Sermon preached at St Catherine’s, Catherine-de-Barnes, Solihull at 11am Eucharist.
Easter Sunday, 12th April 2009.
A shortened version of the sermon was preached at that 8am Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull
Readings: [Acts 10: 34-43] 1 Corinthians 15: 1-11 Mark 16: 1-8
Biblical scholars seem to be convinced that the words we have just heard from Mark’s gospels are the last words in the gospel that can be properly attributed to Mark. Most present day bibles include two additional endings to Mark’s gospel, but apparently, for stylistic reasons, scholars seen sure that these come from a different source. The scholars debate whether Mark’s original ending has been lost, or was never written or whether it was really Mark’s intention to end the gospel with the passage that we heard today.
If we do take what we heard today to be the end of the gospel then it is a very strange end in deed. Although the young man dressed in a white robe tells the women that Jesus has been raised, there is no record of anyone actually seeing the risen Christ. Also the joy of the resurrection has not filtered through at all. We are told that women fled from the tomb because terror and amazement had seized them and they said nothing to anyone because they were afraid.
If these are to be thought of as the last words of Mark’s gospel, then they are in complete contrast to what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15. First of all Paul does not talk about “terror and amazement” but rather he confidently describes the Christ’s death and resurrection as good news.
There is a secondly contrast because the women in Mark’s resurrection account said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid, but what Paul writes is completely focused on the proclamation of the gospel. He talks about the way the gospel was proclaimed to him, and the way that he and others have proclaimed it to the Corinthians.
A third contrast, and this it seems to me is crucial, is that in the words we heard from Mark today, nobody actually sees the risen Lord. In Paul’s account he produces a list of people who saw the risen Lord, including a crowd of 500 people, and himself, who by some miracle on the road to Damascus, saw the risen Lord in heaven.
So what is it that changes the fear, amazement and silence of the women we read about in Mark’s account into the confident and joyful proclamation of the good news that we read about from Paul?
Well in part it is the passage of time. The resurrection of Christ was a very big and surprising event, and it takes time for it to sink in, and for us to realise all the wonderful implications it has. But it seems to me than it this passage of time the thing that makes the big, big difference was encounters with the risen Christ.
Let’s think about the resurrection accounts in John’s gospel. In John’s gospel we read of Mary Magdalene going to the tomb, and the story is fairly similar to Mark’s version, with the stone rolled away, and the body gone and the angel. But in John’s gospel, while Mary is weeping he sees Jesus, who she initially thought was the gardener. Seeing Jesus made all the difference.
Or we might think of the disciples in John’s account who gather together, very much afraid and behind locked doors. But when Jesus appears in the midst of them we are told that the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Or we might think of Thomas who was absent on that occasion, but who was completed turned around when he later encountered the living Christ.
It is encountering the risen Christ which turns the resurrection for being about a rather bewildering and frightening empty tomb into a piece of joyful news which people want to proclaim to others.
And in many ways this is still true for us today. It is the encounter with Christ which turns our faith from something rather strange and uncomfortable into to something wonderful that we want to express and share. So how can we encounter the risen Lord. Well, since the ascension, we have not been able to meet Jesus in his physical body on earth, but there are still places where we can meet him.
First of all we can meet him in the Eucharist. In the Eucharist he gives us himself, his life, his very body and blood, and certainly we can meet him here.
Secondly we can meet him in his word proclaimed. We think of Jesus as the Word of God and when the scriptures are read Jesus the word is present to us.
But thirdly, and importantly for a gathered Christian community like this one, Jesus is present when we meet in his name. “Where two or more gather in my name there am I in the midst of them” (Matt 18: 20) Jesus said. So when we meet as a Christian community we have the possibility of having Jesus present in our midst. To do this we must meet in Jesus’ name, which means in the essence of Jesus. This means meeting in mutual love, and in obedience to God’s will, but when we meet like this, Jesus is present. When Jesus is present in this way we feel our hearts burn within us, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus.
So as we gather let’s try to gather in the name of Jesus. Let’s gather in mutual love and in accordance with God’s will and if we do this Jesus will be present in our midst. We will have the encounter with the risen Christ, the encounter that makes all the difference! Amen.
12 April 2009
10 April 2009
Sharing in the death and resurrection life of Christ
Sermon preached at the 2pm Good Friday liturgy at St. Alphege Church, Solihull.
2pm, Good Friday, 10th April 2009.
Readings: Isaiah 52:13- 53: 12 John chapters 18 and 19
Over Lent we have been thinking about God’s call in our lives. The practice of following God’s call encourages us to think of our life as a journey, a journey which we walk with God moment by moment, step by step. It is a journey that slowly transforms us and develops within us the desires and capabilities [the virtues?] that we will need to live the life of heaven. And I think this Lenten reflection has been very helpful and very renewing for all of us as individuals and as a parish.
And yet we all know that the Christian journey can be extremely hard. We can pass through periods that feel barren, and periods that are very painful. Sometimes it is very hard to accept these. In such situations it we can feel let down by God. We might say, “How can God, who is Love, allow such a thing to happen?” There is a temptation to blame God, or get angry at God or worse still, turn away from God altogether.
But on Good Friday we reflect on the passion of Jesus, on the really painful moments of his journey on this earth. Jesus is betrayal by Judas, he is denied Peter. He is accused by the chief priests and, rejected by the crowd. Roman justice does not defend him. He is scourged. He is mocked. He is crucified. In the accounts of Matthew and Mark, Jesus cries out from the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” It seems that even God has departed from him. Jesus, who is God, experiences the pain of feeling abandoned by God. Jesus, in his humanity, experiences suffering exactly as we experience it. And he experiences it in the most extreme way possible.
The crucifixion is as bad as it can get. Yet we know that this is not the end of the story. We know that Easter Day comes, we know that resurrection life is revealed and found to be eternal and more powerful than the life that Jesus had before. And, more than this, the great barrier of sin that separated God from humanity is broken. The relationship between God and humanity has been restored. We have been redeemed.
This pattern of death, leading to new life is central to Christianity. It is profoundly linked to the restoration of broken relationships that is accomplished through Jesus’ passion and death. This is absolutely what Christianity is all about; the restoration of broken relationships and the passing from death to live. And all this is all made possible because of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
And we too, as individual Christians are also called to enter into this pattern of Christ, this pattern of death leading to reconciliation and new life. So how in practice do we do this?
Well one way is to walk with Christ through the Easter Triduum. These great liturgies that we act out over these three days so help us to enter into the great mysteries of Christ’s death and resurrection.
Another way is to come regularly to the Eucharist. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist we proclaim Christ’s death (c.f. 1 Cor 11: 26) and his resurrection. Participating in the Eucharist helps us to join ourselves into the Christ’s death, into Christ’s reconciliation and into the new life he wants to share with us.
But I would like to share with you today another way of doing this in our everyday lives, both inside and out of church. In Focolare spirituality we try to see every suffering that crosses our path as an opportunity to identify ourselves more closely with Jesus dying on the cross, and to love him more. And this can be done with any suffering of any kind. The suffering can be great or small, physical or psychological or spiritual, it can be our own suffering, or someone else’s. It can be caused by us, or by someone else or by no one at all. There are the small sufferings of everyday life; we spill food down our front, or cut our finger on some paper. There are the sufferings that come through our relationships; a son who is going of the rails, a neighbour who we can’t get on with, elderly parent who needs nursing, a lady who was rude to us in the supermarket car park. Then there are the sufferings that come from our own frailties, weaknesses and sins; perhaps we feel bad because we were rude to someone in the supermarket car park! Perhaps we eat or drink or gamble too much. Perhaps we get angry and hurt people who are close to us. Perhaps we are aware of some profoundly un-Christian attitudes deep within us. Then there are the big sufferings; being ill, an accident, losing a job, being bereaved, a divorce in the family.
Whatever suffering crosses our path, we can pray, “Jesus, in this suffering I am made a little like you, dying on the cross. May I love you more and sharing with you in your suffering and death, may I so also share with you in your resurrection.” I think this what Peter means when he says (in 1 Peter 4: 12), “rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” I also think it is also what Paul means when he says (in Philippians 3: 10-11), “I want to know Christ … and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
And this approach starts to give meaning to our sufferings. We start to see them as part of our relationship with God. We start to value the fact that they draw us closer to God. We experience new life, healing and reconciliation with God. We start to see how our sufferings have helped us in responding to God’s call, and walking the Christian journey. We understand that particular situations have helped us to grow in the virtues, or have helped us to become the person we are.
Chiara Lubich, foundress of the Focolare writes, “I wish to bare witness before the world, that Jesus Forsaken has filled every void, illuminated every darkness, accompanied every solitude, annulled every suffering, cancelled every sin.” [Meditations London: New City 1989 p33].
Now I can’t speak with the authority of Chiara, but I can say that my own experience to date convinces me that Chiara is right. Learning to love the forsaken Christ allows Christ to share his resurrection life, and this has immense value for each of us as individuals and for our church communities at every level.
So as we come forward today to venerate the cross, and as we see his broken figure hanging there, let’s renew our commitment to love Christ in his sufferings. Let’s then try to do this by loving Jesus forsaken in the sufferings of our daily lives. And in this way, may it please Christ to share with us his resurrection life. Amen.
2pm, Good Friday, 10th April 2009.
Readings: Isaiah 52:13- 53: 12 John chapters 18 and 19
Over Lent we have been thinking about God’s call in our lives. The practice of following God’s call encourages us to think of our life as a journey, a journey which we walk with God moment by moment, step by step. It is a journey that slowly transforms us and develops within us the desires and capabilities [the virtues?] that we will need to live the life of heaven. And I think this Lenten reflection has been very helpful and very renewing for all of us as individuals and as a parish.
And yet we all know that the Christian journey can be extremely hard. We can pass through periods that feel barren, and periods that are very painful. Sometimes it is very hard to accept these. In such situations it we can feel let down by God. We might say, “How can God, who is Love, allow such a thing to happen?” There is a temptation to blame God, or get angry at God or worse still, turn away from God altogether.
But on Good Friday we reflect on the passion of Jesus, on the really painful moments of his journey on this earth. Jesus is betrayal by Judas, he is denied Peter. He is accused by the chief priests and, rejected by the crowd. Roman justice does not defend him. He is scourged. He is mocked. He is crucified. In the accounts of Matthew and Mark, Jesus cries out from the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” It seems that even God has departed from him. Jesus, who is God, experiences the pain of feeling abandoned by God. Jesus, in his humanity, experiences suffering exactly as we experience it. And he experiences it in the most extreme way possible.
The crucifixion is as bad as it can get. Yet we know that this is not the end of the story. We know that Easter Day comes, we know that resurrection life is revealed and found to be eternal and more powerful than the life that Jesus had before. And, more than this, the great barrier of sin that separated God from humanity is broken. The relationship between God and humanity has been restored. We have been redeemed.
This pattern of death, leading to new life is central to Christianity. It is profoundly linked to the restoration of broken relationships that is accomplished through Jesus’ passion and death. This is absolutely what Christianity is all about; the restoration of broken relationships and the passing from death to live. And all this is all made possible because of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
And we too, as individual Christians are also called to enter into this pattern of Christ, this pattern of death leading to reconciliation and new life. So how in practice do we do this?
Well one way is to walk with Christ through the Easter Triduum. These great liturgies that we act out over these three days so help us to enter into the great mysteries of Christ’s death and resurrection.
Another way is to come regularly to the Eucharist. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist we proclaim Christ’s death (c.f. 1 Cor 11: 26) and his resurrection. Participating in the Eucharist helps us to join ourselves into the Christ’s death, into Christ’s reconciliation and into the new life he wants to share with us.
But I would like to share with you today another way of doing this in our everyday lives, both inside and out of church. In Focolare spirituality we try to see every suffering that crosses our path as an opportunity to identify ourselves more closely with Jesus dying on the cross, and to love him more. And this can be done with any suffering of any kind. The suffering can be great or small, physical or psychological or spiritual, it can be our own suffering, or someone else’s. It can be caused by us, or by someone else or by no one at all. There are the small sufferings of everyday life; we spill food down our front, or cut our finger on some paper. There are the sufferings that come through our relationships; a son who is going of the rails, a neighbour who we can’t get on with, elderly parent who needs nursing, a lady who was rude to us in the supermarket car park. Then there are the sufferings that come from our own frailties, weaknesses and sins; perhaps we feel bad because we were rude to someone in the supermarket car park! Perhaps we eat or drink or gamble too much. Perhaps we get angry and hurt people who are close to us. Perhaps we are aware of some profoundly un-Christian attitudes deep within us. Then there are the big sufferings; being ill, an accident, losing a job, being bereaved, a divorce in the family.
Whatever suffering crosses our path, we can pray, “Jesus, in this suffering I am made a little like you, dying on the cross. May I love you more and sharing with you in your suffering and death, may I so also share with you in your resurrection.” I think this what Peter means when he says (in 1 Peter 4: 12), “rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” I also think it is also what Paul means when he says (in Philippians 3: 10-11), “I want to know Christ … and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
And this approach starts to give meaning to our sufferings. We start to see them as part of our relationship with God. We start to value the fact that they draw us closer to God. We experience new life, healing and reconciliation with God. We start to see how our sufferings have helped us in responding to God’s call, and walking the Christian journey. We understand that particular situations have helped us to grow in the virtues, or have helped us to become the person we are.
Chiara Lubich, foundress of the Focolare writes, “I wish to bare witness before the world, that Jesus Forsaken has filled every void, illuminated every darkness, accompanied every solitude, annulled every suffering, cancelled every sin.” [Meditations London: New City 1989 p33].
Now I can’t speak with the authority of Chiara, but I can say that my own experience to date convinces me that Chiara is right. Learning to love the forsaken Christ allows Christ to share his resurrection life, and this has immense value for each of us as individuals and for our church communities at every level.
So as we come forward today to venerate the cross, and as we see his broken figure hanging there, let’s renew our commitment to love Christ in his sufferings. Let’s then try to do this by loving Jesus forsaken in the sufferings of our daily lives. And in this way, may it please Christ to share with us his resurrection life. Amen.
02 April 2009
A glimpse into heaven
Funeral homily
Scripture Reading - Mark 9: 2-9
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
The reading that we have just heard might have appealed to ??????, because it all took place on top of a mountain. It even includes that experience, all too familiar to mountaineers, of being enveloped in cloud at the top of a mountain. And yet there were other things in the story which are not familiar at all; a very special and unusual experience entrusted to Peter, James and John. It seems that they were shown a rare glimpse into heaven.
And we can learn quite a lot from what they saw.
First of all it is reassuring to know that Moses and Elijah, both of whom died several centuries before Christ, are both alive and well and living in heaven. We can be assured of life after death.
Also there seems to be something very normal about the life of heaven. It seems very natural for Moses and Elijah to talk to Jesus. They are recognizable to the disciples, presumably through what the disciples know of them in the scriptures. We can be assured that our relationships, or certainly our positive relationships, continue into the next life in way that is recognizable to the way that they are now.
But then other aspects of the life of heaven seem extraordinary. Jesus’ clothes became dazzling white. Jesus was revealed in his glory and splendour. And this, although it was wonderful, was also very confusing and frightening for the disciples. Peter didn’t really know what to say or how to behave at all, but he did recognise that it was good for them to be there. This, it seems to me, is what it is like near the presence of God. Surely God was very present; they even heard the voice of the Father saying, “This is my son, the Beloved, listen to him.”
