Sermon for Coral Evensong at St Alphege Church
6.30pm on Sunday 31st January 2010 – Epiphany 4
(Presentation of Christ in the Temple)
Readings: Psalm 122 Haggai 2: 1-9 John 2: 18-22
Our psalm today, and both of our scripture readings concern Jerusalem and especially the temple in Jerusalem. The temple also features strongly in the Presentation of Christ which we remember today. So I thought it might be useful to use this sermon to reflect on the temple and on its history in particular.
Israel first got seriously involved with Jerusalem round about 1000BC when King David, seemingly against all odds, captured the stronghold of Mount Zion from the Jebusites (2 Samuel 5). David started to build a town there called the City of David, and he established it as the capital city of Israel. God granted David many military successes and his kingdom grew bigger and stronger. The City of David grew down the hill into Jerusalem. There was a particularly significant moment ( 2 Samuel 6) when David brought into Jerusalem the ark of God, which Moses had made during the exodus. This was a moment of great rejoicing because the ark represented the presence of God, and the people were delighted to have God present with them in Jerusalem.
The ark of God lived in a tent in Jerusalem, just as it had done in the wilderness, in time of Moses. But David was keen to build a house for the Lord to live in (2 Samuel 7, Ps 132) but the Lord spoke to David through the prophet Nathan. He said “No, you David are not to build me a house; your son will do that. But rather I the Lord will make you David into a house. I shall raise up from your offspring one who will have an everlasting kingdom, your throne will be established for ever.” Of course we think of these words being fulfilled in the birth of Jesus.
So King David never built the temple in Jerusalem, but his son Solomon did (1 Kings 6). With the wise King Solomon at the helm the kingdom is Israel really flourished. Solomon became extremely wealthily, and he spared no expense in the construction of the temple. Solomon’s temple was huge and incredibly richly decorated. There was another profoundly significant moment (1 Kings 8) when the temple had been completed. Solomon told the priests to move the Ark of God into the temple. The priests moved it, complete with its tent and all its artefacts into the inner sanctuary of the temple. And a cloud filled the temple and the glory of the Lord filled the house, and the priests could not even stand to minister there. Solomon made a long prayer dedicating the temple to the Lord, and the Lord appeared to Solomon saying, “I have consecrated this house that you have built and put my name there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time” (1 Kings 9: 3). So it was that the Lord established the temple of Jerusalem as his resting place for ever (Ps 132: 13-14).
The temple became the central to the Jewish religion. Three or four times each year the Jews would all travel up to Jerusalem to celebrate the big religious festivals. Jerusalem is about 700m above sea level, so you do literally go up to Jerusalem. And this is the experience that Psalm 122 speaks of. There is some religious festival and with great gladness the tribes of Israel all go up to Jerusalem, to the seat of the house of David. And then they enter the temple, the house of the Lord, to witness to their identity as the people of Israel, God’s chosen nation.
King Solomon’s reign was Israel’s golden age as a wealthy and powerful independent state. Towards the end of Solomon’s reign, however, and in the centuries that followed, there were persistent problems with kings and people straying from God. The kingdom became divided, and the northern Kingdom was lost to the Assyrians. However the most terrible shock came 597 BC when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem. Then, about ten years later, the unthinkable happened. The Babylonians utterly destroyed Jerusalem and the temple with it. They take most of the educated Judeans away into exile, and caused the rest of the people to flee, many of them to Samaria.
The exile was a grim period for the Judeans, but it suddenly ended in about 535 BC when the Persians conquered the Babylonians. The Jews were encouraged to go back to Jerusalem, and little by little they go back, rebuilding first the city walls, then the houses and finally, encouraged by the prophet Haggai, they rebuild the temple itself. Our first reading came from this period in the history of the temple. The rebuilt temple seems to be but a poor shadow of the temple of Solomon, but through Haggai God tells the people not to be discouraged. God will shale the nations so that their treasure will come to the temple and make it rich once more. Its new splendour will be greater than the splendour it had of old.
Over the centuries that followed the Jews continue to invest in the temple. In particular, in the thirty years or so before the birth of Jesus, King Herod the Great greatly increased the size and splendour of the temple. Herod was a puppet king, ruling the Jews under the auspices of the Roman Empire. His collaboration with Rome meant he was always under pressure from the Jews to prove his Jewish credentials, and he sought to do this by investing in the temple. By the time of Jesus the second temple was bigger and grander than ever; the glory of Solomon’s temple really had been surpassed.
This morning in church we celebrated the feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. Malachi’s prophecies about the Lord suddenly coming to his temple came to fulfilment. We heard the words of Simeon, which we always have at evensong in the Nunc Dimittis. Simeon described Jesus as light … and the glory of his people Israel. It seems like a reminder of the glory of God which filled the temple at its dedication by Solomon.
Jesus has an interesting relationship with the temple. As a 12 year old his parents lose him there, but he describes it as his Father’s house. Later in his ministry he spends a lot of time there and often preaches there. He appears to resent paying the temple tax because he knows that as “Son of God” the temple exists for him (Matt 17: 24ff). The passage of scripture that we heard in our second reading today comes just after the moment when Jesus drove the traders out the temple, upsetting the tables of the moneychangers. The Jews question his authority for this, and ask for a sign. Jesus says he will “destroy this temple and in three days raise it up”. This makes no sense to the Jews who know that building the temple is a long slow business, but of course Jesus is speaking of his own body; the crucifixion and resurrection.
This link that Jesus makes between his own body and the temple is profound and mysterious. The Church too is the body of Christ. The Church too passes through death and resurrection cycles. The book of Revelation (21) talks of the wedding feast of the lamb, when the Church comes to dwell in a New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is splendid and perfect but it has no temple because “its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the lamb”.
And as for the temple in Jerusalem, well it was destroyed by the Romans in 70AD and has been more or less off limits to the Jews ever since. The temple mound has been completely restored but since the year 691 it has been dominated by Islamic sites such as the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Moque.
