Sermon preach at 9.15 Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull
Sunday 31st August 2008, Trinity 15, Proper 17, Year A
Readings: Jeremiah 15:15-21 Romans 12: 9-21 Matthew 16: 21-28
One of my favourite television programmes is “You’ve been framed”. It is a programme where they show funny or embarrassing moments that have been captured on family camcorders. To try and keep people watching the during the advertisement break they often have a, “What happens next?” clip. Last thing before the break they show the start of some clip and you have to guess what happens next. Perhaps you see some lad on a quad bike skilful negotiate some hazard and start to accelerate way. So can you guess what happens next? Somehow you know it will be some kind of disaster. Perhaps he will over do it with the acceleration and the bike will go over backwards? Perhaps he’ll drive straight into a tree? Then after the break you see the second half of the clip. And what happens? Well, another quad bike zooms in from nowhere and knocks him for six. Well we knew it would be something like that, but we did not know exactly what!
This week’s gospel reading is a bit like the second half of a “What happens next?” film clip that we started last week. If you remember last weeks gospel you will remember it recounted a wonderful moment for Peter. He proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus was ever so pleased with Peter. He declared Peter to be the rock on which Jesus would build the Church, and he gave Peter great authority both in heaven and on earth.
And what happened next? Well that’s this week’s gospel. Jesus starts to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer at the hands of the chief priests and scribes, and be killed. Well Peter, full of confidence following his great success, marches in and says, “Forbid it Lord, this must never happen to you!” And Jesus is furious. He says, “Get behind me Satan!” Peter must have felt stung to the core.
And what had Peter done wrong? What he said seemed pretty reasonable really. If you have just worked out that someone is the Messiah, the Son of God, you don’t in the next breath agree to let that person be killed by the very people who need him most. But Jesus explains. Peter was “setting his mind not on divine things, but on human things.”
So Jesus accepts that, humanly speaking, Peter’s has a point. But Jesus is not just human, he is also divine. He has come to earth to teach the divine ways to the apostles and to the whole world. He has come to show us the ways of heaven, and the ways of heaven are different from the ways of earth.
Humanly speaking we all want to avoid suffering. We instinctively want fullness of life, and suffering seems like the very opposite of that, it seems like the lose of life, it seems like the road to death. Yet Jesus teaches us the divine ways, and he is very clear. He says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
What does it mean in practice to take up our cross and follow Jesus? Well it means following Jesus through the bad times as well as the good. It means following Jesus in situations of suffering, or hurt, or pain. And it doesn’t matter if the suffering is physical, or emotional or spiritual. It doesn’t matter is the suffering is our own fault or the fault of the people around us, or no ones fault at all. It does not matter if the suffering is large or small. In all cases of suffering the call is the same; to continue to follow Jesus.
And as we think about Jesus carrying his cross to Calvary, and we think of us following with him, each carrying our own little crosses then there are a two ways in particular in which we are asked to follow him.
Firstly we follow Jesus by continuing to do God’s will, even when it is very costly. The gospels tell us about Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane praying that the Father might make the cup of poison may pass from him, and yet also praying, “Not what I want, but what you want” (e.g. Matt 26: 39). Following God’s will can be very costly. Sometimes we need to accept something hurtful or discouraging or sad. Sometimes we need to confront people or situations and risk conversations that might be difficult or painful. There can be all kinds of difficult things, but if we follow God’s will, even through sufferings, then we are following Jesus with his cross and sharing on his journey to Calvary.
Secondly we need to continue to love other people, even when we are suffering. Jesus continues to love through his passion. He forgives the people who crucify him. He ministers to the penitent thief. He makes arrangements for St John to take care of his mother. He continues to think about the others, to hope for the others, to see the good in the others, despite the great evil that is done to him.
