29th June 2008, Feast of SS Peter and Paul
Informal sermon with images, preached at St Alphege, Solihull at the 9.15 Eucharist.
Readings: Acts 12: 1-11 2 Timothy 4: 6-8 & 17-18 Matthew 16: 13-19
So today we remember Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Here is a picture of them.
[Picture - SS Peter and Paul]
That is St Peter on the left holding the two keys. St Peter is often depicted holding keys because of the incident that we heard about in our gospel reading today. Jesus declares that Peter is the Rock on which he will build his church. Jesus says, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” It is not easy for us to know exactly what that means, but clearly great authority in heaven and earth has been given to him.
So obviously, that is St Paul on the right. He is often depicted carrying the Word of God, as a book or as a double edged sword. A sharp double edged sword is used as a symbol for the word of the Lord in the book of Hebrews (4:12) and in Revelation (chapters 1 and 2).
But why do we make such a fuss about Peter and Paul? They died almost 2000 years ago, why are they relevant to us now? Well first of all they are important because they are saints, and they show us the way to be saints. We are all called to become saints. We are all called to holiness. God has created us for an extraordinary destiny. We want us to take our place in the kingdom of heaven, and to share in his glory (2 Thes 2:14, 1 Pet 5:1). It is like we are called to be a small crystal of glass in the great chandelier of heaven, where we are illuminated completely by the glory of God.
[Picture - Chandelier]
Of course for this to happen we have to be raised up and cut into shape and cleaned and purified, but eventually will take our place alongside all the other saints around God, the source of all light and life. So the saints are important to us because they show us what our destiny is. They show us how by following Christ and his commandments we can grow in love and become holy.
[Camera on speaker]
But Paul and Peter are also important because they are the great apostles and preachers central to the setting up of the church. Peter was sent (apostle means “sent”) to preach the gospel to the Jews, to the circumcised, and Paul was sent to preach the gospel to the gentiles, the non-Jews, the uncircumcised. (c.f. Gal 2:7ff)
Let’s think about Peter for a moment.
[Picture – icon of Peter]
Peter was originally called Simon. He grew up us as a fisherman, with his brother Andrew. He got to know Jesus, who came to his house and healed his mother-in-law and performed many other miracles (Luke 4: 38ff). Then one day Jesus used Peter’s boat as a platform to preach from.
[Picture – boat]
After this they put out into deep water and caught a miraculous catch of fish. Peter became terrified of the power of Jesus, but Jesus told him not to be afraid, but to follow him and become a catcher of people rather than of fish. (Luke 5: 1-11).
Peter was the leader of the disciples, but he was also the one who made lots of mistakes. Jesus was forever correcting him, and in particular forgave Peter for his three fold denials of Christ, during Christ’s trial. After the day of Pentecost Peter becomes a great preacher and works many wonders. We heard today the story of his miraculous escape from jail. For the apostles he was the first among equals. He was indeed the rock on which the church was founded.
Now let’s think about Paul
[Picture – icon of Paul]
Paul came from an impeccable background. He was a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee and had had a full Jewish religious education. He was also a Roman citizen by birth and had received an Greek education. As a young man his name was Saul. Like many Pharisees he did not approve of the innovations that Jesus proposed within Judaism, and he actively persecuted the Church. He was present at the stoning of Stephen, and was on his way to Damascus to arrest more Christians when he had an extraordinary vision of Christ.
[Picture – conversion of St Paul]
The experience completely transformed Paul, who became a great preacher and teacher of the faith. He undertook three major missionary journeys to visit the fledgling churches in different places. He endured all kinds of sufferings including shipwreck, prison and being floged. He wrote many letters to the young churches and these quickly became important to the whole church and were included in the New Testament. He was the great theologian of the early church.
[Camera on speaker]
Another important reason why we particularly remember Peter and Paul is their importance as martyrs. There is nothing in scripture about how Peter and Paul died, but there are some traditions found in early church writings. In AD 64 there was a terrible fire in Rome, which destroyed a large part of the city. Nero, the unpopular emperor, was accused of playing his fiddle while Rome burned around him. Nero needed a scapegoat, and he blamed the Christians. A terrible persecution followed. Nero devised extraordinary new tortures to inflict on the Christians. The traditions suggest that Peter was crucified upside down on the site which is now St Peter’s basilica in Rome. Paul, who being a Roman citizen could not be crucified, was beheaded. The early church quickly started to remember Peter and Paul together.