When we look at Jerusalem today we see an extraordinary complex situation. God’s chosen place is now sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jews. The tensions felt in Jerusalem are profoundly linked to the tensions felt throughout the Middle East about the state of Israel and its security. There is a sense of waiting and of expectation. What on earth will God do next in this place? And it seems to me that the important thing for us to do is to trust God who is the Lord of history. Certainly terrible things can happen and much can be destroyed, but we must never lose trust in God and in his capacity to raise things up anew.
31 January 2010
24 January 2010
Jesus announces a social revolution
Short sermon preached at 8am Eucharist at St Helen’s Church, Solihull
Sunday 24th January 2010, Epiphany 3
Readings: Nehemiah 8: 2-3,5-6,8-10 1Corinthians 12: 12-31a Luke 4: 14-21
The story we heard in our gospel reading today comes right from the very start of Jesus’ public ministry. It is the first public teaching of Jesus recorded in Luke’s gospel. And Jesus uses this occasion to announce his manifesto, to declare publicly what he is all about, what he is going to do. He says he has come, “…to declare good news to the poor…to proclaim release to the captives…recovery of sight to the blind…to let the oppressed go free…” Jesus is reading from Isaiah 61, but it is interesting that Jesus chooses to define his ministry in this way. We might perhaps expect him to say he has come to reconcile humanity to God, or to teach us to walk the road to heaven, or to bring about the kingdom of God. But no, Jesus chooses to emphasise the social revolution which is implicit in the gospel message. The gospel is good news for the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed.
But it is not immediately clear how this social revolution comes about. How is the gospel good news for the poor, how are the captives released? Well one suggestion has been “Liberation Theology”. This was an attempt to import some socialist and communist ideas into the gospel so as to bring about this revolution. The trouble was Liberation Theology was not always true to the whole gospel, which also urges us to respect legitimate worldly authority and demands that we love the rich as well as the poor. Liberation Theology has now mainly passed away.
It seems to me that a much more realistic, more demanding and ultimately more complete model for the Christian social revolution arises from the teaching that we heard from St Paul in our epistle reading today. The Church is the body of Christ. We are all members of this same body. When one is honoured, all are honoured. When one is hurt, all are hurt. All have different roles and purposes in the service of the whole body. Some might be thought of as higher or greater, so lower and less respectable, but we cloth with greater honour the less honourable members and afford greater respect to the less respectable. It makes no sense for the ear to try to be an eye or to worry that it is less than the eye, or for the head to reject the feet. As part of this body the poor are uplifted, the captives freed, the blind receive their sight. The churches social revolution is realised when we fully live out this reality of all being part of the body of Christ.
So it is a question of living this better, in a more complete way, and this is the road to fulfilment both for individuals and communities. So I would like to offer a few tips on living better as one body; the body of Christ.
First of all, we need to be mindful that the human body is conscious that it is one body because there is sharing and circulation. Blood flows round to all the cells, bringing oxygen and removing waste. Nerves transmit commands around the whole body and ensure that the whole body is aware of what is being sensed in one part. Well we too as church need sharing and circulation. News, good and bad, must be shared and rejoiced in or wept over together. Hopes and fears, needs and resources must all be shared and owned by all. Sharing is a key skill. It is through sharing that Christ gives to us his eternal life.
Secondly, to bring about this sharing we need to grow in the virtues. We need to be generous in giving to others. We need to be humble and simple enough to receive from others. Certainly we need patience because sharing never works out quite as we first hope. And the way to grow in the virtues is to practise, especially to practice sharing effectively.
Thirdly we need love. Immediately after this teaching Paul spends the whole of 1 Corinthians 13 talking about love. Love is patient, love is kind… the famous passage that is often read at weddings. And just as a couple need love if they are to be one family, so the church needs love if it is to be the body of Christ and to share effectively.
So these are my tips for realising the Church as the body of Christ, and realising the social revolution of the gospel. We need lots of sharing and circulation. We need to grow in the virtues. Above all we need to grow in Love. Amen.
Sunday 24th January 2010, Epiphany 3
Readings: Nehemiah 8: 2-3,5-6,8-10 1Corinthians 12: 12-31a Luke 4: 14-21
The story we heard in our gospel reading today comes right from the very start of Jesus’ public ministry. It is the first public teaching of Jesus recorded in Luke’s gospel. And Jesus uses this occasion to announce his manifesto, to declare publicly what he is all about, what he is going to do. He says he has come, “…to declare good news to the poor…to proclaim release to the captives…recovery of sight to the blind…to let the oppressed go free…” Jesus is reading from Isaiah 61, but it is interesting that Jesus chooses to define his ministry in this way. We might perhaps expect him to say he has come to reconcile humanity to God, or to teach us to walk the road to heaven, or to bring about the kingdom of God. But no, Jesus chooses to emphasise the social revolution which is implicit in the gospel message. The gospel is good news for the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed.
But it is not immediately clear how this social revolution comes about. How is the gospel good news for the poor, how are the captives released? Well one suggestion has been “Liberation Theology”. This was an attempt to import some socialist and communist ideas into the gospel so as to bring about this revolution. The trouble was Liberation Theology was not always true to the whole gospel, which also urges us to respect legitimate worldly authority and demands that we love the rich as well as the poor. Liberation Theology has now mainly passed away.
It seems to me that a much more realistic, more demanding and ultimately more complete model for the Christian social revolution arises from the teaching that we heard from St Paul in our epistle reading today. The Church is the body of Christ. We are all members of this same body. When one is honoured, all are honoured. When one is hurt, all are hurt. All have different roles and purposes in the service of the whole body. Some might be thought of as higher or greater, so lower and less respectable, but we cloth with greater honour the less honourable members and afford greater respect to the less respectable. It makes no sense for the ear to try to be an eye or to worry that it is less than the eye, or for the head to reject the feet. As part of this body the poor are uplifted, the captives freed, the blind receive their sight. The churches social revolution is realised when we fully live out this reality of all being part of the body of Christ.