So with these thoughts of heaven, let’s have confidence in our Christian hope for ??????. Let’s have confidence that ?????? still lives in heaven, and we will see him again when we die. Let’s have confidence that heaven is a good and natural place to be. Let’s pray for ?????? as he grows accustomed to dwelling in the presence of God. And let’s follow the command of the father to listen to Jesus, so that when our time comes we too may be ready to dwell in the presence of God. Amen.
Scripture Reading - Mark 9: 2-9
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
The reading that we have just heard might have appealed to ??????, because it all took place on top of a mountain. It even includes that experience, all too familiar to mountaineers, of being enveloped in cloud at the top of a mountain. And yet there were other things in the story which are not familiar at all; a very special and unusual experience entrusted to Peter, James and John. It seems that they were shown a rare glimpse into heaven.
And we can learn quite a lot from what they saw.
First of all it is reassuring to know that Moses and Elijah, both of whom died several centuries before Christ, are both alive and well and living in heaven. We can be assured of life after death.
Also there seems to be something very normal about the life of heaven. It seems very natural for Moses and Elijah to talk to Jesus. They are recognizable to the disciples, presumably through what the disciples know of them in the scriptures. We can be assured that our relationships, or certainly our positive relationships, continue into the next life in way that is recognizable to the way that they are now.
But then other aspects of the life of heaven seem extraordinary. Jesus’ clothes became dazzling white. Jesus was revealed in his glory and splendour. And this, although it was wonderful, was also very confusing and frightening for the disciples. Peter didn’t really know what to say or how to behave at all, but he did recognise that it was good for them to be there. This, it seems to me, is what it is like near the presence of God. Surely God was very present; they even heard the voice of the Father saying, “This is my son, the Beloved, listen to him.”
So with these thoughts of heaven, let’s have confidence in our Christian hope for ??????. Let’s have confidence that ?????? still lives in heaven, and we will see him again when we die. Let’s have confidence that heaven is a good and natural place to be. Let’s pray for ?????? as he grows accustomed to dwelling in the presence of God. And let’s follow the command of the father to listen to Jesus, so that when our time comes we too may be ready to dwell in the presence of God. Amen.
29 March 2009
Discerning God's call
Short sermon preached at 8.00am Eucharist at St Alphege on Sunday 29th March 2009.
Lent 5, Year B, but with a special reading from the Parish Lent Course. The Parish Lent Course follows the book Life Calling by Robert Warren and Kate Bruce (London, Church House Publishing, 2007).
Readings: 2 Samuel 7: 1-17 John 12: 20-26
First three paragraphs are repeated from sermon for Lent 3, 15/03/09.
In our Lent Courses so far we have been thinking about God’s call in our lives. We have seen how God’s call is very personal to each one of us. We have seen how God calls us from where we are right now. God’s call takes perfect account of the person we are with all our specific talents and attributes and virtues, and also with all our many sins and hurts and difficulties and weaknesses. God calls me “just as I am”.
But although God’s call starts with us “just as we are”, it leads us to somewhere new. It is a calling to draw closer to God. It is a calling to grow in love, because God is love. It’s a calling that draws us forward towards our true identity, towards being the person God created us to be. It is a calling to live in perfect harmony with God and with all the other citizens of God’s kingdom. It is a calling to holiness and to the life of heaven.
So it is that we can think of our lives as a journey, a journey towards heaven, towards complete fulfilment, towards discovering our true identity within the love of God. And how do we make progress on this journey. We make progress by following the call of God, by following God’s will for our lives.
But how do we hear God’s call? How do we understand what God’s will is? Well, in our Old Testament reading today there was an interesting story of David trying to discern God’s will. First of all he has an intuition, that it would be good to build a house for God. Then he tests this intuition by talking to the prophet Nathan. Nathan initially says, “Yes”, but very quickly God corrects this understanding. God then talks to David through Nathan, and basically God says “No”.
Notice that God’s generosity in this story far exceeds David’s. David offers to build God a house, but God says that he will make the House of David great, and he will establish the throne of David for all time. As Christians we see this promise fulfilled in Jesus, the eternal king, who was born into the line of David.
Also it is clear from other parts of the book that God does have his own plans for his own house. It is David’s son Solomon who builds a great temple for God. And because of Solomon’s great wealth the temple he builds is altogether far bigger and grander than David could ever have imagined.
So David gets a “No” from God on his suggestion to build a house for God. If we had read further we would have heard that David tests this “No” by praying over it as some length. But then once he is satisfied that he understood correctly he seeks out other activities. In the next chapter of the book he returns to his military conquests, and in this he is greatly blessed by God. Notice that most kings would instinctively want to conquer their neighbours, but would not think to build a house for God. With David it is the other way round, and he has God’s full support.
So, how do we discern God’s will for our own lives? Well, like David, we should certainly listen for intuitions from God. These are often planted by the Holy Spirit. On important matters we should certainly talk our intuitions through with others for verification. Who do we talk things through with? Who has the role of Nathan in your life? Then prayer certainly has an important role in verifying the will of God. God’s will is often suggested to us by circumstances. It is often something very simple and natural and low key. But following God’s will, moment by moment as our lives progress is the key to walking the journey towards heaven. It is growing in love and in holiness. It is walking towards the full realisation of God’s creation in us. It is our fulfilment as human beings. Amen.
Lent 5, Year B, but with a special reading from the Parish Lent Course. The Parish Lent Course follows the book Life Calling by Robert Warren and Kate Bruce (London, Church House Publishing, 2007).
Readings: 2 Samuel 7: 1-17 John 12: 20-26
First three paragraphs are repeated from sermon for Lent 3, 15/03/09.
In our Lent Courses so far we have been thinking about God’s call in our lives. We have seen how God’s call is very personal to each one of us. We have seen how God calls us from where we are right now. God’s call takes perfect account of the person we are with all our specific talents and attributes and virtues, and also with all our many sins and hurts and difficulties and weaknesses. God calls me “just as I am”.
But although God’s call starts with us “just as we are”, it leads us to somewhere new. It is a calling to draw closer to God. It is a calling to grow in love, because God is love. It’s a calling that draws us forward towards our true identity, towards being the person God created us to be. It is a calling to live in perfect harmony with God and with all the other citizens of God’s kingdom. It is a calling to holiness and to the life of heaven.
So it is that we can think of our lives as a journey, a journey towards heaven, towards complete fulfilment, towards discovering our true identity within the love of God. And how do we make progress on this journey. We make progress by following the call of God, by following God’s will for our lives.
But how do we hear God’s call? How do we understand what God’s will is? Well, in our Old Testament reading today there was an interesting story of David trying to discern God’s will. First of all he has an intuition, that it would be good to build a house for God. Then he tests this intuition by talking to the prophet Nathan. Nathan initially says, “Yes”, but very quickly God corrects this understanding. God then talks to David through Nathan, and basically God says “No”.
Notice that God’s generosity in this story far exceeds David’s. David offers to build God a house, but God says that he will make the House of David great, and he will establish the throne of David for all time. As Christians we see this promise fulfilled in Jesus, the eternal king, who was born into the line of David.
Also it is clear from other parts of the book that God does have his own plans for his own house. It is David’s son Solomon who builds a great temple for God. And because of Solomon’s great wealth the temple he builds is altogether far bigger and grander than David could ever have imagined.
So David gets a “No” from God on his suggestion to build a house for God. If we had read further we would have heard that David tests this “No” by praying over it as some length. But then once he is satisfied that he understood correctly he seeks out other activities. In the next chapter of the book he returns to his military conquests, and in this he is greatly blessed by God. Notice that most kings would instinctively want to conquer their neighbours, but would not think to build a house for God. With David it is the other way round, and he has God’s full support.
So, how do we discern God’s will for our own lives? Well, like David, we should certainly listen for intuitions from God. These are often planted by the Holy Spirit. On important matters we should certainly talk our intuitions through with others for verification. Who do we talk things through with? Who has the role of Nathan in your life? Then prayer certainly has an important role in verifying the will of God. God’s will is often suggested to us by circumstances. It is often something very simple and natural and low key. But following God’s will, moment by moment as our lives progress is the key to walking the journey towards heaven. It is growing in love and in holiness. It is walking towards the full realisation of God’s creation in us. It is our fulfilment as human beings. Amen.
15 March 2009
The Call of God - Leaving things behind
Sermon preached at 9.15am “Teaching Eucharist” at St Alphege, Solihull on Sunday 15th March 2009.
Lent 3, Year B, but with a special gospel reading from the Parish Lent Course. The Parish Lent Course follows the book Life Calling by Robert Warren and Kate Bruce (London, Church House Publishing, 2007).
Readings: [Psalm 40: 1-8] Luke 19: 1-10
In our Lent Courses so far we have been thinking about God’s call in our lives. We have seen how God’s call is very personal to each one of us. We have seen how God calls us from where we are right now. God’s call takes perfect account of the person we are with all our specific talents and attributes and virtues, and also with all our many sins and hurts and difficulties and weaknesses. God calls me “just as I am”.
But although God’s call starts with us “just as we are”, it leads us to somewhere new. It is a calling to draw closer to God. It is a calling to grow in love, because God is love. It’s a calling that draws us forward towards our true identity, towards being the person God created us to be. It is a calling to live in perfect harmony with God and with all the other citizens of God’s kingdom. It is a calling to holiness and to the life of heaven.
So it is that we can think of our lives as a journey, a journey towards heaven, towards complete fulfilment, towards discovering our true identity within the love of God. And how do we make progress on this journey. We make progress by following the call of God, by following God’s will for our lives. Now I think sometimes when people think about following God’s call, following the will of God, they think only about the big decisions in our lives. They think about choosing what subject to study at “A” level, or choosing what job or profession to enter, or choosing who or when to marry…And it is certainly true that these are important decisions that we must take in front of God and in accordance with God’s will for our lives. But responding to God’s call is not only about big decisions. Much more importantly it about our day to day lives and how we seek to grow in love and follow God’s will, God’s call, God’s prompting in each present moment of our lives. Most of the time, this is about little things. It is about being interested in what the children what to tell us about their day at school. It is about doing our daily work well, and out of love for God. It is about trying to see and love Jesus present, even in that person who is frankly rather annoying. It’s about giving ourselves enough rest and looking after our bodies. And if we practice following God’s call moment by moment in all the simple things in life, we build within ourselves the desire and capability to follow God’s call well when the big decisions come.
[This discipline of moment by moment seeking to understand and respond to God’s call in our lives does not mean we go about like some pre-programmed robot “Obey God’s will, obey God’s will”. God’s will perfectly fits the deepest aspirations of our humanity. We have huge freedom to choose what we do and how we do it. God values our creativity and want us to share with him in his work of creation. As St Augustine put it, “Love, and do what you like”. So long as you are seeking to love as God loves then you are within God’s calling, whatever you are doing.
And again although this practice of following God’s call in each present moment of our lives is a discipline, it is not meant to be burdensome or heavy. It is not like obeying the orders of some remote and far away despot who has no understanding of our local situation and no love for us. Rather when we follow God’s will we are following in the way of the person who created us, who loves us and who wants to share his life with us. We are walking in the way of our salvation. It is a discipline, but as Jesus says, “my Yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt 11:30)
Neither does obeying God’s will compromise our freedom. Our true freedom comes from acting as the person we were created to be. We think of the birds of the air as free, but they are not free to behave like fish. We think of the fish in the seas as free, but they are not free to behave like rabbits. Our true freedom comes from acting as God created us to act. Another thing that St Augustine said was that the service of God is perfect freedom, and this is quoted in the Lent Course prayer that will be familiar to those in the Lent Groups.]
Now let’s pause for a moment and think together about the story of Zacchaeus that we heard in our gospel reading today. We have a picture of Zacchaeus and four questions to consider.
Do you think Zacchaeus was following God’s call at the start of the story?
[No – he was a tax collector and rich. There is a suggested that he cheated people and he is publicly referred to as a sinner]
Do you think he was following God’s call by the end of the story?
[Yes, - he literally answered Jesus call and invited Jesus in. He gave generously from his wealth. He made good any past cheating. Jesus confirmed that salvation had come to this house.]
What had changed?
[He had repented of his sin, by putting God above his wealth]
What had enabled this to happen?
[The presence of Jesus. Jesus asks to come to his house, and Zacchaeus welcomes him. The story suggests that Zacchaeus gave away his money without further prompting from Jesus. But in the presence of Jesus, Zacchaeus knew this was the right thing to do, and he had the grace to do it.]
Now Zacchaeus we now made a big step on his journey towards God. He turned from his sin, and responded to Jesus. And this is something that we all have to do too. We all experience barriers and difficulties in responding to God’s call that arises from our sin and the sin of the world around us. What is sin? Sin is going against God’s will, and turning away from God’s love. Whether we like it or not we are all affected by sin. We all have our own tendency to sin, and we are all caused trouble because we grow up with sin in the people around us and because we live in a sinful society.
When we are turned away from God, and we are not putting God in the first place in our lives then we inevitably start to give other things priorities above God. Perhaps we start to prioritise our career, or the house or the car above God. Perhaps we start to prioritise our holidays or our hobbies or our clothes or our children above God. These things then become for us idols, things which take the rightful place of God in our lives.
The psalmist says that those who make idols, or who trust in them will become like them (Ps 115:8 and 135: 18). And it is certainly true that if we prioritise things ahead of God then we start to construct for ourselves a false identity. For example if we prioritise our career above God then we start to build our identity around success and money and worldly recognition. We become addicted to these things because our self understanding, our self esteem and our identity depend of them. But if these things do not come from God then they will sooner or later all pass away. They will be shown to be empty and futile and we will be put to shame (c.f. Is 42: 17 or Ps 97: 7). Similarly if we make celebrities our idol then our identity becomes very tied up with our clothes, and our image and our lifestyle. We become dependent on these things. They become addictions for us. Once again, if these things do not come from God then they soon pass away and the shameful truth of our compromised identity is revealed.
Now let’s pause for a moment and read about a C.S. Lewis character called Mrs Fidget. This is from page 70 of the Life Calling books, used by the Lent Groups.
Read Mrs Fidget from Life Calling, page 70.
Now let’s discuss, was Mrs Fidget’s work for her family a call from God, or an addiction.
Who thinks call from God? Why?
Who thinks an addiction? Why?
Well I suspect that it was a bit of both. I suspect that on the one hand God did call her to care for her family, but that means loving the family as they need to be loved, not loving them as I need to love them. I suspect that “living for her family” was also for Mrs Fidget a false identity, behind which she would hide many anxieties and past hurts. If she was more attentive to the call of God, he would have drawn her forward on her journey. There would have been uncomfortable and challenging moments when she would have needed to face up to those anxieties and hurts, but over time God would have healed her and delivered her into a renewed and greater identity.
So as we follow God’s call we will from time to time have to leave things behind. We will have to give up on parts of our old identity which did not come from God. Sometimes this can be a painful. Sometimes it can be very hard. Sometimes we might be tempted to fall into self-hatred or despair or self-pity, but this would be a mistake. We must entrust ourselves to the great mercy of God. God loves us as we are. If we can truly turn to God and accept his love, then we too can learn to love ourselves as we are. We can learn to accept the pain and suffering caused by sin and in this way, somehow, God overcomes our sin.