So this is how we can follow Jesus in our sufferings; by continuing to do God’s will for us, and by continuing to love. And this very often means denying ourselves, giving up on our own plans and aspirations, giving up on our resentments and frustrations, giving up our sense of comfort or of being in control. This is costly, but Jesus is very clear, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
But now for the good news. By denying ourselves and taking up our cross and following Jesus we find that we are bound into a much deeper relationship with Jesus. It is a relationship that becomes deeper and purer and truer as we carry our crosses together. Sometimes we hear war veterans talk of difficult or dangerous situations that they have passed through together. This experience binds them together with a trust and understanding that goes very deep. It is the same with us and Jesus. When we continue to love, and continue to do the will of God through our sufferings we share in a profoundly important experience with Jesus, who loved and did God’s will through his whole passion and death. Jesus starts to share our burdens with us. Our trust and understanding of Jesus grows.
And the news gets even better, because we discover that we are sharing more and more with Jesus. We find we share in the healing and reconciliation that Jesus won for us. Slowly God starts to transform us, and the situations around us, and they start to reflect his peace and his justice and his love.
But the very best news is that when we start to share with Jesus in his sufferings and death, so we begin to share with him in his resurrection, in his newness of life, in his glory (c.f. Romans 6: 5, 8: 17). The risen life of Jesus restores us and makes us whole. It gives us power to hope. We start to share in the eternal life that Jesus promises.
So when sufferings come, let’s follow Jesus by continuing to love and by continuing to do God’s will. In this way we take up our cross and share sufferings with Jesus. In this way too we start also to share in his risen life. Amen.
31 August 2008
24 August 2008
St Bartholomew
Sermon preached at Congregational Evensong at 6.30pm at St Alphege, Solihull
Sunday 24th August 2008 - Trinity 14
Readings: Deuteronomy 18: 15-19 Matthew 10: 1-22
Today, 24th August, is the day when the Western Church remembers Saint Bartholomew one of the apostles. Bartholomew is mentioned four times in the New Testament. Each time he is mentioned it is because the writer is listing the names of the twelve apostles. His name usually comes next to Philip name. And the truth is that we do not know very much more about him, although there are a number of rumours that we receive from some of the less authoritive early Church traditions and writings.
For example, there is some speculation that Bartholomew might be the same person as Nathanael. The speculation arises for two reasons. Firstly because it was Philip who introduced Nathanael to Jesus (John 1:45-51). (You will recall that Jesus saw Nathanael sitting under the fig tree and said of Nathanael, “Here is truly and Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”) Secondly because in John 21 there is a list of apostles, which includes Nathanael (who is not listed elsewhere) but which does not include Bartholomew.
There are several traditions about Bartholomew going on missionary journeys, particularly to India. There are also traditions about his missionary work in Armenia and Azerbaijan. This is the area to the immediate South East of Georgia, much in the news at present. There is a tradition in this area that he was brutally martyred. First flayed (that is skinned alive!) and then crucified upside down. Because of the flaying, St Bartholomew is the patron saint of tanners. In the vast Last Judgement scene in the Sistine Chapel St Bartholomew is shown in a most disturbing way. He is brandishing a knife in one hand and holding his own skin in the other. He has been painted with Michelangelo’s own facial features!
St Bartholomew is also associated with medicine; hence the dedication of St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. He is also associated with miracles whereby things become suddenly and mysteriously either very heavy or very light.
It is not easy to know how much truth lies behind all these stories, but it is clear that Bartholomew has had a considerable impact in Christian culture and tradition. And yet all this comes from an apostle who the gospels never record as doing anything, except just being there. In this week’s Church Times, John Pridmore describes Bartholomew as the “hidden disciple”. Much of what he said and did seems to have had a hidden quality, yet in the long term it has turned out to have a great impact.
Here we have to pause for a moment and remind ourselves that many of the things that have most value in the Christian life, also have a hidden quality about them. Jesus tells us that the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field (Matt 13). He tells that when we fast or pray or give arms to the poor we should do it in secret (Matt 6) and win a reward in heaven. We should not do these things so that people say how good we are, and if people do praise us on earth then we have already received our reward. Jesus assures us that everything hidden will eventually be made know (Matt 10:26) and St. Paul says that the Lord “will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his reward from God (1 Cor 4:5). Paul always insists that it is our inner prayers and intentions that matter. What we outwardly achieve is less important. This means that we are not wasting time when try to love someone we will never meet, or do something good which no one will hear about.