So it is a question of living this better, in a more complete way, and this is the road to fulfilment both for individuals and communities. So I would like to offer a few tips on living better as one body; the body of Christ.
First of all, we need to be mindful that the human body is conscious that it is one body because there is sharing and circulation. Blood flows round to all the cells, bringing oxygen and removing waste. Nerves transmit commands around the whole body and ensure that the whole body is aware of what is being sensed in one part. Well we too as church need sharing and circulation. News, good and bad, must be shared and rejoiced in or wept over together. Hopes and fears, needs and resources must all be shared and owned by all. Sharing is a key skill. It is through sharing that Christ gives to us his eternal life.
Secondly, to bring about this sharing we need to grow in the virtues. We need to be generous in giving to others. We need to be humble and simple enough to receive from others. Certainly we need patience because sharing never works out quite as we first hope. And the way to grow in the virtues is to practise, especially to practice sharing effectively.
Thirdly we need love. Immediately after this teaching Paul spends the whole of 1 Corinthians 13 talking about love. Love is patient, love is kind… the famous passage that is often read at weddings. And just as a couple need love if they are to be one family, so the church needs love if it is to be the body of Christ and to share effectively.
So these are my tips for realising the Church as the body of Christ, and realising the social revolution of the gospel. We need lots of sharing and circulation. We need to grow in the virtues. Above all we need to grow in Love. Amen.
17 January 2010
Longing for the wedding feast
Short sermon preached at 8am Eucharist at St Alphege Church, Solihull
Sunday 17th January 2009, Epiphany 2
Readings: Isaiah 62: 1-5 [1 Corinthians 12: 1-11] John 2: 1-11
Our readings today have a theme of celebration. They are about weddings and rejoicing. They speak of great joys to be shared, and of a party.
In our reading from Isaiah God speaks to his chosen people and tells them that God will rejoice over his people a bridegroom rejoices over his bride. God will deliver his chosen people from their desolation and forsakenness and make them to be a crown of beauty, a royal diadem in the hand of God. This Isaiah reading has the same theme as the last part of the book of Revelation where it talks about the wedding feast of the lamb. The Church is portrayed as the bride of Christ, the New Jerusalem, purified and made new and to be joined to the lamb, to Christ, forever. As Christians we are called to this great and wonderful destiny, the greatest of all celebrations.
Although promised, the celebration is not yet. And similarly in the gospel reading we have a wedding feast, a celebration which is struggling to happen because the wine has run out. The lack of wine is being felt, and there is a desire, a longing for more wine so the celebration can continue. And in our human lives we are so often aware of things that are lacking and inadequate. If we think about Haiti we become painfully aware of the instability and fragility of our earthly lives. We are aware of the great sufferings, and the inadequacy of any human response. And I think, to some extent at least, we all long for and thirst for the great banquet in heaven. We want to live in the New Heaven and New Earth that God is to create, free from the suffering and pain of the old world. We want to see fulfilled the wholeness, the harmony, the blessed rest of the long promised kingdom of God. And this desire is a very good thing because our desire for these things helps us to walk towards them, it help us to play our part in their realisation. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matt 5: 6).
But the gospel story is also very good because it shows how these desires are brought to fulfilment. They come to fulfilment when they are brought to Jesus. And Mary is the agent here. She brings the need, the thirst, the longing to Jesus. She also tells the servants “do whatever he tells you”. And this is the pattern for us too. We bring to Jesus our thirsts, our longings, and the needs of the world, and then we seek to do whatever Jesus tells us. Two things are required. Trust in Jesus, that he will resolve problems that are brought to him, and obedience to Jesus, such that we play our all part in the resolution.
Now an interesting aspect of this story that the need, the desire, for more wine is not presented directly to Jesus by those organising the feast; it is presented by Mary. In prayer we can, and should, approach God directly and ask him for the things we need. However we also can, and should also, approach him indirectly, through the prayers of other people, our friends, our families, the saints. And in my experience this approach through other people is often works better than the direct approach. In this approach the desire, the need, has to be owned by other people before it is presented to God. In this way the request depends on the charity of others, so it comes to God purified of some of the selfish and individualistic intentions that might accompany a direct prayer. And the granting of the prayer becomes a gift that not only helps the individual with the particular need, but also strengthens community through the sharing of needs and desires and prayers. It promotes a spirituality in which we think about others and help others, because only through others are we helped. It reminds us of the importance of praying for others people, because that is how we are prayed for. It reminds us of the importance of empathising with others people, so we know their needs and know what to pray for. It encourages us to use our time, our talents and our gifts in the service of others in the church community, because this is how we ourselves are served. And all this builds true communion; true sharing of the gifts God give us, above all in the gift of eternal life. Amen.
Sunday 17th January 2009, Epiphany 2
Readings: Isaiah 62: 1-5 [1 Corinthians 12: 1-11] John 2: 1-11
Our readings today have a theme of celebration. They are about weddings and rejoicing. They speak of great joys to be shared, and of a party.
In our reading from Isaiah God speaks to his chosen people and tells them that God will rejoice over his people a bridegroom rejoices over his bride. God will deliver his chosen people from their desolation and forsakenness and make them to be a crown of beauty, a royal diadem in the hand of God. This Isaiah reading has the same theme as the last part of the book of Revelation where it talks about the wedding feast of the lamb. The Church is portrayed as the bride of Christ, the New Jerusalem, purified and made new and to be joined to the lamb, to Christ, forever. As Christians we are called to this great and wonderful destiny, the greatest of all celebrations.
Although promised, the celebration is not yet. And similarly in the gospel reading we have a wedding feast, a celebration which is struggling to happen because the wine has run out. The lack of wine is being felt, and there is a desire, a longing for more wine so the celebration can continue. And in our human lives we are so often aware of things that are lacking and inadequate. If we think about Haiti we become painfully aware of the instability and fragility of our earthly lives. We are aware of the great sufferings, and the inadequacy of any human response. And I think, to some extent at least, we all long for and thirst for the great banquet in heaven. We want to live in the New Heaven and New Earth that God is to create, free from the suffering and pain of the old world. We want to see fulfilled the wholeness, the harmony, the blessed rest of the long promised kingdom of God. And this desire is a very good thing because our desire for these things helps us to walk towards them, it help us to play our part in their realisation. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matt 5: 6).