Let’s summarise. As we follow God’s call, and walk the journey towards heaven there will be times when God calls us to leave behind past behaviours or addictions or self understandings. Certainly we will be called to leave behind our sins, but sometimes there are even good things that we have to leave behind because God no longer wants them for us, their moment has past. This can be hard, but if like Zacchaeus, we place ourselves in the presence of Christ, then we will have the grace we need to move forward.
Lent 3, Year B, but with a special gospel reading from the Parish Lent Course. The Parish Lent Course follows the book Life Calling by Robert Warren and Kate Bruce (London, Church House Publishing, 2007).
Readings: [Psalm 40: 1-8] Luke 19: 1-10
In our Lent Courses so far we have been thinking about God’s call in our lives. We have seen how God’s call is very personal to each one of us. We have seen how God calls us from where we are right now. God’s call takes perfect account of the person we are with all our specific talents and attributes and virtues, and also with all our many sins and hurts and difficulties and weaknesses. God calls me “just as I am”.
But although God’s call starts with us “just as we are”, it leads us to somewhere new. It is a calling to draw closer to God. It is a calling to grow in love, because God is love. It’s a calling that draws us forward towards our true identity, towards being the person God created us to be. It is a calling to live in perfect harmony with God and with all the other citizens of God’s kingdom. It is a calling to holiness and to the life of heaven.
So it is that we can think of our lives as a journey, a journey towards heaven, towards complete fulfilment, towards discovering our true identity within the love of God. And how do we make progress on this journey. We make progress by following the call of God, by following God’s will for our lives. Now I think sometimes when people think about following God’s call, following the will of God, they think only about the big decisions in our lives. They think about choosing what subject to study at “A” level, or choosing what job or profession to enter, or choosing who or when to marry…And it is certainly true that these are important decisions that we must take in front of God and in accordance with God’s will for our lives. But responding to God’s call is not only about big decisions. Much more importantly it about our day to day lives and how we seek to grow in love and follow God’s will, God’s call, God’s prompting in each present moment of our lives. Most of the time, this is about little things. It is about being interested in what the children what to tell us about their day at school. It is about doing our daily work well, and out of love for God. It is about trying to see and love Jesus present, even in that person who is frankly rather annoying. It’s about giving ourselves enough rest and looking after our bodies. And if we practice following God’s call moment by moment in all the simple things in life, we build within ourselves the desire and capability to follow God’s call well when the big decisions come.
[This discipline of moment by moment seeking to understand and respond to God’s call in our lives does not mean we go about like some pre-programmed robot “Obey God’s will, obey God’s will”. God’s will perfectly fits the deepest aspirations of our humanity. We have huge freedom to choose what we do and how we do it. God values our creativity and want us to share with him in his work of creation. As St Augustine put it, “Love, and do what you like”. So long as you are seeking to love as God loves then you are within God’s calling, whatever you are doing.
And again although this practice of following God’s call in each present moment of our lives is a discipline, it is not meant to be burdensome or heavy. It is not like obeying the orders of some remote and far away despot who has no understanding of our local situation and no love for us. Rather when we follow God’s will we are following in the way of the person who created us, who loves us and who wants to share his life with us. We are walking in the way of our salvation. It is a discipline, but as Jesus says, “my Yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt 11:30)
Neither does obeying God’s will compromise our freedom. Our true freedom comes from acting as the person we were created to be. We think of the birds of the air as free, but they are not free to behave like fish. We think of the fish in the seas as free, but they are not free to behave like rabbits. Our true freedom comes from acting as God created us to act. Another thing that St Augustine said was that the service of God is perfect freedom, and this is quoted in the Lent Course prayer that will be familiar to those in the Lent Groups.]
Now let’s pause for a moment and think together about the story of Zacchaeus that we heard in our gospel reading today. We have a picture of Zacchaeus and four questions to consider.
Do you think Zacchaeus was following God’s call at the start of the story?
[No – he was a tax collector and rich. There is a suggested that he cheated people and he is publicly referred to as a sinner]
Do you think he was following God’s call by the end of the story?
[Yes, - he literally answered Jesus call and invited Jesus in. He gave generously from his wealth. He made good any past cheating. Jesus confirmed that salvation had come to this house.]
What had changed?
[He had repented of his sin, by putting God above his wealth]
What had enabled this to happen?
[The presence of Jesus. Jesus asks to come to his house, and Zacchaeus welcomes him. The story suggests that Zacchaeus gave away his money without further prompting from Jesus. But in the presence of Jesus, Zacchaeus knew this was the right thing to do, and he had the grace to do it.]
Now Zacchaeus we now made a big step on his journey towards God. He turned from his sin, and responded to Jesus. And this is something that we all have to do too. We all experience barriers and difficulties in responding to God’s call that arises from our sin and the sin of the world around us. What is sin? Sin is going against God’s will, and turning away from God’s love. Whether we like it or not we are all affected by sin. We all have our own tendency to sin, and we are all caused trouble because we grow up with sin in the people around us and because we live in a sinful society.
When we are turned away from God, and we are not putting God in the first place in our lives then we inevitably start to give other things priorities above God. Perhaps we start to prioritise our career, or the house or the car above God. Perhaps we start to prioritise our holidays or our hobbies or our clothes or our children above God. These things then become for us idols, things which take the rightful place of God in our lives.
The psalmist says that those who make idols, or who trust in them will become like them (Ps 115:8 and 135: 18). And it is certainly true that if we prioritise things ahead of God then we start to construct for ourselves a false identity. For example if we prioritise our career above God then we start to build our identity around success and money and worldly recognition. We become addicted to these things because our self understanding, our self esteem and our identity depend of them. But if these things do not come from God then they will sooner or later all pass away. They will be shown to be empty and futile and we will be put to shame (c.f. Is 42: 17 or Ps 97: 7). Similarly if we make celebrities our idol then our identity becomes very tied up with our clothes, and our image and our lifestyle. We become dependent on these things. They become addictions for us. Once again, if these things do not come from God then they soon pass away and the shameful truth of our compromised identity is revealed.
Now let’s pause for a moment and read about a C.S. Lewis character called Mrs Fidget. This is from page 70 of the Life Calling books, used by the Lent Groups.
Read Mrs Fidget from Life Calling, page 70.
Now let’s discuss, was Mrs Fidget’s work for her family a call from God, or an addiction.
Who thinks call from God? Why?
Who thinks an addiction? Why?
Well I suspect that it was a bit of both. I suspect that on the one hand God did call her to care for her family, but that means loving the family as they need to be loved, not loving them as I need to love them. I suspect that “living for her family” was also for Mrs Fidget a false identity, behind which she would hide many anxieties and past hurts. If she was more attentive to the call of God, he would have drawn her forward on her journey. There would have been uncomfortable and challenging moments when she would have needed to face up to those anxieties and hurts, but over time God would have healed her and delivered her into a renewed and greater identity.
So as we follow God’s call we will from time to time have to leave things behind. We will have to give up on parts of our old identity which did not come from God. Sometimes this can be a painful. Sometimes it can be very hard. Sometimes we might be tempted to fall into self-hatred or despair or self-pity, but this would be a mistake. We must entrust ourselves to the great mercy of God. God loves us as we are. If we can truly turn to God and accept his love, then we too can learn to love ourselves as we are. We can learn to accept the pain and suffering caused by sin and in this way, somehow, God overcomes our sin.
Let’s summarise. As we follow God’s call, and walk the journey towards heaven there will be times when God calls us to leave behind past behaviours or addictions or self understandings. Certainly we will be called to leave behind our sins, but sometimes there are even good things that we have to leave behind because God no longer wants them for us, their moment has past. This can be hard, but if like Zacchaeus, we place ourselves in the presence of Christ, then we will have the grace we need to move forward.
Deliverance by following the call of God
Thought for Parish Pewslip – 15th March 2009
Lent 3 (But reading following Lent Course)
Readings: Psalm 40: 1-8 Luke 19: 1-10
In our reading from Psalm 40, the psalmist pours out a song of thanksgiving for the good that God has done for him. God has delivered him from a bad place and set him somewhere secure. God has given him a new song of praise to sing and he emphasises the great value of trusting God. The last part of the reading reiterates a theme of many psalms. Obedience to God is worth more than sacrifice; our outward acts of religious worship are worthless unless the inward attitudes of our hearts and minds are orientated towards God.
Our gospel reading today is the story of Zacchaeus, the rich tax collector. Wealthy tax collectors were seen as sinners who collaborated with the occupying forces of the Roman Empire. The Jews treated them rather like our tabloid newspapers treat failed bankers who retire on huge pensions. Zaccheaus repented and made reparations for his sins. Jesus affirmed that salvation had come to Zacchaeus’ house. “The Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” When people are vilified by our newspapers we must remember that, however bad their sins, Jesus came to save even them. Jesus’ hope is that their repentance (and ours!) will allow us to share together in the life of heaven, for all eternity.
Lent 3 (But reading following Lent Course)
Readings: Psalm 40: 1-8 Luke 19: 1-10
In our reading from Psalm 40, the psalmist pours out a song of thanksgiving for the good that God has done for him. God has delivered him from a bad place and set him somewhere secure. God has given him a new song of praise to sing and he emphasises the great value of trusting God. The last part of the reading reiterates a theme of many psalms. Obedience to God is worth more than sacrifice; our outward acts of religious worship are worthless unless the inward attitudes of our hearts and minds are orientated towards God.
Our gospel reading today is the story of Zacchaeus, the rich tax collector. Wealthy tax collectors were seen as sinners who collaborated with the occupying forces of the Roman Empire. The Jews treated them rather like our tabloid newspapers treat failed bankers who retire on huge pensions. Zaccheaus repented and made reparations for his sins. Jesus affirmed that salvation had come to Zacchaeus’ house. “The Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” When people are vilified by our newspapers we must remember that, however bad their sins, Jesus came to save even them. Jesus’ hope is that their repentance (and ours!) will allow us to share together in the life of heaven, for all eternity.
11 March 2009
Death at the height of life
JeFuneral homily for Lesley Bevan (44), wife and mother of three boys, 14, 11, and 9.
Preached at St Alphege, Solihull, 11th March 2009.
Reading: John 14: 1-7
In the passage of scripture that we have just read, Jesus is talking to his disciples at the last supper on the Thursday night before he died on the Friday. His disciples do have some understanding of what is about to happen, and they are appalled by it. Jesus is about 33 years old. He is at the height of his life, he has shown extraordinary potential to do really great things, and yet it is all going terribly wrong; it is all ending in death.
When someone dies at the prime of their life it is deeply shocking and disorientating. We are forced to stop and re-evaluate the way we think about life. How can it be that a loving God allows someone like Lesley to die?
Well, we could equally ask, “How could God allowed Jesus to die?” We know that God loved Jesus enormously; he called him “the beloved, the one with whom he is well pleased” (Mark 1: 11, 9: 7). Certainly it was not for lack of love that God allowed Jesus to die, and neither is it lack of love that God has allowed Lesley to die.
So how can Love allow such a thing? Well these are great mysteries, but one reason might be that there are better things beyond this life. What we lose in death, might seem very small compared to what we can gain in the next life. Certainly the words of Jesus that we read today, suggest good things in the next life. Jesus says, “I go and prepare a place for you” and “I will take you to be with me, so that where I am, you may be also”. This suggests that in heaven we dwell in the presence of Jesus, the one who loves us and who gave everything for us. Certainly sounds like a good thing. And certainly we can have hope that these things are true for Lesley too.
One of the scandals of Jesus’ death was his unfinished work. He seemed to have a transforming effect of the world around him, but he died before much could come of it. And yet, despite this, from Jesus’ life the church was born, and the church has spread right round the world and has transformed the lives of many, many people. And I believe that the same will be true of Lesley’s great work, her children. She always said, “I just want to see my boys grow up”. She might not have seen the final result, but it seems to me that she has given her boys very firm foundations. They know that they have been loved. They have seen and known a selflessness love, a courage, an honesty, and a devotion to family, that gives them a most powerful basis on which to build their futures. I am confident that they will be well looked after and will grow up a credit to their mothers legacy.
Let’s go back to our scripture reading. There is quite a lot in there about the hope of heaven, about Jesus preparing a place for us, and about being together with Jesus when we die, and this is all very reassuring. It gives us great hope.
But the scripture reading is also important because it tells us how this hope comes to be realised. Thomas says the Jesus, “We do not know where you are going, how can we know the way,” and Jesus assures him that he, Jesus, is the way the life and the truth. So our Christian hope is realised in Jesus. It arises from walking in the way of Jesus, following the paths that Jesus shows us. It arises from sharing the life that is Jesus, sharing our own life with Jesus. It arises from the truth, that is from the true relationship with Jesus, the one in whom we can trust.
So as we go from here let us rejoice in the great legacy that Lesley has left us. Let us offer to God the great suffering of her departure. Let’s look to Jesus, the way, the life and the truth, so that our hopes on earth and our hopes of heaven can be realised. Amen.
Preached at St Alphege, Solihull, 11th March 2009.
Reading: John 14: 1-7
In the passage of scripture that we have just read, Jesus is talking to his disciples at the last supper on the Thursday night before he died on the Friday. His disciples do have some understanding of what is about to happen, and they are appalled by it. Jesus is about 33 years old. He is at the height of his life, he has shown extraordinary potential to do really great things, and yet it is all going terribly wrong; it is all ending in death.
When someone dies at the prime of their life it is deeply shocking and disorientating. We are forced to stop and re-evaluate the way we think about life. How can it be that a loving God allows someone like Lesley to die?
Well, we could equally ask, “How could God allowed Jesus to die?” We know that God loved Jesus enormously; he called him “the beloved, the one with whom he is well pleased” (Mark 1: 11, 9: 7). Certainly it was not for lack of love that God allowed Jesus to die, and neither is it lack of love that God has allowed Lesley to die.
So how can Love allow such a thing? Well these are great mysteries, but one reason might be that there are better things beyond this life. What we lose in death, might seem very small compared to what we can gain in the next life. Certainly the words of Jesus that we read today, suggest good things in the next life. Jesus says, “I go and prepare a place for you” and “I will take you to be with me, so that where I am, you may be also”. This suggests that in heaven we dwell in the presence of Jesus, the one who loves us and who gave everything for us. Certainly sounds like a good thing. And certainly we can have hope that these things are true for Lesley too.
One of the scandals of Jesus’ death was his unfinished work. He seemed to have a transforming effect of the world around him, but he died before much could come of it. And yet, despite this, from Jesus’ life the church was born, and the church has spread right round the world and has transformed the lives of many, many people. And I believe that the same will be true of Lesley’s great work, her children. She always said, “I just want to see my boys grow up”. She might not have seen the final result, but it seems to me that she has given her boys very firm foundations. They know that they have been loved. They have seen and known a selflessness love, a courage, an honesty, and a devotion to family, that gives them a most powerful basis on which to build their futures. I am confident that they will be well looked after and will grow up a credit to their mothers legacy.
Let’s go back to our scripture reading. There is quite a lot in there about the hope of heaven, about Jesus preparing a place for us, and about being together with Jesus when we die, and this is all very reassuring. It gives us great hope.
But the scripture reading is also important because it tells us how this hope comes to be realised. Thomas says the Jesus, “We do not know where you are going, how can we know the way,” and Jesus assures him that he, Jesus, is the way the life and the truth. So our Christian hope is realised in Jesus. It arises from walking in the way of Jesus, following the paths that Jesus shows us. It arises from sharing the life that is Jesus, sharing our own life with Jesus. It arises from the truth, that is from the true relationship with Jesus, the one in whom we can trust.
