Collect:

Lord God,
your Son left the riches of heaven
and became poor for our sake:
when we prosper save us from pride,
when we are needy save us from despair,
that we may trust in you alone;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Questions
1) Why pray for God’s kingdom to come? What do we expect?

2) How might our faith grow stronger? What do we have to do?



Collect:

Gracious Father,
revive your Church in our day,
and make her holy, strong and faithful,
for your glory's sake
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Comment

Are you rich towards God? If not, you are in deep trouble, however fulfilling your life is at the moment.

This is not a message people want to hear today. It was even less popular when Jesus first said it. In his culture riches were a sign of God’s blessing, so if you had ‘an abundance of possessions’ you were thought to be well off both materially and spiritually.

The speaker was concerned about his inheritance. Jewish laws covered most cases of succession, but obviously he thought an injustice had been done in his case, and he wanted this Rabbi to do what other rabbis did and make a legal decision – in his favour, of course. He may well have had justice on his side, but Jesus had more important concerns.

The big issue that Jesus focuses on is that of true wealth. The only wealth that ultimately matters is that which God values – and wants us to possess for ever. Jesus spoke about this many times, and this parable sums up his teaching. Earthly riches – and their associated comforts and pleasures – do not impress God, and have a tendency to choke our relationship with him as weeds choke growing corn. They are not bad in themselves, but if we have them they only benefit us if we use them wisely, to become ‘rich towards God’.

Paul tells Timothy what we must do (1 Timothy 6:17-19). We must first learn not to depend on our wealth for security or future well-being.
Instead, we must depend on God – he is the one who looks after us all.
God does not give each person a private bag of resources, just for ourselves; he wants us to share what he gives us with those around and be generous with our time and resources. In that way, says Paul, we build up treasure for the coming age.

God will reward his people. In the coming ages he will ‘show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus’ (Ephesians 2:7). We will be living in a perfect world, enjoying all that our generous God has in store for us. But that is not our main treasure. From God’s point of view, the greatest treasure is the kind of people we will be, with characters formed from choices made and attitudes developed in this life through his Spirit, then made perfect. From our point of view, the greatest treasure will be the privilege of living in the presence of God our Father as his children, because of Jesus.

The wealth and glory this world has to offer is nothing compared to what God wants for us. What do we want?
 

Questions
1) What kinds of greed do we need to guard against in today’s world?

2) How can we truly become rich?
 


Collect:

Lord of heaven and earth,
as Jesus taught his disciples to be persistent in prayer,
give us patience and courage never to lose hope,
but always to bring our prayers before you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Comment

‘Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.’ What do we hope for? What is our unseen certainty? These questions are answered in our Gospel reading.

The Christian hope is the assurance Jesus gives: ‘your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.’ That is an amazing statement. God is going to give us his kingdom! But what does it mean?

The kingdom of God is where God reigns. Although Jesus is Lord of all, he does not reign where his authority is rejected – he is in the process of establishing his reign in those places, and that means planet Earth in particular. That process is not complete: we still need to pray, ‘Your kingdom come,’ and we still need to promote his aims, values and authority wherever we can. But one day all the preparations will be completed, and Jesus will return to take his proper place as Lord of heaven and earth. All will then be made new: evil will be dealt with, justice will be seen to be done, good will be rewarded, and history will culminate in a new heaven and earth where righteousness is at home and God’s reign brings perfect joy and harmony to all creation.

Jesus tells us that this kingdom is being given to us who follow him!
That is more than a guarantee that we will be citizens in God’s kingdom.
It will be the fulfilment of God’s original purpose for humankind, to be his regents on Earth, presiding over a perfect creation where love and joy and beauty are seen at every turn, and God is at home. That is our ‘hope’, something we can be sure of because it is the Father’s plan. We do not see it yet; but we can be certain of it.

Such a hope radically affects the way we live today. God’s grace and generosity finds an answer in our love for our neighbour. We who are receivers of such love and joy, at such a cost, cannot but be givers of love and joy, even if it involves sacrifice. The more we give, the more we receive – not necessarily on earth (good people do not always have good circumstances) but certainly in spiritual terms now and in every way in the future. Our goal is to please God; his pleasure is our greatest reward and will give us most fulfilment.

If our treasure is God’s pleasure, then the more pleased he is the better! Our life now is one in which we are always at the ready to do God’s bidding, and looking out for opportunities to serve him by bringing more love and joy to others. And if Jesus comes again in our life time, we will be ready to welcome him. The way in which we serve him will change with age and circumstances; it won’t be perfect in this life, but it will nevertheless bring God pleasure.

Questions
1) What do you believe your destiny to be? How does that affect your life?

2) How can we ensure we are always ready to welcome Christ?


Collect:

God of glory,
the end of our searching,
help us to lay aside
all that prevents us from seeking your kingdom,
and to give all that we have
to gain the pearl beyond all price,
through our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Collect:

God of constant mercy,
who sent your Son to save us:
remind us of your goodness,
increase your grace within us,
that our thankfulness may grow,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect:

Almighty God,
you search us and know us:
may we rely on you in strength
and rest on you in weakness,
now and in all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect:

Merciful God,
your Son came to save us
and bore our sins on the cross:
may we trust in your mercy
and know your love,
rejoicing in the righteousness
that is ours through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect:

Lord God,
defend your Church from all false teaching
and give to your people knowledge of your truth,
that we may enjoy eternal life
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

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 our Lord.

Collect:

Gracious God,
you call us to fullness of life:
deliver us from unbelief
and banish our anxieties
with the liberating love of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect:

God, our judge and saviour,
teach us to be open to your truth
and to trust in your love,
that we may live each day
with confidence in the salvation which is given
through Jesus Christ our Lord.