[Pictue - Picture of Peter and Paul embracing]
They were the martyrs on whom the church in Rome was founded.
So as we remember Peter and Paul, we need to give thanks for their great witness to Christ. We need to give thanks for the secure spiritual foundations that they laid for the Church, and the church in Rome in particular. As we think about our own spiritual lives, and our own journeys of faith, let’s be inspired by their examples. Let’s each of us follow the path Christ has prepared for us; Peter and Paul show us that what ever the cost, it is worth it!
29 June 2008
22 June 2008
The struggle between good and evil
Preached at 11am Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull, on Sunday 22/06/08
Year A – Trinity 5 (Proper 7)
Readings: Jeremiah 20: 7-13 Romans 6: 1b-11 Matt 10: 24-37
When I was little I used to enjoy the Narnia stories by C. S. Lewis. It was fascinating to see how the great struggle between Alsan the good and the wicked white witch was played out in the history of Narnia.
When I was a bit older I saw the first Star Wars film. Here the good Jedi Knights struggled against the evil empire, through the history of the universe. I have to say that I found the Star Wars film slightly less convincing because the notions of good an evil were rather more commercialised and slightly less Christian. “Good” meant good looking, wearing white and on our side. In Narnia the portrayal of “good” was rather more subtle, and in particular it included the forgiveness and reconciliation with those who had been bad.
Our scripture readings today cause us to reflect on the struggle between good and evil. This is the great struggle, that goes on all the time in individuals, and families, in communities, in nations, in the whole of humanity and indeed in the whole of creation.
In our Old Testament reading we hear about the struggle between God’s prophet Jeremiah and God’s people Judah, who have become complacent and corrupt. Jeremiah was a sent by God to the people of Judah, in the period shortly before they were conquered by the Babylonians and sent away into exile, in the sixth century BC. At this time Judah had strayed far from God and was in desperate need of repentance. Jeremiah was the prophet of doom who was for ever saying, “Repent, repent or disaster will come upon us!” He was working hard to sell a message that nobody wanted to hear. The people mocked Jeremiah, and isolated him and wanted some good reason to lock him up in jail. In the passage that we read today we hear Jeremiah wrestling with himself. He knows that all him problems come because he preaches such an unpopular truths, and yet he cannot help but preach it. The word of the Lord is like a burning fire within his bones and he cannot keep it in. It is a terrible struggle, but Jeremiah has to be forever proclaiming God’s word of judgement and the destruction which is about to befall Jerusalem.
In our reading from the book of Romans St Paul talks about the very personal struggle between good and evil that takes place within each one of us. This is the battle between our old self and our new self, our sinner and our saint. We notice this battle whenever we try to do good, we try to love God, we try to love our neighbour, but we find it difficult to love, or perhaps we fail completely. Paul insists that we must not be put off by difficulty or failure because we have been baptised into the death and resurrection of Christ. When we try to love, our old self, our sinner, dies, just as Christ dies on the cross. This death of “self” is painful and comes with a sense of loss, but we can afford to let it happen. We can afford to let it happen because of the resurrection of Christ. As our old self dies, so Christ shares with us his resurrection life and our new self, our saint, grows and matures within us. What is more, death and sin have no dominion over Christ’s resurrection life, so our new life in Christ has an eternal freedom. This is why Paul urges us always to see ourselves as dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
In the gospel reading that we heard today, Jesus is briefing his disciples as he sends them out to proclaim the good news that, “the kingdom of heaven is near!” Actually it is quite a long briefing, but in the part that we homed in on today Jesus is emphasising what a struggle it will be to proclaim the gospel to God’s chosen people, the people of Israel. He warns the disciples that he has already been accused of being Beelzebub, and if they accuse him, Jesus, of that, how much worse will they treat the disciples? He tells the disciples to trust in him and not to fear, because the truth will always come out in the end. He tells them not to fear even if they are put to death, because those who kill can only kill the body, not the soul. Jesus gives the disciples many other reassurances and then he comes to the real heart of the struggle:
Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother…Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me…Whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
This are hard words, which really emphasis the complete difference between the life that Jesus wants to share with us and the normal values of everyday life in the world. The life that Jesus wants to share with us is radically incompatible with evil and sin, and it will cause problems; it will upset the peace. Jesus absolutely demands the first place in our lives and we have to be ready to choose Jesus above everything else, even above our closest family relationships; mother and father, son and daughter. Obviously as Christians we are called to love our other family members, but we love them as an expression of our love for Jesus. We must never allow our love for Jesus to be compromised by our attachments to other people.