This is very counter cultural. We live in a television age where only visible things are considered important. The more spectacular something is, the better its chance of being seen on TV. The quiet, ordinary behind the scenes things are not celebrated or valued, but are often ignored. In business or government organizations things that are not objectively quantifiable and measurable tend not to be taken seriously. And the result of forever prioritizing things that can be measured (things like GDP growth or crime rates reduction) is that things that can’t be measured (things like happiness or fulfillment or peace) get de-prioritized.
So let’s take heart from Bartholomew, the hidden apostle. Let’s remember to value things as God values them, not as they might appear on TV or in the papers. Let’s continue with acts of love or honesty that nobody will ever know about. Let’s prepare for the time when all secret things are revealed. Let’s have confidence that we have a reward in heaven, for the good things that we do that are not recognized on earth.
Sunday 24th August 2008 - Trinity 14
Readings: Deuteronomy 18: 15-19 Matthew 10: 1-22
Today, 24th August, is the day when the Western Church remembers Saint Bartholomew one of the apostles. Bartholomew is mentioned four times in the New Testament. Each time he is mentioned it is because the writer is listing the names of the twelve apostles. His name usually comes next to Philip name. And the truth is that we do not know very much more about him, although there are a number of rumours that we receive from some of the less authoritive early Church traditions and writings.
For example, there is some speculation that Bartholomew might be the same person as Nathanael. The speculation arises for two reasons. Firstly because it was Philip who introduced Nathanael to Jesus (John 1:45-51). (You will recall that Jesus saw Nathanael sitting under the fig tree and said of Nathanael, “Here is truly and Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”) Secondly because in John 21 there is a list of apostles, which includes Nathanael (who is not listed elsewhere) but which does not include Bartholomew.
There are several traditions about Bartholomew going on missionary journeys, particularly to India. There are also traditions about his missionary work in Armenia and Azerbaijan. This is the area to the immediate South East of Georgia, much in the news at present. There is a tradition in this area that he was brutally martyred. First flayed (that is skinned alive!) and then crucified upside down. Because of the flaying, St Bartholomew is the patron saint of tanners. In the vast Last Judgement scene in the Sistine Chapel St Bartholomew is shown in a most disturbing way. He is brandishing a knife in one hand and holding his own skin in the other. He has been painted with Michelangelo’s own facial features!
St Bartholomew is also associated with medicine; hence the dedication of St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. He is also associated with miracles whereby things become suddenly and mysteriously either very heavy or very light.
It is not easy to know how much truth lies behind all these stories, but it is clear that Bartholomew has had a considerable impact in Christian culture and tradition. And yet all this comes from an apostle who the gospels never record as doing anything, except just being there. In this week’s Church Times, John Pridmore describes Bartholomew as the “hidden disciple”. Much of what he said and did seems to have had a hidden quality, yet in the long term it has turned out to have a great impact.
Here we have to pause for a moment and remind ourselves that many of the things that have most value in the Christian life, also have a hidden quality about them. Jesus tells us that the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field (Matt 13). He tells that when we fast or pray or give arms to the poor we should do it in secret (Matt 6) and win a reward in heaven. We should not do these things so that people say how good we are, and if people do praise us on earth then we have already received our reward. Jesus assures us that everything hidden will eventually be made know (Matt 10:26) and St. Paul says that the Lord “will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his reward from God (1 Cor 4:5). Paul always insists that it is our inner prayers and intentions that matter. What we outwardly achieve is less important. This means that we are not wasting time when try to love someone we will never meet, or do something good which no one will hear about.
This is very counter cultural. We live in a television age where only visible things are considered important. The more spectacular something is, the better its chance of being seen on TV. The quiet, ordinary behind the scenes things are not celebrated or valued, but are often ignored. In business or government organizations things that are not objectively quantifiable and measurable tend not to be taken seriously. And the result of forever prioritizing things that can be measured (things like GDP growth or crime rates reduction) is that things that can’t be measured (things like happiness or fulfillment or peace) get de-prioritized.