So as we go from here let us rejoice in the great legacy that Lesley has left us. Let us offer to God the great suffering of her departure. Let’s look to Jesus, the way, the life and the truth, so that our hopes on earth and our hopes of heaven can be realised. Amen.
08 March 2009
Following the call of God
Sermon preached at 11am Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull on Sunday 8th March 2009
Lent 2, Year B, but with a special reading from the Parish Lent Course. The Parish Lent Course follows the book Life Calling by Robert Warren and Kate Bruce (London, Church House Publishing, 2007).
Readings: Genesis 1: 26-31 Mark 9: 1-2-9
Many of you will be familiar with the Life Calling course used by the Parish Lent Groups this Lent. In week two of the Lent the course encourages us to reflect on the relationship between our creation and God’s calling to us. To do this the course invites us to listen to the part of the creation story from Genesis 1, which we heard as our first reading today. This creation story does not provide many details about the way in which humanity was created, but it does offer some profound reflections on what human beings are, and on how they relate to God. Above all, the story affirms that human beings are created in the image of God. Created in the image of God! What does this mean?
Well it means that there is something about us which is like God, or at least has the potential to be like God. I once read a fascinating commentary on this passage which noted that in verse 26 of the story, God resolves to make humanity in his own image and likeness. But when God actually creates human beings in verse 27 we are told that they are created in the image of God, but nothing is said about the likeness of God. The commentator’s explanation of this point was that although humanity was created in the image of God, we still need to be nurtured and to grow and to develop in order to attain the likeness of God. It is a bit like a baby, who is born the image of its parents, but who still needs to grow up in order to become the likeness of his parents. Or perhaps it is like an apple pip, which already contains the blueprint or DNA of an apple tree, but still has to be planted and watered and to grow, before it attains the likeness of an apple tree.
I think this understanding of our creation has much to commend it because it suggests that there is a profound link between what we are now, as we have been created, and what we are destined to become. It recognised that God is always calling us, drawing forward, seeking to move us forward towards our destiny in the likeness of God. This call of God is uniquely personal to each one of us. Importantly, it reflects both the person we already are, and the person we shall be.
For example, let’s think about God’s call to Abram or Abraham, as he later becomes, in Genesis chapter 12. God calls Abraham to leave his country and his father’s house and to go to a new land that God will show him. God promises to make Abraham the father of a great nation and to bless him richly, such that through him all the families on earth will be blessed.
Now this call of God to Abraham reflects many aspects of who Abraham already is. It reflects the fact that Abraham’s father Terah had already moved his family away from their origins in Ur and to Haran, which is half way round the fertile crescent, towards the land of Canaan, the land that God promises to give to Abraham. God’s call to Abraham also reflects that fact that Abraham is already master of a household, so he has the freedom to make the kind of choice that God is requiring.
On the other hand this call of God is also about what Abraham is destined to become. Abraham is called to be the father of a great nation. Now at the moment when God makes this call to Abraham it has to be said that being the father of a great nation looks very unlikely. Abraham has no children. He is seventy five years old. His wife Sarai is not much younger and she is barren. Abraham’s anxiety about his lack of children becomes an on-going theme of the story, but we know, that in the end that Abraham does in deed become the father of several great nations. God’s call brings new dimensions to Abraham’s life, dimensions which would have been quite impossible to predict at the time of his call.
Notice however that while God’s call draws Abraham forward towards a wonderful destiny, it also requires Abraham to leave certain things behind. He has to leave behind his father’s house and all the securities of Haran. Later in the story he has to leave behind his nephew Lot, and later still his slave wife Hagar and his son by her Ishmael. These are costly losses to Abraham, but it is characteristic of God’s call that we have to leave things behind in order to take on the new things that God wants for us.
Now it is unlikely that any of us have a calling as important as Abraham’s, but we can all be certain that God does call us. The call is directed to us, exactly as we are right now, with all our sins and weaknesses and failings as well as our few good qualities and our particular talents. The call draws us towards the fullness of life in heaven, where we will be more in the likeness of God, more like Jesus (1 John 3: 2).
So how, in practice, do we follow God’s call? Well I believe that the best way to do this is to always practice following God’s promptings in each present moment of our lives. God prompts us through his commandments, especially his commandment to love other people. Growing in love is, after all, growing in the likeness of God. Sometimes God prompts us through the things people ask us to do. Sometimes, if we listen, we can hear God prompting us deep in our hearts. In most present moments of our lives the things that God want from us are very simple; to concentrate properly when driving, to listen properly to those who speak to us, to help with household jobs, to set aside time for prayer, to take care of our bodies and rest properly. However by doing these things well, for love of God and for love of the people around us, we build a discipline of listening to the prompting of God and following his call, moment by moment through are lives. And if we do this in all the small things of life we can be confident that we have the training and discipline to do it when the bigger decisions come.
Our gospel reading today was the story of the transfiguration. Jesus’ disciples saw Jesus in his heavenly glory. This is the glory which we are called to share (Romans 8: 17, 2 Thessalonians 2: 14). Let us try to follow the promptings of God in each present moment of our lives. In this way, moment by moment, we follow God’s calling and will realise the great destiny he has promised us.
Lent 2, Year B, but with a special reading from the Parish Lent Course. The Parish Lent Course follows the book Life Calling by Robert Warren and Kate Bruce (London, Church House Publishing, 2007).
Readings: Genesis 1: 26-31 Mark 9: 1-2-9
Many of you will be familiar with the Life Calling course used by the Parish Lent Groups this Lent. In week two of the Lent the course encourages us to reflect on the relationship between our creation and God’s calling to us. To do this the course invites us to listen to the part of the creation story from Genesis 1, which we heard as our first reading today. This creation story does not provide many details about the way in which humanity was created, but it does offer some profound reflections on what human beings are, and on how they relate to God. Above all, the story affirms that human beings are created in the image of God. Created in the image of God! What does this mean?
Well it means that there is something about us which is like God, or at least has the potential to be like God. I once read a fascinating commentary on this passage which noted that in verse 26 of the story, God resolves to make humanity in his own image and likeness. But when God actually creates human beings in verse 27 we are told that they are created in the image of God, but nothing is said about the likeness of God. The commentator’s explanation of this point was that although humanity was created in the image of God, we still need to be nurtured and to grow and to develop in order to attain the likeness of God. It is a bit like a baby, who is born the image of its parents, but who still needs to grow up in order to become the likeness of his parents. Or perhaps it is like an apple pip, which already contains the blueprint or DNA of an apple tree, but still has to be planted and watered and to grow, before it attains the likeness of an apple tree.
I think this understanding of our creation has much to commend it because it suggests that there is a profound link between what we are now, as we have been created, and what we are destined to become. It recognised that God is always calling us, drawing forward, seeking to move us forward towards our destiny in the likeness of God. This call of God is uniquely personal to each one of us. Importantly, it reflects both the person we already are, and the person we shall be.
For example, let’s think about God’s call to Abram or Abraham, as he later becomes, in Genesis chapter 12. God calls Abraham to leave his country and his father’s house and to go to a new land that God will show him. God promises to make Abraham the father of a great nation and to bless him richly, such that through him all the families on earth will be blessed.
Now this call of God to Abraham reflects many aspects of who Abraham already is. It reflects the fact that Abraham’s father Terah had already moved his family away from their origins in Ur and to Haran, which is half way round the fertile crescent, towards the land of Canaan, the land that God promises to give to Abraham. God’s call to Abraham also reflects that fact that Abraham is already master of a household, so he has the freedom to make the kind of choice that God is requiring.
On the other hand this call of God is also about what Abraham is destined to become. Abraham is called to be the father of a great nation. Now at the moment when God makes this call to Abraham it has to be said that being the father of a great nation looks very unlikely. Abraham has no children. He is seventy five years old. His wife Sarai is not much younger and she is barren. Abraham’s anxiety about his lack of children becomes an on-going theme of the story, but we know, that in the end that Abraham does in deed become the father of several great nations. God’s call brings new dimensions to Abraham’s life, dimensions which would have been quite impossible to predict at the time of his call.
Notice however that while God’s call draws Abraham forward towards a wonderful destiny, it also requires Abraham to leave certain things behind. He has to leave behind his father’s house and all the securities of Haran. Later in the story he has to leave behind his nephew Lot, and later still his slave wife Hagar and his son by her Ishmael. These are costly losses to Abraham, but it is characteristic of God’s call that we have to leave things behind in order to take on the new things that God wants for us.
Now it is unlikely that any of us have a calling as important as Abraham’s, but we can all be certain that God does call us. The call is directed to us, exactly as we are right now, with all our sins and weaknesses and failings as well as our few good qualities and our particular talents. The call draws us towards the fullness of life in heaven, where we will be more in the likeness of God, more like Jesus (1 John 3: 2).
So how, in practice, do we follow God’s call? Well I believe that the best way to do this is to always practice following God’s promptings in each present moment of our lives. God prompts us through his commandments, especially his commandment to love other people. Growing in love is, after all, growing in the likeness of God. Sometimes God prompts us through the things people ask us to do. Sometimes, if we listen, we can hear God prompting us deep in our hearts. In most present moments of our lives the things that God want from us are very simple; to concentrate properly when driving, to listen properly to those who speak to us, to help with household jobs, to set aside time for prayer, to take care of our bodies and rest properly. However by doing these things well, for love of God and for love of the people around us, we build a discipline of listening to the prompting of God and following his call, moment by moment through are lives. And if we do this in all the small things of life we can be confident that we have the training and discipline to do it when the bigger decisions come.
Our gospel reading today was the story of the transfiguration. Jesus’ disciples saw Jesus in his heavenly glory. This is the glory which we are called to share (Romans 8: 17, 2 Thessalonians 2: 14). Let us try to follow the promptings of God in each present moment of our lives. In this way, moment by moment, we follow God’s calling and will realise the great destiny he has promised us.
08 February 2009
One with Christ in the other
Short sermon preached at 8am Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull
Sunday 8th February 2009 – Third Sunday before lent
Readings for Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Year B
Readings: Isaiah 40:21-31 1 Corinthians 9: 16-23 Mark 1: 29-39
The Apostle Paul is often seen as the archetypal missionary preacher. Certainly the New Testament, especially in the Acts of the Apostles, shows Paul as extraordinarily effective in proclaiming the gospel. This was his great passion; “Woe betide me if I do not proclaim the gospel” we read from him today. And for me, as a child, an image of this formed in my mind. A huge figure Paul is standing high above a crowd, preaching the gospel in a loud voice and with great emotion and with lots of finger waging. And the people in the crowd are cowering before him in fear for their immortal souls, and are weeping in repentance for their sins.
As time has gone by I have come to realise that this image is not quite right, and in places it reveals some serious misconceptions about what it means to proclaim the gospel. For a start we know that Paul’s physical stature was neither big nor impressive (Acts of Paul and Thecla 3 - late 2nd century). Paul notes of himself that, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible." (2 Cor 10:10) But above all, what is wrong is the impression that Paul, through strength of argument or personality was somehow able to force or coerce people into accepting the gospel. I am quite sure that it was not like this at all. In fact the techniques Paul described in our reading today are the very opposite of force or coercion. They show the love of someone who places great value on the experience and opinions of others.
First of all Paul says, “I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them.” Paul sees himself as a slave or a servant of those who he seeks to convert. This does not mean that he allows them to dominate or control him or walk all over him. Rather it means he will look at these people with great charity, trying to see them as God sees them, and trying to recognise and understand God’s creation in them, and above all trying to find within them the new life of Christ. It is this new life in Christ and God’s creation in them that Paul is seeking to serve. He will do whatever he can to nurture it, understand it and help it to grow. And the point about being a servant or a slave is that this is done, not on Paul’s terms, but on the terms of the one who is served. Paul serves Jesus, present in the other people.
But then, even more mysteriously, Paul says, “To the Jews I became a Jew… to those not bound by the law of Moses I became like one not bound by the law of Moses…to the week I became week…I have become all things to all people, so that I might by any means win some.” This means that Paul seeks to set aside his own agenda and priorities in order to focus properly on the experience and aspirations of Christ present in the people he meets, be they Jews, or non Jews, the week or the strong. Paul is ready to die to Christ in himself, in order to rise with Christ in the other person. Paul seeks to empathise with Christ in the other person. He seeks to walk in the shoes of the other in order to understand the other and to share in their joys and sorrows, their hopes and fears. And Paul remains convinced that it is this losing of himself for Christ in the other that will eventually win the other over to Christ.
And this is the pattern for our love too. We need to be ready to lose everything in order to seek out and love Christ present in the other person. We seek to empathise with and share in the experience of Christ in that person. And this helps Christ to grow, both in them and in us and so it brings forward the kingdom of God. Amen.
Sunday 8th February 2009 – Third Sunday before lent
Readings for Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Year B
Readings: Isaiah 40:21-31 1 Corinthians 9: 16-23 Mark 1: 29-39
The Apostle Paul is often seen as the archetypal missionary preacher. Certainly the New Testament, especially in the Acts of the Apostles, shows Paul as extraordinarily effective in proclaiming the gospel. This was his great passion; “Woe betide me if I do not proclaim the gospel” we read from him today. And for me, as a child, an image of this formed in my mind. A huge figure Paul is standing high above a crowd, preaching the gospel in a loud voice and with great emotion and with lots of finger waging. And the people in the crowd are cowering before him in fear for their immortal souls, and are weeping in repentance for their sins.
As time has gone by I have come to realise that this image is not quite right, and in places it reveals some serious misconceptions about what it means to proclaim the gospel. For a start we know that Paul’s physical stature was neither big nor impressive (Acts of Paul and Thecla 3 - late 2nd century). Paul notes of himself that, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible." (2 Cor 10:10) But above all, what is wrong is the impression that Paul, through strength of argument or personality was somehow able to force or coerce people into accepting the gospel. I am quite sure that it was not like this at all. In fact the techniques Paul described in our reading today are the very opposite of force or coercion. They show the love of someone who places great value on the experience and opinions of others.
First of all Paul says, “I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them.” Paul sees himself as a slave or a servant of those who he seeks to convert. This does not mean that he allows them to dominate or control him or walk all over him. Rather it means he will look at these people with great charity, trying to see them as God sees them, and trying to recognise and understand God’s creation in them, and above all trying to find within them the new life of Christ. It is this new life in Christ and God’s creation in them that Paul is seeking to serve. He will do whatever he can to nurture it, understand it and help it to grow. And the point about being a servant or a slave is that this is done, not on Paul’s terms, but on the terms of the one who is served. Paul serves Jesus, present in the other people.
But then, even more mysteriously, Paul says, “To the Jews I became a Jew… to those not bound by the law of Moses I became like one not bound by the law of Moses…to the week I became week…I have become all things to all people, so that I might by any means win some.” This means that Paul seeks to set aside his own agenda and priorities in order to focus properly on the experience and aspirations of Christ present in the people he meets, be they Jews, or non Jews, the week or the strong. Paul is ready to die to Christ in himself, in order to rise with Christ in the other person. Paul seeks to empathise with Christ in the other person. He seeks to walk in the shoes of the other in order to understand the other and to share in their joys and sorrows, their hopes and fears. And Paul remains convinced that it is this losing of himself for Christ in the other that will eventually win the other over to Christ.
And this is the pattern for our love too. We need to be ready to lose everything in order to seek out and love Christ present in the other person. We seek to empathise with and share in the experience of Christ in that person. And this helps Christ to grow, both in them and in us and so it brings forward the kingdom of God. Amen.
