Resources
Rev Sheila Cameron’s sermon on 2 October pulled together another difficult gospel (Luke 17:5–10) with passages from Habakkuk (1:1–4, 2:1–4) and Paul’s second letter to Timothy (1:1–14). Here is an extract …
Habakkuk stands at his post, ever the faithful servant, waiting for God to intervene. Then suddenly there is a reply, and God tells Habakkuk that his vision is limited – he isn’t seeing the whole picture. The tyrants who seem to be in control aren’t really; the prophet needs to look more closely at the controllers and see that things are not exactly right with them. He needs to see the big picture, not just what is happening in his own narrow field of vision.
Habakkuk is commanded to write this message on a hoarding big enough so that even someone running past it can read it. The proclamation is to be patient and to wait for God to act, a God who is never deaf to a cry for help, although no precise time can be expected for this to be fulfilled. And how familiar is this? So often we ask God for something desperately important to us, certain that it must happen now; we ask again and again because we want an answer right away. But prayer is answered in God’s time, not in ours, and astonishingly enough, when we view the scenario retrospectively, we can see that our heartfelt, genuine prayer has been answered if not exactly to the letter, at least in the way that is best for us. This is the life of faith and patient faithfulness that we are called to.
Do read the whole of Sheila’s sermon at this link.
Photo by Joshua Lanzarini on Unsplash.
During Lent the RSCM will be holding Night Prayer services every Wednesday at 8.00pm and they would love you to join them! Every service will be broadcast live on their Facebook page and YouTube channel, and will also be available to listen at your leisure. The 24 February traditional Compline service, with music by Thomas Tallis, is already available.
The liturgy will come from either the RSCM’s Night Prayer or Compline (Traditional language) Common Worship publications and will be on the screen as they go through the service. For those who want to sing along, the choral music used, including the hymn/anthem and the Nunc dimittis for each service is still available to buy as a download or printed, though the rehearsal tracks, performed by St Martin’s Voices, directed by Gabriella Noble, that enabled singers to learn the music in advance of the service have now been removed. [updated 8 Apr 2021]
As Liz Crumlish says in her introduction to the booklet that we quote from in Take time to reflect: “A colleague posted on social media last year that Lent felt like the Lentiest Lent we’d ever Lented! Somehow, that is even truer this year, a full year and more into a global pandemic.” So you’ll find that we are not alone in suggesting that, instead of planning to give something up as a Lenten spiritual discipline, you should plan to take something up instead. There are lots of good things on offer –
Locally-based studies, at all of which you’ll be made most welcome. Click the links for further details:
- On Mondays at 7:00pm, the Rosyth Ecumenical Lent Study Group
- On Tuesdays at 7:00pm, Jan Benvie leads St Margaret’s/Holy Trinity studies with an environmental bias
- On Thursdays, mostly at 10:30am, Eddie Sykes leads Five Bible Studies for Lent based around a familiar hymn
Other ideas for reading and listening include:
- Living through Lent, a booklet of daily reflections for Lent 2021 by Liz Crumlish that you can download at this link
- The Church of England’s #LiveLent daily reflection emails, for which you can sign up at this link
- Ecumenical daily readings and weekly talks for Lent on John’s Gospel at this link
- CTBI’s “Lent study for these unorthodox and strange times” at this link
- The Journey meditations offered by Taketime
And an action project – if you consider yourself part of the Church of the Future, the Diocese offer a challenge for you to share your ideas for a carbon-neutral church – details and an entry form at this link.
Please email other ideas for Lenten study to webmaster@stmargaretsrosyth.org.uk.
