Pew Sheet, Sunday, September 15th 2024. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity / Creationtide 3

James, our Lord’s brother and a leader of the early church in Jerusalem has much to say about the tongue in his epistle reading this week, for he sees it as the one thing which can destroy the unity of the church or the reputation of its members quicker than anything else, even though our words can also build up, through words of wisdom, proficient teaching, and words of exhortation and encouragement.

Martin Luther did not like the epistle of James at all and called it ‘the epistle of straw’ since in his eyes, James focused much too much emphasis on the believer’s personal behaviour or deeds in comparison to their faith, though faith without works is dead, as James reminded us last week, and I am apt to give him the benefit of the doubt over and above Luther’s purported dislike of the letter given that repentance, an outcome of faith, is all about turning away from the behaviours which have damaged us and others in the past, and resolving to change the way we think, and act, and relate to God and others as a result. There can be no ‘metanoia’ or repentance (literally a changing of one’s mind and one’s direction) without some change in our behaviour, and perhaps the most significant behaviour most of us need to change from time to time is the way we speak and act towards others.

When I was young, we used to use an expression in the schoolyard which said, ‘sticks and stones may break our bones but words will never hurt us’ – but how wrong we were. Words have a great capacity to do harm, to hurt us, and even to do long-term psychological and emotional damage in those who are their target, whether in the playground or in online cyber bullying, as covert whispers or criticism, or words which are deliberately intended to wound or hurt another person. And yet, as James so vividly points out, we just don’t seem capable of stopping ourselves from doing it, and frequently engage our mouths before engaging our brains even when we mean not to.

I know that I do it… frequently, and I have often had cause to repent of my words at leisure, yet still they come! Thankfully, I am not alone in that, and neither are you. Peter was a great expert at engaging his mouth before engaging his brain, and even though his words were well intended, they frequently hit the wrong target and weren’t quite the solution to a problem which was very often of his own making!
We have one such example in our Gospel reading today where in response to Jesus’ explanation of what must happen to him at the hands of the priests, the scribes and the pharisees, Peter we are told, takes Jesus aside and begins to ‘rebuke’ him – quite a powerful word when we consider who Jesus is. Peter’s rebuke is even more astounding when we see that he has only just acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, a definite brownie point in the hierarchy of saintliness, but then brings the whole edifice crashing down again by immediately telling Jesus that he is wrong, and cannot possibly suffer as he has said, because he – Peter, just won’t have it!

Of course, we can make all sorts of excuses for Peter’s reaction. He is shocked or upset perhaps to think that this person, the most significant person he has ever met will soon be taken away and suffer horribly at the hands of the religious extremists, zealots, and Roman collaborators everyone dislikes so much. It is too much to bear, and not exactly the encouraging news that he or the other disciples want or need to hear at this moment in time. Yet Jesus’ rebuke is equally stinging. ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’ Harsh words indeed, which must have stung Peter to the core – and yet an important lesson he needed to learn. Let us pray that we can keep our mind on divine things and not be so tempted to respond to our basic human urge to speak without thinking, so that we can avoid such judgement ourselves!

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 or Lord.

Isaiah 50:4-9a

The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens, wakens my ear, to listen as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious. I did not turn backwards. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard. I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. The Lord God helps me. Therefore, I have not been disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame, for he who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty? All of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.

James 3:1-12

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also, the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can saltwater yield fresh.

Mark 8:27-end

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ And he asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’ And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his
disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’

Please pray this week for:

Those who find the darkening days of autumn difficult or distressing. For those whose work or relationships are unfulfilling, for all who are lonely or isolated, unemployed, unappreciated, or whose talents go unrecognised. May they know their true worth in God’s sight, and have their spirits lifted by others’ kindness.

This Week’s Events

Monday (Ninian, Bishop of Galloway, Apostle to the Picts, c432)

Bell ringing at 7.30pm in St Laurence. Contact Jan on 07835 461361.

Tuesday (Hildegard, Abbess of Bingen, Visionary, 1179)

Zoom Morning Prayer at 9am ID: 748 9970 4493 Password: Trinity or contact Didier on [email protected]

Daytime Bible Group (2nd and 4th Tuesdays) contact Paula: 07722 808 988.

Evening Home Groups, contact Jo on 07803 942 687.

Wednesday

Morning Coffee from 10.00-11.45 in the St Laurence Rooms.

Midweek Holy Communion at 12.00 noon, St Laurence Church.

Thursday (Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury, 690)

Thursday Home Group, contact Jo on 07803 942 687.

Friday (John Coleridge Patteson, First Bishop of Melanesia, Martyr, 1871)

Junior Choir at 6.30 pm followed by full Choir Practice at 7.30pm. Contact Derry on [email protected] if you would like to know more.

Saturday (Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist)

Repair Café, 10-12 am St Laurence Room, Third Saturday of the month only. If you have skills you would like to share, please contact Jo on 07803 942 687.

Pastoral Care

Please contact Steve on [email protected] or 07305 271 148.