But the gospel story is also very good because it shows how these desires are brought to fulfilment. They come to fulfilment when they are brought to Jesus. And Mary is the agent here. She brings the need, the thirst, the longing to Jesus. She also tells the servants “do whatever he tells you”. And this is the pattern for us too. We bring to Jesus our thirsts, our longings, and the needs of the world, and then we seek to do whatever Jesus tells us. Two things are required. Trust in Jesus, that he will resolve problems that are brought to him, and obedience to Jesus, such that we play our all part in the resolution.
Now an interesting aspect of this story that the need, the desire, for more wine is not presented directly to Jesus by those organising the feast; it is presented by Mary. In prayer we can, and should, approach God directly and ask him for the things we need. However we also can, and should also, approach him indirectly, through the prayers of other people, our friends, our families, the saints. And in my experience this approach through other people is often works better than the direct approach. In this approach the desire, the need, has to be owned by other people before it is presented to God. In this way the request depends on the charity of others, so it comes to God purified of some of the selfish and individualistic intentions that might accompany a direct prayer. And the granting of the prayer becomes a gift that not only helps the individual with the particular need, but also strengthens community through the sharing of needs and desires and prayers. It promotes a spirituality in which we think about others and help others, because only through others are we helped. It reminds us of the importance of praying for others people, because that is how we are prayed for. It reminds us of the importance of empathising with others people, so we know their needs and know what to pray for. It encourages us to use our time, our talents and our gifts in the service of others in the church community, because this is how we ourselves are served. And all this builds true communion; true sharing of the gifts God give us, above all in the gift of eternal life. Amen.
10 January 2010
Baptism and the healing cycle
Sermon for wholeness and healing service at St Helen’s Church
6.30pm - Sunday 10th January 2010 – Baptism of Christ
Rdngs: Isaiah 55: 1-11, Romans 6: 1-11, Mark 1: 4-11, Dismissal Gospel Luke 5: 12-14
At the age of 21, in my last year as an undergraduate, I had a crisis. I didn’t realise it was a crisis at the time; I just thought I was ill. I had a problem with itchy skin. If I got embarrassed, or laughed, or put under pressure or just spent too long in a hot room then my skin would start to itch. It would itch all over. There would be nothing that you could see but for me it was completely unbearable. All I could do was go outside in the cold and take my coat off. My skin would cool down and I would be fine…until I the next time. This started as a minor irritation in about November time, but by Christmas it was a major problem. In fact I really struggled to do my Christmas shopping. I find shopping pretty stressful at the best of times, and perhaps because of that I found I was especially likely to start itching in the shops, which were also very warm. I found that I could not stay in the shops long enough to get to the front of the queue to pay for the things I wanted to buy. It was very frustrating and difficult.
Anyway, I went to the doctors. The first doctor I went to realised that something psychosomatic was going on and suggested that I do some yoga. I was reluctant to do this; I was very suspicious of yoga. The second doctor I went to gave me an assortment of pills and creams and lotions. I discovered that with antihistamine tablets I could control the itching, such that I still knew when it was happening, but it was not painful and I could just about get by in my day to day life. However I knew that this was not the same as being healthy, and I did want to get better so I started looking around for ways to get better. I started going to yoga classes.
In about February a Catholic friend of mine, who with hindsight obviously had a gift for dealing with young men, started to take an interest my difficulties. He wanted me to go a see a Catholic counselling woman at the school he worked in. I was reluctant to go. I was a bit suspicious of Catholicism and profoundly suspicious of counselling. However, this man Tony, said one or two things and asked me one or two questions that made me realise that he understood far more about what was wrong with me that I did. I realised that I had to trust him and go and meet this counselling woman. Tony said to me, “Right now you are in crisis, and things are very rough for you, but one day you will look back at this and think it was the best thing that every happened to you!” Of course he was absolutely right, but I hesitated to believe it at the time.
Anyway, once I started seeing the counselling lady, she started asking me questions and very quickly she started to draw to my attention all kinds of contradictions and inconsistencies in my attitudes to life. Slowly I learned to trust her. I started to make new choices which reflected my own choices rather than what I had been taught to think of as “good”. I started to dress more expressively, to spend more money, to drink more beer, to be more independent of my parents and in many ways to behave more like a normal student. Really it was about growing up and having the courage to make my own choices. Also, through the yoga, I became more aware of my inner feelings and needs and became more able to address them. It was a very difficult process, and some of my experiments turned out to be very unhelpful, but slowly I did begin to improve. After my final exams in June I was able to rest more and this really helped. By September I had stopped itching. A year later I was well enough to get a job. A year after that I met Elaine, and a year after that we got married. I carried on seeing, Sr Clare, the counselling woman on and off for many years. I was in my late thirties before I really felt I had full recovered.
As I look back on that experience now I think of it in a way very different from how I thought about it at the time. At the time I just thought I was ill, which was true. Then later I started to think of it as a psychological crisis to do with growing up, which was also true. However more recently as I look back I start to notice the spiritual aspects of the experience. A huge part of it was about being ready to let go of attitudes and beliefs that had stood me in good stead as I grew up. For example, I had to let go of my prejudices about yoga and Catholics and counselling. I had to let go of my rather cerebral Christian faith beliefs and more ridged religious practices. I had to let go of any sense that I was a “good” Christian, or better than other people, or that I could do things in my own strength or that I could be independent, or that I could serve others without being served myself. This letting go was an experience of loss. In some ways it was like dying lots of small deaths. Then there was another part of the experience which was all to do with acceptance. I had to accept my human limitations. I had to accept my inner needs. I had to accept the inner pain that I carried and I was carrying a lot. I had to accept my need for love and my dependence on other people. I had to accept that I was a sinner in need of God’s mercy. And this process of acceptance was profoundly linked to healing, and it took a long time.
