Sermon preached at 11am Eucharist at St Alphege Church, Solihull
Sunday 18th October 2009 – Dedication Festival – Guardians Sunday
Readings: Genesis 28: 11-18 1 Peter 2: 1-10 John 10: 22-29
Today is Dedication Sunday, when we give thanks to God for our church buildings, and pray that we might use them ever better, so as to take forward God’s kingdom. We are of course especially fortunate here at St Alphege in that we have a particularly beautiful and ancient church building. Let’s briefly remind ourselves about its history.
There has been a church building on this site since about 1190, when the village of Solihull first started to develop. In 1242 Solihull received a royal charter for an annual three day fair, around St Alphege Day. The village grew and needed a bigger church. The first part to be redeveloped was the channel and side chapels from about 1277. Later the nave was pulled down and rebuilt on a larger scale. We can still see the outline of the old nave on the side of the tower. The side aisles were added and the spire. The only part of the original church to have survived is the stonework in the tower. The main structures of the church have changed little since the sixteenth century, although the spire famously fell down and was rebuilt in the eighteenth century and some major structural strengthening took place in the 1940s and 50s.
So as we worship in this church building we follow in a tradition that has continued on this site for about 800 years. The church building provides us with an extraordinary link back through the ages to all those worshippers of old; the people who laid the foundations for the Solihull of today. Many of those people are buried in the church yard. Some of them are commemorated on the walls. There is a sense in which the church, the people of God, is united through time by this church building.
This is a wonderful heritage, that serves our Christian development today, and into the future. We are very fortunate at St Alphege that we have a special organisation dedicated to preserve and take forward that heritage. The Guardians of St. Alphege Church, Solihull was established in 1981. It is a registered charity with the object of raising funds to assist with the maintenance and preservation of the fabric of the church,
for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull and to stimulate interest in the beauty, history and character of St Alphege Church as one of the oldest and finest medieval buildings in the Borough. We are very grateful for their work and for the funds that they make available for the church building. You may remember that in 2007 a significant repair was required at the top of the spire, and for several months the spire had a “flying scaffold” over the top of it. All this, some £35,000, was paid for by the Guardians, and it is an extraordinary gift.
Now I would like to go back to our epistle reading, in which St Peter makes comparisons between the way that God builds up the Church, the people of God, and the way a builder might build a church building. This is a powerful way of thinking about the Church, and similar thinking is expressed by St Paul in Ephesians 2 and by St John in Revelation 21. Peter says, “like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” In this comparison we can think of Christ as the chief corner stone from which the whole building is laid out. We can think of the apostles as the foundations. And we are the living stones from which the building is built.
So let’s think of ourselves as “living stones”, all of which make a distinctive contribution to the whole church. Take a look around this church building and look at the stones from which it is made. Some are big and some are small. Some are set high up in the structure, some are low down. Some are highly visible and seen by everyone. Some are hidden away in obscure corners and tend to go unnoticed. Some stones are internal to the wall and can never be seen by anyone. Some stones are highly carved and have been cut into very precise shapes, either for decoration, or to fit precisely alongside other stones.
God calls us to be living stones. What kind of stone are you called to be? Are you big or small? Are you called to be high up in the wall or tower, as though to give glory to God. Or are you called to be lower down, supporting many other stones above you? Are you very visible, or is you contribution to be made in a more low profile way. Are you highly carved? Does it sometime feel as though God is painfully chilling away at you to get you into the precise shape that he wants? And what about the other stones around you? How are you connected to them? What are the relationships that bind you into the life of the church? Those relationships can be a bit like the mortar that binds stones together. Is the mortar strong? Does it need re-pointing? What is the specific contribution that your stone is to make to the life of the church? How does it relate to the contribution of the stones around you?
I said that this is a powerful way of thinking about the church, and so it is, but I think we need some words of caution. This way of thinking about the life of the church emphasises the solidity and institutional aspects of church life. And whilst the church certainly has a solid and institutional aspect we must not lose sight of the fact that the church is a living, breathing, moving, evolving organism as well. We are called to be living stones, not dead weights! Like blood that circulates round the body, so news and joys and sorrows, hopes and sufferings must circulate around the church. We must not depend too much on our structures. Remember that over time most of this church building has been pulled down and rebuilt. So it is that God sometimes pulls down and rebuilds his church.
So let’s try to be the living stones that God wants us to be, whether big or small, visible or invisible. Let’s seek our fulfilment not within ourselves but in our service to the living stones around us, and to the whole Church. And as God builds us into a spiritual house let us be conscious of the very high calling that God gives us. We are called to be a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. And let’s live out this vocation for our own benefit, for the benefit of the whole Church and for the benefit of all of humanity.
