Holy Communion for Beaumont, Friday 17 July 2026
Matthew 12:1-8
I was listening to a conversation recently about what type of people should go to church. It is a good question: who should go to church?
The conversation concluded that the type of people who should go to church are the people who don’t think they are ready to talk to God. If you don’t think you’re ready to go to church, you should go to church!
This is because of who God is, and what he is like. God is not the type of God who turns people away. God does not ask us to pass a Bible test. God loves it when we just start talking to him.
Jesus is walking through some grain fields when this question comes up. If you have ever been outside of the inner city, you can probably imagine it: big fields filled with crops ready for harvest, and he and his friends are walking through them, running their hands through the plants. Every now and then one of them will grab on and pull some of the grain off and have a bit of a munch.
The problem is, you are not supposed to do this. You are not allowed to go out into the fields on the Sabbath, because it looks too much like work, and you are not allowed to work on the Sabbath.
But Jesus responds in a way that shows he thinks that it is more important that people eat than whether they eat in the right way.
And because he starts talking about priests and the temple, it shows that he is also talking about how we relate to God.
So I wonder: do we think there is anything we should be doing before we start talking to God? Is there some sort of special head-space we need to be in? Do we need to wait until we “feel” something before we talk to God?
Jesus tells his critics that God desires mercy, not sacrifice. Sacrifice is about doing something before talking to God. Mercy is about talking to God whether you think you’re ready or not, and knowing that God loves you anyway.
I want to give you one challenge, and one encouragement. The challenge is this: find a time you think it is inappropriate to talk to God, and start talking to him anyway. The encouragement is this: remember that God doesn’t care about whether it is appropriate or not; what is more important is that you have started talking to him. This is because he loves us all very much, and he wants us to spend time with him, and it brings him joy. And what is more wonderful than rejoicing with God?