Moses: Part 6: God Provides and God Protects
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We meet in the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are 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.
God
our Father,
we
come to you in sorrow for our sins.
For
turning away from you,
and
ignoring your will for our lives;
Father,
forgive us:
save us and help us.
For
behaving just as we wish,
without
thinking of you;
Father,
forgive us:
save us and help us.
For
failing you by what we do,
and
think and say;
Father,
forgive us:
save us and help us.
For
letting ourselves be drawn away from you
by
temptations in the world about us;
Father,
forgive us:
save us and help us.
For
living as if we were ashamed
to
belong to your Son;
Father,
forgive us:
save us and help us.
Almighty
God,
who
forgives all who truly repent,
have
mercy upon you,
pardon
and deliver you from all your sins,
confirm
and strengthen you in all goodness,
and
keep you in life eternal;
through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Collect
Lord of creation,
whose glory is around and within us:
open our eyes to your wonders,
that we may serve you with reverence
and know your peace at our lives’ end,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Song: River wash over me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-leuKQeBgCA
Reading Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogfVBP35U-U
Old Testament Reading: Exodus 17:8-16 read by
Antoinette
8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Pick out some men to go and fight the Amalekites tomorrow. I will stand on top of the hill holding the stick that God told me to carry.” 10 Joshua did as Moses commanded him and went out to fight the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his arms, the Israelites won, but when he put his arms down, the Amalekites started winning. 12 When Moses' arms grew tired, Aaron and Hur brought a stone for him to sit on, while they stood beside him and held up his arms, holding them steady until the sun went down. 13 In this way Joshua totally defeated the Amalekites.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write an account of this victory, so that it will be remembered. Tell Joshua that I will completely destroy the Amalekites.” 15 Moses built an altar and named it “The Lord is my Banner.” 16 He said, “Hold high the banner of the Lord! The Lord will continue to fight against the Amalekites forever!”
Song: Manna from Heaven https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQyXPcTI2nI
Gospel Reading Matthew 21:23-32 read by Anthony
23 Jesus came back to the Temple; and as he taught, the chief priests and the elders came to him and asked, “What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you such right?”
24 Jesus answered them, “I will ask you just
one question, and if you give me an answer, I will tell you what right I have to
do these things. 25 Where did John's right to baptize come
from: was it from God or from human beings?”
They started to argue among themselves, “What shall
we say? If we answer, ‘From God,’ he will say to us, ‘Why, then, did you not
believe John?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From human beings,’ we
are afraid of what the people might do, because they are all convinced that
John was a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We don't
know.”
And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you,
then, by what right I do these things.
28 “Now, what do you think? There was once a man who had two sons. He went to the older one and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 ‘I don't want to,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. ‘Yes, sir,’ he answered, but he did not go. 31 Which one of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The older one,” they answered.
So Jesus said to them, “I tell you: the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John the Baptist came to you showing you the right path to take, and you would not believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. Even when you saw this, you did not later change your minds and believe him.
Today’s reading was in two parts- and the first part is on
the reading video.
This is the account of water coming from the rock.
Once more we are wandering in the wilderness with Moses and God’s
people. They are struggling to survive and adapt. Not just keep going with scarce
food and now scarce water, but also to change from a raggged band of thousands
of escaped slaves into a nation that knows how to be led and to follow God.
It’s hard. So though God provided them miraculously with
enough manna from heaven and quails from the sky in the last episode, they seem
to have forgotten God again.
Once again the moaning starts- though this time it’s even
more aggressive- they quarrel with Moses.
Angry frightened people look for someone to blame – it’s all
Moses’ fault they say. Angry frightened people can’t see their responsibility –
they could turn to God- he’s rescued them before but they don’t.
Angry frightened people make up the story- they accuse Moses
of leading them into the desert to die but he brought them out of Egypt to give
them their own land.
I would have given up on them; I would have yelled back for
sure. Moses turns to God in faith and despair.
And God answers him.
Moses takes some of the leaders of the people and strikes the
rock (we think it might have been a limestone rock which hold great natural cisterns
of water). Water gushes out. Their thirst is relieved. But Moses has a deeper
lesson for them.
Is God among us or not?
I think this is another warning about coping with the
difficult things in life.
Life is hard. Stuff, bad stuff happens. The people knew that
but they couldn’t cope. They reacted in anger and fear – blaming the person who
was trying to lead them; not taking any responsibility for themselves,
forgetting what they had learnt and believing things that weren’t true.
This has such echoes for our time. It’s really hard at the moment.
How are we all doing with the news about COVID?
I rang round all our local clergy on Wednesday just to see
how people were. Mostly, they were resigned. We’ve done this before, we’ve
adapted, it’s not such a shock as in March. Bad stuff happens- life is just
tough and knowing that is stage one of coping with it.
Sadly Moses’ people didn’t get onto stage 2. Stage 2 of
coping with bad things is to focus on what helps. They forgot God! God had rescued
them; God had provided for them; God had helped them- as Moses had done his bit
too. Instead of seeing what had worked in the past- they forgot.
For us, remembering what works- what helps us physcally and mentally
such as positives routines, regular food and exercise, keeping in touch with
people. Wash your hands, wear a face covering, keep your distance. And staying
in touch spiritually- Julie’s daily mediations, other ways of reading the bible
and praying, meeting in groups, coming to worship.
And of course- rejecting the things that make it all worse.
Staying off the endless news cycle; ignoring the conspiracy theories that blame
all sorts other people; whatever it is for us that drags us down -stay away
from it.