And then there was the surprise of new life and new hope which I had not been expecting. I discovered that I had a Christian faith that was deeper and more profound and more real than my earlier more cerebral faith had been. I discovered that through my prayers and my sufferings I could grow in faith and contribute to the life of the Church, even if I was not well enough to do very much. I discovered that God really did love me, and that I was much more loveable than I could ever have imagined. I discovered that I was much closer to other people, in their joys and sorrows, in their hopes and fears than I would ever have considered possible. I found healing and renewal and the ability to build a new life.
But the interesting thing is that this experience of losing and dying, leading to acceptance and healing, leading to new life and new possibilities is very like the experience of Baptism that our reading today have meditated upon.
Our OT reading was written for the Jews in the sixth century BC, at a real low point in their history. They had been conquered by the Babylonians and taken away into exile. Many of them had been killed in battle. They had lost the Promised Land, they had lost Jerusalem. The temple had been destroyed. They had lost their livelihoods and their freedom. Everything spoke of death and loss. Yet into this bitter, bitter suffering the second Isaiah proclaims a message of hope and new life. “You that have no money, come buy and eat, buy wine and milk without money and without price,” “Return to the Lord, that he may have mercy…to our God for he will abundantly pardon”.
Then we heard St Paul teaching that we must die to sin. We were baptised with Christ, baptised into his death. Our old self was crucified with Christ so that the body of sin might be destroyed and we might longer be enslaved to sin. But, having been united to Christ in his death, so we will be united with him in a resurrection like his. We are called to walk in newness of life. We are dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
And then we heard Marks account of the baptism of Christ. There is a losing; the Son of God submits to a moral man for baptism. There is a going down into the water, there is a moment under the water, a moment of being overwhelmed, a moment like death. Then there is a coming up out of the water, new life, an anointing with the Spirit and affirmation from the voice of the Father himself. This is indeed new life, with new possibilities.
So I hope that as we think about sickness and illness and wholeness and healing, so we will experience something of this Baptism cycle, this death of the old and the rising up of something new. I hope we shall have the courage to let go, to lose, to go through the process like death. I hope that we shall have the grace of acceptance, accepting the truth, accepting the pain, accepting reality of the situation. Then, from God, not from us, I hope we will find new things start to emerge; new life, new possibilities, new hope, new way of serving others.
And I hope that if we can practice this through the crisis of illness, so it will stand us in good stead when we come to the great crisis of death. May we accept the loss our mortal bodies and our earthly life, but may we come to rejoice in the resurrection life of Christ, the eternal life, the life free from sin and death. Amen.
6.30pm - Sunday 10th January 2010 – Baptism of Christ
Rdngs: Isaiah 55: 1-11, Romans 6: 1-11, Mark 1: 4-11, Dismissal Gospel Luke 5: 12-14
At the age of 21, in my last year as an undergraduate, I had a crisis. I didn’t realise it was a crisis at the time; I just thought I was ill. I had a problem with itchy skin. If I got embarrassed, or laughed, or put under pressure or just spent too long in a hot room then my skin would start to itch. It would itch all over. There would be nothing that you could see but for me it was completely unbearable. All I could do was go outside in the cold and take my coat off. My skin would cool down and I would be fine…until I the next time. This started as a minor irritation in about November time, but by Christmas it was a major problem. In fact I really struggled to do my Christmas shopping. I find shopping pretty stressful at the best of times, and perhaps because of that I found I was especially likely to start itching in the shops, which were also very warm. I found that I could not stay in the shops long enough to get to the front of the queue to pay for the things I wanted to buy. It was very frustrating and difficult.
Anyway, I went to the doctors. The first doctor I went to realised that something psychosomatic was going on and suggested that I do some yoga. I was reluctant to do this; I was very suspicious of yoga. The second doctor I went to gave me an assortment of pills and creams and lotions. I discovered that with antihistamine tablets I could control the itching, such that I still knew when it was happening, but it was not painful and I could just about get by in my day to day life. However I knew that this was not the same as being healthy, and I did want to get better so I started looking around for ways to get better. I started going to yoga classes.
In about February a Catholic friend of mine, who with hindsight obviously had a gift for dealing with young men, started to take an interest my difficulties. He wanted me to go a see a Catholic counselling woman at the school he worked in. I was reluctant to go. I was a bit suspicious of Catholicism and profoundly suspicious of counselling. However, this man Tony, said one or two things and asked me one or two questions that made me realise that he understood far more about what was wrong with me that I did. I realised that I had to trust him and go and meet this counselling woman. Tony said to me, “Right now you are in crisis, and things are very rough for you, but one day you will look back at this and think it was the best thing that every happened to you!” Of course he was absolutely right, but I hesitated to believe it at the time.
Anyway, once I started seeing the counselling lady, she started asking me questions and very quickly she started to draw to my attention all kinds of contradictions and inconsistencies in my attitudes to life. Slowly I learned to trust her. I started to make new choices which reflected my own choices rather than what I had been taught to think of as “good”. I started to dress more expressively, to spend more money, to drink more beer, to be more independent of my parents and in many ways to behave more like a normal student. Really it was about growing up and having the courage to make my own choices. Also, through the yoga, I became more aware of my inner feelings and needs and became more able to address them. It was a very difficult process, and some of my experiments turned out to be very unhelpful, but slowly I did begin to improve. After my final exams in June I was able to rest more and this really helped. By September I had stopped itching. A year later I was well enough to get a job. A year after that I met Elaine, and a year after that we got married. I carried on seeing, Sr Clare, the counselling woman on and off for many years. I was in my late thirties before I really felt I had full recovered.