So let’s take heart from Bartholomew, the hidden apostle. Let’s remember to value things as God values them, not as they might appear on TV or in the papers. Let’s continue with acts of love or honesty that nobody will ever know about. Let’s prepare for the time when all secret things are revealed. Let’s have confidence that we have a reward in heaven, for the good things that we do that are not recognized on earth.
Two visions of Church
Sermon preached at 11am Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull on Sunday 24th August 2008
Trinity 14, Proper 16, Year A.
Readings: Isaiah 51:1-6 Romans 12: 1-8 Matthew 16: 13-20
Our readings today encourage us to reflect on two different images of the Church; two different ways of thinking about the Church, and our role in it.
Our gospel reading was the story of Simon recognising Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Let’s just take a moment to think about though two titles, Messiah and Son of God, to check that we know what we mean by them.
First of all, the word Messiah. This is a Hebrew word which means “anointed one”. This equivalent Greek word is “Kristos” from which we get our word Christ. Within the kingdom of Israel the tradition was that God would choose a king, and he would tell a prophet to go and anoint that person with oil to show that they were to be king. Perhaps the most famous occasion when this happened is the one recorded in the first book of Samuel, Chapter 16. The prophet Samuel was sent by God to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as king over Israel. Jesse paraded seven sons in front of Samuel, but none of these were to be king. Jesse’s eighth and youngest son, David, had to be called back from the fields. The Lord told Samuel that David was the one to be king, so Samuel anointed him with oil, and of course he went to become the great King David, who established the people of Israel in Jerusalem at the start of what was to become their golden age.
But the golden age only lasted for two or three generations. After that the people of Israel passed through hard times. They were always ruled by some foreign king or empire and they always felt oppressed and downtrodden. God promised them that in the fullness of time he would send a descendent of David to be a new Messiah, the anointed one, to be a great King, to save Israel and to enlighten all the people of the world. The people of Israel were always looking for the new Messiah and in our gospel today Simon recognised Jesus as the long awaited Messiah, the Christ.
Simon also recognised Jesus as the Son of God. This is effectively saying that Jesus is God, is of the same being as God. The rest of us were created by God, but Jesus was in some sense “begotten by God, before all things began.” The virgin birth bares witness to the fact that Jesus had no earthly father, but rather he should be called the Son of God.
So Simon’s recognition of Jesus as Messiah, anointed one, Christ, and as Son of God is very, very profound. Jesus certainly was very impressed and said to Simon, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and what you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Now it is not easy to understand what all this means. Jesus later repeats many of these things to all the apostles, so there is a sense in which they are shared by all the apostles, by all of the church. But within this sharing they still all come together in a particular way in the person of Simon, now called Peter, which means Rock. And this image of Peter, the rock, on which the church is founded, and the ministry that Peter shares with the other apostles, has been very influential in the churches understanding of itself; of what it means to be church. In Ephesians 2:20 St Paul compares the Church, the people of God to small stones which are being built together to form a great structure, a temple which is being built up to form a dwelling place for God’s Holy Spirit. In this comparison St Paul says that the prophets and apostles are the foundations and Jesus Christ himself is the chief cornerstone.
And I think that this is a very helpful and useful image of the church. But it is by no means the only helpful image of the church, and in fact it is necessary to lay it alongside other images of the church, in order to develop a fuller understanding of what the Church is, what it is for, and how we play our part in it.
In our second reading today from Romans chapter 12, we heard St Paul set out a different image of the church. It is the image of the Church as the body of Christ, and it is one that Paul repeats several times in his epistles (e.g. 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 1:23, Col 1: 18). In this comparison, Christ is the head of the Church, and the Church is like his body. We are like different members of the body, perhaps we are an arm or a leg, and ear or a nose. We are all very different, but we all have a role to play that is of service to the whole body. We are all joined together in the body; we are members one of another. Just as the different parts of the human body are sustained by the flow of blood round the body, so we in the church are sustained by the presence of God in the Church. God present in his Word proclaimed from the scriptures. God present in the consecrated bread and wine of Holy Communion, God present in the midst of his people gathered in his name (Matt 18:20).
