First Sunday after Trinity

Judgement and Restoration

Ps. 18: 1—20 or 18:21—30 The Lord my shield; Amos 9:5—15 Sieving and building; Eph. 6:1—20 The armour of God; Gospel at Holy Communion: Mark 2:1—12 A paralysed man healed

The eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth — except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says the Lord. ' Amos 9:8

Si monumentum requiris, circumspice

Over the north door of St Paul's in London there's a famous plaque commemorating the man who designed the cathedral, Sir Christopher Wren. The dedication simply consists of four words of Latin, which, translated into English, mean, ‘If you require a monument, look around you.' No further tribute to the architect was necessary: the cathedral which he'd built was sufficient evidence of his genius. Yet even the finest building begins with a building-site. And what a mess they are! Perhaps old buildings are being demolished because they're no longer suitable. There are bricks and stones to stumble over, and seemingly meaningless trenches to fall into, and to the ignorant visitor it seems impossible that this chaos could ever turn into a fine edifice. Somewhere there's a huge pile of sand. These days it comes in huge sacks, ready-to-use. Not so long ago, however, there was a big wire sieve and a man with a shovel would throw the sand, which had come straight from the quarry, through the sieve. The fine sand would pass through, and the pebbles would be stopped by the mesh. In ancient times a small sieve was held in the hands, and shaken about so that the sand fell through.

Work in progress

In the Old Testament, the prophet Amos describes the universe as a building site. He was a poet, and wasn't stupid enough to imagine that God literally laid the foundation of the vault of the skies on the earth, and built his upper rooms above them. But it's an imagination-boggling metaphor. If you want a monument to God's activity, look around you. Yet Amos makes a very profound point: human souls and human society are an integral part of God's plan for the universe. And God hasn't finished that part of his construction yet. It is work in progress. Some people put a paper on their bedroom doors, or over the place where they work, which reads: ‘Be patient with me, God hasn't finished with me yet.' It gives us some comfort to know that, in spite of our failings, God's still at work on us, trying to turn us, if we'll let him, into the sort of people he wants us to be.

Society

Human society's made up of imperfect and unfinished individuals, so it's no wonder that our national life sometimes resembles a building site. There's a lot wrong with it, but there's hope that one day it'll emerge as a fine structure. But in this stage of God's work, God requires the willing co-operation of individual people. He needs people who are willing to be changed themselves, and to work with God in changing the world into the sort of place God designed it to be.

Nations

First of all God chose a nation, the Israelites, saved them from their slavery in Egypt, and took them to the promised land. He did this to show them they were nothing in themselves, but totally dependent on God. Yet they began to think they'd been given the land because they were better than their neighbours. So God tells them that he's also saved the Ethiopians, the Philistines and the Syrians, the enemies of the Israelites, who all had a part in God's design for the world. God will demolish anything on the building site which isn't good enough for him to use – including, if necessary, the Israelite kingdom. But he'll sift the individuals, like a builder sieving the stones from the sand, selecting those who'll be useful to him in building the kingdom of God. ‘For lo, I will command, and shake the house of Israel . . . as one shakes with a sieve.'

We're all of us being judged, all the time, to see whether we're pliable enough to be of any use to God. Then God can start building, but the kingdom of God's still ‘work in progress'. We've all got a different task to do in working towards God's final design. Are you willing to make changes in your life, to become more loving and more imaginative, so that you'll be a useful tool in God's hand? We're all needed. Then we can look around, and praise God the builder, and take a pride in our part in the work. ‘If you require a monument, look around you.'

Suggested hymns

God is working his purpose out; Thy kingdom come, 0 God; Will you come and follow me?; Ye who know the Lord is gracious.