God becomes human - the incarnation

Sermon for Midnight Mass – Christmas Eve 2011 - St Mary's Lapworth

I spent much of the summer of 1987(?) at the Diocese of Southwark’s retreat house. It is known as Wychcroft and is near to Blenchingly in Surrey. I knew the place well because I had worked there for a year between school and university, but in the summer of 1987(?) I was hardly fit for work. I feeling very delicate because I was still recovering from a serious personal crisis, which had really knocked me for six in the previous year. I was also feeling delicate at that time because I girl who I liked and wanted to get to know better had just made it quite clear that she did not want anything to do with me! So altogether I was in rather a sorry state and was feeling very unsure of myself.
Well, in the middle of that rather confused summer I received a visit from a university friend. He was indeed a really good friend. He set aside a whole day to come and see me from London. I collected him from the train station and on the way home we ran some errands for the House. He met the people I was staying with. He shared our meals with us. We went for a walk – it really is a beautiful place to walk round – and he saw all the places where I used to do my work. He listened to me as I bemoaned all my troubles, and he helped repair a broken shelf in my room. In the evening I drove him back to the station and he caught the train back to London.
And afterwards I was left with an extraordinary sensation of peace. I was so grateful that he had come to visit me where I was, and had really seen and shared in all the joys and sorrows of my life at that moment. I felt understood and supported, and much more able to really be myself. It wasn’t that my troubles had gone away or that anything had been fixed or solved, but somehow I definitely felt encouraged and supported and I felt more able to face the world and get on with my life. Above all, as I said, I felt at peace.
Well this is the action of a really good friend. Someone who is prepared to set aside his own agenda to spend time with you, who is prepared to share with you all the good things and the bad things about your life. Someone who is prepared to stand with you and suffer with you, when things are tough, who is not going to run away, embarrassed, because he just doesn’t know what to say or because he can’t fix your problems.
In some ways there is something very natural about this. Hopefully we all have friends who are like this. (Or at least we all have friends who can be a bit like this on a good day!) Hopefully we ourselves are good friends to other people and behave like this with other people too. But although it is something very natural, there is also something very spiritual going on here. There is something about this kind of friendship, this kind of behaviour, that teaches us about God’s love for us. Especially it teaches us about God’s love for us in sending us the baby Jesus at Christmas time.
God loves for us is not just the distant, well meaning love of a God who is far away and utterly transcendent. No, God in his great love for us, wants to come to us, to be like us, to spend time with us, to share with us the experience of a human life and a human death here on earth. At Christmas we remember that God was prepared to set aside his power and his glory and become a human being. God took on human flesh and becomes an ordinary man, with all the limitations and vulnerabilities that implies. Today we celebrate Jesus as a new born baby, and this is an extraordinary mystery. The great and mighty God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, came among us completely helpless and dependant, just like any other human baby. And of course Jesus grows up, just like any other child of his time. He learns his father’s trade, and becomes a carpenter. He really shares with us the human experience, with its joys and its sorrows, its highs and its lows. And although Jesus, as God, cannot go against God and so cannot sin, Jesus does share with us fully in experiencing the pain and separation that arises from sin, from our sin, from our going against God, our hiding from God, our rejection of God. Indeed it is this human condition of sin, of rejection of God, that ultimately causes us to reject Jesus, and have him killed on a cross. And God in Jesus did not shirk from this. Truly Jesus did experience all the suffering and pain that arises through sin, truly he shared the full measure of the human experience, not just the good bits, not just the pleasant bits.
We call this mystery the incarnation. God takes on flesh, becomes incarnate, so as to share completely in the human condition. It is truly a mystery; we will never completely get our heads around it. But if we ponder it well, if we seek to draw close to Jesus in prayer and if we seek to imitate him in our lives, then certainly, with time, we do come to understand this mystery better. We start to see its huge value and its huge implications. We start to understand our salvation, first of all personally, then for our communities, our nations and ultimately for the whole world; the whole of creation.
In particular we can start practising love, in the way that God loves us, when he becomes human. We can try to live for other people in this same way. We try to be ready to share experiences with them, to stand by them through good experiences and bad. We try to think about their legitimate needs and concerns, and we make them our needs and concerns. And this can be very costly. Just as God had to set aside his greatness and power to become human, so we often have to set things aside or let go of our own thoughts and feelings if we are properly to take on board the thoughts and feelings of others.
This way of loving is very characteristic of the New Testament. St Paul says “To the Jews I became a Jew, in order to win the Jews...to those outside the law I became as one outside the law ...so that I might win those outside the lew. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have becme all things to all people that I might by any means win some.” (1 Cor 9: 20-23)
I have heard this way of loving describing as “Making yourself one”, being “one” with the other person. It has the quality of empathy; walking in the shoes of the other. And certainly this way of loving has extraordinary effect. It creates an understanding and fellowship that leads to unity. It allows and helps people to be who they are, to be the people God created them to be. It therefore brings peace and harmony, and aligns things with God’s will. Of course it can be very costly; it cost Jesus his life. But such costs are generously repaid by God, by the God who raised Jesus from the dead.
So this Christmas let’s remember God’s love for us in becoming human and let’s try to love others by “making ourselves one” with them.

Resurrection hope

Sermon for Remembrance Sunday -13th November 2011

Readings: Ezeikeil 37: 1-14, John 15: 9-17

My wife and I have visited several Cemeteries of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in France. It is a very sobering experience. I am always struck by the sheer number of graves; row upon row of white stones. And we are reminded that a great sacrifice has been made; a very great human cost has been paid. There is a great sense of loss, of young lives that have passed away. And then we drive away, and it seems that we have not gone half a mile before we pass another cemetery and once again we are confronted with row upon row of white stones; many, many soldiers that have died.
And perhaps these feelings of sacrifice and loss tell us something about what Ezekiel was feeling in his extraordinary vision that we heard about in our first reading. Ezekiel was writing in the sixth century BC at a real low point in the history of the Jewish people. They had been utterly defeated by the Babylonians. Zion had been overpowered; Jerusalem had been destroyed. The temple had been desecrated and looted and many Jewish bodies lay scattered over the ruins of Jerusalem, with no-one to bury them. The survivors of the onslaught, had been taken away into exile in Babylon, where life was miserable. It was here that the Psalmist wrote, “By the rivers of Babylon, we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion” (Ps 137). But among this pitiful remnant of his chosen people, God placed the prophet Ezekiel. And through Ezekiel God had a message for his chosen people and the message was this. The exile would not last for ever, it would come to an end. God would send his people back to Jerusalem. They would rebuild its temple and restore its walls. Although they felt utterly defeated and broken, God would restore them and make them whole once again. This is the primary meaning of Ezekiel’s vision – just as God brought back to life many, many dried bones scattered in a arid valley, so he would breathe new life into the people of Israel. He would restore them to wholeness and bring them back to Jerusalem and Judea.
But beyond its primary, meaning Ezekiel’s vision points us towards the resurrection of the dead. God say, “And you shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and raise you from your graves O my people.” In fact this is one of the earlier prophecies of the resurrection of the dead, but such prophecies become more common over the following centuries, and then in Jesus it becomes a clear promise (e.g. John 5: 25-29 or 6: 40, 1 Corinthians 15: 20-end, I Thess 4:13- end), signed sealed and delivered by the resurrection of Jesus himself from the dead; a resurrection in which we are all called to share. Now, it has to be said, the resurrection of the dead does remain one of the most strange and mysterious aspects of the Christian promise. The promise is that at the end of time there will be the trumpet call of God announcing the second coming of Christ. This is followed by the resurrection of the dead and then by the last judgement. Our resurrection bodies will have a spiritual quality and will not be subject to corruption and decay like the bodies we know at present. Personally I find that I cannot get my head round this. I can’t really understand how the resurrection of the dead can come about scientifically or in history, but it remains a key part of my Christian hope; something to look forward to at the end of time. And it is deeply, deeply integral to the Christian faith, and to the way we think about people who have died. Every time we recite the apostles creed we are reminded that we believe in “the forgiveness of sins, resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” The hymn “O Valliant Hearts” that we have just sung talks of those who gave their life in war, who lie in those great cemeteries I was talking of earlier, await the last clear trumpet-call of God. The hymn is clear that by linking their sacrifice with the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, they too will share in the resurrection of Christ.
This great resurrection is the result of a sharing in the resurrection life of Christ. It is brought about by abiding in Christ, and by having Christ abide in us. Especially it is brought about by sacrificial giving. In our gospel Jesus said, “Abide in my love – if you keep my commandments you will abide in my love... this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this; that he lay down his life for his friends.”
Well this is what Remembrance Sunday is all about; remembering before God those who have laid down their lives for us. It is the supreme act of love; the supreme act of giving. We have everything to be grateful for, and everything to hope for, in the resurrection of Jesus.
And this sacrifice, this gift, this great act of love, calls out to us encouraging us too to live better lives, to be more giving towards others, more generous towards others, more ready to make sacrifices for others. In our present society it is rare that someone is asked to give up their life for another person, but time and time again in our daily lives we are called to do smaller things for others; to give help with the washing up, to give time and attention, to be patient with someone infuriating, to forgive someone who has wronged us...
So as we mark solemnly the great sacrifices made by so many for us today, let’s seek to be ready to make the sacrifices for others that daily life demands of us. And let’s do so believing that love and sacrifice is not in vein. On the contrary it is precisely the way that we come to share in the great resurrection of Jesus.

