Kinlochleven Church - the next service is on Sunday, 26 July at 10.00 am led by the Rev. Ann Winning.
Duror Church - the next service is on Sunday 13 July at 10.30 am led by the Rev. Marion Kinnear.
Nether Lochaber Church - the next service is on Sunday 6 July at 11.30 am led by the Rev. Ann Winning.
South Lochaber Parish :
Bible Study - meeting at Jeremy's house on 8 July at 10.45. Led by Jeremy.
Bible Study - Kinlochleven at 11.00 am. on Friday 18 July at 11.00 am.
Sunday 22 June 2025 South Lochaber Church - available on YouTube at
Sunday 29 June 2025 South Lochaber Church
‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ (Galatians 5:14)
Hymn
Christ be beside me,
Christ be before me,
Christ be behind me,
King of my heart.
Christ be within me,
Christ be below me,
Christ be above me,
never to part.
Prayer Lord eternal, Father, Son, Spirit blessed, this day grant unto me light, truth, faith, peace; this night grant unto me rest, and joy. Amen.
Bible Reading Luke 9:51-62 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. He sent on messengers ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them. Then he and his disciples went to another village. As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” He said to another, “Follow me.” He replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Message Duncan Ban MacIntyre was a Gaelic poet from Glen Orchy, and born in 1724. He was a gamekeeper and forester in Argyll and a soldier in the Argyll Regiment. He had no formal education. Much of his poetry was written down by the minister in Lismore, Donald MacNicoll. Duncan celebrated the fox in Òran nam Balgairean ‘song to the foxes’.
He gave a blessing to foxes because they hunted the sheep. He perhaps had a sense of how sheep farming was displacing a traditional way of life. We often think of foxes in lowland areas, but they are found in upland areas too. Foxes are thought of as sly, cunning, and clever. Jesus once referred to Herod as ’that fox’.
In this passage though, the point is that foxes and birds make homes for themselves. But Jesus and his followers did not have much home comfort. To be a follower of Jesus at that time was demanding. Those who were keen to join the band of followers needed to know what they were signing up to. It was a bit like joining the armed forces: your own life can be on the line.
Some of what Jesus said to these would-be followers sounds harsh. What could be more reasonable than first making your farewells or attending a family funeral? But doing all that could have taken weeks or months, and at that point Jesus couldn’t wait. We may not be asked to make that level of commitment, but some Christian missionaries have had to forego family pleasures in the interests of the gospel.
More generally applicable is the advice Jesus gave that no-one who starts and then looks back is of much use in gospel work. Being a Christian involves a radical commitment, an orientation of life, a going away from the kind of life that non-believers lead. The Bible speaks of ‘dying to sin’, being ‘crucified with Christ’. It is the old life that we perhaps led, in ignorance of Christ and his ways, that is put to death. Christ became sin that we might become the righteousness of God. He took our sins upon himself. He took our old life away. It is to be dealt with as if having been put to rest. We are to be led by the Spirit of God. We learn Christ’s ways of surrender and obedience to the sovereign will and purpose of God. If the Spirit of God is allowed to do his work in us, there is kindness, patience, love, gentleness, joy, and peace.
The disciples of Jesus certainly needed all this. Their intolerance of the Samaritan people, their racist attitude and bigotry shocked Jesus. As Christians we find better ways of thinking of those who see things differently to us. There is too much narrow-mindedness in the world.
Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy, help us learn your ways. Amen.