Collect
Almighty God, who alone can bring order to the unruly wills and passions of sinful humanity: give your people grace so to love what you command and to desire what you promise, that, among the many changes of this world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; 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.
or
Eternal God, whose Son went among the crowds and brought healing with his touch: help us to show his love, in your Church as we gather together, and by our lives as they are transformed into the image of Christ our Lord.
Readings
Psalm
1 Alleluia.
Blessed are those who fear the Lord ♦
and have great delight in his commandments.
2 Their descendants will be mighty in the land, ♦
a generation of the faithful that will be blest.
3 Wealth and riches will be in their house, ♦
and their righteousness endures for ever.
4 Light shines in the darkness for the upright; ♦
gracious and full of compassion are the righteous.
5 It goes well with those who are generous in lending ♦
and order their affairs with justice,
6 For they will never be shaken; ♦
the righteous will be held in everlasting remembrance.
7 They will not be afraid of any evil tidings; ♦
their heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
8 Their heart is sustained and will not fear, ♦
until they see the downfall of their foes.
9 They have given freely to the poor; their righteousness stands fast for ever; ♦
their head will be exalted with honour.
10 The wicked shall see it and be angry; they shall gnash their teeth in despair; ♦
the desire of the wicked shall perish.
Psalm 112
Old Testament
Shout out, do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet day after day they seek me
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practised righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgements,
they delight to draw near to God.
‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day,
and oppress all your workers.
Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.
Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.
Isaiah 58.1–9a[b–12]
Gospel
‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5.13–20
Sermon on Third Sunday before Lent
All through the Christmass season we have been talking about the light. That light which shone in the darkness and was not overcome – the season of white and gold celebration ending at Candlemass. We are now in “Ordinary Time”, and our reading reflects ordinary life. Ordinary Time is the season when the vestments and hangings are green. The time when we return to the normal course of events.
I think Isaiah was writing about the ordinary when he wrote the chapter we read from this morning. He comments on what was considered “normal” by his contemporaries.
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
Isaiah was condemning the excesses of his fellow countrymen. Don’t we still do these things he castigates? Don’t we ourselves point the finger at all those people who are doing things we don’t approve of? Don’t we talk about the awful things that are being done all around the world? Don’t we burden others with the hardest tasks? In our dealings with others don’t we put more and more onto their shoulders, so that we cannot see them, just buried under the jobs they have to do?
Isaiah spoke directly, didn’t he? “If only” he said to them. “If only” you would satisfy the needs of the afflicted … “If only” you would offer food to the hungry … Isn’t this what our consciences tell us? “If only” we would do these things, then light would shine in the darkness of the world in which we find ourselves, a world of our own making, a world where conscience has made cowards of us all, to quote the bard.
Conscience forces us in one of two directions, one path leads us into the anonymous crowd where we do nothing. Conscience seems to paralyse us. The other path isolates us into the singularity of righteousness, that region no one wishes to occupy with you, but you must say your conscience is clear! You have comforted the widow and orphan. You have done all the things justice demands. Isaiah and all the prophets would be proud of you. St Peter will greet you like a long-lost brother at the pearly gates. All who knew you will mourn you with great grief, because like the rich man they will beg you, as he did Lazarus, to give them succour, to dip your finger into cooling water and give them a drop to drink. Your life will be extolled, but that crowd will do none of those things to bring light to the world, that crowd will turn to unknowing and rejoice in their ignorance of what righteousness and justice are, those intangibles which give light to the world in which we all live. Isaiah says:
Shout out, do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Conscience does drive us to sound off amongst our acquaintances. We are compelled to speak out for those things which change life completely, even though we cannot put names to what they are. Those things Isaiah named are not the next big thing, are they? Isaiah’s things are commonplace care for others. Feeding the hungry, relieving the burden of others, holding your tongue from intemperate judgement – these are all the simplest of actions, unrecognised but revolutionary.
Occasionally, someone’s life is changed by a silent act of kindness. They may not even know it at the time. Recognition is often not given for the good, but it does make that difference in life, not just for the recipient. The act is its own reward because one’s conscience is clear.
The philosophers and theologians have a lot to say about the good life, don’t they? From Socrates to Bonnhoffer they have opined about the value of the good in an individual’s life and how it impacts on the life of the others round about him or her. They may talk about how such a life can even influence the unthinking, unfeeling, ignorant “crowd”. As Jesus hung on the cross, so does a good act. It demands a response – that we shout out and not hold back about the good.
The good person is a cipher in the world. That good life stands out when we consider it, even though we may have not noticed it at the time we encountered that person who embodied it. When we hear it, it sounds clearly in our ears and transforms us completely. It is a hearty and wholehearted sound when the prophet of the good life lifts his or her voice.
I would ask that we let our lives be silent clarion calls to the world. We can sound off through the good acts of care. Don’t we say more in a good deed than in all of my words?
At this point I think I should sit down and let each of us complete that thought.
One Reply to “Third Sunday before Lent”
Comments are closed.