‘Vanity of vanities, all is vanity’. The book of Ecclesiastes is rarely read in church on a Sunday and is included only once in the lectionary over a three year period. In some ways that is not surprising because this is a difficult book. It was probably written in or around Jerusalem after the people had returned from exile in Babylon by a teacher or wise man in Israel.

It is part of that great strand of writing in the Old Testament that we call the wisdom tradition and, like the other books in that tradition, reflects on wisdom and on wise and foolish behaviour. However, unlike those other books it is very negative in emphasis. Much of the book suggests that the human lot is one of vanity, by which the author does not mean pride, but purposelessness, futility, striving for the unattainable.

Perhaps we should not blame James’s mother for asking Jesus to give her sons the places of honour when he came into his Kingdom. After all, they were, with Peter, part of an inner group who had shared some special moments with Jesus. They had seen and experienced things that even the other disciples had not.

James, with Peter and his brother John had been with Jesus when he had raised a little girl to life. They had seen him transfigured and would be close to him in the garden of Gethsemane. Why then should they not have thrones next to his, one on the right and the other on the left?

Trinity 5 - 2010

A Refection By Canon Prof Mike West,

Rector of Wrexham on Luke 10: 1-20

It has been an interesting week as far as the church is concerned. Our gospel reading last Sunday began a section in Luke’s Gospel that examined what it might mean to be a disciple of Jesus. We struggled with some hard sayings from Jesus that challenged the securities that we build around us and demanded that we be more open and vulnerable in response to Christ’s call.

The gospel reading this morning begins a section in St Luke’s Gospel where Jesus ‘sets his face’ towards Jerusalem. He is to embark on a journey in order to fulfil God’s will and this section of the gospel tells of that slow journey towards Jerusalem and his death. And perhaps not surprisingly, a lot of the teaching in this section of the gospel is about the demands of discipleship, of being on the ‘way’ with Jesus.

Today is, of course, the Feast of Pentecost when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to the first disciples. The day of ‘Pentecost’, celebrated 50 days after Easter, happened on the day when the Jews traditionally celebrated the Festival of Weeks.

This was an agricultural festival rather like our ‘harvest festival’ at which thanks was given for the safe harvest of the wheat. Interestingly, at the time of Jesus, the tradition was growing among the Jews to use this festival as a way of celebrating the giving of the law on Mount Sinai.

This Sunday is the Sixth Sunday of Easter and is also the Sunday before Ascension Day.

Hence our Gospel reading for this evening gives Matthew’s account of Christ’s victory over

death and of his Great Commission to his disciples, and therefore to us, to share the good news of the Kingdom of God with all peoples. (Matthew 28: 1-10,16-20)

It is both an end and a beginning.

I wonder if you have noticed the way in which our readings have been leading us, since Easter Day, to recognise key truths about the resurrection of Jesus and the mission of the church. Instead of a reading from the Old Testament, we have been listening to key passages from the Acts of the Apostles and then from the Book of Revelation. 

The Rector’s Reflection on the Readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter - 2nd May 2010

As this season of Eater has progressed, the scriptural readings for our morning Eucharist have begun to subtly change. At the beginning they featured Jesus’ body. Mary Magdalene encountered the body of Jesus in the garden on the first Easter morn. And then the disciples encountered Jesus in the upper room without, and then with, Thomas. And then the disciples encountered Jesus by the Sea of Galilee.