Readings:
Zechariah 9:9-12
Psalm 145:8-15
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-end

Collect:
Almighty God, send down upon your Church
the riches of your Spirit,
and kindle in all who minister the gospel
your countless gifts of grace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Reflection

In this week’s gospel, Jesus says: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants.” Perhaps that seems like a strange thing to thank God for! But how true it is that the wisdom of God is often to be found in unexpected places and unexpected people. 

And it is true too that God speaks to and through people of all ages. In a previous church I had a colleague who would regularly remind people: “we might have a Junior Church, but there’s no such thing as a Junior Holy Spirit!” The Holy Spirit works in and through all God’s people, regardless of age, background, experience, or anything else. It’s one of the ways God shows us that all people are created as equally precious and beloved children of God. And also one of the ways God reminds us to expect the unexpected! 

One of the places within Watling Valley that we see God working through a mixed, intergenerational group of people of all ages and a variety of backgrounds and abilities, is at Muddy Church. At our last Muddy Church gathering of this academic year, we met in the churchyard to explore the story of Jesus feeding five thousand people with just a few loaves and fishes. Together we wondered about the story, and wandered around the churchyard, drawing with chalk on the paths, and collecting small things which caught our attention – as well as making some delicious flatbread to share! 

As we shared what we had been thinking about, the things we had drawn or written, the things we had gathered or seen, the wisdom came from the whole group – young and old alike, people with many years’ experience of church and people new to church, people for whom talking to a group comes easily and people who find it hard but can still contribute in other ways to our gathered wisdom. 

I was reminded that God is so often to be found in the small, the ordinary, the overlooked. It is our shared calling to pay attention to God’s promptings and actions, wherever and however we encounter them – however unlikely they may seem! 

I wonder where and how you will encounter God this week?
I wonder who you see as being wise?
I wonder if you have ever received wisdom from an unlikely source?
I wonder what wisdom God has given you to share with others?

Ruth Harley