And just like St Paul, Jesus mentions the cross, and the need to be ready to lose our life in order to find it. Losing our life does not simply mean being a martyr. It means being ready to put aside things from our own life, our own desires and agendas, in order to love the people around us. It might mean putting down the newspaper to help in the kitchen. It might mean making time and space for someone who it would be easier to ignore. It might mean taking a risk; reaching out to greet someone who is very different from us, a child, a foreigner, someone in difficulty.
So, as we think about the struggle between good and evil, and as we think about the contribution that we personally are called to make, let’s focus our attention, in the first instance on that part of the world over which we have most influence; ourselves, our own personal lives. Let’s take to heart the teaching of St Paul who wants us dead to sin, and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let’s, as much as we can, live in our new selves, and let’s be ready to let our old selves wither and die. As Jesus suggests, let’s be ready to loose our lives for Jesus’ sake. And let’s trust Jesus, who rose from the dead, to help us find our new life in Christ, our eternal life, the life for which we were created. Amen.
Year A – Trinity 5 (Proper 7)
Readings: Jeremiah 20: 7-13 Romans 6: 1b-11 Matt 10: 24-37
When I was little I used to enjoy the Narnia stories by C. S. Lewis. It was fascinating to see how the great struggle between Alsan the good and the wicked white witch was played out in the history of Narnia.
When I was a bit older I saw the first Star Wars film. Here the good Jedi Knights struggled against the evil empire, through the history of the universe. I have to say that I found the Star Wars film slightly less convincing because the notions of good an evil were rather more commercialised and slightly less Christian. “Good” meant good looking, wearing white and on our side. In Narnia the portrayal of “good” was rather more subtle, and in particular it included the forgiveness and reconciliation with those who had been bad.
Our scripture readings today cause us to reflect on the struggle between good and evil. This is the great struggle, that goes on all the time in individuals, and families, in communities, in nations, in the whole of humanity and indeed in the whole of creation.
In our Old Testament reading we hear about the struggle between God’s prophet Jeremiah and God’s people Judah, who have become complacent and corrupt. Jeremiah was a sent by God to the people of Judah, in the period shortly before they were conquered by the Babylonians and sent away into exile, in the sixth century BC. At this time Judah had strayed far from God and was in desperate need of repentance. Jeremiah was the prophet of doom who was for ever saying, “Repent, repent or disaster will come upon us!” He was working hard to sell a message that nobody wanted to hear. The people mocked Jeremiah, and isolated him and wanted some good reason to lock him up in jail. In the passage that we read today we hear Jeremiah wrestling with himself. He knows that all him problems come because he preaches such an unpopular truths, and yet he cannot help but preach it. The word of the Lord is like a burning fire within his bones and he cannot keep it in. It is a terrible struggle, but Jeremiah has to be forever proclaiming God’s word of judgement and the destruction which is about to befall Jerusalem.
In our reading from the book of Romans St Paul talks about the very personal struggle between good and evil that takes place within each one of us. This is the battle between our old self and our new self, our sinner and our saint. We notice this battle whenever we try to do good, we try to love God, we try to love our neighbour, but we find it difficult to love, or perhaps we fail completely. Paul insists that we must not be put off by difficulty or failure because we have been baptised into the death and resurrection of Christ. When we try to love, our old self, our sinner, dies, just as Christ dies on the cross. This death of “self” is painful and comes with a sense of loss, but we can afford to let it happen. We can afford to let it happen because of the resurrection of Christ. As our old self dies, so Christ shares with us his resurrection life and our new self, our saint, grows and matures within us. What is more, death and sin have no dominion over Christ’s resurrection life, so our new life in Christ has an eternal freedom. This is why Paul urges us always to see ourselves as dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
In the gospel reading that we heard today, Jesus is briefing his disciples as he sends them out to proclaim the good news that, “the kingdom of heaven is near!” Actually it is quite a long briefing, but in the part that we homed in on today Jesus is emphasising what a struggle it will be to proclaim the gospel to God’s chosen people, the people of Israel. He warns the disciples that he has already been accused of being Beelzebub, and if they accuse him, Jesus, of that, how much worse will they treat the disciples? He tells the disciples to trust in him and not to fear, because the truth will always come out in the end. He tells them not to fear even if they are put to death, because those who kill can only kill the body, not the soul. Jesus gives the disciples many other reassurances and then he comes to the real heart of the struggle:
Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother…Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me…Whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
This are hard words, which really emphasis the complete difference between the life that Jesus wants to share with us and the normal values of everyday life in the world. The life that Jesus wants to share with us is radically incompatible with evil and sin, and it will cause problems; it will upset the peace. Jesus absolutely demands the first place in our lives and we have to be ready to choose Jesus above everything else, even above our closest family relationships; mother and father, son and daughter. Obviously as Christians we are called to love our other family members, but we love them as an expression of our love for Jesus. We must never allow our love for Jesus to be compromised by our attachments to other people.
