Sermon preached at 8am (shortened), and 10am Eucharists at St Helen’s Church, Solihull
Sunday 28th February 2010 – Lent 2, Year C (RCL rather than CofE gospel)
Readings: Genesis 15: 1-12 & 17-18 Philippians 3: 17 to 4: 1 Luke 9: 28b-36
In our gospel reading today we heard the extraordinary story of the transfiguration. Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a high mountain to pray, and while they are praying Jesus becomes dazzlingly bright and Moses and Elijah appear with him in glory and talk to him. So then there are two groups, each of three people, and it seems that the two groups experience the event in completely different ways. For Jesus, Moses and Elijah this seems to be a very normal experience. They seem to talk away completely unperturbed by the shining glory, or by the fact that two of them have been dead for centuries. But for Peter, James and John the whole experience is extremely weird and disturbing. First they are weighed down by sleep, but not actually asleep. Then Peter says things without knowing what he is saying. Then the cloud comes over them and they are terrified, and they hear the voice of God, and then suddenly everything is normal again.
So why is that for one group of three this all seems very normal, and for the other group of three it is so weird? Well it seems to me that Jesus, Moses and Elijah are all very conscious of their home in heaven. Moses and Elijah were very holy people. They have been dead a long time and must by now be completely accustomed to the heavenly kingdom and totally in tune with its ways. And Jesus of course is the Son of God, the one who came down from heaven to take on human form. Jesus has been completely at home in heaven ever since he helped in its creation!
But this is not true of Peter, James and John. They are born and brought up on earth. They might catch glimpses of the life of heaven through their scriptures or their worship or more recently through their relationship with Jesus. But despite these glimpses it is still a big shock for them to be exposed to the glory of heaven.
And so there is the life of earth with all its problems and limitations and frustrations, which we know about, and there is the life of heaven with its glory and light and perfection. And this reminds us of something that St Paul said in our epistle reading today. Paul was talking about those who live as enemies of the cross of Christ. He says their end is destruction because, “…their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven…”
And this is the great challenge. How do we live as citizens of heaven? How do we keep our minds set on heaven and not simply on earthly things? How do we use our lives to make sure that we grow into good citizens of heaven? This is a challenge because we all know that so much of our time and effort and energy every day is all tied up with very earthly outcomes.
[Let’s think about a typical day. Well in our house the alarm goes off at 6.45am and the first earthly outcome which has to be achieved is getting out of bed. Well that isn’t always easy! Then there is laying the table, making the tea, shower, shave, sorting out all the children’s issues “Can you sign my homework diary”, “I can’t find my music book”. Then, typically at about ten to eight Elaine and the children go off to their respective schools in the car and the house falls quiet. Quiet often I then manage to settle down and do some very simple spiritual reading, which does remind me that my citizenship is in heaven. But I don’t always manage that by any means! Often I have my own daily panics to sot out, the magazine article that must be in that morning, the phone call which has to be made early, or whatever…so quite often it is 8.30pm or even later before I settle down and start to say my prayers. And that is the situation for me, a priest, a full time professional religious person! How much more difficult is it for most of us whose professional lives do not encourage us to remember our heavenly home, and perhaps even discourage us from focusing on it through competitive pressures, through various stresses, perhaps even through greed, conflict or vice?]
Well I think there are three things we can do that are important here. First, we have to practice living out the laws and values of heaven in our very earthly lives. We have to do things for love of God and for love of other people. I try to get out of bed well, as an act of love for God. I try to love the family by laying the table and addressing the needs of the children. I try to love my wife by making the cup of tea. This is the great wisdom of St Teresa of Lisieux; do the simple things in life well, as love for God and love for others. [[And it doesn’t really matter if our efforts seem pathetically ineffective in terms of building the kingdom of God. Remember that when Jesus came to earth to build the kingdom of God, he got crucified. When I was working I used to find that my efforts to love others were often misunderstood; people sometimes interpreted them as weakness or tried to take advantage. I certainly never succeeded much in building the kingdom of heaven at my place of work, but through this process I believe God was able to build something of the kingdom in me.]]
Second important thing. We need a regular pattern of prayer and worship to remind us that we are citizens of heaven and to keep us grounded in the reality of God. When I look back at my life, the times when I have made progress son my spiritual journey have all been times when I have managed to sustain a regular pattern of prayer or spiritual reading, meditation and reflection. And this is so hard, in our busy lives, to make time for God. But really we have to get our priorities right. I expect many of us set aside two minutes a day, twice a day, to clean our teeth and keep them healthy because we know that we need them for seventy, eighty years. How much more time should we devote to keeping our soul healthy, which we need for eternity? Lent is a real opportunity to build up this discipline in prayer and worship.