18 October 2009
Dedication Sunday
Thought for the parish pewslip - Sunday 18th October 2009 - Dedication Sunday
Readings: Genesis 28: 11-18 1 Peter 2:1-10 John 10: 22-29
On Dedication Sunday we give thanks to God for our church buildings.
In our reading from Genesis, Jacob has a dream and says, “How awesome is this place. This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” This is how we want our church buildings to be.
In our epistle reading Peter makes a comparison between building up the Church (by which he means the holy nation, God’s own people) and the building up of a house. God is the builder. Each of us is a “living stone”. Christ is the chief corner stone, and the apostles are the foundations (see also Rev 21: 14 and Eph 2: 20). We have to allow God to cut us into shape, and to set us in our destined positions, alongside all the other stones, for the benefit of the whole building.
In our gospel reading the feast of the Dedication and the splendour of the temple buildings remind the Jews of the greatness of their calling and their need for a Messiah, an anointed, one to raise them up. Jesus was the Messiah, but his salvation was more personal, secure and more all encompassing than they could understand.
Readings: Genesis 28: 11-18 1 Peter 2:1-10 John 10: 22-29
On Dedication Sunday we give thanks to God for our church buildings.
In our reading from Genesis, Jacob has a dream and says, “How awesome is this place. This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” This is how we want our church buildings to be.
In our epistle reading Peter makes a comparison between building up the Church (by which he means the holy nation, God’s own people) and the building up of a house. God is the builder. Each of us is a “living stone”. Christ is the chief corner stone, and the apostles are the foundations (see also Rev 21: 14 and Eph 2: 20). We have to allow God to cut us into shape, and to set us in our destined positions, alongside all the other stones, for the benefit of the whole building.
In our gospel reading the feast of the Dedication and the splendour of the temple buildings remind the Jews of the greatness of their calling and their need for a Messiah, an anointed, one to raise them up. Jesus was the Messiah, but his salvation was more personal, secure and more all encompassing than they could understand.
11 October 2009
Living simply
Informal Sermon preached at St Alphege, Solihull for the all-age Eucharist.
Sunday 11th October 2009 – Year B - Harvest Thanksgiving
Readings: [Joel 2: 21-27] 1 Timothy 6: 6-10 Matthew 6: 25-33
[AV - Camera on speaker]
Today we celebrate our harvest thanksgiving; it’s a day of thanksgiving to God for his all gifts to us, and especially for his gift of food. Over the spring and summer farmers grow all kinds of foods in the fields. Now all the food has been collected in, the harvest is completed, and we come to give thanks to God for all the food that has grown and we give thanks for the food we shall eat over this coming year.
But thinking about the harvest and our food also makes us think about God’s other great gifts to us; about the land, the sunshine and the weather, all the things that people make and which we buy and sell, all the good things that we have and that we enjoy.
And if you are sitting in the first three rows you might like to have a look under your seat cushions and see if you can find examples of some of the many good things that we have and enjoy, that come to us through God’s creation. If you find one, perhaps you could bring it forward to now.
[Children look under seats, find eight posters and bring them forward. Each poster has a picture illustrating a word]
So what have we got? For the sake of the AV operator I want to read these out in a particular order. We have got:
Mobile phones [AV - Display mobile phones]
Food [AV - Display food]
Holidays [AV - Display holidays]
Clothes [AV - Display clothes]
Houses [AV - Display shelter]
Water [AV - Display water]
Beauty products [AV - Display beauty products]
Car [AV - Display car]
[The children hold these up for all to see.]
[AV - display eight words with small pictures.]
Lots and lots of wonderful things. We are very fortunate to have all these things.
Now let me ask you [talking to children in the front pews], which of these would make the best birthday present. If you could ask for any one of these for you birthday, which would it be?
[Discussion with children, probable outcome mobile phone or car]
[AV - if possible display the relevant picture]
Well that good, and I am sure that we would all like …. for a birthday present.
But now let’s turn things around a bit, and think about these eight things in a different way. Let’s suppose that you could only have half them. Let’s suppose that half of them we can keep, and half of them we have to lose, and live without. Which four would you keep and which four would you manage without?
[More discussion with children. Hopefully we agree to keep House, Water, Food, Clothes.]
[AV - display slide with “Food, Clothes, Houses, Water”]
So what’s a bit interesting here, is when we select one as a birthday present its [mobile phone], but when we have to select four to live with and four to live without, we choose to manage without a [mobile phone]. So when we are forced to choose, it is the simple things that matter; water, food, clothes and a place to live.
Now it is a very good thing that we have chosen the simple things, because the sad truth is that in the western world, we take much more than our fair share of the good gifts of the earth. And because we take more than our fair share, other people have less; sometimes they don’t even have the simple things that they need. So, for example, if we think about the amount of oil and gas that we burn, in Europe and in the USA we burn far more than our fair share. This slide shows how the average carbon emissions of your average American and European burn, compared to average carbon emissions in China, India and Africa. [AV - Display “contract and converge” slide from 2012].