Preaching the message of God
Thought for the Parish Pewslip, 8th Feb 2009
Readings for Epiphany 5, Year B: Isaiah 40: 21-31, 1 Corinthians 9: 16-23, Mark 1: 29-39
Our readings today tell us about the compelling need to preach the message of God. There are also some top-tips on how this should be done!
From Isaiah, the prophet’s message is about the greatness of God. He wants to remind people of the God’s extraordinary power. The prophet wants to assure God’s people that those who wait on the Lord will receive new strength. He seems frustrated that people don’t understand this; “Have you not known? Have you not heard?” he repeats.
In our reading from 1 Corinthians, Paul explains that he is under an obligation to proclaim the gospel. But for Paul this means being empty of self and being ready to lose his own agenda. Paul focuses on empathising with other people and becoming one with them. He is even prepared to make himself weak with the weak. Somehow, through this emptiness of self, the blessings of the gospel are shared.
In our gospel, Jesus too is keen to proclaim his message. For Jesus, loving and serving others (by healing the sick and casting out demons) is an integral part of the proclamation.
Readings for Epiphany 5, Year B: Isaiah 40: 21-31, 1 Corinthians 9: 16-23, Mark 1: 29-39
Our readings today tell us about the compelling need to preach the message of God. There are also some top-tips on how this should be done!
From Isaiah, the prophet’s message is about the greatness of God. He wants to remind people of the God’s extraordinary power. The prophet wants to assure God’s people that those who wait on the Lord will receive new strength. He seems frustrated that people don’t understand this; “Have you not known? Have you not heard?” he repeats.
In our reading from 1 Corinthians, Paul explains that he is under an obligation to proclaim the gospel. But for Paul this means being empty of self and being ready to lose his own agenda. Paul focuses on empathising with other people and becoming one with them. He is even prepared to make himself weak with the weak. Somehow, through this emptiness of self, the blessings of the gospel are shared.
In our gospel, Jesus too is keen to proclaim his message. For Jesus, loving and serving others (by healing the sick and casting out demons) is an integral part of the proclamation.
01 February 2009
Giving from our gifts
Preached at St Michael’s,
10.30am Eucharist on
Presentation of Christ in the
Last week I was talking to a lady, and she was experiencing panic in her household because 31st January was the last date for submission of an on-line self assessment tax return. Well today is 1st February, so I hope that they got the job done and can now relax. This got me thinking about tax. I don’t know about you, but I always used to think that it was very strange that people who worked for the government had to pay tax. I used to think it would make much more sense to pay government employees smaller salaries, but to pay them tax free. Would this not save all kinds of administrative costs involved in paying out money and then taxing it back in again? But as I have got older I have come to understand the wisdom of everyone paying tax. There are many administrative advantages, but it seems to me that the biggest single advantage is that government employees share in the experience of being a taxpayer. If taxes go up, because of some government policy, then they share the pain with everyone else. If taxes go down they share the benefit. If some mess up in government wastes a lot of tax payers money, then government employees are likely to be just as annoyed and frustrated by it as any other tax payer. So the additional circulation of money caused by paying government employees and then charging them tax ensures government employees and the rest of us have a shared experience of being tax payers. This common experience of paying tax helps us to understand one another. It helps the nation to build a common mind on the way that government money should be spent. In its own small way it helps us to build unity in the nation.
And we have a similar situation in our financial giving to the church. There are people, like me, who work for the church and are paid by the church, but we also give money to the church. Just like everyone else in the congregation we have to sit up and take notice when the church asks us to review our giving and perhaps to give more. So church employees face the same challenges on giving as other members of the congregation. And this additional circulation of gifts in the life of the church gives us a shared experience of giving. This helps us to understand each other and to build unity in the church.
This pattern of giving from the gifts that we have received is also evident in the Presentation of Christ in the
Mary and Joseph knew that Jesus was the Son of God. So they knew that the whole temple, and all its officials which exist for the worship and glory of God, also exist in a certain way for the worship and glory of Jesus. And yet this did not prevent them from making the sacrifice required by the law, “a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.” In fact we are told that Mary and Joseph did everything that was required by the law of the Lord before they returned to
So even though the Holy Family received very special gifts from God, given to them for very particular purposes, they still felt the need to give gifts back to God. And so we see a circulation of gifts a bit like the circulation caused by government employees paying taxes, or church employees giving money to the church.
And this pattern of receiving gifts and then giving back goes very deep. It is central to the life of God himself. God the Father gives everything to Jesus. In Ephesians (1: 21) we read that the God has set Jesus far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and … has put all things under his feet and has made him head over all things. And yet Jesus too gives everything to the Father. In
As Christians we are called to share in the glory and holiness of this life of God, this divine life of heaven (e.g. 2 Th
Let’s give then, not just money, but of time, attention, talents and prayers. And let’s not be ashamed to receive gifts or love or attention from others, because these enrich us and allow us in turn to give more. All this giving helps goods, and money and news and experiences to circulate within the life of the church, and within the life of the wider community. This helps to build up a common life, a shared understanding. It leads to a sense of belonging and cohesiveness in the community, and it leads to unity in the church. Unity! This is perhaps God’s greatest gift to us, but we can only receive it when we are giving ourselves completely to one another.
25 January 2009
Conversion
Sermon preached at St Alphege, Solihull at 9.15am Eucharist
Sunday 25th January 2009 – The Conversion of St Paul.
(A shortened version of this sermon was preached at the 8am Eucharist at St Alphege.)
Readings: Jeremiah 1:4-10 Acts 9: 1-22 Matthew 19: 27-30
In our second reading today we heard the story of the conversion of St Paul. It is about as dramatic as a conversion story could be. Jesus himself intervenes directly, with a flashing light and a voice from heaven. Paul goes blind, and then his blindness is healed. Jesus speaks directly with Paul, and Paul later (1 Corinthians 9: 1) affirms that he has seen Jesus. And the turn around in Paul’s behaviour is also extremely dramatic. He goes, in the space of a few short days, from being the worst enemy of the Church to being its most committed supporter. He goes from organising the persecution of the Church to proclaiming in the synagogues that Jesus is both Son of God and Messiah.
Paul’s is surely the most dramatic conversion possible, but there have always been dramatic conversions in the life of the Church. Three years ago, in South Africa, I came across a Free Church minister who had himself had a most extraordinary conversion experience. Overnight he abandoned the mainstay props of his old life; drink, tobacco, drugs and violence and he turned instead to a new life and a charismatic church ministry centred around repentance. He led many other people to repentance. He would baptise them with a full immersion baptism in a local river, a bit like John the Baptist. His church had a big following.
For most of us however our conversion is rather less dramatic, and rather more drawn out. Perhaps we get to know someone and the relationship slowly changes us. Perhaps we have an experience of being loved, and this brings us a new freedom. Perhaps, seemingly by chance, we attend a particular mission event, or church service or prayer meeting and we find ourselves strangely moved by the presence of God. Perhaps we start praying, and then come to realise that our prayer are important. Perhaps we come to a point of crisis and we painfully realise that we need to build our life on firmer foundations. Perhaps several of these things happen, and there is a series of milestones before we arrive at a point of conversion.
But at some point or other, for all of us this moment of conversion must come. It is a very important step, which sooner or later we must all take. We must turn to God acknowledge his love and our own sinfulness and commit ourselves to walk with him on the path that he sets before us. This turning to walk with God is an essential step. It is the beginning of a journey towards God, in which our relationship with God grows and deepens. It is a journey in which God’s creation in us is gradually brought to perfection. It is a journey through which we grow in love and become a blessing to the people around us. It is a journey that slowly forms us to make us ready to share in the life of God with all his people in heaven.
And I think it is important so avoid the mistake of thinking of conversion as something we do once and for all time. The fact is that as we progress along the journey of our Christian life we are continually called to a conversion that is ever deeper and ever more complete. This is about learning to accept and trust ever more deeply in the love of God. Even though I have this terrible fault, God truly loves me. Even though I have committed these terrible sins, God still loves me. Even though this dreadful thing has happened, God still loves me. Fr Sean, a priest of 58 years standing at St Augustine’s RC church, has a habit of asking people to pray for his conversion. There is something a bit comic about this, because Fr Sean is already deeply and profoundly converted. And yet there is a serious point to it. He, just like the rest of us, still needs to make progress on his journey towards God. He recognises his need for ever greater conversion.
So the Christian life is a journey towards God. But the first and most vital step is that we choose to be on that journey. We need to turn to face God, to trust in his love for us and start to walk with him. And it may well be that there are people here today who have never made that step, never made that choice. And if this is you, then I commend this step to you with all my heart. God is calling. Say “yes” to God; turn and follow his call. Say to him in prayer, “Lord, I want to follow you, help me to follow you.” And don’t try to do this all on your own. You will need the help of others. Talk to someone from the church about it. Talk to the priests at coffee squash.
But there are many here today, I am sure, who have long since made that choice and have long since set out on that journey. And if this is you then I urge you to make proper progress on your Christian journey. Let’s make the most of every opportunity that God sends. Let’s seek to love every person that God puts in front of us. Let’s establish a pattern to our prayer life and keep to it. Let’s humbly follow God’s will for our lives, trusting always in his love for us, and believing that he wants our good.
And maybe there are some people here today who have already made good progress on their journey and who are wondering what comes next. Well, that is for God to know and for you to find out! But as our journey progresses we should expect it to become more and more tied up with the journeys of the people around us. It becomes harder for us to make progress by ourselves. More and more we can only make progress by helping the people around us. The Lord told Ananias that Paul would be an instrument to bring Christ to many people and the Lord hinted that much suffering would be required on Paul’s part. Suffering for the sake of others might well play a part in our journeys.
An if that sounds a bit heavy, or if making the journey with Christ feels to costly because of the things we might have to leave behind, or let go of, then let’s remember what Jesus said to those who follow him in our gospel today. He said, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my names sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.” May that be true for each one of us. Amen.
Sunday 25th January 2009 – The Conversion of St Paul.
(A shortened version of this sermon was preached at the 8am Eucharist at St Alphege.)
Readings: Jeremiah 1:4-10 Acts 9: 1-22 Matthew 19: 27-30
In our second reading today we heard the story of the conversion of St Paul. It is about as dramatic as a conversion story could be. Jesus himself intervenes directly, with a flashing light and a voice from heaven. Paul goes blind, and then his blindness is healed. Jesus speaks directly with Paul, and Paul later (1 Corinthians 9: 1) affirms that he has seen Jesus. And the turn around in Paul’s behaviour is also extremely dramatic. He goes, in the space of a few short days, from being the worst enemy of the Church to being its most committed supporter. He goes from organising the persecution of the Church to proclaiming in the synagogues that Jesus is both Son of God and Messiah.
Paul’s is surely the most dramatic conversion possible, but there have always been dramatic conversions in the life of the Church. Three years ago, in South Africa, I came across a Free Church minister who had himself had a most extraordinary conversion experience. Overnight he abandoned the mainstay props of his old life; drink, tobacco, drugs and violence and he turned instead to a new life and a charismatic church ministry centred around repentance. He led many other people to repentance. He would baptise them with a full immersion baptism in a local river, a bit like John the Baptist. His church had a big following.
For most of us however our conversion is rather less dramatic, and rather more drawn out. Perhaps we get to know someone and the relationship slowly changes us. Perhaps we have an experience of being loved, and this brings us a new freedom. Perhaps, seemingly by chance, we attend a particular mission event, or church service or prayer meeting and we find ourselves strangely moved by the presence of God. Perhaps we start praying, and then come to realise that our prayer are important. Perhaps we come to a point of crisis and we painfully realise that we need to build our life on firmer foundations. Perhaps several of these things happen, and there is a series of milestones before we arrive at a point of conversion.
But at some point or other, for all of us this moment of conversion must come. It is a very important step, which sooner or later we must all take. We must turn to God acknowledge his love and our own sinfulness and commit ourselves to walk with him on the path that he sets before us. This turning to walk with God is an essential step. It is the beginning of a journey towards God, in which our relationship with God grows and deepens. It is a journey in which God’s creation in us is gradually brought to perfection. It is a journey through which we grow in love and become a blessing to the people around us. It is a journey that slowly forms us to make us ready to share in the life of God with all his people in heaven.
And I think it is important so avoid the mistake of thinking of conversion as something we do once and for all time. The fact is that as we progress along the journey of our Christian life we are continually called to a conversion that is ever deeper and ever more complete. This is about learning to accept and trust ever more deeply in the love of God. Even though I have this terrible fault, God truly loves me. Even though I have committed these terrible sins, God still loves me. Even though this dreadful thing has happened, God still loves me. Fr Sean, a priest of 58 years standing at St Augustine’s RC church, has a habit of asking people to pray for his conversion. There is something a bit comic about this, because Fr Sean is already deeply and profoundly converted. And yet there is a serious point to it. He, just like the rest of us, still needs to make progress on his journey towards God. He recognises his need for ever greater conversion.
So the Christian life is a journey towards God. But the first and most vital step is that we choose to be on that journey. We need to turn to face God, to trust in his love for us and start to walk with him. And it may well be that there are people here today who have never made that step, never made that choice. And if this is you, then I commend this step to you with all my heart. God is calling. Say “yes” to God; turn and follow his call. Say to him in prayer, “Lord, I want to follow you, help me to follow you.” And don’t try to do this all on your own. You will need the help of others. Talk to someone from the church about it. Talk to the priests at coffee squash.
But there are many here today, I am sure, who have long since made that choice and have long since set out on that journey. And if this is you then I urge you to make proper progress on your Christian journey. Let’s make the most of every opportunity that God sends. Let’s seek to love every person that God puts in front of us. Let’s establish a pattern to our prayer life and keep to it. Let’s humbly follow God’s will for our lives, trusting always in his love for us, and believing that he wants our good.
And maybe there are some people here today who have already made good progress on their journey and who are wondering what comes next. Well, that is for God to know and for you to find out! But as our journey progresses we should expect it to become more and more tied up with the journeys of the people around us. It becomes harder for us to make progress by ourselves. More and more we can only make progress by helping the people around us. The Lord told Ananias that Paul would be an instrument to bring Christ to many people and the Lord hinted that much suffering would be required on Paul’s part. Suffering for the sake of others might well play a part in our journeys.
An if that sounds a bit heavy, or if making the journey with Christ feels to costly because of the things we might have to leave behind, or let go of, then let’s remember what Jesus said to those who follow him in our gospel today. He said, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my names sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.” May that be true for each one of us. Amen.
11 January 2009
The Holy Spirit at the Baptism of Christ
Sermon preached at St Alphege, Solihull, 11am Eucharist on Sunday 11th January 2009
Epiphany 1 - The Baptism of Christ, Year B.
Readings: Genesis 1: 1-5 Acts 19: 1-7 Mark 1: 4-11
Our readings today make us reflect on the Holy Spirit. They remind us how incredibly important the Holy Spirit is, and how significant his role is in so many crucial moments.
In our reading from Genesis we heard the first five verses of the bible; the beginning of the creation story. And this included, in the second verse of the bible, a reference to the Holy Spirit. You may have missed it because we read from the NRSV of the bible, which translates the Hebrew as, “A wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” But the Authorised Version of the Bible translates this as “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The NIV translates it as “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”. However it is translated, the point remains the same; the Holy Spirit was present and participating at the very beginning of creation.