What has happened to Sermons and Prayers?

I am sad to say that I have not managed to post a sermon to this blog since Lent 2011. This is because something has changed in the way I preach. I used to write all sermons out in full, and this made it easy to post them on the blog. However since Lent I have found myself preaching without notes, or at most with just a full bullet points. It seems to me that, when I preach in this way, I communicate much better with the congregation because I am actually talking to them rather than reading. Also I think I am much more dependent on the Holy Spirit this way, and I am sure that that is a good thing! I do find that preaching this way I am less accurate and I probably miss points out and repeat myself a bit, but it is still worth it because I am sure that more is communicated.

The sad thing is that I am left with no sermon text to post on the blog. I have felt sorry about that for a while. So one time recently I did try to write a sermon out in full, but then I found it changed a lot in the actual preaching and really needed a complete re-write.

So although I still produce a sermon every Sunday (sometimes two!) I can’t post them to the blog. Hopefully the situation will develop and a way round this will be found. I would love to video sermons and post them on Youtube, but we are not at that point yet!
Fr Patrick, 11th September 2011

The Revd Patrick Gerard
Rector of Baddesley Clinton and Lapworth
Diocese of Birmingham
Church of England

Church as Family

Mini Sermon preached at 9.45am Holy Communion service (BCP) at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton on Sunday 3rd April 2011. Also preached at the 8.30am Said Eucharist at St Mary’s Lapworth.
Mothering Sunday
Readings: Col 3: 12-17 Luke 2: 33-35


In the reading from Colossians, Paul presents the church as he would like it to be; its an image of a church as “family”.
There are many different images of the church: “Institution”, “Boat”, “Hospital”, “net”... and each of them emphasises particular qualities, and ways of behaving which are important to the church.
But it seems to me that in our present times it is very important to emphasise the importance of church as “family”.
This emphasises some of the values Paul mentions: compassion, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with one another, forgiving one another, above all love.
How much does our world need these values?
How different they are from what we see on telly!
Actually it is the opposite values that make for dramatic, eye-catching telly – cruelty, arrogance, pushing forward, wanting things now. In the case of these values you have something to look at. Looking at someone being meek or patient is less eye-catching. Consequently our TV tends to celebrate and promote these bad qualities.
Also the power of TV pushes our politicians and leaders away from the true values. A prompt and effective intervention, comes over so much better on a TV News report than patience and meekness. An eye catching initiative or gimmick gets so much more publicity than humility.
I believe that this has affected our society in a very bad way. We fail to value properly and celebrate properly the things that are really good for us: compassion, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with one another, forgiving one another, love.
In the church we really need to promote and celebrate these values.
It is with these qualities that Love typically heals and resolves difficult situations, and it takes time. Usually these are the qualities that families and the church need to use to overcome their problems. The dramatic intervention is so often damaging in the longer term.
We often associate these true values (compassion, humility, meekness, patience) with Motherly Love, but actually they are essential to all Love. Fatherly Love might emphasis structure and discipline, but if this is not underpinned by compassion, humility, meekness and patience then it loses all meaning. It is no surprise that our society also struggles to formulate structure and discipline in a way that people find helpful and constructive.
So let’s resolve anew to live by compassion, humility, meekness and patience. Let’s bear with one another, forgive one another, and above all let’s seek to grow in love. Let’s promote these values in our families and in our society, first of all by our example, but also by our words, for our good and for the good of all the people around us. Amen.

The stream of living water

Sermon preached at 11am Choral Mattins at St Mary’s Lapworth on Sunday 27th March 2011. Other versions of this sermon were preached at the 8.30am Said Eucharist and at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton’s 3pm Evensong.