This slide shows how much we should each be burning, so as to give us a good chance of avoiding serious climate change.
[AV - Display “contract and converge” slide from 2025]
Look how much smaller the American and European need to be! We really need to cut down massively on the oil and gas that we burn, for the sake of the climate. This means that we need to get better at living simple lives, less dependent on cars and holidays.
[AV - Camera on speaker]
Now we all know this isn’t easy. We all know that we like our cars and our holidays. There is a very real sense in which we need our cars and our holidays, so how can we change? How can we move towards simpler living? Well, I think we need to take very seriously the words that Jesus said in our gospel reading today. We have to “strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” So let’s try, moment by moment, to live as God wants us to live. Let’s try to love other people as God loves them. If we can do this then God will give us the things we need, and we do certainly need a solution on climate change. If we follow God then in small steps and in large, he will lead us towards lifestyles that are simpler and more fulfilling. We will get better at enjoying the simple things in life like our clothes and houses, our water and our food. We will want to give thanks to God for these things more and more. Our harvest thanksgivings will become ever more meaningful.
Sunday 11th October 2009 – Year B - Harvest Thanksgiving
Readings: [Joel 2: 21-27] 1 Timothy 6: 6-10 Matthew 6: 25-33
[AV - Camera on speaker]
Today we celebrate our harvest thanksgiving; it’s a day of thanksgiving to God for his all gifts to us, and especially for his gift of food. Over the spring and summer farmers grow all kinds of foods in the fields. Now all the food has been collected in, the harvest is completed, and we come to give thanks to God for all the food that has grown and we give thanks for the food we shall eat over this coming year.
But thinking about the harvest and our food also makes us think about God’s other great gifts to us; about the land, the sunshine and the weather, all the things that people make and which we buy and sell, all the good things that we have and that we enjoy.
And if you are sitting in the first three rows you might like to have a look under your seat cushions and see if you can find examples of some of the many good things that we have and enjoy, that come to us through God’s creation. If you find one, perhaps you could bring it forward to now.
[Children look under seats, find eight posters and bring them forward. Each poster has a picture illustrating a word]
So what have we got? For the sake of the AV operator I want to read these out in a particular order. We have got:
Mobile phones [AV - Display mobile phones]
Food [AV - Display food]
Holidays [AV - Display holidays]
Clothes [AV - Display clothes]
Houses [AV - Display shelter]
Water [AV - Display water]
Beauty products [AV - Display beauty products]
Car [AV - Display car]
[The children hold these up for all to see.]
[AV - display eight words with small pictures.]
Lots and lots of wonderful things. We are very fortunate to have all these things.
Now let me ask you [talking to children in the front pews], which of these would make the best birthday present. If you could ask for any one of these for you birthday, which would it be?
[Discussion with children, probable outcome mobile phone or car]
[AV - if possible display the relevant picture]
Well that good, and I am sure that we would all like …. for a birthday present.
But now let’s turn things around a bit, and think about these eight things in a different way. Let’s suppose that you could only have half them. Let’s suppose that half of them we can keep, and half of them we have to lose, and live without. Which four would you keep and which four would you manage without?
[More discussion with children. Hopefully we agree to keep House, Water, Food, Clothes.]
[AV - display slide with “Food, Clothes, Houses, Water”]
So what’s a bit interesting here, is when we select one as a birthday present its [mobile phone], but when we have to select four to live with and four to live without, we choose to manage without a [mobile phone]. So when we are forced to choose, it is the simple things that matter; water, food, clothes and a place to live.
Now it is a very good thing that we have chosen the simple things, because the sad truth is that in the western world, we take much more than our fair share of the good gifts of the earth. And because we take more than our fair share, other people have less; sometimes they don’t even have the simple things that they need. So, for example, if we think about the amount of oil and gas that we burn, in Europe and in the USA we burn far more than our fair share. This slide shows how the average carbon emissions of your average American and European burn, compared to average carbon emissions in China, India and Africa. [AV - Display “contract and converge” slide from 2012].
This slide shows how much we should each be burning, so as to give us a good chance of avoiding serious climate change.
[AV - Display “contract and converge” slide from 2025]
Look how much smaller the American and European need to be! We really need to cut down massively on the oil and gas that we burn, for the sake of the climate. This means that we need to get better at living simple lives, less dependent on cars and holidays.
