20th March 2022 Lent 3 All Saints Church, Childwall
Read: Luke 13:1-9 – “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ 8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
Reflect: The general view of suffering, in the worldview of Jesus’ day, was that bad things only happened to bad people i.e. if you were suffering you had clearly done something to offend God [or the gods]. In today’s passage, Jesus challenges this view as he asks the people who brought him news of an atrocity committed by Pilate, against a group of worshippers in the Temple, if they thought those killed were worse sinners than the other worshippers. Jesus answers his own question with an emphatic ‘No!’ He further makes his point by asking the same question about 18 people who had died when the Tower of Siloam had fallen on them. Again Jesus’ answer is that they were no better or worse than everybody else and that all of those listening will perish unless they repent. Jesus makes it clear that there is NO automatic link between sin and suffering and that repentance is something we all need to practice!
Jesus then tells a Parable about a man who planted a fig tree in his vineyard. The fig tree did not produce fruit for 3 years/seasons. He orders it cut down. The gardener, however, pleads for one more year during which he will give it special attention hoping for fruit. He accepts that if it does not bear fruit after all of his effort then it should, indeed, be cut down!
What point is Jesus making? Both the fig tree and the vineyard were Old Testament symbols of God’s people, Israel. Those listening would have known that Jesus was accusing them of being an unfruitful nation, deserving not blessing, but judgement. But how could they [and we] become more fruitful? One of Jesus great ‘I am’ sayings was, ‘I am the Vine and you are the branches ….’ [See John 15]. As part of that teaching Jesus makes the point that the branches of the Vine need pruning from time to time in order to make it ever more fruitful, but fruitful they must be, if they are to remain in the Vine. The simple truth is that sin blocks the flow of the life of ‘the Vine’ [the Holy Spirit] and the branches [us] wither and die.
Jesus calls his listeners [and us] to repent of those action, attitudes, behaviour patterns, thought processes which do not produce good fruit. They need to be pruned and discarded. That is the meaning of repentance; a willing pruning, discarding of and turning away from those things in our life which are not of God. It sounds painful and it can be, but it is the way to transformation, joy and fruitfulness.
Repentance and remorse are not the same thing! Remorse feels sorrow for our sins, repentance means being so sorry that we do something about it. Remorse should lead to repentance; it is not a substitute for it. Tim Keller writes, ‘Legalistic remorse says, ‘I broke God’s rules’ whilst real repentance says, ‘I broke God’s heart’.’ Realising this provides a strong motive to change.
Respond: St Paul wrote, ‘All have sinned; all fall short of the glory of God.’ [Ro 3:23]. Take a little time to ponder your life; your attitudes, your thoughts, your actions. Can you recognise things of which you need to repent? Bring these issues, thoughts, behaviour patterns before God and seek His power to change.
Pray: Eternal God, shine your light into our hearts and give us insight to discern those things which harm us, and hurt you. Help us to seek the perfection we are promised in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Bill Forster (Associate Minister at All Saints) Church services
Sunday 20
th
March 9.15am – Service of the Word 11am – Holy Communion Service
6pm – Evening Prayer (in the Church Hall)
Thursday 24th March – 10.45am – BCP Holy Communion
Sunday 27th March (Mothering Sunday) 9.15am – Holy Communion
11am- Service of the Word 6pm – Evening prayer (in the Church Hall)
Morning Prayer – Monday and Friday at 8:00am – Common Worship Morning prayer service with
words on screen. Optional Chat after the service. Meeting ID: 948 786 2454 Passcode: 4allsaints .
Weekly prayer meeting – Thursday 6.30pm on Zoom. Why not join a group of us at All Saints that pray regularly. It lasts 40 minutes, you can pray, sit and listen or just contemplate. – Aidan Holmes
Vestry Hour – every Tuesday in Church from 7pm – 8pm
To book a Baptism or a Wedding or speak to a member of the clergy, please come to Vestry Hour which is held in the church every Tuesday, no appointment is necessary. Please use the wooden door to the left of the tower. You do not need to knock; just come in, take a seat and you will be seen privately in turn.
for
Easter Egg Appeal – Once again we are supporting the Liverpool Homeless Football Club’s Easter Egg Appeal. All eggs donated will be distributed to children in temporary accommodation and domestic abuse refuges. In 2019 ( before the pandemic) we donated over 200 eggs, let’s see if we can beat that total this year Eggs can be left at the back of Church. With thanks, Garry and Barbara Critchley.