Third Sunday in Lent – Year A

Readings: Ps 95 Exodus 17: 1-7 John 3: 5-42

About three times a year Bishop David calls together all the clergy of the diocese to the cathedral for a “Bishop’s Study Day”. We had one such study day ten days ago on St Patrick’s Day. The topic was Pilgrimage and the main speaker was Bishop Lindsay Urwin. Now Bishop Lindsay is an interesting character within the Church of England. In 1994, at the young age of 39 he was made Bishop of Horsham, a Suffragan Bishop in the Diocese of Chichester. He looked destined for great things, but in fact he never progressed from Horsham. It is possible that his very traditional views on women’s ordination made it difficult to appoint him as a diocesan bishop. Anyway in 2008 he resigned as Bishop of Horsham and took up the post of Administrator of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, based in Walsingham, a small and rather remote village near the north coast of Norfolk.
Now I don’t know how much you know about Walsingham? The shrine to our lady there goes back to the eleventh century, and a Saxon noblewoman called Richeldis. Richeldis was a window known for her good works, care and generosity towards the people around her, for her deep faith and for her particular devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus. In 1061, five years before the Norman Conquest, Richeldis had a vision in which she was taken by Mary to the tiny house in Nazareth where the angel Gabriel had told Mary to expect the child Jesus. Mary asked Richeldis to build a replica of this house of the Annunciation in Walsingham. Mary showed Richeldis where to build the house by making water spring up from the ground. Now there are various miracles and strange stories associated with all this (not to mention some confusion and uncertainty), but certainly a house was built and certainly it became an important centre of pilgrimage visited by many people including several generations of kings and queens of England. Then in 1538 King Henry VIII had the whole place destroyed. It wasn’t under the 1920’s that the Shrine started to be redeveloped by the Church of England.
Now as he was telling us all this, Bishop Lindsay focused on the spring of water that Mary had used to indicate the position of the holy house. He pointed out that springs of water are very often a feature of Marian shrines. Certainly I know that this is the case in Lourdes, France, where a new water spring was an important feature of St Bernadette’s visions of Mary in 1858, and I know it is true of other Marian shrines too. Bishop Lindsay comment was that it was very typical of Mary to draw attention to Jesus. A spring of water is indeed a powerful reminder of Jesus, who in our New Testament lesson today said that the water he gives a person, becomes in them a spring of living water, welling up to eternal life.
And this image of Jesus as giving a spring of living water, water that forever quenches thirst, is an image that goes very deep. It is very mysterious and worthy of being pondered at length. It resonates with many other themes in John’s gospel and in the wider scriptures.
For example, in John 6: 35 Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. No one who come to me will ever be hungry, no one who believes in me will ever thirst”. There is this same theme of thirst being quenched by Jesus. It is as though Jesus sustains the life of believers, just as bread and water sustain our earthly lives. Jesus takes this even further, perhaps making a link to the Eucharist, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day, for my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” (John 6: 54)
Also in John 7: 37-38 Jesus cries out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, let anyone who believes in me come and drink”. John refers to a scripture [what scripture?] “from the heart shall flow streams of living water.” This explanation reminds of us of the blood and water that streamed from Jesus’ side when he was pieced on the cross (John 19: 34), and also the river of life that rises up from the throne of God and from the lamb, and flows through the recreated New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation (22:1). John also states that Jesus is talking of the Holy Spirit when he talks of streams of living water (John 7: 39) and indeed we often think of the Spirit as the sustainer of life.
But in our New Testament lesson there was another explanation of God’s gift for sustaining life, as bread and water sustain us when we are hungry or thirsty. When the disciples ask Jesus to eat something, he says that he has food they don’t know about. He says, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me.” So Jesus himself is stained by doing the will of the Father in heaven.
And in so many ways this is true for us too. It is by doing what God wills for us that we grow into what God has created us to be. It is by doing God’s will for us, that our particular way of serving the people around us is revealed. This is where our true identity is found; it is revealed in doing God’s will.
So as we think of Jesus as the stream of living water, welling up to eternal life, so let us focus on doing God’s will in our lives, moment by moment, day by day and so let us be sustained by Jesus, who is himself sustained by doing the Father’s will. Amen.

Born from above

Sermon preached at 9.45am Holy Communion (Book of Common Prayer) at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton’s on Sunday 20th March 2011. A shorter version of this sermon was preached at the 8.30am Said Eucharist at St Mary the Virgin, Lapworth
Second Sunday of Lent – Year A

Readings: Romans 4: 1-5 & 13-17 John 3: 1-17


Jesus conversation with Nicodemus is very famous
- He was a Pharisee, a leader of the Jews, perhaps the only such leader who really believed in Jesus
- Came to Jesus by night, because of fear
- Nicodemus crops us throughout John’s gospel
o He is argues that Jesus should be given a hearing, when Pharisees plot his arrest (7: 45-52)
o He is perhaps the example of a leading Jew who did believe in Jesus but dare not admit it (12: 42)
o At the death of Jesus he brings myrrh and aloes for his burial (19: 39)

Jesus gives him a hard time by talking of being born from above, or born again.
Nicodemus tries to flush out what Jesus means by being “born from above”
Jesus confirms that he does not mean a physical re-birth, but rather being born of “water and the Spirit”.
So just as a human person must be born of the flesh, and physically grow up, so that person must also be born of the Spirit and grow up in the Spirit, and come to maturity in the Spirit. Jesus says that this is essential to enter the kingdom of God. It is as though it is our life in the Spirit that enters into the kingdom of God, while out earthly body rots in the ground.

Now in the Church we associate “being born through water and the Spirit” with baptism – the moment when the life of the Spirit begins within us in a characteristic Christian way. This birth is certainly an essential step, but it is also essential that this life in the Spirit must grow and develop and reach its full stature. The fathers of the church always talk about baptism as essential for salvation.

So what is it that is essential for salvation?
- To be Baptised?
- To be born of the Spirit?
- to believe in Jesus? – as is often repeated in John’s gospel
- to live by faith – as Paul tells us in our epistle today

Sometimes there can be anxiety of this point.
- Perhaps you met Christians who ask “have you been born again?”
- Perhaps you have met Christians who scramble to get a new born baby baptised for fear that it might die un-baptised

Well to seek salvation is clearly a good thing, but I we are meant to get anxious about it. Salvation is God’s gift, freely given. We have to learn to trust God and to have faith in his love for us. First and foremost we must believe that God wants our good, wants our salvation and, one way or another, God will secure that salvation if we just do our part, and respond positively to the invitation of God. Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4: 18).

Neither should we think of salvation as a tick list:
“I just need to be baptised, then I am saved”
“I just need to be born again, then I am saved”
“I just need to believe in Jesus, then I am saved”
“I just need to lead a good life, then I am saved”
The truth is that all these things go together and grow together in our spiritual lives. Everyone is different and God calls people in different ways. Many are baptised as babies and then need to grow into their faith. Other come to Christ differently and in certain ways might already be fairly mature as Christians before they are baptised. Some Christians emphasise faith in God, others emphasise the importance of living a good life and of loving our neighbour. But ultimately all these things go together and build on each other. Ultimately all are important, all our signs of each other. The Christian who emphasises faith, but has no love is clearly lacking (1 Cor 13: 2). The Christian who knows the scriptures but does not know Christ is clearly lacking (John 5: 39-40). The person who responds positively to Christ, but who has not be baptised or “born from above” clearly is lacking, as Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus shows.

So as we think of our salvation, let’s not worry about specific tests to determine if we are saved or not saved. Rather let’s seek to make progress in all the different aspects of the Christian life so that we can grow up into our salvation (c.f. 1 peter 2: 2) in a balanced way. Certainly, if we are not baptised then we should seek baptism. If we were baptised as babies then we should seek Confirmation, taking our personal ownership of our baptismal promises. Certainly we should seek to grow in faith and trust in God. We should seek to build our personal relationship with Jesus through prayer, by reading the gospels and by living as Jesus commands. Similarly we must live by the Spirit. Above all we must seek to grow in love for God and for our neighbours, because ultimately it is on love that the saved the unsaved are separated (Matt 25: 31ff). Amen.

Temptation and testing

Sermon preached at 11am Coral Mattins at St Mary’s Lapworth on Sunday 13th March 2011. Shorter versions of this sermon were preached at the 8.30am Said Eucharist and at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton’s 3pm Evensong.
First Sunday of Lent – Year A

Readings: Ps 32 Gen 2: 15-17 & 3: 1-7 Matt 4: 1-11

Many thanks to all those who participated in yesterday’s churchyard working party. Hopefully you will notice some of the fruits of the work as you leave church today. Those who have been to one of these the working parties will know that one of the most enjoyable aspects is the food that Vera puts out at lunchtime. Yesterday there were two excellent soups, crusty bread (both brown and white) and butter. There were baked potatoes and several different choices of filling; chilli, or cheese or tuna mayonnaise or spaghetti in sauce. Well it was all very excellent and I had seconds of the soups (spicy parsnip), plenty of bread and a very large baked potato, with two fillings. And after that, really, I was more ready for a nap than for more work in the churchyard. Someone said, “Hay Vera, with all this good food you are making us eat too much.” Vera said, “Well I don’t actually force people to eat it!” Well no, perhaps I am not actually forced to eat too much, but somehow with so much good food readily available the odds are stacked me. It is an example of temptation; a temptation I am not good at resisting.

