Reflection
June 4th 2023 Trinity Sunday Sermon
And I suppose that being fairly liberal catholic, I feel very strongly called to show the love of Christ to all people. And I try live out my Christian faith in a way feels right to me. Of course – I make mistakes and get it wrong – as do all of us. If we were perfect beings – we wouldn’t need a God, trinitarian or not.
And I think the reason I am like I am – is because when I was about six or seven – one of ten feral children living in inner city Birmingham - I used to go and stand outside the Gospel Mission and listen to the choruses. One day a lady – known as Aunty Judy – came out and asked me if I’d like to go in and join them. ‘Can I, am I allowed?’ I asked. ‘Of course you are’ she replied. You’re special – Jesus loves you. And that blew me away – and it still does. I am special and Jesus does love me – warts and all – Jesus loves us all – warts and all, because we’re all special. We’re all made in God’s image.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
- Genesis 1:27
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.- Galatians 3:28
Black and white, he created them Jew, gentile he created them…………. able bodied and disabled, he created them, heterosexual or gay, he created them, tall or short, left-handed, right-handed, rich or poor. God created us in his image. And we’re all equal in God’s eyes.
For God shows no partiality.- Romans 2:11
And because God created us all in his image – because we are all are worth the same to God – and because all are loved and accepted equally by God, we’re also called to respect, accept and love ourselves and others as God loves us.
‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart – with all your mind and with all your strength and your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”- Mark 12:31
The rich and the poor meet together; the LORD is the Maker of them all.- Proverbs 22:2
But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.- Luke 14:13-14
When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.- Leviticus
Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.- Proverbs 31
So, as none of us is better than anyone else, and no-one is worth less than anyone else - consequently – as Christians, we’re called to serve our neighbours in need
One of the ways I try to fulfil one of my Christian obligations, is in support ing Care4Calais who provide shelter, clothes and food to the refugees in northern France.
I have been told that much of what I do is more social work – than a priestly ministry. But treating people equally – is not an optional extra for Christians – and we ignore those in need at our peril. But the Bible says,
If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?- James 2:15-16
Jesus asks us, ‘When I needed a neighbour were you there? When I was outcast, lonely, naked, or in prison, were you there’.
Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them will receive many curses. “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honours God.” - and to finish – I’d like to share these posters I found on the internet.
Rev Nicky Marshall