Fourth Sunday after Trinity (Year A) | 28th June 2026 | St Mary Magdalene Church, Outwood | Eucharist
Matthew 10:40-42 | Romans 6:12-23 | Jeremiah 28:5-9
It is said that we live in “interesting times”. Well, to be quite honest, and not for the first time, I would say you can keep your interesting times and give me hopeful times instead!
Perhaps that is a sentiment shared by many in this world right now – those living through the hell of war, or persecuted for their beliefs, or digging through the rubble of an earthquake aftermath, with bare hands, in desperation for lost loved ones. For some, even the idea of “Hope” seems like a luxury.
Two weeks ago, I said that I imagined the Summer was a quiet time for church, with not much happening – and how wrong that idea was! As we know well, the opportunities for learning here, are ever present, as we saw last week with Dianes ‘Teaching Eucharist’. And again, this week, we have readings that seem familiar and yet speak to us afresh, especially when overlaid onto our world in the current age.
It’s been another strange week – as they all are. Maybe we like it that way – constant stimulation, something new, something tragic not happening to us etc. We look at the world – near and far; the news-cycles constantly shouting at us, and how there is always something to distract us, and so much of it fails to engage us for more than a moment.
One minute its an ill-conceived war, then ‘live coverage’ of some chap on a train, who might become prime minister; then its the weather (of course) and then back to the shifting-sands of being an actual prime minister, and then onwards to the weather – again. A brief pause for the catastrophe that is an earthquake, far away, and lamentably, we return to the weather.
Sorry if I sound cynical. It all has value, though. Amidst it all, there are real stories to be heard, about real humans, caught up within events of other peoples making, or their own, or yes – the earth and its climate.
And in the bible, each week, we hear Jesus encouraging those who hear His voice to lift up their eyes from the events of the day, and look to God. To trust in God.
All who encountered Jesus had their own very real concerns – great and small – and they wanted ‘someone’ to offer a solution, a ‘fix’ – even hoping that the Messiah would come and end the tyranny of the Roman occupation. The reality was always not what they imagined. The reality of Christian discipleship is still not what people think it is, today.
In Matthew, Jesus had previously said that He came not to bring peace, but a sword – to divide one against the other. None of which was about Him trying to cause dissension in families and communities. No, Jesus, as always, is reminding everyone who will listen that they must return to God – that to build God’s Kingdom on earth required faith and trust in God, and to do it differently! The challenge to those listening was that many of them quite liked how they got on with God, thank you very much! Quite happy to carry on without change or further challenges. Which, again, is quite familiar in our own churches, all too often!
Welcome Jesus in to your life – do as He asks and “love one another”, with even the simplest of kind acts… and you are going the right way. This shows hope and trust in God, and recognises it’s a longer game.
And yet … how we love the immediate, the instant gratification of the ‘new’… what a strange contrast!
And then Paul, talking about sin….
When we hear the words: “The wages of sin is death…” is that all we hear? So often, these words are quoted AT us – not for us, or with us. What do others make of such words when they are emblazoned across an old trailer alongside a motorway, or some other strange location? The admonishment to “Repent” often requires some context otherwise it loses something – the listener turns off, ignores, assumes religion is ‘just having a go… once again’.
What about the rest of that final verse from today’s Roman’s passage? “ The wages of sin is death….but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Now there is Grace, in all its hope-filled glory! Context is everything. If you quote scripture to someone, hoping it will be heard, and will mean the same to the hearer as it does to you, be careful. The bible, as we receive it, is not just words that mean the same to everyone.
And to speak of sin, as Paul does so well, needs context…. Sin is all the ways we stray away from God – yes, there seem to be many variations, some “deadly” – but all sinfulness will harm our soul in some way. Sin can be instant, or may take its time to do the most harm. Paul says – enslavement to sin can end and we can become “slaves to righteousness” – not in some bizarre cult-like way, but through our choices and how we show our trust and faith in God, in following Jesus.
And if you venture into the Old Testament passage for today – actually there are two, but I mention Jeremiah here – we find a discourse that sounds very modern indeed! The ‘false prophet’ Hananiah is promising that he will end the oppression by the Babylonians within two years, return all that was stolen by Nebuchadnezzar, and bring home all those in exile. This is very popular and is what everyone wants to hear! Imagine them all clicking “like”!
Jeremiah however, knows different. He’s not being a misery when he calls out the dangers of promising too much, too quickly, of short-circuiting the real challenges that will face many people in such an endeavour. His lament is for the absence of peace, in any prophecy – that when such a prophet does appear, all will truly know they have come from God.