What is temptation?
It is the danger that we trade in God’s hopes and plans for us, for something less, something outside of his will for our lives. It might be something that our appetites suggest to us (like food) or something suggested to us by doubt, or pride or envy ...
In the Christian tradition we often see the three biggest seducers as money, sex and power. E.g.
- Cheat on tax return or expenses for the sake of money
- Cheat on a spouse for the sake of sex
- Uncharitably highlight the failings of others (perhaps a colleague at work) for the sake of power
There is nothing wrong with money, sex and power in themselves. They are all gifts of God which can and should be used to build up his kingdom. But experience suggests that they have particular power to lead us into temptation. The Christian tradition highlights counteracts this by emphasising the importance of poverty, chastity and obedience, most noticeably in the vows taken by monks in the Benedictine tradition.

So in situation of temptation are situations where we are in danger of getting our priorities wrong. We are in danger of choosing some created thing that we desire (perhaps money, sex or power) over God’s desires for us, over God’s will for our lives, over the goodness that God wants to give us. Very often we are tempted to trade in something spiritual for something more tangible. Very often we are trading in a long term benefit for something more immediate. And if we give in to temptation then we go against God’s will, we sin, we damage our relationship with God and with others, we jar against God’s goodness to us and sooner or later this inevitably causes sufferings to ourselves and to others.

Two scripture readings today are stories of temptation.
Adam and Eve fall – traditional theology sees this as disastrous for the whole human race, the source of our Original Sin; the source of our clouded understanding of the things of God and our tendency towards sin. And this fault is finally made good by Christ in his death and resurrection. As we heard in our NT Reading, Christ passed through temptation without sin. He was always true to God, he always rejected the devil.

Notice the role of the devil in both stories. Bible is full of examples where God deliberately allows the devil to cause problems for people as some kind of test, as a means of proving their worth:

God must have allowed the serpent (the devil) into the Garden of Eden.
In our NT reading the Holy Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness specifically to be tempted by the devil.
In the book of Job, God specifically allows the devil to torture Job.
Jesus understands this. He says occasions for stumbling must come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes (Matt 18:7, Luke 17: 1). God, in his goodness and love, allows us to be tested and tempted, but that woe betides the tester or tempter. So often Satan tests us, perhaps with crushing under pain and adversity, perhaps with the wrongful fulfilment of desire, perhaps through our complacency and arrogance, perhaps by misrepresenting to us the things of God, as he misrepresented the scriptures to Jesus in our reading today.

Why does God allow trials or tests of this sort? Why is the devil allowed anywhere near us? (Especially as we are taught to pray “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil (i.e. from the evil one”)
These are deep mysteries – part of God’s love for us – perhaps so that we can share in, and make our own contribution towards the overcoming of evil???
With these tests or trials the dominant biblical image is gold or precious metal refined in the fire (Ps 66: 10, Is 48:10, 1 Peter 1: 6-7)
Tests which God allow both reveal how pure we are and help to build up that purity further.

Or we might fail. If we do we are in trouble, but we are also in good company. Jesus said to Peter “Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat” (Luke 22: 31) and indeed Peter, in his fear and confusion, denied Jesus three times. This must have caused Peter, and the other disciples great distress; to be alienated from Jesus at the time of his death. But after the resurrection Jesus restored Peter by three times saying “Peter – do you love me – feed my sheep” (John 21: 15ff)

When we fail we have to throw ourselves back on the mercy of God. We have to ask for forgiveness and start again in our Christian endeavour. Note that we have to start again in grace, not in our own strength, or we will fail again. We have to build up the presence of Christ within us by being honest about that failure, by accepting the pain it causes ourselves and others (rather than pretending the pain is not there) and by giving thanks to Christ for the pain that he accepted in his death on the cross, which has conquered sin and death, and by which we can be restored.

So let’s live our temptation well, hopefully being purified like silver in the fire, but if we fail let us seek forgiveness, growing in our knowledge of our dependence on God and in our thankfulness to Christ for his redemption. Amen.

Avoiding the broadcast message

Sermon preached at 9.45am Holy Communion at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton on Sunday 6th March 2011. A shorter version was preached at the 8.30am Said Eucharist at St Mary’s Lapworth.
Sunday Next Before Lent – Epiphany 9 - Year A
Readings: 2 Peter 1: 16-21 Matthew 17: 1-9

Mainly notes

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury has many gifts and talents, especially as an academic theologian. However, it would seem that Public Relations, or particularly handling the media (newspapers and TV) is not one of his strengths. He has a message to proclaim, but most of what is attributed to him in the newspapers appears to have been carefully selected and edited to make him look stupid, to annoy people and to cause them to despair.
Most of the “blame” for this must fall on the media, who are always under financial pressures, and see it as their job to find racy stories that sell newspapers. Truth, fairness and developing the discernment of their readership are much lower down their list of priorities.
But perhaps there is something intrinsic to the gospel which makes it resistant to the mass media broadcast message. Certainly Jesus often seems reluctant to publicity about his significance. I am always amazed by his instructions in today’s gospel reading, when he tells Peter, James and John not to tell anyone about the transfiguration until after he has been raised from the dead.
Why would Jesus do this? Why, if he wants his gospel to spread to the ends of the earth, would he not publicise the evidence of its greatness?
Jesus “has form” on this telling people not publicising greatness (especially in Mark’s gospel)
e.g. Devils driven out (Mk 1: 34)
Man healed of leprosy (Mk 1: 44)
Two blind men healed (Mt 9:30)
Also when Devil suggest “shock and awe” strategy of throwing himself off the temple (Matt 4: 5-7) Jesus rejects this as a specific temptation from Satan.
Why does Jesus take this approach?
Perhaps “shock and awe” is a rather domineering approach, not sufficiently respectful of people freedom????
Perhaps if people everyone knew clearly that Jesus was the messiah then his message would get completely lost behind Jewish people’s expectations about what the Messiah could and should be doing??? Perhaps he would not be tolerated by Herod (c.f. Herod’s father’s massacre of the innocents in Matt 2) or the Romans???
After the resurrection it seems OK to publicise Jesus’ greatness.
e.g. Peter’s testimony as an eyewitness in 2 Peter , read today.
John’s testament “we have beheld his glory” John 1: 14
Very significant the Jesus’ glory is seen in the transfiguration
- Points to his glory at the end of time
- Points to the second coming of Christ, which apparently will not lack publicity – the trumpet will sound, the angels gather, the son of man will ride on the clouds and all eyes will see him.
- Points to Jesus’ divinity
Tranfiguration suggests Jesus is the fulfilment of the law (represented by Moses who brought the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai) and the prophets (represented by Elijah).

But Jesus’ reluctance to engage in a broadcast message highlights the importance of passing the gospel on through personal relationships, from one person to the next. More like Chinese whispers, than like a big announcement. By and large the gospel spreads in this way, rather than through TV shows or newspaper articles. Makes us think of how we pass on the gospel through our personal relationships.
- Witness must be through our lives before it is words
- Perhaps we don’t need to articulate the gospel itself, just invite people to come to church with us or offer to pray for them
- Back to church Sunday in September
Let’s be mindful of our responsibility in passing on the gospel through our personal relationships, through family and friends, by always seeking their good, loving them as Christ does. Amen.

Seeing first the kingdom of God

Sermon preached at 11am Choral Mattins at St Mary’s Lapworth on Sunday 27th February 2011. A shorter version was also preached at 8.30am Said Eucharist and at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton, 3pm Evensong.