[AV - Camera on speaker]
Now we all know this isn’t easy. We all know that we like our cars and our holidays. There is a very real sense in which we need our cars and our holidays, so how can we change? How can we move towards simpler living? Well, I think we need to take very seriously the words that Jesus said in our gospel reading today. We have to “strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” So let’s try, moment by moment, to live as God wants us to live. Let’s try to love other people as God loves them. If we can do this then God will give us the things we need, and we do certainly need a solution on climate change. If we follow God then in small steps and in large, he will lead us towards lifestyles that are simpler and more fulfilling. We will get better at enjoying the simple things in life like our clothes and houses, our water and our food. We will want to give thanks to God for these things more and more. Our harvest thanksgivings will become ever more meaningful.
Living by trust in God
Short Sermon preached at St Alphege, Solihull 8am Eucharist.
Sunday 11th October 2009 – Year B - Harvest Thanksgiving
Readings: [Joel 2: 21-27] 1 Timothy 6: 6-10 Matthew 6: 25-33
I wonder if you noticed that this week’s gospel reading was almost identical to last week’s? Perhaps you thought, I have heard this before recently? Perhaps you thought that some mistake had been made? But no, we are in year B of the Lectionary, and it just so happens that, in year B, the Harvest Thanksgiving gospel is the same teaching of Jesus as we read on the St Francis’ day, which we observed last Sunday. The only difference is that this week we read Matthew’s account, last week we read Luke’s. In fact the two accounts are very, very similar.
And this coincidence (although it isn’t really a coincidence) serves to highlight how the Franciscan attitude to food and clothing exemplifies the attitude that we ourselves should have as we come to God in thanksgiving for the harvest, and indeed in thanksgiving for all our worldly wealth.
St Francis, as we know, was in love with “Lady Poverty”. He and his companions would live from day to day on the gifts they were given. Francis would never allow his brothers to have any money or property. Initially they were more or less beggars, but over time a pattern built up whereby they did work for people and were given food and shelter. And in large part the work they did was the proclamation of the gospel. They were therefore lived out a very good example of the teaching in our gospel reading today. They did not worry about their food or their clothing. They strived first for the kingdom of God, and his righteousness and God gave them the food and clothing that they needed. And far from starving to death, or dying from hypothermia, they grew to become a huge religious family, with many branches spread throughout the whole world to this day.
Now most of us gathered here today are not called by God to be Franciscans, but we are all called to live these same words of Jesus, “Strive first for the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” However secure we are in our food and our clothing there are many other areas of our life where we have to live by faith in God. How can we save ourselves from terrorism, or global warming or financial collapse? How can we deal with that situation in our marriage or in our family that weighs heavily upon us? How can we prevent the deterioration of community values, the alienation of the young people, the loss of national identity? How can we cope with illness, old age, and death? In respect of all these things we have to live by faith. We can never resolve these issues; we have to entrust them to God. And how do we do that? We do it by focusing first and foremost of the kingdom of God, on seeking to do God’s will in each present moment of our lives, on seeking to love others as God loves them. In this way we make our own small contribution to the solving of problems, in accordance with what God asks from us, but for the most part we have to entrust the problems to God. And if we strive, first and foremost, for the kingdom of God, we will slowly come to see will that all these problems are part of God’s love for us, they are part of our journey, they help us to walk towards him. And if we truly entrust them to God we will see how, in the fullness of time, God brings them to resolution.
As we make our harvest thanksgiving, let’s pray for the grace to strive first and foremost for the kingdom of God. Let’s then trust God, not just for our food and our clothing, but that all these other issues too will be sorted out by God, as we live in faith. Amen.
Sunday 11th October 2009 – Year B - Harvest Thanksgiving
Readings: [Joel 2: 21-27] 1 Timothy 6: 6-10 Matthew 6: 25-33
I wonder if you noticed that this week’s gospel reading was almost identical to last week’s? Perhaps you thought, I have heard this before recently? Perhaps you thought that some mistake had been made? But no, we are in year B of the Lectionary, and it just so happens that, in year B, the Harvest Thanksgiving gospel is the same teaching of Jesus as we read on the St Francis’ day, which we observed last Sunday. The only difference is that this week we read Matthew’s account, last week we read Luke’s. In fact the two accounts are very, very similar.
And this coincidence (although it isn’t really a coincidence) serves to highlight how the Franciscan attitude to food and clothing exemplifies the attitude that we ourselves should have as we come to God in thanksgiving for the harvest, and indeed in thanksgiving for all our worldly wealth.
St Francis, as we know, was in love with “Lady Poverty”. He and his companions would live from day to day on the gifts they were given. Francis would never allow his brothers to have any money or property. Initially they were more or less beggars, but over time a pattern built up whereby they did work for people and were given food and shelter. And in large part the work they did was the proclamation of the gospel. They were therefore lived out a very good example of the teaching in our gospel reading today. They did not worry about their food or their clothing. They strived first for the kingdom of God, and his righteousness and God gave them the food and clothing that they needed. And far from starving to death, or dying from hypothermia, they grew to become a huge religious family, with many branches spread throughout the whole world to this day.