Third important thing. We can’t do this on our own. We need the love and support and prayers and help of others. The life of heaven is all about our relationships with God and neighbour. They have to become relationships of sharing in which we give and receive. Sometimes we are too selfish to give. Sometimes we are too proud to receive, not humble enough to admit our needs and to accept the love and prayers of others. But without this sharing we don’t build communion among ourselves. We need to practice receiving, so as to receive eternal life from Jesus. So we need to share our faith, and house groups and Lent groups are an outstanding opportunity for this.
So three important things; to practice living out the values of heaven in our lives, to ground ourselves properly in prayer and worship, and to do these things together with others not on our own. These are three top tips for becoming citizens of heaven. My we all become good sharers in the eternal life of heaven. Amen.
28 February 2010
14 February 2010
The light for the nations
Short sermon preached at 8am Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull on 14th February 2010.
The sermon was also preached at St Michael’s, Oak Cottage, Solihull at 4pm that day.
Sunday next before Lent
Readings 1 Kings 8: 22-23 & 41-43 Galatians 1: 1-12 Luke 7: 1b-10
(RCL alternative to the normal CofE readings)
Our first reading today comes from one of the real high points in the history of Israel. King Solomon, the wise and wealthy king, is dedicating the new temple that he has built for God in Jerusalem. No expense has been spared! The temple is huge and richly decorated. The priests have moved the ark of God into the inner sanctuary of the temple, and the glory of God has filled the temple, like a great cloud. And King Solomon is standing before the altar of the Lord in the temple and he makes a great, long prayer dedicating the temple to God, and we read just a short part of that prayer of dedication today.
But the part of the prayer that we read was particularly interesting because it tells us that the temple in Jerusalem was built not just to aid the prayers of the nation of Israel but to aid the prayers of foreigners, as well! And this is very significant. Most of the Old Testament is about God’s covenant with his chosen people Israel. But every now and again, especially at key moments like this one, there are very clear reminders that God’s covenant with Israel is not solely for the benefit of Israel, but ultimately it is for the for benefit of the whole world (e.g. Genesis 12: 2-3, 18: 18, 22: 17-18, 26: 3-5, 28: 13-14 and Isaiah 40: 5, 42: 1-9, 45: 22-25, 49: 5-6, 51: 4-5, 52: 10).
And we see this same thing in the ministry of Jesus. Jesus is born and brought up as a Jew. Simeon in the temple foresaw that the baby Jesus was the “light for revelation to the gentiles” (Luke 2: 32), but much of the time Jesus clearly focused his mission on the people of Israel (e.g. Matt 10: 5-6, 15: 24). But then there are several remarkable moments, like the one in our gospel reading today, when the generosity of Jesus spontaneous pours out over people beyond the Jewish nation.
In our gospel reading we heard that Jesus was profoundly moved by the faith that he found in the centurion. Of course, the centurion was not a Jew, and as an official of the Roman Army he might easily be thought of as an enemy of the Jews, but Jesus did not hesitate to cure the centurion’s servant. He even presented the faith of the centurion as an example to Israel. There was never any suggestion that the centurion should become a Jew.
Those hints in the Old Testament that God will bless all the nations of the earth through Israel do eventually find their fulfilment in Jesus. The religion that Jesus establishes becomes a universal religion. Christianity is for all people. Everyone is called to become part of the church. Rich and poor, young and old, saints and sinners; all called.
But I think it is very helpful for us, in the Church, to reflect on the generosity of Jesus and of his love pouring out upon people beyond the nation of Israel. In the same way we have to pour out love from the Church into the world, even into the non-Christian parts of the world. In our daily lives we probably encounter many people who are nominally Christian, but who seem to have minimal relationship with the church, and may not even be baptised. We probably encounter people from other faiths beyond Christianity, and people who say they have no faith at all, who might even be hostile to faith. These people are to us what the centurion was to Jesus. Like Jesus we need to reach out to them all, to work for their good. We need to help them and serve them in all their good aspirations and to build relationships of trust with them. We need to see God’s good creation in them, and help them to see the good that we share. It’s about a having generous attitude and a willingness to give.
And it seems to me that just as the love of Jesus spilling out beyond Judaism lead to the creation of a new, bigger and broader “People of God”, so too our love spilling out beyond the visible boundaries of the Church will somehow lead to a bigger and fuller salvation. In this way the gospel really becomes “Good News” for all the world, the Church really does become the light for the nations. Amen.
The sermon was also preached at St Michael’s, Oak Cottage, Solihull at 4pm that day.
Sunday next before Lent
Readings 1 Kings 8: 22-23 & 41-43 Galatians 1: 1-12 Luke 7: 1b-10
(RCL alternative to the normal CofE readings)
Our first reading today comes from one of the real high points in the history of Israel. King Solomon, the wise and wealthy king, is dedicating the new temple that he has built for God in Jerusalem. No expense has been spared! The temple is huge and richly decorated. The priests have moved the ark of God into the inner sanctuary of the temple, and the glory of God has filled the temple, like a great cloud. And King Solomon is standing before the altar of the Lord in the temple and he makes a great, long prayer dedicating the temple to God, and we read just a short part of that prayer of dedication today.