If a world leader decides to wage war against another nation, we hope and pray that this is the end of a long and difficult journey of diplomacy, considered political and economic responses, and finally a sombre and humble speech, spoken to camera, from a place of recognised authority and gravitas. Or am I showing my age in thinking that the world still operates with some degree of expected order, even in the case of disorder?
Whatever the pretext for aggression, we do still truly hope that those who speak of peace, who we know are blessed by God, will still have a voice, and words to be heard. Not any more, it seems.
The first we know about these things is through the news channels, all vying for verified and accurate accounts, that we might be informed of decisions made for us, perhaps with reason and imperative beyond our understanding. Don’t ask questions, just keep watching!
I recall the first Gulf War in 1990. I was off work, recovering from surgery at the time, and the new format of rolling CNN style news broadcasts, with constant repetition, brought an immediacy that kept me watching and rewatching the war unfold. The precedent was set then, and now it is all too easy to remain locked into the cycle of misery brought to us for our entertainment, and sponsored by the brands we buy.
Again, for the cynicism, I make no apologies. It’s all a madness. However such things are viewed at the time, or across history, the choices made rarely envisage the outcomes, and bring responsibilities that rarely find a willing owner. Whatever the issue of the moment, everyone takes a side, in some way or other. We are told that ‘the people must have the changes they voted for’- whatever that means; or, the nation must take immediate action to make another nation changes its ways; or worse still – all those people over there, are trouble and we must send them away.
All of this, and so much more, indicates a divided humanity, a short attention span, and a craving for changes that suit a limited purpose. None of which is how Jesus encouraged the Kingdom: change your ways, trust in God and have a hopeful faith. Again and again, all the prophets, Paul and Jesus – all invite us to return to a ‘right relationship’ with God.
Step sideways from this and, what else do we see? The distractions are endless – some are quite nice, some seem essential and what everyone else does, what’s the harm! And I’m just as likely to be distracted by shiny and fun things as you are!
Our desire for the immediate has led us to all the places that we wanted to go anyway, based on how we shop, consume and behave. We may look back and see how easy it was to allow a “new thing” to become the “everyday thing” which then develops into the “only thing”, which may sadly progresses to – well, use own words here – habit, addiction, enslavement.
We don’t find it easy to talk about slavery – of those enslaved by others for profit and selfish gain; or of being enslaved to one thing or another, when it seems to have been a choice but then becomes all consuming.
So what do we do? How can we remain faithful to our Christian discipleship amid the very real tyranny of the immediate? Choice, and the responsibilities taken, are a constant theme throughout scripture and Christian spiritual formation, so we could start there.
We can always choose. We can be aware of the many choices available to us. Then, the selection of choices on offer diminishes as they become harder. The notion of being between a rock and a hard place – that lack of options for many, every day, who have choice taken away from them – is all too real.
Underneath, and beyond the choices made – for good or ill – is the responsibility we take for those choices – often it’s very hard, long term, unattractive, isolating but, when we seek to follow Christ, and to also do the will of the One who sent Him, that responsibility is bearable, even a joy.
I believe that I am a fairly hopeful person. I think I know the differences between blind optimism in the face of the inevitable, and the sense that in God, all will be well – somehow, and not all at once, and it will require a lot from me and the outcomes might not be what I want, and I might have to help you, or whoever, to see where its’ all going and not to run and hide.
Please try not to be overwhelmed by this life. Our daily temptations are plentiful. Our greatest challenge is to not confuse real hope with constant stimulation for change. By all means, hope for something better, yes – that our nation will seek the best path for all its citizens, that the welfare of everyone is respected and governed well. Yet don’t throw out everything just because it doesn’t meet our expectations for change that suits us. We must never create scapegoats in others when our ideals of a bygone age fail to materialise – some utopia that exists only in the fiction of our minds.
Life is hard enough. The world offers us constant stimulation because it cannot offer lasting hope. Christ offers lasting hope, and so does not need to keep distracting us. We know that the actual real and hopeful ‘work’ of God is peaceful, enriching and enlivening; challenging in that it pushes against the ease and choice we take for granted. It all takes time. We are the change needed for the world. This week, go and reveal the Kingdom to everyone – in your own way, and in your hopeful, trusting, loving and very real faith in God.
Amen.
Image: I asked ChatGPT to ‘summarise all the above’. The image produced might not be what one might choose, but it met the brief, and illustrates the points made, I guess. What do you think?