ICF - Professions of Faith

Sunday 17th August 2025 - 10th Sunday after Pentecost

Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:1-2, 8-18; Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56
(Alternatives: Jeremiah 23:23-29; Psalm 82)

Today's reading from Isaiah, echoed in the accompanying Psalm, is a poetic re-stating of the core message from previous weeks: that of the failure of God's people to align their society with the values commended by their God. What can be noticed though, is that it draws on workplace imagery, a commercial vineyard, to make its point. The prophet is of course using an everyday metaphor to describe a theological and political reality, but might this image also be used the other way around? To what degree might the vineyard serve today not only as a symbol of a nation or an institution, but also the resources of this planet, or indeed the opportunities and resources that are placed into the hands of many through the world of work? A congregation might be invited to consider whether their experience of life and work, represents a similar abuse of resources, which should be re-recognised as gifts from God. How might this recognition challenge and change our approach to the world of work and commerce?

Although the representations of Jeremiah, in the alternate readings, might not be expressed in such practical terms, their over-arching message is very similar. Alongside this, there is opportunity to use the opening verse to consider the degree to which God is acknowledged as near and not far off in the various routines and life roles of those who are gathered, and how a congregation might experience a greater sense of God's presence in their working lives. Particular focus is given to those prophets who shy away from the difficult messages required, to what we might assume are more popularist 'dreams'. This might provide opportunity to consider the challenges faced by those who have to give difficult messages and news in today's world, and perhaps too recognise the expanding professions of social media influencers who might well be cast as equivalent prophets and dreamers today.

Today's New Testament readings are far from easy to encounter. While there is encouragement to be drawn from the existence of a great cloud of witnesses, many of their lives were fraught with challenge and difficulty. The writer of Hebrews acknowledges that they never received the full potential of God's promise. Jesus speaks in the Gospel reading of a discipleship that can be disturbing and divisive. Yet each reading in different ways speaks of engagement with our contemporary world, not detachment from it.

The working lives of most congregations will create a well of knowledge and experience across a diversity of spheres. These New Testament readings speak of a community that both engages in life with its collective eyes fixed on Christ, but also one that seeks to recognise the signs of the times in which it lives. Recognising again that Jesus speaks of a discipleship that might well place believers at odds with their surroundings, space might be given to consider those situations in which congregational members find their faith values challenged and at odds with their context. How do we 'fix our eyes on Christ' in such circumstances? To what degree are these experiences a 'sign of the times' and what might God be saying in the light of that?