But the part of the prayer that we read was particularly interesting because it tells us that the temple in Jerusalem was built not just to aid the prayers of the nation of Israel but to aid the prayers of foreigners, as well! And this is very significant. Most of the Old Testament is about God’s covenant with his chosen people Israel. But every now and again, especially at key moments like this one, there are very clear reminders that God’s covenant with Israel is not solely for the benefit of Israel, but ultimately it is for the for benefit of the whole world (e.g. Genesis 12: 2-3, 18: 18, 22: 17-18, 26: 3-5, 28: 13-14 and Isaiah 40: 5, 42: 1-9, 45: 22-25, 49: 5-6, 51: 4-5, 52: 10).
And we see this same thing in the ministry of Jesus. Jesus is born and brought up as a Jew. Simeon in the temple foresaw that the baby Jesus was the “light for revelation to the gentiles” (Luke 2: 32), but much of the time Jesus clearly focused his mission on the people of Israel (e.g. Matt 10: 5-6, 15: 24). But then there are several remarkable moments, like the one in our gospel reading today, when the generosity of Jesus spontaneous pours out over people beyond the Jewish nation.
In our gospel reading we heard that Jesus was profoundly moved by the faith that he found in the centurion. Of course, the centurion was not a Jew, and as an official of the Roman Army he might easily be thought of as an enemy of the Jews, but Jesus did not hesitate to cure the centurion’s servant. He even presented the faith of the centurion as an example to Israel. There was never any suggestion that the centurion should become a Jew.
Those hints in the Old Testament that God will bless all the nations of the earth through Israel do eventually find their fulfilment in Jesus. The religion that Jesus establishes becomes a universal religion. Christianity is for all people. Everyone is called to become part of the church. Rich and poor, young and old, saints and sinners; all called.
But I think it is very helpful for us, in the Church, to reflect on the generosity of Jesus and of his love pouring out upon people beyond the nation of Israel. In the same way we have to pour out love from the Church into the world, even into the non-Christian parts of the world. In our daily lives we probably encounter many people who are nominally Christian, but who seem to have minimal relationship with the church, and may not even be baptised. We probably encounter people from other faiths beyond Christianity, and people who say they have no faith at all, who might even be hostile to faith. These people are to us what the centurion was to Jesus. Like Jesus we need to reach out to them all, to work for their good. We need to help them and serve them in all their good aspirations and to build relationships of trust with them. We need to see God’s good creation in them, and help them to see the good that we share. It’s about a having generous attitude and a willingness to give.
And it seems to me that just as the love of Jesus spilling out beyond Judaism lead to the creation of a new, bigger and broader “People of God”, so too our love spilling out beyond the visible boundaries of the Church will somehow lead to a bigger and fuller salvation. In this way the gospel really becomes “Good News” for all the world, the Church really does become the light for the nations. Amen.
07 February 2010
Living out the Word of God
Short sermon preached at the 8am Eucharist at St Helen’s Church, Solihull
Sunday Second before Lent, RCL readings:
Isaiah 55: 10-13 1 Corinthians 15: 51-58 Luke 6: 39-49
Our readings today include two important similes help us to understand the Word of God and the effects that it has.
First of all we had the beautiful image from Isaiah of God’s Word being like the rain. In the water cycle the rain falls from the sky and eventually it returns to the sky, by evaporation. But this does not happen without the rain watering the earth, so that plants sprout and our food grows. God says that in the same way his Word (and we think of God’s word as God’s message, especially in the coming of Jesus) goes out from God and returns to God, but this does not happen without the Word accomplishing the purposes of God and succeeding in the thing for which God sent him. And just as the rain gives life to plants and makes them grow, so Jesus brings life, eternal life to us, and makes it grow within us. Thanks be to God!
Then in our gospel reading Jesus emphasises the importance of living in accordance with his teaching, his word. He complains that we cry to him “Lord, Lord” but don’t do the things he tells us. He tells us the parable of the house built on rock and the house built on sand to show how his teaching provides a firm foundation for our lives. It is the solid rock on which we can build. Looking from the outside, focusing on the external appearances only, they probably does not seem to be much difference between the house built on rock and the one built on sand. But when the flood rises and the river bursts against them then the crisis separates what is enduring and true from what is transitory and passing.