Now most of us gathered here today are not called by God to be Franciscans, but we are all called to live these same words of Jesus, “Strive first for the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” However secure we are in our food and our clothing there are many other areas of our life where we have to live by faith in God. How can we save ourselves from terrorism, or global warming or financial collapse? How can we deal with that situation in our marriage or in our family that weighs heavily upon us? How can we prevent the deterioration of community values, the alienation of the young people, the loss of national identity? How can we cope with illness, old age, and death? In respect of all these things we have to live by faith. We can never resolve these issues; we have to entrust them to God. And how do we do that? We do it by focusing first and foremost of the kingdom of God, on seeking to do God’s will in each present moment of our lives, on seeking to love others as God loves them. In this way we make our own small contribution to the solving of problems, in accordance with what God asks from us, but for the most part we have to entrust the problems to God. And if we strive, first and foremost, for the kingdom of God, we will slowly come to see will that all these problems are part of God’s love for us, they are part of our journey, they help us to walk towards him. And if we truly entrust them to God we will see how, in the fullness of time, God brings them to resolution.
As we make our harvest thanksgiving, let’s pray for the grace to strive first and foremost for the kingdom of God. Let’s then trust God, not just for our food and our clothing, but that all these other issues too will be sorted out by God, as we live in faith. Amen.
Being content with the things we have
Thought for Parish Pewslip – 11th October 2009 – Harvest Thanksgiving
Readings: Joel 2: 21-27 1 Timothy 6: 6-10 Mathew 6: 25-33
Our Old Testament reading follows a traumatic “Day of the Lord” in which a huge army of locusts have destroyed all the crops of Israel, leaving the land desolate and bare. The prophet Joel describes a call to repentance and prayer. After that he presents the people with the “vision of plenty” that we read today.
In our reading from 1 Timothy, St Paul emphasises the importance of being content with the things that we have. He notes that the desire to be rich opens people up to all kinds of temptations and problems, and we know that these problems are rampant in the society we live in today.
So what can we do about it? How can we avoid wanting more, when there is such a huge advertising industry always telling us to want more? Well the advice of Jesus comes in our gospel reading: “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” If we put God in the first place in our lives, and seek to do his will, and grow in his love, then God will take care of all these other problems.
Readings: Joel 2: 21-27 1 Timothy 6: 6-10 Mathew 6: 25-33
Our Old Testament reading follows a traumatic “Day of the Lord” in which a huge army of locusts have destroyed all the crops of Israel, leaving the land desolate and bare. The prophet Joel describes a call to repentance and prayer. After that he presents the people with the “vision of plenty” that we read today.
In our reading from 1 Timothy, St Paul emphasises the importance of being content with the things that we have. He notes that the desire to be rich opens people up to all kinds of temptations and problems, and we know that these problems are rampant in the society we live in today.
So what can we do about it? How can we avoid wanting more, when there is such a huge advertising industry always telling us to want more? Well the advice of Jesus comes in our gospel reading: “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” If we put God in the first place in our lives, and seek to do his will, and grow in his love, then God will take care of all these other problems.
04 October 2009
St Francis, a model for today
Sermon preached at St Alphege 11am Eucharist
Sunday 4th October 2009: St Francis of Assisi
Readings: Micah 6: 6-8 Galatians 6: 14-18 Luke 12: 22-34
St Francis is probably the most famous and influential saint to have lived since biblical times, certainly within western Christianity. He may have died almost 800 years ago, but it seems to me that he remains extraordinarily relevant to our modern day world. Our sophisticated world of wealth, consumerism and individualism needs now more than ever to focus on St Francis and his values of poverty, simplicity and trust. I would like to give three examples of how helpful, and also challenging, Franciscan values can be. I suspect that many, many other examples that could also be given.
First of all let’s think about Francis, and his love of poverty. Francis would not allow his followers to have any money. They lived from day to day on the gifts provided by others. He and his followers took very seriously our gospel reading today. They sought first of all the kingdom of heaven, especially through their preaching and teaching; and all the other things, clothes, food, shelter, were given to them as they needed them. St Francis considered “Lady Poverty” to be his best spiritual friend; it was almost as though he had married her.
Now this attitude to wealth was extremely influential. Most of us are not all called by God to live a life without money or processions. But we are all called by God to see our processions as gifts that God has given us to help us to serve one another. Whether we are rich or poor, we are called not to be too attached to our processions. We must be ready to give, especially if we have more than we need. In my opinion this generous spiritual attitude towards worldly wealth was one of the factors that allowed the western world to become very wealthy over the following centuries. It contrasts starkly with the greed that lies behind our current economic problems. It is profoundly helpful for us at this time to be reminded of the importance of spiritual poverty. It helps us both personally and as a society if we develop the ability to give freely and the ability to let go of earthly things whenever this is required by God’s will.