Second Sunday before Lent, Epiphany 8 (CofE provision) – Year A

Readings: Ps 136: 1-9 Genesis 1: 1-23 Matthew 6: 25-34


Notes only

Creation story from Genesis might have shortcomings as a scientific account of creation, but it makes some important theological points.
First of all – creation comes about through the will of God
“You pour out your spirit and they are created” as the psalmist says.
Secondly - creation is good, in harmony with the will of God. At every step God stands back and says “it is good”.
But if God’s creation is good, where does evil comes from? This is a great mystery, which theologians struggle with. God did create evil. But God gives angels and humans freewill. They really do have freedom to choose, and they can choose to go against God and against his will. This is what evil is – rebellion against God.
Somehow, we don’t quite know how, evil as been sown in amongst the good of creation. The story of Adam and Eve and the fall is one account of this. But Jesus also tells the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matt 13: 24-30, 36-43) where the master sows good seed, but an enemy comes and sows tares among the wheat. The separation of good from evil does not come until the end of time (see also parable of the dragnet (Matt 13: 47-50)) when God’s kingdom is realised in a more tangible way.
Thirdly humanity has a special place in creation; it’s pinnacle, created in the image of God; both male and female. God is above male and female – “he” includes both; both are in his image. We have to be very mindful of the special dignity of each human being, created in the image of God.
Then in NT lesson from Matthew Jesus teaches us not to have anxieties about the everyday necessities of life. “Seek first the kingdom of God, and its righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you as well.” So we need to seek first God’s kingdom, that goodness of creation which is separated out from evil at the end of time. We need to move in harmony with God’s will, in harmony with creation, with all that God wills, seeking always what is pleasing to God. And then all these other things are added to us as well.
The collect makes good suggestions:
- See God’s hand in all things
- recognise God’s likeness in all his children
These help us to seek first the kingdom of God.

I would like to illustrate this with a story that a man called Opus told me. It was a long time ago that I was told the story, and I might have the details wrong, but the gist of it is certainly correct.
Opus was tall and well built. He had classical good looks and was stylish in the way he dressed and wore his hair. He was probably a youth in the aftermath of the Second World War, which must have been a time of great austerity. I know he came from a large family, so there can’t have been much money around.
With the aspirations of a young man, his good looks and his strong sense of style, Opus came to realise that he wanted an electric razor. These were not readily available after the war, and were very expensive. However they often featured at the cinema, and for Opus they epitomised the glamour and sophistication of a modern lifestyle. He really, really wanted an electric razor.
Now as a young man Opus started living in a Christian community with perhaps six other young men, seeking to live a gospel lifestyle. There were many such groups about and they were related to one another. In these groups it was important not to be attached to any earthly riches, but always to be ready to give and to receive. The priority was to seek first the kingdom of God by overcoming selfishness and growing in love for the other people.
I don’t recall the details, but on one occasion Opus’s household received some gifts to share. The arrival of gifts was quite common, but what really caught Opus’s attention on this occasion was that one of the gifts was an electric razor! Of course, Opus really wanted the electric razor. However, talking with the other men in the house he realised that the razor was to be set aside someone else who was due to visit the house later that week. Opus really struggled with this. He understood that he had to seek first the kingdom of God, and he had to be ready to lose the razor, to let it go…but it was very, very hard.
In due course the visitor came, was delighted by the gift and took it away with him. The razor was gone, but it took Opus a couple of weeks to get over the resentments and frustrations that he felt about losing the razor. Finally he managed to do it; he became free of his desire, his need, for an electric razor.
Then a couple of weeks after that the household received more gifts, including two electric razors. The passionate need that Opus had felt for an electric razor had gone, but he was delighted to be given one none the less.
Then a little later he was given another electric razor, then later still another, and yet another! He started to constantly receive electric razors from the most varied and unpredictable of places. It became overwhelming. Opus felt that God was rewarding him for seeking first the kingdom of God, but the shear abundance of electric razors was also like God mocking him for the petty nature of his earlier desires. Of course electric razors did eventually became commonplace. Argos stock dozens of different models, starting at £13, and many of them are for women! Still Opus had taken the step of seeking first the kingdom of God, and God had added to him all the other things as well.

Building towards perfection

Sermon preached at the 11am Parish Eucharist at St Mary’s Lapworth on Sunday 20th February 20111. Shorter versions of this sermon were preached at the 8.30am Said Eucharist and at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton, 9.45am Holy Communion.
Third Sunday before Lent (Septugesima)

Readings: 1 Corinthians 3: 10-11 & 16-23 Matthew 5: 38-48

Notes only


Start with story about “If someone sues for your coat, give him your cloak as well”
- the “I like your shirt” story

Our gospel readings at present come from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is very challenging!

Last week’s gospel gave us some very challenging teachings from Jesus
- he condemned all anger, lust, divorce and untruthfulness
I said in last week’s sermon that Jesus seems to set an impossibly high standard, a standard that is beyond us all.
- we might be tempted to throw in the towel, say “this is too much”
- but we must remember that we are on a journey towards the life of heaven
- we might not be ready for heaven yet, but by the grace of Christ we will be one day if we travel in the right direction
- we journey not in our own strength but in the strength of the Spirit & grace of Christ.

This week we have more very challenging teachings from Jesus
- do not resist the evildoer
- love your enemies
Again Jesus sets a high standard – but we must not despair.
We can think of the Journey again.
Or we can think of the slimily used by St Paul
- we are being built into a spiritual temple – a temple of the Holy Spirit
- this applies to us as individuals, and also to us collectively as church
- God is working in us to build up the temple
- it is a process that happens over time
- We need to co-operate and work on this building up because the spiritual temple endures. Earthly things fall away, we suffer loses, eventually we die, so better to invest in the spiritual temple which endures.
- We are building towards perfection – towards the life of heaven. As Jesus said in the gospel “Be Holy as your heavenly father is Holy”.

Whether we think of it as a journey or think of it as a building under construction our part is to live our day to day life in front of God seeking to grow in love for God and neighbour day by day, moment by moment. But sometimes we must ask ourselves, “What can we do?” “How can we contribute to the journey, to the building?” Lent starts in three weeks so no is an excellent time to ask these questions. Lent is traditionally the time of year for seeking to turn more fully to God.

What might be do this Lent? We could
1) Give up some luxury or pleasure (chocolate, coffee, alcohol, facebook?) in order to orientate ourselves towards God. Every time we miss the item we can remember God, and that we do it for love of him; or
2) Add some new spiritual discipline to our lives; perhaps some extra prayer or worship or bible reading or religious study. We will offer options on a Wednesday evening in church – Complain for prayer or “Explore” for study.
3) Do something practical which involves cost to ourselves for the benefit of other people. traditionally almsgiving. Could also be the giving of time or attention to someone who needs it. Could involve visiting someone who is a bit isolated, or writing to someone we are losing touch with.

So let’s start thinking now, so as to use Lent well, and to make our full contribution in the building up of the spiritual temple. Amen.

