{"id":3332,"date":"2019-09-20T11:36:52","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T11:36:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=3332"},"modified":"2019-09-20T11:36:52","modified_gmt":"2019-09-20T11:36:52","slug":"sermon-15th-september-2019-morning","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/sermons\/sermon-15th-september-2019-morning\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon – 15th September 2019 – morning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sermons index<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity \u2013 morning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Sunday 15th September 2019 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Trininty 13 – Proper 19 \u2013 morning
\n1 Timothy 1. 12-17
\nLuke 15. 1-10<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"Maureen<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Exploring the Lost and Found….<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWhat does good stewardship look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nOn one level, I am sure we would all agree that to be a good steward\nmeans to be careful. To consider wisely. To maximise our resources.\nTo conserve items of value. Not to waste food, or money, or the\nplanet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd of course, we would be right. It is important to care for the\nworld around us \u2013 recognising that so far at least, there is no\nPlanet B! This world of ours is precious and we seem to be doing a\npretty good job of messing it up at present. Oh dear! It is not a\nvery attractive image is it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd it is easy to feel guilty. Every time we climb in the car, or buy\nsomething wrapped in plastic or treat ourselves to a take-away. Guilt\nis never far away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBut the trouble with guilt is that it can paralyse us and stop us\ntaking action for the good. Stop us doing the sort of things that\nwill make us feel good about ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd it seems that guilt is not the emotion that God wants us to fall\nvictim to \u2013 whatever our Victorian forefathers may have thought.\nGod actually wants us to rejoice and be happy \u2013 to thrive. Not to\nbe gloomy and pessimistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAs Christians we should be purveyors of Hope to the world, not\nmerchants of gloom and despair! So what do our readings bring us of\nHope and Rejoicing this morning?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWell quite a lot as it happens. To begin with, Paul is feeling really\ngrateful that \u2013 even though he has done some dreadful things in\nhis time \u2013 and by his own admission was a man of violence \u2013\nnevertheless God has selected him for a very special task. Christ\nJesus comes to the world to save sinners \u2013 which is why churches\nare full of sinners \u2013 me included \u2013 not just saints! But however\ngreat our sins, whatever we have got wrong in life, even whoever we\nhave managed to hurt along the way \u2013 God will always give us a\nsecond chance \u2013 a chance to redeem ourselves, or rather, for him \u2013\nin the person of Jesus \u2013 to redeem us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nHow fantastic is that!? To know that you are so valued by God that he\nwill go out of his way to rescue you and prove how much he loves you!\nYou are lovable! You are valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd then Jesus goes on to tell us these two stories about the lost\nand found. In the first story the sheep is the one that has wandered\noff and is separated from the herd. Now sheep are herd animals by\nnature; they like to be with others of their own kind, so this must\nhave been a particularly independent and foolish animal in the first\nplace! Any sensible good shepherd would think to himself or herself,\n\u201cWhy should I go off after such an awkward customer? I have the\nrest of the herd to think of. If I go off after that odd one, who is\ngoing to protect the rest of them?\u201d That would be the wise, the\nsensible response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBut God is not like that. God cannot bear to lose even the awkward,\nodd one out sort of sheep \u2013 even though it will probably always\ncause him trouble! That one sheep is so valuable to him that he will\nrisk leaving the rest to look after themselves for a while on the\noff-chance that he can bring the wanderer back to the fold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nIn the second story, it is the woman who has done the losing \u2013 the\ncoin is an inanimate object so cannot \u2018lose itself\u2019 in the same\nway that the sheep does. No, she has been careless or preoccupied in\nsome way. I remember being told once that in all probability, this\ncoin was part of her dowry. The headdress that a Jewish woman would\nhave worn at her wedding, consisting of a row of coins strung\ntogether and worn across her forehead. To lose one would be a bit\nlike losing your engagement or wedding ring. Has anyone here done\nthat? How did it make you feel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nI have only ever (thank goodness) suffered one burglary, and it was\nmany years ago in Oxfordshire. It was principally my jewellery that\nwas targeted and the three most memorable objects that were taken\nwere a small gold brooch that said \u2018Baby\u2019 which my grandmother\nhad given me as a Christening present; a dress ring that my parents\ngave me for my 16th<\/sup> birthday and my engagement ring. This\nhad moonstones in it \u2013 not as valuable as diamonds perhaps, but it\nhad been individually designed for me by a friend and I hated losing\nit. None of the items were of huge monetary value in themselves, but\nthey were priceless to me. And I never got them back. So I kind of\nknow where the woman in Jesus\u2019 story was coming from. I know that\nsinking feeling in the pit of the stomach that you feel when you\ndiscover the loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nCan it be true that God feels like that when one of us \u2018goes\nmissing\u2019 or is stolen away by other distractions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nNo wonder there is \u2018Great rejoicing in heaven\u2019 when the lost is\nonce again found and restored to its rightful place!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSo you see we have no place feeling miserable or guilty \u2013 not\nunless it prompts us to do something about it. To search out the lost\nitem. To consider what we can do, each of us in a small way, to help\nthe environment and counter climate change. To consider whether our\npurchases are the most ethical we can make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd last but not least, to respond with joyful abandon when we come\nto consider our financial resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nLater this morning, we will be thinking about our financial position\nas a church family. And you know we are so amazingly lucky here in\nPattingham! Thanks to the generosity and husbandry of past\ngenerations and individuals we do have money to spend on our\nbuilding; keeping it in good shape and improving it for our current\nand future needs. But when we look at our day to day expenses and\nincome, the situation is not so rosy! We barely pay our way \u2013 which\nfor a community like Pattingham seems a sorry state of affairs. So I\nam going unashamedly to ask you to go looking into the corners of\nyour heart and your wallet and purse. Think about what may have gone\nmissing on those weeks when you were not able to come to church, and\nI quite understand that we have so many demands on our time and our\nresources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBut if we believe \u2013 as I firmly do \u2013 that God never, never gives\nup on us, how best should we respond? Not, I think by keeping our\ngiving at the same level as we have for years, and years, and years!\nBut by realising that God\u2019s generosity calls for us to mirror him\nin our own generosity. Maybe even by taking steps \u2013 such as using\nthe direct giving scheme \u2013 to ensure that we are contributing to\nthe life of God\u2019s church, even on those weeks when we are busy with\nLife elsewhere. God loves a cheerful giver \u2013 I challenge us all to\ngive a bit more, not because it is our duty, but because it is our\njoy! Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity \u2013 morning Sunday 15th September 2019 Trininty 13 – Proper 19 \u2013 morning 1 Timothy 1. 12-17 Luke 15. 1-10 Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs Exploring the Lost and Found…. What does good stewardship look like? On one level, I am sure we would all agree that to be a good steward … <\/p>\n

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