As I look back on that experience now I think of it in a way very different from how I thought about it at the time. At the time I just thought I was ill, which was true. Then later I started to think of it as a psychological crisis to do with growing up, which was also true. However more recently as I look back I start to notice the spiritual aspects of the experience. A huge part of it was about being ready to let go of attitudes and beliefs that had stood me in good stead as I grew up. For example, I had to let go of my prejudices about yoga and Catholics and counselling. I had to let go of my rather cerebral Christian faith beliefs and more ridged religious practices. I had to let go of any sense that I was a “good” Christian, or better than other people, or that I could do things in my own strength or that I could be independent, or that I could serve others without being served myself. This letting go was an experience of loss. In some ways it was like dying lots of small deaths. Then there was another part of the experience which was all to do with acceptance. I had to accept my human limitations. I had to accept my inner needs. I had to accept the inner pain that I carried and I was carrying a lot. I had to accept my need for love and my dependence on other people. I had to accept that I was a sinner in need of God’s mercy. And this process of acceptance was profoundly linked to healing, and it took a long time.
And then there was the surprise of new life and new hope which I had not been expecting. I discovered that I had a Christian faith that was deeper and more profound and more real than my earlier more cerebral faith had been. I discovered that through my prayers and my sufferings I could grow in faith and contribute to the life of the Church, even if I was not well enough to do very much. I discovered that God really did love me, and that I was much more loveable than I could ever have imagined. I discovered that I was much closer to other people, in their joys and sorrows, in their hopes and fears than I would ever have considered possible. I found healing and renewal and the ability to build a new life.
But the interesting thing is that this experience of losing and dying, leading to acceptance and healing, leading to new life and new possibilities is very like the experience of Baptism that our reading today have meditated upon.
Our OT reading was written for the Jews in the sixth century BC, at a real low point in their history. They had been conquered by the Babylonians and taken away into exile. Many of them had been killed in battle. They had lost the Promised Land, they had lost Jerusalem. The temple had been destroyed. They had lost their livelihoods and their freedom. Everything spoke of death and loss. Yet into this bitter, bitter suffering the second Isaiah proclaims a message of hope and new life. “You that have no money, come buy and eat, buy wine and milk without money and without price,” “Return to the Lord, that he may have mercy…to our God for he will abundantly pardon”.
Then we heard St Paul teaching that we must die to sin. We were baptised with Christ, baptised into his death. Our old self was crucified with Christ so that the body of sin might be destroyed and we might longer be enslaved to sin. But, having been united to Christ in his death, so we will be united with him in a resurrection like his. We are called to walk in newness of life. We are dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
And then we heard Marks account of the baptism of Christ. There is a losing; the Son of God submits to a moral man for baptism. There is a going down into the water, there is a moment under the water, a moment of being overwhelmed, a moment like death. Then there is a coming up out of the water, new life, an anointing with the Spirit and affirmation from the voice of the Father himself. This is indeed new life, with new possibilities.
So I hope that as we think about sickness and illness and wholeness and healing, so we will experience something of this Baptism cycle, this death of the old and the rising up of something new. I hope we shall have the courage to let go, to lose, to go through the process like death. I hope that we shall have the grace of acceptance, accepting the truth, accepting the pain, accepting reality of the situation. Then, from God, not from us, I hope we will find new things start to emerge; new life, new possibilities, new hope, new way of serving others.
And I hope that if we can practice this through the crisis of illness, so it will stand us in good stead when we come to the great crisis of death. May we accept the loss our mortal bodies and our earthly life, but may we come to rejoice in the resurrection life of Christ, the eternal life, the life free from sin and death. Amen.
Spirit driven lives
Short sermon preached at 8am Eucharist at St Helen’s Church, Solihull
Sunday 10th January 2010 – Baptism of Christ – Year C
Readings: Isaiah 43: 1-7 Acts 8: 14-17 Luke 3: 15-17 & 21-22
In the Epiphany season we think about Jesus being “manifest” or “revealed”. Last week we focused on the baby Jesus being revealed to the whole wide world, symbolised by the wise men from far away in the East. Today we think of the revelation that occurred at the baptism of Jesus, which we heard about in our gospel reading. Specifically we think of the Holy Spirit descending onto Jesus and the voice from heaven, “You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.
All four gospels tell the story of this event. Many of the details are different between the four accounts, but one thing they all agree on is that the Holy Spirit, like a dove, descended upon Jesus. And this is very significant because it reveals Jesus to be God’s anointed one, the Messiah, the saviour of Israel, the one promised from of old by the prophets.
In John’s gospel the story is told by John the Baptist. The descent of the Holy Spirit is the specific sign that John has been told to look for, and from this John knows that Jesus is the Son of God. John says, “I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel” (John 1: 31). The great revelation that we think of this week is Jesus being revealed to the Jews as the Messiah. So today I would like to spend a little time reflecting on the role of the Holy Spirit, and its links to the revelation of Jesus as Christ, which is so important to our mission.
In Luke’s gospel especially, the Holy Spirit seems to be involved in just about all the important happenings. Mary is overshadowed by the Holy Spirit when she conceives Jesus. Elizabeth and Zachariah are filled with the Holy Spirit when they make their big speeches. Jesus’ public ministry seems to be completely driven by the Spirit.
In Christianity we seek to become Christ like, to have Christ grow within us. So like Jesus we too need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and live Spirit driven lives. In John’s gospel we are told that we must be born anew of the Spirit (John 3) and we link this with our own Baptism. Just as Jesus’ received a particular anointing with the Spirit at his Baptism, which gave purpose and direction to his ministry, so we have received great gifts of the Spirit through our Baptism and Confirmation. And to make the most of these gifts we need to be true to our baptismal promises. We need to renounce evil and follow Christ. Following Christ means following his commandments, especially his commandment to love one another. So in day to day life, seeking to love other people is often the best practical route to life in the Spirit.
But there is also a prayerful side to it. We can and should seek to pray with the Spirit, who is far better at prayer than we are. St Paul says, “And the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” (Romans 8: 26) Jesus also tells us to worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). So as we pray and as we worship let’s try to be attentive to the Spirit praying within us, and let’s try to join our prayers to the prayer of the Spirit.