The image of the Church has a great building has it strengths. It makes us reflect on the structures and organisation of the Church, on the bishops and on all the rules and regulations which give us clear guidance on how we all fit together. However this is no more a complete view of the Church, that a skeleton is the complete human body. The body includes many soft tissues, much that is moving and changing all the time, and blood that is in constant circulation.
In our reading St Paul also said, “Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12: 2) And this is essential. It is by discerning God’s will that we work out how we, personally, fit into the body. Perhaps we are an arm, and rather action focused. Perhaps we are an ear, and draw the Churches attention the cries of the people around us. Perhaps we are good at talking and, with all charity (not as idle gossip!) we keep news moving and circulating round the people of the Church. Perhaps our role is to pray; we are more like the soul of the body, holding the whole body up before God.
So as we reflect on our own role in the church let’s make sure that everything is done in accordance with God’s will, so God will show us our right place alongside all the other people. Let’s remember that those structural bits, the Bishops and the rules, often show us the will of God and give form and structure to the church, just as the skeleton gives structure to the body. But let’s not make the mistake of thinking the skeleton is more important than the flesh and blood; otherwise we reduce the church to dry bones. Rather let’s recognise that we all need each other, and lets rejoice together, each in accordance with God’s will for us personally, so that the church can be a strong and vibrant body.
Trinity 14, Proper 16, Year A.
Readings: Isaiah 51:1-6 Romans 12: 1-8 Matthew 16: 13-20
Our readings today encourage us to reflect on two different images of the Church; two different ways of thinking about the Church, and our role in it.
Our gospel reading was the story of Simon recognising Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Let’s just take a moment to think about though two titles, Messiah and Son of God, to check that we know what we mean by them.
First of all, the word Messiah. This is a Hebrew word which means “anointed one”. This equivalent Greek word is “Kristos” from which we get our word Christ. Within the kingdom of Israel the tradition was that God would choose a king, and he would tell a prophet to go and anoint that person with oil to show that they were to be king. Perhaps the most famous occasion when this happened is the one recorded in the first book of Samuel, Chapter 16. The prophet Samuel was sent by God to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as king over Israel. Jesse paraded seven sons in front of Samuel, but none of these were to be king. Jesse’s eighth and youngest son, David, had to be called back from the fields. The Lord told Samuel that David was the one to be king, so Samuel anointed him with oil, and of course he went to become the great King David, who established the people of Israel in Jerusalem at the start of what was to become their golden age.
But the golden age only lasted for two or three generations. After that the people of Israel passed through hard times. They were always ruled by some foreign king or empire and they always felt oppressed and downtrodden. God promised them that in the fullness of time he would send a descendent of David to be a new Messiah, the anointed one, to be a great King, to save Israel and to enlighten all the people of the world. The people of Israel were always looking for the new Messiah and in our gospel today Simon recognised Jesus as the long awaited Messiah, the Christ.
Simon also recognised Jesus as the Son of God. This is effectively saying that Jesus is God, is of the same being as God. The rest of us were created by God, but Jesus was in some sense “begotten by God, before all things began.” The virgin birth bares witness to the fact that Jesus had no earthly father, but rather he should be called the Son of God.
So Simon’s recognition of Jesus as Messiah, anointed one, Christ, and as Son of God is very, very profound. Jesus certainly was very impressed and said to Simon, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and what you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Now it is not easy to understand what all this means. Jesus later repeats many of these things to all the apostles, so there is a sense in which they are shared by all the apostles, by all of the church. But within this sharing they still all come together in a particular way in the person of Simon, now called Peter, which means Rock. And this image of Peter, the rock, on which the church is founded, and the ministry that Peter shares with the other apostles, has been very influential in the churches understanding of itself; of what it means to be church. In Ephesians 2:20 St Paul compares the Church, the people of God to small stones which are being built together to form a great structure, a temple which is being built up to form a dwelling place for God’s Holy Spirit. In this comparison St Paul says that the prophets and apostles are the foundations and Jesus Christ himself is the chief cornerstone.