Now as a second influence let’s think about Francis and his great love of creation. He loved all creation. He is famous for preaching to the birds and to the fish and for rejoicing in everything that God has made. Our first hymn today was based on his canticle of the sun, in which he calls on all creation to praise God. The sun, the moon, the wind, the clouds, the morning and the evening, water and fire, earth, flowers and fruit are all called to sing praises to God. It does not come over in hymn version, but in the original poem Francis speaks of brother sun and sister moon. As a fellow creature created by God he feels himself profoundly close to all creation, like a brother or a sister. His attitude always is that it is important to take great care of all that God has made, and to use things only as God intends, for God’s own purposed. How powerfully this contrasts with the way that we tend to exploit nature for our own purposes, undermining the purposes of God and leading to all kinds of environmental crises. And the simpler lifestyle advocated by Francis could make a hugely important contribution towards solving the climate change problems. If we are to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 20% by 2020 then we all need to live much simpler lifestyles, less dependant on cars and consumer goods and depending much more on our relationships with the people around us.
Third example - Francis lived during the crusades. Christians and Muslims were at war. We may feel that Christian Muslim relationships are difficult nowadays, but things were far worse in the early 13th Century. After the failure of the third crusade Francis travelled to Egypt to visit the Sultan, thinking he would simply solve the crusade problem by converting the Sultan to Christianity. Most people of the people who saw him go thought this was a crazy idea, and fully expected Francis to be beheaded for his insolence long before he got anywhere near the Sultan. But Francis walked in faith. He was received by the Sultan, and preached the gospel to him. The Sultan did not convert, but he was deeply impressed by the holiness of Francis. They entered into a week long discussion. Francis too was profoundly impressed by the Muslims, by their pattern of regular prayer and by their prayer beads. One website I looked at even suggested that it was this encounter that introduced into Catholic spirituality the practice of saying the rosary with beads, and the thrice daily recitation of the angelus. The Sultan apparently said, “Pray for me, that God may deign to reveal to me that law and faith which is most pleasing to him.” It was a foundational example of inter-faith dialogue. It was made possible by Francis conviction that judgement was for God. His role, as a Christian, was not to judge, but rather to love and serve the people who God had made. This includes all people, the Christians and non-Christians, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad. This universal love of Francis is an outstanding example for us, as we struggle to cope with multi-faith, multi-cultural societies.
So there you are three challenges from St Francis. Firstly to be spiritually poor; ready to lose things for the good of others, or as God requires. Secondly, to love all creation, and to ourselves as part of it, not exploiting creation, but working in harmony with it, as God intended. Thirdly, to be ready to love everyone, even the person of a different race and religion who we might be tempted to think of as an enemy. Let’s thank God for St Francis, and let’s pray for the grace to follow his example. Amen.
Sunday 4th October 2009: St Francis of Assisi
Readings: Micah 6: 6-8 Galatians 6: 14-18 Luke 12: 22-34
St Francis is probably the most famous and influential saint to have lived since biblical times, certainly within western Christianity. He may have died almost 800 years ago, but it seems to me that he remains extraordinarily relevant to our modern day world. Our sophisticated world of wealth, consumerism and individualism needs now more than ever to focus on St Francis and his values of poverty, simplicity and trust. I would like to give three examples of how helpful, and also challenging, Franciscan values can be. I suspect that many, many other examples that could also be given.
First of all let’s think about Francis, and his love of poverty. Francis would not allow his followers to have any money. They lived from day to day on the gifts provided by others. He and his followers took very seriously our gospel reading today. They sought first of all the kingdom of heaven, especially through their preaching and teaching; and all the other things, clothes, food, shelter, were given to them as they needed them. St Francis considered “Lady Poverty” to be his best spiritual friend; it was almost as though he had married her.
Now this attitude to wealth was extremely influential. Most of us are not all called by God to live a life without money or processions. But we are all called by God to see our processions as gifts that God has given us to help us to serve one another. Whether we are rich or poor, we are called not to be too attached to our processions. We must be ready to give, especially if we have more than we need. In my opinion this generous spiritual attitude towards worldly wealth was one of the factors that allowed the western world to become very wealthy over the following centuries. It contrasts starkly with the greed that lies behind our current economic problems. It is profoundly helpful for us at this time to be reminded of the importance of spiritual poverty. It helps us both personally and as a society if we develop the ability to give freely and the ability to let go of earthly things whenever this is required by God’s will.