In our gospel reading we heard Mark’s very brief account of the ministry of John the Baptist. We heard how people went see John in the wilderness. They confessed their sins and were baptised with a baptism of repentance. And John proclaimed that the one coming after him, was much greater than he was, because John baptised only with water, whereas the one who was coming would baptise with the Holy Spirit.
And is seems that there is some very profound link between Jesus, baptism and the Holy Spirit. This first comes to light when Jesus is baptised by John, and we heard this story at the end of our gospel reading. Jesus came up out of the water and he saw heaven torn open and the spirit descending like a dove upon him. Then there was the voice from heaven. “You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.”
This incident is recorded in all four gospels. In Mark’s gospel, which we heard today, it is not very clear that anyone else other that Jesus actually saw the spirit descend or heard the voice. Luke’s account suggests that the incident might have been clearly visible to the many people who were present. In John’s account John the Baptist testifies that he saw the Spirit alight on Jesus and remain there, and that this for him was a clear sign that Jesus was the one to baptise with the Holy Spirit; the Son of God. In the Church we always think of the baptism of Christ as a key “epiphany moment”; a moment when Jesus is revealed to the world as someone very important. In fact this is a particularly significant epiphany moment because the descending Spirit shows Jesus to be the anointed one, the Messiah, and the voice from heaven goes further telling us that he is God’s own son, the beloved.
But the links between Jesus, the Holy Spirit and baptism go well beyond the decent of the Holy Spirit onto Jesus at his own baptism. As John the Baptist explained, the baptism of Jesus is a baptism with the Holy Spirit, whereas John’s baptism with water is a much simpler symbol of repentance. This distinction between the baptism of John and the baptism of Jesus became even more important in the life of the early church, after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. This is because of incidents like the one we heard about in our reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Paul arrived in Ephesus and found some followers of Jesus there. However they had been baptised only with the baptism of John, and their baptism was in some way incomplete. But when Paul baptised them in the name of the Lord Jesus they received the Holy Spirit, and suddenly they started to speak in tongues and to prophesise.
Because of incidents like this the early Church quickly resolved to baptise, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. This formulation used in Baptism emerged very early on in the life of the infant Church, several centuries before the doctrine of the Holy Trinity was formulated.
So those of us who have been baptised have received the Holy Spirit in our baptism. Those of us who have been Confirmed have been further strengthened in the Holy Spirit as we give our own ascent to our baptismal promises, and as the bishop lays hands on us.
So what difference does it make for us, that we have received the Holy Spirit in our baptism? Well these are deep mysteries that mystics and theologians continue to dwell upon. But John’s gospel gives us some pointers in the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. As Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3: 5-6). Somehow, in our baptism, the Holy Spirit brings to birth within us a new life in the Spirit, which is also a new life in Christ. With the correct care and nurture this new life in the spirit can grow and develop within us, until we become mature, to the measure of the full stature of Christ (c.f. Eph 4: 13). And this maturity is deeply tied up with our unity with the other people who have been baptized into Christ, with unity in the life of the Church (e.g. Eph 4: 13, Gal 3: 26-28).
So the challenge for us is to nurture ourselves well so that we can grow in the Spirit and grow in Christ. And this is a great challenge because so many things about our contemporary society are very unhelpful to this growth. However there are things we can do. Coming to Mass regularly is a very helpful thing. Confessing our sins is very helpful. Prayer is very helpful. Studying the bible and reflecting on it is very helpful. Seeking to see Jesus in the people around us, and to love Jesus in them is also very, very helpful. It is very helpful if we can share something of our spiritual lives with others, so it becomes not just an individual things that I do on my own, but something I do together with other people, together with the others in the Church.
So today let’s give thanks for the Holy Spirit, let’s praise God for the new life that he gives us through baptism, and let’s pray that the Spirit will help us to grow in that life and to bring it to maturity.
Epiphany 1 - The Baptism of Christ, Year B.
Readings: Genesis 1: 1-5 Acts 19: 1-7 Mark 1: 4-11
Our readings today make us reflect on the Holy Spirit. They remind us how incredibly important the Holy Spirit is, and how significant his role is in so many crucial moments.
In our reading from Genesis we heard the first five verses of the bible; the beginning of the creation story. And this included, in the second verse of the bible, a reference to the Holy Spirit. You may have missed it because we read from the NRSV of the bible, which translates the Hebrew as, “A wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” But the Authorised Version of the Bible translates this as “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The NIV translates it as “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”. However it is translated, the point remains the same; the Holy Spirit was present and participating at the very beginning of creation.
In our gospel reading we heard Mark’s very brief account of the ministry of John the Baptist. We heard how people went see John in the wilderness. They confessed their sins and were baptised with a baptism of repentance. And John proclaimed that the one coming after him, was much greater than he was, because John baptised only with water, whereas the one who was coming would baptise with the Holy Spirit.
And is seems that there is some very profound link between Jesus, baptism and the Holy Spirit. This first comes to light when Jesus is baptised by John, and we heard this story at the end of our gospel reading. Jesus came up out of the water and he saw heaven torn open and the spirit descending like a dove upon him. Then there was the voice from heaven. “You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.”
This incident is recorded in all four gospels. In Mark’s gospel, which we heard today, it is not very clear that anyone else other that Jesus actually saw the spirit descend or heard the voice. Luke’s account suggests that the incident might have been clearly visible to the many people who were present. In John’s account John the Baptist testifies that he saw the Spirit alight on Jesus and remain there, and that this for him was a clear sign that Jesus was the one to baptise with the Holy Spirit; the Son of God. In the Church we always think of the baptism of Christ as a key “epiphany moment”; a moment when Jesus is revealed to the world as someone very important. In fact this is a particularly significant epiphany moment because the descending Spirit shows Jesus to be the anointed one, the Messiah, and the voice from heaven goes further telling us that he is God’s own son, the beloved.
But the links between Jesus, the Holy Spirit and baptism go well beyond the decent of the Holy Spirit onto Jesus at his own baptism. As John the Baptist explained, the baptism of Jesus is a baptism with the Holy Spirit, whereas John’s baptism with water is a much simpler symbol of repentance. This distinction between the baptism of John and the baptism of Jesus became even more important in the life of the early church, after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. This is because of incidents like the one we heard about in our reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Paul arrived in Ephesus and found some followers of Jesus there. However they had been baptised only with the baptism of John, and their baptism was in some way incomplete. But when Paul baptised them in the name of the Lord Jesus they received the Holy Spirit, and suddenly they started to speak in tongues and to prophesise.
Because of incidents like this the early Church quickly resolved to baptise, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. This formulation used in Baptism emerged very early on in the life of the infant Church, several centuries before the doctrine of the Holy Trinity was formulated.
So those of us who have been baptised have received the Holy Spirit in our baptism. Those of us who have been Confirmed have been further strengthened in the Holy Spirit as we give our own ascent to our baptismal promises, and as the bishop lays hands on us.
So what difference does it make for us, that we have received the Holy Spirit in our baptism? Well these are deep mysteries that mystics and theologians continue to dwell upon. But John’s gospel gives us some pointers in the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. As Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3: 5-6). Somehow, in our baptism, the Holy Spirit brings to birth within us a new life in the Spirit, which is also a new life in Christ. With the correct care and nurture this new life in the spirit can grow and develop within us, until we become mature, to the measure of the full stature of Christ (c.f. Eph 4: 13). And this maturity is deeply tied up with our unity with the other people who have been baptized into Christ, with unity in the life of the Church (e.g. Eph 4: 13, Gal 3: 26-28).
So the challenge for us is to nurture ourselves well so that we can grow in the Spirit and grow in Christ. And this is a great challenge because so many things about our contemporary society are very unhelpful to this growth. However there are things we can do. Coming to Mass regularly is a very helpful thing. Confessing our sins is very helpful. Prayer is very helpful. Studying the bible and reflecting on it is very helpful. Seeking to see Jesus in the people around us, and to love Jesus in them is also very, very helpful. It is very helpful if we can share something of our spiritual lives with others, so it becomes not just an individual things that I do on my own, but something I do together with other people, together with the others in the Church.
So today let’s give thanks for the Holy Spirit, let’s praise God for the new life that he gives us through baptism, and let’s pray that the Spirit will help us to grow in that life and to bring it to maturity.
04 January 2009
Sharing in the journey and gifts of the wise men
Short sermon preached at the 8am Eucharist, St Alphege, Solihull.
Sunday 4th January 2009 (Epiphany celebrated).
Readings: Isaiah 60: 1-6 [Ephesians 3: 1-12] Mathew 2: 1-12
On the Holy Day of the Epiphany our gospel reading tells us the story of the wise men from the East who come to see the child Jesus.
It is a remarkable story, not least because there are so many aspects of it that seem unlikely or surprising. Would God really mark the birth of his Son with a new star in the night sky? It is certainly surprising that the wise men, who seem to have nothing to do with the Jews or the Jewish religion, interpret the star in the way they do. It is even more surprising that they understand this far away event as so significant that they must respond to it by making a long and uncertain journey. But somehow this far away event takes a powerful hold on the wise men. Against all odds they embark on the journey. Against all odds they are eventually successful. When they finally reach Jesus they are overwhelmed with joy. They pay homage and give most precious gifts to the child when they find him.
It seems to me that there are similarities between the journey made by the wise men and the journey of faith, the spiritual journey, that we each make with our Christian lives. First of all, it all seems so unlikely. It seems so implausible that a baby born in a far away time, in a far away land, could be the cause of such a great journey, a journey that ultimately reorders our whole lives. Then the guides for the journey seem so frail. The wise men were guided by a star, a very faint light in the sky, only visible at night and only on a clear night at that, and how could they read such great meaning into this star? Similarly we are guided and drawn by our faith, which can seem very frail and faint and week, and scarcely seem enough basis for a great spiritual journey.
But despite all this the journey goes ahead. No doubt there are dark moments and difficult periods, and times when we almost lose heart. But in the end we do come to Jesus. We do find Jesus, present in our hearts, in our neighbours, in the scriptures and in the sacrament. And when we find Jesus there is overwhelming joy. Our purpose is complete. Then, there is the opportunity to bring gifts to Jesus. Let’s think for a minute about the gifts we can give to Jesus. Gold makes us think of our money, our talents and our time that we can use in the service of the church and of other people. Frankincense makes us think of incense, our worship, and all the prayers that we can bring to Jesus. Myrrh reminds us of the tomb and of death. It reminds us of our sufferings that we can offer to Christ, of the “letting go”, the “losing” and the “dieing” which we often experience as we follow God’s path for us. All of these are valuable gifts that we can bring to Jesus. They are all contributions, which he can use, better than we could ever imagine, in the building of his kingdom.
So as mediate on the wise men, let’s think about our own journey of faith towards Jesus. Despite the frailty of our faith let’s follow where God leads. Let’s be ready to offer Jesus gifts, even costly gifts. Above all let’s be confident that in the end, even though it all seems so unlikely, we will reach Jesus. We will be overwhelmed with joy.
Sunday 4th January 2009 (Epiphany celebrated).
Readings: Isaiah 60: 1-6 [Ephesians 3: 1-12] Mathew 2: 1-12
On the Holy Day of the Epiphany our gospel reading tells us the story of the wise men from the East who come to see the child Jesus.
It is a remarkable story, not least because there are so many aspects of it that seem unlikely or surprising. Would God really mark the birth of his Son with a new star in the night sky? It is certainly surprising that the wise men, who seem to have nothing to do with the Jews or the Jewish religion, interpret the star in the way they do. It is even more surprising that they understand this far away event as so significant that they must respond to it by making a long and uncertain journey. But somehow this far away event takes a powerful hold on the wise men. Against all odds they embark on the journey. Against all odds they are eventually successful. When they finally reach Jesus they are overwhelmed with joy. They pay homage and give most precious gifts to the child when they find him.
It seems to me that there are similarities between the journey made by the wise men and the journey of faith, the spiritual journey, that we each make with our Christian lives. First of all, it all seems so unlikely. It seems so implausible that a baby born in a far away time, in a far away land, could be the cause of such a great journey, a journey that ultimately reorders our whole lives. Then the guides for the journey seem so frail. The wise men were guided by a star, a very faint light in the sky, only visible at night and only on a clear night at that, and how could they read such great meaning into this star? Similarly we are guided and drawn by our faith, which can seem very frail and faint and week, and scarcely seem enough basis for a great spiritual journey.
But despite all this the journey goes ahead. No doubt there are dark moments and difficult periods, and times when we almost lose heart. But in the end we do come to Jesus. We do find Jesus, present in our hearts, in our neighbours, in the scriptures and in the sacrament. And when we find Jesus there is overwhelming joy. Our purpose is complete. Then, there is the opportunity to bring gifts to Jesus. Let’s think for a minute about the gifts we can give to Jesus. Gold makes us think of our money, our talents and our time that we can use in the service of the church and of other people. Frankincense makes us think of incense, our worship, and all the prayers that we can bring to Jesus. Myrrh reminds us of the tomb and of death. It reminds us of our sufferings that we can offer to Christ, of the “letting go”, the “losing” and the “dieing” which we often experience as we follow God’s path for us. All of these are valuable gifts that we can bring to Jesus. They are all contributions, which he can use, better than we could ever imagine, in the building of his kingdom.
So as mediate on the wise men, let’s think about our own journey of faith towards Jesus. Despite the frailty of our faith let’s follow where God leads. Let’s be ready to offer Jesus gifts, even costly gifts. Above all let’s be confident that in the end, even though it all seems so unlikely, we will reach Jesus. We will be overwhelmed with joy.
Sharers in the promise
Thought for the parish pew slip - Sunday 4th January 2009
Epipany (transfered from 6th January)
Readings: Isaiah 60: 1-6 Ephesians 3: 1-12 Mathew 2: 1-12
God’s plan for the salvation of humanity started with God’s chosen people, the Jews. Throughout the Old Testament God maintains a strong distinction between the Jews and the other nations, the Gentiles. But then, as Paul explains in our reading from Ephesians, the coming of Christ reveals a new world order; “the Gentiles have become fellow-heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Jesus Christ through the gospel.”
This was a revolutionary change for the Jews who followed Christ, and many of them struggled to believe it. But the story of the wise men visiting the baby Jesus shows us clearly that the baby Jesus was recognised as a blessing not just for the Jews, but for all people, even those who live far away in the East.
In a strange way all this was foreseen by in our reading from Isaiah. This part of the book of Isaiah was written in the sixth century BC. The prophet tells of a great light that will emerge within Israel such that all kings and nations are drawn to the light, and they will come with great wealth and offer valuable gifts, while proclaiming the praise of the Lord.
Epipany (transfered from 6th January)
Readings: Isaiah 60: 1-6 Ephesians 3: 1-12 Mathew 2: 1-12
God’s plan for the salvation of humanity started with God’s chosen people, the Jews. Throughout the Old Testament God maintains a strong distinction between the Jews and the other nations, the Gentiles. But then, as Paul explains in our reading from Ephesians, the coming of Christ reveals a new world order; “the Gentiles have become fellow-heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Jesus Christ through the gospel.”
This was a revolutionary change for the Jews who followed Christ, and many of them struggled to believe it. But the story of the wise men visiting the baby Jesus shows us clearly that the baby Jesus was recognised as a blessing not just for the Jews, but for all people, even those who live far away in the East.
In a strange way all this was foreseen by in our reading from Isaiah. This part of the book of Isaiah was written in the sixth century BC. The prophet tells of a great light that will emerge within Israel such that all kings and nations are drawn to the light, and they will come with great wealth and offer valuable gifts, while proclaiming the praise of the Lord.