Jesus on the Law

Sermon preached at Choral Mattins at St Mary’s Lapworth on Sunday 13th February 2011. A shorter version of this sermon was also preached at the 8.30 Said Eucharist and at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton’s 3pm Evensong.
Fourth Sunday before Lent – Year A

Readings: Ps 119: 1-8 Ecclesiasticus 15: 15-20 Matthew 5: 21-37


One of my favourite Winston Churchill quotes relates to the time when he was appointed within H. H. Asquith’s government to be First Lord of the Admiralty in 1911. At that time there was widespread concern about the build up of German naval power, and there was a recognition that the Royal Navy would need to be strengthened if it was to retain its command of the seas. However there was political disagreement about how many dreadnought ships should be added to the navy, perhaps four, perhaps six. Then a German warship started to intimidate French shipping off Morocco, and suddenly a political consensus emerged. Churchill later summarised the debate saying, “The Conservatives wanted six; the Liberals wanted four; we compromised on eight.”
I was reminded of this story by our gospel reading today. Jesus was talking about the Jewish law and commenting on different matters, some of which were controversial at the time. The conversations would typically be about how much the Law should affect the day to day behaviour of the people. The Pharisees might say by four degrees, the Scribes might say by six degrees, but Jesus would say by eight! Jesus’ interpretation of the law always seems to go much deeper and be far more far reaching than the interpretation of other scholars at the time. In fact it seems to me that Jesus thinks about the Jewish Law in a way that is quite different from the way that scholars of the time might think of it.
It seems to me that the law given through Moses was an effort to explain what good behaviour was; what it meant to help people to be good Jews, worthy of receiving God promises to his chosen nation. But then, over time, it seems that the Law ceased to function as something pointing people towards God, but became more like a boundary defining what was, and what was not, acceptable behaviour for a Jew. During this period the number of rules increased dramatically, and things like how far you could walk on the Sabbath became very precisely defined.
It seems to me that Jesus did not think of the Law as a boundary at all. For him it was all about pointing us towards God. And for Jesus it was not just behaviours that mattered. What mattered much more was the inner attitudes and values and beliefs that drive behaviours. In the eyes of Jesus, it is essential that attitudes, beliefs, values and therefore behaviours too are orientated towards God, that they draw us towards God. Jesus wants us to know God better, to share in God’s attitudes plans and hopes, to become like God.
And this makes the Law Oh so much more demanding. The letter of the law condemns the killing of a person, but Jesus condemns even being angry with a person, or thinking of that a person is a fool or traitor. The letter of the Law condemns adultery, but Jesus condemns even lust. The letter of the Law has a procedure for divorce, but Jesus condemns divorce. The Tradition says you must not break a vow, but Jesus says don’t even make vows, but always keep your word. And in fact Jesus goes on. It gets even harder in next week’s gospel with “Love your enemies”.
What is very noticeable when we think of the Law like Jesus does, as something that points us towards God, as something which prepares us for an eternal life shared with God, is that suddenly we are completely inadequate. No anger, no criticism of others, no lust, no divorce, no parting from our word…we are all of us hopelessly inadequate because none of us can live to this standard.
What we have to accept is that we are on a journey, a journey towards God, towards the life of heaven. It is a journey and we are not there yet. We are not 100% saints yet. We certainly cannot live to the standard that Jesus expects, we are not yet ready for life in heaven. But we also need to accept that by faith in God, and by the grace of Christ, we will one day complete that journey, we will pass through different purifying experiences and God will make us ready for heaven. Ultimately, as our first reading pointed out we all have to choose between fire and water, between life and death, between heaven and hell. So really we have to choose heaven, and the quicker we make progress on the journey to get there the better it is for everyone.
So we are on the journey towards heaven, but every now and again something happens that reminds us that we still have a long way to go. Perhaps a scripture reading like today’s reminds us that we are completely inadequate. What do we do? Do we give up on the journey because it is too difficult? Do we start to hate ourselves because we know that we are sinners? No. No, we remember that God continues to love us, and we must continue to love ourselves and, like God, we must hope for and work for the very best for ourselves. We must remember that Jesus came into the world precisely to save sinners like us and to bring us to the life of heaven. So we need to confess our sin and our inadequacies and our failings to God. We need to hold them before God and see them as God sees them and become totally realistic about them. And this can be painful, it reminds us that we are not as good as we like to think we are. But, it seems to me, that pain, in conjunction with Christ’s sufferings on the cross, gives us the grace to move forward. It fills us with the desire to move forward. It assures us that we move forward in God’s strength not our own. It helps us to make progress on the journey. We realise that God’s love for us goes much deeper than our sin.
So we hear a scripture reading like today’s and when we hear all about God’s laws, let’s not think of them as a boundary, and worry whether we are inside or out. Rather let’s think of them as pointers to God and to the life of heaven. Let’s be sure that we still have a long way to go before we reach God, but let’s also have confidence that Jesus will walk with us on that journey, and that Jesus, through his death and resurrection has already overcome all our sin. The end of the journey is assured, but we still need to walk it Amen.

You are the light of the world!

Sermon preached at 9.45 am Holy Communion (BCP) at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton on Sunday 6th February 2011. Shorter versions of this sermon were preached at St Mary’s Lapworth at 8.30am and at 11am.
Epiphany 5, Year A (Fifth Sunday before Lent)

Readings: 1 Corinthians 2: 1-12 Matthew 5: 13-20


Recently I read about an experience of a young child, we’ll call him Peter, at school in Texas. It was playtime, and Peter was playing with his friends, but the friends did not want the children from the other class to join in with the game. The Teacher on duty ticked the friends off for being selfish and asked them to play with the other children. There was an awkward pause, but Peter knew in his heart that the teacher was right, and that the generous thing to do, the loving thing to do, was to include the other children. He called out to one of them and began to involve him in the game. A few moments later he looked round, and he was amazed to see that his friends had also welcomed the children from the other class, and now all the children were playing together.
It is a very simple story, but it is a very good example about how generosity and goodness has an infectious quality; how one good deed leads to another, how if one person sets a good example, often others will follow.
I remember I had an experience of this myself a few years ago. My morning drive to work involved an awkward right hand turn. When traffic was heavy it was often necessary to drive in way that was rather pushy in order to make the right hand turn. Gradually I found that my driving style was becoming pushier and more aggressive in general because I was practising this attitude at this particular right hand turn. Then, one day, when I had just arrived at the junction and was preparing to pick my moment to go, suddenly a car on the main carriage way slowed down for me, and signalled for me to come out. I moved out straight away, and waved to the man, to whom I was very grateful. But as I drove on I found that the incident had somehow lifted my soul. Suddenly the world seemed good, and everybody was a friend and I found myself driving very courteously, and letting people out of congested side roads myself.
And it seems to me that stories like this illustrate what Jesus wants from us when he asks us to be the Light of the World. Last week we remembered Simeon in the Temple, saying that the baby Jesus would be a “light to lighten the gentiles” (Luke 2: 32) and we remembered that Jesus really adopted this understanding for himself when he himself came to say, “I am the light of the World” (John 8: 12). When I spoke about this last week I said that we needed to walk in the light of Christ ourselves, and then we, as the body of Christ, had to offer that same light of Christ to the world. Well Jesus in his statement today, “You are the light of the world” (Matt 5: 13) emphasises that second of these two points. We are called to be the light of Christ for other people, so that they me see our good works and give glory to our father in heaven.
So how do we do that in practice? How do we be the light of the world? Well let’s remember that this light does not come from us. The light that we give to the world has to be the light of Christ, shining through us. It is not as though we generate this light ourselves, rather it is about allowing the light of Christ to shine within us.
So I think it boils down to the same message as last week. First and foremost we need to walk in the light of Christ ourselves. We can’t be light to the world if we don’t have the light of Christ within us. The light that Christ gives us comes especially from his teachings and his example. We need to live by his teachings and follow his examples, so that we are filled with his light. Then it is a question letting this light shine out, and not keeping the light under a bushel. This means being open and transparent about our faith, not hiding it away in a box and only taking it out on Sundays! Above all it means being generous to others, like Peter in Texas, or like the car driver who let me out at the junction. As these acts of generosity spread, we are being light to the world. Amen.