And I think that this is a very helpful and useful image of the church. But it is by no means the only helpful image of the church, and in fact it is necessary to lay it alongside other images of the church, in order to develop a fuller understanding of what the Church is, what it is for, and how we play our part in it.
In our second reading today from Romans chapter 12, we heard St Paul set out a different image of the church. It is the image of the Church as the body of Christ, and it is one that Paul repeats several times in his epistles (e.g. 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 1:23, Col 1: 18). In this comparison, Christ is the head of the Church, and the Church is like his body. We are like different members of the body, perhaps we are an arm or a leg, and ear or a nose. We are all very different, but we all have a role to play that is of service to the whole body. We are all joined together in the body; we are members one of another. Just as the different parts of the human body are sustained by the flow of blood round the body, so we in the church are sustained by the presence of God in the Church. God present in his Word proclaimed from the scriptures. God present in the consecrated bread and wine of Holy Communion, God present in the midst of his people gathered in his name (Matt 18:20).
The image of the Church has a great building has it strengths. It makes us reflect on the structures and organisation of the Church, on the bishops and on all the rules and regulations which give us clear guidance on how we all fit together. However this is no more a complete view of the Church, that a skeleton is the complete human body. The body includes many soft tissues, much that is moving and changing all the time, and blood that is in constant circulation.
In our reading St Paul also said, “Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12: 2) And this is essential. It is by discerning God’s will that we work out how we, personally, fit into the body. Perhaps we are an arm, and rather action focused. Perhaps we are an ear, and draw the Churches attention the cries of the people around us. Perhaps we are good at talking and, with all charity (not as idle gossip!) we keep news moving and circulating round the people of the Church. Perhaps our role is to pray; we are more like the soul of the body, holding the whole body up before God.
So as we reflect on our own role in the church let’s make sure that everything is done in accordance with God’s will, so God will show us our right place alongside all the other people. Let’s remember that those structural bits, the Bishops and the rules, often show us the will of God and give form and structure to the church, just as the skeleton gives structure to the body. But let’s not make the mistake of thinking the skeleton is more important than the flesh and blood; otherwise we reduce the church to dry bones. Rather let’s recognise that we all need each other, and lets rejoice together, each in accordance with God’s will for us personally, so that the church can be a strong and vibrant body.
17 August 2008
Everybody called to share in the life of heaven
Preached at 9.15am Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull on Sunday 17th August 2008
Trinity 13, Proper 15, Year A.
Readings Isaiah 56:1,6-8 Romans 11: 1-2a, 29-32 Matthew 15: 21-28
Years ago the Church Times published a letter. It said something like this: “Sermons – what is the point of them? Our Vicar’s preached hundreds of sermons over the years and I can’t remember any of them.” The next week the Church Times published a letter in response. It said, “Over the years, my wife’s cooked me thousands of dinners. I can’t remember many of them, but I am ever so grateful.”
I think it is a very, very helpful letter. It reminds us that, just as we need to keep feeding our bodies with food, so we need to keep feeding our souls with the presence of God. Coming to the Eucharist is a good way of doing this, because we encounter God in his Word proclaimed in scripture and when we receive Jesus present in the bread and wine of Holy Communion.
So, just as we don’t worry that we can’t remember all the good meals that we have eaten, so we should not worry that we can’t remember all the good sermons we’ve heard. And this is a good job, because I know that I have listened to hundreds and hundreds of sermons and I can hardly remember any of them!
But here is the funny thing, although it feels like I can hardly remember any sermons, I can remember two sermons about the particular gospel reading that we heard today! They were completely different sermons, by different preachers given years apart, and yet I can remember them both! And the reason I remember them is that they both surprised me, shocked me! So, I’ll tell you what the two preachers said, and let’s see if I can surprise you!
