Vicar's Bit For July
Costly living
In the Christian faith acts of service and the praying for the coming kingdom are interlinked. For Jesus tells us, that within his kingdom, society is reordered: the poor are made rich, captives are liberated, the lame walk and the blind are restored to sight (Luke 4:18-19). And amazingly the impoverished inherit the kingdom, the mourners are comforted, the meek and the peacemakers are rewarded, and the persecuted are redeemed (Matthew 5:3-11).
Early on in the record given in Acts the church formalised acts of service. Stephen the first Christian martyr, was a deacon with special responsibility to distribute alms to widows and orphans (Acts 6:1-3). The early church had a radical openness to questions of parity and inclusion. In the community of Christians, the ekklesia, women were admitted, as were slaves, children, foreigners and other visitors. All remarkably different from the rest of the Mediterranean world, where political and civic assemblies were only open to free men with money and property.
On Stephen’s Day and at Christmas the carol “Good King Wencelas” is sung. Wencelas tracks down an unknown beggar in a snowstorm and invites him to a feast.
Therefore, Christians all, be sure,
Wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now bless the poor,
Shall yourself find blessing.
Kingdom discipleship is costly. In a world dominated by market and economic forces, where we are suffering from a long lasting cost of living crisis, now made worse by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and Russia’s Ukrainian war, we are still called to the costly discipleship of St Stephen. It is in giving that we receive. It is by blessing others, not ourselves, we discover the hand and heart of God. The currency of God’s love is only for giving away. Just as Jesus gave himself away. God’s love is not for hoarding to ourselves.
Special service
Saturday 18th July 2pm Maisemore Church there is ‘Service of Blessing and Dedication after a Civil Marriage’ for Richard Yorke and Dilrabo Halimova. We give our prayers and best wishes for their life together.
Sunday 2nd August 6pm at the Orchard Centre Hartpury the Benefice are holding a Lammas Day united service. Lammas is the first day in the harvest season. The Lammas loaf, bread used at Holy Communion, is a sign of God’s faithfulness to us. We celebrate this year’s on-coming wheat and barley harvest and give thanks for God’s creation.