And this is very important, especially as we think about mission and church growth. It was the Holy Spirit who revealed Jesus to be the Messiah at his baptism. So we should hope and expect that if we live Spirit driven lives, then Holy Spirit will reveal to the people around us Christ working in us and in the church. And it is the revelation of Christ which makes all the difference.
Sunday 10th January 2010 – Baptism of Christ – Year C
Readings: Isaiah 43: 1-7 Acts 8: 14-17 Luke 3: 15-17 & 21-22
In the Epiphany season we think about Jesus being “manifest” or “revealed”. Last week we focused on the baby Jesus being revealed to the whole wide world, symbolised by the wise men from far away in the East. Today we think of the revelation that occurred at the baptism of Jesus, which we heard about in our gospel reading. Specifically we think of the Holy Spirit descending onto Jesus and the voice from heaven, “You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.
All four gospels tell the story of this event. Many of the details are different between the four accounts, but one thing they all agree on is that the Holy Spirit, like a dove, descended upon Jesus. And this is very significant because it reveals Jesus to be God’s anointed one, the Messiah, the saviour of Israel, the one promised from of old by the prophets.
In John’s gospel the story is told by John the Baptist. The descent of the Holy Spirit is the specific sign that John has been told to look for, and from this John knows that Jesus is the Son of God. John says, “I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel” (John 1: 31). The great revelation that we think of this week is Jesus being revealed to the Jews as the Messiah. So today I would like to spend a little time reflecting on the role of the Holy Spirit, and its links to the revelation of Jesus as Christ, which is so important to our mission.
In Luke’s gospel especially, the Holy Spirit seems to be involved in just about all the important happenings. Mary is overshadowed by the Holy Spirit when she conceives Jesus. Elizabeth and Zachariah are filled with the Holy Spirit when they make their big speeches. Jesus’ public ministry seems to be completely driven by the Spirit.
In Christianity we seek to become Christ like, to have Christ grow within us. So like Jesus we too need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and live Spirit driven lives. In John’s gospel we are told that we must be born anew of the Spirit (John 3) and we link this with our own Baptism. Just as Jesus’ received a particular anointing with the Spirit at his Baptism, which gave purpose and direction to his ministry, so we have received great gifts of the Spirit through our Baptism and Confirmation. And to make the most of these gifts we need to be true to our baptismal promises. We need to renounce evil and follow Christ. Following Christ means following his commandments, especially his commandment to love one another. So in day to day life, seeking to love other people is often the best practical route to life in the Spirit.
But there is also a prayerful side to it. We can and should seek to pray with the Spirit, who is far better at prayer than we are. St Paul says, “And the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” (Romans 8: 26) Jesus also tells us to worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). So as we pray and as we worship let’s try to be attentive to the Spirit praying within us, and let’s try to join our prayers to the prayer of the Spirit.
And this is very important, especially as we think about mission and church growth. It was the Holy Spirit who revealed Jesus to be the Messiah at his baptism. So we should hope and expect that if we live Spirit driven lives, then Holy Spirit will reveal to the people around us Christ working in us and in the church. And it is the revelation of Christ which makes all the difference.
03 January 2010
Revelation to the Gentiles
Sermon preached at 10am Eucharist at St Helen’s Solihull
Sunday 3rd January 2010 – Epiphany
A shorter version of this sermon was also preached at the 8am.
Readings: Isaiah 60: 1-6 Ephesians 3: 1-12 Matthew 2: 1-12
My son, Thomas, has just turned 17 and we are just getting into all the thrills and spills associated with learning to drive. As much as anything, this reminds me of my own experiences of learning to drive when I was seventeen, which is now 28 years ago.
My first experiences of driving were with my Dad as an instructor on some remote, bleak and lonely roads in the Republic of Ireland. My Dad said that I should learn how to control the car on these isolated roads, and once I had learned control of the car it would be easier for me to make progress on other roads, where it is necessary to interact with other road users.
Well, it was all very easy to say! The truth was that I really struggled to learn how to control the car. The clutch, especially, was a massive problem. I invariably would let the clutch out either too slowly, so that nothing happened, or too fast so that the car would lurch forward in jumps, kangaroo style. It seemed to me to be completely arbitrary. I never really had any idea of what was going to happen as I let the clutch out. It was all rather painful, frustrating and difficult.
Some months later in the UK I had my first proper driving lesson with a proper driving instructor. In the first lesson we only did one thing: learning to use the clutch. The instructor explained to me what a clutch was and how it worked. He set me up on a hill start, holding the vehicle on the clutch, then he taught me to release the pressure very slightly to craw forward, or to increase the pressure very slightly to stop, or to roll back.
Well, this was such a revelation to me! Suddenly, instead of being my worst enemy, the clutch became a tool that I could use! Suddenly I felt that I was controlling the car rather than being intimidated by it. It was a real revelation; a new understanding. It was a transforming moment and a massive step forward in the process of learning to drive.
Well, today we have entered the season of the Epiphany, a season that is all about revelation and new understanding. The word Epiphany means “manifest”. God’s new work in Jesus is being shown to all the world. It is made manifest. Today especially we think about the baby Jesus being shown to the wise men. And the very significant thing about the wise men is that they were not Jews. They were gentiles, or people from “the nations”, as the Jews used to call them. They come from the East, perhaps from Persia, or Iran as we call it today. And they had understood enough from the signs in the heavens to know that something very important was happening, that a king of great significance had been born. And they came looking for him, and with the help of a star he was shown to them; he was made manifest. And they paid homage and gave their famous gifts of Gold and Frankincense and Myrrh.
Now this showing of the baby Jesus to the three kings is symbolic of the showing of Jesus to the whole world. The Jews knew that they were God’s chosen people. They thought their religion was for them much more that it was for other people. But with Jesus there is a new revelation. There is a whole new religion and it is for everybody. It is universal or catholic we say; it means it’s for everyone. We heard St Paul talking about this new revelation in our epistle reading today. He said, “In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed …the Gentiles have become fellow-heirs, members of the same body and sharers in the promise of Jesus Christ through the gospel.”