Easter Cards – We have a selection of Easter Cards (packets and individual) for sale on the table at the back of Church.
Bookworms – Since resuming Bookworms in December we’ve had two very enjoyable meetings at the Childwall Abbey pub. Our next meeting is on Monday April 4th at 7.30pm and the book we shall be discussing is Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. Come and join us.
Val Yates
Taking part in the Sleepout is a lot of fun! There are games, stories, as well as building cardboard shelters. All you need to do it make sure
you’ve packed everything you need to have a great evening and a good night’s sleep! If you are under 16 you will need to bring a responsible adult with you.
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/8802380315?pwd=cGxQTnQ0QVRjU1gyUnBrYnJMMzZldz09
Please note joining ID. Meeting ID: 880 238 0315
Passcode: yt76bq
Singing in Church – A small group meet in church on a Thursday evening, at 7.45pm, to practice the hymns
the 9.15am service on Sunday so as to lead and encourage our Sunday worship. We also enjoy
fellowship
together, and sing all of our favourite hymns and songs. A warm welcome awaits anyone who
would like to join
with us – no musical knowledge is required, just a love of singing praises to our Lord.
Norman. Email: norman.mason@uwclub.net, Tel: 428 6250, Mob: 07850 383836
Liverpool Cathedral Sleep Out – Join us on Friday 8th April as we partner with the Whitechapel Centre and
Liverpool Cathedral to raise money to help tackle homelessness in our city.
Visit https://www.liverpoolcathedralsleepout.org/ to find out more and register. Please let Helen Know if
you plan to take part curate.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com.
Weekly Prayer requests – Please pray for all those who are unwell at this time particularly praying for Gary
McCoy and Stan Cowley. Our prayers are also with the other members of the Cowley Family and all who
mourn Diana. Finally, we pray for the bereaved family and friends of Graham McCulloch.
Finally, please continue to pray for all affected by the war in Ukraine. If you would like to pray with others, please join us, this Sunday, at 7pm, St Mark’s Church Childwall Valley.
People have also been asking what else we can do to help the people of Ukraine. The Church of England released the following Guidance this week…
“At present the single most productive thing you can donate is money to the charities that are already on the ground in Ukraine and bordering states. There are two safe and secure ways where your gift can support those most in need: The first is through the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal which is supported by a number of charities including Christian Aid, the ecumenical relief and development agency of the British and Irish churches. Your gift will help provide food, bedding and temporary accommodation for people who have fled the conflict in Ukraine. The second is through the USPG-Diocese in Europe Emergency Appeal which is looking to support the front line work of chaplaincies across Europe as well as Christian charities carrying out humanitarian work both in Ukraine and responding to the arrival of refugees in neighbouring countries. Although we appreciate the willingness and generosity many wish to show in the charitable collection of toys, clothes and bedding we would urge you to avoid this approach as it is often inappropriate and not what is most needed on the ground. If you, or someone you know, can speak Ukrainian, Russian, Hungarian, Polish, German, Czech, Romanian or Moldovan then those language skills could be very useful in translation work. That includes through Translators Without Borders who are supporting many refugees in translating and understanding forms and procedures.”
Follow the links below to find out more…
https://www.dec.org.uk https://ukraine-emergency-appeal.raisely.com/ https://translatorswithoutborders.org/
Andrew Colmer – Vicar – Tel: 07305 842257 – vicar.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Helen Deegan – Curate – Tel: 07984 933467 – curate.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Bill Forster – Associate Minister – william.forster1@btinternet.com
Adeyinka Olushonde – Ordinand – adeyinka.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