And just like St Paul, Jesus mentions the cross, and the need to be ready to lose our life in order to find it. Losing our life does not simply mean being a martyr. It means being ready to put aside things from our own life, our own desires and agendas, in order to love the people around us. It might mean putting down the newspaper to help in the kitchen. It might mean making time and space for someone who it would be easier to ignore. It might mean taking a risk; reaching out to greet someone who is very different from us, a child, a foreigner, someone in difficulty.
So, as we think about the struggle between good and evil, and as we think about the contribution that we personally are called to make, let’s focus our attention, in the first instance on that part of the world over which we have most influence; ourselves, our own personal lives. Let’s take to heart the teaching of St Paul who wants us dead to sin, and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let’s, as much as we can, live in our new selves, and let’s be ready to let our old selves wither and die. As Jesus suggests, let’s be ready to loose our lives for Jesus’ sake. And let’s trust Jesus, who rose from the dead, to help us find our new life in Christ, our eternal life, the life for which we were created. Amen.
08 June 2008
Dealing with our sin
Preached at the 11am Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull on Sunday 8th June 2008
3rd Sunday after Trinity, Proper 5 – Year A
Readings: Hosea 5:15 – 6:6 Romans 4:13-25 Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
Our gospel reading today tells us a great deal about Jesus’ approach to sin and sinners. To understand it properly we need to understand the role of tax collectors in the society in which Jesus lived. Tax collectors were considered to be very public sinners. They were key collaborators with the Roman army of occupation. The occupying Roman powers gave to the tax collectors both right and the obligation to collect taxes from the local people. Most of the taxes went straight to the Romans, increasing the strength and resilience of their occupation. However the tax collectors were entitled to collect slightly more than they handed over to the Romans in order to cover their own living expenses. Of course some tax collectors had grand ideas about their own living expenses and became very rich at other people’s expense. To collect taxes effectively the tax collectors needed information about people, income and wealth so they would always be prying people for information. Nobody would voluntarily speak to a tax collector. The tax collectors were outcasts, treated with the utmost suspicion and often deeply hated.
And yet, most surprisingly, Jesus calls a tax collector, Matthew, to be one his disciples. Mathew becomes one of the 12 chosen by Jesus as apostles. He also becomes the writer of one of the gospels. The choice of Matthew can only have been damaging to Jesus’ reputation as a religious leader. How would we feel nowadays about a religious leader who chose a terrorist or paedophile to be one of his closest followers? Clearly Matthew must have left behind his tax collecting ways in order to follow Jesus, but it is still rather shocking. Clearly, in the mind of Jesus, sin, even very serious public sin, does not disqualify a person from being called by God. Coming from a background of sin does not prevent someone from eventually becoming absolutely central to the life and ministry of the Church. This is not saying that sin does not matter or is not a problem, but it is giving the most categorical assurance that, in relationship with Jesus, the problem of sin can and will be overcome. Through a relationship with Jesus, even the worst sinners can and will be made good.
And the gospel reading goes on to reinforce this by telling us about Jesus and his disciples eating with tax collectors and sinners. In those times, sharing food with someone was seen as a very intimate act of sharing. Eating food with tax collectors and sinners could easily be interpreted as condoning their sin. For the Pharisees this is a scandal, and they ask why Jesus does it. In his answer Jesus’ compares himself to a doctor, whose role is to heal the sick. He is not pretending that the sinners are righteous, but rather he is recognising that they need help and that he has come to give them help. “I have come to call not for the righteous, but sinners,” he said.
We all like to think of ourselves as righteous. We, none of us, like to think of ourselves as sinners. And yet we know that all of us are both saints and sinners at the same time. Particularly through our baptism, we all have the new life of Christ somewhere within us. Hopefully it is being well looked after, well nurtured and we are steadily growing up into the full stature of Christ. However we also know that sin, that is rebellion against God, is also present in each one of us, causing problems for ourselves and for others, and seeking to stop us growing up into Christ. And it is very important to be honest with ourselves about sin, otherwise we do ourselves a great disfavour and sell ourselves far short of what we are called to be.
