Trinity 6

Amos 7:7-15 and Ephesians 1:3-14 and Mark 6:14-29

This week, I have been at the Durham Diocese Clergy Summer Gathering, where our theme was children and young people. Among other things, we reflected on biblical images of children. In our readings this morning, we are referred to as God’s adopted children; but we also heard the story of a young girl who was exploited, by men for whom she was brought in as a sexualised fantasy object and by her mother who manipulated her to manipulate her step-father in order to bring about a murder. That seems very contemporary to me. The Bible never shies away from holding a mirror to ourselves, in our beauty and our brokenness. And in some of the free time around the margins of our time away, I reflected on today’s readings in the light of all we were considering.

I was struck, reading Amos, by the question, who does God speak through? It is clear that there is an expectation that God speaks through those in power – the priest, and the king – and that they mediate God’s word in such a way that their interests are protected – the king’s sanctuary, and the temple. If they were to look at the vision God showed Amos, they would have seen an impressive wall, a sign of strength. But Amos sees a plumb-line, which reveals that the wall has been built without necessary care, and has become precarious.

Amos’ voice is dismissed. He is not qualified to speak here. He does not have the right background, the right training. And yet, he replies, the Lord had spoken to him and sent him.

We need to listen to the voice of those on the margin of our worshipping community, the ‘untrained’ who speak from a different experience, from everyday life – and who may bring the word that brings us life by putting to death our self-importance. And those on the margin include our children.

In our reading from Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul repeats the words ‘us’ and ‘our’ and ‘we’ and ‘you/your’ [plural] again and again. At the heart of the passage Paul states that ‘With all wisdom and insight he [the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ] has made known to us the mystery of his will’ which is ‘to gather up all things in him [Christ]’. But this is not made known just through the few: God speaks to us through us. We need to listen to what God is saying through one another – again, including our children.

Our Gospel reading stands as a warning, of what it looks like when those with power seek to silence the voice of one speaking from the margins – and even exploit others, vulnerable others, in order to achieve this. It is a desperate situation – and one that, ultimately, does not achieve its aim. But it is easily done when we believe that the role of the priest is to speak rather than to enable each to find a voice.

We discern what God might be saying to us – as a community and personally – as we listen to one another. So that is what we are going to do. First, take a moment to reflect: was there anything in particular that stood out for you as the lessons were being read out today?

... Now take a couple of moments to share that thing with the people sat next to you. Don’t worry if you have nothing to say: the Holy Spirit doesn’t speak through everybody on every occasion; but the Holy Spirit does speak through everybody over time, if we create the space for that to happen.

... If someone shared something, they have already acted in response to the Holy Spirit’s question ‘What do you see?’ and prompt to, ‘Go and tell’. But it may be that there is a further response that is necessary, either for them personally or for us as a community. Let me encourage you to discuss that further over coffee after the service; and if you feel that there is something that we need to hear as a community, to write it down and/or share that with myself or Fiona or Sheila. Thank you.