The first preacher said something like, “Well, of course, the big thing about this gospel reading is that Jesus is so rude to the Canaanite woman. She comes to him, wanting him to heal her daughter. To start with Jesus ignores her. When she won’t go away, he explains that he is sent to the people of Israel, not to the Canaanites. Then she comes and kneels in front of him. He can’t ignore her then, and so he says to her, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ Well you can’t get much ruder than that, can you? Basically he is calling the Canaanites, dogs. Nowadays we might call that racist.”
I found this a deeply shocking viewpoint. I was very surprised. I was not ready to think about Jesus being either “rude” or “racist”, even if the woman was being completely unreasonable. Fortunately Jesus’ tone does change dramatically at this point in the story. The woman answers him very graciously and with great faith. She says, “Yes Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table.” She means that Jesus may have been sent to the people of Israel, but the goodness of Jesus spills over beyond the people of Israel. Like crumbs falling from a table it spills over. Perhaps it spills over because it is so abundant. Perhaps it spills over because the people of Israel don’t value it properly, don’t take it seriously enough. Either way, it spills over and the Canaanites get to share in the goodness of Jesus. Jesus is deeply impressed with this answer. He say’s to her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was heeled at that moment.
So that was the surprise from the first preacher. The second preacher to surprise me when discussing this story said something like this: “This was a crucial moment of Jesus. This was the moment when Jesus realised that his mission was for everybody, not just for the people of Israel. This was the moment when he realised that he had come to save, not just the Jews, but the whole world.” Again, this was a big surprise for me. Since Sunday school I have been taught that Jesus came to save the whole world. I thought everybody knew that! It had never occurred to me that Jesus himself must have learned that at some point. Because Jesus has a divine nature and is God we sometimes forget how humble and ordinary his human nature was. Just like us he had to start as baby and grow up. He had to lean things. We sometimes thing of Jesus as being like some great superhero, but in fact in so many ways he was just like us.
Now I have to say that I am not altogether sure that either of the two preachers was entirely correct. There are certainly other considerations here, but the point is that both sermons helped me to move forward in my journey of faith, and remarkably I remembered them both.
So as we leave church today let’s remember that Jesus came to save everybody. That means he came to save each one of you, and he came to save me. And we might think, “I’m not the religious type”, or “I’m a terrible sinner” or “I’m not worth it” but the fact remains that Jesus came for each one of us. God calls each one of us to our place in heaven. Now we all have a journey to walk. Even Jesus had to walk a journey as he grew up and grew in understanding. We all have to grow in love. We all have to grow in repentance. We all have to become good citizens of heaven. Some of us are starting from places a long way from God, places of great sin and darkness and we have a long, long journey ahead of us, but we are still called. God still wants to share the life of heaven with us. Jesus will still give us the grace we need to walk the journey.
And if we are already on the journey, if we are already growing in love, already growing in repentance then let’s work with God on all these other people, who he also calls to heaven. Let’s love them as God loves them. Let’s have hope for them, as God has hope for them. Let’s want to share the life of heaven with them as God does. And this can be quite a challenge. Do I really want to share heaven with that nasty man at the bus top? We need to grow in love. We need to help the man at the bus stop to grow in love. We will be ready for heaven ourselves when our love is like Jesus’ love; when we truly want to share heaven with everybody.
Trinity 13, Proper 15, Year A.
Readings Isaiah 56:1,6-8 Romans 11: 1-2a, 29-32 Matthew 15: 21-28
Years ago the Church Times published a letter. It said something like this: “Sermons – what is the point of them? Our Vicar’s preached hundreds of sermons over the years and I can’t remember any of them.” The next week the Church Times published a letter in response. It said, “Over the years, my wife’s cooked me thousands of dinners. I can’t remember many of them, but I am ever so grateful.”
I think it is a very, very helpful letter. It reminds us that, just as we need to keep feeding our bodies with food, so we need to keep feeding our souls with the presence of God. Coming to the Eucharist is a good way of doing this, because we encounter God in his Word proclaimed in scripture and when we receive Jesus present in the bread and wine of Holy Communion.