Now as a second influence let’s think about Francis and his great love of creation. He loved all creation. He is famous for preaching to the birds and to the fish and for rejoicing in everything that God has made. Our first hymn today was based on his canticle of the sun, in which he calls on all creation to praise God. The sun, the moon, the wind, the clouds, the morning and the evening, water and fire, earth, flowers and fruit are all called to sing praises to God. It does not come over in hymn version, but in the original poem Francis speaks of brother sun and sister moon. As a fellow creature created by God he feels himself profoundly close to all creation, like a brother or a sister. His attitude always is that it is important to take great care of all that God has made, and to use things only as God intends, for God’s own purposed. How powerfully this contrasts with the way that we tend to exploit nature for our own purposes, undermining the purposes of God and leading to all kinds of environmental crises. And the simpler lifestyle advocated by Francis could make a hugely important contribution towards solving the climate change problems. If we are to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 20% by 2020 then we all need to live much simpler lifestyles, less dependant on cars and consumer goods and depending much more on our relationships with the people around us.
Third example - Francis lived during the crusades. Christians and Muslims were at war. We may feel that Christian Muslim relationships are difficult nowadays, but things were far worse in the early 13th Century. After the failure of the third crusade Francis travelled to Egypt to visit the Sultan, thinking he would simply solve the crusade problem by converting the Sultan to Christianity. Most people of the people who saw him go thought this was a crazy idea, and fully expected Francis to be beheaded for his insolence long before he got anywhere near the Sultan. But Francis walked in faith. He was received by the Sultan, and preached the gospel to him. The Sultan did not convert, but he was deeply impressed by the holiness of Francis. They entered into a week long discussion. Francis too was profoundly impressed by the Muslims, by their pattern of regular prayer and by their prayer beads. One website I looked at even suggested that it was this encounter that introduced into Catholic spirituality the practice of saying the rosary with beads, and the thrice daily recitation of the angelus. The Sultan apparently said, “Pray for me, that God may deign to reveal to me that law and faith which is most pleasing to him.” It was a foundational example of inter-faith dialogue. It was made possible by Francis conviction that judgement was for God. His role, as a Christian, was not to judge, but rather to love and serve the people who God had made. This includes all people, the Christians and non-Christians, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad. This universal love of Francis is an outstanding example for us, as we struggle to cope with multi-faith, multi-cultural societies.
So there you are three challenges from St Francis. Firstly to be spiritually poor; ready to lose things for the good of others, or as God requires. Secondly, to love all creation, and to ourselves as part of it, not exploiting creation, but working in harmony with it, as God intended. Thirdly, to be ready to love everyone, even the person of a different race and religion who we might be tempted to think of as an enemy. Let’s thank God for St Francis, and let’s pray for the grace to follow his example. Amen.
01 October 2009
Giving thanks for our food
Editorial for the Parish Magazine (Parish of Solihull – October 2009)
October is the month when we celebrate the harvest. We give thanks to God for the crops that have grown and been collected in. We give thanks to God for the food which we shall eat over the coming year.
The Victorians developed the annual harvest thanksgiving into full blown Harvest Festivals. Harvest hymns started to appear. “Come ye thankful people come” was written in 1844. “We plough the fields and scatter” was translated from the German in 1861. Churches were decorated with harvest produce. Harvest gifts were collected and shared with the poor. Church bells were rung and liturgical celebrations spilt over into Harvest Suppers and Harvest Shows.
In recent decades there have been some interesting developments as harvest festivals come to reflect the changing times. Away from rural areas, harvest gifts now tend to reflect what we eat rather than what we grow or harvest. Tinned and packaged foods have become the norm, and actually they make for much more practical harvest gifts! In some places the emphasis has moved away from harvest towards a celebration of the different ways in which we earn our daily bread. I have seen manufactured goods proudly displayed in church alongside sheaths of corn. As the manufacturing sector gives way to the services sector perhaps we should expect to see displays of consultancy brochures or software CDs in our church displays!
These changes make us realise the extraordinarily complicated and sophisticated ways in which we get our food. For most of us, the way we earn our money has nothing to do with producing food. We use that money to buy food that is often imported, sometimes over vast distances. Much of our food is mass produced. In the supermarkets most food is available all year round.
There are many benefits to this. An extraordinary variety of food is available to us all the time. It is more affordable and convenient than ever before and the quality is extremely consistent. The importing of food from all around the world makes us more aware of the interconnectedness of all humanity and the “Global Village” effect.
But despite all these benefits, the changes do raise several concerns. There are ethical concerns about intensive farming, GM crops and the terms of trade with the third world. There are concerns about the greenhouse gases generated by transporting food, and the intensive farming of cattle. Food security becomes more of a concern as we realise that our food supply is so heavily dependent on world trade and financial institutions. Then there is the very real problem of rising food prices, caused by agricultural land being switched from food production to bio-fuel production. This switching threatens to cause food prices to rise to levels beyond what can be afforded in many of the world’s poorest nations. Finally there is the sense in which we are diminished as human beings by our lack of connectedness with where our food comes from. We cease to understand our relationship with the soil and the weather. Our consciousness of seasonal foods and of local specialities disappears. Our distinctive role in food production is reduced to that of consumer.