28 December 2008
The promise of salvation
Thought for the parish pew slip, prepared (in error!) for Sunday 28th December.
Christmas 1, Year B
Readings: Isaiah 61: 10 – 62: 3 Galatians 4: 4-7 Luke 2: 15-21
In our reading from Isaiah, the prophet has a message of consolation and joy for the beleaguered Jews, who are returning to the ruined city of Jerusalem following 70 years of captivity in Babylon. The prophet foresees the rebuilding of Jerusalem. He rejoices and gives thanks because the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring up like seeds planted in a garden. Jerusalem will experience salvation and vindication and is destined to be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord.
God’s promise of salvation also features in our gospel reading. The shepherds were told by an angel that the child born in Bethlehem is a saviour who is Christ the Lord. When they tell this to Joseph and Mary, Mary treasures these words and ponders them in her heart. They must have confirmed for her what the angle Gabriel had already told her (Luke 1: 32-33).
Paul, writing to the Galatians, explains more of what salvation in Christ means. It means having the spirit of Jesus in our hearts, calling out to God the Father, and ensuring that we will be co-heirs with Christ of the glory he receives from God. – Fr Gerard
Christmas 1, Year B
Readings: Isaiah 61: 10 – 62: 3 Galatians 4: 4-7 Luke 2: 15-21
In our reading from Isaiah, the prophet has a message of consolation and joy for the beleaguered Jews, who are returning to the ruined city of Jerusalem following 70 years of captivity in Babylon. The prophet foresees the rebuilding of Jerusalem. He rejoices and gives thanks because the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring up like seeds planted in a garden. Jerusalem will experience salvation and vindication and is destined to be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord.
God’s promise of salvation also features in our gospel reading. The shepherds were told by an angel that the child born in Bethlehem is a saviour who is Christ the Lord. When they tell this to Joseph and Mary, Mary treasures these words and ponders them in her heart. They must have confirmed for her what the angle Gabriel had already told her (Luke 1: 32-33).
Paul, writing to the Galatians, explains more of what salvation in Christ means. It means having the spirit of Jesus in our hearts, calling out to God the Father, and ensuring that we will be co-heirs with Christ of the glory he receives from God. – Fr Gerard
26 December 2008
New years resolutions
Article written for the Faith Matters column of the Solihull News for publication on 26th December 2008. (I am not sure whether this edition ever came out)
Every year I have the same New Year’s resolutions! I always try to eat and drink a bit less, and to exercise and rest a bit more. In fact, I find I have to have this resolution all the year round! It is so easy to fall off the programme! It reminds me of Mark Twain, who said, “Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times.” It would be easy to become disheartened, but somehow it is the process of being honest about the consequences when I get it wrong, that builds within me the desire and aptitude to do better. Very slowly, and through all kinds of ups and downs, I do make progress!
Churches are made up of sinners who are learning to be saints. Some people say that it is hypocritical to try to become better than you really are. They suggest it is more honest to behave as the sinner you are. I don’t agree with this. It is not hypocritical for an uneducated person to go to school and slowly to become educated. Neither is it hypocritical for a sinful person to go to church, to practice living the gospel, and to slowly become a saint. In fact I worry that the person who rejoices in just being a sinner is not being completely honest about the pain that sin causes. It is humbly admitting our sinfulness and accepting the pain it causes that somehow allows God to build the saint within us.
So, how about a New Year’s resolution to become a better person? How about a resolution to grow in love for God, and to grow in love for the people around us? Of course, we know before we start that we will fail miserably! But it is by trying, failing, accepting the suffering and trying again that we allow God to work on us, and ultimately God never fails!
Every year I have the same New Year’s resolutions! I always try to eat and drink a bit less, and to exercise and rest a bit more. In fact, I find I have to have this resolution all the year round! It is so easy to fall off the programme! It reminds me of Mark Twain, who said, “Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times.” It would be easy to become disheartened, but somehow it is the process of being honest about the consequences when I get it wrong, that builds within me the desire and aptitude to do better. Very slowly, and through all kinds of ups and downs, I do make progress!
Churches are made up of sinners who are learning to be saints. Some people say that it is hypocritical to try to become better than you really are. They suggest it is more honest to behave as the sinner you are. I don’t agree with this. It is not hypocritical for an uneducated person to go to school and slowly to become educated. Neither is it hypocritical for a sinful person to go to church, to practice living the gospel, and to slowly become a saint. In fact I worry that the person who rejoices in just being a sinner is not being completely honest about the pain that sin causes. It is humbly admitting our sinfulness and accepting the pain it causes that somehow allows God to build the saint within us.
So, how about a New Year’s resolution to become a better person? How about a resolution to grow in love for God, and to grow in love for the people around us? Of course, we know before we start that we will fail miserably! But it is by trying, failing, accepting the suffering and trying again that we allow God to work on us, and ultimately God never fails!
21 December 2008
Living the incarnation
Sermon preached at St Alphege, Solihull at 11am Eucharist, 21st December 2008
Advent 4, Year B
Readings: 2 Samuel 7: 1-11 & 16 Romans 16: 25-27 Luke 1: 26-38
In our gospel reading today we heard the extraordinary story of the annunciation; the moment when the angel Gabriel came to visit Mary and to give her the big news. Gabriel tells Mary that she is to be the mother of Jesus. He tells her that Jesus is to be the Son of God, the inheritor of the throne of his ancestor King David, and the one who will reign forever in a kingdom without end. This is a big deal. It’s a very big deal. It’s the biggest deal of them all. But Mary seems to cope with it extraordinarily well. She asks for clarification about how she is to become pregnant. The angel explains this point and tells her that her relative Elizabeth is also pregnant. Mary’s final comment is, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” And the angel leaves her.
It is an extraordinary encounter, but it is the news that is brought to Mary that is the most extraordinary thing; that God will take on human flesh in Mary; this is the extraordinary thing. It is the great mystery of God in flesh; the incarnation. God grows in flesh in Mary, from a thing so small that nobody knows it is there, to a embryo, to a foetus, to a baby. God takes on a human body and is born into the world. And this has huge consequences and repercussions.
And one of the consequences, it seems to me, is that a way is opened up whereby God can grow in us. Just as God, who is spirit (2 Cor 3: 17), became flesh, so we who are flesh can become spirit; we can grow into the divine, just as God in Jesus grew into the flesh. It is like the incarnation in reverse.
In our baptism we receive the Holy Spirit, and like a tiny invisible seed within us, this has the potential to grow and develop, so that something spiritual and Christ-like can grow in us and can come to maturity. [The way is opened up for us human beings to participate in the divine life of God (c.f. 2 Peter 1:4), to become children of God and co-heirs with Christ, sharing in his sufferings and his glory (Rom 8: 17). We have the opportunity to become children of God, destined to be like Jesus (1 John 3:2).
You might not be aware of it, but this same idea is expressed each time we celebrate the Eucharist, or certainly it is in churches with a more catholic tradition. At the Eucharist, when preparing the chalice of wine, the priest mixes in with the wine a few drops of water and says a quiet prayer, “By this mystery of this water and this wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” The mixture of water with wine is a powerful symbol. It reminds us of flesh and spirit or human and divine. In John’s gospel, Jesus’ first miracle is to turn water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee (John 2: 1-11). This miracle reminds us of the power of Jesus to turn humans into a sharing in the divine life of God. There are hints of the same idea when Jesus is pieced on the cross and water and blood flow out (John 19: 34)]
It is very desirable that the seed of spiritual presence of Christ within us grows and develops because this life of Christ in us is eternal life, the life which survives our earthly death. And what do we need to do to make the spiritual presence of Christ within us grow? Well in one way we do not need to do very much. A pregnant woman does not need to do too much to make her baby grow. She needs to keep herself healthy and well nourished and then the baby grows by itself. Similarly we need to keep ourselves spiritually healthy and spiritually nourished, and then the presence of Christ will grow in us, without us needing to worry about it.
And when it comes to keeping ourselves spiritually healthy and well nourished, the most obvious things to do are to come often to the Eucharist, and to set aside time to meditate on the scriptures and to pray. But today I would like to highlight another way of nourishing our spiritual lives and this is the way that we see in Mary in our gospel reading today. When Mary says, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” she is accepting and cooperating with God’s plans for her. This is the crucial for us too, for our own spiritual health and nourishment. Accepting and co-operating with God’s plans for us, God’s vision for us, what God has created us for is so important. Only through this obedience can God’s creation in us come to fulfilment. And accepting God’s plans for us requires many things from us. It requires us to listen humbly in front of God in prayer, to understand the things he wants us to understand. It means being ready to lose our own ideas of what we might be or do. Often it can mean letting go of fantasies; the fantasy that all will be well when we are rich or famous, or a celebrity, or popular. Above all it means following God’s will for our lives. Following God’s will truly sustains and nourishes us. This was true even for Jesus. He said “My food is to do this will of him who sent me…” (John 4: 13). Following God’s will sustains us in each present moment of our lives, as we go about our daily business. If we listen to the still small voice of God in our heart, the voice of love, then this prompts us throughout the day. It shows us how to grow in love for God and for other people. God’s whisper in our heart might encourage us to stop and speak to a particular person, to set aside time for prayer, to visit a lonely neighbour, to complete some task, to come to Mass or whatever. And if we practice following the promptings of God all the time on the little things in life then we can be sure that we will know what to do when the big decisions come.
So let’s try always to listen for and to follow the promptings of God in our hearts showing us how to love. In this way let’s walk, in each present moment of our lives, in God’s will for us, in God’s plan for us. Then, by the grace of God’s incarnation we will find ourselves taking part in the spiritual equivalent of what Mary did. Jesus will grow spiritually within us, with wonderful consequences in this world, and eternal life in the next.
Advent 4, Year B
Readings: 2 Samuel 7: 1-11 & 16 Romans 16: 25-27 Luke 1: 26-38
In our gospel reading today we heard the extraordinary story of the annunciation; the moment when the angel Gabriel came to visit Mary and to give her the big news. Gabriel tells Mary that she is to be the mother of Jesus. He tells her that Jesus is to be the Son of God, the inheritor of the throne of his ancestor King David, and the one who will reign forever in a kingdom without end. This is a big deal. It’s a very big deal. It’s the biggest deal of them all. But Mary seems to cope with it extraordinarily well. She asks for clarification about how she is to become pregnant. The angel explains this point and tells her that her relative Elizabeth is also pregnant. Mary’s final comment is, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” And the angel leaves her.
It is an extraordinary encounter, but it is the news that is brought to Mary that is the most extraordinary thing; that God will take on human flesh in Mary; this is the extraordinary thing. It is the great mystery of God in flesh; the incarnation. God grows in flesh in Mary, from a thing so small that nobody knows it is there, to a embryo, to a foetus, to a baby. God takes on a human body and is born into the world. And this has huge consequences and repercussions.
And one of the consequences, it seems to me, is that a way is opened up whereby God can grow in us. Just as God, who is spirit (2 Cor 3: 17), became flesh, so we who are flesh can become spirit; we can grow into the divine, just as God in Jesus grew into the flesh. It is like the incarnation in reverse.
In our baptism we receive the Holy Spirit, and like a tiny invisible seed within us, this has the potential to grow and develop, so that something spiritual and Christ-like can grow in us and can come to maturity. [The way is opened up for us human beings to participate in the divine life of God (c.f. 2 Peter 1:4), to become children of God and co-heirs with Christ, sharing in his sufferings and his glory (Rom 8: 17). We have the opportunity to become children of God, destined to be like Jesus (1 John 3:2).
You might not be aware of it, but this same idea is expressed each time we celebrate the Eucharist, or certainly it is in churches with a more catholic tradition. At the Eucharist, when preparing the chalice of wine, the priest mixes in with the wine a few drops of water and says a quiet prayer, “By this mystery of this water and this wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” The mixture of water with wine is a powerful symbol. It reminds us of flesh and spirit or human and divine. In John’s gospel, Jesus’ first miracle is to turn water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee (John 2: 1-11). This miracle reminds us of the power of Jesus to turn humans into a sharing in the divine life of God. There are hints of the same idea when Jesus is pieced on the cross and water and blood flow out (John 19: 34)]
It is very desirable that the seed of spiritual presence of Christ within us grows and develops because this life of Christ in us is eternal life, the life which survives our earthly death. And what do we need to do to make the spiritual presence of Christ within us grow? Well in one way we do not need to do very much. A pregnant woman does not need to do too much to make her baby grow. She needs to keep herself healthy and well nourished and then the baby grows by itself. Similarly we need to keep ourselves spiritually healthy and spiritually nourished, and then the presence of Christ will grow in us, without us needing to worry about it.
And when it comes to keeping ourselves spiritually healthy and well nourished, the most obvious things to do are to come often to the Eucharist, and to set aside time to meditate on the scriptures and to pray. But today I would like to highlight another way of nourishing our spiritual lives and this is the way that we see in Mary in our gospel reading today. When Mary says, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” she is accepting and cooperating with God’s plans for her. This is the crucial for us too, for our own spiritual health and nourishment. Accepting and co-operating with God’s plans for us, God’s vision for us, what God has created us for is so important. Only through this obedience can God’s creation in us come to fulfilment. And accepting God’s plans for us requires many things from us. It requires us to listen humbly in front of God in prayer, to understand the things he wants us to understand. It means being ready to lose our own ideas of what we might be or do. Often it can mean letting go of fantasies; the fantasy that all will be well when we are rich or famous, or a celebrity, or popular. Above all it means following God’s will for our lives. Following God’s will truly sustains and nourishes us. This was true even for Jesus. He said “My food is to do this will of him who sent me…” (John 4: 13). Following God’s will sustains us in each present moment of our lives, as we go about our daily business. If we listen to the still small voice of God in our heart, the voice of love, then this prompts us throughout the day. It shows us how to grow in love for God and for other people. God’s whisper in our heart might encourage us to stop and speak to a particular person, to set aside time for prayer, to visit a lonely neighbour, to complete some task, to come to Mass or whatever. And if we practice following the promptings of God all the time on the little things in life then we can be sure that we will know what to do when the big decisions come.
So let’s try always to listen for and to follow the promptings of God in our hearts showing us how to love. In this way let’s walk, in each present moment of our lives, in God’s will for us, in God’s plan for us. Then, by the grace of God’s incarnation we will find ourselves taking part in the spiritual equivalent of what Mary did. Jesus will grow spiritually within us, with wonderful consequences in this world, and eternal life in the next.
07 December 2008
Christingle Service
Christingle 2008
A service for people who learn by doing - by assembling a Christingle!
Italics indicate a slide is displayed on the screens.
Title slide (toggle with safety notice)
Gathering hymn - 97 - Colours of Day – Display words
The greeting slide
- In the name of the father…
- The Lord be with you…
We light the Easter Candle. Brief explanation - light of world comes at Christmas
We say the response – Display response
Jesus, we thank you that you are the Light of the World.
We thank you that you came into the world at Christmas time. Amen
Introduce first reading - God gave us all the friuts of the earth, and a wonderful creation.
First reading: Genesis 1: 28-31 – Display slide
God blessed the man and the woman, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ God said, ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
- This is the word of the Lord / Thanks be to God
Display picture of fruits
We reflect briefly on God’s love for us in making the world and in giving us our food.
