(All our songs this morning are from Singing the Faith (StF) numbers will be given where available)
Welcome to our Sunday Service, today shared on paper across our circuit and with the congregation at Wilsden Trinity Church a Local Ecumenical Partnership where Methodist and URC worship & witness together and led by Stuart Ayrton one of our circuit Local Preachers.
Click on the blue links to follow them for bible readings and associated links
Call to Worship
Based on Psalm 106
‘Let us praise the Lord, for he is good, his steadfast love endures forever.’
God patiently calls us back from worshipping idols of our own making.
Let us come and hear God’s call, come to worship humbly and sincerely.
Song – StF 35 – The Trumpet Sounds The Angels Sing
Prayers
We come to worship you, Lord, not a god of stone or gold who cannot listen to our prayers,
But a God who draws close to us as we draw near to you. Through Jesus, you forgive our half-heartedness and offer us your gracious love. Thank you for who you are.
God of all time and all places:
You are a kind God, a generous God, a merciful God. You are a holy God, a loving God, a creative God. You are an approachable God, a just God, a joyful God.
You are a challenging God, a fair God, a compassionate God. You are our kind of God.
And we worship you now in Jesus’ name.
Forgive us, merciful God: When we want quick fixes in our lives and turn away from you;
When we want instant answers and don’t listen to you; When we want gods that are worldly and don’t honour you; When we want to be in control and don’t wait on you. Forgive us and be patient with us, Even when we are impatient with you and those around us. We ask this in Jesus’ name.
Assurance of forgiveness
God of all that is healing and holy, Your faithfulness outweighs your frustration,
Your forgiveness burns brighter than our mistakes. You do not give up on us,
Even when we give up on you. Thank you for your constancy and for your Son, Jesus Christ,
Whose life, death and resurrection reunite us with you.
Eternal God, Your people made a calf, you were angry – not half! But Moses pleaded their case, and your response was grace. And we are just the same, Dishonouring your name with our idols and our pride. But you don’t cast aside, you let us start again. Thank you, Lord.
Amen.
Song – StF 401 – Come Sinners To The Gospel Feast
Reading
Matthew 22: 1-14
Meditation The Grumblings
The grumblings were beginning. The Pharisees were grumbling . The leaders in the Temple were grumbling . Who did Jesus think he was? Why were people following him? What could be done about it? Jesus could hear the grumblings . So he told a story .‘A man owned a vineyard and some tenants rented it from him. When the harvest was ready the owner sent a servant to collect the grapes. But the tenants beat up the servant. The owner sent another servant and he was also beaten up. The owner decided he had to send the person who was most precious to him. He sent his son but the tenants killed him. The owner was angry with the tenants and threw them off the land. He found new tenants who would give him the grapes at harvest time.’ The Pharisees grumbled , they knew the story was about them. The leaders in the Temple grumbled , they knew the story was about them. They knew the story was about their grumblings to have Jesus arrested. Jesus heard their grumblings and said something very strange. He told them that the one whom they rejected would be the one who became the most important in God’s plan. Jesus heard the grumblings . He knew they were about him. He knew they were plotting to arrest him. The Pharisees and the leaders kept grumbling , plotting the arrest of Jesus. But they didn’t do anything about it. They kept their grumblings quiet. They were frightened that the crowds would hear their grumblings .Everyone seemed to be grumbling rather than accepting all that they had been given by God.
Song – StF 255 – The Kingdom Of God Is Justice And Joy
Sermon
Jesus tells a story in which invitations are sent out for a wedding banquet. The invited guests find excuses not to come, so others are invited in their place. But a man is thrown out because he is not dressed appropriately. In a world where cynicism and negativity are often prized, today we explore how we might say a wholehearted ‘Yes’ to the many invitations open to us to rejoice in his love, and how we might better welcome others to celebrate with us. In this parable, as in the preceding two, Jesus is speaking to the religious leaders. This wedding banquet story follows immediately on the tail of his direct comment that the kingdom of God will be taken away from them and given to those who produce kingdom fruits (21:43). Jesus’ earlier comment is illustrated as those who have been invited to the wedding banquet refuse to come, and the king throws open the invitation to all. The people of God were set apart by God, a chosen people, not in the sense of being elite, but rather chosen to show God to the other nations. Having failed to take this seriously, they have lost their status. There are some stark images in this story. The invited guests do not merely fail to show up: they refuse, they insult, they kill the messengers. The king does not merely feel anger: there is a severe consequence. Those who are invited instead do not fall into certain categories; everyone is invited, good and bad. As an image of the kingdom of heaven, God is generous and our response matters. The custom was for the host – in this case the king – to provide wedding robes for the guests. All guests were dressed similarly, so role and status were irrelevant. The guest in the parable who has continued to wear his own clothes wasn’t wholehearted in his acceptance. He has not joined in with the necessary preparation for the banquet. He has stood apart, attending on his own terms and this, too, has a severe consequence. The symbolism here is that of clothing representing one’s spiritual state. All are welcome in the kingdom of heaven, but a wholehearted acceptance of God’s invitation is needed.