Suppose (although it is quite impossible) that there was a scale for measuring how good or bad a person is, and suppose we are quite a good person, say plus seven or plus eight! This might sound quite good, but we must realise that this plus eight is actually made up of a plus 80 for our saintly part, and a -72 for our sinful part. Further we have the opportunity to make the 80 grow by choosing always to live in our saint, and we can reduce the effect of the -72, by recognising our sin, commending it to God’s mercy and asking for his help in overcoming it. Being honest before God about our sin is the really important first step towards its being healed. It is all too easy to say, “Well that’s not sin because everyone does it. It’s beyond my control. I can’t help it that I hate that person. I can’t hep it that I have this greed, this resentment, this disordered desire.” And often this is true, often our sin is not directly “our fault”. Often our sin arises from hurts and pains that we have received from other people. Often it arises because we have not been loved as we need to be loved. Often it arises because of the culture we live in. It can arise from adverts that teach us to want things that we do not need. It can arise from TV and films that fill our mind with sex and with selfish ideas of fulfilment. It can arise from newspapers that teach us to have fear; to fear bird flu or teenagers or other faith groups. And it may well be that much of this is not “our fault” as individuals. Much of it is not our personal rebellion against God. We may not be culpable, but this sin is still our problem. It is still limiting our development as human beings. It is still down to us to do something about it.
So what do we do about our sin. Well, as I have said, the first step is to honestly acknowledge our sin before God, without pretending its not there, or pretending it is not sin, or that it is not our responsibility. The second step is to continue loving ourselves, despite our sin, as God continues to loves us. We need to love ourselves with the same love that Jesus had for the tax collectors and sinners that he eat with. As we become aware of our sin we might be tempted towards self hatred, but this is quite wrong. We have to learn to forgive ourselves and believe in God’s love for us. Often this means accepting some pain associated with our sin, just as Jesus on the cross accepted the pain of human sin. Jesus, suffering for the sin of others, is the ultimate model here. We need to grow in love, honour and respect for Jesus in his suffering, and this will help us to approach our own sufferings with the right mindset.
Above let’s remember Jesus, quoting our first reading from Hosea, “I desire mercy not sacrifice.” We can’t buy our way out of sin with the blood of lambs or with burnt offerings, still less with money. Rather sin is overcome by mercy, that quality of love which has compassion on those in difficulty. Let’s pray that God will fill our hearts with mercy for our own sins and the sins of the people around us. Amen.
3rd Sunday after Trinity, Proper 5 – Year A
Readings: Hosea 5:15 – 6:6 Romans 4:13-25 Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
Our gospel reading today tells us a great deal about Jesus’ approach to sin and sinners. To understand it properly we need to understand the role of tax collectors in the society in which Jesus lived. Tax collectors were considered to be very public sinners. They were key collaborators with the Roman army of occupation. The occupying Roman powers gave to the tax collectors both right and the obligation to collect taxes from the local people. Most of the taxes went straight to the Romans, increasing the strength and resilience of their occupation. However the tax collectors were entitled to collect slightly more than they handed over to the Romans in order to cover their own living expenses. Of course some tax collectors had grand ideas about their own living expenses and became very rich at other people’s expense. To collect taxes effectively the tax collectors needed information about people, income and wealth so they would always be prying people for information. Nobody would voluntarily speak to a tax collector. The tax collectors were outcasts, treated with the utmost suspicion and often deeply hated.
And yet, most surprisingly, Jesus calls a tax collector, Matthew, to be one his disciples. Mathew becomes one of the 12 chosen by Jesus as apostles. He also becomes the writer of one of the gospels. The choice of Matthew can only have been damaging to Jesus’ reputation as a religious leader. How would we feel nowadays about a religious leader who chose a terrorist or paedophile to be one of his closest followers? Clearly Matthew must have left behind his tax collecting ways in order to follow Jesus, but it is still rather shocking. Clearly, in the mind of Jesus, sin, even very serious public sin, does not disqualify a person from being called by God. Coming from a background of sin does not prevent someone from eventually becoming absolutely central to the life and ministry of the Church. This is not saying that sin does not matter or is not a problem, but it is giving the most categorical assurance that, in relationship with Jesus, the problem of sin can and will be overcome. Through a relationship with Jesus, even the worst sinners can and will be made good.