All through the peoples’ struggle- God provides- he provides
water, he acts with patience, God supports Moses and give the leaders a lesson
to help them remember and remind others too. God provided what they needed.
But we’ve also had a second part to the Moses’ reading today.
Our first part was both a reminder that God provides and advice about how to
cope with difficult things, and next we hear about God’s protection.
The people had enemies.
The Amalekites were a fierce, war-like tribe defending their
territory from these nomads. They attacked the stragglers, the weak and those
left behind. Even when Moses decides to engage them in battle- it’s an uneven
fight. How could a band of escape slaves contend with an armed tribe? They had
few weapons and weren’t used to war.
But Moses sends Joshua out to take them on in battle. And
Moses and Aaron and Hur went up the hillside to watch and pray. Moses raised up
his staff and the Israelites started to win- when he lowered his staff, they
were losing.
Aaron and Hur support him, find something to sit on and holding
up his arms. Together, they prevail. This was a decisive battle against the Amalekites
but God warns that it would continue for generatons. This battle however was a “banner”-
it’s the word used for a flag or something raised to show victory.
Though Joshua had fought and Moses, Aaron and Hur had prayed-
they were all clear. It was God’s victory so God’s banner.
We understand this story as a battle - not a fight between
human beings but as the struggle we have agaisnt what’s wrong in the world. It’s
the fight between good and evil, the struggle that Paul takes about in his
letters- we struggle against our frail human nature; there is a fight against what’s
wrong in this world, against the devil and spiritual powers.
And we can see that there is actual practical action to be
taken Joshua went out to fight. When we focus on what’s wrong in the world,
there are things we can do about it!
We might think about the fight to save our planet’s
resources. We can all take practical action - reducing our plastic usage, using
the car less, eating more vegetables!
But there’s also a spiritual battle. In terms of the
enviroment, science can tell us what to do but the change in our hearts and minds
so that we find the will to do it, is a spiritual one. We need God’s help to overcome
selfishness and fear. When we think of our own bad habits, addictions or
faults, we need God’s help to overcome them. Take good advice and practical
action of course, but also know that God has the power to change us from the
inside out. To make us clean from our wrong- doing and sin. That’s why at
confession we sang “River wash over me”… we’re asking God’s Holy Spirit to make
us clean.
But lastly, we need each other. It’s God’s battle and he will
ultimately overcome but we all play our part. Joshua fought, Moses prayed,
Aaron and Hur supported but none of them did this alone.
As we face huge challenges again in our world, we do our
part, pray and support with others, but know that in the end God will overcome.
The Creed
Let
us declare our faith in God.
We believe in God the Father,
from whom every family
in heaven and on earth is named.
We believe in God the Son,
who lives in our hearts through faith,
and fills us with his love.
We believe in God the Holy Spirit,
who strengthens us
with power from on high.
We believe in one God;
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Prayers: Led by Tope
We pray for God’s blessing over every member of this church and all the churches around the world…
We
pray that this second pandemic doesn’t wipe away any of our beloved ones…
We
pray for all the church members…
We
pray for all schools around the world and for Gods protection and love over the
children and their teachers …
We
also pray for the NHS and all health care teams…
Merciful Father
accept these prayers
for the sake of your Son
Our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
The Peace
The peace of the Lord be always with you
and also with you.
Let us offer one another a sign of peace.
Song: Cornerstone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3HH__-1Zbs
Holy Communion
The Lord be with you
and also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give thanks and praise.
It is right to praise you, Father, Lord of all
creation;
in your love you made us for yourself.
When we turned away
you did not reject us,
but came to meet us in your Son.
You embraced us as your children
and welcomed us to sit and eat with you.
In Christ you shared our life
that we might live in him and he in us.
He opened his arms of love
upon the cross
and made for all the perfect
sacrifice for sin.
On the night he was betrayed,
at supper with his friends
he took bread, and gave you thanks;
he broke it and gave it to them, saying:
Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you;
do this in remembrance of me.
Father, we do this in remembrance of him:
his body is the bread of life.
At the end of supper, taking the cup of wine,
he gave you thanks, and said:
Drink this, all of you; this is my blood of the new
covenant,
which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins;
do this in remembrance of me.
Father, we do this in remembrance of him:
his blood is shed for all.
As we proclaim his death and celebrate his rising
in glory,
send your Holy Spirit that this bread and this wine
may be to us the body and blood of your dear Son.
As we eat and drink these holy gifts
make us one in Christ, our risen Lord.
With your whole Church throughout the world
we offer you this sacrifice of praise
and lift our voice to join the eternal song of
heaven:
Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of
your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
We continue with the
words of The Lord's Prayer:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our
daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Lead us not into
temptation
but deliver us from
evil.
For the kingdom, the
power,
and the glory are
yours
now and for ever. Amen
We break this bread
to share in the body
of Christ.
Though we are many, we
are one body,
because we all share
in one bread.
Every time we eat this
bread
and drink this cup,
we proclaim the Lord’s
death
until he comes.
God’s holy gifts
for God’s holy people.
Jesus Christ is holy,
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God
the Father.
Song during Communion
Here is Bread https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emztEMWXoGI
Prayer of Spiritual Communion
Thanks be to you, Lord
Jesus Christ,
for all the benefits
you have given me,
for all the pains and
insults you have borne for me.
Since I cannot now
receive you sacramentally,
I ask you to come
spiritually into my heart.
O most merciful redeemer,
friend and brother,
may I know you more
clearly,
love you more
dearly,
and follow you more
nearly, day by day. Amen
The Blessing
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
among you and remain with you always.
Amen.
Song: My God is able https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2MoUW78Auk
The Dismissal
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ. Amen.