There was once a woman who was a princess in Nigeria. She married a teacher from Ireland, and they moved there and had three daughters. They were not wealthy and her husband died before the last of their daughters was married, but the woman was determined to give all of them, including the youngest, a wedding befitting their status as belonging to a royal line. No expense was spared. Each wedding, and particularly the receptions afterwards, was lavish. Everyone from her acquaintance was invited, or at least as many as the venues could contain. The bride’s dresses were stunning, but as well as supplying the bride’s dresses, for the Nigerian contingent, men and women, she supplied bolts of matching brightly coloured batik fabric to fashion into wedding clothes. Is this similar to the tradition in this week’s Gospel story when the wedding guest is shockingly ejected for not wearing the right clothes? Every culture has its own traditions around weddings. Where in the UK we have wedding receptions, in the US they frequently have a ‘rehearsal dinner’ and a ‘wedding breakfast’. In India and other places the celebrations can go on for days. We may not understand all of the allusions in Jesus’ story, particularly as it turns from a seemingly happy story of a royal wedding to one of war, murder and mayhem, but key to it is the idea of who is invited and who accepts. There are no moral criteria; both ‘good and bad’ are, in the end, invited in. No one earns their right to be there. Then, perhaps, we remember that this is not really a story about wedding customs, it is about the kingdom of God. And then we read the sting in tail: one person is ejected. Everyone is invited; but there is more than one way of not accepting the invitation
Song – StF 693 – Beauty For Brokenness
Prayers of Intercession
Living God, your Son lived among the people of the Holy Land and mixed with both Jews and Gentiles. Your banquet is a feast for all to share in harmony and peace. We pray for those whose lives are shattered by warfare and conflict. We hold before you Israelis and Palestinians, Russians and Ukrainians and all who live in fear of the bullet and the bomb.
You invite leaders and outcasts; those with plenty and those with nothing; lawmakers and lawbreakers. We hold before you the leaders of all the nations of the world. They desire the best for their people; help them to see the needs of their neighbours as well. May all rejoice in the diversity of humanity and co-exist without violence and oppression.
In your banquet there is food for the needy. You welcome the hungry, the homeless and those who have fled their lands in fear to seek refuge in a strange country. In you there are no barriers of language or background; of gender or age; of employment or unemployment. Your welcome is fulsome; your invitation is to all. We hold before you those who feel excluded for whatever reason. May we see your image in all our neighbours and show the love we have received. God of comfort and healing, you invite the sick and sorrowful as well as the healthy and happy to your great feast. For many, this is not a time for celebration. Many grieve for loved ones – those who have died recently or for whom this is a time of anniversary. Many are worried as they wait for medical appointments, test results or treatment. Many are in pain and their loved ones sit beside them feeling helpless. We hold before you our health service and pray for all involved in it – doctors, nurses, administrators, managers, porters, health care assistants. We commend to you all who are sick and sorrowful naming in our hearts, especially those we know….
God of the Great Banquet, we stand in amazement, holding an invitation with our name on it! We will be welcomed and accepted. We will receive healing and peace. We will be fed and treated as your special guests. We stand before you in wonder at the height, depth, breadth and length of your love. We celebrate your presence. God who offers peace to those who will receive it, May all people say yes and accept your love zs we say yes to you, We hear you say a resounding “yes!” to us And in that we rejoice. In Jesus’ name. Amen
Lord’s Prayer
Song – StF 692 – Your Hand, O God Has Guided
Blessing
Lord, help us to acknowledge you in everything we do. May we honour you in what we do and what we say, As people who put you first, middle and last, Everywhere and always.
Amen.