And the gospel reading goes on to reinforce this by telling us about Jesus and his disciples eating with tax collectors and sinners. In those times, sharing food with someone was seen as a very intimate act of sharing. Eating food with tax collectors and sinners could easily be interpreted as condoning their sin. For the Pharisees this is a scandal, and they ask why Jesus does it. In his answer Jesus’ compares himself to a doctor, whose role is to heal the sick. He is not pretending that the sinners are righteous, but rather he is recognising that they need help and that he has come to give them help. “I have come to call not for the righteous, but sinners,” he said.
We all like to think of ourselves as righteous. We, none of us, like to think of ourselves as sinners. And yet we know that all of us are both saints and sinners at the same time. Particularly through our baptism, we all have the new life of Christ somewhere within us. Hopefully it is being well looked after, well nurtured and we are steadily growing up into the full stature of Christ. However we also know that sin, that is rebellion against God, is also present in each one of us, causing problems for ourselves and for others, and seeking to stop us growing up into Christ. And it is very important to be honest with ourselves about sin, otherwise we do ourselves a great disfavour and sell ourselves far short of what we are called to be.
Suppose (although it is quite impossible) that there was a scale for measuring how good or bad a person is, and suppose we are quite a good person, say plus seven or plus eight! This might sound quite good, but we must realise that this plus eight is actually made up of a plus 80 for our saintly part, and a -72 for our sinful part. Further we have the opportunity to make the 80 grow by choosing always to live in our saint, and we can reduce the effect of the -72, by recognising our sin, commending it to God’s mercy and asking for his help in overcoming it. Being honest before God about our sin is the really important first step towards its being healed. It is all too easy to say, “Well that’s not sin because everyone does it. It’s beyond my control. I can’t help it that I hate that person. I can’t hep it that I have this greed, this resentment, this disordered desire.” And often this is true, often our sin is not directly “our fault”. Often our sin arises from hurts and pains that we have received from other people. Often it arises because we have not been loved as we need to be loved. Often it arises because of the culture we live in. It can arise from adverts that teach us to want things that we do not need. It can arise from TV and films that fill our mind with sex and with selfish ideas of fulfilment. It can arise from newspapers that teach us to have fear; to fear bird flu or teenagers or other faith groups. And it may well be that much of this is not “our fault” as individuals. Much of it is not our personal rebellion against God. We may not be culpable, but this sin is still our problem. It is still limiting our development as human beings. It is still down to us to do something about it.
So what do we do about our sin. Well, as I have said, the first step is to honestly acknowledge our sin before God, without pretending its not there, or pretending it is not sin, or that it is not our responsibility. The second step is to continue loving ourselves, despite our sin, as God continues to loves us. We need to love ourselves with the same love that Jesus had for the tax collectors and sinners that he eat with. As we become aware of our sin we might be tempted towards self hatred, but this is quite wrong. We have to learn to forgive ourselves and believe in God’s love for us. Often this means accepting some pain associated with our sin, just as Jesus on the cross accepted the pain of human sin. Jesus, suffering for the sin of others, is the ultimate model here. We need to grow in love, honour and respect for Jesus in his suffering, and this will help us to approach our own sufferings with the right mindset.
Above let’s remember Jesus, quoting our first reading from Hosea, “I desire mercy not sacrifice.” We can’t buy our way out of sin with the blood of lambs or with burnt offerings, still less with money. Rather sin is overcome by mercy, that quality of love which has compassion on those in difficulty. Let’s pray that God will fill our hearts with mercy for our own sins and the sins of the people around us. Amen.
01 June 2008
Caring for God's world - climate change
Preached at St Alphege, Solihull at the 9.15am Eucharist.
Sunday 1st June 2008, Trinity 2 – Proper 4 - Year A
A shorter version of this sermon was preached at the 8am Eucharist at St Alphege.
Readings Deut 11: 18-21, 26-28 Romans 1: 16-17, 3:22b-28 Matt 7: 21-29
Throughout Solihull Parish our preaching this morning has a theme of caring for the environment. We are doing this to highlight World Environment Day, which is coming up this Thursday, 5th June. We also have a special display and some further information available in the OBH at coffee squash. Maud Granger of Friend of the Earth will also be available at coffee/squash in the OBH, so we have the opportunity to talk to an expert.
The United Nations designated 5th June as World Environment Day as long a go as 1972. It is well worth having a look at the website of the United Nations Environmental Programme, which looks like this.