And this new revelation in Jesus makes all the difference. Just as my getting to know and understanding of the clutch opened up to me the possibility of driving, so getting to know and love Jesus opens up to us the possibility of drawing closer to God. Drawing closer to God is a little bit like learning to drive. There are things that we need to understand. There are some rules we need to follow. We need lots and lots of practice. Above all we need a good teacher. We need someone to say to us turn left, turn right, speed up now, slow down. The Christian life is a journey towards God, towards heaven, but we need someone who knows the way. Now that Jesus has been revealed to us we have the best possible teacher. Not only does he know the way – but he is the way!
So how do we make the most of this new revelation; this wonderful good news that we have received in Jesus, in having Jesus as our teacher? Well first of all let’s give thanks to God for giving us Jesus and for showing him to us. Let’s give thanks to God for all that we have already understood and all the different ways in which it has helped us.
Then let’s try to be very attentive to Jesus our teacher. Let’s try to live out his commandments in our everyday lives. Let’s pay special attention to the commandment which he calls “new” and his own – “love one another, as I have loved you” (John 13: 34, 15: 12). This is the key to everything. Jesus says, “They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me…and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” (John 14: 21). Jesus reveals himself to those who love. So there is a self reinforcing circle here; Jesus is revealed to us, so we grow in love, so jesus is revealed to us more… Love is the key to revelation, the key to Epiphany. So let’s love, and in that way Jesus will reveal himself to us. Amen.
Sunday 3rd January 2010 – Epiphany
A shorter version of this sermon was also preached at the 8am.
Readings: Isaiah 60: 1-6 Ephesians 3: 1-12 Matthew 2: 1-12
My son, Thomas, has just turned 17 and we are just getting into all the thrills and spills associated with learning to drive. As much as anything, this reminds me of my own experiences of learning to drive when I was seventeen, which is now 28 years ago.
My first experiences of driving were with my Dad as an instructor on some remote, bleak and lonely roads in the Republic of Ireland. My Dad said that I should learn how to control the car on these isolated roads, and once I had learned control of the car it would be easier for me to make progress on other roads, where it is necessary to interact with other road users.
Well, it was all very easy to say! The truth was that I really struggled to learn how to control the car. The clutch, especially, was a massive problem. I invariably would let the clutch out either too slowly, so that nothing happened, or too fast so that the car would lurch forward in jumps, kangaroo style. It seemed to me to be completely arbitrary. I never really had any idea of what was going to happen as I let the clutch out. It was all rather painful, frustrating and difficult.
Some months later in the UK I had my first proper driving lesson with a proper driving instructor. In the first lesson we only did one thing: learning to use the clutch. The instructor explained to me what a clutch was and how it worked. He set me up on a hill start, holding the vehicle on the clutch, then he taught me to release the pressure very slightly to craw forward, or to increase the pressure very slightly to stop, or to roll back.
Well, this was such a revelation to me! Suddenly, instead of being my worst enemy, the clutch became a tool that I could use! Suddenly I felt that I was controlling the car rather than being intimidated by it. It was a real revelation; a new understanding. It was a transforming moment and a massive step forward in the process of learning to drive.
Well, today we have entered the season of the Epiphany, a season that is all about revelation and new understanding. The word Epiphany means “manifest”. God’s new work in Jesus is being shown to all the world. It is made manifest. Today especially we think about the baby Jesus being shown to the wise men. And the very significant thing about the wise men is that they were not Jews. They were gentiles, or people from “the nations”, as the Jews used to call them. They come from the East, perhaps from Persia, or Iran as we call it today. And they had understood enough from the signs in the heavens to know that something very important was happening, that a king of great significance had been born. And they came looking for him, and with the help of a star he was shown to them; he was made manifest. And they paid homage and gave their famous gifts of Gold and Frankincense and Myrrh.
Now this showing of the baby Jesus to the three kings is symbolic of the showing of Jesus to the whole world. The Jews knew that they were God’s chosen people. They thought their religion was for them much more that it was for other people. But with Jesus there is a new revelation. There is a whole new religion and it is for everybody. It is universal or catholic we say; it means it’s for everyone. We heard St Paul talking about this new revelation in our epistle reading today. He said, “In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed …the Gentiles have become fellow-heirs, members of the same body and sharers in the promise of Jesus Christ through the gospel.”
And this new revelation in Jesus makes all the difference. Just as my getting to know and understanding of the clutch opened up to me the possibility of driving, so getting to know and love Jesus opens up to us the possibility of drawing closer to God. Drawing closer to God is a little bit like learning to drive. There are things that we need to understand. There are some rules we need to follow. We need lots and lots of practice. Above all we need a good teacher. We need someone to say to us turn left, turn right, speed up now, slow down. The Christian life is a journey towards God, towards heaven, but we need someone who knows the way. Now that Jesus has been revealed to us we have the best possible teacher. Not only does he know the way – but he is the way!
So how do we make the most of this new revelation; this wonderful good news that we have received in Jesus, in having Jesus as our teacher? Well first of all let’s give thanks to God for giving us Jesus and for showing him to us. Let’s give thanks to God for all that we have already understood and all the different ways in which it has helped us.
Then let’s try to be very attentive to Jesus our teacher. Let’s try to live out his commandments in our everyday lives. Let’s pay special attention to the commandment which he calls “new” and his own – “love one another, as I have loved you” (John 13: 34, 15: 12). This is the key to everything. Jesus says, “They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me…and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” (John 14: 21). Jesus reveals himself to those who love. So there is a self reinforcing circle here; Jesus is revealed to us, so we grow in love, so jesus is revealed to us more… Love is the key to revelation, the key to Epiphany. So let’s love, and in that way Jesus will reveal himself to us. Amen.
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