The Cayman Islands are within the ancient
Episcopal Jurisdiction
of
The Bishop of London granted him by the Crown in 1634
St Alban’s (Grand Cayman) & St
Mary’s (Cayman Brac)
Church & Office - 461 Shedden Road
P O Box 719, Grand Cayman KY1-1103, CAYMAN ISLANDS
Tel (345) 949 2757 : Fax (345)
949 0619
www.churchofenglandcayman.com
rector@churchofenglandcayman.com
4 Sept 2011
Welcome
to St Alban’s Anglican Church
Today's
Scripture: Ezekiel 33: 7-11 Romans 13:
8-end S. John 3: 1-8
Today: 9.00
a.m. Matins; 9.30 a.m. Holy Eucharist and Holy Baptism; 6.00 p.m. EP.
Welcome to Jordan Jerome Stewart, and his Godparents and parents!
This
Week: Tues–Fri 12.30 p.m. Midday Prayers; Sat 10 a.m. Prison Ministry.
Next Sunday: 8.35
a.m. Matins; 9.00 a.m. Church Schl; 9.30
a.m. Holy Eucharist; 6p.m. EP.
11th
Sunday after Trinity
O God,
who declarest thy almighty power most chiefly in
showing mercy and pity: Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace,
that we, running the way of thy commandments, may obtain thy gracious promises,
and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
FAITH IN FOCUS: LIVE AND LET
LIVE?
We’re treading on ice with
today’s scripture readings. God tells Ezekiel that he’s appointing him as
sentry to Israel. Ezekiel’s job is to warn people when he sees that they are
behaving badly. And Jesus hands on that task to us. “If your brother does
something wrong then go and have it out with him”, he says.
For many of us this goes
against the grain. We’ve been brought up to mind our own business, to leave
others to get in and out of their own mess and to keep our noses out. One of
the refrains in our modern society is “Live and let live”, and this seems at
odds with what the bible asks us to do.
Of course, it all depends on
our motives. When we see something that is clearly wrong we can get on our high
horse, as if we are perfect, and we can enjoy launching into the person who is
responsible for it. Usually we get a good deal of pleasure out of this, partly
because we see something of ourselves in the person we are condemning, and
having a go at them is a way of exorcising the ghost from our own hearts.
On the other hand, condoning
wrongful behaviour, from wherever it comes, is not an option. We have to be
sensitive to the person involved; we have to understand the circumstances they
find themselves in and seek for the reasons behind their actions. But we cannot
remain silent and pretend what they are doing is right.
The gospel values into which
we are baptised are public and communal, and we have to ensure that we never
cease to find fresh ways of letting the world know what they are and why they
are important to us. If we were on the verge of destroying ourselves by some
unhelpful course of action, then we would probably be grateful in the long term
for someone who didn’t just go along with what we were doing but pointed out
the dangers to us. In the same way we owe it to others to warn them when we can
see they are harming themselves.
The problem with live and let
live is that is usually ends up as live and let die.