Sunday readings and prayers

The collect for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you: pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself, and so bring us at last to your heavenly city where we shall see you face to face; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,  who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Reading 2 Kings 5: 1-3 and 7-15c

Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” So the king of Aram sent a letter to the king of Israel: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.” As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”

When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Make the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.”

Naaman was a prominent member of Syrian society and to succumb to leprosy, a dreaded skin disease that condemned sufferers to live as outcasts, would have been a cause of great humiliation … even more so the journey  into enemy territory to request healing from the King of Israel. In the end it was the prophet Elisha who cured him but only after he followed the instructions that Elisha gave him. There were no short cuts and no consideration for his status. Despite his initial unwillingness to do as he was told, Naaman was truly grateful for the healing he received and took back to Syria a load of soil from which he would make an altar and worship the one true God, the one who could break down barriers of culture and political allegiance and bring peace and harmony.

Psalm 111

Hallelujah! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.

Great are the deeds of the Lord! they are studied by all who delight in them.

His work is full of majesty and splendour, and his righteousness endures for ever.

He makes his marvellous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.

He gives food to those who fear him; he is ever mindful of his covenant.

He has shown his people the power of his works in giving them the lands of the nations.

The works of his hands are faithfulness and justice; all his commandments are sure.

They stand fast for ever and ever, because they are done in truth and equity.

He sent redemption to his people; he commanded his covenant for ever; holy and awesome is his Name.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; those who act accordingly have a good understanding; his praise endures for ever.

Second Reading 2 Timothy 2: 8-15

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David – that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself.

Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.

Gospel Reading  Luke 17: 11-19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to the Samaritan, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’

Lepers who wished to be reintegrated into society after being cured of the affliction were required to show themselves to a priest who would pronounce them “clean”. Nine of the ten lepers just accepted the healing without any thought as to where the healing came from. The Samaritan, the one who came from a marginalised section of society, reacted in a different way: he knelt down in gratitude recognising, unlike the others,  that it was Jesus who had healed him.

Generous God, we thank you for the world in which we live, for our friends and families, for all who provide the services on which we depend, for those who inspire us to love our neighbour as ourselves and to look beyond our material needs to lasting truths. May we never fail to give thanks for the many gifts that you have showered upon us and to show gratitude for the people in our lives who encourage and care for us.

-We pray for peace in the world, thinking especially of Ukraine and the Middle east and those zones of conflict that never reach the headlines.

-We pray for the many who are being forced to make difficult decisions because of the cost of living crisis.

-We pray for those who are unwell, thinking especially of ............................................................................................

-We pray for the repose of the soul of those who have recently departed this life. 

O Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow after us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.