The light to lighten the gentiles

Sermon preached at the 11am Parish Eucharist at St Mary the Virgin, Lapworth. Shorter versions of this sermon were preached at the 8.30am Said Eucharist and at St Michael’s Baddesley for 9.45am Holy Communion (BCP).

The Presentation of Christ in the Temple

Readings: Hebrews 2: 14-18 Luke 2: 22-40


The festival we celebrate today has at least three different names, according to which aspect of it is being emphasised. Most typically we call it the “Presentation” thinking of the baby Jesus being presented in the temple. Under the Jewish Law, the Torah, the first five books of the bible, the first born of any womb belonged to the Lord and had to be presented to the priests in the temple. This is because the Lord had struck down the first born of the Egyptians at the time of the exile, and so he also claimed as his own the first born of all the Israelites and their animals; the first born were to be presented to the Lord and set aside for the Lord use. This rule about the first born applied to both people and animals, and there are several regulations (e.g. Ex 13: 1-2, 11-16, Leviticus 27, Numbers 18: 5) about it which we can read in the first five books of the bible. In the case of human babies, the rules required parents to “redeem” a first born child immediately after they had presented the child to the priests. It would cost five shekels to redeem the child. So the arrangement ended up working rather like a tax that was paid to the Temple on all first born children. I think this shows us something of the humility of Mary. You agree to be the handmaid of the Lord, and to be the mother of the Son of God. Then you have to pay a temple tax on the child for the privilege!
But in fact there was more for Mary to do than that. Under the Law (Lev 12) a woman also had to undergo the rite of purification 40 days after childbirth. The festival we celebrate today is sometimes called The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The rites of purification involved making a sacrifice for sin. The gospel tells us that Mary and Joseph made the sin offering of the poor, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons, rather than the standard offering of a lamb. (I do wonder what happened to all that gold, frankincense and myrrh!?) Again it seems to me that we are shown something of the humility of Mary who goes through these rituals even though her baby is the son of God. If we accept the Roman Catholic doctrines whereby Mary is free from sin, then there is a further irony in her being expected to make a sin offering!
So sometimes we call the festival “The Presentation”, thinking of the baby Jesus presented at the temple, sometimes we call it “The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary”, but we also call it “Candlemas” and we celebrate it especially with candles, or torch light processions. And the theme of candles or light comes from the words of Simeon that we heard in our gospel today. He said that Jesus would be “a light for revelation to the gentiles, and the glory of [God’s people] Israel”. Now the word gentiles means nations or peoples, and it the Old Testament it refers to all the other nations beyond the nation of Israel, all the other peoples, beyond the Jewish people. So Simeon’s proclamation that Jesus is a light for revelation to the gentiles is extraordinarily prophetic. It is a real epiphany moment. Jesus is shown, or revealed, or manifested, to be a light to all peoples and all nations. Simeon foresees that Jesus’ significance stretches far beyond Judaism and that the whole world will be illuminated by his light. And we, who have few connections with Judaism, can praise God, that through Jesus, the graces God has poured out on Israel are to benefit the whole world.
So what does it mean to us – Jesus the light to the nations, Jesus who later proclaims himself to be the light of the world (John 8: 12). Well first of all we have to “walk in the light” as the song says “Walk, walk in the light”. And the light that Jesus gives us comes especially from his teachings and example. We need to follow that teaching and imitate the example given. These teachings and examples principally tell us to love; to love God and to love our neighbours, to always grow in love. So we need to walk in the light ourselves by always loving others, always seeking the good of the others.
But then that brings us to the other side of it. As the Church we are the body of Christ. Just as Simeon could see that the baby Jesus was a light for the nations, so the body of Jesus, the church should be a light for all the nations, a light for all the peoples. We too are called to be a light for all peoples. We are called to shine with the light of love, Christ’s love for the good of others, so that they too may learn to walk in the light of Jesus, so that they too will learn to love.
So if we walk in the light ourselves, by growing in love, so we become a light to others and we help them to walk in the light and grow in love. And so the light of Jesus spreads – the light for all peoples becomes ever more visible. The prophecy of Simeon is fulfilled as Jesus becomes ever more completely the light to lighten the nations. Amen.

Jesus revealed as "Lamb of God"

Sermon preached at 11am Parish Eucharist at St Mary’s Lapworth on Sunday 16th January 2011. A shorter version of this sermon was also preached at the 8.30am Said Eucharist and at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton’s 9.45am Holy communion (BCP).
Second Sunday after Epiphany – Year A

Readings: 1 Corinthians 1: 1-9 John 1: 29-42


The Epiphany season is all about Jesus being revealed or shown to the people, so that people can begin to understand who he really is. In last week’s gospel reading (Matt 3: 13-17) we heard the story of the Baptism of Christ, as it is described in Matthew’s Gospel. You will recall that when Jesus came up out of the water the Spirit of God, in the form of a dove descended and came to alight on Jesus. This revealed Jesus to be the Messiah, the one anointed with God’s spirit. And then you will recall that a great voice proclaimed, “This is my Son the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” A by this voice Jesus was revealed to be “Son of God”.
This week’s gospel reading came from St John’s gospel, and it records the things that John the Baptist said to his own disciples, on two different occasions when he saw Jesus walk by. And for the most part John the Baptist talks about the baptism of Jesus. He says, “I came baptising with water…that he might be revealed to Israel.” John talks about seeing the Spirit descend onto Jesus, and how significant that is. Also John specifically testifies that Jesus is Son of God. But what is very striking is the title that John the Baptist uses for Jesus when he sees him walk by. He doesn’t use the title “Messiah” (or Christ or anointed one, which mean the same thing.) He doesn’t use the title “Son of God” despite his testimony that Jesus is “Son of God”. Rather the title he uses is “Lamb of God”. We hear him say, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” And then the second time she says, “Look, here is the Lamb of God”.
This new title which John the Baptist gives Jesus, “Lamb of God”, is very mysterious. It is hard to understand but it crops up several times in the New Testament. It has been incorporated into the liturgy, and we shall hear it again, twice, just before we receive Holy Communion. So what is the title “Lamb of God” all about?
Well, in the Jewish tradition that Jesus was born into, a lamb was sin offering, used in temple sacrifices. We can read in the book of Leviticus all the detailed rules and regulations about sin offerings. If a member of the community sinned then that person had to bring a lamb to the priest. It had to be a good lamb, without blemish and valuable. The lamb would be slaughtered and the priest would take some of the blood on his finger and mark it on special parts of the altar. The rest of the blood would be poured out at the foot of the altar. The priest would cut off the fat from the lamb and burn it on the altar. Through this ceremony the person was forgiven their sins and their relationship with God and the community was restored.
So when we think of Jesus as Lamb of God, we are thinking of him as someone who was killed, so as to make good for our sin, to restore our relationship with God. Of course this is the great sacrifice that Jesus made for us, once for all time, upon the cross. And it is a sacrifice that we remember and are drawn into through our participation in the Eucharist and especially when we receive Holy Communion.
Now I don’t know about you, but I have always found talk of sacrifices very difficult. Lots of unpleasant pictures appear in my mind; the killing of animals, priests with sharp knives, blood and fire and smoke. It all seems very unpleasant and I am always very glad that that animal sacrifice is not part of our religion.
Well animal sacrifices might not be part of our religion, but in Christianity we certainly do talk about sacrifice. It is not always easy to understand what this means. When I was studying theology I was very struck to read St Augustine of Hippo’s definition of a sacrifice. He said that a true sacrifice is “any action which is designed to unite us to God.” “Any action which is designed to unite us with God.” I was amazed by this idea, and I have spent a lot of time pondering it over.
I find it very helpful because it really opens up the possibility of our daily lives being lived as a sacrifice, as an action designed to unite us with God. For example, according to St Augustine, our coming to church can be a sacrifice. Saying our prayers can be a sacrifice. Reading the bible can be a sacrifice. Anything we do with the intention of drawing closer to God is a sacrifice. And this can include so many things. In fact, if we love, it can include everything that we do. Loving our neighbour draws us closer to God. Sweeping the floor with love draws us closer to God. Listening to the teacher with love draws us closer to God. Typing on the computer with love draws us closer to God. Even resting after lunch, if it is truly done with love, draws us closer to God.
And at this point I noticed something. There is always a cost involved in a sacrifice. In Old Testament times it was the cost of the lamb. In fact the regulations in Leviticus had a special provision for people who could not afford a lamb. They were to offer two doves or young pigeons instead. But even today our little sacrifices have a cost. Coming to church costs us part of our Sunday morning. Saying our prayers costs us time and energy and requires discipline. The same is true of reading the bible. There is a cost involved in loving our neighbour. We all know how difficult it is to love people who we don’t instinctively like. Sweeping the floor with love requires that we concentrate and do it well. It requires that we are patient with the people who get in the way, or who never say thank you after it is done. Even resting after lunch, if it is done with love, requires us to be attentive to the needs of the people around us, so there is some cost however small.
But you have probably noticed, certainly I have, that whenever we try to draw closer to God, we quickly encounter limitations and barriers within ourselves. “I want to go to church, but I don’t like the service.” “I want to say my prayers but I am angry with God.” “I want to read the bible, but I can’t be bothered.” “I want to love my colleague at work but I find him so boring.” “I would sweep the floor out of love, but I just need to get it done.” “I would rest after lunch with love, but someone has upset me!”
We are all too painfully aware of the many limitations, temptations, distractions and barriers that prevent us from drawing closer to God. Sometimes they are quite overwhelming and in our own strength we can do nothing about them. But Jesus has already overcome these things. His sacrifice on the cross allows us to draw closer to God, despite our limitations and inadequacies, sometimes even because of them! So when we hit these barriers and limitations within ourselves, let us not be discouraged. Let us simply hold them before Jesus in prayer, counting on the grace of his death and resurrection to help us.
And there is no better time to do this, than when we receive Holy Communion. Through the Eucharist we remember Christ’s death on the cross and its grace is made present to us. When we receive Holy Communion we receive the presence of Jesus and that grace right inside our bodies. So, as we come up to receive Holy Communion today, let us give thanks for Jesus and for the sacrifice that he made for us on the cross. Let us offer up to Jesus all those things that prevent us from drawing closer to God. Let us entrust them to his mercy, to the great mercy of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Baptism of Christ - Making yourself one

