Message from your Rector

Have you heard about the Church of England’s ‘Daily Hope’ phone line?

Daily Hope offers music, prayers and reflections as well as full worship services from the Church of England at the end of a telephone line.
The line – which is available 24 hours a day on 0800 804 8044 – has been set up particularly with those unable to join online church services during the period of restrictions in mind.
More details on the CofE website:
https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-parishes/daily-hope-phone-line
Do please pass this information on to anyone who you think may be interested

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Matthew 8
When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, 6 “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralysed and in terrible pain.”
7 Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”
8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! 11 And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. 12 But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.

Jesus had walked down from the top of the low mountain outside of Capernaum, his adopted home. He had just delivered what would become the most famous sermon in history – the sermon on the mount.
When he entered the town, a Roman centurion, whose servant was so sick that he was expected to die shortly came and asked Jesus if he might be willing to heal his servant.
Jesus set off straight away to go to the man but the Roman centurion stops him saying, ‘Lord I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, “Go” and he goes; and to another, “Come,” and he comes; and to my servant, “Do this,” and he does it.'”
Jesus turned and scanned his eyes over his disciples and the small crowd of people who had followed him down the mountain. Then he said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith”
The centurion was one the most unlikely people to amaze Jesus by his faith. He was a Gentile. Doubtless he had a pagan upbringing. He was a Roman, stationed in Palestine to subject the Jews to the Emperor’s rule. He was a man of war. He achieved the rank of centurion by distinguishing himself above others in the brutal Roman martial arts. Not exactly the résumé you’d expect for becoming one of the Bible’s great heroes of faith.
So what in the world had happened to this man? We don’t know. But there he is in Capernaum, a living illustration that “many [would] come from the east and west and follow Jesus.”
In the account of this incident in the other gospels we are told that this centurion was highly thought of by the Jewish religious leaders. They told Jesus that the soldier deserved to have his servant healed. He was a good man and respected.
But the centurion himself said ‘he didn’t deserve’ to have Jesus come to him or to go and meet with Jesus himself and he suggested that Jesus should just say some words from a distance that would heal his servant.
We’ve probably got here the two basic views on religion.
The first view says that we need to make ourselves worthy of God.
There are lots of ways that we might think we can become worthy of Gods blessing. I come from a Christian family, I support my local church and I give money to charity, I’ve never murdered anyone, I’d do anything for anybody. all these things boil down to the attitude ‘of course God should accept me and bless me- I deserve it.’
It’s what people often think Christianity is all about. Doing good things, going to church and trying to deserve God’s favour.
There’s a story about a millionaire who wanted to use his money to do good to deserving people. He was in a Post Office one day when he saw an elderly man and woman at the counter drawing their pensions. Going up to them he said, ‘how would you like to spend a week at my house – I’ll give you a wonderful time.’ They agreed and so the millionaire took them off to his house in his Rolls Royce and, as he had promised, he saw that they had a really good holiday with excellent food and more luxuries than they had ever dreamed of. At the end of the week he walked into the library where the elderly man was enjoying a glass of wine and a cigar.
Well, he said, have you enjoyed yourself. Indeed I have said the man but can I ask you a question.
Certainly replied the millionaire.
Well, said the elderly man could you tell me who’s the old woman I’ve been sharing the house with all week!
The Venerable Bede said good works without faith cannot please God.
The Roman soldier had a very different idea. He said ‘I don’t deserve it’, but I believe Jesus’ word is powerful to do what I need.
Its interesting to see what Jesus said to the soldier.
His answer, which is the punch line of the story is in verse 10 – ‘when Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd who had followed him he said, I tell you I have not found such great faith even in Israel.’
The soldier was right. He didn’t deserve God’s blessing but he was right to believe that Jesus was powerful enough to heal his slave even with just a word. It didn’t need Jesus to come to him. It didnt need him to have done lots of good things to earn favours with God. It just needed Jesus to speak.
God’s blessing doesn’t depend on a religious background. Its not about us having religious friends or family. It doesn’t just depend on us supporting our local church or giving money to charity.
Because Jesus can heal at a distance it means that anyone anywhere can cry out to him for mercy and receive it. Of course Jesus is delighted and proud of us when we do all these things – this is how he wants us to live, caring for each other and looking beyond ourselves to others. But the point he is making is that we can’t hide behind these things.
And further in the chapter if we read it we would see that what he is saying offended the religious people. If we think we deserve Gods blessing because we’re more religious or do more good things than other people were going to be upset when God accepts sinners and outcasts.
This centurion is a reminder to us that “man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” I think we will be surprised someday when Jesus doles out rewards.
Jesus is not as impressed with titles, degrees, and achievements as we are. He is impressed with those who really do humbly believe him.
And the actions that come from a faithful heart are the ones which receive God’s blessing.

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Church services will sadly cease again