[Display Website Home Page: http://www.unep.org/wed/2008/english/]
This year the theme of World Environment Day is “Kick the Habit – Towards a Low Carbon Economy”, as you can see from the homepage.
But what has concern for the environment got to do with the gospel? We know that we have problems with carbon emissions and climate change, but how does that relate to our being Christians, and to our life as Church? Well I think that are some clues in the gospel reading that we heard today, which, looking at it from a particular perspective, is about sustainable lifestyles. At the start of the gospel reading Jesus tells us that that the really important thing is to order our lives in accordance with God’s will. The person who enters the kingdom of heaven is the one who does God’s will, not the one who cries, Lord, Lord, or even the one who does great things in the Lord’s name. Jesus illustrates this with a story about sustainability. The person who bases his life on following God’s will and on the teaching of Jesus is like a man builds his house on the rock. God is the source of life, so it makes sense to base our lives on the teaching of Jesus. Probably it is hard work to build on the rock, and probably it takes time, but the house is secure. When the time of crisis comes, the house stands firm. For us human beings we think of the ultimate crisis as the death of our earthly bodies, but if our lives are built on the rock they remain secure even through this crisis death. Jesus contrasts this to a man who ignores the teaching of Jesus. This person is compared to a man building his house on sand. Probably is quicker and easier to build, but the house is rapidly destroyed when a crisis comes.
Jesus addresses this parable to each one of us as individual human beings, but it is also applicable to families, communities, societies, nations and indeed to the whole world. Society need to order itself in accordance with the will of God, and in accordance with the teachings of Jesus, in order to be strong, secure and sustainable. And yet sadly we know that many aspects of our comtempory Western culture are far from the will of God, and far from the teaching of Jesus. Many aspects of our society are driven by greed, and selfishness and consumerism. There is often the covetous desire to have the things that our neighbour have. This leads to a society build on sand, a society that is unsustainable and in danger of being washed away.
Let’s go back to World Environment Day and the theme of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. I recently completed a Christian Aid questionnaire that helped me to understand how different aspects of my lifestyle contribute to my personal carbon emissions. I would like to very quickly show you the results:
[Display Fr Gerard carbon emissions:
10 Gas consumed
5 Electricity consumed
2 Use of public transport
16 Use of car
13 Air travel
4 Newspapers
20 Red meat
8 Fruit and veg
8 Other food
6 Furniture/appliances
6 Clothing/footwear
-----
98 …..equivalent to 11 tonnes in a year.
Compared with 10 tonnes UK average,
or with 3 tonnes worldwide average,
or with 2.5 tonnes sustainable world average.]
It is important to realise that these results are very broad brush, but they are still interesting, and certainly give me some pointers on how I might cut down my personal carbon emissions. Clearly the big items are use of a private car, air travel and red meat. Apparently red meat contributes because cows produce lots of methane, which is a very powerful greenhouse gas.
It seems that my personal carbon emissions are just over average for the UK, so I have got some work to do! However the really telling point is that even the average carbon emissions for the UK is still about four times what scientists believe is a sustainable worldwide average. In other words, as a society, we really need to work towards lifestyles that are far, far less dependent on fossil fuels. And it is not just global warming that is telling us this. The high oil prices and fragility of our western economies also make this essential.
When we consider a topic like climate change there is a temptation to become rather despondent. The problem is so huge, and my personal influence over it is so small that I might be tempted to lose heart. But here again the gospel helps us, with its emphasis on the will of God. Whatever we do about climate change let’s first and foremost do it in front of God, and in accordance with the will of God. God created humanity and works for the good of humanity. We can then entrust the problem to God and God will deal with it. I am not saying that the way forward will be free of suffering and difficulty, but I am saying that we need to trust God.
As individuals and as societies we first of all need to live in harmony with God, in accordance with God’s will. Secondly we must live in harmony with each other, loving one another as Jesus taught us with his New Commandment. Thirdly we need to live in harmony with all of creation, with all that God has made to sustain us and for our enjoyment. And let’s remember, Climate change might be a huge problem, but nothing is impossible for God.
Sunday 1st June 2008, Trinity 2 – Proper 4 - Year A
A shorter version of this sermon was preached at the 8am Eucharist at St Alphege.