So the words of Jesus are the secure foundations for our lives and the word of God is like the rain that allows plants to grow. So we must nurture ourselves on the word of God and allow eternal life to grow within us. It is not enough just listen to the word of God, or just read the bible, we have to put the teaching of Jesus into practice in our everyday lives. Now sometimes we struggle to link the teaching of Jesus with our everyday lives. After all Jesus did not leave clear instructions about how often we should vacuum the carpet or the best route for getting to the office in the morning, but Jesus did teach us to love. He taught us to love everyone, even the very least in society, not excluding anyone (Matt 25: 40). He taught us to love even our enemies (Matt 5: 44). He taught us to be the first to love, not waiting for the others to love us, but rather taking the initiative in love (Matt 5:46). And I think when people think about love they sometimes think about pink fluffy bunnies or a liberal sprinkling of rose petals. But these are not helpful images in helping us understand what love is all about. A better image is Jesus on the cross, dying because he has given everything for his brothers and sisters. Another image is the good shepherd, searching after the lost sheep. Another image is the father running to meet the prodigal son and forgiving him. Another image is Gandhi, seeking the good of the British, whilst insisting on Indian independence. Love is about seeking the good of the other, it is about wanting to share the life of heaven with the other person. It is about giving time, attention and resources to help the other. It is about nurture, and patience and gentleness, all the things described in 1 Corinthians 13.
So as we try to put the word of God into practice in our everyday lives, the key opportunities occur every time we encounter another person; every time someone is standing or sitting near us. What is our attitude to that person? Do we ignore them or resent them or experience them as a threat? Do we want their good, seek to help them, serve them, listen to them? It’s a real challenge, but practicing love helps us to grow in love. This is how we grow into eternal life, like plants watered by the rain. This is how we build our lives on firm foundations; foundations that will withstand even the great crisis of death. Let’s pray for the grace to practice and grow in love. Amen.
Sunday Second before Lent, RCL readings:
Isaiah 55: 10-13 1 Corinthians 15: 51-58 Luke 6: 39-49
Our readings today include two important similes help us to understand the Word of God and the effects that it has.
First of all we had the beautiful image from Isaiah of God’s Word being like the rain. In the water cycle the rain falls from the sky and eventually it returns to the sky, by evaporation. But this does not happen without the rain watering the earth, so that plants sprout and our food grows. God says that in the same way his Word (and we think of God’s word as God’s message, especially in the coming of Jesus) goes out from God and returns to God, but this does not happen without the Word accomplishing the purposes of God and succeeding in the thing for which God sent him. And just as the rain gives life to plants and makes them grow, so Jesus brings life, eternal life to us, and makes it grow within us. Thanks be to God!
Then in our gospel reading Jesus emphasises the importance of living in accordance with his teaching, his word. He complains that we cry to him “Lord, Lord” but don’t do the things he tells us. He tells us the parable of the house built on rock and the house built on sand to show how his teaching provides a firm foundation for our lives. It is the solid rock on which we can build. Looking from the outside, focusing on the external appearances only, they probably does not seem to be much difference between the house built on rock and the one built on sand. But when the flood rises and the river bursts against them then the crisis separates what is enduring and true from what is transitory and passing.
So the words of Jesus are the secure foundations for our lives and the word of God is like the rain that allows plants to grow. So we must nurture ourselves on the word of God and allow eternal life to grow within us. It is not enough just listen to the word of God, or just read the bible, we have to put the teaching of Jesus into practice in our everyday lives. Now sometimes we struggle to link the teaching of Jesus with our everyday lives. After all Jesus did not leave clear instructions about how often we should vacuum the carpet or the best route for getting to the office in the morning, but Jesus did teach us to love. He taught us to love everyone, even the very least in society, not excluding anyone (Matt 25: 40). He taught us to love even our enemies (Matt 5: 44). He taught us to be the first to love, not waiting for the others to love us, but rather taking the initiative in love (Matt 5:46). And I think when people think about love they sometimes think about pink fluffy bunnies or a liberal sprinkling of rose petals. But these are not helpful images in helping us understand what love is all about. A better image is Jesus on the cross, dying because he has given everything for his brothers and sisters. Another image is the good shepherd, searching after the lost sheep. Another image is the father running to meet the prodigal son and forgiving him. Another image is Gandhi, seeking the good of the British, whilst insisting on Indian independence. Love is about seeking the good of the other, it is about wanting to share the life of heaven with the other person. It is about giving time, attention and resources to help the other. It is about nurture, and patience and gentleness, all the things described in 1 Corinthians 13.
So as we try to put the word of God into practice in our everyday lives, the key opportunities occur every time we encounter another person; every time someone is standing or sitting near us. What is our attitude to that person? Do we ignore them or resent them or experience them as a threat? Do we want their good, seek to help them, serve them, listen to them? It’s a real challenge, but practicing love helps us to grow in love. This is how we grow into eternal life, like plants watered by the rain. This is how we build our lives on firm foundations; foundations that will withstand even the great crisis of death. Let’s pray for the grace to practice and grow in love. Amen.
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