So, just as we don’t worry that we can’t remember all the good meals that we have eaten, so we should not worry that we can’t remember all the good sermons we’ve heard. And this is a good job, because I know that I have listened to hundreds and hundreds of sermons and I can hardly remember any of them!
But here is the funny thing, although it feels like I can hardly remember any sermons, I can remember two sermons about the particular gospel reading that we heard today! They were completely different sermons, by different preachers given years apart, and yet I can remember them both! And the reason I remember them is that they both surprised me, shocked me! So, I’ll tell you what the two preachers said, and let’s see if I can surprise you!
The first preacher said something like, “Well, of course, the big thing about this gospel reading is that Jesus is so rude to the Canaanite woman. She comes to him, wanting him to heal her daughter. To start with Jesus ignores her. When she won’t go away, he explains that he is sent to the people of Israel, not to the Canaanites. Then she comes and kneels in front of him. He can’t ignore her then, and so he says to her, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ Well you can’t get much ruder than that, can you? Basically he is calling the Canaanites, dogs. Nowadays we might call that racist.”
I found this a deeply shocking viewpoint. I was very surprised. I was not ready to think about Jesus being either “rude” or “racist”, even if the woman was being completely unreasonable. Fortunately Jesus’ tone does change dramatically at this point in the story. The woman answers him very graciously and with great faith. She says, “Yes Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table.” She means that Jesus may have been sent to the people of Israel, but the goodness of Jesus spills over beyond the people of Israel. Like crumbs falling from a table it spills over. Perhaps it spills over because it is so abundant. Perhaps it spills over because the people of Israel don’t value it properly, don’t take it seriously enough. Either way, it spills over and the Canaanites get to share in the goodness of Jesus. Jesus is deeply impressed with this answer. He say’s to her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was heeled at that moment.
So that was the surprise from the first preacher. The second preacher to surprise me when discussing this story said something like this: “This was a crucial moment of Jesus. This was the moment when Jesus realised that his mission was for everybody, not just for the people of Israel. This was the moment when he realised that he had come to save, not just the Jews, but the whole world.” Again, this was a big surprise for me. Since Sunday school I have been taught that Jesus came to save the whole world. I thought everybody knew that! It had never occurred to me that Jesus himself must have learned that at some point. Because Jesus has a divine nature and is God we sometimes forget how humble and ordinary his human nature was. Just like us he had to start as baby and grow up. He had to lean things. We sometimes thing of Jesus as being like some great superhero, but in fact in so many ways he was just like us.
Now I have to say that I am not altogether sure that either of the two preachers was entirely correct. There are certainly other considerations here, but the point is that both sermons helped me to move forward in my journey of faith, and remarkably I remembered them both.
So as we leave church today let’s remember that Jesus came to save everybody. That means he came to save each one of you, and he came to save me. And we might think, “I’m not the religious type”, or “I’m a terrible sinner” or “I’m not worth it” but the fact remains that Jesus came for each one of us. God calls each one of us to our place in heaven. Now we all have a journey to walk. Even Jesus had to walk a journey as he grew up and grew in understanding. We all have to grow in love. We all have to grow in repentance. We all have to become good citizens of heaven. Some of us are starting from places a long way from God, places of great sin and darkness and we have a long, long journey ahead of us, but we are still called. God still wants to share the life of heaven with us. Jesus will still give us the grace we need to walk the journey.
And if we are already on the journey, if we are already growing in love, already growing in repentance then let’s work with God on all these other people, who he also calls to heaven. Let’s love them as God loves them. Let’s have hope for them, as God has hope for them. Let’s want to share the life of heaven with them as God does. And this can be quite a challenge. Do I really want to share heaven with that nasty man at the bus top? We need to grow in love. We need to help the man at the bus stop to grow in love. We will be ready for heaven ourselves when our love is like Jesus’ love; when we truly want to share heaven with everybody.
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