Sermon preached at 11am Choral Mattins at Mary the Virgin, Lapworth on Sunday 9th January 2011. Shorter versions of this sermon were preached at the 8.30am Said Eucharist at Mary’s and at 3pm Evensong at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton.

Baptism of Christ – Year A

Readings: Isaiah 42: 1-9, Matthew 3: 13-17



My grandfather, when he was getting married, rather boldly assumed that he would not need a ticket to get into the church for his wedding. It turned out that this rather bold assumption was wrong. He was marrying the daughter of an archbishop, and the cathedral had all its “big event” procedures in place, including ticket only entrance. My grandfather and the best man finally entered the cathedral by climbing over some railings at the back. He ripped his trousers in the process so had to cope with torn trousers all day, but then he dined out on the story for the rest of his life!
In one way it seems quite reasonable that my grandfather should not need a ticket to attend his own wedding. If he really had been unable to get in, they would presumably have noticed! People would have gone to find him.
But Jesus, when he entered this world, which he created, seemed to seek none of the special privileges which, as Son of God or Messiah, he might reasonably have expected. This lack of special treatment is especially clear in the Christmas/Epiphany season. On 1st January the church marks the “Circumcision of Christ”. Just like any other new born baby boy in Judaism, Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day. In three weeks time we shall remember the “Presentation of Christ in the Temple”. Just like any other newborn, Jesus is taken to the Temple with his mother on the 40th day for the rites of purification. And in our gospel reading today, we see Jesus, just like any repent Jew at that time, coming to John the Baptist for Baptism so as to prepare for the coming Messiah.
Well, as we heard in the gospel reading, John the Baptist could see that it would be more appropriate if he, John, was baptised by Jesus. But Jesus persuades him to go along with the baptism, at least for the time being. And this obedience of Jesus, and his parents, to the normal religious rules for normal people shows us something of the great humility of the God who became human. It shows us how Jesus is completely and fully human.
And this is very important. Because somehow it is the way that Jesus, who is God, becomes like us, fully human, that opens up the possibility of us to become like him; of us coming to share in God’s own divine life.
The Baptism of Christ shows us this especially. At the baptism the Spirit of God descended like a dove, and came to rest upon Jesus. This was a sure sign that Jesus had received the Spirit. It was a reminded of the prophecy of Isaiah that we read earlier, “I have put my spirit upon him”. It reveals Jesus to be the Messiah, the anointed one of God, the one who has received God’s own Spirit. This is something very special and specific to Jesus, but ultimately we all come to share in its benefits. So, for example, at our own Baptism we receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and we are strengthened in the Holy Spirit at our confirmation.
Also at the Baptism of Christ, God’s voice declares “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” This voice reveals Jesus to be Son of God. Again it echo the Isaiah prophecy, “Here is my servant…the chosen one, in whom my soul delights.” Again this is something very special and specific to Jesus, about being Son of God, but also once again it is something in which ultimately we come to share. Through our Baptism we become a new creation, like an adopted son of God, a co-heir with Christ.
So it is strange and interesting that at the Baptism of Christ, when the Holy Spirit descends and reveals Jesus to be Messiah, and the voice of the Father reveals him to be Son of God, Jesus, by the humility of his own actions is revealing himself to be completely and fully human, Son of Man as much as he is Son of God.
And this humility of Jesus, losing all the privileges of being God, in order to be fully human like us, demonstrates a very typical characteristic of Christian love, a characteristic which we are all called to practice and grow into. This is the practice being ready to let go of our own identity and our own ideas in order to fully share in the life of the person in front of us. So, for example, we put to one side what we think about a particular situation in order to hear properly what another person has to say about it. I had an experience of this recently when someone was upset about a funeral service I had conducted at the crematorium. I felt defensive and rather than listen properly I wanted to explain why the service was the way it was. I have to admit that I did do that a bit, but to the extent that I did listen properly what emerged was much more upset about the person lost than about the service. Listening properly would have helped the truth to emerge and heeling to take place.
This characteristic Christian way of loving has been described as “making yourself one” with the person beside you. It is involves temporarily setting aside our own thoughts and agendas in order to fully appreciate the thoughts and agendas of another person. It involves placing ourselves in their shoes, as though we are living their lives, with their hopes and fears, their joys and sorrows. It is not an action of weakness, or about allowing others to dominate us, but it is about seeking and valuing the experience and attitudes of Jesus in a different person. It is a practice in line with St Paul, who became Jewish to the Jews, Greek to the Greeks and even weak to the weak (cf 1 Corinthians 9: 19ff) in order to love in this way. And it is a very powerful way of loving that builds shared understanding, appreciation of difference, unity and communion; real shared life. I commend it to you, but the ultimate example must always be Jesus, who put aside being God in order to be completely human.