Seventh Sunday after Trinity
Sunday 26th July 2020
Although we have been able to resume public worship not everyone is able to attend so the service was recorded and made available online as well as being played in church for those who chose to attend. That can be found here.
Trinity 7
Matthew 13.31-34
Dr Ken Scott
When we visit a new place and are looking around the area very often we end up going into the local church or cathedral to have a look around. They are places of history as well as worship so whether you have a faith or not they still have a fascination.
Well Iona is definitely high on that list of fascinating and uplifting places to visit. Especially when the sun shines!
There are at least two things I took away from being there last summer. Firstly one committed individual can make a difference. Columba established a place of worship that has lasted 1500 years and George Macleod rescued it and transformed it into the base for a loving ,praying ,caring community. We can all make a difference if we have a mind to and are committed enough.
But the second thing is that it is not just the important leaders who make the difference. Columba had his 12 monks to help him and Macleod recruited many young men from all backgrounds, not necessarily devoted Christians, to rebuild the Abbey. All the talents that they had were put to good use.
In that passage we read today from Matthew 13 Jesus tells 2 parables both with a similar message. The tiny mustard seed can become a large tree and a small piece of leaven can transform the flour into good bread. From small beginnings big things can happen. Individual Christians can make a difference. We have heard a lot about the evils of slavery recently. One man with a strong Christian faith led the campaign for abolition. William Pitt said to Wilberforce one day “why don’t you give notice of a motion on the slave trade?” and from that small seed the campaign grew. He recruited a small band of supporters and eventually they made a difference. It took a long time and it was a lot of hard work with stiff opposition but they succeeded eventually.
I guess the question for all of us is what can I do to make a difference in my community , my family , my church, or in wider society. No matter how small it may seem, everything we do in Christ’s name matters equally, whether seemingly very public and significant or unseen and simple.
During our protracted period of lockdown this has become more and more relevant. We have had until recently to give up the public acts of worship that people can see, but the quiet, personal, loving care continues. Many years ago John Robinson said that the church was like a contractors hut on God’s building site. It is not an end in itself but a means to an end. We go out from it, to work in the world.
Everyone has a role in this and many people in our community have been showing in their lives the practical out working of the love of God.
So here is a challenge for all of us in our own circumstances, day by day, and week by week. Am I making a difference no matter how small ?
The poet Robert Browning had a lovely phrase “ All service ranks the same with God”
Whatever your talent, and everyone has some, using it for Christ and His Kingdom will make a difference.