It could be easy to become depressed about these problems, but our Christian faith teaches us always to live in hope. It also provides us with extraordinary resources that ultimately have the power to address the problems. For example, on 4th October we commemorate St Francis of Assisi in our liturgy. St Francis lived a life of radical simplicity and poverty, which was extremely challenging to the economic assumptions of his time, and which remains both challenging and inspirational to us today.
What would Francis suggest to us about our food today? I suspect that in his simplicity he would suggest growing more of our food locally and growing it less intensively. He would encourage us to grow some of our own food in our own gardens. He would encourage a more interdependent community, working together on food production. He would encourage a freer sharing of the food produced. Our involvement with growing food and our connectedness with nature would increase. Of course such proposals might involve real economic costs and a reduction in financial wealth, but with his love of “Lady Poverty” Francis would rejoice in that too!
Now, we are not all called to be Franciscans. There are other spiritualities within the Church and other legitimate perspectives on food production. However, it seems to me that as the complexities and instabilities of food production increases so the Franciscan perspective will become harder to ignore. In the meantime we must give thanks for the food that God gives us, without worrying, and remembering the advice that Jesus gave to those who worried about their food. He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you (Matt 6: 33).
October is the month when we celebrate the harvest. We give thanks to God for the crops that have grown and been collected in. We give thanks to God for the food which we shall eat over the coming year.
The Victorians developed the annual harvest thanksgiving into full blown Harvest Festivals. Harvest hymns started to appear. “Come ye thankful people come” was written in 1844. “We plough the fields and scatter” was translated from the German in 1861. Churches were decorated with harvest produce. Harvest gifts were collected and shared with the poor. Church bells were rung and liturgical celebrations spilt over into Harvest Suppers and Harvest Shows.
In recent decades there have been some interesting developments as harvest festivals come to reflect the changing times. Away from rural areas, harvest gifts now tend to reflect what we eat rather than what we grow or harvest. Tinned and packaged foods have become the norm, and actually they make for much more practical harvest gifts! In some places the emphasis has moved away from harvest towards a celebration of the different ways in which we earn our daily bread. I have seen manufactured goods proudly displayed in church alongside sheaths of corn. As the manufacturing sector gives way to the services sector perhaps we should expect to see displays of consultancy brochures or software CDs in our church displays!
These changes make us realise the extraordinarily complicated and sophisticated ways in which we get our food. For most of us, the way we earn our money has nothing to do with producing food. We use that money to buy food that is often imported, sometimes over vast distances. Much of our food is mass produced. In the supermarkets most food is available all year round.
There are many benefits to this. An extraordinary variety of food is available to us all the time. It is more affordable and convenient than ever before and the quality is extremely consistent. The importing of food from all around the world makes us more aware of the interconnectedness of all humanity and the “Global Village” effect.
But despite all these benefits, the changes do raise several concerns. There are ethical concerns about intensive farming, GM crops and the terms of trade with the third world. There are concerns about the greenhouse gases generated by transporting food, and the intensive farming of cattle. Food security becomes more of a concern as we realise that our food supply is so heavily dependent on world trade and financial institutions. Then there is the very real problem of rising food prices, caused by agricultural land being switched from food production to bio-fuel production. This switching threatens to cause food prices to rise to levels beyond what can be afforded in many of the world’s poorest nations. Finally there is the sense in which we are diminished as human beings by our lack of connectedness with where our food comes from. We cease to understand our relationship with the soil and the weather. Our consciousness of seasonal foods and of local specialities disappears. Our distinctive role in food production is reduced to that of consumer.
It could be easy to become depressed about these problems, but our Christian faith teaches us always to live in hope. It also provides us with extraordinary resources that ultimately have the power to address the problems. For example, on 4th October we commemorate St Francis of Assisi in our liturgy. St Francis lived a life of radical simplicity and poverty, which was extremely challenging to the economic assumptions of his time, and which remains both challenging and inspirational to us today.
What would Francis suggest to us about our food today? I suspect that in his simplicity he would suggest growing more of our food locally and growing it less intensively. He would encourage us to grow some of our own food in our own gardens. He would encourage a more interdependent community, working together on food production. He would encourage a freer sharing of the food produced. Our involvement with growing food and our connectedness with nature would increase. Of course such proposals might involve real economic costs and a reduction in financial wealth, but with his love of “Lady Poverty” Francis would rejoice in that too!
Now, we are not all called to be Franciscans. There are other spiritualities within the Church and other legitimate perspectives on food production. However, it seems to me that as the complexities and instabilities of food production increases so the Franciscan perspective will become harder to ignore. In the meantime we must give thanks for the food that God gives us, without worrying, and remembering the advice that Jesus gave to those who worried about their food. He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you (Matt 6: 33).
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