come across as a bossy, interfering mother in law, or a killjoy, or as lack of understanding from a different generation.  I’m sure we’ve all seen people walking into situations that we know are a bad idea, but also known they won’t listen to us.

The main thing is that we are watching out, standing on the city wall, chatting in the pub, in a position of love.

Love is the reason we mind what our friends do, or our children, even our parents.  Love is the reason we listen as they tell us their plans for the summer, or who they’re going out with, or the colour they’re going to paint their kitchen.

It doesn’t even have to be something actually wicked, like Ezekiel is called to warn about, or a sin against us by the church member in Matthew’s gospel, but if we see a terrible outcome as inevitable, and we love that person, we have an obligation to warn them.

Sometimes people listen, “Ah, I hadn’t seen it like that.”

Or, “That’s a good idea, I hadn’t thought of that.”

Even, “Thank goodness you warned my, I’ve just found out they’re a serial bankrupt.”

Sometimes they do change their minds, and the kitchen turns out beautifully now it’s blue and white.

But, “I really like purple,” and “What would you know?” And “You don’t understand,” are all things we’ve also heard.

t’s interesting that God hears those things too.

In the Old Testament the Hebrews frequently failed to listen to the prophets, especially poor Moses, and it generally ended badly.

Jesus walked beside thousands of people, and for all the very many who turned to hm there were many more who didn’t.

The stony ground where the seeds fell but failed to grow.

He was there for all of them, he warned them, he'd have been delighted if they had turned to him, but they didn’t all listen, and if they didn’t listen, he didn’t force them.

He’s here beside us now, listening, and if new listen, suggesting, even warning, but he’s never going to jump in and interfere, or control us, or do it for us.

He’s with us in whatever we’re going through, but we have to go through it, take the steps, make the decisions, sort it out for ourselves.

Because he loves us, and he gives us that freedom.

He’ll give us the tools we need, always offer an alternative, but we have to sort it out ourselves.  There’s a limit to how much he can protect us, including from ourselves.

It’s the same for that sentinel.

The boy on the city wall can shout, and of course he has to shout, its his job, but the people in the city need to respond for themselves.  He can only warn them, not fight the battle for them.

We can warn people, but we can’t always protect them, or shield them, and at the end of the day, we can’t force them, and, especially if we love them, we have to give them freedom, and sometimes things end badly.

But God is absolutely clear that that is alright.  And if God isn’t forcing them, then how can we?

Deep down, we all have everything we need, all the tools to deal with whatever, even if we can’t always see that.  God never gives us such a problem that we can’t deal with it.

But we do have to do it for ourselves, and let others do things for themselves too.

So if we do give that warning, try to protect those we love, we also have to give them the freedom to ignore us, and then understand that sometimes they will, and it can be heartbreaking.

But that’s alright.  None of us can protect people through everything, however much we want to, and it isn’t our responsibility to do so.

The Holy Spirit understands, he’s had people ignoring him since Creation, and we can only do so much.

 

Amen

 

Lord God, the source of truth and love, keep us faithful to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, united in prayer and the breaking of bread, and one in joy and simplicity of heart, in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.