Worship - 14 June 2026

Summary Of This Week's Theme

One of the questions sometimes asked of asylum seekers claiming persecution on religious grounds is whether they can name the twelve apostles. The Rev. Lucy Winkett, rector of Saint James, Piccadilly, recently recalled hearing a claimant struggle with the question. Later, she asked her congregation, many of whom had attended church for decades, to do the same. Few could do so. It raises difficult questions about balancing compassion for the vulnerable with concern about those who might exploit the system.

That conditional hospitality stands in sharp contrast to Abraham's response to the three strangers who appear at the oaks of Mamre. Abraham does not interrogate them. He rushes to welcome them. In the ancient world, hospitality to strangers was a sacred obligation, and Abraham treats the opportunity to offer it as a privilege rather than a burden.

The visitors bring an astonishing promise: Sarah will bear a son. Hearing this, Sarah laughs—not with joy, but with disbelief. After years of disappointment, the promise seems absurd. Yet God is not deterred by her scepticism. In time, Isaac is born, his very name linked to laughter, and Sarah's cynicism is transformed into joy.

Abraham and Sarah remain wanderers. They never truly settle. Their story is one of a restless people learning to trust God while journeying through uncertainty. It echoes Augustine's observation that our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God.

In today's Gospel, Jesus sends out the twelve apostles. They have travelled with him, listened to his teaching, and witnessed his healing ministry. Now a change takes place. They are no longer merely disciples—learners—but apostles, those who are sent. Jesus commissions them to proclaim the kingdom, heal the sick, and continue his work. The mission that began with one now spreads through many.

In a sense, we are part of that same movement. The Gospel has been handed on from generation to generation until it has reached us. We too are invited to participate in God's work of bringing healing, compassion, and hope into the world.

The famous icon of the Trinity by Andrei Rublev depicts the three visitors at Mamre seated around a table. One place remains empty. As our former Bishop David Hamid once observed, that empty place is ours. It is an invitation to enter God's presence and join the journey.

Like Sarah, our faith may sometimes be hesitant. Like Abraham, we may spend much of life wandering. Yet God continues to welcome us, guide us, and call us forward. And as Rev. Lucy Winkett reminds us, compassion, mercy, fair judgement, and care for those most in need can never go out of fashion. Jesus repeatedly reminds us that, like Abraham, we are called to look for the face of God in the stranger.