Readings Deut 11: 18-21, 26-28 Romans 1: 16-17, 3:22b-28 Matt 7: 21-29
Throughout Solihull Parish our preaching this morning has a theme of caring for the environment. We are doing this to highlight World Environment Day, which is coming up this Thursday, 5th June. We also have a special display and some further information available in the OBH at coffee squash. Maud Granger of Friend of the Earth will also be available at coffee/squash in the OBH, so we have the opportunity to talk to an expert.
The United Nations designated 5th June as World Environment Day as long a go as 1972. It is well worth having a look at the website of the United Nations Environmental Programme, which looks like this.
[Display Website Home Page: http://www.unep.org/wed/2008/english/]
This year the theme of World Environment Day is “Kick the Habit – Towards a Low Carbon Economy”, as you can see from the homepage.
But what has concern for the environment got to do with the gospel? We know that we have problems with carbon emissions and climate change, but how does that relate to our being Christians, and to our life as Church? Well I think that are some clues in the gospel reading that we heard today, which, looking at it from a particular perspective, is about sustainable lifestyles. At the start of the gospel reading Jesus tells us that that the really important thing is to order our lives in accordance with God’s will. The person who enters the kingdom of heaven is the one who does God’s will, not the one who cries, Lord, Lord, or even the one who does great things in the Lord’s name. Jesus illustrates this with a story about sustainability. The person who bases his life on following God’s will and on the teaching of Jesus is like a man builds his house on the rock. God is the source of life, so it makes sense to base our lives on the teaching of Jesus. Probably it is hard work to build on the rock, and probably it takes time, but the house is secure. When the time of crisis comes, the house stands firm. For us human beings we think of the ultimate crisis as the death of our earthly bodies, but if our lives are built on the rock they remain secure even through this crisis death. Jesus contrasts this to a man who ignores the teaching of Jesus. This person is compared to a man building his house on sand. Probably is quicker and easier to build, but the house is rapidly destroyed when a crisis comes.
Jesus addresses this parable to each one of us as individual human beings, but it is also applicable to families, communities, societies, nations and indeed to the whole world. Society need to order itself in accordance with the will of God, and in accordance with the teachings of Jesus, in order to be strong, secure and sustainable. And yet sadly we know that many aspects of our comtempory Western culture are far from the will of God, and far from the teaching of Jesus. Many aspects of our society are driven by greed, and selfishness and consumerism. There is often the covetous desire to have the things that our neighbour have. This leads to a society build on sand, a society that is unsustainable and in danger of being washed away.
Let’s go back to World Environment Day and the theme of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. I recently completed a Christian Aid questionnaire that helped me to understand how different aspects of my lifestyle contribute to my personal carbon emissions. I would like to very quickly show you the results:
[Display Fr Gerard carbon emissions:
10 Gas consumed
5 Electricity consumed
2 Use of public transport
16 Use of car
13 Air travel
4 Newspapers
20 Red meat
8 Fruit and veg
8 Other food
6 Furniture/appliances
6 Clothing/footwear
-----
98 …..equivalent to 11 tonnes in a year.
Compared with 10 tonnes UK average,
or with 3 tonnes worldwide average,
or with 2.5 tonnes sustainable world average.]
It is important to realise that these results are very broad brush, but they are still interesting, and certainly give me some pointers on how I might cut down my personal carbon emissions. Clearly the big items are use of a private car, air travel and red meat. Apparently red meat contributes because cows produce lots of methane, which is a very powerful greenhouse gas.
It seems that my personal carbon emissions are just over average for the UK, so I have got some work to do! However the really telling point is that even the average carbon emissions for the UK is still about four times what scientists believe is a sustainable worldwide average. In other words, as a society, we really need to work towards lifestyles that are far, far less dependent on fossil fuels. And it is not just global warming that is telling us this. The high oil prices and fragility of our western economies also make this essential.
When we consider a topic like climate change there is a temptation to become rather despondent. The problem is so huge, and my personal influence over it is so small that I might be tempted to lose heart. But here again the gospel helps us, with its emphasis on the will of God. Whatever we do about climate change let’s first and foremost do it in front of God, and in accordance with the will of God. God created humanity and works for the good of humanity. We can then entrust the problem to God and God will deal with it. I am not saying that the way forward will be free of suffering and difficulty, but I am saying that we need to trust God.
As individuals and as societies we first of all need to live in harmony with God, in accordance with God’s will. Secondly we must live in harmony with each other, loving one another as Jesus taught us with his New Commandment. Thirdly we need to live in harmony with all of creation, with all that God has made to sustain us and for our enjoyment. And let’s remember, Climate change might be a huge problem, but nothing is impossible for God.
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