We put the fruit and sweets on the cocktail sticks (but don’t yet put them on the orange).
Hymn 401 - Longing for light, we wait in darkness (Christ be our light) – Display words
Introuduce second reading - by going against God we spoilt the good things he gave us, but God still loves us, and sent Jesus to save us, at great cost.
Second reading: 1 John 4: 9-11 – display slide
God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.
- This is the word of the Lord / Thanks be to God
Display picture of crosses
We reflect briefly on God’s love for the world, and on Christ’s blood shed for the world.
We notice the red ribbon on our orange. We put the four cocktails sticks in the orange. With percisings for the four sticks and the hole for the candle we are reminded of the wounds of Christ. Same wounds are marked on the Easter candle.
Hymn – 175 – From heaven you came helpless babe (The servant king) – Display words
Introduce Third Reading - God's light came into the world when Jesus was born. John the Baptist foretold this.
Third reading: John 1: 3-9 – Display slide
All things came into being through Christ, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
- This is the word of the Lord / Thanks be to God
Display bright yellow light picture
We reflect briefly on Christ the light of the world
We fix our candle into our Christingle.
Hymn 393 – Like a candle flame (The candle song) – Display words
Prayers of intercession – Display Lord in thy mercy/Hear our prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the Children’s Society. We thank you all their work looking after children with difficulties. We thank you that they stand up for childhood. We thank you that the Children’s Society introduced Christingle services 40 years ago. Lord, please bless the Children’s Society and help it in its work.
Lord in your mercy/Hear our prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you that you sent your son Jesus into the world at Christmas time. We thank you for the wonderful good news that Jesus brings. We thank you for all the help and advice that Jesus gives us. We thank you that Jesus was ready to suffer and die for us, to help us be friends with you. Lord, help us to live as Jesus taught us, so that we can be filled with your love.
Lord in your mercy/Hear our prayer
Heavenly Father, at this Christmas time we give you thanks for our families and our homes, for our presents and for all the joys of Christmas. We pray Lord for people who have difficulties at Christmas time; people who are sick or homeless or lonely or in any kind of trouble. Help us to love the people we know in difficulty, and grant that all people may know your love this Christmas time.
Lord in your mercy/Hear our prayer
Finish intercessions with Lord’s Prayer. Display Lord’s Prayer
Final Hymn- 416 - Lord, the light of your love (Shine, Jesus, shine) – Display words
During the song we light the Christingles from the Easter Candle.
Blessing and dismissal Display Slide
Christ the Sun of Righteousness shine upon you,scatter the darkness from before your path,and make you ready to meet him when he comes in glory;and the blessing of God Almighty,
extinguish candles
Recessional music by the band. Display advert for Christmas services
A service for people who learn by doing - by assembling a Christingle!
Italics indicate a slide is displayed on the screens.
Title slide (toggle with safety notice)
Gathering hymn - 97 - Colours of Day – Display words
The greeting slide
- In the name of the father…
- The Lord be with you…
We light the Easter Candle. Brief explanation - light of world comes at Christmas
We say the response – Display response
Jesus, we thank you that you are the Light of the World.
We thank you that you came into the world at Christmas time. Amen
Introduce first reading - God gave us all the friuts of the earth, and a wonderful creation.
First reading: Genesis 1: 28-31 – Display slide
God blessed the man and the woman, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ God said, ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
- This is the word of the Lord / Thanks be to God
Display picture of fruits
We reflect briefly on God’s love for us in making the world and in giving us our food.
We put the fruit and sweets on the cocktail sticks (but don’t yet put them on the orange).
Hymn 401 - Longing for light, we wait in darkness (Christ be our light) – Display words
Introuduce second reading - by going against God we spoilt the good things he gave us, but God still loves us, and sent Jesus to save us, at great cost.
Second reading: 1 John 4: 9-11 – display slide
God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.
- This is the word of the Lord / Thanks be to God
Display picture of crosses
We reflect briefly on God’s love for the world, and on Christ’s blood shed for the world.
We notice the red ribbon on our orange. We put the four cocktails sticks in the orange. With percisings for the four sticks and the hole for the candle we are reminded of the wounds of Christ. Same wounds are marked on the Easter candle.
Hymn – 175 – From heaven you came helpless babe (The servant king) – Display words
Introduce Third Reading - God's light came into the world when Jesus was born. John the Baptist foretold this.
Third reading: John 1: 3-9 – Display slide
All things came into being through Christ, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
- This is the word of the Lord / Thanks be to God
Display bright yellow light picture
We reflect briefly on Christ the light of the world
We fix our candle into our Christingle.
Hymn 393 – Like a candle flame (The candle song) – Display words
Prayers of intercession – Display Lord in thy mercy/Hear our prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the Children’s Society. We thank you all their work looking after children with difficulties. We thank you that they stand up for childhood. We thank you that the Children’s Society introduced Christingle services 40 years ago. Lord, please bless the Children’s Society and help it in its work.
Lord in your mercy/Hear our prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you that you sent your son Jesus into the world at Christmas time. We thank you for the wonderful good news that Jesus brings. We thank you for all the help and advice that Jesus gives us. We thank you that Jesus was ready to suffer and die for us, to help us be friends with you. Lord, help us to live as Jesus taught us, so that we can be filled with your love.
Lord in your mercy/Hear our prayer
Heavenly Father, at this Christmas time we give you thanks for our families and our homes, for our presents and for all the joys of Christmas. We pray Lord for people who have difficulties at Christmas time; people who are sick or homeless or lonely or in any kind of trouble. Help us to love the people we know in difficulty, and grant that all people may know your love this Christmas time.
Lord in your mercy/Hear our prayer
Finish intercessions with Lord’s Prayer. Display Lord’s Prayer
Final Hymn- 416 - Lord, the light of your love (Shine, Jesus, shine) – Display words
During the song we light the Christingles from the Easter Candle.
Blessing and dismissal Display Slide
Christ the Sun of Righteousness shine upon you,scatter the darkness from before your path,and make you ready to meet him when he comes in glory;and the blessing of God Almighty,
extinguish candles
Recessional music by the band. Display advert for Christmas services
Good News
Short sermon preached at 8am Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull on Sunday 7th December 2008 Advent 2, Year B.
Readings: Isaiah 40: 1-11 2 Peter 3: 8-15a Mark 1: 1-8
Our gospel reading today is the very start of Mark’s gospel. Mark introduces his gospel as, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” I am always very struck by this bold and clear start to the gospel of Mark. There is a clear affirmation the Jesus is the Son of God and there is a clear affirmation that the gospel is good news, good news.
I think it is very important to train ourselves to have the correct perspective and to understand with joy that the gospel is good news. I remember when I was a student someone said to me, “How can you call the gospel good news? It stops you from smoking and drinking and gambling and womanising. It makes you feel guilty and gives you all kinds of scruples about looking after yourself. It puts you at a big disadvantage in this competitive world.” Well this perspective is very understandable in a post-Christian society, but it is profoundly wrong. It is like the perspective of a playboy who fritters away a huge inheritance and then curses his bankers and benefactors when he finally runs out of money. The good news for this playboy is that he is free to become a responsible adult, to start earning money and to stop spending it. It is good news but with his rather warped perspective the playboy experiences it as bad news.
Sometimes people can think that the gospel is bad news because it recognises and takes account of things that we might like to forget about. As we read today from Isaiah “Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.” We might like to forget that one day we shall die, that all human accomplishments crumble with time and pass away. We might like to forget these things, but they are profoundly true and the gospel accepts them and takes proper account of them. The gospel is completely realistic and honest about what it is to be a human being.
Above all the gospel is good news. As Isaiah said, “the word of our God will stand forever.” Through the gospel we have an extraordinary opportunity to build a life that is eternal (Mark 10:30); a life more wonderful than we can imagine, and yet more natural and befitting to our true selves that we could ever have dared to hope. All we have to do is to follow the commands of the gospel. The gospel calls us always to grow in love for God and for our neighbour. It calls us to be honest about our sin, and to trust in the forgiveness that Christ won for us. It calls to trust that even our frailties and weaknesses are part of God’s love for us, through which his power is revealed (2 Cor 12: 9, Heb 11:34). Above all it calls us to be good disciples of Jesus, following, moment by moment, on the journey that he sets before us, that leads to our perfect fulfilment.
So this Advent, let’s listen to John the Baptist’s call to repentance. Let’s be humble enough to get our perspective right and to see that the gospel really is good news, extraordinary good news. Above all let’s do all our part to live out the gospel commandments so as to bring about the great things promised to us.
Readings: Isaiah 40: 1-11 2 Peter 3: 8-15a Mark 1: 1-8
Our gospel reading today is the very start of Mark’s gospel. Mark introduces his gospel as, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” I am always very struck by this bold and clear start to the gospel of Mark. There is a clear affirmation the Jesus is the Son of God and there is a clear affirmation that the gospel is good news, good news.
I think it is very important to train ourselves to have the correct perspective and to understand with joy that the gospel is good news. I remember when I was a student someone said to me, “How can you call the gospel good news? It stops you from smoking and drinking and gambling and womanising. It makes you feel guilty and gives you all kinds of scruples about looking after yourself. It puts you at a big disadvantage in this competitive world.” Well this perspective is very understandable in a post-Christian society, but it is profoundly wrong. It is like the perspective of a playboy who fritters away a huge inheritance and then curses his bankers and benefactors when he finally runs out of money. The good news for this playboy is that he is free to become a responsible adult, to start earning money and to stop spending it. It is good news but with his rather warped perspective the playboy experiences it as bad news.
Sometimes people can think that the gospel is bad news because it recognises and takes account of things that we might like to forget about. As we read today from Isaiah “Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.” We might like to forget that one day we shall die, that all human accomplishments crumble with time and pass away. We might like to forget these things, but they are profoundly true and the gospel accepts them and takes proper account of them. The gospel is completely realistic and honest about what it is to be a human being.
Above all the gospel is good news. As Isaiah said, “the word of our God will stand forever.” Through the gospel we have an extraordinary opportunity to build a life that is eternal (Mark 10:30); a life more wonderful than we can imagine, and yet more natural and befitting to our true selves that we could ever have dared to hope. All we have to do is to follow the commands of the gospel. The gospel calls us always to grow in love for God and for our neighbour. It calls us to be honest about our sin, and to trust in the forgiveness that Christ won for us. It calls to trust that even our frailties and weaknesses are part of God’s love for us, through which his power is revealed (2 Cor 12: 9, Heb 11:34). Above all it calls us to be good disciples of Jesus, following, moment by moment, on the journey that he sets before us, that leads to our perfect fulfilment.
So this Advent, let’s listen to John the Baptist’s call to repentance. Let’s be humble enough to get our perspective right and to see that the gospel really is good news, extraordinary good news. Above all let’s do all our part to live out the gospel commandments so as to bring about the great things promised to us.
01 December 2008
Deakness and light
Editorial for the December Parish Magazine
In terms of weather it was a disappointing summer. It already feels to me as though we have had a long, dark winter, and we haven’t really started yet! I find that I am looking forward to that magical moment in December when the days start to get longer again.
According to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, this year’s winter solstice occurs at 12:04 on 21st December. This is the moment when the tilt of the earth’s axis of rotation is exactly in line with the sun. Each year the winter solstice occurs about six hours later than the year before, and then every fourth year we put 24 extra hours into our calendar (on 29th February), so the time of the solstice jumps back about 18 hours. This ensures that the winter solstice always ocurs on 21st or 22nd December.
On 21st December sunrise in the Midlands will be 08:18 and sunset will be 15:53. This gives us 7 hours, 35 minutes of daytime. London will get 10 minutes more daytime that day, because it is nearer to the equator, but Glasgow will get 43 minutes less.
There is a saying that, “The darkest hour is the one before sunrise”. For Christians in the northern hemisphere it feels more like, “The darkest day is the one before the great light.” Just four days after the winter solstice we celebrate the birth of Jesus; the coming into the world of the true light, that enlightens everyone (c.f. John 1: 9); the light of the world (John 8: 12).
We can understand what it means to say Jesus is the light of the world if we think what it is like to exist in the dark. In the dark it is hard to move around the house. It is hard to find things. It is hard to do the simplest thing. We are clumsy and prone to accidents, and we find it easy to get lost or confused. But then when the light comes, suddenly everything gets easier. It is much easier to achieve things, to make progress and it is much safer too. Jesus has exactly this effect on our spiritual lives. Without Jesus the spiritual life is very hard. We can’t see where we are going or how to get there. Helping each other is difficult, and it is easy to make damaging mistakes. But the teaching and example of Jesus is our light and shows us what to do. We need to grow in love for God and love for one another. We need to follow God’s will for our lives, trusting that God’s path for us will bring us fulfilment, even if there are great difficulties on the way.
But then there is an even bigger problem with trying to exist in darkness. Light is essential for plants to grow. With no light we have no plants and no food to sustain our lives. Just as light gives life to plants, so Jesus gives us eternal life (e.g. John 5: 21, 24, 26). Jesus is light in the sense that he gives us life.
So in the dark month of December we have a wonderful consolation in the great light that is given to us at Christmas. Let’s use Advent to prepare well, so we are ready to welcome the great light when he comes.
In terms of weather it was a disappointing summer. It already feels to me as though we have had a long, dark winter, and we haven’t really started yet! I find that I am looking forward to that magical moment in December when the days start to get longer again.
According to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, this year’s winter solstice occurs at 12:04 on 21st December. This is the moment when the tilt of the earth’s axis of rotation is exactly in line with the sun. Each year the winter solstice occurs about six hours later than the year before, and then every fourth year we put 24 extra hours into our calendar (on 29th February), so the time of the solstice jumps back about 18 hours. This ensures that the winter solstice always ocurs on 21st or 22nd December.
On 21st December sunrise in the Midlands will be 08:18 and sunset will be 15:53. This gives us 7 hours, 35 minutes of daytime. London will get 10 minutes more daytime that day, because it is nearer to the equator, but Glasgow will get 43 minutes less.
There is a saying that, “The darkest hour is the one before sunrise”. For Christians in the northern hemisphere it feels more like, “The darkest day is the one before the great light.” Just four days after the winter solstice we celebrate the birth of Jesus; the coming into the world of the true light, that enlightens everyone (c.f. John 1: 9); the light of the world (John 8: 12).
We can understand what it means to say Jesus is the light of the world if we think what it is like to exist in the dark. In the dark it is hard to move around the house. It is hard to find things. It is hard to do the simplest thing. We are clumsy and prone to accidents, and we find it easy to get lost or confused. But then when the light comes, suddenly everything gets easier. It is much easier to achieve things, to make progress and it is much safer too. Jesus has exactly this effect on our spiritual lives. Without Jesus the spiritual life is very hard. We can’t see where we are going or how to get there. Helping each other is difficult, and it is easy to make damaging mistakes. But the teaching and example of Jesus is our light and shows us what to do. We need to grow in love for God and love for one another. We need to follow God’s will for our lives, trusting that God’s path for us will bring us fulfilment, even if there are great difficulties on the way.
But then there is an even bigger problem with trying to exist in darkness. Light is essential for plants to grow. With no light we have no plants and no food to sustain our lives. Just as light gives life to plants, so Jesus gives us eternal life (e.g. John 5: 21, 24, 26). Jesus is light in the sense that he gives us life.
So in the dark month of December we have a wonderful consolation in the great light that is given to us at Christmas. Let’s use Advent to prepare well, so we are ready to welcome the great light when he comes.
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